well, there is an exchanger cartel. The biggest ones agreed to collaborate each other and here we are. It is the same BTC price despite the fact that BTC is NOT a centralized market. IT IS NOT possible a such thing while there is not any central authority. 
example : Coinbase and Bistamp are very tightly coupled. They have the same shareholders
Look to ALL the biggest exchangers and you will see a similar price even it's from Singapore, China, USA or Europe... HOW IS it possible if there is no cartel?
example : Coinbase and Bistamp are very tightly coupled. They have the same shareholders
Look to ALL the biggest exchangers and you will see a similar price even it's from Singapore, China, USA or Europe... HOW IS it possible if there is no cartel?
All forex is decentralised. Try buying GBP in Singapore, China, the USA or Europe and you'll see a similar price.
The reason prices are similar is due to arbitrage: if 1 GBP costs less in Singapore than it does in China, arbitrageurs will buy GBP in Singapore and sell it in China. The same thing happens with BTC.
I'm not saying that there isn't a cartel operating, I really don't don't know. But this isn't evidence of it.
The forex companies are regulated. They are financial licensed, a gov authority supervise them.
Let's take the first 5 exchangers:
Okcoin = where is regulated? Nowhere! Even China or HK requires a financial license for their activity
BTC China = same as above
Huobi = same as above
BTC-e = they don't even have an address on their website. they claim to be registered in Cyprus (EU). EU requires a license for their activity
Bitfinex = they claimed to be registered in BVI which requires a financial license for their activity.
Kraken = unlicensed money transmitter in USA. It's a matter of time until the feds will close it down.
So, these are the companies who "control" Bitcoin.
Bitcoin exchangers are coordinate their prices across continental divides. One goes down they all go down. The question is why the public tolerates their scam.
The exchanges arbitrage-bots equalize prices between one another. IT's NOT NORMAL in a DEcentralized market as Bitcoin.
Theyre hoping no-one will notice, and suckers will just keep depositing bitcoins in their vulnerable, corruptible coffers. Proof-of-solvency., Proof-of-reserve. Proof-of-existence, Proof or the bank wires in and out...where are all these?
Again, "I'm not saying that there isn't a cartel operating, I really don't don't know. But this isn't evidence of it."
It doesn't matter (for this purpose) whether or not the exchanges are regulated - if you buy GBP OTC on the streets of Rangoon from an unregulated money-changer the price will still be similar to the price you'd pay from a fully regulated exchange in New York or Paris (possibly slightly higher OTC to compensate the money-changer for the risk their taking, but not that much higher because otherwise people in Myanmar would buy their GBP from a regulated money-changer, or register with an exchange in Thailand (I dunno if this is possible, or there's even much Burmese demand for GBP - this is an example. Substitute countries of your choice, but the quest for profit remains, and it's that that leads to arbitrage and drives prices towards equilibrium).
This is what we would expect to see. With GBP, with USD, with BTC. When we do see it, it's expected. It's not evidence of a cartel operating.
Again again, there may well be a cartel operating. But price-similarity is not the smoking gun.
"Arbitrage-bots" are entirely normal in decentralized markets like forex. We may not like it, but the days of buying GBP in Britain and sending a telegram to a friend in the US to get them to "simultaneously" sell GBP in another country - those days are over. This can be - and has been - automated.