????巧合的是，就在絲綢之路被迫關(guān)閉的前一天，新近崛起的證券交易所“第二市場(chǎng)”（SecondMarket）宣布，它將開(kāi)始為一只僅持有比特幣的投資基金籌集資金。這只名為比特幣投資信托（Bitcoin Investment Trust）的基金據(jù)說(shuō)將成為美國(guó)基金業(yè)的一次創(chuàng)舉。通過(guò)這只基金，富裕的投資者可以方便地投注于比特幣的期貨價(jià)格——比特幣通常都是在不受管制、位于在美國(guó)之外的在線交易所進(jìn)行交易的。

????此外，絲綢之路的覆滅正值聯(lián)邦和州政府監(jiān)管這種貨幣的意圖日益加劇之際。比特幣的期貨市場(chǎng)將必須遵守商品期貨交易委員會(huì)（Commodity Futures Trading Commission）的法規(guī)；財(cái)政部已經(jīng)針對(duì)虛擬貨幣設(shè)定了新的指導(dǎo)方針，還將要求美國(guó)境內(nèi)的大多數(shù)處理和交易機(jī)構(gòu)遵守各州的匯款法律。最近，出于對(duì)其他絲綢之路式操作手法的擔(dān)憂，紐約州銀行監(jiān)管當(dāng)局傳喚了22家運(yùn)營(yíng)虛擬貨幣的公司和投資者，加強(qiáng)對(duì)這個(gè)行業(yè)的了解。

????所有這一切可能會(huì)嚇跑比特幣骯臟的一面，但目前還不清楚，這種虛擬貨幣是否能夠重塑自身形象，告訴人們它不僅僅是一種匿名支付手段，還是說(shuō)，它將作為一個(gè)法外之徒，繼續(xù)隱匿在主流金融體系之外。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：任文科??

????Coincidentally, Silk Road's shutdown came a day after upstart stock exchange SecondMarket announced it would start raising money for an investment fund that will exclusively hold bitcoins. The fund, Bitcoin Investment Trust, is said to be the first of its kind in the U.S., giving wealthy investors an easy way to bet on the future price of bitcoins, which is generally traded on unregulated, online exchanges based outside the U.S.

????Silk Road's demise also comes as federal and state authorities are increasingly looking to regulate the currency. Futures markets in Bitcoin will have to comply with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Treasury Department has set new guidelines for virtual currencies and will require most processors and exchanges in the U.S. to follow state-by-state laws on transmitting money. More recently, New York banking regulators, fearing other Silk Road-esque operations, subpoenaed 22 virtual currency companies and investors to learn more about the industry.

????All this may scare away the seedy side of Bitcoin, but it's unclear whether the digital currency will be able to rebrand itself as more than a means of anonymous payment, or if it will simply remain a virtual finance outlaw.