Day: April 6, 2018

The Financial Services Authority of Japan has imposed penalties on three cryptocurrency exchanges following inspections of trading platforms in the country. Two of them have been ordered to suspend operations. Officials are not satisfied with the measures implemented to prevent money laundering and systemic risks.   

Also read: CEO of Korean Exchange Coinnest among Four Arrested for Fraud

FSHO, Eternal Link Suspended, Lastroots Told to Improve

The sanctioned crypto platforms – FSHO, Eternal Link, and Lastroots – have received orders to improve their business practices. These were issued by Japan’s financial regulator as part of the ongoing inspections of cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the penalties have been imposed because of unsatisfactory procedures to prevent money laundering and minimize systems risk.

The Japanese financial regulator has ordered two of the trading platforms to suspend their operations for two months. Eternal Link should halt activities from Friday, April 6, and FSHO was told to do the same on April 8, Reuters reports. Lastroots has received an order to improve its practices. Japan’s Minister of Finance is expected to present the full results of the investigations carried out by the FSA.

In March, FSA suspended two exchanges – the Nagoya-based Bit Station and again FSHO, which was ordered to terminate services until April 7. The agency said its operator was not performing thorough checks on large-scale transactions and had not implemented necessary measures “to run the exchange in a decent and assured way”. According to Japanese press, Bit Station was penalized because its senior officials were implicated in embezzlement of clients’ crypto deposits. Similar charges have led to the arrests of four high-ranking representatives of two cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea.

In early February, FSA said it was inspecting all crypto trading platforms in the country, including 16 that were not registered at the time of the announcement. The financial authority published a list of 32 crypto exchanges, half of which had already obtained licenses to provide cryptocurrency exchange services.

Aftermath of a Huge Hack

Japan’s financial regulator undertook the revisions in the wake of the attack on Coincheck in January. Hackers stole ¥58 billion worth of NEM (~$550 million USD) from the Japanese exchange. Authorities are still investigating the heist, one of the biggest in crypto history. Cybersecurity experts have warned that half of the stolen NEM coins might have been laundered already on the darknet.

Cryptocurrency theft has become a major security issue in Japan, part of the growing cybercrime trend. Last year alone, $6.3 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen, and that’s before the Coincheck hack.

Japanese authorities have decided to set up a center dedicated to combatting cybercrime, including crypto theft. 500 analysts and investigators from different branches of the country’s law enforcement agencies have joined the unit. At least 149 crypto-related attacks took place in 2017, Japan’s National Police Agency recently revealed.

Earlier this week, news came out that Tokyo-based Monex Group was considering buying Coincheck. On Friday, the deal with the online financial brokerage was confirmed. The team behind the hacked exchange has accepted the acquisition bid worth ¥3.6 billion Japanese yen (~$33.6 million USD).

Do you expect more cryptocurrency exchanges to be suspended by Japanese authorities? Share your thoughts on the measures taken by the FSA in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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The post Two Crypto Exchanges Suspended by Japan’s Financial Regulator appeared first on Bitcoin News.

In financial investing, seasonality refers to price fluctuations that occur in an asset class at the same time intervals year and year again. Seasonality can be found in a range of different assets such as equities, the US dollar, and even bitcoin.

Singapore, 6th April 2018, www.weicrowd.com: WeiCrowd, the go-to platform for ICO standardization and end-to-end ICO life cycle management, is live with its Whitelisting. Launched at the Singapore Blockchain Summit 2018, the platform is gaining appreciation at different summits by Blockchain startups and experts globally. Currently, the platform is offering 80% bonus for the first 3000 KYC verified users with a minimum contribution of 1 ETH.

WeiCrowd as a Token marketplace is powered by its own Exchange and Incubator. The platform helps Blockchain startups to raise successful ICOs and facilitating Token Buyers to select from the best of breed Tokens. WeiCrowd is built of 7 key modules: WeiLauncher, WeiFolio, WeiCubator, WeiX, WeiScrow, WeiCap and WeiScore. All together it aims to address the Key challenges of the Token economy and power up the growth it deserves.

Buying WEIS (WeiCrowd Token) brings the following exclusive benefits to the users:

• WEIS can be liquidated at its own exchange, WeiX.io (Beta) within just two weeks of the ICO end date.
• Whopping 80% discount on trading fees on WeiX Exchange for first 2 years applicable for first 1000 users with a minimum contribution of 5 ETH.
• Early access to private sales and free airdrops of all ICOs on the WeiCrowd Platform to first 5000 contributors with a minimum contribution of 2 ETH.
• 50% service fee discount on the use of WeiCubator for first 1000 buyers of WEIS with a minimum contribution of 10 ETH.
• Zero service fees on the launch of ICOs and 50% discount on Success fee for the first 1000 contributors of minimum 15 ETH each.

Users can avail these exciting bonuses and discounts by opting for WeiCrowd today, the platform which aims to make the Token economy successful.

Join the Whitelist today!

Join Whitelist: https://www.weicrowd.com/whitelist

Read Whitepaper: https://www.weicrowd.com/white-paper

E-mail: [email protected]

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

The first quarter of 2018 was marked with continued protocol layer innovations, with heavy declines in prices across the board. Emerging and recurrent themes included transaction fees, microtransactions, increased fiat on-ramps, and regulatory changes. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S., as well as Japan’s Financial Services Agency(FSA), made sweeping announcements or changes to the cryptocurrency milieu.

Repu, the smart reputation management project, is pleased to welcome the ICO investor and entrepreneur in their Advisory board

REPU, the rating and feedback platform based on decentralized blockchain technology, is expanding its advisory board by welcoming LDJ Capital Chairman David Drake into their team. David will steer  Repu on a number of significant issues such as international business development and investor relations.

Incredible Knowledge and Understanding

David Drake is the highly qualified advisor founder and chairman of LDJ Capital, a family office , that has more than 50 global directors that maintain relations with institutions and family offices with  access to over a trillion worth of assets.

Drake is an expert in the cryptocurrency market and has invested in cryptocurrency even before it  became popular. In 2011, Drake took an active part in developing the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act, the set of underlying laws which inspired the ICO. In 2012, he represented the US Commerce Department at the EU Commission in Brussels and Rome, as well as in the UK Parliament as a speaker.

Taking into account his vast experience in the field of crowdfunding and regulatory framework, Drake was invited to the White House Champions of Change ceremony in Washington D.C. and spoke at the UK Parliament in 2013.

He has given his insights on international conferences and has spoken at the universities of Cambridge, New York, Columbia, and Cornell. His articles are published in the leading financial publications such as Forbes, WSJ, and Thomson Reuters. Having vast experience in business and investment, he published a couple of business books on investment, business, and finance. Drake’s holdings have media partnership with the European Business Angel Network, European Venture Philanthropy Association, and Angel Capital Association of North America.  He sits on four angel networks and has co-founded two angel networks.

“Using blockchain technology, Repu is poised to elevate the already powerful social network into a more formidable assessment tool for its users,” said Drake. “With its smart management platform, Repu has the potential to identify the user’s weaknesses and strengths based on their interaction with the public, whether the user is an individual or a business. I am delighted to be on board to guide Repu in their ICO journey.”

“Considering David’s experience in ICO and cryptocurrency, we are happy to get his support. Having a deep knowledge of law and funding, Drake will provide us with a valuable help on all stages of ICO and platform development. Our team is really excited about working with David Drake,” – REPU Founders.

About REPU

REPU platform is a unique and revolutionary project that aims to create a new smart rating and feedback system, and improve the existing one in social networks.

It is not a secret that social networks became a powerful tool for promotion and advertising. A number of companies use social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram and others to promote their products and services. Moreover, a number of companies use social networks for employee search and vice versa. It is the reason why a rating becomes incredibly important since there are no objective ratings in social networks, but likes instead.

REPU aims to create a platform where information about companies, services, products, and individuals can be rated transparently with the help of a completely new smart decentralized rating and feedback system. The rating can then be used as an assessment tool in various areas of the individual’s life — from professional skills, financial stability, to all possible aspects of behavior and interaction with the public. The information will be based on real people’s rating and feedback. For each feedback, a user will get a certain amount of REPU tokens that will be used within the platform. The REPU platform will help companies reveal the areas of business that should be improved, while users may express their opinion and earn tokens simultaneously.

The REPU private pre-sale is running live now. To find more information about the project and upcoming public pre-sale, and/or to participate in the current private pre-sale, please visit: https://repu.io/

“Nothing is guaranteed in life (but) I’ve never been surer of something that this ends really bad for people.”

The ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Jordan Belfort is convinced that Bitcoin is heading for a fall – although he admits it could still rise to US$50,000 first.

Belfort is far from the only harbinger of doom for Bitcoin – people have been queuing up to call time on the cryptocurrency that captured attention of the world in 2017, with Warren Buffett issuing a similarly gloomy prediction that the Bitcoin bubble will burst. But can it really be the case that Bitcoin has already had its day?

The end of the hype

Bitcoin’s rise in 2017 was certainly eye-catching. Jumping from US$1,000 to US$20,000 defied all expectations. Indeed this rise made everyone sit up and take notice – from experienced economists to rookie traders who could never have previously answered ‘what is a CFD trade?’ but now were keen to invest their cash. It was new, exciting and disruptive.

That initial rush is clearly over now. Once anything gets as big as Bitcoin, critics are always going to be out to knock it from its pedestal with intense scrutiny. The number of transactions – setting aside the price for the moment – has halved since December, even though the price has seen some growth.

That scrutiny has flagged up some facets that people didn’t like: the sheer energy required to mine Bitcoins, for example, was a little too much to stomach for an eco-conscious generation. Then there’s the association with wrongdoing. It might be harsh, but it’s clear that the secrecy and privacy offered by cryptocurrencies does much to attract them to people engaged in some pretty shady behaviour.

The rise of the rivals

Then there’s the fact that Bitcoin isn’t the only show in town. Newer and fresher cryptocurrency rivals have sprung up, catering quite well for those who feel they ‘missed the boat’ as the Bitcoin bubble expanded beyond their spending power. Ethereum is the most established of the up-and-coming rivals, while the likes of Litecoin and Ripple offer greater speed than Bitcoin.

The stronger – and more popular – these rivals become, the more it dilutes the dominance of Bitcoin as the king of the cryptocurrency jungle.

Regulation: The oncoming storm

Perhaps most seriously of all, however, is the fact that regulators are finally starting to catch up with the world of cryptocurrencies. Governments and Central Banks are beginning to flex their muscles, exploring and introducing new rules to curb the practices of the likes of Bitcoin after being caught largely by surprise.

While the new rules haven’t yet been as dramatic as some feared – with talk of outright bans at the turn of the year – the introduction of legislation does suggest that cryptocurrencies will be kept in check. South Korea has led the way so far, but others – including the European Union – have talked of following suit and each whisper and rumour sends a ripple through the market, impacting the price. As The Atlantic noted, “Perhaps that’s the most ironic thing about bitcoin: a system designed to distribute value away from individual authorities is exquisitely sensitive to mere rumors about individual regulators.”

So, is this really the beginning of the end for Bitcoin? It’s important to stress that while the hype has died down and rivals and regulation threaten to undermine its position, these facts don’t necessarily point to an imminent collapse. Even Belfort says there could yet still be some growth left in this story – and any price fall ought to be put in the context of the start of last year. The lowest price for 2018 so far was a little under US$7,000 – still significant growth from January 2017. The advent of regulation might even help Bitcoin, giving cautious investors the confidence that cryptocurrencies are are safe to use.

There are, however, some clear warning signs that no investor should ignore. Given the dramatic shifts we’ve seen so far, it seems that the only safe prediction is that unpredictability beckons for Bitcoin.

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

With April 17th looming large on the financial calendar of most Americans, the 2017 tax year will present some challenging scenarios for many — especially given the number of people who will be accounting for Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies for the first time. Here we ask legal and accounting experts for their take on the crypto tax questions you ‘must ask’ before you file this year’s tax return  

Coinbase exchange has announced that they will add support for the withdrawal of Bitcoin forks. #NEWS

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Chile’s National Energy Commission has recently launched an Ethereum-based trial project to record the nation’s energy sector data. #NEWS