Mastodon

“Venture Capital Working Group” Seeks Select Cryptocurrency “Safe Harbor”

Several venture capitalists (VCs) and entrepreneurs have been petitioning federal authorities to see certain virtual currencies in a “different light.”Right now, many cryptocurrencies are in danger of being class…

“Venture Capital Working Group” Seeks Select Cryptocurrency “Safe Harbor”

Several venture capitalists (VCs) and entrepreneurs have been petitioning federal authorities to see certain virtual currencies in a “different light.”

Right now, many cryptocurrencies are in danger of being classified as “securities,” which would place them under strict regulatory scrutiny. Working to change this, venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures have gathered a team of lawyers and investors known as the “Venture Capital Working Group” to meet with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to develop what they call a “safe harbor” for specific digital currencies and establish long-term proposals for how they should be viewed and handled.

The New York Times alleges that several regulators are considering placing well-known cryptocurrencies — including ether, the world’s second-largest digital asset — in the securities category, which may cause their prices to fall drastically.

Richard Levin, a lawyer who’s worked with various blockchain and cryptocurrency ventures, described the meeting as “crucial” to the safety of digital assets and their respective users.

“It’s a ‘come to the lord’ moment,” he explained. “We are seeing a watershed moment in which many firms in the digital asset community who may have been ignorant of the law — or poorly informed — are now coming to terms with the fact that they are subject to regulators.”

While details surrounding the meeting remain largely confidential, the group says it’s trying to garner “utility token” classifications for many specific cryptocurrencies.

Many virtual entities have been introduced through initial coin offerings (ICOs). The process involves a team of entrepreneurs selling these virtual assets to raise funds for future projects. Generally, these currencies work as “internal payment methods” in the software the entrepreneurs create.

For a coin to classify as a security, users who buy it must have the opportunity to transform money into capital and garner profit by owning the asset without taking physical possession of it.

Securities are typically designed to be “shares” or stakes in a company, while utility tokens represent “access to [a] company’s product or service.” In bearing more practical uses, utility tokens are usually exempt from securities regulations.

Since 2017, over $6 billion in revenue have been generated through initial coin offerings, and most trade via unregulated exchange platforms. Many investors claim that these coins, in serving as payment methods, carry utilities, and should not be classified as securities or investment contracts.

But Jay Clayton — chairman of the SEC — disagrees, and believes every token offered through an ICO should be officially “registered as a security.” Very few are, and the SEC has sent dozens of subpoenas to both individuals and ventures involved in cryptocurrency, requesting data regarding how certain digital assets were marketed or issued.

Investments that fall into the securities category must have paperwork filed with registered exchanges. For the most part, entities like bitcoin, litecoin and monero can’t be placed here, as they were not originally distributed through ICOs. Furthermore, new coins are given daily to computers that work to extract them and maintain current networks.

While ether now follows a similar pattern, the coin is still in danger, primarily due to Ethereum’s past of garnering funds through ether token “presales” — events now classified as ICOs. The Venture Capital Working Group is arguing that ether “has become so decentralized,” it should not be labeled as a security, and that should it ever achieve “full decentralization,” it must be exempt from all future securities laws.

The group says it has the support of many “key players” in the digital currency and blockchain arena. Nevertheless, regulators have been slow to accept the proposal, and at press time, it is unclear what results will arise. Bitcoin Magazine will provide further updates on this story as they occur.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

This Year’s ICO Funding Has Exceeded All of 2017

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) continue to rise in popularity; in the first three months of 2018, ICOs have managed to generate more money than they did for the entirety of 2017. According to the data collected by CoinDesk, that figure sits at USD 6.3 billion, 118% of the 2017 total. It appears that despite the …

The post This Year’s ICO Funding Has Exceeded All of 2017 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) continue to rise in popularity; in the first three months of 2018, ICOs have managed to generate more money than they did for the entirety of 2017. According to the data collected by CoinDesk, that figure sits at USD 6.3 billion, 118% of the 2017 total.

It appears that despite the numerous minor and higher profile controversies that ICOs have been tied to, the digital funding method is rapidly gaining confidence across the board. In the winter of 2017, the markets were piping hot and yet, ICOs were cooling off.

Uncertainties caused by ICO bans were partly to blame for the dip in confidence, especially the prohibitions from South Korea and China which are two very prominent market forces. This news further fuelled the doubt of cryptocurrencies and the technology being stifled entirely, but as the numbers show, ICOs are thriving.

ICOs on the rise

The data reveals a month-on-month increase from December, which was at USD 1.44 billion. In January, that figure rose to USD 1.79 billion; in February it grew to USD 2.38 billion, a significant rise which preceded a minor dip in March which brought in USD 2.15 billion.

The leap in the numbers can be attributed to the increased size and rate of the average ICO; Q1 of 2018 has already launched 59% of the total ICOs that were launched the previous year. However, it is important to note that the figure is slightly skewed – Telegram had a gigantic ICO which raised USD 1.7 billion, but minus that figure and Q1 2018 ICOs stand at 85% of the 2017 total, which is still no small feat.

So far in 2018, 200 ICOs have taken place, (343 in total for 2017) and most of them are raising less than USD 100 million.

Growing a global ICO consensus

The US has also provided positive insights into future attitudes towards ICOs; the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Jay Clayton made comments suggesting that ICOs are securities, and can be classified and regulated as such, reducing risk and encouraging blockchain entrepreneurship.

It’s is widely understood that ICOs carry a high risk for investors, especially to those looking in from traditional investment positions. At the heart of the ICO issue is global regulatory uncertainty. Without a global consensus on how to legally operate and tax ICOs, the modern digital fundraising method will still have some hurdles to overcome.

As the year rolls on, conversations regarding ICO and cryptocurrency regulations have gone from skepticism to intriguingly progressive sentiment; France, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and other countries are looking to make ICOs and their related technologies safe and fair for investors. They have the foresight to see that the technology will flourish should the “bad actors” within the industry be forced to work within legal, regulatory frameworks.

 

The post This Year’s ICO Funding Has Exceeded All of 2017 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Cofounder’s FINRA Suspension Could Hold Consequences for Tezos

When Arthur Breitman, cofounder of Tezos, published a white paper on the cryptocurrency project in September 2014, he listed the author as L.M. Goodman. Later, when Breitman disclosed that he was the real author …

Cofounder’s FINRA Suspension Could Hold Consequences for Tezos

When Arthur Breitman, cofounder of Tezos, published a white paper on the cryptocurrency project in September 2014, he listed the author as L.M. Goodman. Later, when Breitman disclosed that he was the real author behind the work, many wondered why he used a pseudonym. 

As it turned out, at the same time he started working on Tezos, a project that went on to raise $232 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) in July 2017, Breitman was working at investment bank Morgan Stanley. He was also registered as a broker-dealer with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory body with oversight of dealers and brokers in the U.S.

FINRA requires registered securities professionals to let their employers know about any for-profit business they are conducting on the sidelines. Breitman, who left Morgan Stanley in 2016 and is no longer registered with FINRA, neglected to inform his employer about Tezos, and the fact he used a pseudonym on the white paper indicates he may have been trying to conceal his involvement.

These and other details of the Tezos project were brought to light in October 2017, when Reuters published a full report on the project, thereby putting Tezos on the radar of regulatory bodies, such as FINRA and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Now, according to an April 19, 2018, report by Reuters, as part of an April 18, 2018, settlement, FINRA has fined Breitman $20,000 and suspended him from associating with broker-dealers for two years over allegations that he made false statements about the Tezos project during his time at Morgan Stanley.

The question is, how big a deal are these punishments, and will they have any impact going forward on the Tezos project, which has yet to launch?

Relatively Small Fine

FINRA and SEC fines are not uncommon. Anyone who checks the broker records of institutions like RBC, Vanguard and Bank of America, where people in the U.S. and Canada place their money, will see that these financial firms all have dings against them, and, just as Breitman did, most individuals settle by either not confirming or denying the charges.

A look at FINRA’s monthly rundown of disciplinary actions makes it clear that Breitman’s fine of $20,000 is on the low end. Many more of the fines are in the range of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. In comparison, this fine appears to be nothing more than a minor slap on the wrist.

More notable is the fact that Breitman was barred from the securities industry for two years. Few people are barred from the securities industry for any length of time, and two years is an upper limit, according to FINRA’s sanction guidelines, which states that “absent extraordinary circumstances, any misconduct so serious as to merit a suspension of more than two years probably should warrant a bar (of an individual) or expulsion (of a member firm) from the securities industry.”  

Potential Problems

By definition, a broker-dealer is someone who facilitates security trades on behalf of  investors. The ban essentially means that Breitman cannot associate with any company that is buying or selling securities over the next two years, unless he gets a special waiver. Even then, he cannot be directly associated with the business aspect (deals, committee meetings, financial activities, etc.) of a securities-related company.

If the Tezos tokens, known as “tezzies,” are deemed a security, this may pose a problem for Tezos down the road. Earlier this year, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton stated that all ICO tokens were securities. Some venture capitalists are lobbying for exemptions for some tokens, but currently the SEC is classifying all ICOs as securities. If the SEC issues a ruling to that effect, then all ICO projects would then have to register with the SEC.

What that means is, if Breitman is suspended by the industry, he may have to eventually distance himself from the Tezos project. Robert Hockett, Edward Cornell Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, told Bitcoin Magazine that if Tezos is engaged in a business that the SEC deems to be the securities business, then Breitman will not be permitted to have any affiliation of that sort with that company, “or maybe better put, that company will not be allowed to be associated with him in any way,” he said.

Tezos actually consists of two entities: Tezos Foundation, a Zug-based nonprofit that oversaw the Tezos ICO; and Dynamic Ledger Solutions (DLS), a Delaware-based company under the control of Breitman and his wife, Kathleen Breitman, that owns and oversees the development of the Tezos software. Although the two entities are separate, they are also connected; for instance, the Breitmans went after the Tezos Foundation last year to get its former president deposed. If DLS is shown to be profiting off the buying and selling of securities, then Breitman may be restricted from actively participating in the business.

Hockett warns, “The securities laws and the SEC define ‘affiliation’ broadly for these purposes.” More importantly, he also points out that “we won’t know the full scope of Mr. Breitman’s suspension until the FINRA order is made public.”  

In a statement to Reuters, Sarah Lightdale, an attorney for Breitman, played down the settlement. “The settlement with FINRA is unrelated to and has no impact on the launch of the Tezos network,” she said. Then added, “Arthur cooperated fully with FINRA at all times and Arthur is pleased to put this personal matter behind him.”

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

No More Monkey Business: OpenMineral Is Bringing Mining out of the Stone Age and onto the Blockchain

bitcoin miningAs we begin to enter into Industry 4.0, we are leaving old technology, business practices, and markets behind. The digital age has allowed the commodities industry to use the most complex machinery ever made, handling the toughest minerals in the toughest conditions. However, many of the industry’s commercial aspects remain stuck in the Stone Age due to convoluted, archaic systems which feature middlemen and a general lack of transparency. Smelting Out The Issues These archaic practices are a hindrance to both buyers and sellers in the industry, as true pricing is sometimes hard to determine, while commodity traders (middlemen) are making increasingly large

bitcoin mining

As we begin to enter into Industry 4.0, we are leaving old technology, business practices, and markets behind. The digital age has allowed the commodities industry to use the most complex machinery ever made, handling the toughest minerals in the toughest conditions. However, many of the industry’s commercial aspects remain stuck in the Stone Age due to convoluted, archaic systems which feature middlemen and a general lack of transparency.

Smelting Out The Issues

These archaic practices are a hindrance to both buyers and sellers in the industry, as true pricing is sometimes hard to determine, while commodity traders (middlemen) are making increasingly large profits thanks to this lack of transparency. That’s where something like Open Mineral Exchange (OME) comes into play. OME is an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of physical commodities, allowing miners and smelters to competitively sell and source metal concentrates directly, without the intermediaries. This keeps pricing true and opens up entirely new conversations which can be beneficial to the industry as a whole.

With over 3,800 known minerals on Earth, there is still a lot we have to discover and uncover about them. Their properties and potential value are still up in the air, but what we do know is that commodities like zinc, lead, copper, gold, and silver are valuable right here, right now. OME gives those who understand the market a place to discuss these minerals and their value, without the influence of trading fees and markups.

Leveling The Playing Field

It’s time to bring vendors, buyers, and sellers together on a field that is equal for all. Open Mineral Exchange brings together sellers and buyers, as well as mining and metals companies, allowing them to transact directly and securely, without intermediaries, to improve their profitability.

“By dealing directly, mines and smelters can tender and source metal concentrates through the exchange without an intermediary, increasing their profitability and efficiency of execution,” said Ilya Chernilovskiy, Co-Founder and COO of Open Mineral Exchange.

Most importantly, increasing the speed at which transactions are done is beneficial to all, as assay certification, bills of lading, and letters of credit are all digitized on the platform. This not only saves valuable time, but it also allows for an increased level of transparency, thanks to the blockchain. All parties can track contract execution, past sales, and the physical movements of materials to get a better understanding of the process, all while staying on top of the commodity movements.

Streamlining Revenue Streams

It’s time for companies in industries like energy, transportation, and healthcare to embrace fast-moving change, all the while providing a multitude of low-cost tech initiatives. It’s a big world out there, and industries need to adapt to the growing world of blockchain, transparency, and accessibility. Focusing on these areas will not only improve the process and experience for those involved, but it should also increase and expand revenue streams thanks to a streamlined process and open dialogue between those involved.

According to the Metals & Mining Global Industry Guide 2017-2021, the global metals and mining industry had a total revenue of $1.8 billion in 2016. The market size of the free trade of base metal concentrates exceeds $80 billion. It’s time for us to leave the caves in which we first started and find new ways to explore and exchange minerals. Blockchain could very well be the answer.

Expected Next In Line Fed President Claims Bitcoin Doesn’t Pass Test for a Currency

The current head of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank has become the latest to speak out against bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, claiming that they don’t pass the test for a currency. Cryptocurrencies Fail Test Speaking during a speech on Friday, John Williams, named to take over from William Dudley as the New York Federal Reserve president

The post Expected Next In Line Fed President Claims Bitcoin Doesn’t Pass Test for a Currency appeared first on NewsBTC.

The current head of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank has become the latest to speak out against bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, claiming that they don’t pass the test for a currency.

Cryptocurrencies Fail Test

Speaking during a speech on Friday, John Williams, named to take over from William Dudley as the New York Federal Reserve president in June, argued that ‘cryptocurrency doesn’t pass the basic test of what a currency should be.’ According to Williams, a currency should have ‘a store of value,’ and that they should be able to support different financial and economic conditions, reports CNBC.

Williams said:

The setup or institutional arrangement around bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, first of all they have problems with fraud, problems with money laundering, terror financing. There’s a lot of problems there.

His comments come at a time when bitcoin has been experiencing a surge in value over the past few days. According to CoinMarketCap, the number one cryptocurrency is trading at over $8,500 – at the time of publishing – pushing its market cap back up to $144.4 billion. However, it remains a far cry from December highs when it was trading within touching distance of $20,000.

Yet, even though the market saw the worst first quarter for bitcoin’s value in its history in the first three months of 2018, with market conditions elsewhere showing significant declines, optimism remains. Just yesterday it was reported that now is a good time to purchase bitcoin, with the bear market seemingly over, according to one hedge fund manager. Not only that, but one researcher has projected that the price of bitcoin could likely soar to $25,000 by the end of 2018.

Despite, this, however, Williams doesn’t appear to have much faith in the market, conceding that his views are ‘very biased’ considering he’s spent most of his career in the central banking world. In his opinion, ‘the idea of the supply of currency and thinking about currency really belongs more in the sphere of government and central banks.’

Interestingly, while some bankers appear to be arguing against cryptocurrencies and their steady growth into the mainstream, they seem to be failing to deal with the $164 trillion global debt problem, a figure reported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Yesterday, it was questioned whether bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could be the answer that the banking world needs to solve the issue. It remains to be seen whether or not that is the case; however, it begs the question: if the banking world can’t do it, isn’t it time someone else tried?

Image from Shutterstock.

The post Expected Next In Line Fed President Claims Bitcoin Doesn’t Pass Test for a Currency appeared first on NewsBTC.

UN Gets $2.4M from Belgium for Blockchain Food Plan

The World Food Program (WFP) announced on 19 April that it had received a USD 2.4 million contribution from Belgium towards a program to finance blockchain solutions to fight global hunger. The Belgian donation will be used to expand research of the WFP’s blockchain solutions in addition to its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) project used …

The post UN Gets $2.4M from Belgium for Blockchain Food Plan appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The World Food Program (WFP) announced on 19 April that it had received a USD 2.4 million contribution from Belgium towards a program to finance blockchain solutions to fight global hunger.

The Belgian donation will be used to expand research of the WFP’s blockchain solutions in addition to its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) project used for topographical data collection.

Belgian deputy prime minister and minister for development cooperation, Alexander De Croo, has calculated that more than 128 million worldwide will need humanitarian support this year.

“Only by finding better ways to deliver aid more efficiently will we close the gap between requirements and aid delivery on the ground,” De Croo said. “Belgium lauds the efforts of WFP to come up with innovative solutions to save more lives and help more people in need.”

WFP chief of staff Rehan Asad has expressed his gratitude towards Belgium, commenting that organizations must continue “to harness the most promising digital technologies in the service of the world’s most vulnerable people.”

Using blockchain technology is not new to UN agencies. In 2017 the WFP launched an Ethereum-based payment pilot in Jordan, ‘Building Blocks’, which allowed effective transfer of cash payments to Syrians in Jordan’s refugee camps.

The UN continues to embrace new technologies in its fight against poverty, displacement, and hunger. Drones have recently been used in Mozambique, where WFP-supplied aerial vehicles were able to send flood analysis data on ahead allowing mass movement of people before they could be affected by flooding, avoiding loss of life.

The WFP, with a declared challenge of “zero hunger by 2030”, is not the only UN agency to utilize blockchain technology. The UN Office for Project Services now has a blockchain working group which includes the UN Children’s Fund and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The WFP states that it has made “great progress” in reducing hunger around the world: “There are 216 million fewer hungry people than in 1990-92, despite a 1.9 billion increase in the world’s population.”

The World Food Programme is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security. According to the WFP, it provides food assistance to an average of 80 million people in 76 countries each year.

 

The post UN Gets $2.4M from Belgium for Blockchain Food Plan appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Talking Crypto, Advisory Boards, and ‘BlockNauts’ With Influencer Justin Wu

I had the opportunity to sit down with blockchain expert and entrepreneur Justin Wu, who is the Head of Growth and brilliant mind behind CoinCircle. Wu is also a strategic advisor to some of the industry’s top ICOs, and explained the importance of putting together an advisory board and utilizing these advisors when entering the crypto space. If there’s one thing you need to know, it’s that most of these ventures are based on a promise to deliver. “A whitepaper, in its most form, is a concept and idea, nothing more,” says Wu. Most of these guys haven’t built the utility

I had the opportunity to sit down with blockchain expert and entrepreneur Justin Wu, who is the Head of Growth and brilliant mind behind CoinCircle. Wu is also a strategic advisor to some of the industry’s top ICOs, and explained the importance of putting together an advisory board and utilizing these advisors when entering the crypto space.

If there’s one thing you need to know, it’s that most of these ventures are based on a promise to deliver. “A whitepaper, in its most [simple] form, is a concept and idea, nothing more,” says Wu. Most of these guys haven’t built the utility yet, but they are able to make their deck look nice with multiple pages. You still have to wait for the execution and utility to the space.

Entering Industry 4.0

As we are at the beginning stages of Industry 4.0, we still have a long way to go before we can truly argue that our world has been ‘digitized’. Wu believes that the industry is still limited by the blockchain platforms themselves, which need to be sorted out. “Before we see the transformation into Industry 4.0, or attempt to tokenize everything out in the real world, we need to make sure these blockchain platforms are solid,” says Wu.

The world can be tokenized in some sense, which opens up doors, allowing for ownership of multiple aspects of different spaces and the ability to democratize content in ways we never thought possible.

Acceleration Through Advisory Boards

When it comes to blockchain technology and the crypto space, Wu believes that having a tight advisory board can make all the difference.

Operating in an industry with people who don’t have the experience or level of expertise necessary to help grow the business is problematic and troubling. “Advisors can accelerate through the whole process of building a crypto venture,” Wu emphasizes. Why? Because running a token sale requires covering a lot of bases. For example, you’re looking at token economics, crowdsales, legal knowledge, and even utilizing smart contracts. This is all new stuff.

As an entrepreneur, bringing in a board allows you to unlock doors and put the necessary connections in place, all while having the proper advisors by your side, guiding you.

The background of your advisor(s) determines the speed at which mentorship can happen. The more an entrepreneur inundates themselves in the space and understands it more than the average Joe, the more credibility you will acquire.

You Are The Weakest Link, Goodbye!

Maturity

“The industry is really lacking maturity still,” says Wu. Since the explosion in early 2017, most players are legal experts, business executives, developers, and marketing/growth. It’s still a young industry.

Wu believes that everyone is in the same boat, in that “everyone is still green.” and that there are very few true experts in the space. With any new industry, there are always bad actors who enter into the space and prey on new players’ vulnerabilities and inexperience.

The space needs more mature players from different industries and fields to come in, collaborate, and unite the marketplace. Otherwise, the space is just comprised of inexperienced, young investors who are promising to change things, with no real understanding or experience in how to execute.

Inability To Provide Real-World Context

The problem with many token sales and even post-ICOs is that there is still a lack of real-world context. Most of the time, the company or token doesn’t have the experience, contacts, or any real ability to connect the dots in whatever industry it promises to enhance. “Take e-commerce, for example. Does the team behind the venture or token even have e-commerce experience to connect those dots in the real world?” asks Wu. They can build whatever tools they need, but if they don’t have the experience in the industry, then those tools are ultimately worthless.

Another question Wu presents is whether these companies have the necessary ‘buy-in’ from major players in the space. Wu has encountered many such opportunities since he’s entered the space, most notably CoinCircle’s partnership with Unikrn Gold, the world’s top regulated e-sports betting platform, and Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban.

Lack of User Acquisition Leads To A Failure To Execute

At the end of the day, the goal is to have user acquisition. But that’s not what we are seeing today. Instead, we have early investors monitoring their tokens, with no real utility as promised. Thus, there is no execution, and everyone who invested is out money that they will probably never see again.

Wu and I agreed that when entering the space, one must analyze a venture the same as they would any other investment or startup. You can build a great application, but if you can’t provide real-world experience, context, and utility, then you can’t break through, regardless of how much money you’ve raised. That’s the big issue with the majority of the tokens that have been launched.

Playing Ball With Regulatory Agencies

“It’s important[,] if you’re in this space, to be compliant with agencies like the SEC,” emphasizes Wu. If you’re going down the security token path, it changes a lot of things in terms of how you go about building the applications. Not every token is a security. They just don’t have utility when they go out and sell, which is the biggest issue faced by the SEC right now.

Wu Launches ‘BlockNauts’ To Help Post-ICOs Down The Right Path

Wu is a strategic advisor to many ICOs. With his latest venture, Blocknauts, which is short for “blockchain astronauts,” he felt the need to search the industry for those post-ICO companies that are actually going out and building applications.

“We see these companies going out and raising $40-50 million, but their team size hasn’t changed,” says Wu. What these tokens are missing is that overall community building brand. Wu’s vision entails building such a community for the blockchain sector, hosting conferences and events that provide utility and knowledge to those in the space, which will ultimately allow for the creation of new content.

Uniting The Global Marketplace

We are now seeing disruption and a potential flip in a lot of different industries, with individuals starting to focus on owning their data, giving and trading value, and, of course, the creation of that value.

Blockchain technology has incentivized people to be more collaborative across industries and in other aspects of the world. The intersection of blockchain with cryptocurrency has started to unite global markets, despite differences in operations (e.g., fintech, regtech, and so on).

Connecting With The Space

“The best way to know if a promise is real is to go and find those people working on meaningful blockchain projects,” says Wu. This past year alone, Wu has targeted protocol and core developers, allowing him to be closer to reality and farther from the hype.

“I’ve been making that effort to go to these events, like hackathons, and meeting people developing at the top of the protocol, finding out what projects are going on and who is involved,” says Wu.

It’s the only way to separate hype from reality.

“Big Bitcoin Heist” Fugitive Flees Iceland, Pens Letter Saying He Wants to Go Home

The man who escaped custody in Iceland and got on a passenger plane that was carrying the country’s prime minister says he ‘will be back soon.’ Sindri Thor Stefansson was being detained for his suspected role as the mastermind behind the February theft of 600 cryptocurrency mining rigs, being one of the 11 people arrested

The post “Big Bitcoin Heist” Fugitive Flees Iceland, Pens Letter Saying He Wants to Go Home appeared first on NewsBTC.

The man who escaped custody in Iceland and got on a passenger plane that was carrying the country’s prime minister says he ‘will be back soon.’

Sindri Thor Stefansson was being detained for his suspected role as the mastermind behind the February theft of 600 cryptocurrency mining rigs, being one of the 11 people arrested in what has been dubbed the ‘Big Bitcoin Heist.’

Stefansson escaped Sogn open prison in southern Iceland earlier this week and made his way to Keflavik International Airport. He then took a flight to Sweden with a ticket under another man’s name. An international warrant has been issued for his arrest.

In a recently penned letter, Stefansson has claimed he is not guilty and that he had been held in Iceland without trial. According to the letter, he is planning to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights. He added that talks are under way with Iceland’s police to allow him to return.

Stefansson’s Letter

In his letter to Iceland’s Frettabladid newspaper, Stefansson said he was not serving a sentence in Iceland and that his period of custody had run out. He claims he was told on Monday that he was actually free to go, but that the police, without explanation, would arrest him if he left the prison.

“I simply refuse to be in prison of my own free will, especially when the police threaten to arrest me without explanation,” he said in the letter, where he claimed that he was forced to sign a statement agreeing to remain in custody.

“I’m not trying to say that it was the right decision to leave, I really regret it… I didn’t expect an international arrest warrant to be issued against me, as I was legally free to leave, and believed it was out of the question that I would be labelled a fugitive. I would never have done this if I didn’t believe I was a free man.”

According to Stefansson, there was no evidence that he was involved in the mining rig heist, ‘only suspicion.’

While being careful not to reveal where he is currently hiding, he wrote that he has ‘a roof over my head, a car, false papers if I want them, and money,’ and that he could be on the run as long as he likes.

“It would be no problem if that’s what I wanted, but I would rather face this in Iceland, so I’ll be back soon,” he claims. Icelandic officials have not yet commented on the letter.

Case Against Stefansson

The cryptocurrency mining rigs in question were stolen during four raids on data centers around Iceland earlier this year. Iceland is a popular location for mining operations because almost 100% of the power generated in the Nordic country comes from renewable resources.

Unlike the large majority of thefts, with mining rigs there is a strong impetus for criminals to keep the stolen goods. Selling them would attract attention and their use can be highly profitable, particularly in a nation that has both cheap electricity and a cool climate (mining rigs consume vast quantities of electricity which this causes them to heat up).

Icelandic police have been monitoring electricity consumption patterns since the thefts. They have also called upon local internet service providers, electricians, and owners of storage units to report any suspicious behavior. The mining rigs, still missing, are worth $2 million.

Image from Shutterstock.

The post “Big Bitcoin Heist” Fugitive Flees Iceland, Pens Letter Saying He Wants to Go Home appeared first on NewsBTC.

UK MP Talks of Blockchain’s “Monumental Impact”

British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Matt Hancock delivered a speech to the Law Society yesterday and commented that blockchain technology will have a “monumental impact” on people’s lives in the future. At London’s Blockchain Conference held on 19 April, the MP spoke of “vast areas of public life” which he predicted blockchain would transform: …

The post UK MP Talks of Blockchain’s “Monumental Impact” appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Matt Hancock delivered a speech to the Law Society yesterday and commented that blockchain technology will have a “monumental impact” on people’s lives in the future.

At London’s Blockchain Conference held on 19 April, the MP spoke of “vast areas of public life” which he predicted blockchain would transform: the financial sector, government services, and laws and regulation.

The MP pointed out that in June 2017, the UK’s top ten publicly-traded fintech businesses crossed the 100 billion dollar market at a value of GBP 71 billion. He went on to illustrate that it was blockchain which was the most important emerging technology and that UK financial regulators were leading the world in encouraging innovation.

Hancock suggested in his speech that blockchain technology could solve many of the worlds social challenges and cited the World Food Programme Ethereum Blockchain aid initiative as an example. The program has transferred cryptocurrency-based vouchers to 10,000 refugees in Syria, enabling them to buy cash-free provisions.

On the UK domestic front, Hancock outlined how the UK Government’s Digital Strategy demonstrates how Britain could become “the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business and to trial new technologies like blockchain”.

In terms of regulatory barriers, currently being enforced by nations as the technology becomes more of a significant entity among financial systems, the Conservative MP said that the UK government wanted regulators to be “alert and responsive” as well as “supportive” of new technology.

He concluded with a mention of the challenges ahead: “Blockchain poses real and searching questions… What role do nation states have when setting frameworks for these decentralized, cross-border systems? And how do we address the challenges of smart contracts, when computer coding needs specificity and the law often needs interpretation?”

Due to the enormous growth in interest in new crypto assets like Bitcoin, the UK government has created a Cryptoassets Taskforce, consisting of the Treasury, Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority.

 

The post UK MP Talks of Blockchain’s “Monumental Impact” appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Main Token Generation Event Announced By Decentralized Hada DBank After A Successful Initial Event

Hada DBank is the world’s first Blockchain based Islamic Bank that is specifically designed to cater the needs of Muslims in the banking and financial world Why Islamic Bank? Faith plays a major role in many people’s lives and sometimes the set rules can clash with the daily routine of things. In Islam, there is …

The post Main Token Generation Event Announced By Decentralized Hada DBank After A Successful Initial Event appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Hada DBank is the world’s first Blockchain based Islamic Bank that is specifically designed to cater the needs of Muslims in the banking and financial world

Why Islamic Bank?

Faith plays a major role in many people’s lives and sometimes the set rules can clash with the daily routine of things. In Islam, there is a fundamental rule of interest and treating money as a commodity being forbidden. The Islamic principles of investment and loans also work on a rule of profit and loss sharing.

These rules are in conflict with the current banking systems. When it comes to banking, Muslims either avoid it or are forced to use banks that are not aligned with their faith. The team behind that Malaysian startup realized a huge gap in the banking sector and have devised a Blockchain powered Islamic banking system to cater for this huge market.

Token Event After Event

Hada DBank’s solution has been widely praised and this is none more evident from its recent initial token distribution event, which saw investment of nearly $3,000,000 with 113,000,000 HADAcoins being grabbed. After a popular demand, the event was extended for two weeks and the soft cap was easily achieved by 15th March.

The banking platform is now preparing for its main token generation event, which is set to start on 1st of May. The event is parted into several stages, with each stage having different token values for backers. The first stage will last a month and end on 31st May. The rate of HADAcoins will be announced a few days before the event’s start.

The bank accepts and supports multiple fiat and cryptos, but it users who will use its own HADAcoin for transactions and investment will be given discounted rates. The coin is based on the Ethereum’s architecture and is ERC20 standard compliant, making it extremely safe and secure to use.

The platform will also be releasing its first MVP before commencement of the event.

What Makes Hada DBank So Great?

Hada DBank, as a decentralized Islamic bank, is aiming to revolutionize the banking sector by infusing Sharia compliant banking services with Blockchain, offering great services with lightning fast and cheaper alternatives to traditional banking.

The bank offers:

  • Free e-wallets and banking accounts.
  • Fiat and major cryptocurrency services.
  • Debit cards (plastic and e-cards)
  • Full fledged crypto exchange.
  • Interest free loans and advances.
  • AI financial advisory services.
  • One third money in banks backed by actual assets such as gold, diamonds and other precious metals.

Other Achievements

The Islamic bank is making news around the world and a number of important deals have been struck. Hada DBank made an agreement last February with digital exchange F1 Cryptos to list its token.

David Drake, a venture capitalist has also joined the team as an advisor recently and DE Asset Management, another investment firm has made a deal of $500,000 to be invested in the Blockchain bank.

For more information on the decentralized Islamic Bank, visit their website: https://www.hada-dbank.com/

The post Main Token Generation Event Announced By Decentralized Hada DBank After A Successful Initial Event appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race: This Canadian Exchange Is Leading the Way on Regulation

Canadian ExchangeThere’s nothing that sends shock waves through the crypto markets like the prospect of regulation. And there’s also nothing so hard to establish on a global scale. After all, how can you regulate something when you can’t agree on what category it falls into, and when laws vary across jurisdictions and cultures? One Canadian exchange, Coinsquare, is taking an interesting approach that just might prove that in this fast-paced industry, slow and steady wins the race. The Canadian Cryptocurrency Market Canada is a country that believes in the potential of cryptocurrencies (the Bank of Canada even explored creating its own digital currency toward the end of

Canadian Exchange

There’s nothing that sends shock waves through the crypto markets like the prospect of regulation. And there’s also nothing so hard to establish on a global scale. After all, how can you regulate something when you can’t agree on what category it falls into, and when laws vary across jurisdictions and cultures? One Canadian exchange, Coinsquare, is taking an interesting approach that just might prove that in this fast-paced industry, slow and steady wins the race.

The Canadian Cryptocurrency Market

Canada is a country that believes in the potential of cryptocurrencies (the Bank of Canada even explored creating its own digital currency toward the end of last year), and Bill C-31 recommends that all digital currency companies register with the regulatory authority, FINTRAC. Moreover, the OSC (Ontario Securities Commission) recently announced their intention to draft innovative regulation in 2018.

Despite all this, not everyone’s playing ball. Coinsquare, in fact, is one of the only regulated trading platforms in the country. They self-submitted themselves to FINTRAC and are now fully regulated as a money services business (MSB).

Long-Term Vision

There’s a pragmatic wisdom about Coinsquare’s founder and president Virgil Rostant, and CEO Cole Diamond, that most of their competitors don’t have. Looking back to Mt. Gox and the inexperience and mismanagement that led to its demise, Coinsquare was founded with a mission to do exactly the opposite.

Cole explains, “Virgil saw what happened at Mt. Gox; he saw it as both a failed cryptocurrency exchange in terms of lack of security and in terms of internal mismanagement control. He felt he could do a better job, so he built his own.”

Inserting themselves in the market just in time for it to take off, Coinsquare hired their first employee in April of last year, and have since become a team of 140. As well as focusing on security and mismanagement control, Virgil took a strong stance on regulation from the start. “If you’re not compliant with local regulation, your business is at risk,” Cole states simply.

And Coinsquare isn’t in the market for in-and-out profit. They aim to be around for the long haul, favoring slow and steady growth over rapid international expansion – an approach that seriously curbs their earning power.

Says Cole, “We pay a price for moving significantly slower than a lot of our international competitors. Our position is, don’t make a mistake so we can be around for the long haul.”

As a platform that’s open in Canada to Canadian customers, only accepts money from Canadian financial institutions, and abides by all existing regulations, Coinsquare is fully compliant. However, they “leave a lot of money on the table by taking this approach – some 98 percent of the world market and trading volume.”

So, why limit their potential profit when they could easily open up their customer base?

Expansion Through Partnership

“One of the biggest problems is that the AML rules are different between Canada and Colombia, Colombia and South Africa, and certainly South Africa and the US. So when you accept funds from all around the world, there could be an issue from local regulators in different jurisdictions.”  

Instead of building one international platform while unfamiliar with the regulatory authorities in any other country, they decided to find partners in various locations around the world instead, and power those platforms. The first of these partnerships will come to light over the next few months in the EU, and the second in the United States in June.

These partners will comply with all regulations in their jurisdictions. That may mean listing different coins, using different payment rails, and fulfilling different AML requirements. But by partnering with fully compliant businesses in their areas, Coinsquare creates a closed loop system in which each country takes its own position in terms of regulation, what can be listed and what can’t.

“I think this is a model that could apply to all countries,” says Cole. “Worldwide regulation isn’t something that’s going to happen in 10 years or even 20 years, which is why we’ve taken the approach that we have. We could be making major dollars, significant dollars, we could be doing those numbers, and we’re not so that we can be around for the long term. But we believe that a lot of international platforms will be pulling out as we go in.”

Russia’s Supreme Court Orders Review of Crypto Website Ban

Russia’s supreme court has ordered a municipal court in St. Petersburg to consider an appeal from a blocked cryptocurrency information site.

Russia’s supreme court has ordered a municipal court in St. Petersburg to consider an appeal from a blocked cryptocurrency information site.