Day: May 30, 2018

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

The Supreme Court of South Korea has confiscated 191 Bitcoins, worth approximately USD 1.43 million at time of writing, from the owner of a child pornography website.

The 33-year old suspect referred to as ‘Ahn’ had been previously arrested and indicted in May 2014 for violation of the Protection of Children and Juveniles From Sexual Abuse Law. Ahn was also previously sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined a further 696 million Korean won (KRW) by a lower court, which has been confirmed by both the high court and the Supreme Court.

First cryptocurrency confiscation

As reported by Yonhap News: “The Supreme Court upheld an appellate court’s conviction for a child pornography site operator, handing down a sentence of 18 months in prison, a forfeit of 191 Bitcoins and a penalty of 696 million won (USD 644,000).”

According to The Korea Times, since 2013, Ahn had distributed 235,000 illegal pictures online and generated KRW 1.9 billion from the website; after his sentencing, prosecutors argued that the 216 Bitcoins in his possession were illegally earned and pressed for them to be seized as cyber assets. This was then ruled against by a lower court as Bitcoins had no physical form.

However, an appeal was made and a high court agreed with the prosecution; ruling in their favour, the high court said that the cyber assets could be treated as profit earned from trade in goods. It deemed 191 out of those 216 were payment for illegal content.

The Supreme Court of South Korea said: “The cryptocurrency is recognized to have value so it can be confiscated.”

This is the first time cryptocurrency has been subject to confiscation in the country, and now it has solidified the classification of tokens; now South Korea’s government has a solid grounding to recognize and classify the value of or cryptocurrencies.

The ruling carries broader implications for present and future criminal cases that have cryptocurrencies tied to them; there is a significant ongoing case involving a mining scam with approximately USD 250 million worth of Ether tied to it.

Several individuals have had South Korean prosecutors file charges against them, they and the associated US-based cryptocurrency mining firm are accused of committing fraud by soliciting money from South Korean nationals and international investors.

Previously the South Korean exchange Upbit had been raided by authorities under the suspicion that is was carrying out fraudulent activities. Bitcoin News also reported other cryptocurrency related arrests in April when four crypto exchange executives were arrested and investigated for embezzlement.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post 191 Bitcoins Confiscated by South Korean Supreme Court in Historic Ruling appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

According to research from the Bank of England (BoE), a central bank issued digital currency has the potential to revolutionize monetary policy.

BoE Studies Risks and Benefits of Central Bank-Issued Digital Currency

The BoE has been researching how a central bank digital currency (CBDC) would work in practice. It authored a research paper which claimed an important ‘step forward’ in the design of a currency. Accordingly, it stated that it would not leave commercial bank vulnerable — a not unwarranted fear, as many in the crypto space believe that digital currencies will help free people from the massive powers central banks have over consumers.

As of now, unlike Sweden’s Riksbank, the BoE is not currently planning to issue its own digital currency, though it has discussed the possibility of doing so.

The research was authored by Michael Kumhof, a former Stanford University economics professor, who works as senior research advisor in the BoE’s research hub, and Claire Noone, a Reserve Bank of Australia official, who works in the BoE’s note operations division.

The officials set out ‘four core design principles’ for a CBDC which would avoid the possibility of destroying the banking sector, a major concern raised by previous BoE research.

“A CBDC that is a close – but not perfect – substitute for bank deposits may strengthen the transmission of monetary policy changes to the real economy,” say BoE researchers Jack Meaning and Ben Dyson, who summarized the research.

The research on monetary policy transmission shows that a digital currency which pays interest on balances, alongside offering payment services, would allow the BoE to gain greater control over monetary policy.

“With careful design choices, a CBDC need not be disruptive to the conduct of monetary policy,” the researchers wrote.

Because of the volatility associated with digital currencies, to make it work traditional banks would be forced to react more quickly than they do currently to raise or lower interest rates to avoid losing money. The authors said: “This would result in an increase in both the strength and speed of pass-through from the policy rate to these other interest rates, especially as technology and regulatory changes make it easier to switch balances from one account to another.”

Furthermore, according to the researchers, a CBDC would remove the need for banks as an intermediary for buying the government bonds used in quantitative easing — asset purchases used by central banks intended to stimulate demand when interest rates cannot fall any further.

Last week, BoE governor Mark Carney said he was open-minded about the possibility of introducing a central bank currency. He has, however, also criticized the cryptocurrencies currently available, even going as far as to say that Bitcoin had ‘failed’ as a currency.

Going forward, Kumhof and Noone acknowledge that ‘risks remain,’ and that central bank digital money could still potentially impact the stability of bank deposits and bank profitability.

As noted above, this apprehension doesn’t come as a surprise. Banks like the BoE, headed by bankers looking after their own pocketbooks, are beginning to recognize the transformative powers offered by digital currencies to consumers across the globe, but are at the same time worried about what their roles will be moving forward.  

“If designed badly, CBDC presents major risks to financial stability,” they warned.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post BoE: Central Bank Digital Currency May ‘Strengthen’ Monetary Policy appeared first on NewsBTC.

A longstanding company in the consumer products business wants to fund its own distribution service with a giant ICO, hoping to lure peers to join it.

A recent report published by the Boston College Carroll School of Management on 20 May has found that the average returns an initial coin offering (ICO) investor can expect is 82%.

”Significant ICO underpricing”

The report, titled ‘Digital Tulips? Returns to Investors in Initial Coin Offerings’, emphasized what is described as ”significant ICO underpricing”.’ The 54-page report utilizes a dataset of over 4,000 planned and realized ICOs, nearly all since January 2017, and with a combined total worth of USD 12 billion.

The analysis found that from the initial token sale price to the first day listed on a cryptocurrency exchange, average returns for investors were 179%, with the holding period in this time averaging merely 16 days.

Problems were found to arise, however, if issuers failed to get the token listed on an exchange site within 60 days. While the representative investors were still found to be able to nearly double their money in this circumstance, the researchers found an average -100% returns on these tokens.

All results considered, the average ICO investment was concluded to provide 82% gains.

Opportunities and obstacles

The report indicates that investors who hold their tokens for a period beyond 180 days will benefit from the highest returns, described as somewhere between 250% and 430%.

Cryptocurrency tokens were noted to be able to “continue to generate abnormal positive average returns”, but with the possibility of this being ”an indication of bubbles”.’ Nonetheless, profits were found to be also ”consistent with high compensation for risk for investing in unproven pre-revenue platforms through unregulated offerings”.

Addressing the issue of fraudulent ICOs, the paper suggests ”scams, while plentiful in number, are not as important in terms of stolen capital because investors are shrewd enough to spot (and underfund) them”.

This is a particularly significant conclusion given the SEC’s crackdown on scam ICO sites, even creating and launching their own to try and educate investors by imitating red flags used by fraudsters.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post 82% Profit for Average ICO Investor – Report appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

A lot of cryptocurrency exchanges exist in this day and age. Not all of these trading platforms are created equal, as some suffer from outdated infrastructures. BTCC, one of the oldest trading platforms in this industry, is looking to upgrade its offerings in the near future. This is a positive development which will benefit all users in the long run.

A Major Overhaul for BTCC

Most cryptocurrency enthusiasts are familiar with the BTCC trading platform. It is one of the oldest cryptocurrency trading platforms still operating today and has never suffered irreparable damage. Even so, the platform is not perfect, and some big updates appear to be on the horizon.

A few days ago, BTCC announced it will launch an upgraded version of its trading platform very soon. The “new” platform will primarily focus on improved liquidity, speeding up deposits and withdrawals, and a few other changes. All of these upgrades will be well-received by the community, as they will make BTCC a lot more competitive.

These changes will also affect the other products and services offered by the company behind BTCC. Its mining pool and mobile wallet will benefit from a new user reward point system. It’s a bit unclear what this system entails exactly, although it seems there will be some giveaways taking place in the future. The points themselves will be usable across the entire ecosystem, although their purpose remains unknown.

A company spokesperson explained this decision as follows:

BTCC’s exchange is backed by seven years of operational experience and has been optimized to include offline cold storage and SSL encrypted traffic to protect your digital assets. We take security very seriously and are proud of the fact that we have never been compromised.

With this longstanding trading platform about to become a lot more competitive, things will undoubtedly get very interesting. A lot of trading platforms have upgraded their infrastructures over the past few months. It is evident one of the world’s oldest cryptocurrency exchanges cannot be left behind in this regard.

According to a published survey, over a third of high net worth individuals either plan to or already have invested in cryptocurrencies.

deVere Poll Hints at Great Interest in Cryptocurrency Among Wealthy Individuals

The research was conducted by the deVere Group – a global independent financial consultancy group. The poll surveyed over 600 of the group’s clients from across the globe. It included individuals from the U.S., the U.K., Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Hong Kong, Spain, Germany, and France.

According to an article in International Investment, the founder and CEO of the deVere Group, Nigel Green, stated:

“… mainstream expansion is clearly evidenced by the fact that more than a third [35 per cent] of wealthy individuals around the world – who are already likely to be successful investors – are telling us that they already have exposure to crypto or that they will have by the end of this year.”

To this, Green added that the company were planning to add new digital currency assets to their cryptocurrency application. deVere Crypto was launched in January on both Apple OS and Android. According to a press release from then, it allows clients to store, transfer, and exchange Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum. To this selection, deVere plans to include support for more crypto assets:

“The addition of Bitcoin Cash and EOS to the deVere Crypto app is part of our ongoing commitment to clients. The users of the app are demanding an ever-wider, diversified crypto portfolio as the crypto sector expands and moves even further into the mainstream.”

At the launch of deVere Crypto, Green expressed great optimism for the fintech industry and, unlike many analysts associated with traditional finance, for cryptocurrencies themselves too:

“Nothing has captured the imagination in this new fintech age quite like cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin.  No-one was really talking about it back in 2016. But those who invested in Bitcoin before the beginning of last year have enjoyed an impressive price increase… History will teach us that 2017 was the year that digital currencies came into the mainstream.”

Nigel Green also stated that deVere’s wealthy clients were ‘unable to ignore the huge potential of cryptocurrencies,’ adding that there was ‘surging public… demand for digital, global currencies in a digitalised, globalised world.’

The deVere group have been interested in cryptocurrency for a while now. In addition to them launching their designated crypto application earlier this year, Nigel Green also stated that he felt that Ethereum was set to have another amazing two months for its investors. This trend, he predicted, would continue for the next couple of years too. He stated in an interview last month:

“The price of Ethereum is predicted to increase significantly this year, and could hit $2,500 by the end of 2018 with a further increase by 2019 and 2020.”

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Survey Indicates 35% of High Net Worth Individuals Have Invested in Crypto appeared first on NewsBTC.

President of China Xi Jinping spoke at a meeting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering on Monday, where he described blockchain as a ”breakthrough” technology.

”A new generation of tech”

As reported by CNBC, President Xi Jinping’s remarks translate as: “A new generation of technology represented by artificial intelligence, quantum information, mobile communications, internet of things and blockchain is accelerating breakthrough applications.”

Continuing, Xi noted, “Since entering the 21st century, global science and technological innovation have entered into an unprecedented period of intensive activity. A new round of scientific and industrial revolution is reconstructing the global innovation map and reshaping the global economic structure.”

Xi went on to address his perceived requirements of China, noting that this includes focusing on technological development to become the leading country regarding science and innovation.

Blockchain, crypto and China

While Bitcoin was the first and most well-known use of blockchain, Beijing currently holds a ban on domestic Bitcoin trading and sales of new digital tokens via initial coin offerings (ICOs). Pundits have suggested that speculation on the potential of blockchain technology had a large role to play in Bitcoin prices skyrocketing in 2017.

Despite the relationship between blockchain and cryptocurrencies, China is indeed a hub for blockchain developments. Earlier this week, an official from the Chinese government verified that the country’s plans to launch a national blockchain standardization committee should be ready to launch by the end of this year.

Several start-ups have partnered with local government authorities in China to pursue research and implementation of blockchain technology. Albert Xuan, project manager at Liaoyuan, a consulting firm and incubator for start-ups said on the subject: “In China, blockchain’s still developing, really great.”

According to Xuan, somewhere between 100 and 200 people left China for New York to participate in Liaoyuan’s Blockchain Without Borders conference. The event hosted roughly 650 people, with at least two panels reported to have been held in Mandarin.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post Chinese President Xi Jinping Acknowledges “Breakthrough” Blockchain Technology appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

There appears to be a lot of confusion regarding the Waves project. A new document is circulating on the internet indicating that the firm behind Waves needs to renew its registration. Failure to do so may result in the company being struck off the UK register and dissolved.

No Real Concern for Waves Holders

Although the document in question seems to indicate that something is amiss with the Waves project, that is not necessarily the case. All this document states is that the Waves parent company must renew its registration with the UK government within the next two months. Failure to do so will result in Waves Platform Ltd. being removed from the Companies House register and dissolved.

Although this may seem like a big problem, it is being blown out of proportion on Reddit. The document does not mean Waves is bankrupt or pulled an exit scam by any means. It does indicate they may have overlooked some of their administrative tasks, although that situation can be resolved with very little effort.

Moreover, there are some concerns regarding the validity of the document itself. It does appear to be live on the Companies House website, which confirms its legitimacy. Even so, there have been similar documents circulating on the internet which seemingly affected other companies in the cryptocurrency space. Most of those documents turned out to be completely fake, though this one appears legitimate.

It will be interesting to see how the Waves team responds to this pressing matter. If they do not renew their listing in the Companies House register, there will be a lot of concern among investors and speculators as to how things will proceed from here on out. Seeing the company being dissolved in the UK would return all property and rights to the crown, which would bring an end to this project altogether.

One pressing concern is that a company valued at close to $400 million could suffer from such an administrative oversight. While it is not a new development by any means, there is no reason for this problem to exist in the first place. It isn’t exactly a sign of professionalism, although it can happen to any company, especially in the world of cryptocurrency.

For the time being, the community will have to wait for an official explanation from the Waves team regarding this news. It doesn’t bode well for the future of the company, but there is no real reason to be overly concerned about the way things are evolving. As of right now, it seems the Waves project will continue for quite some time to come, yet an official statement regarding this matter would certainly be appreciated.

The development team of the zcash cryptocurrency has released new software that contains support elements of the network’s planned Sapling upgrade.

A prominent investor has stated that he feels that Bitcoin is acting as an indicator for the direction that the market will move.

Brian Stutland of Equity Armor Investments spoke to CNBC about the correlation between the world’s most prominent digital currency and the wider, non-crypto market.

Stutland: “Bitcoin is Sort of Becoming the New VIX”

The Chief Investment Officer and Investment Advisor Representative of Equity Armor Investments addressed the subject on CNBC’s ‘Fast Money‘ segment yesterday. He told the host:

“Bitcoin is sort of becoming the new VIX, in sort of getting ahead of credit risk in the banking industry.”

When Stutland refers to the VIX, he means the Volatility Index. This measure of market volatility is the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s (CBOE) way of expressing fear illustrated by the pricing of S&P500 stocks. The VIX is therefore also referred to as a ‘fear gauge’ for the market. However, Stutland is eyeing Bitcoin for use as a similar indicator:

“There is huge correlation right now between VIX and bitcoin 30 days ago, 30 trading days ago, that is starting to measure out credit risk in the market… That’s what cryptocurrency is becoming. It’s becoming a way to sort of de-risk yourself from credit risk in the banking industry.”

For the Chicago-based investor, it makes perfect sense. He sees digital currencies as a way for fellow investors to move capital without needing to concern themselves with regulation. This allows them to keep funds ‘under their pillow’ when market conditions warrant caution. Stutland continued, stating that investors were more risk averse when banks had increased credit risks. He said:

“Bitcoin is a way to for investors to basically move their money off the balance sheets of banks and into their own wallets.”

Stutland also spoke to CNBC back in March of this year. On the platform’s ‘Future Now’ segment, the investor identified a correlation between Bitcoin and the U.S. dollar too. He stated:

“People like the U.S. dollar and they like Bitcoin… or they don’t like it, actually, over the last few weeks. As the dollar has weakened, we’ve seen Bitcoin weaken as well, I think we’ve seen that trend continue.”

He also stated that whilst he was shorting Bitcoin at the time using futures contracts , he still held a ‘little bit’ of ‘physical Bitcoin.’

This isn’t the first time that investors have noticed correlation between Bitcoin and the wider stock market though. In March of this year, we reported on Doug Ramsey, Chief Investment Officer at Leuthold Group, and Tom Forester of Forester Capital Management. Both of them said that they had been watching Bitcoin and saw it as something of a sentiment indicator.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Investor Brian Stutland: Bitcoin Acts as a Fear Gauge for the Non-Crypto Market appeared first on NewsBTC.

Global auditing and consulting firm Deloitte has just released a report which indicates that blockchain technology cannot be overlooked by business as it is destined to become standard technology, Coingeek reports.

The report, ‘New Tech On The Block’, suggests that businesses not choosing to employ the technology in the future stand the risk of being left behind those who are already utilizing it.

The research featured a study of 50 blockchain use cases consisting of three areas – payments and contracts, supply chains and consumer services; each area was scored based on added-value from blockchain implementation. The findings revealed that blockchain should be considered a “critical asset” to retail and packaged goods industries and will become “a standard operational technology across the financial, manufacturing and consumer industries”.

Deloitte’s Steve Larke wrote:

“Blockchain has the potential to transform the way that individuals and organizations interact, the way that businesses collaborate with one another, the transparency of processes and data, and, ultimately, the productivity and sustainability of our economy.”

Larke added that he believed that the technology would “thrive” over the next decade.

Numerous household names are already on board such as retail giant Walmart, with pioneering blockchain patents, and French global supermarket chain Carrefour, already using the technology in its supermarkets. Major tech providers like IBM and Microsoft are also offering blockchain solutions to enterprise clients along with adoption by Samsung and software giant Oracle.

Research company Gartner released a report in November 2017 estimating that by 2022, so-called ratified unbundled smart contracts will be in use by more than 25% of global organizations, according to Forbes. Research by the same company indicates that companies can potentially see added-value of over USD 3.1 trillion by the year 2030 by using the technology.

Deloitte suggests that the consumer will be the main beneficiary of blockchain and Fred Smith, CEO of shipping giant FedEx, calls the technology “the next frontier that’s going to completely change worldwide supply chains”.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post Deloitte: Embrace Blockchain or Get Left Behind appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.