Day: June 22, 2018

Africa and the Middle East

Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.

Africa

South Africa

B2B Blockchain Summit to take place in Johannesburg next week: Johannesburg will be home to the first B2B Blockchain mega event take place on 28 June 2018.

Finance Feeds, a fintech company will host the event and it will see panelists, guest speakers and other stakeholders in the Blockchain B2B space speak and give their two bits on the future of the space.

Kenya

Kenya to get first Bitcoin ATM: The first Bitcoin ATM has been installed in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya according to latest reports coming in from the African nation. The Bitcoin ATM will be the first of its kind in East Africa and will be compatible with both Bitcoin and Litecoin.

Customers can use the ATM to sell and purchase cryptocurrencies as low as USD 5. Both US dollars and Kenya shillings are acceptable in the ATM. According to Bitcoin entrepreneur Wangechi Kariuki:

“The transaction is simple, taking less than two minutes; You can get as many Bitcoins as the value of your cash.”

Zimbabwe

Central bank to ban crypto: The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is clamping down hard on cryptocurrencies in the country as it has announced that it is going to challenge a court ruling citing illegal activities undertaken through cryptocurrencies.

While cryptocurrencies are often blamed for being used for subversive activities, the move by the central bank means that cryptocurrencies are in for a rough ride in the country in the near future. According to the bank’s spokesperson:

“Activities were not only unregulated and illegal but presented all kinds of risk, including but not limited to fraud, money-laundering, evasion of the country’s exchange and terrorism financing.”

African Union

Africans increasingly turning to Bitcoin to beat the system: African countries from Zimbabwe to South Africa are suffering from varying degrees of inflation that is causing major problems for the region and that is making them turn to cryptocurrencies as an alternative.

Countries like Zimbabwe and South Sudan are suffering from unstable financial systems and even the biggest African economy Nigeria has faced problems. So, cryptocurrencies, no matter how volatile still prove to be a more stable alternative to their national fiat currencies.

Increase in adoption of technology is another reason why Africans are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies with smartphones and the internet becoming a regular part of the continent.

Middle East

Israel

Bank association asks central bank to clarify crypto guidelines: The Israeli Association of Banks has sent a letter to the state bank of Israel to clarify its stance on cryptocurrencies that is signed by all partnering banks, according to Calcalist.

The letter asks the banks to clarify its stance on cryptocurrencies and give updated guidelines regarding the blockchain space as there is growing confusion among blockchain companies regarding the government’s stance on ICOs and cryptocurrencies.

Israel’s financial committee in the parliament has postponed regulations on cryptocurrencies, thus creating more problems for ICOs to survive the country.

United Arab Emirates

UAE hotel enables crypto payments: Popular cryptocurrencies are now being accepted in luxury hotel projects in Ras Alkhaimah, United Arab Emirates according to latest reports from the Middle East.

The four-star hotels are the first-of-their-kind in the region to accept cryptocurrencies and the network is aiming to eventually expand it to other parts of the country. Real estate sector is a big investor paradise in the Gulf country and the advent of cryptocurrencies is likely to increase the global appeal of the market.

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The post Africa and the Middle East: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 15th to 21st June 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Coinbase is accused of being underprepared and overwhelmed by the pace of its growth, in reference to 134 pages of customer complaints obtained through a FOIA process

A comparatively quiet week in crypto where markets are still taking stock from the highs of the SEC clarifications and low of the Bithumb exchange hack that quickly succeeded it.

Today marks a landmark decision in the MtGox debacle, where as the Japanese court approves rehabilitation of the Bitcoin exchange from bankruptcy. Despite the positive news, markets are tumbling, as many top altcoins are experiencing double digit percent losses aside Bitcoin’s decline.

The ruling by the court today marks Bitcoin exchange MtGox as the first entity to be rehabilitated from bankruptcy under Japanese jurisdiction. For users who saw their funds lost in the exchange, they have earned a huge victory as, not only will they have their lost funds reimbursed, there is possibility to request the funds in Bitcoin, rather than the dollar value of their holdings at the time of insolvency. This news also suggests that, for the time being, the MtGox trustee will not be liquidating any of what’s left of the 200,000 BTC the exchange maintained after its late 2013 shutdown.

Despite the good news, within the past hours, Bitcoin experienced a sharp decline, dropping from US$6,750 to just below $6,100 across multiple exchanges, a loss of almost 10%. Bitcoin has recovered somewhat since then, with current exchange rates of $6,200, which still represents a net 7% loss over the past day.

Altcoins, unfortunately, are faring much worse. With the exception of Tron subsidiary Game.com (GTC), which seen an inexplicable 50% appreciation, all coins listed on the top 100 of Coinmarketcap have seen losses over the past 24 hours. More than 80% have seen depreciation versus Bitcoin, and more than half, 55 to be exact, are experiencing USD losses of double digits. Elastos’ (ELA) 19% depreciation leads as biggest decline among this group within the past day.

Globally, altcoin losses surpass that of Bitcoin. The global cryptocurrency market, excluding Bitcoin, began the day at market cap above US$170 billion. This nosedive sparked a 12% loss, down to $150 billion at daily lows. Fortunately, the market, like Bitcoin, has recovered slightly, as it currently rests at just below US$154 billion. Still, this leaves altcoins across the board with an average 10% loss in the past 24 hours.

Other news recently includes the St. Louis branch of the US Federal Reserve announcing their intentions to index and track the cryptocurrencies listed on Coinbase: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum. This move indicates the Federal Reserve recognizes the future implications and legitimacy of cryptocurrency, as they’ll now be monitoring it in the same manner as is done with foreign currencies and commodities.

Goldman Sachs also recently indicated a desire to delve deeper into cryptocurrency holdings and investments. The President of the firm indicated that he finds it foolish to not believe that cryptocurrency has a future.

With an array of positive news, the fundamentals surrounding cryptocurrency at this time do not seem to support the sharp declines. Hopefully, these movements will be mitigated, either through the formation of an inverse Bart pattern or otherwise. Regardless, sentiments surrounding cryptocurrency seem to continue to improve each day, which suggests a transition to a bull market will come in due time.

Charts by TradingView

Chris Concannon, the president of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe), the world’s biggest derivatives market behind CME Group, has warned investors in tokens and initial coin offering (ICO) projects of an upcoming two-part regulatory reckoning.

ICO Investors Could be in Trouble

In an exclusive interview with Frank Chaparro from Business Insider, Concannon said that in the near future, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will go after market participants and ICO investors, specifically investors who are based in the US and American investors who have falsified their identities in order to invest in ICO projects.

Concannon warned that a second wave of reckoning would emerge, composed of large-scale class-action lawsuits against the founders and developers of ICOs and blockchain projects.

“The reckoning will come in two waves. First, the SEC will go after ICO market participants. Then, class-action lawsuits against the teams behind ICO projects will surge,” explained Concannon.

The Cboe executive, who has always been highly optimistic about the cryptocurrency market on behalf of an organization that has committed to the cryptocurrency sector ahead of other major financial institutions, added that the SEC could also crack down on ICO investors that have sold tokens considered to be unregistered securities, as unregistered underwriters of the illegal securities.

“The actual party that offered the unregistered coin, they could have been involved in issuing an unregistered security. Anyone who sold that off could be deemed an unregistered underwriter. If you sold someone an unregistered security you are liable to them if they decide to take them to court.”

The jurisdiction of the SEC covers investors within the US and the citizens of the country; as such, it is doubtful that the SEC will go after investors outside the US for investing in ICOs, and it remains uncertain whether the SEC even has the authority to target international investors even if the ICO in question was formed and established within the US.

But, as Concannon explained, while there are blockchain projects and ICOs that cannot be considered or categorized as securities, the ones that do quality as securities could lead to a flood of legal issues involving both investors and ICO initiators.

It also creates a domino effect across parties involved in the distribution process of such tokens, including cryptocurrency exchanges, investors, sellers, and the projects themselves, justifying the cautious approach being taken by major cryptocurrency platforms such as Coinbase and Gemini in listing tokens.

For instance, over the past few months, as NullTX reported, Ripple Labs has faced class-action lawsuits by investors who purchased XRP at its peak value in early 2018. As the price of XRP dropped by 80 percent since its all-time high, outraged investors, who were fully aware of the characteristics and qualities of XRP, started to request help from the government by falsely accusing Ripple Labs of distributing securities.

Robert Hockett, financial regulation professor at the prestigious Cornell University, said that legal action against ICOs will only be taken by the SEC in certain circumstances, and it will more likely be investors engaging in lawsuits rather than the SEC directly involving itself with thousands of ICOs and blockchain projects in the marketplace.

“I don’t think it is the case that people involved in the business are going to be prosecuted against as if they have been violating the law. But there is a little bit of a room for exception with something particularly egregious,” Hockett said.

SEC Is Also Cautious

As Hockett emphasized, with its recent declaration that Bitcoin and Ethereum are currencies rather than securities, the SEC clarified that it is not the intent of the agency to completely shut down the ICO ecosystem and prevent investors from participating in the market.

Instead, the SEC is planning to crack down on ICOs that are particularly egregious in order to set an example to the entire industry.

Crypto-adoption on the rise as football fans have many ways to use cryptocurrencies at the FIFA World Cup 2018

South America

Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.

Brazil

Blockchain data sharing platform for regulators revealed: The Brazilian Central Bank Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) has announced a new data sharing platform based on blockchain technology for the country’s financial regulatory bodies.

The platform has been named ‘Pier’ and BCB believes that the new decentralized platform will provide a secure and efficient option to data regulators around the country. It was praised by the BCB for being an immutable blockchain and a horizontal information-sharing system.

While the BCB is pro-blockchain, it is still very much anti-Bitcoin with regulators likening it to a pyramid scheme and a typical bubble because of its volatile nature.

Chile

Total crypto mining energy consumption half of Chile’s total: The total energy consumed in mining is less than earlier estimates, according to a new study from Coinshares Research. The study found that the Bitcoin network on 21 May 2018 consumed around 35 TWh or 0.14% of the total global capacity or half of the total consumption of South American country of Chile.

Previous estimates pointed to a bigger consumption statistics with Digiconomist saying it consumed nearly double this amount. Coinshares estimated a spectrum of rig types being used for mining purposes in the Bitcoin network to arrive at its calculation. The study entails complete details of the working of the Bitcoin network and costs associated with it according to the set perimeters. Most of the electricity being used to mine cryptocurrencies is also renewable energy which is helping portray its carbon neutral outlook.

Venezuela

Banks targeted for selling crypto at “speculative prices”: Venezuela’s government is targeting bank accounts associated with cryptocurrencies for selling them at “speculative prices”. The move comes after the government announced that it has started monitoring citizens who are indulging in cryptocurrency-related transactions.

According to Vice President Tarek El Aissami, the government will start monitoring the bank accounts and charge those who are selling crypto at speculative prices. Prosecutor general Tarek William Saab said regarding the action:

“…to take action against individuals and companies that have incurred misappropriation, and dissemination of false information about the exchange rate.”

Bitcoin is often seen as a way of getting around the crippling currency controls employed by the Venezuelan government that has resulted in triple-digit inflation in the country on a monthly basis. But, the latest moves will likely create further chaos in the country as financial instability is getting out of hand.

Uruguay

Government to announce crypto regulations focusing on innovation: The Uruguayan chamber of fintech development has announced the commissioning of a special committee for development of crypto-related regulation in the country, according to latest reports by BNAmericas.

While such committees are often seen with suspicion by the crypto circles, the committee is reportedly being constituted to promote innovation and help strengthen the South American nation’s financial system. At the same time, Anti Money Laundering (AML) standards will be implemented and use of cryptocurrencies in illegal activities will be monitored.

The former president of the chamber said,”We realize that no activity can be developed outside of the regulatory sphere, and that’s particularly true when we’re talking about the financial system. For that reason we’re focusing on collaborating with the regulator and all other stakeholders involved. Within the fintech community, we dream of Uruguay being the ‘crypto-valley’ of LatAm.”

It is yet to be seen what these new regulations will be from the Uruguayan government.

Colombia

Exchange calls out banks after accounts closed: Popular South American cryptocurrency exchange Buda.com is in yet another legal battle as once again its accounts were closed by three big banks, this time in Colombia.

According to latest press releases by Buda, the event took place recently as the bank accounts of its clients were suspended to pre-empt the effort against cryptocurrencies by the three big banks including Banco Bilbao Argentaria, Davivienda and Bancolombia.

According to Alejandro Beltran, the director of Buda:

“There are mixed messages coming from the financial sector on innovation. The Colombian government promotes innovation and development, but when it comes down to it, they block what they don’t understand and are putting the brakes on financial technology.”

Buda will prepare to appeal to the country’s competition commission or courts just like in Chile where it won the initial round against the Chilean big banks.

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The post South America: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 15th to 21st June 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The price of bitcoin fell to within $100 of its 2018 low Friday morning as last weeks rally proved to be short-lived.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

bitFlyer, Japan’s largest Bitcoin exchange, is being forced to stop taking on new business after regulators said it wasn’t doing enough to stop money laundering and terrorist financing.

The move by the Tokyo-based exchange saw a drop in the price of the coin and highlights how the country’s financial watchdog, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), is moving against exchanges they have doubts about. On top of bitFlyer, today also saw business-improvement orders issued to five other cryptocurrency exchange operators.

What Was bitFlyer Doing Wrong?

The FSA said it found several problems related to bitFlyer’s security system, including a lack of measures in place to prevent money laundering and unauthorized access. One agency official, according to the Wall Street Journal, said the inspections found problematic accounts, too, like one registered using a post-office box as a mailing address.

The agency also said that bitFlyer board members were mainly friends of the exchange’s chief executive, Yuzo Kano, a former trader at Goldman Sachs who co-founded the company.

Further, the FSA said that when bitFlyer registered with the government last year, it provided false information about its plans to prevent ‘antisocial forces’ (organized crime) from using the exchange.

These regulatory woes have certainly come at a bad time for Kano. Earlier this year he hired more than 150 Wall Street experts to help grow his exchange. For now, the bitFlyer’s future remains uncertain.

In a statement, bitFlyer apologized to its existing customers and clarified that it would halt taking on new customers until it addressed the regulators’ findings. The exchange is set to submit the plan for improving its operations to the FSA by July 23.

“Our management and all employees are united in our understanding of how serious these issues are,”  bitFlyer said. 

Kano also posted on Twitter about the incident:

この度はご心配とご迷惑をおかけし大変申し訳ございません。今回の処分を真摯に受け止め改善に全力を尽くします。

— 加納裕三 (Yuzo Kano) (@YuzoKano) June 22, 2018

Japan’s Cryptocurrency Regulation

Masanori Kusunoki, chief technology officer at Japan Digital Design Inc. and a member of a Financial Services Agency study group on cryptocurrency exchanges, said the agency was shifting to a tighter stance after seeing the new rules as a way to foster innovation in the digital currency space.

“There’s a trend for regulators around the world to see [cryptocurrencies] increasingly as a method of speculation. And if it is a tool of speculation, they need to respond firmly from the perspective of investor protection,” Kusunoki said.

He added that if exchanges address the problems, there was still room for Japan to be a global cryptocurrency leader:

“It could actually spur the maturation of the market and ultimately lead to greater competitiveness.”

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Japan’s bitFlyer Halts Taking on New Business to Fix Issues Following FSA Order appeared first on NewsBTC.

There are numerous theories regarding the roller coaster market movements of cryptocurrency over the past year. A popular one revolves around the use of Tether (USDT) to inflate the price of Bitcoin during the bull market, and deflate it on the way down. However, a June 20 report suggests the controversial stablecoin may be more legitimate than was previously assumed.

On Wednesday, a law firm hired by Bitfinex regarding its USD-backed Tether token released a four-page report indicating that Bitfinex had assets in its bank account that accounted for and exceeded the supply of over 2.5 billion USDT. The firm looked into Bitfinex’s bank accounts on a surprise date, June 1, to confirm that there were sufficient assets to cover the entire supply of Tether.

However, this report did not adequately address calls from skeptics to audit the supply of Tether. First of all, the report only accounted for a one-day snapshot, June 1. It does not suggest that Bitfinex had previously controlled a bank account that covered the Tether supply. Furthermore, the law firm had no access to the liabilities associated with the accounts, if any. Accounts exceeding US$2.55 billion (roughly 40 million more than the Tether supply) are only sufficient reserves for a fully-collateralized stablecoin (as Tether claims to be) if the liabilities associated with those accounts are equal to or less than the difference between the balances and Tether supply.

As such, major skeptics of Bitfinex and Tether are unsatisfied with this report. Beyond the concerns listed above, critics also doubted the reasoning behind the utilization of a law firm. Typically, reports like this one are carried out by accounting firms. A major player like Bitfinex should have no issue affording a Big 4 accounting firm, or at least a mid-sized firm, so the decision to use a law firm has raised suspicions.

However, this report does suggest that Bitfinex is taking some measures to be transparent. In addition to the lack of friction from the December CFTC subpoena, more and more people are beginning to suggest that Tether is, indeed, legitimate. Some have cited the fact that Tether is utilized by virtually all major exchanges. For exchanges like Binance that have upheld a pristine reputation in the space, the use of Tether implies faith in the solvency and legitimacy of the stablecoin, many argue.

Legitimacy aside, the normalization of a bank-backed stablecoin is troubling for many cryptocurrency enthusiasts as an encroachment on the fundamental values of Bitcoin. Tether is a centralized solution designed to propagate USD throughout cryptocurrency markets. According to fundamentalists, there is no place for fiat currency within the crypto space, and no place for centralized solutions that employ fiat and banking practices to propagate traditional financial tools.

Within the past week, 100 million Tether has been printed. Despite numerous exchanges beginning to employ direct fiat gateways, and other stablecoin alternatives (TrueUSD, DAI, Digix Gold) beginning to gain traction, Tether supplies continue to increase. For what it’s worth, Bitfinex seems to have confidence in its solution as Tether continues to be issued in the face of criticisms and FUD.

Crypto exchange Bitfinex’s chief strategy officer Phil Potter is leaving the firm, Reuters reported Friday.