Day: July 26, 2018

Bundesliga top-flight German football club Hamburg SV has found a new partner in Fintech Powerhouse NAGA for the 2018/19 season.

As blockchain and cryptocurrency find its way into football as recently highlighted by English Premiership’s Wolves latest move in signing cryptocurrency exchange CoinDeal as its sleeve sponsor, now German clubs are getting in on the act.

NAGA is a publicly-traded fintech company founded in Hamburg, Germany in October 2015. Naga Group produces companies that embrace technological changes in financial markets.

Its new partnership in the German premier football league (Bundesliga) will see the Hamburg SV’s Volksparkstadion displaying hoarding advertising the company, although it’s unclear if the promotion will extend to players’ strips.

NAGA executive director Benjamin Bilski commented on the announcement that crypto was breaking into German football:

“Our values and entrepreneurial attitudes are a perfect match, especially as HSV is open to new technologies, which is exactly what NAGA stands for. Because we are very familiar with statistics and technology, sophisticated and constantly new applications play a big role in our success.”

As Bitcoin News recently reported, fintech and sport are becoming increasingly entwined following CoinDeal promoting its exchange on the sleeves of Wolves, newly promoted to the English premier league. In the US, basketball team Sacramento Kings launched its MiningForGood program, installing Ethereum crypto mining equipment at its NBA stadium.

Johannes Haupt, senior director, Team Hamburg SV at Lagardère Sports, noted:

“We have developed a comprehensive package of services tailored to the company’s objectives, with a special focus on digital communication, enabling exciting projects along the path of our long-term cooperation.”

As Steemit blogger ‘worldclassplayer’ wrote recently, sport and crypto could be a win-win situation, as eSports is already showing:

“Owners of sports teams. Each team has its own cryptocurrency. That’s equivalent to being your own private bank with your own currency. That’s huge. Takes Funding and Project Development projects to the highest level of excellence.”

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected an application for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) submitted by the Winklevoss twins. The announcement could be damning for all other ETF applications that have been submitted to the regulator in recent months.

SEC Cites Potential Market Manipulation, Lack of Investor Protection, and Security for Rejection

Bitcoin prices have been doing rather well of late. This week, the digital asset rose to a two-month high of over $8,300. Many within the cryptocurrency community believe that the price increases have been caused by speculation that one of several ETF proposals submitted to the SEC in recent months will be accepted.

However, today’s announcement could cut the bull run short before it’s even begun properly. The U.S. financial watchdog has rejected the ETF proposal of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss – the owners of the Gemini Exchange platform.

In June, the two long-term cryptocurrency proponents submitted a proposed rule change. However, in a release reported by CNBC, the SEC stated that it disagreed with the twin’s argument that Bitcoin markets were “uniquely resistant to manipulation.” Along with this concern, issues of fraud and investor protection were raised.

Whilst the Winklevoss effort wasn’t the most anticipated application for a Bitcoin ETF, the ruling from the SEC seems to be directed at the cryptocurrency market itself rather than a specific proposal. It therefore seems likely that high profile applications like that from the VanEck and SolidX partnership will also be rejected on similar grounds. According to rules at the SEC, the regulator has until August 16 to act on this specific proposal.

Elsewhere, the SEC recently delayed discussions of five other Bitcoin ETFs until September. These were filed by NYSE Arca, Inc. This seems a curious move from the regulator considering they could have just simply rejected the proposals outright as they have done with the Winklevoss effort. However, such announcements are not discouraging those hopeful of an ETF from submitting their own applications. Earlier this week, Bitwise threw their name into the hat with the SEC too.

It’s not the first time the twins have faced rejection from the SEC. Last year, there was immense optimism that a prior application from the “Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust” would be accepted. Many within the cryptocurrency space believe that such an ETF can only mean higher prices since such a fund would need to lock up great quantities of Bitcoin for its clients hence the buying pressure we’ve seen as of late.

The markets appear to have responded negatively already to the news with a large drop from around $8,287 at 21:45 GMT to $8,135 just an hour later. Time will tell how much more they’re affected by today’s SEC announcement.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Winklevoss ETF Application Rejected by the SEC, Will Other Submissions Be Denied Too? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Various cryptocurrency firms have tried their hand at the lending business. Most of those firms have failed, for rather obvious reasons. It now seems SALT Lending is headed in the same direction, as the project has allegedly suffered some big setbacks over the past few days.

SALT Lending Is Struggling

It is evident there are some challenges for cryptocurrency firms which seek to offer lending services to the masses. That’s not just because it is not necessarily the most attractive business model, but mainly because it is very difficult to offer any sort of collateral in one of the most volatile financial industries in existence. Some companies have found this out the hard way over the past few years.

Big was people’s excitement when SALT Lending came to market. It is another innovative project which aims to offer loans backed by cryptocurrency collateral. It is a viable business model on paper, although there is always the question as to how many people are genuinely interested in this type of thing. So far, it seems the overall interest has been relatively low, although there is a very good reason for this less-than-spectacular success.

First of all, SALT Lending’s services are only accessible to clients within the United States. That matter was subject to a lot of speculation for some time. It was rather unclear whether or not SALT Lending would be a global initiative, mainly because of the borderless nature of cryptocurrencies in general. Sadly, that was never the plan of action, and targeting one of the least crypto-friendly countries may not have been the best idea, all things considered.

Additionally, a post on Reddit claims the CEO and founder of SALT Lending has officially left the project. Although there are many valid reasons why this may have happened, it doesn’t instill too much confidence in this lending project. Assuming someone else takes over the reigns fairly quickly, the company will in fact continue to exist. Even so, this is a very unusual development for a company which hasn’t been around for that long.

One also has to question the project’s business model. Buying SALT on exchanges for a cheap price and using it to pay off a loan at over 10 times its value was unsustainable from day one. It is unclear why this was even possible, although the team will probably have a good explanation for it. This particular approach has always made a lot of people wary, as it simply isn’t how the lending business works.

Whether or not there is a future for SALT Lending remains to be seen. Things are not looking good as of right now, although there’s still a chance the company can turn things around. Cryptocurrency and lending are an interesting mix, although the volatile nature of these currencies may turn this into one of the least suitable business models to date.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Swiss regulator FINMA has launched enforcement proceedings against crypto mining firm Envion AG for its potentially unauthorized token sale in Dec. 2017-Jan. 2018

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again rejected an effort by investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to list a bitcoin ETF.

Mastercard’s CEO says anonymous cryptocurrencies are “junk” and don’t “deserve” to be considered a medium of exchange

In recent regulatory news, the CFTC chairman has warned that the regulator is falling behind its international counterparts with regards to virtual currency and blockchain regulations; a U.S. Congressional bill is advocating the incorporation of cryptocurrencies into the regulatory mandate of FinCEN; and a candidate of the Wisconsin Libertarian Party is accepting donations in the form of bitcoin despite a state Ethics Commission finding that cryptocurrency donations may not be legal.

Also Read: Altcoins Round-Up: Bitgo Adds ZEC, Wirex Supports XRP, PwC to Audit Tezos

CFTC Chairman Warns Regulator is Failing to Keep Pace with Crypto and DLT

Whilst speaking to the House Committee on Agriculture during a Congressional hearing on the “upcoming agenda for the CFTC” that took place on the 25th of July, J. Christopher Giancarlo, the chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, warned that the CFTC is falling behind its international counterparts with regards to regulation in the spheres of cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology.

“We’re falling behind. Just two days ago, the Bank of England announced that they’re putting in a new bank-to-bank payment system in the U.K., and it’s gonna be blockchain-compliant. And they’ve had the last four years […] to participate in all these blockchain beta tests that we’ve not been able to participate in. […] So I feel like we’re four years behind, because we do need to test it, […] we need to see how it can help us do a better job as regulator. […] Emerging financial technologies are taking us into a new chapter of economic history. There’s a lot of coordination going on,” the CFTC chairman said.

Mr. Giancarlo also promoted a bill put forward by Ag Committee member Georgia Representative Austin Scott that the CFTC believes “would greatly enhance the Commission’s ability to keep pace with emerging technology, explore its potential, and facilitate its adoption.”

U.S. Congressional Bill Proposes FinCEN Mandate Covering Cryptocurrencies

A Congressional bill filed by U.S. Congressmen Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Steve Pearce (R-NM) on July 18th seeks to establish a regulatory mandate for the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to examine the use of cryptocurrencies for the financing of illegal activities.

The “FinCEN Improvement Act” claims that “Although the use and trading of virtual currencies are legal practices, some terrorists and criminals, including international criminal organizations, seek to exploit vulnerabilities in the global financial system and are increasingly using emerging payment methods such as virtual currencies to move illicit funds.”

Wisconsin Libertarian Candidate Accepts BTC Donations Despite Ethics Commission Concerns

Libertarian candidate for the governor of Wisconsin, and chair of the state branch of the Libertarian Party, Phil Anderson, has stated that he will accept campaign donations in the form of bitcoin, despite a state Ethics Commission finding that BTC contributions could be in violation of Wisconsin law.

“We will not allow the lack of appropriate interpretation of the current statute (to) affect the First Amendment rights of those who want to show support and contribute,” said the candidate, adding that he holds “no faith in the Assembly to handle this fairly nor expeditiously.”

Mr. Anderson asked the state Ethics Commission to permit candidates to accept political donations in the form of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies earlier this year. In May, the commission found that “allowing cryptocurrency contributions presents a serious challenge to the commission’s ability to ensure compliance with state law,” ultimately deferring the issue to the state Legislature.

Do you expect that Mr. Anderson will face recourse for his decision to accept bitcoin donations? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fincen.gov, lp.org

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U.S. SEC rejects the Winklevoss’ twins second attempt at applying for a Bitcoin ETF

There are quite a few companies which are building their own proprietary blockchains. As is always the case when ventures like these come to market, one has to wonder whether they can live up to expectations. KT Corp, one of South Korea’s leading mobile carriers, has unveiled a commercial network which uses blockchain technology.

KT Corp Has High Expectations for Blockchain

Virtually any company in the world can benefit from blockchain technology in one way or another. Distributed ledgers can make a positive impact in countless ways, from streamlining business to providing transparency and even reducing overhead costs. KT Corp, South Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier, is actively experimenting with blockchain technology these days.

More specifically, the carrier has unveiled a new commercial network which has blockchain technology at its core. It is the first time a mobile carrier has taken such a step, although it will seemingly not be the last. In its current form, the KT Network Blockchain can handle 2,500 transactions per second. It is a big improvement over more traditional offerings in the world of public blockchains.

Although that number may already be rather impressive, the goal is to quadruple this throughput between now and late 2018. If everything goes according to plan, the throughput will be improved to 100,000 TPS by late 2019. It’s a very ambitious goal, although there are blockchains which have made similar claims in the past and lived up to expectations.

This is not the only blockchain venture KT Corp is interested in at this stage. It is actively exploring blockchain use cases for both artificial intelligence and 5G mobile data connectivity. Not much information has been provided regarding these ventures, and they will not come to market until mid-2019. Having South Korea’s second-largest mobile operator focus its attention on this innovative technology could herald a lot of new use cases in the years to come.

One interesting note is that KT Corp is collaborating with Japan’s MTT Docomo Inc. Both mobile providers are exploring the possibility of providing a blockchain-enhanced data roaming service. It sounds very intriguing on paper, although the lack of details leaves much to speculation. There are a lot more use cases for blockchain than people give it credit for, by the look of things.

South Korea has shown a growing interest in both blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies over the past year. It is expected that the domestic blockchain market will turn into an $880 million market by 2020. That would represent a 20-fold increase compared to its current value. KT Corp is already playing its part in ensuring that such growth can be sustained, although it still remains up to other companies to take a similar approach.

Hong Seong-ki, head of the virtual currency response team at South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), has called for lawmakers to quickly pass the first cryptocurrency bill in the country over security and money-laundering fears.

Investor protection

Hong makes acknowledgements that South Korea is lacking the frameworks to store and manage the burgeoning billions of dollars in cryptocurrencies due to its insufficient security measures.

On 25 July, Seong-ki said in an interview with Bloomberg, “While crypto markets have seen rapid growth, such trading platforms don’t seem to be well-enough prepared in terms of security… We’re trying to legislate the most urgent and important things first, aiming for money-laundering prevention and investor protection. The bill should be passed as soon as possible.”

Lawmakers in South Korea are being urged to pass the bill due to the accelerating growth of the cryptocurrency markets. A newly-drafted regulation framework seeks to legitimize domestic cryptocurrency and blockchain-related business practices for the first time in the country.

In the interview, Seong-ki made emphasis on the fact that the bill is not aimed at emerging cryptocurrency exchanges or trading generally speaking, but instead is there to protect users and investors through the implementation of vigorous internal management systems to prevent the large-scale and frequent hacks that are rife in South Korea.

Security issues

Significant hacking scandals in June 2018 forced regulators to speed up attempts to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges, putting a bill into motion that gives focus to money laundering. Should the bill pass, virtual currency exchanges will be required to report to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and be supervised regularly by the entity.

In late June, Bithumb suffered a USD 31 million hack; although, South Korea’s largest exchange did apply diligent measures to increase security against “high-risk” countries. Shortly after, the exchange managed to recover USD 14 million of the stolen crypto, with thanks to a collaborative effort between itself and other exchanges.

Rallying around blockchain

In May 2018, the South Korean government began setting in motion revisions to “unify” with the G20’s recommendations on cryptocurrency regulations.

From 13 July to 26 July, South Korean lawmakers from various political parties have been making draft bill submissions to create clearer regulations on initial coin offerings (ICOs), cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Furthermore, it is expected that also on 26 July, further details regarding the “new-growth technology” tax credit scheme are said to be arriving.

With the Fourth Industrial Revolution around the corner, the Korean FSC announced a new governing body called the Financial Innovation Bureau, designed to protect consumers against risks that will present themselves in an age of financial technology innovations.

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