Cryptocurrency Related Scams Flood Tribunals in Spain

Spain has not been a stranger to the popularity of cryptocurrencies, and with this popularity, also comes the attention of people and organizations wanting to capitalize on the subject. Spanish tribunals have been flooded lately with lawsuits involving cryptocurrency scams related to bitcoin and ethereum based platforms, and the people using these to scam other users for millions of euros.

Cryptocurrency-Related Scams Flood Tribunals in Spain

Tribunals from Spain are now being flooded with cryptocurrency scam-related cases, that are affecting thousands of citizens, according to local reports. With the recent price increase of cryptocurrencies, scammers are always looking to do a quick buck, and they have been successful in Spain. One of the biggest scams reported is the one associated with a company named Algorithms Group, which scammed more than 280 million euros from 300+ investors.

The brain behind this scam is a man called Javier Biosca, who acted as a broker buying and selling cryptocurrencies and offering weekly interests of 25% per investment. However, the business went sour quickly and Biosca disappeared with the money of investors. Emilia Zaballos, the lawyer that is representing private investors, states the scam could have affected 4,000 people. She stressed:

Among those affected are people of all kinds. From notaries, lawyers, national police, businessmen, to tax inspectors and even judges. But also domestic workers, retirees, and the unemployed. And great fortunes.

Nimbus, another investment-based Ponzi scheme, is estimated to have defrauded 136 million euros from more than 4,000 investors in the country. The company, which also operated internationally, offered returns to investors for their deposits in cryptocurrencies. Other important companies that are facing similar trials are Kuailian and Arbistar 2.0, Ponzi schemes that also face money laundering charges.

More Organization Is Needed

Emilia Zaballos, the lawyer that is in the Algorithms Group case, states that more organization is needed for facing this kind of scam schemes affecting more citizens each day. She is now pushing for the establishment of new courts just for attending this kind of crypto-related crimes, and for more guidance from the established institutions when dealing with these structures. Till now, national regulators limit their actions to alert investors about the possible dangers of using these investment tools, but they haven’t exerted any direct actions against them.

But she is not just waiting for action. Zaballos is the president of an organization called “Asociación de Afectados por Inversiones por Criptomonedas,” that groups the users affected by these organizations and helps them execute legal actions against them.

What do you think about the rise of cryptocurrency scams in Spain? Let us know in the comments section below.

via Sergio Goschenko

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BNY Mellon Sets Up Crypto Unit in Ireland as Central Bank Says Bitcoin Is ‘of Great Concern’

U.S. banking corporation BNY Mellon is gearing up to offer crypto custody services out of Dublin where it has just established a digital hub. The news coincided with a stark warning issued by a top central bank official in Ireland who said people should only buy bitcoin if they’re prepared to lose money.

BNY Mellon to Provide Custody for Digital Assets Through Dublin-based Unit

Following a decision to enter the cryptocurrency space announced in February, the Bank of New York Mellon has now created a “Digital Innovation Hub” in Dublin. The unit will act as a custodian for crypto assets, the Business Post reported, noting that with the move, “the banking giant, is betting on the future of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.”

The hub will allow clients to hold, transfer and issue digital assets, the Irish publication detailed. Custodial services will be provided for a variety of assets including the cryptocurrency with the largest market cap, bitcoin (BTC), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

BNY Mellon is America’s oldest banking institution through its predecessor, Bank of New York, which merged with the Mellon Financial Corporation in 2007. It’s also the world’s largest custodian bank and asset servicing company. As of March 31, the bank has $41.7 trillion assets under custody or administration and $2.2 trillion assets under management.

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation currently operates in 35 different countries, according to its website. It maintains presence in the Republic of Ireland since 1994, and its new crypto asset unit in Dublin will be regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI).

Cryptocurrencies a ‘Great Concern,’ Bank of Ireland Director Says

Soon after the news about BNY Mellon’s involvement with digital assets came out, a high-ranking official of the Central Bank of Ireland was quoted warning that the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin is “of great concern.” In an interview with Bloomberg, CBI’s Director-General for Financial Conduct, Derville Rowland, stated that “crypto assets are quite a speculative, unregulated investment.”

Rowland, who is associated with the bank’s recent enforcement investigations, also stressed that people who want to invest in cryptocurrencies should be “really aware they could lose the whole of that investment.” Her department is known for imposing hefty fines on some of Ireland’s biggest financial companies.

The CBI has already fined or is still investigating most Irish retail banks for mortgage overcharging. Earlier this year, the central bank fined Ireland’s biggest securities firm, Davy. The company has since been put up for sale following the resignations of its top managers. Speaking about the case, Rowland said that Davy needs to “look in the mirror” and ask itself “how things went so catastrophically wrong.”

With her latest comments regarding cryptocurrencies, Derville Rowland joins a group of other central bank officials who have warned against crypto investments. Among them is Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey who recently reaffirmed his skepticism about crypto-assets and insisted they are “dangerous” to the public. Rowland is now preparing to take over as Chair of the Investment Management Standing Committee at ESMA, the European Securities and Markets Authority, in July.

What’s your opinion on Derville Rowland’s comments about cryptocurrencies and do you think other banks like BNY Mellon will establish crypto units in Ireland? Tell us in the comments section below.

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More Than 5 Million in Ethereum Worth $13 Billion Rests in the Eth2 Staking Contract

Statistics now show the Eth2 deposit contract has more than 5.2 million staked ether worth over $13 billion locked into the smart contract. The contract launched on November 4, 2020, and three weeks later, the contract met the required threshold to initiate the Beacon Chain. It’s not cheap to become a validator these days, as today’s exchange rates show the 32 ether to get started will run a user more than $84k.

More Than $13 Billion Worth of Ether Locked Into the Eth2 Deposit Contract

Ethereum users have added quite a bit of ether to the “Eth2 deposit contract,” as it’s called on Etherscan as 5,210,370 ETH has been deposited to-date. That’s $13.6 billion worth of ether locked into the Beacon Chain contract, which was invoked six months and three weeks ago.

At the time of writing, there’s more than a dozen 32 ETH-sized transactions waiting to be confirmed. In order for an individual to become a staking validator, 32 ether worth over $84k today is required. Dune Analytics statistics show the contract is 993.66% above the 524k threshold.

Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin got the contract party started on November 5, 2020, when he deposited 3,200 ETH into the contract according to Etherscan. At the time of deposit, Buterin’s initial spend cost around $1.3 million and today it’s worth over $8.3 million. In fact, many of the validators that deposited at that time, saw significant gains during the six months after the Beacon Chain launch.

Data from Dune Analytics further shows that out of the 108,461 transactions sent to the Eth2 deposit contract, there’s 27,100 unique depositors. Beaconcha.in/charts data shows as of May 30, approximately 152,261 validators are recorded.

Over a Million Ether Added to the Eth2 Contract Last Month

From November 19 to the 27th, the ETH deposits started to skyrocket northbound. Around March 13, 2021, Eth2 deposits slowed down and started picking up steam again on May 1st. On that first day of May, there was 4.1 million ether locked into the contract, which means it’s increased by 26.8% since then.

The biggest spike in validators was on November 25, 2020, and the last big deposit spike was on May 26, 2021. In addition to noncustodial options, ethereum enthusiasts can also leverage custodial exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken to stake their ether.

Beaconcha.in/charts statistics further shows validator distribution by Eth1 deposit addresses with validators such as Kraken, Binance, Whales, Huobi, Bitcoin Suisse, Staked.us, Lido, and Stakefish.

What do you think about the 5.2 million staked ether locked into the Eth2 Deposit Contract? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

via Jamie Redman

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Marathon’s Bitcoin Mining Pool Will ‘No Longer Filter Transactions’ — Marapool Begins Signaling for Taproot

On Monday, the publicly-listed enterprise mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings announced the company has adopted the latest codebase offered by Bitcoin Core developers that features Taproot. Marathon is now signaling for Taproot according to the announcement. The North American bitcoin miner further noted that the firm’s mining operation Marapool will “cease filtering transactions.”

Marathon Adopts Bitcoin Core Version 0.21.1 With Taproot Privacy Features

The firm Marathon Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: MARA), has been making a number of business moves in the bitcoin mining sector in 2021. In December 2020, the firm announced the purchase of 70,000 Antminer S19 bitcoin miners from Bitmain for $170 million. Last week, Marathon revealed that Compute North’s mining farm in Texas will host 73,000 of Marathon’s mining rigs. Furthermore, in more recent times, Marathon made headlines for censoring specific bitcoin transactions in a mined BTC block.

At that time, Marathon revealed to the public that Marapool dedicated 10.37 exahash toward mining KYC/OFAC compliant transactions only. Although, on May 31, Marathon explained in its Taproot signaling announcement that the bitcoin mining pool will “cease filtering transactions.” The company said that the North American mining pool Marapool “has adopted and implemented Bitcoin Core version 0.21.1.”

The new 0.21.1 codebase hosts the Taproot feature, an addition that developers say will add privacy enhancements, scaling improvements, and other technical advancements.

“Marathon is committed to the core tenets of the Bitcoin community, including decentralization, inclusion, and no censorship,” said Fred Thiel, Marathon’s CEO. The company’s mining pool will “no longer filter transactions” and “begin validating transactions in a manner consistent with all other miners who use the standard node,” the announcement emphasizes.

“Over the coming week, we will be updating all our miners to the full standard Bitcoin core 0.21.1 node, including support for Taproot,” Thiel said during the announcement. “By adopting the full standard Bitcoin core node, we will be validating transactions on the blockchain in the exact same way as all other miners who use the standard node,” the Marathon CEO added.

Taproot Awaits Activation

Taproot is in the midst of “Speedy Trial,” an activation mechanism that was initiated on May 1. Basically miners are dealing with six sub-phases between each difficulty change. During the last difficulty change, more than 95% of miners were signaling for Taproot activation. Taproot’s actual ruleset will be followed in November and enforced via soft fork at block height 709,632.

“We look forward to continue being a collaborative and supportive member of the Bitcoin community,” Thiel further remarked. “And to realizing the vision of Bitcoin as the first decentralized, peer-to-peer payment network that is powered by its users rather than a central authority or middlemen,” he added.

What do you think about Marathon signaling Taproot and detailing that Marapool will cease filtering transactions? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

via Jamie Redman

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Andreessen Horowitz Discusses Raising Third Crypto Fund to $2 Billion, Sources Say

In May 2020, back when the crypto economy was still tumultuous from the coronavirus outbreak fears and gloomy global financial outlook, in general, the private venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) revealed the 500 million-dollar “Crypto Fund II.” A report published on May 27 by the tech writer Eric Newcomer indicates that Andreessen Horowitz is contemplating $2 billion in financing for the next crypto fund.

Former Bloomberg Reporter Says ‘a16z in the Process of Tripling Down on Crypto’

The well known venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz back in 2009 has been a driving force in the crypto industry in regard to financing projects and startups. Marc Andreessen has been a firm believer in bitcoin for quite some time now and a16z has funneled millions of dollars into the industry during the last eight years.

In recent times, Andreessen Horowitz launched two funds dedicated to the development of “crypto networks and businesses.” Bitcoin.com News reported on the last venture revealed by the a16z executives Katie Haun and Chris Dixon when the two revealed the Crypto Fund II.

That specific fund invested $515 million into networks, startups, and businesses dedicated to the blockchain and crypto asset industry. Now the former tech writer for Bloomberg, Eric Newcomer, details that a16z third crypto fund is “in talks to raise $2 billion.”

“Andreessen Horowitz is in the process of tripling down on crypto, raising its third crypto fund since 2018,” Newcomer said. “Sources tell me that Andreessen Horowitz is targeting $2 billion for its third crypto fund. That’s double the size of what many people are expecting,” he added.

Someone Familiar With the Matter Told Newcomer a16z Sold ‘at Least Some of Its Ethereum Holdings’ Before the Market Downturn

Newcomer’s source also disclosed that Andreessen Horowitz has “distributed at least some of the Coinbase shares soon after Coinbase went public.” Moreover, the firm had ethereum (ETH) holdings and a source familiar with a16z’s operations said “the firm sold at least some of its Ethereum holdings at around $3,800 before the price crashed.”

The report further added that there seems to be an “arms race” in cryptocurrency investments as Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang’s Paradigm have been making waves. “The Andreessen fund and Paradigm have frenemy status. I hear that some Andreessen Horowitz partners are limited partners in Paradigm,” the author’s report details.

On the same day, a16z revealed an investment into the crypto firm Talos, Newcomer also said he hears “a lot of buzz about investment Uniswap.” Of course, similar to Bloomberg’s reporting, Newcomer’s source is someone familiar with the matter.

“It will be just as interesting to see who dives into crypto as it will be to see who decides to sit this goldrush out. But Andreessen Horowitz looks like it will be well positioned to fund the next Coinbase,” Newcomer concluded.

What do you think about Andreessen Horowitz tripling its crypto fund to $2 billion? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

via Jamie Redman

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Binance Smart Chain Faces yet Another Flash Loan Attack: Belt Finance Loses $6.3 Million

Belt Finance, a Binance Smart Chain-based decentralized lending protocol, lost $6.3 million in a flash loan attack last week. The attackers took advantage of a series of inefficiencies in the smart contract to manipulate the price of the set and obtain profit from a series of transactions. This is just the last of a series of attacks that seem to be pointing to Binance Chain protocols due to their vulnerabilities.

Belt Finance Loses $6.3 Million in Flash Loan Attack

Belt Finance, a borrowing and loaning protocol that operates in the Binance Smart Chain suffered a flash attack last week that caused losses of over six million dollars. The attack, that used Pancakeswap as a tool for executing its strategy, used a series of operations to manipulate its belt/BUSD pool, a stable token in the protocol, and profit due to this inefficiency. The Belt Finance team declared in a post mortem report that the attackers managed to exploit this bug eight times before being detected.

The team of Belt Finance immediately suspended withdrawals and deposits to the affected pools and claimed the attack vector that was used for the attack has been patched after the attack. In addition to this, they are studying how to reimburse the users affected by this event. The team declared:

We are currently working to create a fair and comprehensive compensation plan for those affected with a snapshot of the accounts that were affected by this attack. We will release a compensation plan within the next 48 hours, a time frame necessary for us to get and go through all the logs to see exactly which users need to get compensated.

The team also denied allegations and rumors surrounding the sale of tokens by part of the members of Belt Finance. While some point in the direction of a possible rug pull, the similarity with other attackers can lead to believe this is yet another flash loan attack directed to poorly secured Binance Smart Chain (BSC) protocols.

Not the First Time

The BSC network has become a magnet for flash loan attacks in recent days. Just this month, PancakeBunny, another liquidity protocol in the chain, also suffered an attack that made them lost three million dollars, and Bogged Finance, a similar project, lost almost the same amount in a flash loan attack too. Alongside this, the defi protocol Burgerswap was siphoned for $7.2 million in a flash loan attack.

This has led developers to believe there is an organized group targeting BSC protocols. This is what the official account of the Binance Smart Chain declared on Twitter, advising these protocols to stay on guard for this kind of attack and to work with audit companies to double-check their code for vulnerabilities.

What do you think about the recent attack on Belt Finance? Tell us in the comments section below.

via Sergio Goschenko

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Visualizing Bitcoin’s Future Price Cycles With the Power-Law Corridor Model

There’s a number of tools, charts, and models traders use to help them forecast bitcoin price cycles and our last article discussed leveraging the Golden Ratio Multiplier. The following editorial discusses another method of bitcoin price prediction analysis by utilizing Logarithmic Growth Curves. In September 2019, a comprehensive paper published by Harold Christopher Burger describes how crypto proponents can visualize bitcoin price cycles using the Power-Law Corridor model.

Bitcoin’s Logarithmic Growth Curve

In order to give our readers some deeper perspective, Bitcoin.com News has been covering a few useful price models that technical analysts and crypto traders leverage to forecast bitcoin’s future prices.

The previous report discussed the Golden Ratio Multiplier and how bitcoiners can use the well known golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence to predict future values. The next subject takes a look at how crypto enthusiasts can use Logarithmic Growth Curves to get some perspective on bitcoin (BTC) price cycles.

Essentially, logarithmic growth is the inverse of exponential swelling and it is much slower than rapid and aggressive growth. Logarithmic growth is leveraged in biology and various sciences but exponential and logarithmic functions can be used in finance as well.

Bitcoin’s price timeline can be seen from a logarithmic perspective. In fact, a log price chart is one of the most popular in the world of crypto and traditional finance technical analysis. In simple terms, a crypto asset’s log chart leverages conventional percentage rates and all spacing is equivalent to scale.

Even the most basic of logarithmic BTC charts, the individual can get an entirely different look than the typical crypto price charts using candlesticks and different time frames. Additionally, bitcoin traders can look at the crypto asset’s Logarithmic Growth Curves model which gives even more perspective.

This particular Logarithmic Growth Curve (LGC) price model hosted on lookintobitcoin.com was created by Cole Garner and @quantadelic. Further, the price model was also “inspired by the work of Harold Christopher Burger,” the website notes.

Harold Christopher Burger published a comprehensive study on LGC in his paper called “Bitcoin’s natural long-term power-law corridor of growth.” When Burger wrote the paper in 2019, he mentioned a number of individuals like John McAfee ($1M), and Nouriel Roubini ($0) forecasting outlandish price predictions.

In his editorial, Burger looks at bitcoin’s (BTC) full price history from a logarithmic point of view. Essentially, Burger describes BTC’s possible future price patterns with the power-law or Power Law Corridor (PLC) model.

Burger said at the time, he is “quite confident in the long-term, the price will indeed evolve approximately as stated” in his article. His study notes that bitcoin follows a price corridor that can be divided into two bands.

“One which lies at the lower-end of the price predictions and is rather thin, the other one being much larger and lying at the higher-end predictions,” the analyst’s paper details. “Bitcoin’s price spends about equal amounts of time in both bands. This implies that large bubbles and busts are likely to continue to exist.”

The researcher that blogs for Quantodian Publications explains that the price model helps people determine the market’s entry and exit points. “This model allows us to make broad predictions concerning the long-term future price of bitcoin,” the blog post emphasizes referring to two forecasts.

• “The price will reach $100 000 per bitcoin no earlier than 2021 and no later than 2028. After 2028, the price will never drop below $100 000.”
• “The price will reach $1 000 000 per bitcoin no earlier than 2028 and no later than 2037. After 2037, the price will never drop below $1 000 00.”

Constant Movement: Normal and Bull Mode

After doing some math, equations, and linear regression, Burger found that a basic level of support for BTC’s price followed a power-law. He performed the linear regression with bitcoin’s price peaks in 2011, 2013, and 2017.

“The market tops also seem to follow a power-law,” Burger said. “If the next market top also follows this power-law, the market top will lie on this line. The slope of this power-law is 5.02927337, whereas the fit on all data gave us a somewhat larger slope of 5.84509376. This indicates a relative taming of bitcoin bull markets compared to the overall trend-line,” the author added.

When Burger quantified these measurements defined by the three bitcoin market price highs and coefficient of determination, the researcher came up with two power-laws. He also leveraged random sample consensus, or RANSAC to get more data points.

The researcher then found two modes, one normal and one bull, and was further able to formulate different power-law models for BTC’s price. Burger shows a chart that includes “power-law fit,” “power-law fit minus bias,” “power-law fit on only three tops,” and “robust fit.”

“We now have various models to predict the future price of bitcoin. All we have to do is extend the graph,” Burger blog post notes. The researcher adds:

We can further divide this corridor into two bands, one corresponding to the “normal” mode and one corresponding to the ‘bull’ mode. The price has so far spent half the time in the lower ‘normal mode’ band, and the rest of the time in the higher ‘bull mode’ band.

‘Black Thursday’ and the Current State of Affairs

The power-law corridor of growth blog post written by Burger has followed bitcoin’s price movements pretty well since it was published. The Quantodian Publications author does note, however, when he was modeling a support line for bitcoin’s price to follow a power-law that there was one instance in 2010, where the price of BTC breached below the line.

Since the blog post was published on September 4, 2019, there is a second instance where bitcoin’s price breached the “robust fit” line.

This specific time was during the financial meltdown on March 12, 2020, otherwise known as ‘Black Thursday,’ when BTC and nearly every asset in the world saw values sink. March 12 was considered a freak instance and possibly an outlier because of the fear and shock Covid-19 brought to financial markets.

Lastly, the current chart shows bitcoin went through a bullish cycle in recent times, but hasn’t peaked like the rest of the bull cycles. In fact, the chart shows the northbound price climax plateaued much lower than the other peaks and the price has started to head southbound.

What do you think about log charts, power-law, and utilizing Logarithmic Growth Curves to predict bitcoin price cycles? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

via Jamie Redman

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Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Experiences This Year’s Largest Epoch Drop, Global Hashrate Slips Lower

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty dropped this week at block height 685,440 and saw the largest negative drop of the year losing close to 16%. Overall the global hashrate has dropped around 2% since the price fell below the $40k handle. Currently, the mining difficulty is around 21 trillion, and it could drop another 16% in less than two weeks.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Slides Close to 16% Down Following 2021’s Largest Epoch Difficulty Rise

The price of bitcoin (BTC) has seen better days and following the drop in price, the hashrate has also slowed down to a certain degree. On May 29, 2021, at block height 685,440 the Bitcoin network’s mining difficulty slid by 15.97%, which is the largest epoch drop of 2021.

It also follows the largest difficulty rise in 2021, which occurred at block height 683,424. At that time, the mining difficulty jumped over 21.5% and the global hashrate was around 179.2 EH/s on May 13.

Right now, the mining difficulty is expected to drop even more in 12 days around 15.69% according to data. That percentage drop would equal a difficulty drop from the current 21.05 trillion difficulty to 17.75 trillion. A 16% difficulty drop is a sizable swing, seeing how the largest drop in 2021 was around 12.6%. At the time of publication, Bitcoin’s hashrate is around the 135 to 150 EH/s range.

In 3 Years, Bitcoin Difficulty Has Risen 72% of the Time

Overall hashrate has slid roughly 2% since dropping below $40,000 per BTC but since May 9, it’s dropped roughly 35% from 214 EH/s to 135 EH/s. With the difficulty lowered, there’s a great number of pools dedicating hashrate to the BTC chain. Currently, 20 mining pools are processing BTC blocks and F2pool commands the top position with 23.25 EH/s or over 15% of the hashrate.

F2pool is followed by Viabtc, Btc.com, Antpool, Poolin, Binance Pool, Foundry USA, and 1thash. Since January 2018, the Bitcoin network has seen 91 consecutive difficulty changes and only 25 of them were downward drops. This means during the last three years, more than 72% of the time, the difficulty increased every two weeks.

What do you think about bitcoin’s mining difficulty dropping close to 16%? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

via Jamie Redman

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India’s Central Bank RBI Confirms Crypto Banking Ban ‘No Longer Valid’ — Asks Banks to Stop Quoting It

Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has officially advised banks that its banking ban circular is no longer valid as it was set aside by the country’s supreme court more than one year ago. Despite the supreme court’s ruling, banks have been citing the RBI circular when dealing with cryptocurrency.

RBI Tells Banks to Stop Quoting Its ‘No Longer Valid’ Circular on Cryptocurrency

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), issued a notice on Monday clarifying its position regarding cryptocurrencies. The notice, entitled “Customer Due Diligence for transactions in Virtual Currencies (VC),” aims at “all commercial and co-operative banks, payments banks, small finance banks, NBFCs, and payment system providers.”

The RBI wrote:

It has come to our attention through media reports that certain banks/ regulated entities have cautioned their customers against dealing in virtual currencies by making a reference to the RBI circular … dated April 06, 2018.

The April circular advised banks that they were prohibited in dealing in cryptocurrencies. However, the Indian supreme court quashed this circular back in March of last year, allowing banks to resume providing services to crypto businesses, including cryptocurrency exchanges.

In its notice Monday, the RBI clarified: “Such references to the above circular by banks/ regulated entities are not in order as this circular was set aside by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on March 04, 2020 in the matter of Writ Petition (Civil) No.528 of 2018 (Internet and Mobile Association of India v. Reserve Bank of India),” elaborating:

As such, in view of the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the circular is no longer valid from the date of the Supreme Court judgement, and therefore cannot be cited or quoted from.

The central bank added: “Banks, as well as other entities addressed above, may, however, continue to carry out customer due diligence processes in line with regulations governing standards for Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and obligations of regulated entities under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA), 2002 in addition to ensuring compliance with relevant provisions under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for overseas remittances.”

While the banking restriction was lifted back in March last year, some banks in India are reportedly still restricting crypto transactions. Some customers reportedly received warning emails from their banks stating that they are not allowed to use bank accounts or credit cards for crypto transactions.

Some media outlets even reported that the RBI unofficially asked banks to cut ties with crypto businesses and traders. The National Payments Corporation of India, however, said it will not ban cryptocurrency transactions through UPI.

Meanwhile, the Indian government is still working on cryptocurrency regulation. A crypto bill was supposed to be introduced in Parliament in the Budget session but it was not. Last month, the media reported that the government planned to set up a panel of experts to work on cryptocurrency regulation.

What do you think about the RBI’s clarification to banks regarding cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below.

via Kevin Helms

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Japan’s Top Financial Watchdog Sends a Warning Crypto Derivatives Exchange Bybit

The Japanese government’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has issued a warning to the crypto derivatives exchange Bybit claiming that the trading platform is allowing residents of Japan access to the exchange. The news follows the Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda criticizing digital currencies for speculation.

Japan’s FSA Warns Bybit Fintech Limited

Japan’s top regulator that handles banking, securities and exchange, and insurance sectors within the economy has recently issued a warning to Bybit Fintech Limited. Bybit is a crypto derivatives exchange that offers digital currency futures, perpetual swaps, and other types of contracts to crypto asset traders. The FSA’s warning claims that Bybit’s operators are allowing Japanese citizens to leverage the platform and notes that the exchange has not registered with the regulator.

The news has been spreading like wildfire on social media and people discussed how Binance was warned about the same thing three years ago. In 2018, Japan’s FSA sent Binance a warning for not meeting the regulator’s registration requirements. The issues with Bybit come at a time where regulators all around the world are cracking down on crypto services. Japanese regulators are stepping up regulations like South Korea in order to meet Financial Action Task Force (FATF) virtual asset mandates.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda also slammed the leading digital currency bitcoin (BTC) last week for speculation. “Most of the trading is speculative and volatility is extraordinarily high,” Kuroda told the press last Thursday. “It’s barely used as a means of settlement,” the central bank Governor criticized. The BoJ lead may be pressing the FSA to crack down on speculative trading and crypto derivatives exchanges.

Bybit Abandoned the UK Two Months Ago

A report published in August 2020, shows that Bybit expanded into Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam at that time. The report written by Mohammad Musharraf says Bybit’s platform “added support for the Japanese yen and South Korean won.” Bybit is one of the top five derivatives exchanges worldwide in terms of future volumes. Bybit was also warned by the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Agency last February.

“We believe this firm may be providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorisation,” the UK financial watchdog said at the time. In a blog post published on March 5, the crypto derivatives exchange Bybit revealed it ceased operations in the UK region.

What do you think about Bybit getting a warning from Japan’s top financial watchdog? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

via Jamie Redman

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Bitcoin.com Wallet Adds ETH

The Bitcoin.com team is excited to announce integration of Ethereum into the Bitcoin.com Wallet. That means anyone can now buy, receive, store, trade, and send ether (ETH) with the convenience and security of the industry’s most user-friendly, non-custodial wallet.

How It Works

When you open the Bitcoin.com Wallet, you’ll now see the Ethereum section in your home screen. Tapping the “BUY” button will prompt you to enter a purchase amount. If you’ve already set up your payment method, your purchase will go through instantly. It’s that easy!

If you have other cryptocurrencies in your Wallet, you can now swap any amount for ETH – or vice versa. You can also send and receive ETH using the Bitcoin.com Wallet, just like you do with any other asset.

You also have the option to import an existing Ethereum wallet. Just tap the “ADD/IMPORT” button on the home screen and scan the QR code or enter the 12-word secret phrase from your existing wallet.

Your Digital Assets, in Your Control

Remember, the entire Bitcoin.com Wallet (including your Ethereum wallet) is ‘non-custodial,’ meaning you’re in full control of your digital assets. No need to ask permission from a centralized exchange to instantly send your assets wherever you want, whenever you want. You’ll never be ‘deplatformed,’ and there’s no exposure to the risk of a third party getting hacked or going bankrupt. Of course, with great power comes great responsibility, so don’t forget to back up the ‘keys’ to your wallet.

Unstoppable Domains & ENS Integration

The Bitcoin.com Wallet also now supports both Unstoppable Domains and Ethereum Naming System (ENS). That means you can easily send cryptocurrencies – including BTC, BCH, ETH, and more – to an alias like “jessica.crypto” or “vitalik.eth.” Get your own Unstoppable Domain in the Wallet via the Discover tab.

For more information on Ethereum and guides on how to use it in your Wallet, please see here.

What do you think about the latest Bitcoin.com Wallet features? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

via Bitcoin.com

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Home Crypto Mining Spikes in Brazil Amid Record High Unemployment

With rising unemployment rates and rampant economic uncertainty, in the wake of the Covid crisis, a growing number of Brazilians are finding an alternative income source in cryptocurrency mining. GPU rigs have been spotted even in favelas as a relatively small investment can return more than the average salary in Brazil.

Pandemic and Uncertainty Turn More Brazilians to Cryptocurrency Mining

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has taken a heavy toll on Brazil and the country ranks among the hardest hit, with over 450,000 deaths due to Covid-19. South America’s largest economy shrank by more than 4% in 2020 resulting in a record high unemployment for almost a decade – 14.3 million citizens are jobless, the national statistical office announced earlier this year.

Low or no salaries, along with bleak economic perspectives, have pushed Brazilians to find new ways to make ends meet. According to a recent report by Portal do Bitcoin, a growing number of people in the country have been turning to crypto mining as an alternative source of income. Government data showing a surge in hardware imports and electricity consumption has confirmed the trend.

Profitability varies depending on the scale, but a 34-year-old student from Piumhi has helped the crypto news outlet to get an idea of the economics of home mining. Expedito Felipe started minting ether (ETH) in January, “to increase, diversify” his income, investing 47,000 reals (around $9,000) in equipment. He earns between 3,000 and 5,000 reals a month (approx. $600 – $900), spending only around $100 on electricity.

In the absence of exact figures, it’s hard to accurately estimate the true dimensions of the home mining activity in Brazil, but circumstantial indicators show that it is thriving. Several Facebook groups with large memberships are spreading information about the technical aspects, while Youtube videos on the topic have accumulated hundreds of thousands of views. According to some social media reports, rigs are now mining even in favelas, Brazil’s poorest neighborhoods.

Brazil Imports Video Cards for $20 Million in Q1 This Year

Socio-economic issues like unemployment, the lack of opportunities, and the devaluation of the Brazilian real can partially explain the crypto mining boom, but according to José Guilherme Silva Vieira, professor of economics at the Federal University of Paraná, the positive difference between expected returns and costs is what really drives popular interest. Speaking to Portal do Bitcoin, he elaborated:

Costs are defined by the equipment used and the expenses. Mining consumes a lot of electricity. In the past 12 months, however, the returns from the activity have been catapulted by the excessive valuation of cryptocurrencies.

Graphics cards are an essential hardware element of home manning rigs and Brazil has registered a spike of imports this year. According to data compiled by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, Brazilian companies have imported GPUs for 106 million reals (over $20 million) only in the first quarter, a four-fold increase over the same period of 2020.

Electricity consumption in certain areas has also surged. There has been no official statement from the government yet, linking the increased power usage to cryptocurrency mining. However, one of Brazil’s largest power distributers, Enel Distribuição São Paulo, has discovered 69,000 cases of theft from the grid in 2020 alone, in the 24 municipalities served by the utility company. That’s close to 20% more than the previous year.

Is home cryptocurrency mining profitable in your country? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

via Lubomir Tassev

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South Korean Financial Supervisory Service Tasked With Crypto Market Oversight

The Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea will lead government efforts to oversee the country’s expanding cryptocurrency market. The agency has been tasked with the job after prolonged discussions over which Korean regulator should be responsible for the industry.

Financial Supervisory Service Takes Responsibility for Crypto Sector in Korea

It took the government months to determine who’s going to take charge of crypto market oversight, the Korean Herald noted in an article published this weekend. The executive power in Seoul announced Friday that the task has been assigned to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), one of the country’s financial regulators.

The agency will be monitoring closely the implementation of previously introduced regulatory measures, the newspaper elaborated. These include the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. The latter imposes certain restrictions on cryptocurrency exchanges operating in South Korea.

The Korean government has also delegated powers to the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology to steer the development of the blockchain industry in the country. The department has already dealt with issues related to the crypto space. Earlier in May, Korean media reported that in the past three months the ministry has found and blocked over 30 phishing websites trying to obtain login details from crypto exchange users.

South Korean Government Confirms Plan to Tax Crypto-Related Gains

In this week’s announcement, the South Korean authorities have also maintained their commitment to impose income tax on gains from cryptocurrency transactions. Crypto investors who make 25 million won ($22,400) or more during next year will be required to pay 20% on their profits. Not all Koreans have welcomed the proposal.

Another development concerns crypto trading platforms working in the Asian country. The Korean government has decided to prohibit cryptocurrency operators from direct engagement in providing transactions or brokerage services. Korean ministers say the move aims to enhance transparency in the operation of digital asset exchanges.

Crypto investing and trading has gained significant popularity in South Korea where prices have often exceeded global rates. The phenomenon known as ‘kimchi premium’ has been observed again over the past weeks since markets started moving downwards. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin (BTC) at Bithumb, one of Korea’s largest crypto exchanges, hovers above $38,000, while the global rate is closer to $35,000.

Seoul’s latest decisions add to a string of regulatory announcements that have negatively affected cryptocurrency markets. Authorities in China have been cracking down on bitcoin miners and have reiterated previously introduced restrictions on crypto trade and exchange. Meanwhile, the U.S. has announced new measures to curb tax evasion involving cryptocurrencies including a requirement for companies to declare any crypto receipts of over $10,000 of market value.

What do you think about the latest regulatory developments in South Korea? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

via Lubomir Tassev

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Central Bank of Brazil Issues Guidelines for Its CBDC

The Central Bank Of Brazil, the highest monetary authority of the country, has released a note listing the general guidelines for the design of a hypothetical central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the country. While there are still no concrete steps taken in this direction, at least the document recognizes there have been discussions about this possibility in the institution.

Central Bank of Brazil Issues General CBDC Guidelines

The Central Bank of Brazil, the economic authority of the South American country, has released a document where it specifies the general guidelines of a future Brazilian central bank digital currency (CBDC). The note, titled “Banco Central do Brasil releases general guideline for a Brazilian CBDC,” details the characteristics and traits that a hypothetical CBDC emitted by the institution will have in the future.

Among the characteristics detailed in the document, apart from mentioning its use as a money substitute, its compliance with AML and anti-terrorism regulations, and also its issuance by the same bank, there are other more interesting attributes. First, the bank cites the coin will feature an:

Adherence to all privacy and security principles and rules determined, in particular, by the Bank Secrecy Law, and by the General Law for the Protection of Personal Data (LGPD);

As a fundamental part of the currency. CBDC’s have been criticized for the total control that the issuers can have over the spending information and personal data of their users, so the bank is already dealing with this kind of criticism early. Another important specification the bank mentions is the relation its currency will have with smart contracts. The document also states the currency will have an:

Emphasis on the development of innovative business models based on technological advances, such as smart contracts, internet of things (IoT), and programmable money;

Which may enable the future currency to be interoperable with smart money features.

This CEDB initiative is part of the program called Agenda BC#, an initiative of the bank to modernize some of its operations, including fintech startups in the banking business and introducing some sandbox regulations. However, this is just an initial design draft and the bank recognizes this might change in the future, including or excluding some traits of this list after a more open dialogue is established with private sectors of the Brazilian society.

CBDC Study Not so Common in LATAM

The Central Bank of Brazil has been one of the pioneers in proposing and issuing the guidelines for its CBDC in the continent. Most of the countries in the region have made no announcements of having an interest in investigating this kind of currency to deploy it in their territories.

In contrast, the Bahamas, an island country, is on the verge of launching the Sand Dollar, its own CBDC. Also, China is already using its own CBDC for cryptocurrency payments, having transacted 3 million operations worth over a billion yuan during last year.

What do you think of the advances the Centra Bank of Brazil is making on CBDC? Tell us in the comment section below.

via Sergio Goschenko

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