The new rule applies to exchanges and cryptocurrency custody services that operate in Spain. The European country will enable a single registry with customer data, which it will share with all of Europe.

Through a new Royal Decree-Law, Spain is tightening its regulation on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and on companies that provide services related to them. The regulation aligns local regulations with European provisions against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Spanish regulatory authorities published on April 28^th the decree in the Official State Gazette. This decree incorporates into the Spanish provisions the European regulation called Directive 2018/843 (also known as AMLD5).

This official order stipulates that the Spanish authorities should register and supervise companies providing services related to cryptocurrencies. The reason for that is that they are among what they call “new obligated parties.”

European Cryptocurrency Exchanges Have to Reveal Data of Their Users

Cryptocurrency exchange companies and those that provide custody and wallets must share their customers’ data and report “suspicious activities.” That means that the regulation covers exchanges, mutual funds, and custodians of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The authorities announced the creation of a single registration system containing the data of the users of these services, with information from the Mercantile Registry. They will cross these data with records from other countries of the European Union whose “public access [is] no longer limited to obligated parties and authorities.”

The European Union approved the current regulatory legislation on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in 2018. There would be more access to information about users to eliminate anonymity in these types of transactions. They established this registry and the obligation to share data with other European jurisdictions on the same date.

However, the provision arrived in Spain later than scheduled as the European Union set a deadline until 2020 for the interconnection of European countries. The latter must share information about their customers through a central platform for the region.

The Regulation on Cryptocurrencies Exempts Europe from Sharing Data with the USA

European authorities have been searching for a unitary regulation on cryptocurrencies for a long time. The European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), among other agencies, have advocated making it a reality for at least two years.

Regulators have taken measures to share the data of users of services associated with cryptocurrencies between countries of the region. They have followed recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) such as the so-called “travel rule.”

Despite this requirement, a European court exempted companies in the region from sharing their data with others in the United States.

In other words, the authorities had to evaluate each case individually and avoid the “automatic submission” of information. The adoption of the FATF provisions would only apply to the European territory, where there would be automation. In this sense, the regulators said that the region would participate in a single registry with data from the countries.

By Willmen Blanco

The counterfeit bills were sold for 10-30% of their face value, depending on the size of the lot. After receiving the bitcoins, couriers hid the counterfeit bills in suburban parks or forests.

The Russian police reported this Monday, April 26, the Arrest of four alleged counterfeiters who sold USD 13 million in counterfeit banknotes in exchange for bitcoins. The sale of the tickets would have happened through stores within the darknet market, Hydra.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant expressed that the four subjects identified as Sergey Arisov, Ivan Aferov, Andrey Skvortsov and Oleg Efimov received an arrest warrant in the western Russian city Nizhny Novgorod.

Russian police took them captive and filed them with charges of printing counterfeit banknotes and selling them through Hydra, one of the world’s largest darknet markets, according to blockchain analytics company Chainalysis.

The banknotes, with which these four alleged counterfeiters came to earn around USD 13 million, were sold for 10% or 15% of their face value if they were large batches, or 30% of their face value was smaller lots.

Counterfeit Money’s Delivery Fell at Fake Messengers’ Hands through the “Hidden Treasure” Method

The modus operandi for the sale of counterfeits was purchasing these bills through Hydra stores for a minimum of 0.0002 BTC per ticket. Once the buyer sent the payment in bitcoin for the bills, a courier for the counterfeiters would deliver the package with the counterfeits to a location that could be a suburban forest or a natural place/park in Russia and hide, even burying it on the ground.

Giving the name to this way of proceeding from «kald», that is to say, «hidden treasure». Once the package reached its place, the courier would send the buyer a message to fetch it.

The alleged counterfeiters became too evident as the Russian police first found several of their messengers. Likewise, after getting the criminals captured, the police confiscated computers and other vital equipment at the headquarters where they based their operations.

Some buyers of these counterfeit bills stated that the packages on which these currencies were, laid in places easy to find. They bought things in real life with those bills. Another strategy these kinds of counterfeiters use could be that the damage of the package or did not appear in the place indicated by the couriers.

According to CoinDesk writer Anya Baydakova, sellers suggest that hairspray on purchases would make the fake bills adopt the typical texture that adorns the cash bills. In stores, there is a provision of a brand of lacquers to guarantee this result.

This criminal behavior has happened before; it is not the first time that banknote counterfeiters have been under Arrest because of the failed exchanging of false money for bitcoins. In 2016, 8 subjects received an arrest warrant in Malta for a very similar crime.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Mayor Scott Conger explores the possibility of mining Bitcoin to add it to the balance sheet. The official believes that cryptocurrencies are a “new industrial revolution” that will help improve people’s economic status.

In recent days, Scott Conger, mayor of the city of Jackson, Tennessee, talked about the use of Bitcoin. He stated that he is considering the idea of paying the salary of city council workers with the cryptocurrency.

On his Twitter account, the official wrote that they “are exploring payroll conversions for [their] employees.”

State workers from the city of Jackson currently have the opportunity for deferred compensation for their retirement in Bitcoin. This is possible thanks to the potential for wealth protection that the cryptocurrency provides compared to more traditional forms of savings.

“We need to expand our options so that our employees can use dollar-cost averaging (DCA) to increase and improve their investment portfolios,” Corgen said.

Corgen considers that the city government will lead the adoption of Bitcoin in the country. He even believes that cryptocurrencies are a “new industrial revolution” that will close the gap between the rich and the poor.

The State Could Mine Bitcoin in Jackson

The mayor feels so attracted to Bitcoin and its usefulness in paying salaries that his administration is exploring the possibility of mining it. Litecoin and Ethereum’s Ether could accompany Bitcoin on the city council’s balance sheets.

Therefore, he is contemplating financing projects for the community with digital assets that come from cryptocurrency mining. Besides, he said that they “could also benefit from [their] local energy authority by extracting during off-peak hours. That will allow planning and regulating energy production,” the official said.

Most politicians of the United States have shown their dislike for the cryptocurrency that Satoshi Nakamoto created in 2009. In this regard, Corgen said that he hopes that lawmakers will change their position on Bitcoin.

“We can stick to the way we have always done things or we can drive innovation. We have to be willing to embrace the future and create a vision for how to get there,” the mayor added.

Bitcoin Is the Bridge That Will Connect Tennessee and Miami

The official noted that he has had conversations about Bitcoin with various people. He highlighted that they made him more interested in the potential of cryptocurrencies.

Among the people that Conger has talked to is Francis Suárez, mayor of the city of Miami. People know him for his initiatives and public policy impulses that include Bitcoin.

In early April, Conger said that he was receiving advice about cryptocurrencies from Francis Suárez. He added that he would form a task force on blockchain to explore how to better position the city of Jackson in the future.

At the end of 2020, Suárez stated that he was considering putting 1% of the treasury of Miami Mayor’s Office in Bitcoin. Other officials of the city have submitted bills for the authorities to accept cryptocurrencies as a form of tax payment, rates, and services.

By Willmen Blanco