Binance Disabled the Purchase Option of BTC with Debit and Credit Cards in Some Countries

Maria Rodríguez
-
0
Binance Disabled the Purchase Option of BTC with Debit and Credit Cards in Some Countries

Binance representatives clarified that the measure to suspend the purchase of bitcoins using debit and credit cards will be temporary.

Some users of Binance, the renowned cryptocurrency buying, and selling platform, will not be able to buy BTC with conventional bank cards, the company announced in a statement published last week. The Latin American countries that will no longer be able to use the “pay by bank card” option are Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil.

Representatives of the exchange updated the list of countries that now can use this purchase option, despite Binance enabled the use of Visa debit and credit cards to buy cryptocurrencies in Colombia and Peru, a few days ago.

The new update also includes other countries in Asia and Africa, such as Nigeria, the Philippines, India, South Korea, among others. Therefore, there are more than 16 territories that will not be able to access the option to buy cryptocurrencies using a fiat money card.

The statement highlights that this measure will only be temporary and that it also will affect users who used Visa and Mastercard to purchase cryptocurrencies. However, Binance representatives did not specify the reason for the suspension of this payment option or the time it will be disabled. The crypto buyers hope to receive more details on this new decision in the next days.

The statement is accompanied by a report that names the countries that may still have access to this option. The statement details that Spain, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and some 27 other territories, mostly European, can buy cryptocurrencies regularly basis using debit and credit cards (fiat money).

In the last announcement, Binance said it enabled the Paxful payment platform so that users in Colombia and Peru were able to buy cryptocurrencies using their Visa debit and credit cards. The exchange also talked about the inclusion of countries such as South Korea and Kazakhstan to this purchase option. However, Binance also disabled the option for these countries.

On the other hand, almost a month ago, Binance allowed P2P (peer-to-peer) exchanges in some types of local Latin American currencies such as the Brazilian Real and the Peruvian Sol. But the statement issued last week did not clarify if the company would restrict these exchanges or if these operations will have limitations when making the exchange.

This measure also comes after Binance removed the Visa company logo from its crypto card project, a few days ago. This happened despite Binance announced that Visa would be among the allied companies that would provide issuance support for the company’s exchange cards.

Currently, Binance has become the number one crypto exchange company in the world. It manages a volume of electronic commerce per day, for almost 4,000 million dollars.

The exchange company was born in China in mid-2017, where it had its operations center in the Asian country. However, regulatory problems forced the company to change its headquarters to Malta, in 2018. Now is an important company in the crypto world.

By María Rodríguez

European Parliament Suggests Global Regulation for Cryptocurrencies

Maria Rodríguez
-
0
European Parliament Suggests Global Regulation for Cryptocurrencies

A study of the European Central Bank determined that current regulations are outdated to determine crimes of money laundering and terrorist financing with cryptocurrencies.

Some parliamentarians from the European Union (EU) call to stop the ambiguities in the regulations of crypto assets. For this reason, they suggest creating universal standards that oversee the use of cryptocurrencies in all territories.

This would be an action that would eliminate loopholes in regulatory statutes in various countries. For this reason, the European Parliament committee proposes the universal regulatory framework for digital currencies and hopes that these measures can avoid unfavorable legal changes in some countries. The European Parliament will not allow the creation of positive conditions to use cryptocurrencies in crimes such as money laundering and corruption.

Some countries have made significant efforts to regulate and control the use of cryptocurrencies in their territories. However, they have not achieved an alliance to coordinate efforts against crimes with cryptocurrencies.

The individual measures to control these assets only cover a part of the entire crypto ecosystem. Thus, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Central Bank (ECB) conducted a study and determined that the entire ecosystem is not affected.

In this sense, the study determined that it is important to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies for all the countries of the European Union (EU). In this way, the countries would prevent the so-called “regulatory arbitration”, which could promote legal loopholes and financial problems, among other issues.

An example of this can occur within the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. This is because those who conduct these acts of corruption can take advantage of the different regulations in the countries to avoid sanctions or criminal convictions.

The study diligently evaluates different possibilities. If the United States of America strengthens legal measures to prevent illegal activities, they will likely change the way they operate and move to some countries in Europe. In this way, if the EU establishes a clear regulation for all its member countries, “the possibilities of effectively eradicating such activities are much greater”.

Although the study indicates cooperation between the EU and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to conduct actions that go against these illegal activities, the study indicates that the European Union is far behind in terms of anti-money laundering laws.

Binance also recognized that by the time the European countries established the international laws for cryptocurrencies of the AMLD5 it in their laws, they were already outdated.

For this reason, the reforms that these countries made to these laws are beneficial, but they are insufficient for the new times.

Although this group only results to be a request for evaluation, some actions of the European Parliament suggest that they close and evaluate the use of cryptocurrencies.

An example of this took place in December 2019. That year, the European Committee launched a public consultation on cryptocurrencies and their regulations. This consultation would also assess the role of these assets in the global payments and transactions market.

By María Rodríguez

Central Bank of England Representatives Say Their Digital Currency Must Not Be Anonymous

Maria Rodríguez
-
0
Central Bank of England Representatives Say Their Digital Currency Must Not Be Anonymous

During a meeting, the authorities considered that Bitcoin does not have all the necessary to be recognized as real money.

Representatives of the Central Bank of England held a private web meeting where they discussed the pros and cons of issuing a national digital currency. The meeting is possible after the bank issued a statement, a few days ago, related to the issue of digital currencies created by the authorities of the countries.

The debate sought to take into consideration the use of these types of assets for the national economy, taking into account the benefits and negative points of including these digital assets in the conventional financial system.

Although the representatives of the bank mentioned the use of technologies and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, they are not entirely convinced that using these digital assets is good for the economy. During the meeting held on April 7th, the authorities took into account the idea of ​​creating a national digital currency. They agreed that if they take this decision, it should not be anonymous.

In the executive meeting participated experts in areas related to digital technologies such as Tom Mutton, Director of Fintech; Ben Dyson, leader of National Digital Currencies and Cryptoactive; and Manisha Patel, Senior Analyst of the Cryptocurrency team.

Dyson gave one of the most important comments of the meeting. He argued that the use of these national digital assets should be subject to a set of laws and regulations which preserve privacy. Users of these digital systems should be aware of whom they share personal information with and how often they do so. Therefore, the use of national digital currencies should not be anonymous.

Furthermore, Dyson said that people should not consider cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and other similar assets as real money. On the other hand, he defended other payment systems and digital assets of a different nature that may well work better than the renowned cryptocurrency.

The expert in national digital currencies accompanied his opinion remembering that for the possible issuance of National Digital Currencies it is good to consider the support of private startup companies to make this possible.

Although Ben Dyson considered that the support of private companies is important, he also clarified that these companies should not have full control in the creation of these national currencies. Dyson explained that there must be a level of supervision to ensure that common errors in the issue of these digital assets are avoided.

In this way, the public sector must be present to develop what best suits customers and users. “We have been thinking about how the systems will be, the payment systems we will need in the future, and what they will be. We have a great motivation to do all this right now”, Dyson said.

On the other hand, Tom Mutton commented that cryptocurrencies do not have what it takes to be considered as real money. Nevertheless, he said it would be important to use stablecoins in the future. He thinks stablecoins could be useful in the future, although these stable currencies must comply with certain modifications to adapt to the financial system.

On the other hand, Mutton recognized that cryptocurrencies do not pose a risk to England’s financial system, but that it could be different for Investors who take these technologies into account. Although its position is still contrary to cryptocurrencies.

Using stablecoins would benefit large markets and supply chains in a not specifically established future. All of this, although Central Bank of England representatives highlighted that they would implement these national digital currencies only in retail markets.

In conclusion, the representatives of the bank highlighted that the Central Bank of England is interested in investigating further the use of National Digital Currencies. These experts are also interested in investigating the role that these digital currencies may have when competing with other similar projects such as Libra, the cryptocurrency of the social media giant Facebook.

By María Rodríguez

Users Will Not Set Standard for Facebook Libra but Regulators

Willmen Blanco
-
0
Users Will Not Set Standard for Facebook Libra but Regulators

Facebook’s plan to create a global currency yielded to government regulatory pressure. Its purpose now is to become a standard for central bank digital currencies.

Facebook promised that Libra would take finance to a new level for millions of its users. Along the way, they would use their tool, a new cryptocurrency, which many saw emerging as a Bitcoin (BTC) contender.

By announcing the modification of its white paper on April 16th, Libra confirmed that it would not follow users’ guidelines, but rather those that meet the requirements of governments, banks, and international regulators.

These adjustments do not take into account any “revolution” and focus on a system that would only facilitate payments in national fiat currencies, which already exist and are part of the global corporate establishment.

In the reformulation of his project, Libra does not say anything about getting closer to users or holding meetings with enthusiasts in the ecosystem. It only mentions users to promise that they will receive protection against possible risks. However, the document does refer to dialogues with central bank authorities, officials and auditors to determine the best way to comply with established regulatory frameworks.

Libra realized that its “square” model would not fit the “round” model of cryptocurrencies. The association that promotes it had no choice but to yield to the pressure from the US Congress; the central banks of France, Germany, and Australia; and the authorities of Russia, Canada, and India, among many others.

The original members of the Libra Association included large financial corporations, such as Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and MercadoPago, which were some of the founders. However, they eventually decided to leave as they realized that they would be working for a currency, which in the end could take market shares away from them.

Even though Libra will use blockchain technology and each of the 22 corporations forming the association would operate a node, nobody knows how they will handle information. Besides, there will be open developments with prior approval, which will have to conform to KYC/AML requirements. Likewise, it will be possible to program smart contracts.

The path that Libra chose was to build a platform where there is interoperability of stablecoins tied to national fiat currencies. The association seeks to create a standard to integrate digital currencies issued by central banks, which lacks neutrality, resistance to censorship and open protocols. These three aspects are precisely some of the fundamental principles of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, to name just one example.

In terms of user privacy, the leverage for this project comes from Facebook, a company that has already used data of its members improperly. Many people wonder if Facebook will provide the information of its users, without their consent, for other purposes, as on other occasions.

There could be a perception of Libra as an argument for Facebook and other companies to formally approach the world of finance and develop business. However, it will always follow the guidelines of institutions that already regulate the international monetary system and it will not be a form of disruption.

The potential for mass adoption of their experiment is real since the social network has more than 2.5 billion users. In any case, its arrival does not represent a direct threat to Bitcoin, but rather to commercial banks or systems like PayPal or Revolut. Of course, only time will tell who is right.

By Willmen Blanco

Major Altcoins Has far Exceeded Bitcoin’s Performance until now in 2020

Willmen Blanco
-
0
Major Altcoins Has far Exceeded Bitcoin’s Performance until now in 2020

Of all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin SV has been the one with the best performance so far this year. Bitcoin has lost 1.28% of its capitalization this year, whilst altcoins are gaining nearly 20%.

Bitcoin (BTC) has lost around 1.28% of its value so far in 2020, compared to the price that it had at the beginning of the year since it went from USD 7,122 to USD 7,031. In contrast, the behavior of several main altcoins in the cryptocurrency market has been different from that shown by Bitcoin.

An analysis takes into account some of the top 10 altcoins by capitalization in the cryptocurrency market from January 1st to the present, according to data from CoinMarketCap. By looking at the capitalization market of altcoins, it is possible to observe that it went from USD 60,699 million to USD 72,355 million, reflecting a profit of 19.2% for altcoins until now this year.

Bitcoin SV (BSV) is one of the cryptocurrencies that have generated the biggest profits to its investors since the beginning of the year. At that time, BSV had a price of around USD 98.66 per unit, but it went through a highly volatile first fortnight of the year, reaching an all-time high of USD 410 on January 14th. Currently, the cryptocurrency has a price of USD 186.65, which represents an increase in the price of 89.18%.

Tezos (XTZ) could be the second-best cryptocurrency for performance so far in 2020. As the price of XTZ went from USD 1.37 in January to the current price of USD 1.93, its performance is 40.87 %. This cryptocurrency reached its all-time high in price on February 19th, when it hit USD 3.85.

The third best altcoin for performance in this analysis is Ethereum (ETH). At the beginning of the year, ETH had a price of USD 132.33 per unit, but it currently has a price of around USD 156.57, which represents an increase of 18.31%. It is important to remember that ETH reached its all-time high on January 14th, 2018, when the cryptocurrency achieved a price of USD 1,376.

Cryptocurrencies Remaining on the Sidelines

Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the market, Binance Coin (BNB) is one of the few that have recorded no losses in the period determined for the analysis. However, the performance of this cryptocurrency is quite modest. At the beginning of the year, BNB had a price of USD 13.66, whilst it is around USD 14.92 at the time of writing this article. This translates into an increase in the yearly price by 9.22%.

The last altcoin in this analysis is Bitcoin Cash (BCH), whose data have shown a performance of 6.74% so far this year. On January 1st, BCH had a price of USD 206.99, but its current price is around USD 220.96.

While Bitcoin has had negative performance and altcoins have shown returns between 89% and 6% this year, the trend was different in 2019 as Bitcoin exceeded the performance shown by altcoins.

By Willmen Blanco

Foxbit Will Not Receive Extension of Time to Pay Taxes from Brazilian Federal Justice

Alexander Salazar
-
0
Foxbit Will Not Receive Extension of Time to Pay Taxes from Brazilian Federal Justice

Foxbit records a 40% drop in revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some entities in Brazil do not yet consider the coronavirus to be a public calamity.

The government of Brazil refuses to accept the request from Foxbit, a cryptocurrency exchange house from that South American country, not to be listed in the register of income tax debtors for a period of up to 3 months.

Foxbit made the request because the current coronavirus pandemic crisis has had an impact of about 40% on its operating income. The exchange house intended to receive a 90-day extension to be able to pay its income taxes. The economic situation of the company is complicated since it must pay three other tax contributions to the State.

The Brazilian Federal Justice made that decision since companies do not receive the extension of time to pay their income taxes unless the National Simple governs them. It is a tax regime, regulated by the Complementary Law of Brazil, which unifies the payment of various taxes in a single guide and allows the payment of lower rates.

Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos, Judge of the Ninth Federal District Court of São Paulo, made comments regarding this situation. She explained that a moratorium allows the extension of the time beyond the final deadline stipulated for the payment of a debt, which causes the suspension of the tax credit requirement. However, she clarified that there is a universal dependence on the law. For this reason, the Judiciary cannot act as a positive legislator, benefiting only one party, individually.

Repercussions Mainly Due to Coronavirus Pandemic

As a consequence of the government’s decision, Foxbit made referred to ordinance number 12/2012. This document deals with the extension of time to pay federal taxes in cases of recognition of a public calamity. But Farias explained that the Federal Tax Service and the Office of the Attorney General of the National Treasury should take action to make this possible.

Both organizations must issue the necessary acts and establish the municipalities covered by the state decree of recognition of a public calamity. The judge has stated that this has not yet happened despite the coronavirus situation. Therefore, Foxbit will not receive the extension of time that they requested to pay their income taxes.

Given the decision made by the government of Brazil, Foxbit declared that it will comply with all its tax obligations. However, they also assured that they are considering the possibility of appealing the decision that the country’s regulatory agencies made.

It is important to note that the government of Brazil had previously taken actions regarding the payment of income taxes and the situation that has generated the coronavirus pandemic globally. In this sense, the Brazilian Tax Agency had decided to postpone the term for the declaration of Income Tax, initially scheduled for April 30th, until June 30th.

By Alexander Salazar

1...1,3551,3561,357...1,654Page 1,356 of 1,654