Supreme Court Orders the Reserve Bank of India to Justify Crypto Ban in Two Weeks

Andres Chavez
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Supreme Court Orders the Reserve Bank of India to Justify Crypto Ban in Two Weeks

The controversy regarding cryptocurrencies and their management in India continues. In the latest development regarding the matter, the nation’s Supreme Court has heavily criticized the Central Bank because of its handling on a crypto business ban and has issued an order for it to attend the resulting complaints.

According to Supreme Court Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, has not successfully addressed concerns from the crypto actors in the country over its decisions. There are still ongoing hearings centering on the central bank’s actions, and the judge’s remarks came in the latest session.

A Controversial Decision

The controversy stems from the Reserve Bank’s decision to forbid financial institutions in India from servicing crypto platforms and operators in July 2018. Among these actors, for instance, are crypto exchanges. That decision, basically, put a halt on these ecosystems and stopped from functioning in India.

Advisory resource Crypto Kanoon was at the hearing, and states that Nariman provided the Reserve Bank of India with only a couple of weeks to come up with a justification for its controversial decision, one that has affected several actors in the country including platforms, exchanges, traders, and potential investors.

“Now justice Nariman questions RBI why you have not properly responded to the representation. You just said that we are forwarding to Govt. Angrily says this is not an answer,” per a Twitter update regarding the delicate situation.

An “Unpredictable Turn”

Whilst talking about the result of the hearing, now finalized, Crypto Kanoon stated: “Case takes the most unpredictable turn. Justice Nariman directs that RBI must respond to the representation in the manner appropriate. Offers to defer the case for 2 weeks as part heard, let the answer come on reconsideration of banking ban by RBI. RBI has agreed.”

The information clearly states that whilst it may not agree with the situation, the Reserve Bank of India has actually agreed to cooperate and will justify its actions and decision in a span of two weeks, just as it was ordered by the Supreme Court.

The whole situation is popping up in a rather controversial moment. Cryptocurrencies are becoming mainstream and they are used all around the world as payment methods and a way to store value, and whilst other nations are enjoying trading platforms and crypto-related products, the theme is still sensitive in India.

Will India Restrict Cryptocurrencies to all Citizens?

As a matter of fact, the government of India is actually mulling the possibility of restricting cryptocurrencies and making them illegal for all citizens regardless of the outcome of the Reserve Bank of India – Supreme Court situation.

Just a few weeks ago, in July, a committee of government members provided a recommendation for Delhi to ban all existing tokens, with the notable exception of the official digital version of the rupee, the nation’s currency.

Experts around the industry have estimated that India stands to lose a market that is currently worth nearly $13 billion if the government’s intentions come into fruition and the ban becomes official.

By Andres Chavez

Malicious Users Found to Be Harming Bitinka Platform

Willmen Blanco
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Malicious Users Found to Be Harming Bitinka Platform

The company claimed that in September 2018 an update to its system threw errors. The startup denied that it will change its name.

Bitinka decided to do an audit after receiving notifications from users who would have detected problems in the creation and cancellation of orders through the APIs.

The cryptocurrency exchange house assured that an update to its platform, done in September 2018, caused problems that were allegedly exploited by “malicious users”.

Bitinka spokesperson Matt Álvarez explained that the startup had to adhere to its terms and conditions of use to protect the funds of affected users. Therefore, the claims of those assuring that their funds have been withheld and their accounts have been frozen.

Through an audit and reports from loyal users, the company detected problems in the creation and cancellation of orders through the APIs. They did an extensive audit of all the movements of the users involved.

The representative noted that some results showed that some malicious users harmed others or took advantage of bugs. Given the exponential growth of these events, they continued to observe the transactions on those dates.

The spokesperson reported that new features and improvements were added to the connection and there was a migration to a new hot wallet service to add new currencies.

Increasing Claims

Bitinka complaining users have demanded answers about the funds that they maintain in this exchange platform and cannot operate because their accounts are frozen. The company rejected the complaints, since users cannot claim goods that never were theirs.

Faced with the increase of claims in Argentina, the United States and Peru, among others, the company marked distance over the users’ arguments. Likewise, it put on the table the adoption and the alleged little knowledge of cryptocurrencies by users.

Álvarez said that their lack of knowledge on the subject, the adoption of cryptocurrencies and their technology was far from their control. There are users who make transfers to wrong addresses or make smart contracts without knowing their meaning.

Jurisdiction and International Law

Six months ago two Argentine operators filed a claim for USD 417,000 in Commercial Court 24 of Buenos Aires, demanding the reimbursement of their funds. Some days later, Bitinka said they had not been notified of the claim filed by Federico Gastón Bernini and Cristian Ezequiel Chagalj.

The company said that it keeps offices in the countries where it operates (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Panama, Peru and Portugal), but it is legally domiciled in Hong Kong, where it was constituted.

Regarding this, Bitinka noted that they do not suggest that users deal directly with Hong Kong. He underscores that if the claim is against Bitinka it must be notified to the legal domicile of the company, which is indicated in the terms and conditions accepted by the user since the creation of the platform in December 2014.

Regarding the terms and conditions of use, Bitinka said that changes are always made to optimize them, provide greater transparency and avoid misunderstandings among users. They must know and accept the terms and conditions to operate properly.

No Change in Name

Carlos Abuin, lawyer for the Argentine complainants, said in July 2019 that the company had to choose between paying the victims and changing their name to continue operating. The lawyer said Bitinka did the latter, to which the startup stressed that it was totally false.

The conflict between Bitinka and its users, now also related to judicial tribunals, looks increasingly turbulent. Both sides claim to be right, which could lead to an exit from the cryptocurrency ecosystem in Latin America.

By Willmen Blanco

Six Changes Approved by Ethereum Developers for the Istanbul Fork

Willmen Blanco
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Six Changes Approved by Ethereum Developers for the Istanbul Fork

The developers believe that the activation of Istanbul on the testnet should be postponed. The Istanbul update aims to improve interoperability between chains and security.

On August 15th, the main Ethereum developers made a list of six different changes to the Ethereum code that will be activated for the next extended system update, Istanbul.

In previous meetings it was agreed that Istanbul will be executed in two parts. The first, which comprises the six code changes known as Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP), is expected to be implemented on the main network in October 2019.

The second, whose activation on the main network is scheduled for some time in the first quarter of 2020, will include several EIPs that require further testing and deliberation by the main developers. These include a proposal for changes in the proposed mining algorithm called “ProgPow.”

The main developer Péter Szilágyi said that the Istanbul fork was divided in two parts, one of which can be sent in weeks. The other has two really large EIPs that would be great to have, but they require more things than can be done within the two to three weeks’ time period.

The first part of Istanbul will be the eighth hard fork to be activated in the Ethereum blockchain network, valued at USD 22 billion. It is expected that it will boost interoperability between chains with the private currency Zcash and help provide the entire network with security against repeated attacks, as well as other efficiency improvements.

Last Istanbul’s Obstacle

The first scheduled date for the activation of Istanbul in the Ethereum Ropsten test network was August 14th. Regarding this, Szilágyi said during the call on the 15th that this date should be be postponed for two weeks to allow time to complete the list of EIPs that will enter the first part of Istanbul.

As the main developers have just agreed upon the list, Szilágyi recommended reconsidering and postponing again the activation of the hard fork in Ropsten, scheduled for September 4th. He said that, after Ethereum customers implemented previous hard fork, they had months of testing before implementing it on the test network. Ethereum has reached a final list of EIPs and they plan to fork within two weeks.

Other leading developers agreed with this position and decided that the activation of the test network (at a number of blocks to be determined) will have to wait until this week’s call.

The activation on the test network of the first part of Istanbul would be the last important milestone before the main network is activated. As with any fork, miners must upgrade to the latest software simultaneously or there is a risk of causing a block split on the chain.

Referring to the importance of launches for hard fork upgrades, Hudson Jameson, Ethereum Foundation community manager, said that network security and stability are primary concerns when making hard forks on the main network. Consequently, the release of the test network is vital to ensure that the activation on the main network works correctly.

Likewise, Jameson said that, despite postponing the activation of the first part of Istanbul on the test network, all Ethereum’s main developers want it to occur soon.

By Willmen Blanco

Binance Coin Goes up 11 Percent Despite Alleged “FUD” Campaign

Andres Chavez
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Binance Coin Goes up 11 Percent Despite Alleged “FUD” Campaign

Usually, rumours about a hack or a breach have a negative impact on an exchange, or a specific cryptocurrency. In this case, though, the digital asset and the platform in question has managed to endure such talk and still show an increase in price.

Amid rumors about a person having in its power details of more than 10,000 KYC documents that are, allegedly, very similar to those of Binance, the exchange’s associated token, Binance Coin (BNB) experienced a marked increase of 11% in the last day, on Thursday, August 8th.

The day was relatively quiet for the rest of the cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin going up 2%. Binance Coin’s price swing came despite the alleged FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) campaign that the platform has been enduring in the last few hours.

BNB’s market cap reached $4.76 billion after Thursday’s developments, and the 11% increase trumped every other digital asset in the top 50, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

True or False?

To this day, it is still not clear whether the criminal has the KYC documents or not. The hacker, allegedly, obtained personal data from several thousand customers of the platform, something that Binance denied shortly after. After that, the cybercriminal used a Telegram group to distribute the material.

In an industry that relies so much on reputation and preaching the importance of data security, it is somewhat surprising that Binance Coin experienced such a positive price swing in the last few hours after the alleged data hack.

“Don’t Fall into the KYC Leak FUD”

According to Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (known around the industry as CZ) went to his official Twitter account to deny the claims. He wrote “Don’t fall into the “KYC leak” FUD. We are investigating, will update shortly” in his account @cz_binance.

Then, Binance went on to publish another statement: “An unidentified individual has threatened and harassed us, demanding 300 BTC in exchange for withholding 10,000 photos that bear similarity to Binance KYC data. We are still investigating this case for legitimacy and relevancy. After refusing to cooperate and continuing with this extortion, this individual has begun distributing the data to the public and to media outlets.”

Questioning Whether the Pictures are Legitimate

Despite Binance questioning the legitimacy of the pictures in question, they accept that somebody is trying to blackmail them with 300 BTC, which is a very significant number (roughly $3.5 million.)

However, Binance says that the pictures do not have the platform’s watermarks, so they do not seem to think the images are legitimate. In any case, the exchange clarified that the information is probably related to a leak from January, in which hackers hit several platforms.

A possible explanation for the positive price surge of Binance Coin is that the exchange is widely regarded around the industry for its transparency, and the fact that CZ was so quick to provide a response to the situation was welcomed as a sigh of relief by investors and crypto holders.

By Andres Chavez

The First Triathlon to Promote the Use of Cryptocurrencies Will Be Made in Europe

Maria Rodríguez
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The First Triathlon to Promote the Use of Cryptocurrencies Will Be Made in Europe

The event will seek to capture the attention of local media if the number of donations reaches high numbers.

It is commonly known that a triathlon is one of the most demanding sports events among athletic disciplines. Showing strength, endurance and tenacity is vital because participants must swim, cycle and run around the 48 km, depending on the intensity of the event.

Many times these events tend to be not only a sporting party, but also an amount may be destined to a charity or in support of a particular ideal. In this case, the first triathlon in support of the adoption of cryptocurrencies will take place in Europe.

The main goal of the event is to spend the most Bitcoin (BTC), and thus promote the use of cryptocurrencies and defend the so-called “cypherpunk manifesto”. This agreement proposes a mayor strengthening the fundamental rights of human beings, freedom of privacy, freedom of information and expression, and economic freedoms, which well composes the autonomy of all to be able to conduct the commercial transactions that users prefer and how they prefer.

The name of this triathlon is Satoshi Freeathlon, and it will take place during four days, from August 24th to 27th of the current year. It will include the participation of seven athletes who will do their best to travel about 357 kilometers away and take a tour in some countries in Europe.

It is expected to start in the city of Zug, in Switzerland, and finish in Germany, specifically, in the city of Munich. The event will seek to raise awareness about the use of Bitcoin and the decentralization of finances, as well as defend the importance of decision power in the economic field.

Initially, the idea came when the famous businessman Vitus Zeller, presented a journey of around 1000 kilometers through the Swiss Alps. This, in order to get the attention of the media to boost the use of Bitcoin.

In this way, the tour “Satoshi” initiative emerged as a tour from Florence, Italy, to Frankfurt, Germany. From the beginning of this tour, Vitus Zeller was challenged to cancel each hotel with the cryptocurrency. “I explored 50 hotels and could only pay for the stay with cryptocurrency in seven of them… I am sure that I called attention and that each person in those hotels talked about what I was doing”, Vitus Zeller said.

After that first attempt was completed, Zeller has decided to continue along the same line and summon to the first Satoshi Freeathlon. “I decided to continue, because the Satoshi tour was well perceived and I got very good feedback”.

Zeller will participate with six other athletes in this triathlon, in which he will test his physical and mental skills. It is known that he will have one more difficulty since, during the event, participants must pass a Lightning torch.

They hope that this will increase the collection of donations in cryptocurrencies and that in turn will attract even more attention from local and international people, and local media in order to boost the use of cryptocurrencies.

By María Rodríguez

Saying Bitcoin Implies Financial Inclusion

Willmen Blanco
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Saying Bitcoin Implies Financial Inclusion

Financial inclusion would allow individuals to conduct their transactions easily. More than 30% of the world’s population is unbanked.

Recently, a representative of the cryptocurrency world raised the subject of the “unbanked.” He explained how it has come to designate those people who are not included in the traditional financial system.

Vinny Lingham, South African co-founder of the Civic project, shows that the problem of the unbanked is that individuals face difficulty in conducting their transactions.

He considers that it is necessary to stop using the term “unbanked” as people cannot assume that a functioning bank account is what makes them useful to society. He highlights that every human being needs to have the possibility of making transactions effortlessly.

However, the problem goes beyond the people who do not have access to a bank account. It is worth noting that, in the traditional financial system, an unbanked person does not have access to credits, savings systems and the relative security these offer.

A significant part of the world’s adult population is unbanked, which the World Bank estimated at 31% for 2017. Developing countries show the highest numbers of unbanked citizens, as well as the malfunction of problems with basic services and the registration of identity.

Apart from affecting the individual’s economy, this problem also threatens the centralized system on which the banking system operates. Individuals seek a way to simplify their transactions and provide their homes with liquidity. Likewise, some small and medium-sized companies seek alternatives to the traditional credit system, and so they have resorted to the Alternative Fixed Income Market (AFIM), investment funds specialized in companies without access to capital markets, or private investors (business angels). However, a solution that is also available to both individuals and businesses is that of cryptocurrencies.

A payment system such as Bitcoin allows individuals to make transactions more easily, through a device in which a cryptocurrency wallet can be installed and the network can be accessed to request the confirmation of transactions. Similarly, cryptocurrencies are used as both a store of value and an investment. Besides, the blockchain is not only a ledger in which transactions are recorded, but also support to record the identity of individuals, the information about products to optimize the supply chain, and even to improve the transparency of voting systems.

Lingham explains that saying “financial inclusion” would be more accurate than using the term “unbanked.” He explains that, as new financial rails will be built on cryptocurrencies, it is completely reasonable to assume that most “unbanked” people will never have a bank account, but they can be included financially.

Cryptocurrencies will become a tool for financial inclusion only if individuals have access to the Internet and mobile devices. Similarly, it is necessary to prevent individuals from scams aimed at taking advantage of their ignorance and to teach them that cryptocurrency volatility is a symptom of markets still under construction and consolidation. This way, the body of opinion that the traditional financial system has produced, by stating that “Bitcoin is dead” or that it is a financial bubble, could be dismantled.

The threat of cryptocurrencies to the traditional financial system is so big that many banks worldwide are already using cryptocurrency technology to optimize services such as cross-border payments. However, the foundations of the new financial system may be laid so that it will not be necessary to have intermediaries that reduce individuals’ control over their money.

By Willmen Blanco

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