Quebec Government: Bitcoin Isn’t a ‘Magnet’ for Criminal Activity

Samuel Larreal
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Quebec Government: Bitcoin Isn’t a ‘Magnet’ for Criminal Activity

     This week Quebec´s Chief Scientist, Rémi Quirion, published an article “Fact Check on Bitcoin”, examining the belief that Bitcoin is an “index of money laundering,” as BlackRock CEO, Larry Fink said in the last weeks.

Investigations concluded that there is not a meaningful relation between Bitcoin and criminal activities. One of the principal reasons is the fact that Bitcoin transactions can be easily tracked down by law enforcement agencies as they aren’t completely anonymous.

“Bitcoin is not above the law, nor is it a magnet for illicit transactions: it forms only a tiny part of the criminal money circulating around the planet. The reason: it is less attractive for anyone who wants to make transactions without leaving a trace,”

The Quebec government, citing a recent study form the Center for Sanctions and Illicit Finance of the Defense of Democracies Foundation, noted that only 0.61% of funds entering cryptocurrency trading and conversion platforms are linked to illicit activities (over a period of four years). And actually, it has declined over time from 1.07% in 2013, to 0.12% in 2016.

Cryptocurrencies like Monero, whose principal appeal is the privacy, have replaced, in a large scale, other cryptocurrency in activities like money laundry and movements in the dark web over the years, due to the difficulty to track transactions in these kinds of platforms.

Quirion’s article also clarified that statements of Bitcoin being unregulated become more inaccurate every day, due to increasing regulations local and national governments establish around the currency. Quebec is a good example where companies must obtain a business license before operating a cryptocurrency exchange in the province.

Read the original article here:
http://www.scientifique-en-chef.gouv.qc.ca/en/impacts-of-research-cat/ddr_bitcoin-dessus-lois-faux/ Study from Center for Sanctions and Illicit Finance of the Defense of Democracies Foundation: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/content/uploads/documents/MEMO_Bitcoin_Laundering.pdf

 

by Samuel Larreal

The End of the“Wild West” Days of Cryptocurrency

Samuel Larreal
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The End of the“Wild West” Days of Cryptocurrency

 One of the third world´s largest cryptocurrencies urged British regulators to adopt a Japanese-like model of regulations and end the “Wild West” days of cryptocurrency market.

For many years blockchain technology and cryptocurrency have been highly supported by United Kingdom innovation policies, to this date, London is considered among the world´s leading fintech hubs, but this policy has caught the attention of users, companies and regulators.

Ryan Zagone, head of regulatory relations at Ripple, urged UK regulators to find balance between, as he said, “capturing risk and enabling innovation”. Also highlighted, in Zagone’s opinion, were the three “pillars“ for regulators and law makers to target: consumer protection, anti-money laundering and financial stability.

“We’re at that time now where we need more clarity and rules and we need more certainty. It’s a good time to start revisiting that ‘wait and see’ approach taken by regulators,”

declared Zagone, referring to the regulatory environment of the early days of cryptocurrency.

According to Zagone, regulation is the “key” to create a mature market and find new boundaries for the cryptocurrency sector. He compared the British market to the Japanese, one of the biggest markets in terms of volume of transactions, where both cryptocurrency acceptance and market regulations have driven companies like Yahoo Japan, the Bank SBI and even the instant messaging giant Line, to express interest and invest in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

“Regulation creates the guardrails on the highway that allows new entrants to come in, particularly institutional investors.”

While cryptocurrencies are commonly seen as financial instruments meant to circumvent governmental controls or oversight from central banks for companies, a more stablished regulatory system could mean a safer environment for investors and big cryptocurrency companies.

 

by Samuel Larreal

Kraken Exchange Stops Operations in Japan

Samuel Larreal
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Kraken Exchange Stops Operations in Japan

     The cryptocurrency exchange service, Kraken, the 10th largest exchange by 24-hour trading volume, is ceasing operations in Japan due to economic and maintenance reasons.

Kraken said this Tuesday in an official statement that it will withdraw service in Japan, according to them “due to rising costs of maintaining its business in Japan”. Kraken also indicated that it could return in the near future and stressed that this suspension would only affect residents of Japan, not Japanese customers outside the country.

“After we have had a chance to better catch up to our rapid growth, we will consider the possibility of resuming service for Japan residents.” Said Kraken in its official statement.

Japan has had a large adaptation to cryptocurrency, inclusively recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender in 2017.  According to an estimation made by a cryptocurrency comparison website called CryptoCompare, Japan`s Bitcoin trades account for almost the 60% of the total trading volume.

This year regulators in Japan have become more cautious as a cryptocurrency heist saw more than $500 million worth of digital token stolen from the cryptocurrency exchange, Coincheck, this January. This was the biggest theft of cryptocurrency in history.

 

In consequence, exchange services like Binance, have been warned by Japan’s Financial Services Agency against operating in the country without an exchange license.

 

by Samuel Larreal

Samsung Develops a Blockchain System for Tracking International Shipments

Samuel Larreal
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Samsung Develops a Blockchain System for Tracking International Shipments

     Samsung Electronics is exploring the implementation of a blockchain platform to manage its vast, global, supply-chain network.

As mentioned in a previous Crypto World Journal article, (https://www.cryptoworldjournal.com/korean-tech-giant-samsung-is-producing-asic-chips-for-halong-mining/), Samsung has been highly interested in the implementation and development of blockchain technology. Song Kwang Woo, Blockchain Chief at Samsung SDS (the IT subsidiary of Samsung) revealed the intentions of SDS to implement a blockchain ledger platform to keep track of its global shipments, with an efficiency never seen before, when speaking to Bloomberg.

This declaration places Samsung Electronics among the more enthusiastic companies when it comes to the implementation of blockchain systems. Manufacturers’ exploration of the applicability of blockchain systems at this scale is something that has never been tried before. According to Kwang Woo, this technology could cut shipping costs by 20 percent.

Certainly, SDS has proven to be the more qualified to try this enormous task. Last year, Samsung successfully created a 7-month pilot project to record and track the logistics of the imports and exports of Korea´s shipping industry.

“It will have an enormous impact on the supply-chains of manufacturing industries. Blockchain is a core platform to fuel our digital transformation … SDS expects to handle 488,000 tons of air cargo and 1 million 20-foot-equivalent (TEU) shipping units in 2018”

Shipments including the Galaxy S9 and the upcoming Note 9, as well as OLED displays used by Apple’s iPhone X would benefit with this technology, not only in tracking efficiency, but in reducing the time between the launch and the shipment of products, and even reducing the cost of the whole project, ultimately benefiting the end user.

 

by Samuel Larreal

Ex-Google Employees Create xGoogler Blockchain Alliance (GBA) to Support Blockchain Development

Samuel Larreal
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Ex-Google Employees Create xGoogler Blockchain Alliance (GBA) to Support Blockchain Development

Daniel Wang, Hitters Xu and Andy Tian, all of them former Google employees created a community focused on supporting Googlers and ex-Googlers interested in blockchain development to carry out their projects and ideas.

The three ex-Googlers, currently relevant figures in the blockchain community (Hitters Xu founder of blockchain platform Nebulas, Daniel Wang, founder of Loopring, and Andy Tian, CEO and founder of Gifto) created the xGoogler Blockchain Alliance or GBA (http://xgba.io http://xgba.io http://xgba.io http://xgba.iohttp://xgba.io http://xgba.io) with the intention of supply the growing demand of blockchain developers.

“GBA community aims to help each other advance our ambitions in blockchain spaces”

GBA started operations in Beijing and Shanghai, but the founders expressed they are seeking to expand “anywhere there are Googlers and ex-Googlers interested in blockchain.”

In this year, Google has been ambivalent in their perception of blockchain and cryptocurrency, announcing the banning of all crypto-related advertising on Google AdWords, and a week later reporting to media it was working on blockchain products.

“Google has always been in the forefront of new technologies worldwide, from Android to AI. As Googlers, we can bring our unique experiences to expand blockchain’s influence, to everyone, everywhere.”- Andy Tian

 

by Samuel Larreal

China´s Mining Company Bitmain Gets Greenlight for Operation in the US

Samuel Larreal
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China´s Mining Company Bitmain Gets Greenlight for Operation in the US

     Chinese mining company Bitmain got the approval to start a blockchain facility in Walla Walla County, in Washington State. With the agreement of three commissioners According to the Union-Bulleting a local news paper.

Ant Creek in the past months has been talking with officials to buy land in western Walla Walla, with Jihan Wu, listed as the governing person and Jeff Stearns as the director of operations, the initial deal included 40 acres of lands, resulting in 10 acres given to the company in a testing period in order to show the technological potential Bitsman.

If the offer is accepted the company would pay a monthly fee of $4,701.67 until the end of the lease in late 2018, after that the company will be given the choice of acquire the land, paying $150,000 in addition to the $2.5 million that will be spend in constructing a road to the facility (As now the land is inaccessible) and the cost of drinkable and fire protection Water $440,000 together. Either way to this, Stearns, haven’t denied or accepted the deal.

The decision, made in a public hearing, rose controversy as some locals accused the company of being in benefit of anonymous people while using the county electricity, although Les Teel, CEO of Columbia Rural Electric Association (REA) clarified the company could fulfill the project demands without putting the system in risk, concern still present with the evidence of excessive energy needs of blockchain facilities. However, the decision was taken with the support of the majority of residents in agreement to the deal as Peter Swant, the president of the commission said “We are elected to do what the people would like us to do.”

Read the article of Union-Bulleting using this link:

http://www.union-bulletin.com/news/business/scaled-back-blockchain-lease-ok-d/article_2730cdfe-3f49-11e8-b2f8-efafbae1a292.html

 

by Samuel Larreal

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