No final Decision - India might ban Cryptocurrency and give its users Jail Time

A government panel’s recommendation is only the latest in a series of developments suggesting that India will not be a friendly place for the technology—at least private versions of it. 

The news: This week, a panel the government created to study cryptocurrency released its report, which expressed “serious concern” over the “mushrooming of cryptocurrencies almost invariably issued abroad and numerous people in India investing in the cryptocurrencies.” The panel called for a ban on private cryptocurrencies, and said those who use cryptocurrencies should face fines and up to 10 years in jail. 

The backstory: India has one of the world’s largest populations of citizens who don’t have bank accounts. Enthusiasts would say that these are people who could benefit from blockchain-based money and financial services. 

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has repeatedly made it clear that while it is enthused about blockchain technology, it is no fan of cryptocurrency, at least in its current form. In 2017, after surging coin prices sparked a wave of global interest, another panel recommended choking out the trading platforms in the country, according to Quartz. The government never fully implemented that proposal, instead setting up another panel to do further analysis. That’s the group that has just published its much-anticipated recommendations. 

It’s okay if the state does it, though. The critical government panel’s problem isn’t with cryptocurrency generally, but with “non-sovereign” currencies specifically, which it called “inconsistent with the essential functions of money/currency.” 

Hence the conclusion that “all private cryptocurrencies, except any cryptocurrency issued by the State, be banned in India.” No final decision has been made, but it seems unlikely that India will be a welcoming place for entrepreneurial cryptocurrency development any time soon.

Source: http://tiny.cc/ddwaaz

Read More

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee: Bitcoin Is Easily Going to Reach New Highs

Fundstrat Global Advisors co-founder Tom Lee said that bitcoin (BTC) could easily reach new highs during an interview with CNBC published on June 18.

In his comments, Lee said that bitcoin is becoming the reserve currency of the cryptocurrency space, and noted that it has been worth over the $9,000 price level in only 4% of its history. Then, he declared:

“I think bitcoin is easily going to take out its all-time highs.”

Before making those price predictions, Lee also noted that Facebook’s Libra project is a validation of mainstream interest in cryptocurrencies. He also stated that he thinks this development “completely destroys this argument that says ‘I believe in blockchain, not bitcoin.” He also expressed his idea that — while he believes libra is going to be one of the dominant stablecoins— other stablecoins will most likely survive:

“I don’t think that they are gonna drop in value because most of them are collateralized, I think the ones that are algorithmically stable just might not have the network effect.”

When asked whether banks will support libra in the future, Lee noted that the decentralization of finance — while convenient for payment processors — results in a negative return for banks:

“One thing to keep in mind: Facebook’s annual revenue per user is probably $50 [...] that may be a little high. But an average bank generates close to $1,000 per user, so Facebook has a 20x upside to their customer model if they start doing banking services. [...] I can see why banks aren’t really enthusiastic about this.”

Earlier today, the head of the United Kingdom’s central bank said Facebook’s new libra cryptocurrency could have genuine use cases if it can conform to regulatory demands.

As Cointelegraph reported at the time, Lee had claimed in May that the crypto winter is over.

Source: http://bit.ly/2WYlofC

Read More

Big banks are launching a blockchain trade platform powered by ‘Bitcoin-like’ Token

The banking industry is hell-bent on taking over the nascent blockchain and cryptocurrency market. A group of financial firms led by UBS Group AG is eyeing blockchain technology for settling cross-border trades worldwide with its own “Bitcoin-like” token.

The 14 firms – including Barclays, Nasdaq, Credit Suisse Group, Banco Santander, ING, and Lloyds Banking Group – have registered a new entity to control the devleopment of the token, dubbed ‘utility settlement coin’ (or USC for short), The Wall Street Journal reports.

The financial giants have poured over $60 million into the new company, called Fnality International. The token, which has been in the works for four years now, will function both as a payment device and a “messenger that carries all the information required to complete a trade,” according to the report.

The new permissioned blockchain system will purportedly make cross-border trades much faster and less risky. “You remove settlement risk, the counterparty risk, the market risk,” UBS investment strategy head Hyder Jaffrey told the WSJ. “All of those risks add up to costs and inefficiencies in the marketplace.”

In addition to the previously mentioned institutions, Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce , State Street Bank & Trust Co., Commerzbank AG, KBC Group NV, Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group Inc., and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp have also agreed to use the USC token.

The new platform is expected to take off within the next 12 months, which corroborates past reports suggesting the platform will be fully operational by 2020.

It remains to be seen if USC is more of a cryptocurrency than JP Morgan’s token, though.

Source: http://tiny.cc/3ioq7y

Read More

Facebook Reportedly Launching "Project Libra" GlobalCoin Cryptocurrency in 2020

Facebook reportedly aims to release its GlobalCoin cryptocurrency in 2020 under its “Project Libra” scheme. The news follows on from information that Mark Zuckerberg had met with the Bank of England’s governor Mark Carney in April to discuss the risks involved with launching a cryptocurrency.

The social media platform is aiming to test its GlobalCoin system by the end of 2019 and expects to roll out its digital payments system in approximately 12 countries worldwide by Q1 2020. Facebook has reportedly sought input from the US Treasury in regards to operational and regulatory issues and is also in talks with Western Union, working with them to develop cheaper and easier ways for people to send and receive money.

Users of Facebook’s GlobalCoin cryptocurrency will not require a bank account, allowing people to exchange multiple currencies into digital coins via banks and brokers which enable Facebook’s new network. The soon-coming currency will run with blockchain technology — information which is stored across a network of computers — and will be held online in digital wallets that were designed to increase security and anonymity for users.

While the world waits for updates on Facebook’s latest development, read what the US Senate and Banking committee had to say to Zuckerberg about its plans for consumer protection and data security.

In other news, Whatsapp is introducing ads and may get rid of end-to-end encryption.

Source: http://tiny.cc/4vcf7y

Read More