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

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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

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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

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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

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CoinBits Allows Users to Earn Passively By Converting, Saving Change in Bitcoin

Erik Finman, an early Bitcoin (BTC) adopter, has launched a crypto platform called CoinBits, which allows investors to passively invest in the flaghship cryptocurrency.

According to TechCrunch, Finman’s new app, CoinBits, intends to democratize access to cryptocurrency by allowing people from all walks of life to make small investments through commonly-used investment and savings strategies. These reportedly include roundups on transactions made via credit or debit card purchases.

The CoinBits app will also support conversion of fiat currency to bitcoin via regular transactions from users’ checking or savings accounts. While CoinBits has been designed to mainly benefit its users, Finman revealed that his own BTC holdings will also grow as more people use the small savings app.

No Commissions on Transactions, 98% of Bitcoins Stored Offline

As explained on CoinBits’ official website, users can invest small amounts such as $10, $25, $50, or $100 through the app’s web-based interface. The savings app also lets users adjust the risk level for their investments.

Notably, the CoinBits app does not charge transaction fees and 98% of users’ bitcoins are kept securely in cold storage (offline).

Explaining how investing in cryptocurrencies can be challenging for some people, due to their highly technical nature, Finman said:

Overall, investing in bitcoin is complicated and can feel almost impossible. CoinBits allows you to put that spare change in bitcoin. For example, if you spend $1.75 on French fries, that remaining 25 cents is invested automatically.

As noted on CoinBits’ website, the company handles withdrawals and users are charged a $0.50 fee for same-day processing. There’s also an option to download the transaction history associated with users’ accounts. This makes it easier for users to manage their finances and track how much they may have gained or lost on their bitcoin investments.

Crypto-Backed Lender Receives $25 Million in Deposits Two Weeks After Launch

As the crypto and blockchain ecosystem continues to evolve, many new startups have been offering different products and services which allow users to earn passively on their digital asset holdings. In March 2019, BlockFi Lending LLC, a New York-based “secure non-bank lender” announced it had received $25 million in cryptocurrency deposits just two weeks after launching its crypto-backed loans packages.

BlockFi’s investment packages allow users to earn interest on their Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) investments.

Source:http://tiny.cc/ps596y

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Australian Civil Servant Faces 10 years for Mining Cryptocurrency on Government Computers

An Australian government employee is appearing in court today after using work equipment to mine cryptocurrency for his own gain.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege that the 33 year-old from Killara in New South Wales took advantage of his position as an IT contractor to modify government computer systems to mine cryptocurrency.

The man’s illicit mining operation is said to have earned him more than AU$9,000 ($6,000), according to an AFP announcement.

The unnamed man is facing two charges: unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment, and unauthorized modification of restricted data. These charges carry maximum penalties of 10 and two years imprisonment, respectively.

“Australian taxpayers put their trust in public officials to perform vital roles for our community with the utmost integrity,” Acting Commander Chris Goldsmid. “Any alleged criminal conduct which betrays this trust for personal gain will be investigated and prosecute.”

Indeed, cryptocurrency mining profitability is largely impacted by the cost of electricity used to run mining equipment. With that in mind, the temptation to mine cryptocurrency at someone else’s expense is too enticing for some.

A man in China fell foul to the temptation and used electricity from a local railway network operator to power his Bitcoin mining rigs. He managed to steal around $15,000 worth of electricity.

There was also the case of two Chinese school teachers that were caught mining Ethereum at their place of work. Suspicions were raised when the school’s network became laboriously slow.

Hacks like these are unlikely to go unnoticed forever. All it takes is for someone else to notice an increased electricity bill and begin investigating.

Source: http://bit.ly/2Htvxax

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Is This Behind The Latest $25 Billion Bitcoin And Crypto Price Rally?

Bitcoin has been soaring over the weekend, boosting most major cryptocurrencies including ethereum, litecoin, Ripple's XRP, EOS, and bitcoin cash—and adding some $25 billion to the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization since Friday morning, taking it over $200 billion of the first time this year.

The bitcoin price is now trading at a little over $7,000 per bitcoin, after beginning the year at under $4,000, taking the total value of all bitcoins over $124 billion and making up 58% of the broader cryptocurrency market cap.

Over the weekend some major bitcoin holders, known as whales, moved a staggering number of the digital tokens, potentially pushing the market higher, with the single biggest whale moving 47,000 bitcoin worth an eye-watering $343 million, according to data from Whale Alert, which tracks big cryptocurrency moves.

Bitcoin whales have traded around 100,000 bitcoin over the weekend, with a total value of some $670 million dollars. Most of the bitcoin whales have been moving their holdings out of major cryptocurrency exchanges, with just a few of the biggest transactions over the weekend involving cryptocurrency wallets moving bitcoin to an exchange.

Large bitcoin and cryptocurrency transactions can prop up the market, with the holders not selling via online exchanges but opting to continue holding the digital tokens instead, known in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency sector as "hodling."

Bitcoin holders are continuing to bet on the asset despite the bitcoin price almost doubling since the beginning of this year, suggesting they see it moving still higher as bitcoin sentiment turns increasingly bullish.

Last week, analysts from investment bank Canaccord Genuity said they expect bitcoin to rally hard over the next 24 months, potentially returning to its late 2017 highs due to next year's halving event, where the number of bitcoins rewarded to miners will be cut by 50%.

The last week has been a difficult one for the bitcoin and cryptocurrency sector, however, despite the broad price rally.

Bitcoin climbed even as the market processed the news $40 million of bitcoin (some 7,000 of the digital tokens) were stolen from the Malta-based Binance exchange, the world's largest bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange by volume, and Binance's widely-respected chief executive Changpeng Zhao caused controversy by suggesting he could "re-organize" the bitcoin blockchain to recover the funds.

Meanwhile, the bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry is gearing up for one of the biggest events in the cryptocurrency calendar starting today—Blockchain Week NYC and CoinDesk’s Consensus 2019 event, running all week out of the New York Hilton Midtown.

This year headline speakers include FedEx’s Fred Smith, Fidelity’s Abigail Johnson, Twitter and Square’s Jack Dorsey, chairman of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission, Jay Clayton, and U.S. presidential hopeful, Andrew Yang.

Source: http://tiny.cc/73km6y

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