Blockchain

FinCEN Director Offers Most Extensive Remarks on Blockchain Since Agency’s New Guidance

On November 15, Director Kenneth Blanco of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) offered his most extensive remarks on blockchain since the agency’s release of updated guidance in May. Speaking at the Chainalysis Blockchain Symposium, Director Blanco offered a number of insights on FinCEN’s current priorities and industry trends. Suspicious Activity Reports According to Director… Continue Reading

Published

2 years ago

December 13, 2019

Republished by Plato

Suspicious Activity Reports

According to Director Blanco, since the publication of FinCEN’s guidance in May, the agency has received over 10,000 suspicious activity reports (SARs) related to convertible virtual currency (CVC) with 6,600 of those SARs filed by CVC-related businesses, including exchanges and kiosks. Director Blanco noted that this was a significant increase in SAR volume, particularly from CVC-related businesses, and included SARs from dozens of businesses that had never filed a SAR with FinCEN prior to the publication of the guidance.

Director Blanco also highlighted a couple of trends in SAR reporting. The first is SARs related to “potential unregistered, foreign-located money services businesses (MSBs), specifically, Venezuela-based P2P exchangers.” A foreign-located MSB is required to register with FinCEN if it conducts business in whole or in “substantial part” in the United States. (Determining precisely what constitutes “substantial part” continues to be an area of uncertainty for industry, which Director Blanco did not address.) A second trend was CVC kiosk operators reporting on “activity indicative of scam victims upon identification of new customers who have limited knowledge of convertible virtual currencies, particularly those in vulnerable populations, including the elderly.”

The Travel Rule

The application of the so-called “travel rule” to transactions in CVC was one of the key takeaways included in FinCEN’s May guidance and was recently included in a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendation to national regulators. FATF is an international standards-setting body for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. The travel rule requires financial institutions, including MSBs, to obtain certain customer information and pass such information to other financial institutions during funds transmittals. However, industry has been struggling to identify an effective and efficient mechanism to comply as there is not currently a widely adopted mechanism to pass customer information in connection with blockchain-based transactions.

Director Blanco emphasized that the travel rule “applies to CVC, and we expect you to comply, period” and added, “to date it is the most commonly cited violation by the IRS against MSBs engaged in CVC money transmission.” However, he did not address industry’s struggle to identify a compliance solution for CVC transactions.

Stablecoins and Anonymity Enhanced Coins

With respect to stablecoins, Director Blanco noted that “accepting and transmitting activity denominated in stablecoins makes you a money transmitter under the BSA. It does not matter if the stablecoin is backed by a currency, a commodity, or even an algorithm — the rules are the same.” He also addressed what he referred to as anonymity enhanced coins (AECs) and stated that MSBs must be able to demonstrate to their examiners “how you mitigate risks associated with AECs, including how you identify potentially suspicious activity and comply with reporting and recordkeeping requirements — including the Funds Travel Rule.” He added, “You can count on being asked about this during an examination.” While it can sometimes be difficult to determine precisely what constitutes an AEC, Director Blanco offered Monero, Zcash, Grin, and Dash as specific examples (although not the only ones).

MSBs dealing in AECs should consider additional risks posed by AECs as part of their overall risk assessment and may need to adopt specific policies or procedures related to AECs.

Engagement with FinCEN

Finally, Director Blanco encouraged industry to contact FinCEN with questions about the agency’s regulations. He noted that the agency has received over 1,000 CVC-related questions since 2012. Routine questions can be submitted to FinCEN by phone or email. Larger “policy-oriented questions” may require the submission of a request for an administrative ruling. These administrative rulings are typically published, in an anonymized manner, on the FinCEN website. While no new administrative rulings have been published in some time, now that the agency has issued updated guidance it seems likely that additional rulings may be coming.

Source: https://www.steptoeblockchainblog.com/2019/12/fincen-director-offers-most-extensive-remarks-on-blockchain-since-agencys-new-guidance/

Blockchain

MicroStrategy Acquires More Bitcoin, Holds More Than 105,000 BTC

MicroStrategy Bitcoin

Rate this post Business analytics firm MicroStrategy has added more Bitcoin to its balance sheet, taking the company’s collective holdings to a whopping 105,085 BTC. According to an announcement from the firm’s CEO Michael J. Saylor, MicroStrategy spent $489 million to add another 13,005 BTC to its treasury. Michael Saylor Announces New Bitcoin Purchase For MicroStrategy Saylor and his company have maintained their belief in Bitcoin’s potential despite the primary crypto’s ongoing price struggles in a volatile market. The company has been pumping the digital asset since last August following the pandemic-induced inflation, which forced investors to seek non-traditional options that safeguard their assets. In its most recent accumulation effort, MicroStrategy snagged 13,005 BTC for an average price of $37, 617 per token. However, the digital asset has declined sharply in the last few days, and one coin is currently trading for $32,500. As part of its announcement, the firm revealed that its recently formed subsidiary MacroStrategy LLC holds 92,079 BTC of its total balance. Altogether, the new investment takes MicroStrategy’s combined Bitcoin holdings to a staggering 105,085 coins. At the current spot price, this holding is worth $2.74 billion, with each token amounting to slightly more than $26,000. MicroStrategy Raised $500M to Procure Its Current BTC Investment Earlier this month it was reported that MicroStrategy was offering senior secured notes due in 2028 to raise half a billion dollars in debt. These notes bore an annual interest rate of 6.125%. The company had originally capped the sale at $400 million, but shortly thereafter it boosted its offer by another $100 million. Following the sale of its debt offering, the company revealed that it had amassed nearly $489 million, which would be invested in Bitcoin. At the same time, MicroStrategy also announced that it was planning to sell up to $1 billion in stocks and that part of those proceeds would be directed to buying more Bitcoin. Even before its recent purchase, MicroStrategy owned the largest reserve of the flagship crypto among all publicly traded companies.

The post MicroStrategy Acquires More Bitcoin, Holds More Than 105,000 BTC appeared first on Cryptoknowmics-Crypto News and Media Platform.

Published

26 mins ago

June 22, 2021

Republished by Plato

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Business analytics firm MicroStrategy has added more Bitcoin to its balance sheet, taking the company’s collective holdings to a whopping 105,085 BTC. According to an announcement from the firm’s CEO Michael J. Saylor, MicroStrategy spent $489 million to add another 13,005 BTC to its treasury.

Michael Saylor Announces New Bitcoin Purchase For MicroStrategy

Saylor and his company have maintained their belief in Bitcoin’s potential despite the primary crypto’s ongoing price struggles in a volatile market. The company has been pumping the digital asset since last August following the pandemic-induced inflation, which forced investors to seek non-traditional options that safeguard their assets.

In its most recent accumulation effort, MicroStrategy snagged 13,005 BTC for an average price of $37, 617 per token. However, the digital asset has declined sharply in the last few days, and one coin is currently trading for $32,500.

MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 13,005 bitcoins for ~$489 million in cash at an average price of ~$37,617 per bitcoin. As of 6/21/21 we #hodl ~105,085 bitcoins acquired for ~$2.741 billion at an average price of ~$26,080 per bitcoin. $MSTR https://t.co/gLfnOxZEZc

— Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) June 21, 2021

As part of its announcement, the firm revealed that its recently formed subsidiary MacroStrategy LLC holds 92,079 BTC of its total balance.

Altogether, the new investment takes MicroStrategy’s combined Bitcoin holdings to a staggering 105,085 coins. At the current spot price, this holding is worth $2.74 billion, with each token amounting to slightly more than $26,000.

MicroStrategy Raised $500M to Procure Its Current BTC Investment

Earlier this month it was reported that MicroStrategy was offering senior secured notes due in 2028 to raise half a billion dollars in debt. These notes bore an annual interest rate of 6.125%. The company had originally capped the sale at $400 million, but shortly thereafter it boosted its offer by another $100 million.

Following the sale of its debt offering, the company revealed that it had amassed nearly $489 million, which would be invested in Bitcoin. At the same time, MicroStrategy also announced that it was planning to sell up to $1 billion in stocks and that part of those proceeds would be directed to buying more Bitcoin.

Even before its recent purchase, MicroStrategy owned the largest reserve of the flagship crypto among all publicly traded companies.

READ MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Stack Up: Brilliant Moves or Risk?

#Bitcoin #CEO Michael Saylor #MicroStrategy #MicroStrategy BTC Investment

Source: https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/microstrategy-acquires-more-bitcoin-holds-more-than-105000-btc/

News

Thailand SEC Bans Meme Coins, Fan Tokens, NFTs

Published

1 hour ago

June 22, 2021

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Local exchanges in Thailand had been given a deadline until July 11 to submit their new rules for listing tokens that complies with the new guidelines from the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Board has approved the new rules that prohibit digital asset exchanges from providing services in relation to utility tokens and certain types of cryptocurrencies. The rules also specify that the exchanges set a requirement to be imposed in the event that digital tokens issued by their own exchange or related persons are listed on the exchange. In this regard, the token issuer who fails to comply with the white paper and relevant rules in substance could risk having such tokens delisted from the exchange. This new regulatory guideline aims to enhance protection of digital asset traders’ interest.”

The Thai SEC also added that listing rules prohibits local exchanges from providing services that have these following characteristics:

(1) Meme Token – having or no clear objective or substance or underlying, and whose price runs on social media trends.

(2) Fan token: tokenized by the fame of influencers.

(3) Non-Fungible Token (NFT): a digital creation to declare ownership or grant of right in an object or specific right. It is unique and not interchangeable with digital tokens of the same category and type at the equal amount.

(4) Digital tokens which are utilized in blockchain transactions and issued by digital asset exchanges or related persons.

Along with this move is their previous announcement of regulating Decentralize Finance (DeFi) projects in the country, including the issuance of digital tokens.

In the previous announcement, liquidity provider tokens, governance tokens, or tokens issued to those transacting in DeFi projects “must be licensed and must abide by the specified rules”.

The new regulation stipulates crypto exchanges, digital-asset brokerages, digital asset-dealers, private fund managers and investment advisors must be licensed by the Ministry of Finance.

Thai SEC states that, “For traders, it is best to study the DeFi project before getting involved in both technical and security aspects.” They also added that traders “should check whether the service provider is a digital-asset business that is licensed and regulated by the SEC or other regulatory agencies under law.”

This article is published on BitPinas: Thailand SEC Bans Meme Coins, Fan Tokens, NFTs

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Source: https://bitpinas.com/regulation/thailand-sec-ban-meme-tokens/

News

After Bitcoin U-Turn, Nigeria Plans To Launch Central Bank Currency This Year

Published

1 hour ago

June 22, 2021

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According to Reuters, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to launch a digital currency pilot as soon as the end of this year.

Last month, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made a U-turn on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by saying he will “allow” them. Previously, the CBN had sought to restrict the cryptocurrency sector by imposing regulatory sanctions on monetary businesses that serviced cryptocurrency exchanges.

In a turn of fortunes, it now looks as though Nigerian officials are embracing blockchain technology. All the same, in what may well turn into a showdown between private and public cryptocurrencies in the future, arguments against central bank offerings remain as pertinent as ever.

The Nigerian Central Bank Digital Currency Has Been Years In The Making

Despite Nigeria’s purported aversion to fintech, it’s emerged that the central bank has been working on a digital currency for the past two years.

The CBN Director of Information Technology, Rakiya Mohammed, echoed what many other countries have mentioned in the past. That is, Nigeria will not be left behind in the technological revolution.

“We’re all aware that about 80% of central banks in the world exploring the possibility of issuing central bank digital currency, and Nigeria cannot be left behind.”

One of the reasons given for the CBN’s previous anti-Bitcoin position was a need to protect its citizens. In 2018, the CBN said that there is no legal redress if things go wrong in an unregulated market. There was also the usual spiel of links to illicit activity such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

Mohammed sells the idea of a central bank digital currency on it bringing financial inclusion and having the backing of the Nigerian government.

“If you have a central bank digital currency that is backed by the government, then people can make transactions online without fear of any default.”

Is This The End For Privacy?

As previously mentioned by billionaire investor Ray Dalio, governments will do all they can to maintain monopoly control of their money, even if that means outlawing the competition.

“every country treasures its monopoly on controlling the supply and demand. They don’t want other monies to be operating or competing, because things can get out of control.”

Anthony Pompliano rubbished this idea saying governments cannot ban Bitcoin. But he concedes that a scenario of coordinated global action could make life difficult for Bitcoin users.

And as cryptocurrencies continue to make their mark in the world of finance, regulators and policymakers may soon be forced to show their hand on the matter.

Unlike private cryptocurrencies, which operate on decentralized networks, central bank digital currencies would be issued and controlled by a central bank. This enables them, and by extension national governments, to track every transaction in their economies.

Liberal commentators view this situation as a significant blow to privacy. What’s more, as noted with several U.K banks refusing crypto transactions recently, central digital currencies have the potential to bring about a dystopian future in which transactions deemed “against the state” also get refused.

Source: https://bitcoinist.com/after-bitcoin-u-turn-nigeria-plans-to-launch-central-bank-currency-this-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=after-bitcoin-u-turn-nigeria-plans-to-launch-central-bank-currency-this-year