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

1 year 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

India’s Crypto Ban Uncertain as Finance Minister Touts a Window for Experiments

Published

2 hours ago

March 7, 2021

Republished by Plato

India’s Finance Minister told CNBC that the country’s reserve bank is not shutting out cryptocurrencies entirely. She said that while the Reserve Bank of India will decide which unofficial cryptocurrencies will be used and regulated, there will be “a window for experiments” in the industry.

New Lease Of Life For Bitcoin In India

India’s minister of finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, spoke briefly on the country’s standpoint on digital assets in a CNBC virtual townhall. She said that several negotiations are being held with the Reserve Bank of India regarding an impending ban.

A lower parliament in India raised a bill to ban all private cryptocurrencies in January. It said that the move was to facilitate the development of the country’s CBDC, which the RBI will issue and regulate. This did not go down well with cryptocurrency enthusiasts and industry stakeholders in the country. In response, they started an online campaign tagged #IndiaWantsBitcoin to get the RBI to reconsider its stance.

Sitharaman’s remarks suggest that the campaign was quite impactful. She said:

“A lot of negotiations and discussions are happening around the cryptocurrency with the Reserve Bank of India. RBI will be taking a call on what kind of unofficial cryptocurrency will have to be planned and how it has to be regulated. However we want to make sure that there is a window available for all kinds of experiments which will have to take place in the crypto world. There will be a very calibrated position taken. A lot of mixed messages are coming from across the world. World is moving fast with technology, we cannot pretend that we don’t want it.”

Sitting On The Fence

India is renowned for its controversial stance on bitcoin after several “back and forth” regulations. The government had initially banned cryptocurrencies in 2018 after warning investors. The halt was later overturned by the Supreme court. The apex court described the ban as “unconstitutional.”

India’s lower parliament received backlash from the global crypto community for what seemed like a ridiculous exception to its proposed cryptocurrency ban. It said it will “allow for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.” Regulatory bodies in the country had severally pushed the motion to advance blockchain technology adoption while banning cryptocurrencies.

Its non-committal approach has raised question marks regarding the country’s future in the digital asset space.

Digital Rupee Still In The Picture

Although Sitharaman did not discuss the progress of the digital rupee, the second most populous nation may take a cue from its neighbors, China.

China has continued trials of its digital yuan and has distributed millions of dollars in the digital currency to its citizens.

India’s Reserve bank governor, Shaktikanta Das, said last month that although there is no set date for the launch, the digital rupee was “receiving full attention.”

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Source: https://cryptopotato.com/indias-crypto-ban-uncertain-as-finance-minister-touts-a-window-for-experiments/

Blockchain

Cardano Price Analysis: 07 March

Published

2 hours ago

March 7, 2021

Republished by Plato

The cryptocurrency market has been constantly forming crusts and troughs as it strives towards stability. Cardano’s market witnessed a similar trend wherein the price surged towards the end of February but has been correcting since.

At the time of writing, Cardano was trading at $1.13 with a market capitalization of $35.68 billion.

Cardano six-hour chart

Source: ADAUSD on TradingView

The above chart noted that the current market movement had formed a descending triangle and the price was sloping lower. The price has been supported at $1.06 as the trend becomes bearish.

This downwards trending price has been indicating a further drop making its way into the ADA market.

Reasoning

After witnessing increased volatility in the recent past, the ADA market is now seeing the volatility reduce. However, it has not yet shrunk to a level where a price swing was not possible. Since the descending triangle was a bearish trend, a price drop could make the market more volatile.

The signal line and the 50 moving average were also moving above the price candles and were acting as a point of resistance. Meanwhile, market momentum has turned negative due to the rising selling pressure in the market.

Despite the shift in momentum, the Relative Strength Index has remained close to the equilibrium zone. This could be a sign for the consolidation of the price at the current level but as bearishness increases, the consolidation phase may lead to the price breaking down.

Crucial levels

Entry-level: $1.07
Stop-level: $1.17
Take profit: $0.91
Risk to Reward: 1.53

Conclusion

The current ADA market has been seeing the price drop to its $1.06 support. As the price tests the support, the indicators have been highlighting an incoming fall. This fall could push the digital asset under the support and could bring the value under $1.

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Source: https://ambcrypto.com/cardano-price-analysis-07-march

Blockchain

HODLing early leads to relationship troubles? Redditors share their stories

Published

2 hours ago

March 7, 2021

Republished by Plato

Crypto investments have reportedly been a source of strife in relationships, sometimes leading to breakups and even divorce.

According to a Reddit post from February 2015, a then 28-year-old woman using a throwaway account claimed that she was incredibly upset at her husband, who had not stopped purchasing Bitcoin (BTC) since 2013 without consulting her. She estimated that he had bought more than $22,000 in the crypto asset in the two years prior to the post, when the price reached a high of more than $1,000 but also dipped under $200.

“I kept telling him to sell as the price was rising and he promised me a big year in 2014,” she said. “The price kept falling and he continued to buy more. He makes more money than I do but we are building a future together and we have a shared bank account. He kept telling me this was for our kids’ college fund, to buy a house, etc.”

In the early days of Bitcoin and crypto when digital currencies were often used as a running joke for late night talk shows and comedians, many considered investing in the technology financially immature at the very least. Some people still do, even with the BTC price at more than $50,000 again.

The Redditor referred to her husband as “brainwashed,” saying he was “robbing [her] of happiness” and ruining her job by bringing up Bitcoin at her marketing events.

“After a recent price crash, he actually bought more using our vacation fund that I have been saving away for and planning. All gone, in Bitcoin never to be seen again.”

It’s unclear whether the couple stayed together following the response from the post, or if the husband sold some or all of the Bitcoin to ameliorate his wife’s financial concerns. The user compared her spouse to a drug addict and considered “staying in a hotel for a few weeks” to think about whether divorce was an option.

However, with the benefit of hindsight, the husband’s early investment could have easily paid off in the millions of dollars. Even assuming he purchased BTC after the price surge to $1,000 in November 2013, the 22 coins would now be worth more than $1 million.

Because the story was posted on the r/relationships subreddit rather than a pro-crypto group like r/Bitcoin or r/cryptocurrency, many of the Redditors encouraged the user to separate her finances and consider divorce proceedings. Few crypto enthusiasts jumped on the thread to comment, but one predicted that the BTC would one day be “worth fortunes” and recommended the husband continue to HODL.

Another story from a Redditor following the 2017 bull run — which brought in many newbies to the crypto space — claimed that his girlfriend was considering breaking up with him following “a huge investment in cryptocurrencies.” However, digital currencies seem to have played less of a role in his story, as the user said he crashed a car while driving drunk and was pressuring his significant other to leave her job.

Though many crypto traders know the price of Bitcoin and other digital currencies will likely continue to be volatile, the adoption and investment from major companies have helped push the technology closer to the mainstream, and made it seemingly more responsible for investors to get in on the action earlier rather than later. Already Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary has claimed to have increased his stake in Bitcoin while asset management firm Third Point CEO Dan Loeb recently said he had been doing a “deep dive into crypto.”

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Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/hodling-early-leads-to-relationship-troubles-redditors-share-their-stories