Sunday, April 19, 2020

Corona Money Printing Worries – Housing Prices Slide Downwards First Time in 10 Years in Northern Europe

 


Real estate price reports from March in northern countries like Denmark and Sweden now show negative developments for the first time in over 10 years. If furloughed workers continue into unemployment, the effects on the housing markets will be even more significant, says Claudia Wörmann at SBAB Bank.

Spring Real Estate Price Increase, Trend Broken
Inhabitants of the northern countries of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark have gotten used to very low interest rates and constantly increasing real estate prices. In Sweden, interest rates were dipping into negative territories and in Denmark, famously some homeowners have been offered payments for taking out a mortgage (negative interest rates).

Normally, homeowners in these regions see price increases each spring but this year the trend is broken and prices of apartments, houses and land plots have instead decreased a few percentage points. The change is large compared to the regular price increases. The development is worrying many citizens and has slowed the pace of sales to a virtual halt in April.

In Denmark, prices have decreased in seven out of 10 regions, including in Copenhagen where prices fell around 1.5% in March, according to Birgit Daetz, communications officer at housing watch outlet Boligsiden. She continued:

The real estate season normally starts in March and that means increasing prices. This year that hasn't happened and due to the health crisis we expect prices in Copenhagen to continue to fall in the coming months.

Swedish Real Estate Statistics Agency Mäklarstatistik concurred with the Danes' outlook and reported a drop in the number of sales in Sweden. During the last two weeks of March, the number of sales dropped more than 15% and continued on a downward trend into April.

Norway's stats look almost the same and in Finland, prices fell slightly in most regions. Real Estate Norway reported single-digit decreases in prices last month, with an average decrease of 1.4%.

Early morning on April 19 in Stockholm city, where real estate prices started to slide in March due to the effects from actions taken to combat the coronavirus. Cafés and restaurants are still open but every second table stays unoccupied for social distancing reasons.

Banks Must Continue to Provide Financing
Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the Swedish government and central bank have been starting up the printing presses and made over 100 billion Swedish kronor available to the banks. Government parties are now suggesting printing more than 100 billion kronor ($12 billion) per month. Even with falling prices, the question is if this unprecedented money printing will later result in increased inflation, and possibly a Cantillon effect on housing prices — again leading to higher nominal real estate values while at the same time devaluing currencies like the dollar or the Danish krone due to the increase in money supply.

"What is important now is that banks continue to provide intermediate financing," Real Estate Norway CEO Henning Lauridsen said. He continued:

Experience from the financial crisis shows that a change in the dynamics of buying first and selling afterwards is counterproductive and destructive to the housing market. Although a more restrictive credit policy may seem rational to the individual bank, this collective is irrational.

The capital city of Stockholm saw the biggest price falls by an average of minus 1.7%. Real estate in cities in the Nordic regions lost more on average than in the countryside.

To counteract the slowdown in sales and the falling prices, governments in the region abruptly changed many rules and regulations pertaining to mortgages. From last week, citizens in Sweden can skip their mortgage payments until further notice. Similar actions are either underway or being discussed in neighboring Nordic countries, where politicians hope to boost the price of their real estate holdings.

Friday, April 10, 2020

Bitcoin Garners New Users as Governments Flood World With Fiat

 


Governments around the world are careening toward a period of dramatic spending.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced another $2.3 trillion in lending programs on Thursday to stabilize America's coronavirus-stricken economy. The Bank of England announced it would likely extend billions of pounds to directly finance the government's crisis response.

All this inspires inflation concerns around the globe, which appear to be driving demand for bitcoin (BTC) in some corners.

"The non-stop quantitative easing process will finally impact the mid-term and long-term market," said Danny Deng, a leading member of both the China Blockchain Application Center and the National Internet Finance Association of China. "Bitcoin is designed for this kind of situation. So I'm optimistic about bitcoin's future."

China is also expected to announce a stimulus package of its own. Deng said he expects the People's Bank of China to use a digital currency to distribute a stimulus package, which he sees as a complementary catalyst to the bitcoin mining industry.

While central banks continue printing money, there will only ever be 21 million bitcoin. The halving of bitcoin miners' block rewards is scheduled for May in what some are calling an act of quantitative tightening.

Broadly speaking, dozens of nations are reevaluating which currencies and industries they depend on. Bitcoin fits into this broader spectrum as some nations with strong central governments, like China, shore up hard assets and digital infrastructure. Meanwhile, there has been a surge in retail crypto investors from nations with unstable currencies, such as Argentina and Russia.

"We see that interest in cryptocurrencies has grown significantly in Russia … due to the economic situation in the country," said Gleb Kostarev, Binance's head of operations in Russia. "The ruble has tumbled a lot in 2020. In addition, authorities are introducing a new tax on income from bank deposits from next year, which encourages people to withdraw funds from banks."

Bitcoin is hardly the most important asset in the broader economic turndown. However, recent bitcoin trends highlight the local impact of global developments. In places where distrust of banks historically runs high, many households now consider bitcoin among the assets they trust more than the local fiat currency.

Speculator's market
Some critics may see decline in bitcoin's wild volatility during the start of the coronavirus economic crisis, including what crypto traders called Black Thursday.

But the institutional sell-off and subsequent trading rush stimulated more diverse distribution, usage and liquidity options, all while making crypto companies a hefty profit.

Marius Reitz, general manager at the African crypto exchange Luno, said there was a 25 percent increase in new signups during Q1 2020 compared to Q4 2019. This includes "thousands" of new users from Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Uganda. He added there was a 100 percent increase in trading across the continent.

"People saw an opportunity to recover some of their earlier [traditional market] losses in bitcoin," Reitz said. "It's very much still a speculator's market."

According to the asset manager and research firm Bitwise, nearly all exchanges experienced an increase in volume during March. North American exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini saw the most growth in trading volumes. Kraken's bitcoin strategist, Pierre Rochard, said the exchange saw a 300 percent increase in new users getting verified in March, compared to the previous month.

"These are new users who didn't have any crypto beforehand," Rochard said.

Fiat-denominated prices aren't the only way to measure bitcoin's performance. The number of active bitcoin wallet addresses is now comparable to metrics during the sky-high prices of September 2017, according to Coin Metrics, which estimated roughly 770,915 active accounts on March 30, 2020 compared to 718,184 on Sept. 29, 2017.

Although the price of bitcoin briefly dropped 40 percent, down from $9,160 in early March, it recovered to roughly $7,300 as of press time. As such, Luno's Reitz said bitcoin suffered less of an impact, and recovered faster, than many other asset classes.

Institutions that sold off in early March quickly bought back in, according to Diogo Monica, co-founder of crypto custody firm Anchorage. Plus, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said his custody startup saw such high demand for bullish loans in March that he will double the size of the team handling crypto loans. Exchanges and custodians are actually making more profit during the recession.

Read more: Retail Investors Are Buying the Bitcoin Institutions Are Selling, Traders Say

When the market crashed, speculative crypto trading and demand for custody options soared. Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier said hardware wallet sales saw "double-digit growth" in Q1 2020 compared to the same time last year, with sales still accelerating.

"We are increasing our hardware [wallet] production as a result," Gauthier added.

As speculative traders rush in, Latin Americans increasingly turn to bitcoin for savings and loans.

Latin America
"The main usage is to save. … People are seeking safety," said Ripio CEO Sebastian Serrano, whose Latin American company offers both crypto loans and an exchange. "Argentina was on the brink of default and that happened on Sunday."

Argentina isn't the only country to default, either. Lebanon, Ecuador and Venezuela are also on the brink. Bitcoiners in Lebanon often focus on savings because they, like Latin Americans, share a distrust in banks.

Cryptobuyer CEO Jorge Luis Farias said orders for crypto point-of-sale (POS) devices doubled in March, mostly in Venezuela. He's also shipping three new bitcoin ATMs to Chile, where the local currency hit a historic low in March.

Subsequently, by the first week of April, Chilean activity on LocalBitcoins reached an all-time high of $371,063.

"More people are looking for options to receive payments," Farias said on April 7. "We received 100 new [POS device] requests only last week."

Bitcoin Beach
@Bitcoinbeach
My daughter buying veggies from the latest business in our community in #ElSalvador accepting Bitcoin.  300 families received BTC stipends last week and BTC is keeping families fed and businesses going in this time of crisis @b4_humanity @bitcoinmom @crypto_birb

"I think the economic situation has to do with it, in Argentina and Mexico. Mexico had a run-up in exchange-rate disparity," Bartolomeo said. "We expect to see a lot of demand from Latin America to save in options that aren't their local currency."

If the rate of bitcoin savings and reliable loans remain steady throughout the broader economic crisis, that may arguably be a more bullish signal than fiat-denominated price increases.

Asian alliance
Meanwhile, several Asian nations are reacting to the recession by increasing their economic interdependence.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization with China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan agreed in March to work with local currencies, instead of U.S. dollars, when conducting bilateral trade and issuing bonds. Deng said the Chinese government aims to make its currency regional tender, "then a global currency" like dollars.

"China's national digital currency will accelerate this process," he added.

The crypto industry could provide the infrastructure for this distribution. Kazakhstani entrepreneur Tilektes Adambekov said in April he is still working to launch a regional crypto exchange that will eventually include "fiat trading and security tokens," although these aren't plans specifically focused on China's digital currency.

"This region will accommodate global initiatives under the 'Belt and Road' global development strategy," Adambekov said during a meeting with Chinese business associates in January.

As for bitcoin itself, traders from the above-mentioned markets sometimes liquidate their crypto by investing in real estate, especially now that oil and bond markets are highly volatile.

Middle East
Gold, oil and real estate investments appear to increase, along with bitcoin transactions, when stocks and bonds dip.

Arms & McGregor International Realty CEO Makram Hani said his company is working to close a Dubai property purchase, worth $140 million, using multiple cryptocurrencies from a single Asian buyer.

Out of the hundreds of prospective customers who expressed interest in potentially buying real estate with cryptocurrency, Hani said the most popular property locations are Dubai, London and Berlin. It appears bitcoiners in nations with increased surveillance may be seeking a liquidity hedge with traditional assets, while others in the Middle East are willing to accept large amounts of cryptocurrency.

"We have seen a significant growth in real estate transactions that have been paid for, in one way or another, with funds originating as bitcoin or other currencies," Hani said.

Rain co-founder Yehia Badawy, who also serves bitcoiners in Dubai via his Bahrain-based exchange, said trading volumes increased 200 percent from January to March 2020, with 34 percent more new user signups driven by "high-volume retail."

"People are still trying to figure out how permanent the [economic] changes will be," Badawy said.

Due to the oil market slump, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have struggled to retain investor confidence in their debts. The oil market collapse could have more dire impacts on weaker states like Lebanon and Iraq, which were already saddled with crippling foreign debts before the pandemic hit.

Mikhail Kholodov, an oil market expert at MOL-Russ LLC, described the global market these days as "all speculation" and "hot money in a casino-like arrangement" that won't regain balance "anytime soon."
When spooked investors diversify, some now rank bitcoin alongside tangible investments like gold or real estate.

At least in the short term, Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital asset strategies at investment firm VanEck, wrote, "bitcoin correlation to gold has increased significantly" during the coronavirus pandemic.

People’s Bank of China will ‘undoubtedly’ launch digital yuan

 


The People's Bank of China has said it will "undoubtedly" launch a digital yuan, in what has been seen as one of the strongest signals to date of the central bank's support for the policy.

In a notice published on April 4, the bank said it would continue the development of a digital currency, with a view to launching as soon as practical: "The People's Bank of China (PBoC) will undoubtedly further its research and development of the national digital currency with enhanced top-down design."

The notice was published following the 2020 National Currency Gold Silver and Security Work Video and Telephone Conference, an event convened by the bank's Vice Governor Yifei Fan where the bank set out its priorities for the coming year.

This is the third time a digital yuan has been raised at the event, but the language in this year's notice has been widely interpreted as a strong signal of advancing plans and intentions.

In 2018, the bank said it was working at a "steady pace," before upping this to pledge to "accelerate" the development process during 2019.

Some analysts have reported the project may be advancing quicker than anticipated due to coronavirus, with the bank already concerned about transmission issues from physical bank notes. Back in February, the bank said it was preparing to quarantine and disinfect cash, as well as issuing some 600 billion in new notes to limit possible transmission through bank notes.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has suggested central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) worldwide could be accelerated in response to the pandemic, with digital payment adoption likely to be increased by central banks worldwide in response to the crisis.

In the notice, the bank said it was also looking to overhaul the systems around withdrawing cash, with further plans to manage the flow of currency through China's financial system.

The bank will also be focusing on cracking down on counterfeit money, as well as increased cash testing to better manage the physical money flow across the economy.

At the 2020 National Currency Gold Silver and Security Work Video and Telephone Conference, the bank was joined by representatives from major state-owned commercial banks.

Friday, April 3, 2020

Manufacturers Mark Down Bitcoin Miners as Price Drop, Halving Change Calculus

 



Last month's crash in cryptocurrency prices has prompted manufacturers to sell inventories at a discount, in some cases as steep as 20 percent, over the past few weeks. Both the newest models and slightly older machines have been marked down.

Complicating the matter is the imminent bitcoin halving in May that will reduce the network's mining reward by half, causing most miners to be less profitable if bitcoin's price doesn't increase significantly by then.

For instance, DJ Miner, an overseas distributor for Shenzhen, China-based MicroBT, was advertising about $2,500 per unit of the manufacturer's flagship WhatsMiner M30S early last month. After bitcoin's March 12 crash – the worst sell-off in seven years – the price is now cut by 20 percent to $2,000 per unit.

The WhatsMiner M20S, a less advanced but popular model that boosted MicroBT's market share against major rival Bitmain in 2019, is also seeing a 20 percent price cut from $1,679 to now $1,340, DJ Miner's website shows. Pangolinminers, another distributor for MicroBT shows similar pricing rollbacks on its website.

Similarly, while Bitmain is advertising $1,567 for its AntMiner S17+ with a computing power of 67 terahashes per second, various resellers are posting quotes on WeChat seen by CoinDesk at around $1,300 per unit.

The Beijing-based mining giant has previously announced the pricing for its latest flagship AntMiner S19 Pro at about $2,900 per unit but the shipment won't take place until May and so far is only available for investors inside China.

See also: How Bitcoin's Price Slump Is Changing the Geography of Mining

Efficient market
It is important to note that most specialized bitcoin computers, known as ASICs, had already been dropping in price since the fourth quarter of last year, as the manufacturers adjusted their strategies in line with bitcoin's price swing.

These machines are priced assuming it would take the buyer on average 15 months to make back their equipment investment. Holding the payback period relatively constant, manufacturers would adjust the prices of their equipment according to bitcoin's market price and the level of competition on the network – the two factors that determine how much revenue a miner can generate in a day.

Miner pricing data compiled by research startup TokenInsight shows that, for example, the Whatsminer M20S and the AntMiner S17 Pro were priced at around $2,400 and $3,000, respectively, in mid-October 2019. The price for both had dropped to around $1,500 as of March 10.

"ASIC miners have experienced a relatively large market devaluation since Q4 2019. However, the miner market has found some level of price floor during Q1 2020 despite the recent crypto market downturn," said TokenInsight analyst Johnson Xu. "Some experienced miners are currently looking to purchase some secondhand ASICs at a significant discount … based on their carefully structured model."

Blockware Solutions, a reseller of bitcoin ASIC miners in North America that also operates mining facilities, said in a recent research report that the market crash in March, together with the coming halving, has led to a significant decrease of bitcoin's mining computing power – which in the long run, could be an encouraging sign for the market's efficiency.

"If Bitcoin remains at lower price levels for 2-4 months, post-halving, many miners operating at a loss will be forced to shut off," Blockware said. "After all the miners that are operating at a loss shut off, the miners that survive experience significant margin relief. We will witness a network in short-term chaos, but difficulty adjustments will reinstate stability once the inefficient miners shut off."

Russian rapper busted by the FBI for digital currency money laundering

 


If you want to conduct illegal activity, it's best not to leave a trail of any sort that can prove your involvement. A Russian rapper residing in California has learned this lesson the hard way after being arrested by the FBI. The federal law enforcement agency picked up Maksim Boiko and accused him of laundering money through digital currency exchanges and transactions, allegedly while doing little to hide his identity.

Court documents released (in pdf) on March 30 indicate that Boiko conducted his extra-curricular activities using platforms such as the now-defunct BTC-e digital currency exchange, a portal that was also shut down for money laundering. The documents also show that Boiko allegedly has ties to QQAAZZ, an organized crime syndicate that operates in several countries around the world.

The rapper's downfall began when he showed up at Miami International Airport this past January. At that time, he had $20,000 in cash, which is twice the amount allowed to be carried across borders without a written declaration of the source of the funds. It isn't clear if Boiko presented a declaration or not, but he was questioned about the money and explained that it came from digital currency investments and rental properties.

The explanation was not received with a great deal of credibility, and an investigation began. Subsequently, Boko was picked up by authorities in Miami toward the end of last month. He is charged with "knowingly and intentionally conspire and agree with other persons known and unknown, to commit money laundering in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h)."

In building its case against Boiko, the FBI was able to come across several interesting finds. It was able to determine that he had registered an email account, plinofficial@me.com, using his own name and created a username of gangass. That username was also picked up on several underground communications channels used predominantly for criminal activities.

In addition, Boiko had been a little too willing to brag about the amount of money he had in his possession on several occasions, posting pictures of himself holding huge stacks of bills, and even one that appeared to show him getting ready to launder funds through a Chinese bank account. He didn't appear in the picture, but a placard with "Maksim" and a screenshot of a "plinofficial" account on Instagram are clearly seen.

Boiko apparently had greater success as a criminal than he did as a rapper, but everything he did made it easy for law enforcement to conduct its investigation. As a rapper, he uses the moniker Plinofficial.

Friday, March 27, 2020

After Coronavirus ‘War,’ Bretton Woods-Style Shakeup Could Dethrone the Dollar

 


For governments, fighting the coronavirus pandemic is like fighting a war.
The leaders of Italy, Spain and Germany have used the analogy – along with the CEOs of Bank of America and the U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T – to describe the mass-scale efforts needed to combat the disease: mobilizations of the health care industry, a retooling by factories to produce masks and makeshift morgues to accommodate a fast-rising death count.

During a televised press conference this week, U.S. President Donald Trump characterized himself as a "wartime president."

Now, it's becoming clearer that the economic toll of the virus, as in a war, is likely to be dire. In the U.S. alone, a record 3.3 million jobless claims were filed last week. Deutsche Bank predicts the country's job losses might exceed 15 million, with Europe approaching a similar level. Countries are prepping aid and stimulus packages into the trillions of dollars, stretching already heavily indebted government balance sheets. Central banks led by the U.S. Federal Reserve have pledged nearly unlimited support to financial markets. Investors have flown to safety in U.S. dollars, and in doing so driven down emerging-market currencies, inflicting additional economic damage on some of the world's poorest countries.

So with officials starting to envision what it might take to rebuild damaged economies and restore society to a semblance of normal, speculation is mounting that seismic shifts might be in the offing for the global monetary system — a phenomenon that historically has occurred in the wake of world wars.

Think Bretton Woods, the historic gathering in 1944 at a mountaintop resort in New Hampshire, which set the template for the current system and entrenched the dollar's near-century-long reign as the world's dominant currency.

"I wouldn't rule out anything at this point," says Markus Brunnermeier, a Princeton University economics professor who has advised the International Monetary Fund, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and European Systemic Risk Board.

Questioning dollar dominance
Even before the coronavirus hit, questions were percolating among some economists and monetary officials over whether the dollar-based system could last through the 2020s.

One concern is that monetary policy in the U.S. – actions by the Fed to maximize domestic employment and keep prices stable – reverberates through countries all over the globe, often saddling them with higher inflation whenever their currencies weaken versus the dollar; while exporters of raw materials or manufactured goods might become more competitive, consumers feel the pinch from higher prices for imported goods. Another factor is that so many commodities such as oil, copper and gold are priced in dollars, leaving producers including Russia, Brazil and South Africa at the mercy of foreign-exchange markets.  

Bank of England President Mark Carney floated the idea of a "synthetic hegemonic currency," possibly based on new digital-asset technologies, to reduce the dollar's "domineering influence" on global trade. China, the world's second-largest economy, has been pressing forward with a digital version of its yuan that might be used more widely in global trade. Facebook, the social network, proposed last year to create its own payment token, libra. Bitcoin, launched in the throes of the 2008-09 financial meltdown, offers another alternative.

"Eventually we're going to get past this crisis," said Tim Shaler, a former portfolio manager at the bond fund Pimco who now serves as chief economist for iTrust Capital, which allows clients to buy cryptocurrencies and physical gold through their retirement accounts.  "If there's a possibility to create some digital currency not tied to any domestic economy, there might be an opportunity for somebody to figure that out."

The Fed helicopters in with trillions
It's little surprise the Federal Reserve is intervening so deeply in U.S. markets during a time of crisis. That "quantitative easing" (QE) playbook was put in place by former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, who garnered the moniker "Helicopter Ben" thanks to his advocacy for plying the financial system with large quantities of much money when needed. In a matter of months in 2008, from August to December, the Fed's balance sheet doubled in size to more than $2 trillion. It doubled again during the next few years to over $4 trillion.

On Monday, the U.S. central bank, now led by Chair Jerome Powell, made an unprecedented pledge to buy bonds in unlimited amounts to support markets, while reviving 2008-era QE emergency-lending programs to ply banks, Wall Street dealers and even corporations with fresh liquidity. The new efforts could quickly balloon the Fed's balance sheet to north of $8 trillion, says Stephen Cecchetti, who headed the monetary and economic department at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, in the early 2010s.

IF THERE'S A POSSIBILITY TO CREATE SOME DIGITAL CURRENCY NOT TIED TO ANY DOMESTIC ECONOMY, THERE MIGHT BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SOMEBODY TO FIGURE THAT OUT.

On Wednesday, lawmakers in Washington were negotiating a $2 trillion aid package, but the investment-research firm Evercore ISI predicted this week in a report that another $3 trillion might be needed. Some of the Treasury bonds issued to finance surging U.S. government budget deficits might get sopped up by the Fed.  

"The central bank has to be a part of the war machine," said Cecchetti, now a professor of international economics at Brandeis University.

The dollar's inflationary threat
Despite the flood of new dollars, the U.S. currency has surged in recent weeks to its strongest levels in three years. Inflation is muted, and the economy's weakness means prices in the U.S. won't be pressured upward anytime soon.

But the Fed's trillions could eventually lead to higher inflation. There also might be a renewed outcry that such money injections merely bail out bankers and rich people, with few of the benefits going to the middle or lower classes – similar to the arguments of the Occupy Wall Street movement that followed the 2008 crisis.

Outside the U.S., central banks might emerge from the coronavirus shock with a stronger appetite for independence from American influence over the global monetary system.

"It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out when we have at least two major financial players that are going to emerge from this," said Omer Ozden, CEO of RockTree Capital, a merchant bank with expertise in blockchain technology. "China will have its own thoughts and may take a different direction from, let's say, a Bretton Woods-style global organization."

Trustless world, trustless systems
It's highly unlikely the global monetary system would see a negotiated accord along the lines of the Bretton Woods accord, which was joined by 44 countries, said Edwin Truman, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who oversaw the Federal Reserve's division of international finance from the late 1970s through the late 1990s.

Trump's brash, freewheeling style and protectionist impulses in recent years have alienated former allies in Europe, and his border wall campaign has ratcheted up tensions with Mexico. He demonized China in last year's trade war and recently referred to the coronavirus as the "China virus."

"One of the big challenges of today, in contrast to 2008-2009, is that the state of national cooperation is pretty low," Truman said. "In order to do, collectively, a big change in the system, people would have to agree, and everyone seems to be fending for themselves."

For George McDonaugh, CEO and co-founder of Isle of Man-based KR1, a publicly traded cryptocurrency investment company, it's the head-scratcher of "helicopter money" that might ultimately raise fundamental criticisms of the current monetary system. Deep interest rate cuts and central bank money injections in ever-growing quantities appear to have become the default solution whenever a market crisis hits every seven to 11 years.  

The Fed's trillion-dollar money injections during the 2008 financial crisis did little to weaken the dollar's dominance in the years since, but this time might be different.

"If someone on TV says we can have infinite money, someone on the other side of that TV screen says, 'Why have I been working my ass off for the past 40 years?'" McDonough said.

Telegram token investors ‘ready to accept refund’ amid SEC court battle

 


A number of investors in the token issued by messaging app Telegram are reported to be ready to accept their money back, which would see the firm settle at a fraction of the funds paid into the token.

According to a TASS report, as many as 10 separate investors in Telegram's blockchain project are now poised to accept the offer, which would see 72% of money invested in the token returned.

Head of Russian digital currency investment firm Hash CIB, Yakov Barinsky, said the refund offer was looking more attractive to investors in light of the global coronavirus crisis: "What I see now among various investors is that many, at least 10 investors with whom I spoke, are inclined to take away 72% of the invested funds. Considering what is happening in the financial markets, this offer now looks much better than in October."

Back in October, investors were offered 77% of invested funds back as refunds for the project, which has been beset with difficulties—not least ongoing investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), over what the regulator argues was an illegal sale of securities.

At the time, investors rejected the offer and agreed to extend the deadline for issuing the tokens to April 2020. Now, Telegram has said investors can receive 72% of their funds back, with the remaining 5% already spent on the development process in the intervening months.

It follows on from a ruling earlier this week, in which a federal court in New York ruled against Telegram, finding that issuing the Gram tokens would constitute a violation of securities laws.

Barinsky said Telegram could now choose to register a transaction, and to recognize the court's interpretation of its Gram tokens as a security.

"To conduct an IPO, but in this case, the launch of the project will be postponed for another period, companies usually prepare for this for at least a year. For this scenario, it will also be necessary to conduct another consultation with investors and again ask for a delay in launching the project," Barinsky said. 

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Toyota launches blockchain lab for verification, supply chain and more

 


Japanese automotive manufacturing giant Toyota has launched a blockchain lab that will focus on integrating the technology into most of its operations. Known as the Toyota Blockchain Lab, the project has been in the works since April last year. It will integrate blockchain into its verification processes, global supply chain, financial systems and more.

The global automotive industry has evolved rapidly, forcing carmakers to focus on providing more value to their customers. Toyota intends on keeping ahead of its rivals, and with the integration of blockchain, it will allow its customers to "connect more openly under safety and security," the company said in a press release.

@ToyotaMotorCorp
#Toyota's latest #blockchaintechnology improves information reliability and accelerates the sharing of data among multiple parties in a more open environment that is safe and secure.

The Blockchain Lab is a collaboration between the Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Financial Services Corporation. It has been undertaking demonstration trials since its formation 11 months ago. It stated, "In the following initiatives focused on customers and vehicles, demonstration trials under specific conditions were completed in November last year, confirming the usefulness of blockchain technology in each use application."

One of the key application areas for blockchain technology will be in identity verification. Toyota currently requires its clients to verify their identity separately for every service they intend to use. This reduces the chances of fraud and data breaches, but at the same time, it's quite time consuming. With blockchain, the client will only need to verify his identity once, after which he can share the data in a permissioned blockchain system.

Toyota also plans on applying blockchain in its supply chain management to improve efficiency and traceability. It will record and share information regarding manufacturing, shipping and more on a blockchain-powered network. The company, which is the second-largest automotive manufacturer after Volkswagen, will also record information about its repair parts. This will enable the end user to verify genuine Toyota products.

Toyota intends to record information about its vehicles on the blockchain platform as well. Data to be recorded includes any repairs over a car's lifetime, its mileage and ownership. This data will make it much easier to accurately value a Toyota vehicle.

Going forward, the company will partner with other industry stakeholders in its project, it revealed, stating, "In addition, with regard to various blockchain platforms around the world, in collaboration with partner companies, we will formulate non-functional evaluation items to accelerate the social implementation of the technology, and accumulate technical knowledge to select a suitable platform for each application."

Toyota has also revealed that it will integrate blockchain technology in its utopian conceptual city. Known as Woven City, it will be powered by hydrogen and will rely on smart technology. It will be built on a 175-acre land in Japan, on the base of Mount Fuji, with the construction beginning early next year. Artificial intelligence will be central to the city's operations, Toyota revealed.

Indian Parliament probing suspect ‘Bitcoin businesses’

 


An investigation into dubious digital currency businesses in India is underway, amid concerns about rampant fraud in connection with digital currencies in the country.

The investigation was revealed in a filing submitted before India's lower house, the Lok Sabha, following a formal question to the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur.

Center-left politician Mohammed Faizal asked the Minister whether he was aware of the "cheating and fraudulent practices by bitcoin companies", and whether these firms "are repeatedly violating rules laid out by the Corporate Affairs Ministry by not filing annual balance sheets".

In his answer, Minister Thakur said the companies concerned "are not defined under the Companies Act". The Minister said only two firms dealing with BTC were registered with the Companies Registrar, and one of the companies, Zeb IT, had previously been subject to prosecutions under the Companies Act. The firm is currently in liquidation.

The other firm, Unocoin Technologies, was reported to be up to date in its filings, with the Minister saying he had yet to receive any complaints against the company.

The developments come at a time of rapid change in the Indian digital currency sector, following the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn the Reserve Bank of India's earlier ruling effectively banning digital currency in the country.

The following day, Unocoin resumed fiat deposits, with several other exchanges including OKEx, Coindcx and Wazirx taking similar steps to resume business—despite none being registered by the authorities, according to the Minister's answer.

International exchanges Kraken and KuCoin have since confirmed their intentions to expand into the Indian market, with both companies expected to be eyeing a share of the newly liberated Indian sector.

The Reserve Bank of India has said it intends to appeal against the Supreme Court ruling, casting doubt on whether the position is settled long-term. For the time being, digital currency exchanges and other related companies can take advantage of the ruling to rebuild the sector so badly affected by the RBI decision.

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Bank of England chief warns of CBDC ‘challenges’ on fiat money

 


The outgoing governor of the Bank of England has warned of the risks of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), highlighting the potential impact of CBDCs on fiat currency and the wider financial system.

Mark Carney, who is due to leave his post on Friday, addressed the risks posed by central bank digital currencies, highlighting the "significant challenges" that could be posed to financial stability.

First reported by Reuters, the comments come at a time when the bank is reported to be considering the feasibility of issuing its own digital currency on the blockchain:

While CBDC poses a number of opportunities, it could raise significant challenges for maintaining monetary and financial stability…and would need to be very carefully designed if it were to be introduced.

Carney said there were likely implications for commercial banks, should significant balances move towards CBDCs: "If significant deposit balances are moved from commercial banks into CBDC, it could have implications for the balance sheets of commercial banks and…the amount of credit provided by banks to the wider economy."

The comments come in the final days of Carney's tenure at the bank, as he prepares to take up post as the U.K. government's Finance Adviser for COP26. He is set to be replaced by Andrew Bailey, the current head of the U.K. financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

In the report, the bank also addressed the decline of cash, with consumers and businesses alike increasingly opting for digital payment alternatives.

The Bank of England is scheduled to meet, alongside representatives from five other financial regulators, to discuss models for issuing a digital currency. On its preferred approach, the bank said that any digital currency would be denominated in Sterling, and would not be allowed to entirely replace cash notes.

It comes as other central banks are already testing their own digital currencies. In Sweden, for example, the central bank is running tests on issuing a digital currency dubbed the 'e-Krona', while other central banks are known to be running their own feasibility assessments on the technology.

FCA issues warning to avoid coronavirus-linked digital asset scams

 


Just like there always have been, scams are found in the digital currency space. There will always be those who are too inept to make a decent living and want to take advantage of situations in order to line their own pockets. As the coronavirus has gripped the world, there's no doubt that it is being used as a tool for initiating fraudulent activity, and the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning to remind individuals to use caution when approached about making investments related to COVID-19.

In a message posted by the FCA on its website this past Wednesday, the financial watchdog explains, "Watch out for scams related to coronavirus (COVID-19). These scams take many forms and could be about insurance policies, pensions transfers or high-return investment opportunities, including investments in cryptoassets."

As is often the case, the potential scams will offer investment opportunities that are too good to be true, which should be the first sign for individuals to stay away. The FCA adds, as it has warned in the past, "If you decide to invest in something offering a high return or in a cryptoasset, you should be prepared to lose all your money."

The scams could come in many styles – requests for donations to the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or as a means to prepare for a rebound once the markets begin to recover. Common sense dictates that any investor perform his or her due diligence before making any type of investment, and understand the source of the request before turning over any funds.

Fortunately, digital asset enthusiasts have grown accustomed to potential scams and don't fall for the tricks as easily as may have once been seen. According to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau in the U.K., those COVID-19 scams that have already been seen haven't had a lot of success. However, conventional investment scams in the U.K. tied to the virus have reportedly been able to collect more than £800,000 (a little more than $1 million).

The FCA recommends that individuals stay away from offers that appear out of the blue and to ignore investment opportunities that pop up on social media. It also suggests calling back those individuals who make contact looking for investments and to never provide any personal detail under any circumstances. In addition, before making any type of investment, consumers should check the FCA's register and its official Warning List to see if the entity is legitimate. If the company isn't listed in the register, don't hand over any money. The extra five minutes taken to do the research can help individuals avoid massive financial losses and headaches.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Pair linked to crypto Ponzi scheme in US pleads not guilty

 


Two co-founders of an alleged crypto Ponzi scheme have pleaded not guilty to a range of charges, following a criminal indictment on money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

John Caruso and Zachary Salter of Zima Digital Assets have been accused of running a crypto scam responsible for defrauding some $9 million from its customers, in a structure defined as a "classic Ponzi scheme."

The first $1.9 million of deposits into the scheme were returned to early investors, validating the scheme and its claims for significant investment returns. These payments were allegedly used to encourage more investment in the scheme.

The following $7 million invested was purported to have been spent frivolously by the founders, including on luxury vacations, private jets and casino trips. The founders themselves claimed no taxable income during the period, despite showcasing their monied lifestyle on their social media profiles.

Some 90 investors were conned by the scheme, including former athletes and some elderly victims. The pair were arrested by law enforcement authorities on January 30, with an initial plea hearing for Salter taking place earlier today.

Caruso entered his not guilty plea on February 26, having previously been released from prison in 2017.

The case will now move to trial in front of a jury, scheduled to begin on July 4. If either party is convicted on the charges, they will be required to return all assets acquired through the scheme or from the proceeds of their crimes.

Among the charges on the indictment are allegations of false statements in investor contracts, alongside misrepresentations through direct messages to investor clients.

At a hearing in February, the prosecution said, "There is no evidence any of the investment funds that have been provided to Caruso and Salter have gone to any cryptocurrency/digital asset investment, or to any investment of any kind, as fraudulently misrepresented by both Caruso and Salter."

On the date of the hearing, Zima Digital Assets was still receiving new funds from investors, which the co-accused were personally misappropriating to fund their own lavish lifestyles.