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#Blockchain Petitions to End RBI Crypto Banking Ban Advancing in India

A lawyer representing the Internet and Mobile Association of India in its writ petition against the RBI banking ban has shared new details of the progress to lift the ban with news.Bitcoin.com. The supreme court recognizes the urgency of hearing the RBI case without waiting for the Indian government to introduce crypto regulation.

Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations

The Urgency of Hearing RBI Ban Case

The Indian supreme court is hearing two crypto-related issues. The first concerns the crypto banking ban by the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The other concerns the Indian government’s cryptocurrency regulation, lawyer Jaideep Reddy explained to news.Bitcoin.com on Monday.

He represents the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), on behalf of Nishith Desai Associates, in its writ petition against the RBI circular in the country’ supreme court. The IAMAI is an industry body whose members include a number of local crypto exchanges. In its circular dated April 6 last year, the central bank banned financial institutions under its control from providing services to crypto businesses.

Indian Supreme Court Sees Urgency of Deciding Validity of RBI Crypto Banking Ban

In the latest supreme court hearing, “The matter was actually heard for a reasonable period of time,” said Reddy, who represented the IAMAI in that hearing.

The petitioners’ counsel told the court that “the constitutionality of the RBI circular is a separate issue from the government of India committee’s decision” on crypto regulation, he recalled. “The court in the last hearing appreciated that the issues regarding the RBI circular on the one hand, and the larger government policy decision on the other, were separate.” He continued:

After hearing IAMAI, it observed that the exchanges’ businesses are nearly shut as a result of the RBI circular, and that, therefore, the issue of the validity of the circular needs to be heard and decided without waiting for the government committee’s overall policy recommendation. The counsel for the RBI agreed to this approach.

“As of now, the petitioners have been pressing for the issues on the RBI circular to be heard,” the lawyer reiterated, noting that “the court needs to decide whether the circular is legally and constitutionally valid or not.”

Indian Supreme Court Sees Urgency of Deciding Validity of RBI Crypto Banking Ban

RBI Ban Case Set for End of February

Without asking either party to submit additional documents, the supreme court set the next hearing to the end of February, due to “other pre-scheduled matters in the coming weeks,” Reddy said, emphasizing:

While the judges orally observed that the matter should be placed on the top of the list and on a Tuesday, the official order only states that it will be listed in the last week of February. The exact date and order of listing will become known once the official list is released closer to the last week of February.

“We hope for a detailed hearing in which the court will hear all the arguments for and against the RBI circular and ultimately decide whether to uphold it or not,” the advocate concluded.

Indian Supreme Court Sees Urgency of Deciding Validity of RBI Crypto Banking Ban

Petitions to Be Heard

The media reported that several petitions had been filed against the RBI ban. Reddy shared with news.Bitcoin.com:

There are at least 5 petitions currently pending in the supreme court in connection with crypto-assets. Of these, 3 challenge the legal and constitutional validity of the RBI circular while 2 are public interest litigations on the broader issue of the need for crypto-asset regulation.

He emphasized that “IAMAI’s petition only challenges the RBI circular.” While noting that “The petitions are simultaneously listed so there is no concept of any petitioner leading the others,” he also pointed out that “Generally, the seniority of the counsel influences who leads the arguments on a particular day.”

Indian Supreme Court Sees Urgency of Deciding Validity of RBI Crypto Banking Ban

Counter-Affidavits Filed by Government

The media also reported that the RBI had filed a counter-affidavit with the supreme court. Reddy confirmed to news.Bitcoin.com that “The RBI has filed a counter-affidavit responding to the IAMAI petition,” adding that “It cites various concerns associated with crypto-assets.” He elaborated:

We have responded in detail to the RBI’s counter-affidavit by filing a rejoinder on behalf of IAMAI responding to each point. In our view, the mere fact that crypto assets have certain risks does not warrant a complete banking embargo.

The advocate further explained: “Crypto assets also have benefits and are essential to the success of blockchain technology. The constitution requires that restrictions on fundamental rights be reasonable and proportionate.”

There is another counter-affidavit filed with the supreme court, Reddy conveyed. “The Union of India (i.e., the federal government) filed a counter-affidavit in some of the other petitions regarding the status of the government committee’s deliberations on the legal issues surrounding virtual currency,” he noted. “No date was given by which the ultimate report would come out. However, the counter-affidavit states that a draft report and draft law are soon expected to be placed for the consideration of the committee.”

Do you think the Indian supreme court will lift the banking ban? Let us know in the comments section below.


Images courtesy of Shutterstock.


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The post Petitions to End RBI Crypto Banking Ban Advancing in India appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2CQQqsF Petitions to End RBI Crypto Banking Ban Advancing in India

#Blockchain Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

22 months since Wells Fargo suspended the processing of withdrawals sent by four Taiwanese banks that service Bitfinex, the platform remains among the top 20 exchanges by adjusted volume. While Bitfinex hosted more than $5 billion in trade this past month, the exchange has struggled to establish reliable banking partners, with traders seeking to deposit fiat currency having been instructed to send funds via at least seven different banking institutions since the Wells Fargo suspension.

Also Read: Van Eck Associates CEO: Bitcoin Investors Will Add Gold This Year

Bitfinex Directs Customers to Deposit Funds With Polish Bank 7 Months After Wells Fargo Termination

During Nov. 2017, it was reported that Bitfinex customers were being directed to deposit fiat currency with Polish-based bank Spółdzielczy w Skierniewicach under the account of Panama-based company Crypto SP, an account that was also revealed to be shared with cryptocurrency exchange CEX. Crypto SP was also found to be owned by Crypto Capital, a company owned by Ivan Manual Molina Lee, an individual found to be a nominee director for a number of Panama-based companies.

Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

Later that month, the Paradise Papers evidenced that Tether and Bitfinex shared the same directors, contradicting Bitfinex’s previous assertions that the companies comprised completely separate entities.

During January 2018, it was reported that Bitfinex had been subpoenaed by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The months following the news of the subpoena saw Bitfinex appear to cycle through banking partners in short succession, with traders being instructed to make fiat deposits with at least six different financial institutions between Feb. 2018 and Nov. 2018.

Bitfinex Customers Directed to Deposit Funds With at Least 6 Banks Between Feb. and Nov. 2018

At the start of Feb. 2018, a post on Reddit indicated that a Bitfinex customer had been directed to deposit funds with Portuguese-state owned banking institution Caixa Geral De Depositos via a company called Global Trade Solutions. One Redditor speculated that Global Trade Solutions may be linked to Crypto S.P and Crypto Capital.

On Feb. 14, 2018, Dutch media outlet Follow the Money reported that a spokesperson for ING had confirmed that Bitfinex held an account with the bank in the Netherlands. The news comprised the first announcement of a major financial institution since Wells Fargo suspended wires from Bitfinex almost one year prior.

Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

On April 6, 2018, Polish media reported that 400 euros had been seized by authorities from Spółdzielczy w Skierniewicach. Citing anonymous sources, the report asserted that the funds “probably” comprised “money belonging to Colombian drug cartels.” The report added “It is known that the money was on the accounts of two companies from the vicinity of Pruszków, owned by a Canadian-born Panamanian descent and a Colombian with Panama citizenship,” and that “One of these companies was a shareholder of an online cryptocurrency exchange office.”

The report also noted that the companies involved “did not actually carry out any economic activity,” and were created “solely to share bank accounts with international criminal financial operations.” On April 9, 2018, Bitfinex issued a statement denying any connection to the funds seized by Polish authorities.

Bitfinex Briefly Partners With Noble Bank

During May 2018, it was reported that Bitfinex had partnered with Puerto Rican financial institution, Noble Bank whose principal custodian was Bank of New York Mellon.

Three months later, a report published on Medium asserted that Brock Pierce, the founder of Tether, and John Betts, the founder of Noble Bank, had sought to acquire Mt. Gox together in 2014 via Sunlot Holdings’ Mtgox Rehabilitation Plan Proposal. After their bid was unsuccessful, both men would go on to found their respective companies later that year.

Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

At the start of October 2018, it was reported that Noble International had been looking for a buyer for months, and had lost many of its customers including Bitfinex and Tether. A few days later, it was revealed that Bitfinex was directing customers to deposit fiat currency into an HSBC account held by Global Trading Solutions.

Later that month, reports also indicated that Bitfinex was banking with Hong Kong-based Bank of Communications via the private accounts of “Prosperity Revenue Merchandising Limited” for whom Citibank acts as an intermediary bank.

In November, Bitifinex announced another new banking partner, publishing a letter attributed to Bahamas Deltec Bank & Trust asserting that the company held $1.8 billion in its account as of Oct. 31.

Bitfinex’s Cayman-Based Bank Falsely Claims SEC Registration

During January 2019, it was revealed that Bitfinex was banking with Cayman Islands-based Sackville Bank & Trust Company. Sackville’s principal custodian bank is CIBC Mellon which is jointly owned by The Bank of New York Mellon and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

Despite Sackville’s website asserting that the company operates according to its “full registration with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),” it appears that Sackville’s SEC registration was terminated as of April 2018.

Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

Throughout Bitfinex’s banking fiasco, social media reports suggest that at least $1.67 million worth of fiat withdrawals have not been processed by the exchange since September 2018, in addition to nearly $3.57 million worth of unprocessed withdrawal attempts that have since been cancelled.

While discussing Wells Fargo’s suspension of wire transfers to and from Bitfinex, the exchange’s former chief strategy officer, Phil Potter, previously stated: “We’ve had banking hiccups in the past, we’ve always been able to route around it … open up new accounts … shift to a different entity, lots of cat and mouse tricks.”

What do you think of Bitfinex’s perpetual banking drama? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!


Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Wikipedia


Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section.

The post Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018 appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2MFsKvM Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

#Blockchain Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

22 months since Wells Fargo suspended the processing of withdrawals sent by four Taiwanese banks that service Bitfinex, the platform remains among the top 20 exchanges by adjusted volume. While Bitfinex hosted more than $5 billion in trade this past month, the exchange has struggled to establish reliable banking partners, with traders seeking to deposit fiat currency having been instructed to send funds via at least seven different banking institutions since the Wells Fargo suspension.

Also Read: Van Eck Associates CEO: Bitcoin Investors Will Add Gold This Year

Bitfinex Directs Customers to Deposit Funds With Polish Bank 7 Months After Wells Fargo Termination

During Nov. 2017, it was reported that Bitfinex customers were being directed to deposit fiat currency with Polish-based bank Spółdzielczy w Skierniewicach under the account of Panama-based company Crypto SP, an account that was also revealed to be shared with cryptocurrency exchange CEX. Crypto SP was also found to be owned by Crypto Capital, a company owned by Ivan Manual Molina Lee, an individual found to be a nominee director for a number of Panama-based companies.

Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

Later that month, the Paradise Papers evidenced that Tether and Bitfinex shared the same directors, contradicting Bitfinex’s previous assertions that the companies comprised completely separate entities.

During January 2018, it was reported that Bitfinex had been subpoenaed by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The months following the news of the subpoena saw Bitfinex appear to cycle through banking partners in short succession, with traders being instructed to make fiat deposits with at least six different financial institutions between Feb. 2018 and Nov. 2018.

Bitfinex Customers Directed to Deposit Funds With at Least 6 Banks Between Feb. and Nov. 2018

At the start of Feb. 2018, a post on Reddit indicated that a Bitfinex customer had been directed to deposit funds with Portuguese-state owned banking institution Caixa Geral De Depositos via a company called Global Trade Solutions. One Redditor speculated that Global Trade Solutions may be linked to Crypto S.P and Crypto Capital.

On Feb. 14, 2018, Dutch media outlet Follow the Money reported that a spokesperson for ING had confirmed that Bitfinex held an account with the bank in the Netherlands. The news comprised the first announcement of a major financial institution since Wells Fargo suspended wires from Bitfinex almost one year prior.

Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

On April 6, 2018, Polish media reported that 400 euros had been seized by authorities from Spółdzielczy w Skierniewicach. Citing anonymous sources, the report asserted that the funds “probably” comprised “money belonging to Colombian drug cartels.” The report added “It is known that the money was on the accounts of two companies from the vicinity of Pruszków, owned by a Canadian-born Panamanian descent and a Colombian with Panama citizenship,” and that “One of these companies was a shareholder of an online cryptocurrency exchange office.”

The report also noted that the companies involved “did not actually carry out any economic activity,” and were created “solely to share bank accounts with international criminal financial operations.” On April 9, 2018, Bitfinex issued a statement denying any connection to the funds seized by Polish authorities.

Bitfinex Briefly Partners With Noble Bank

During May 2018, it was reported that Bitfinex had partnered with Puerto Rican financial institution, Noble Bank whose principal custodian was Bank of New York Mellon.

Three months later, a report published on Medium asserted that Brock Pierce, the founder of Tether, and John Betts, the founder of Noble Bank, had sought to acquire Mt. Gox together in 2014 via Sunlot Holdings’ Mtgox Rehabilitation Plan Proposal. After their bid was unsuccessful, both men would go on to found their respective companies later that year.

Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

At the start of October 2018, it was reported that Noble International had been looking for a buyer for months, and had lost many of its customers including Bitfinex and Tether. A few days later, it was revealed that Bitfinex was directing customers to deposit fiat currency into an HSBC account held by Global Trading Solutions.

Later that month, reports also indicated that Bitfinex was banking with Hong Kong-based Bank of Communications via the private accounts of “Prosperity Revenue Merchandising Limited” for whom Citibank acts as an intermediary bank.

In November, Bitifinex announced another new banking partner, publishing a letter attributed to Bahamas Deltec Bank & Trust asserting that the company held $1.8 billion in its account as of Oct. 31.

Bitfinex’s Cayman-Based Bank Falsely Claims SEC Registration

During January 2019, it was revealed that Bitfinex was banking with Cayman Islands-based Sackville Bank & Trust Company. Sackville’s principal custodian bank is CIBC Mellon which is jointly owned by The Bank of New York Mellon and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

Despite Sackville’s website asserting that the company operates according to its “full registration with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),” it appears that Sackville’s SEC registration was terminated as of April 2018.

Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

Throughout Bitfinex’s banking fiasco, social media reports suggest that at least $1.67 million worth of fiat withdrawals have not been processed by the exchange since September 2018, in addition to nearly $3.57 million worth of unprocessed withdrawal attempts that have since been cancelled.

While discussing Wells Fargo’s suspension of wire transfers to and from Bitfinex, the exchange’s former chief strategy officer, Phil Potter, previously stated: “We’ve had banking hiccups in the past, we’ve always been able to route around it … open up new accounts … shift to a different entity, lots of cat and mouse tricks.”

What do you think of Bitfinex’s perpetual banking drama? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!


Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Wikipedia


Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section.

The post Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018 appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2MFsKvM Bitfinex Partnered With at Least 6 Different Banks During 2018

#Africa Nigerian e-health startup Stack Dx raises Microtraction funding

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Nigerian diagnostics startup Stack Dx has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from early-stage fund Microtraction to help it expand its market share.

With around 80,000 Nigerian women dying annually from breast cancer, and nearly five million from misdiagnosis of hepatitis diseases, Stack Dx was launched to provide molecular diagnostic services to patients, doctors, and hospitals in Africa.

Founded by Abasi Ene-Obong, Damilola Oni, Francis Osifo and Gatumi Aliyu, Stack Dx has developed a seamless online platform that connects patients and health professionals to genetic tests. Many of these tests have not been offered before in Nigeria, such as its predictive cancer tests, pharmacogenetic tests, and liquid biopsies.

The startup also allows health professionals in Nigeria and many African countries, for the first time, to provide targeted treatments to patients and prevent misdiagnosis of diseases at scale.

Stack Dx has now raised funding from Nigerian early-stage investment fund Microtraction, which invests up to US$65,000 in startups at the very earliest stage of their development. The company has backed a host of Nigerian startups in the last year, including Accounteer, Riby, Thank U Cash, CowryWise, Bitkoin Africa, Wallet.ng and Allpro. As ever, the exact amount invested remains undisclosed.

Dayo Koleowo, principal investment officer at Microtraction, said molecular diagnostics was a relatively nascent market across most of Sub-Saharan Africa but had established itself in places such as Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. The aim is to replicate this and build a market in Nigeria.

“We believe the founders have not only the right mindset but understand the problem deeply and are also well suited to capture the market opportunity,” said Koleowo.

“We invested in Stack Dx because of the quality and ability of the team to execute and solve a genuinely growing problem in Africa. However, as at the time they applied, they had secured a partnership with a key strategic partner, showing their ability to close complex corporate partnerships which gave us even more confidence in backing a pre-launch startup.”

The post Nigerian e-health startup Stack Dx raises Microtraction funding appeared first on Disrupt Africa.

from Disrupt Africa http://bit.ly/2TkoyEz

#Africa Nigerian e-health startup Stack Dx raises Microtraction funding

//

Nigerian diagnostics startup Stack Dx has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from early-stage fund Microtraction to help it expand its market share.

With around 80,000 Nigerian women dying annually from breast cancer, and nearly five million from misdiagnosis of hepatitis diseases, Stack Dx was launched to provide molecular diagnostic services to patients, doctors, and hospitals in Africa.

Founded by Abasi Ene-Obong, Damilola Oni, Francis Osifo and Gatumi Aliyu, Stack Dx has developed a seamless online platform that connects patients and health professionals to genetic tests. Many of these tests have not been offered before in Nigeria, such as its predictive cancer tests, pharmacogenetic tests, and liquid biopsies.

The startup also allows health professionals in Nigeria and many African countries, for the first time, to provide targeted treatments to patients and prevent misdiagnosis of diseases at scale.

Stack Dx has now raised funding from Nigerian early-stage investment fund Microtraction, which invests up to US$65,000 in startups at the very earliest stage of their development. The company has backed a host of Nigerian startups in the last year, including Accounteer, Riby, Thank U Cash, CowryWise, Bitkoin Africa, Wallet.ng and Allpro. As ever, the exact amount invested remains undisclosed.

Dayo Koleowo, principal investment officer at Microtraction, said molecular diagnostics was a relatively nascent market across most of Sub-Saharan Africa but had established itself in places such as Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. The aim is to replicate this and build a market in Nigeria.

“We believe the founders have not only the right mindset but understand the problem deeply and are also well suited to capture the market opportunity,” said Koleowo.

“We invested in Stack Dx because of the quality and ability of the team to execute and solve a genuinely growing problem in Africa. However, as at the time they applied, they had secured a partnership with a key strategic partner, showing their ability to close complex corporate partnerships which gave us even more confidence in backing a pre-launch startup.”

The post Nigerian e-health startup Stack Dx raises Microtraction funding appeared first on Disrupt Africa.

from Disrupt Africa http://bit.ly/2TkoyEz

#USA TrueLayer’s Payments API lets companies accept payments through Open Banking

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Open Banking and PSD2 — groundbreaking regulation from the U.K. and European Union, respectively — set out to fix what politicians and civil servants perceived as a malfunctioning financial services market, evidenced most prominently by the banking crisis in 2008. It is also closely linked to the EU’s privacy directive GDPR, which aims to ensure citizens are given better access and use of their own personal data.

Central to Open Banking is a requirement that banks open up the data they hold and offer an API to let customers optionally share financial information with third-party providers. The idea, amongst other more innovate use-cases, is to make it easier to shop around for financial services or to switch banks accounts entirely.

In addition, a second aspect of Open Banking, which arguably targets the Visa-Mastercard duopoly, stipulates that banks offer an API to let customers authorise payments directly from their bank account as an alternative to other types of payments, such as card payments or manual bank transfers.

Enter TrueLayer, the London startup that’s built a developer platform to make it easy for fintech and other adjacent companies, such as retailers, to access bank APIs and in turn ride the Open Banking and PSD2 gravy train. Today, the young company is launching a beta of its own Open Banking-based Payments API to enable businesses to start accepting payments through Open Banking.

By using the payment initiation process created by PSD2, TrueLayer says its new API offers a number of benefits over other payments options:

First is immediate settlement whereby cleared funds are received in just few minutes, as with any bank to bank transfer that uses “Faster Payments”.

Second is security, since the API requires active bank authentication before any money can leave the account. “This means high security and extremely low fraud rates,” claims TrueLayer. That’s not pure hyperbole: the nature of the payment initiation process, as stipulated by Open Banking, means the customer is required to sanction any payment request within their own bank’s app or website. The user journey (shown in the video below) goes something like, “hey my bank, please make this one-off transfer on my behalf to X”. The person or business receiving the payment never sees your bank details (or card details, for that matter).

Third is that it is cheaper as payments do not have the high fees of card transactions.

Lastly, the user experience is arguably more streamlined than some other payments options, including traditional bank transfers. For example, customers do not need to manually type in a business’ bank account number to transfer money to a business.

“Both businesses and consumers will benefit substantially, but I think the biggest winner will be merchants, application providers, and SMBs,” TrueLayer co-founder Francesco Simoneschi tells me when I ask him who the biggest benefactors will be.

“Faster Payments cuts the time it takes for a payment to come through from days to few seconds. This is a crucial factor for a lot of businesses where instant settlement and transaction risk are big concerns. Add to that the minimal costs involved to process a payment and our API will make a big difference in a short period of time. We think that many businesses will end up sharing these savings with their customers”.

Simoneschi won’t be drawn into saying who the biggest loser will be under the new payments directive, arguing that it isn’t a “zero-sum game”. “However, we do believe that payment initiation is disrupting the four-party model of the existing card networks,” he adds.

That’s because payment initiation is serviced via a direct relationship between the merchant and the customer’s bank. And although Simoneschi doesn’t think it will happen overnight, he believes that as merchants start to incentivise Open Banking payments for their customers, it is likely to quickly gain traction. One way for credit card companies to remain competitive, he says, is to embrace and enhance Open Banking payment initiation by adding services such as dispute management.

“It’s also worth noting that banks generate a substantial amount of revenue from the fees involved in credit and debit card transactions,” says Simoneschi. “These fees are paid for by merchants, and indirectly, by consumers. Reducing these transactions could sting the bottom line of some of the major banks. Another factor is how a few banks make money as the ‘acquirer bank’ — a bank that merchants use to receive and clear funds. PSD2 and Open Banking removes both parts of this equation, essentially making that role obsolete”.

Meanwhile, asked what use cases are initially best-suited to this new payment method, Simoneschi says the most obvious is any scenario where payment is normally done via manual bank transfer. For example, services that require you to top up your account, such as international money transfer apps, cryptocurrency exchanges (or even a pre-paid mobile phone account) are ideal candidates. He also thinks managing or facilitating B2B payments, such as payments requested by suppliers, is another extremely good fit.

Longterm, however, that’s barely scratching the surface. It’s not hard to see large merchants, such as Amazon, embracing Open Banking in a big way so that they bypass Visa and Mastercard as much as possible. For those merchants with less deep pockets, services like TrueLayer over time will likely help them do the same. In other words, the payments space is about to get interesting — again.

from Startups – TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2DEOxBd

#Blockchain Crypto Mining Could Bring Russia $1B in Taxes, Report Suggests

Crypto Mining Could Bring Russia $1B in Taxes, Report Suggests

Using its excess energy generating capacity to mine cryptocurrencies, Russia can increase its budget receipts by more than $1 billion dollars in annual tax revenue. The estimate comes from a report that also calls for the establishment of a Russian crypto valley.  

Also read: Defying Crypto Winter, Swiss Crypto Valley Grows to 750 Companies

70 Billion Rubles Just From Taxes

Russia’s electrical surplus last year reached 20 GW. According to the study conducted by industrial mining solutions provider Bitcluster, that’s enough energy to power 14.8 million of the popular Antminer S9i ASIC devices. If Russia uses the excess electricity to mint digital coins, the state would receive 70 billion rubles (over $1 billion) just from VAT, the authors claim.

Crypto Mining Could Bring Russia $1B in Taxes, Report Suggests

The report notes that a single Antminer S9i consumes approximately 1,350 kWt/h of electrical energy. There are currently around 740,000 units of this model in operation and their total consumption would be about 1 GW. With electricity in Russia priced at 2 rubles ($0.03) per kilowatt-hour, the VAT revenues from these machines would be around 292 million rubles (over $4.4 million) a month.

The researchers have also estimated that the establishment of a crypto valley for Russian miners would require an initial investment of only 1 billion rubles ($15 million), Bitnovosti reported. Bitcluster believes there are enough mining companies and entrepreneurs in Russia that are ready to invest in the development of such a project.

Crypto Business Parks Proposed

According to Bitcluster’s founder Sergei Arestov, the crypto valley could be situated around one of Russia’s numerous hydroelectric power plants. Mining facilities and the infrastructure needed to set up blockchain business parks can be built around the power station and take advantage of cheap and abundant energy supply.

Last year, the Russian Ministry of Finance had a similar idea: to establish territories with a special regulatory regime for companies from the crypto industry. Another proposal discussed by Russian institutions is to create offshore zones for blockchain businesses in Kaliningrad and Vladivostok, and a special economic zone in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Crypto Mining Could Bring Russia $1B in Taxes, Report Suggests

An idea to allow companies from certain industries to use cryptocurrencies in select Russian regions was included recently in a draft law prepared by the Ministry of Economic Development. It’s supported by Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the important Financial Markets Committee of the Duma, the lower house of parliament.

Russian officials have previously indicated their readiness to support the legalization of crypto mining as a business activity. A package of draft laws aimed at regulating the crypto sector was introduced last spring and three bills were voted on first reading. Their second reading is scheduled to take place during the current session of the Russian parliament. However, the texts underwent significant revision and key terms such as cryptocurrency and mining were dropped.

Do you expect Russia will set up its own crypto valley? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.


Images courtesy of Shutterstock.


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The post Crypto Mining Could Bring Russia $1B in Taxes, Report Suggests appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2UkpY1C Crypto Mining Could Bring Russia $1B in Taxes, Report Suggests

#Africa African blockchain startups can apply for the Binance Labs Incubation Programme

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African blockchain and cryptocurrency startups have been invited to apply for the Binance Labs Incubation Programme, which offers access to funding and support.

Binance Labs, the venture arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, is an initiative to incubate, invest in and empower blockchain and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, projects, and communities.

Its incubation programme, which is now launching its second season, offers seed investment of at least US$120,000, and access to mentors, networks and other support resources.

“Binance Labs is the best place for blockchain projects to build their projects and achieve product-market fit. With the African blockchain ecosystem still in it’s nascent stage, this offers tremendous value to African projects, as we are able to plug them into the top one per cent of mentors, founders, investors, and blockchain-focused service providers from the global Binance network,” said Binance director Yele Bademosi.

The programme will take place across five continents, with the African programme based out of Lagos, Nigeria and running from March 25 until May 3. All teams will then gather in Singapore for the last three weeks of the 10-week programme.

Applications are open here until 11.59PM on Wednesday, January 30.

The post African blockchain startups can apply for the Binance Labs Incubation Programme appeared first on Disrupt Africa.

from Disrupt Africa http://bit.ly/2TlZxc6

#Africa SA property tech startup Flow raises $1.47m funding round

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South African property startup Flow, which has developed an app that rewards tenants for good behaviour, has raised a ZAR20 million (US$1.47 million) funding round to fuels its growth and add to its service.

Founded by Daniel Levy, Gil Sperling and Jonathan Liebmann, Flow rewards tenants for registering, adding their property details, paying their rent on time, and looking after their homes.

It has now secured ZAR20 million in funding, with half coming from South African venture capital firm Kalon Venture Partners and the other half from an international VC, which is in its final stages.

Funding will be used to accelerate the development of the app, fuelling growth and increasing the base of tenants already using Flow, as well as to increasing the range of rewards available.

Sperling, chief executive officer (CEO) of Flow, said the property industry, locally and globally, was one of the few verticals which has not seen much innovation, making it an industry ripe for disruption.

“Compared with any other industry, the property industry – and in particular the rental market – is archaic and disconnected. There’s also a massive paradigm shift in how people should rent which is inspired and driven by their lifestyle choices, and is something proptech could and should leverage big time. People are used to being connected all the time and transacting digitally, in real-time; and they want transparency in their dealings with companies, including their landlords,” he said.

“These are some of the key factors that inspired the creation of Flow. Through scaling with technology and economies of scale, we can revolutionise the economics of rent, providing a more seamless experience and more value to tenants.”

Kalon Venture Partners CEO Clive Butkow said the decision to invest in Flow was strongly motivated by the quality of the entrepreneurs and the proven track record they have. This combined with the tech offering they have built made investing an easy decision.

“At Kalon Venture Partners we invest in technologies that are disrupting their respective industries and have large target addressable markets. Flow passed both these criteria with flying colors and also passed our most important investment criteria, which is having the ‘A’ team. The three founders have all built successful businesses, which is quite rare in South Africa, and have the ‘execution intelligence’ to grow a product into a large profitable enterprise,” he said.

The post SA property tech startup Flow raises $1.47m funding round appeared first on Disrupt Africa.

from Disrupt Africa http://bit.ly/2B7Ft5S

#Blockchain Italian Court Orders Bitgrail Founder to Refund $170M of ‘Missing’ Cryptocurrency

Italian Court Orders Bitgrail Founder Firano to Refund $170M of 'Missing' Cryptocurrency

An Italian court has ruled that Francesco Firano, founder of defunct cryptocurrency exchange Bitgrail, was at fault for the disappearance of $170 million worth of the nano digital currency on his exchange last year. Firano, who called himself “The Bomber,” is now “required to return as much of the assets to his customers as possible.

Also read: Just Because Cryptocurrency Isn’t Legal Tender Doesn’t Make it Illegal

Court Seizes Firano’s Personal Assets to Repay Victims

In its ruling, the Italian Bankruptcy Court, which enlisted the services of a court-appointed technical expert, concluded that both Bitgrail and Firano personally be declared bankrupt and forfeit their assets.

Italian Court Orders Bitgrail Founder to Refund $170M of 'Missing' Cryptocurrency

According to documents released by the Bitgrail victims advocacy group, the court’s decision, delivered Jan. 21, authorizes the seizure of Firano’s personal assets. So far, more than $1 million worth of assets have been seized, including a luxury vehicle, the group said. Digital assets worth several million dollars have also been confiscated from Bitgrail accounts and moved to accounts managed by trustees appointed by the court.

The documents show that Firano repeatedly mishandled security matters pertaining to the private keys of Bitgrail users, including his alleged transfer of client funds into wallets belonging to the exchange. Firano had failed to put in place suitable safeguards to prevent repeat, unauthorized withdrawals of nano from the exchange, the court said.

That’s despite tens of millions of dollars worth of nano going ‘missing’ on several occasions due to duplicate withdrawals being fraudulently made from a single request due to a bug. The court berated Firano for not appropriately disclosing the suspicious transactions to his customers.

Italian Court Orders Bitgrail Founder to Refund $170M of 'Missing' Cryptocurrency

For example, the court found that the nano reported lost by Firano on Feb. 9, 2018 had actually been removed from the exchange months earlier, between July 2017 and December 2017. In total, about 10 million nano tokens left the exchange clandestinely during this period, with Firano’s alleged full knowledge, but he did nothing about it.

The most damaging detail relates to how, just days before announcing the $170 million ( 17 million nano) theft, the Bitgrail founder moved 230 BTC (about $1.8 million at the time) into a personal account on another exchange called The Rock Trading, in a bid to swap it for euros. The documents show that Firano had also tried to withdraw money through a bitcoin ATM linked to that exchange.

The court appointed expert concluded:

Therefore it was the Bitgrail exchange that actually requested to the node multiple times to allow the funds to leave the wallet (funds that in fact, had already left the account after the first request) and not the Nano network that allowed multiple withdrawals. The shortfall reported by Firano in February was caused by a transfer request generated by Bitgrail multiple times upon receiving a single request from the user.

Victory for Investors as Firano Seeks Way Out

Meanwhile, Francesco Firano attempted to cheat his way out of the mess. After nano withdrawals were closed on the Bitgrail exchange in January 2018, Firano promised to repay investors 20 percent of their funds, but only “if they agreed to sign a waiver foregoing any legal action against him.”

Italian Court Orders Bitgrail Founder to Refund $170M of 'Missing' Cryptocurrency
Francesco Firano

Later, he announced plans to reopen the exchange and release a new token called Bitgrail Shares, which would be used to reimburse the victims over time. Users called him out, wary that it was an elaborate exit scam, and opted to go to court. Firano argued in a losing case that his exchange was a mere provider of services and that the currencies deposited on the exchange were “regular” since he could not freely use the deposited coins.

A Bitgrail advocacy group has called the court ruling “both a huge win for crypto users and a cautionary tale for cryptocurrency exchange owners, who have been provided with a clear example of how not to run an exchange or handle a loss of funds.”

What do you think about this turn of events in the Bitgrail case?  Let us know what you think in the comments section below.


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The post Italian Court Orders Bitgrail Founder to Refund $170M of ‘Missing’ Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2TkPiVk Italian Court Orders Bitgrail Founder to Refund $170M of ‘Missing’ Cryptocurrency