Abra has decided to add access to collateralized equities investing. This means that users of the exchange and wallet app in 155 countries will be able to trade on popular U.S. stocks and commodities like gold and even use cryptocurrency to do so.
Abra, a cryptocurrency wallet app and exchange with native support for bitcoin cash, has announced that is set to offer its global users the opportunity to invest in stocks, commodities and ETFs, all within the app. The service is going to start with popular U.S. stocks and ETFs and the company also promises to add more global assets in the coming months.
“Many consumers in the US and other countries already have access to stocks and mutual funds via online brokerages. However, many people (billions actually) are shut out of these investment opportunities due to their geography, financial status or lack of accredited investor status, income level, or lack of trust for their local financial institutions. That’s why Abra is leveling the playing field for everyone,” stated CEO Bill Barhydt. “At Abra, we already have low-income families in the Philippines and rich venture capitalists in the US using our app to invest in cryptocurrencies. Now we’re giving our customers access to the same investment products that everyone in the US has enjoyed for decades.”
Powered by Crypto-Collateralized Contracts
Abra explains that it is able to offer this by using the same “crypto collateralized contract model” that the company deploys for digital assets. Crypto-collateralized contracts allow an investor to gain exposure to any asset by using cryptocurrency as the underlying technology for the investment. When a trader buys such an instrument, they are effectively creating a smart contract which automatically determines whether they have made or lost money based on the price of the underlying asset.
This model also means that the company needs to take the chance that the trade goes against it. “Simply put, Abra is taking that risk,” said Barhydt. “However, Abra hedges away our risk on these contracts in the open market at the moment the consumer creates the investment. Abra has already successfully processed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of these investment contracts and has never lost money on them.”
What do you thunk about the Abra app adding stocks and ETF investing? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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A recent counterfeiting bug in Zcash demonstrates that the added functionality of so-called second generation blockchains comes at a price. The vulnerability, which existed for years before being patched in October, could have been exploited to generate additional coins. As every major cryptocurrency since Bitcoin has demonstrated, added complexity corresponds with lower security.
On Feb. 5, the Zcash team shared a blog post acknowledging the existence of a bug that had been in place since the privacy coin launched. Discovering its existence would have called for “a high level of technical and cryptographic sophistication that very few people possess,” claimed Zcash developers. While likely true, this admission has provided little comfort to zcash holders, and doesn’t augur well for any future bugs that have yet to be discovered. It stands to reason that any elementary exploits in the protocol will have long since been identified. As such, any critical Zcash bug to surface at this stage can be assumed to require sophisticated knowledge to pinpoint.
Great point by gmaxwell on the Zcash inflation exploit: contrary to what their announcement suggests, they do _not_ know if it was exploited or not.
Supermajority of shielded funds are still in the vulnerable Sprout; if that was inflated, last out out loses. So get out now.
Common sense holds that the less moving parts a device has, the less there is to go wrong. The same concept applies to cryptocurrencies. With the addition of enhanced features such as smart contracts and complex privacy tech like zk-snarks, code becomes harder to audit, and it can be virtually impossible to determine whether vulnerabilities have been exploited. Bitcoin Core is not immune to vulnerabilities, with a bug that had lain undiscovered since 2016 only identified and patched last year. The relative simplicity of Bitcoin’s design, however, means it has less possible attack vectors, having survived a decade of adversarial probing by governments, research groups, and hackers.
Mixed Reactions to Zcash Response
The disclosure of the vulnerability was greeted with a mixed response. Edward Snowden, who has previously signaled his support for the privacy coin, praised its well-funded developer team who are able to patch bugs of this nature before they are exploited. Others, however, including Monero’s Riccardo Spagni and cryptographer Peter Todd, pointed out the disingenuousness of Zcash claiming the bug was unlikely to have been exploited simply because it would have required high-level knowledge.
“Although we believe that no counterfeiting occurred, we are monitoring pool totals and will act in accordance with our published defense against counterfeiting in an effort to preserve the monetary supply,” noted the Zcash team. Zcash is trading at $46 per coin at the time of publication, down almost 5 percent from 24 hours ago, when the bug was publicly disclosed.
What are your thoughts on how the Zcash team responded to the vulnerability in the privacy coin’s protocol? Let us know in the comments section below.
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On Tuesday, Feb. 5, the well known Bitcoin Cash (BCH) advocate Soupernerd announced the pre-release and testing phase of a new BCH-powered payment button. At the moment the Paybutton.cash application will feature a simple payment button but there are plans to integrate other features down the line.
Paybutton Developer Launches Pre-Release and Announces Testing Phase
There’s a new payment button called Paybutton.cash that allows people to easily send and tip bitcoin cash to content creators, services, and websites. The full release of the application is not complete yet but the developer known as Soupernerd has announced the pre-release and testing phase. Soupernerd says the Paybutton team is currently waiting for Badger Wallet updates before activating that as a payment option and there is more to be tested.
“Paybutton.cash is pleased to announce our pre-release launch and testing phase,” explained Soupernerd on the Reddit forum r/btc. “Host a paybutton on your site with just snippet of code and convert 160+ currencies to BCH live — [Paybutton] is fully hosted on Github.”
The Paybutton.cash website.
The Paybutton creator explains that a lot of credit goes to the Bitcoin.com and Badger Wallet development teams for making the platform possible. Moreover, Soupernerd says the Paybutton developers have a few more ideas in mind that go beyond just a simple payment button. On the r/btc thread, Soupernerd describes a static badge concept which could be placed next to the BCH Zoo. Further, the creator shows images of a donation badge and mentions a concept called “Paybutton Carts.” “More on that later,” says Soupernerd. “We will keep the pre-release folders up, even upon new releases until further notice.”
The creator of Paybutton, ‘Soupernerd,’ is well known in the BCH community.
Other BCH-Powered Button Applications in the Works
The Paybutton platform joins two other BCH payment button applications that are also in early development stages. The applications started spawning after Ryan X Charles removed bitcoin cash support from his Money Button project and decided to support the coin BSV. Following the Money Button departure, the team behind Badger Wallet has been working on refining a BCH payment button. Another competitor to the Money Button is the bitcoin cash payment API and button provided by Gateway.cash.
“Gateway.cash will be a Money Button competitor for bitcoin cash and is now released open-source — The project is led by Ty Everett and he is looking for contributors,” the Gateway.cash developer explained on Nov. 19.
Examples of the current modal pop-up button and a preview of the static badge.
Giving Incentives to Website Hosts, Blogs and Content Creators Even if They Can’t Code
Soupernerd’s announcement on r/btc was welcomed with enthusiasm as BCH supporters are looking forward to a variety of crypto-fueled payment buttons. One BCH supporter proceeded to outline their vision of how payment buttons can transform the web.
Paybutton’s donation widget preview.
“Looks cool. For those that don’t get the significance it allows anyone without programming skills to more easily accept BCH — For example, tons of people have blogs or various other web presences where they can post raw HTML for visitors to see,” the Redditor emphasized. He continued:
Without coding skills, if Rick wants to take $1.50 donations for his blog posts he can at best post his BCH address.
Soupernerd’s Paybutton code can be reviewed here, and a description of some of the HTML codes can be seen here. People can test the Paybutton with the pre-release page and wait until the full release is complete. “We’re working hard to finish the development and our target launch date is Q1 2019,” states the Paybutton website.
What do you think about Paybutton.cash? Let us know what you think about this project in the comments section below.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, Reddit, and Paybutton.cash.
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For well over two months, the yellow vest movement in France has continued to keep itself illuminated with fervent protests against taxes, the banking system, and the region’s bureaucrats. On Feb. 1, a group of Gilets Jaunes working at the bill printing factory explained their plan to show the world they mean business by burning pallets of bills, starting with Israeli banknotes.
The grassroots yellow vest movement in France has consistently made headlines across the world while protesting the country’s monetary system and politics. For instance, on Tuesday, Feb. 5, about 18,000 Gilets Jaunes joined a march in the French capital walking side by side with another 12,000 CGT union workers. The protest also followed a demonstration on Friday, which showed employees claiming to work for the Banque de France banknote mill. The yellow vest associated group threatened to burn large sums of paper banknotes. A news.Bitcoin.com correspondent from France explained how the bill burners are demanding fiscal and social justice in a unique fashion.
“In the last 15 days we’ve burned passport paper, bank check paper, and grey card paper for vehicle documents,” explains the banknote burning group’s video on Facebook. “But the French government is completely deaf, so we move to the next level — If the French government continues to make it seem as nothing scandalous is happening, we will make this so all the world will know what’s happening.”
Starting today we start to burn foreign bills stock — The first paper ream we have here is for Israeli banknotes. We start with this, then we burn everything — If the French government doesn’t change, all foreign countries that are waiting for their bills, will not be delivered.
Hyperbitcoinization
News.Bitcoin.com has covered the yellow vest movement in the past and how many well-known bitcoiners have explained that Gilets Jaunes should really hit the banks where it hurts by moving from fiat to bitcoin. At the same time, the world economy has been shuddering once again and economists are predicting another global depression similar to 2008. Many regions like Venezuela, South Sudan, Turkey, Haiti, Zimbabwe and Argentina are suffering from economic hardships.
The economic uncertainty worldwide has bolstered the dream of hyperbitcoinization. Many have written about this dream and believe that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin will experience mass attention from a majority of citizens living in impoverished countries. The cofounder of the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute, Daniel Krawisz, once said: “A hyperbitcoinization event will be much quicker than a hyperinflation event.” Krawisz’s 2014 essay details how a country dealing with hyperbitcoinization will experience a voluntary transition from an inferior currency to a superior one. The country’s adoption represents a “series of individual acts of entrepreneurship rather than a single monopolist that games the system.”
Hyperbitcoinization should be accompanied by a rapid improvement in productivity and wealth — Hyperbitcoinization will probably be a confusing time for everyone, like a second adolescence. However, once it is over, no one will be able to imagine how we got by with the earlier system.
Banknotes stamped by the yellow vest movement.
A Loss of Confidence in the System Has Given Birth to Many Movements
The yellow vest movement is similar to the Occupy Wall Street movement that took place seven years ago and the birth of Bitcoin four years prior. Global citizens are upset with their leaders and losing confidence in the central bank’s paper bills which are printed by the trillions every year. People from all countries and continents are upset with the system and believe something has got to give. Our correspondent from France told news.Bitcoin.com that most individuals don’t wear yellow vests these days because if you take the train “to go to Paris and they check if you have a yellow vest then they can arrest you.” Not only are the protestors in France threatening to burn large stacks of bills, but they are also now printing special images of yellow vests on banknotes.
What do you think about the yellow vest movement threatening to burn pallets of banknotes? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Images via Pixabay, Shutterstock, and our correspondent from France.
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Opera Ltd (NASDAQ: OPRA), the Norway-headquartered company behind the web browsers used by over 320 million people, now lets users buy cryptocurrency directly within its mobile app. This service is being rolled out in Scandinavia first due to a local partnership.
The Norwegian browser-maker Opera has announced that its mobile browser, Opera for Android, will enable users to buy cryptocurrencies directly on their smartphones. The app now features a digital wallet top up option via an integration with Sweden’s online cryptocurrency brokerage Safello. The feature is being rolled out in Scandinavia first, and said to be already available in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Aurora Borealis in Norway
“We think that the next important phase for crypto will come from usage and that for it to reach wider adoption, it has to be easy to buy and easy to use,” said Charles Hamel, Product Lead for Crypto at Opera. ”We believe that the browser will be the entry point for these use cases. Thanks to our partnership with Safello, we are taking one more step towards this vision.”
Crypto at Your Fingertips
Founded in 2013 in Sweden, Safello is regulated as a financial institution and registered with the Financial Supervisory Authority of Sweden. The solution includes verifying users’ identities using Norway’s Bankid and Denmark’s Nemid services. The online brokerage focuses on speed and ease of use, promising that the process of buying cryptocurrency with Safello takes less than a minute. Users also have the option to make payments with credit and debit cards and transfers over local payment networks, such as Swish in Sweden.
Frank Schuil, CEO of Safello, said: “With Safello brokerage on the Opera mobile browser for Android, both new and experienced users can now easily transact cryptocurrencies in the most secure and fastest way possible. The functionality to purchase crypto is right at their fingertips.”
To test the new crypto wallet top up feature in Opera for Android, users in Sweden, Norway and Denmark can download the app from Google Play store.
What do you think about the Opera browser letting users buy cryptocurrency directly from the app? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Several markets have seen spikes in peer-to-peer (P2P) volume, with the Kazakh and Singaporean Localbitcoins markets posting their second strongest weeks on record. Polish P2P trade also increased this past week, with volume reaching a 14-month high.
The current BTC price action appears to have driven an uptick in Localbitcoins trade volume across diverse markets, with many traders likely preparing for the various scenarios that may play out as BTC tests support near the low of 2018’s bear market.
Singapore’s P2P market was among those to see a significant spike in volume this past week, with approximately 145 BTC changing hands on Localbitcoins during the week of Feb. 2.
When measured in fiat currency, the week comprised the strongest seven days of trade activity between the Singapore dollar (SGD) and BTC, with 683,302 SGD (nearly US$504,000) worth of trades taking place on Localbitcoins.
Eastern European Localbitcoins Trade Rallies to Pre-2018 Volume Levels
Following a recent surge in Russian P2P trade, other Eastern European markets have seen an increase in trade activity amid BTC’s expected retest of the $3,000 resistance area.
Kazakh Localbitcoins trade saw the second largest number of BTC change hands in a week on record, with 22 BTC worth of trade.
The week of Feb. 2 also comprised the 10th strongest on record, producing 28.36 million Kazakhstani tenge ($75,000) worth of trade.
The Polish Localbitcoins market posted a 14-month high for trade volume, with 23 BTC ($77,000) worth of trade taking place between Polish zloty and BTC.
Venezuelan P2P Market Continues to Post Record Volume
A record number BTC changed hands via the Venezuelan Localbitcoins market this past week, with approximately 2,004 BTC (roughly $6.75 million) worth of trade.
Venezuelan P2P trade also posted record volume when measured in fiat currency for the fourth consecutive week, with roughly 17.34 billion Venezuelan bolivars worth of BTC trading on the platform during the week of Feb 2.
Which national market do you expect will be the next to see Venezuela-esque cryptocurrency adoption? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coin.dance
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A national inquiry into the misconduct of Australia’s banking sector has revealed profit-driven malpractice that has shattered customer trust. Some of the country’s largest banks were found guilty of making families homeless and charging fees for non-existent services, sometimes to dead customers. They also caused clients to lose hundreds of millions of dollars through misleading investment advice.
The Royal Commission, Australia’s highest form of public inquiry, spent a year investigating allegations of misconduct by some of the country’s biggest banks including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), its largest lender. The local banking industry has been plagued by issues of wrongdoing for more than a decade now, Australia’s public broadcaster ABC reported on Feb. 4.
Commissioner Kenneth Hayne’s report proposed 76 recommendations, which the government has fully endorsed, leaving unscrupulous parts of the financial sector prone to being swept away by the legislature. Several institutions could be up for criminal charges for charging fees for which no service was rendered.
The report reveals details about how Australia’s “Big Four” banks – CBA, Westpac, ANZ and NAB – fleeced their customers out of A$178 million (US$126 million) in financial advice they did not provide. Banks went further, even charging customers who had died. Collectively, wealth managers and the major banks will have to fork out A$850 million (US $603 million) in compensation.
In his report, Hayne said:
Misconduct will be deterred only if entities believe that misconduct will be detected, denounced and justly punished. Misconduct, especially misconduct that yields profit, is not deterred by requiring those who are found to have done wrong to do no more than pay compensation. And wrongdoing is not denounced by issuing a media release.
Commission Recommends Stronger Action
The Royal Commission was conceived in response to years of malpractice in the sector. It was initially opposed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the banks last year, but it went through in a bill in parliament.
The Royal Commission reviewed more than 10,000 public submissions and interviewed over 130 witnesses in hearings conducted publicly. Much of the focus revolved around customers who had been exploited – and some bankrupted – by banks and industry advisers.
Whereas intermediaries between banks and customers are supposed to be independent, banks fielded their own, resulting in undeclared conflicts of interest, the Commission’s report stated. For a sector anchored on trust, it is noteworthy how far banks went to trash every aspect of the sector by creating a rigged game.
The scathing report did not go so far as to ban banks and wealth managers from owning advice businesses. Some of the recommendations include over 20 unidentified cases being referred to regulators for possible criminal or civil prosecutions.
It also spoke of the need for a complete overhaul of the banking industry’s culture to prevent issues of conflict of interest while emphasizing that regulators ought to prosecute violations with a lot more frequency, or lose some of their powers.
Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the public had suffered “immensely” from the banks’ mischief, adding that government would move swiftly to implement some of the recommended reforms. “It’s a scathing assessment of conduct driven by greed and behaviour that was in breach of existing law and fell well below community expectations,” he was quoted as saying. “There have been broken businesses, and the emotional stress and personal pain has broken lives.”
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) will retain responsibility for prudential regulation, while the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) will primarily regulate conduct and disclosure.
Banks have for years conspired to steal from people and from governments while continuing to render service to thieves by facilitating the flow of illicit money. Cryptocurrency like bitcoin is seen by many as a safe haven from corporate theft, offering a more transparent system than the opaque banking sector.
An undercover probe by dozens of journalists from 12 countries last year revealed how Europe’s top banks allegedly helped wealthy clients across the continent steal 55 billion euros ($63 billion) from multiple governments by making tax reclaims to which they were not entitled. The theft centered around a complex scheme of trading stocks that also involved hedge funds and large international commercial law firms.
What do you think about the conduct of banks in Australia and the global banking sector in general? Let us know in the comments section below.
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In Wednesday’s edition of The Daily we cover a number of stories that show how despite the ongoing bear market, the field continues to attract major investments and cryptocurrency companies keep on expanding their services.
Cryptocurrency venture Futurocoin has announced it’s signed a two-year deal to partner the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Formula One (F1) team. According to the deal, the company’s branding will be featured on the RB15 F1 cars driven by Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, and its logo will also be seen on the drivers’ overalls and the team transporters.
“In recent years, the rise of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies has been truly remarkable, and we’re delighted to be the first Formula One team to embrace this, through our partnership with Futurocoin,” said Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Team Principal, Christian Horner. “Secure digital currencies are on the leading edge of technological development and we are very excited to be part of this revolution.”
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing won the F1 constructors’ and drivers’ world championships in four consecutive years between 2010 and 2013, and has a total of 59 total Grand Prix wins. “Cryptocurrencies and Formula One are very similar and their values are much alike; speed, technology and being ahead of their time,” said founder Roman Ziemian. “I’m a huge fan of motorsport and F1 has always intrigued me. The sponsorship is an exciting new chapter for our company and will be a global platform for us to drive awareness of Futurocoin.”
Dubai Royal Invests in Digital Assets Fund
Liechtenstein-based cryptocurrency investments fund Invao has been selected as the exclusive international partner for blockchain investments by Dubai’s Seed Group, owned by The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum. Believed to be one of the world’s wealthiest royals, Al Maktoum is the CEO of Emirates Group, chairman of Dubai World, chairman of the Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee, and second vice chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Frank Wagner, CEO of the fund, said: “This represents a seal of approval from an association of elite business minds across the UAE. At INVAO, we have the extensive experience, tact, and resources to contribute to the ascent of the UAE as a bonafide world leader in blockchain technology and look forward to helping this vision to crystallize. INVAO’s recent activity across the Middle East has shone a light on the region’s fertile ground for sustained growth and innovation.”
Coinbase Expands Paypal Support to Europe
Coinbase has announced it is expanding support for Paypal withdrawals to all its customers in the E.U. and the European Free Trade Association countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland). Before this move, SEPA and UK Faster Payments were the only options for European users to withdraw fiat funds from the platform. ”As one of the world’s easiest and most widely-used payment platforms, adding Paypal as a withdrawal option for European customers offers another great option for withdrawing their funds,” commented Coinbase’s Allen Osgood.
The company also announced adding the ability to store BTC directly in the Coinbase Wallet app. The new update with BTC support will roll out to all users on iOS and Android over the next week. The non-custodial crypto wallet already supports ETH, ETC, and a plethora of different ERC20 tokens and ERC721 collectibles. As announced previously, Coinbase is working on adding support for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and other popular cryptocurrencies.
Facebook Takes Over Blockchain Development Team
Facebook has reportedly hired the team behind Chainspace, a blockchain startup founded by researchers from University College London to develop a “planetary scale smart contracts platform.” Four of the five researchers behind the project’s whitepaper are joining Facebook’s blockchain division, and “people familiar with the startup” told Cheddar that Chainspace will shut down now as the social networking giant has taken over most of its developers. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to the media site that the company had hired people from Chainspace but refused to provide further details.
As we previously reported, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg set a goal for himself at the start of 2018 to take back power from centralized systems using “encryption and cryptocurrency.” Throughout the year his company appeared to be focused on the subject, with recruitment ads showing that Facebook was looking for data scientists and software engineers to help develop new blockchain solutions, possibly including financial services. It is now estimated that over 40 people already work in the company’s blockchain division.
Australian Exchange to Offer Insurance
Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve has announced it will offer insurance coverage to its clients. Underwritten by Lloyd’s of London, the insurance policy insures against theft or loss of any cryptocurrency that is held in an Independent Reserve trading account. It does not, however, cover any losses resulting from market volatility or any losses arising from unauthorized access to trading accounts, such as hacking an individual account or identity fraud. In the event of an incident, clients will be compensated for any loss in their cryptocurrency holdings at the time of the incident.
“Insurance is the next logical step for our exchange in this fast-maturing industry. Our new insurance offering will bring new, meaningful and institutional capital into digital assets that was once sidelined. The Lloyd’s-underwritten policy is an addition to the multiple layers of security Independent Reserve have been using to protect digital assets for 100,000 customers over the past five years,” said CEO Adrian Przelozny. “The acceptance of this policy by the largest insurer in the world is a vote of confidence in our corporate governance, robust risk management and security protocols and a sign of their commitment to working with only the highest quality partners.”
What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
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The Philippines has announced new regulations to govern crypto assets. According to the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza), a government regulator, the new regulations cover areas around the acquisition of cryptocurrencies, including utility and security tokens. The aim is to effectively regulate the crypto industry while safeguarding investor interests and promoting innovation, Ceza explained.
New Framework Aims to Protect Investors and Promote Innovation
Dubbed the Digital Asset Token Offering (Dato) regulations, the guidelines require the creators of all crypto assets, in relation to initial coin offerings, to provide clear offer documents carrying relevant details of the issuer, project, and accompanying advice and certification of experts, according to a report by Vietnamese English daily Vietnam News.
Tokens should be listed on the licensed Offshore Virtual Currency Exchange (OVCE), a special exchange set up for this purpose. Participants are required to have confirmed arrangements with Ceza-accredited wallet providers and custodians, said the regulator, which crafted and sanctioned the new framework.
The rules have been broken down into three levels of digital asset offerings, with the first level, tier one, covering assets and investments not exceeding $5 million with payment made in digital tokens. Digital assets covered under tier two range between investments worth $6M to $10M, while tier three covers investments exceeding $10 million.
Raul Lambino, chief executive officer of Ceza, said the Dato framework is not targeted at stifling growth in the cryptocurrency sector, but to protect investors and promote innovation.
“We aim to provide a clear set of rules and guidelines that will boost innovation while also ensuring proper compliance by actors in the ecosystem,” Lambino was quoted as saying. “We hope that these set of regulatory innovations will promote blockchain and crypto adoption by institutional investors and the financial system.”
Self-Regulatory Body to Enforce Compliance
The government-owned regulator said it will be working in partnership with the Asia Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association (Abaca), a so-called self-regulatory industry representative body, whose obligations include executing and enforcing the regulations. Abaca will also administer a code of conduct among its members, reporting to Ceza any breach or violation relating to the offshore virtual currency exchange regulations.
“The safeguards built into Ceza’s rules and system will lead to greater investor protection and transparency. The involvement of DA agents and experts bring in competent and neutral third parties into the process to help ensure issuers are truthful and accurate,” Lambino detailed.
Ceza, which to date has given 19 companies the green light to operate cryptocurrency exchanges as it moves to develop a financial technology economic zone, further indicated that the new rules will also encourage innovators to use new technologies responsibly. Ceza emphasized that collaboration with local fintech firms and industry players will help the government gain insights and keep up to date with innovations on emerging markets.
Juanita Cueto, chairperson of Abaca, said: “The SRO model allows industry players to police their own ranks, while also promoting and protecting the interests of cryptocurrency investors. The rules will remain stringent in assessing the ethics and integrity of companies eyeing to launch Digital Asset Token Offerings.”
Across the world, government agencies are targeting crypto investors, not only with taxes, but mandatory registration and full disclosure rules. This new wave of regulation poses a contradiction given that some of cryptocurrency’s strongest characteristics have traditionally been privacy and autonomy.
Some of the regions that have recently weaponized their law books to meter aspects of virtual currencies include Malaysia, Australia, Japan, the EU and the U.S.
What do you think about the new cryptocurrency regulations in the Philippines? Let us know in the comments section below.
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The disclosure of the vulnerability was greeted with a mixed response. Edward Snowden, who has previously signaled his support for the privacy coin, 
