France Appoints a Cryptocurrency ‘Mission Leader’
Week after week regulators and governments have been announcing plans to regulate digital currencies like bitcoin. This week in France on January 15 the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire announced his decision to create a “digital currencies mission” and a working group that will work towards regulating cryptocurrencies. In addition to the digital currency objectives, Le Maire appointed the former Bank of France (BOF) deputy governor, Jean-Pierre Landau, as the new working groups leader.
Also Read: Pineapple Will Match up to $4M in Bitcoin to Test Curing PTSD With Psychedelic Drug
A New Cryptocurrency Mission Will Begin In France Dedicated to Regulatory Action
Last Spring many bitcoin proponents thought French politicians and regulators might favor cryptocurrencies after the left-leaning president of France, Emmanuel Macron, was elected and photographed brandishing a Ledger hardware wallet. Now the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire says the country is creating a working group led by the former BOF deputy governor that will study digital currencies while also proposing regulatory standards.
“We want a stable economy: we reject the risks of speculation and the possible financial diversions linked to bitcoin,” explains the Minister of the Economy Monday morning. “I asked the Argentine G20 members to take up this issue and I have now entrusted Jean-Pierre Landau, the former deputy governor of the Banque de France, to complete a mission concerning cryptocurrencies.”
Jean-Pierre Landau’s mission will be responsible for proposing guidelines on the evolution of regulations and to better control development and prevent their use for the purpose of tax evasion, money laundering or for financing criminal activities and terrorism.
Jean-Pierre Landau: Bitcoins Are the Tulips of Modern Times
The Minister of the Economy’s choice in picking Jean-Pierre Landau goes alongside the authorities’ concerns about illegal activities tied to digital currencies. The former BOF deputy governor Landau has displayed his distaste for bitcoin publicly writing an opinion piece for the Financial Times in 2014. The editorial called, “Beware the mania for Bitcoin, the tulip of the 21st century” explains that Landau believes bitcoin is very much like the tulip mania that supposedly took place decades ago. Further cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are only attractive to criminals the BOF executive details.
“The currency is at present attractive for two reasons — One is anonymity, which makes it suitable for tax evasion and money laundering — This will not last; authorities are already wising up.
The other is pure speculation, and bitcoins are the tulips of modern times — The mania is not yet over, but the longer it lasts, the more investors are likely to be burnt.
France has a pretty active bitcoin community and they may not appreciate the newly appointed cryptocurrency mission commander. The nation is home to La Maison du Bitcoin (The Bitcoin House), the company Ledger Wallet’s headquarters, and a plaza called La Cercle du Bitcoin (Bitcoin Boulevard) with over 25 merchants who accept bitcoin.
What do you think about France appointing Jean-Pierre Landau as it’s cryptocurrency mission leader? Do you think his past opinions will affect the currency’s regulation going forward? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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Companies Deny Having Bitcoin or Blockchain Services Amid China’s Clampdown
After Xunlei was questioned about Initial Miner Offerings (IMO), multiple public companies clarified that they did not and will not tap into the blockchain space. A Shenzhen-based bitcoin miner manufacturer issued a statement saying the business hasn’t generated much profit for the company.
Also Read：China’s Regulatory Authority Warns About Risks of Initial Miner Offerings
Produce Bitcoin Miners, But Not A Blockchain Company
Shenzhen Kaifa Technology (KAIFA), a global leading electronics manufacturing services provider, produced 150,000 bitcoin miners this January for domestic mining companies. On January 14 the company voluntarily disclosed their financial and other information via a statement on the company’s website clarifying that it is not a blockchain company.
We have noticed the sentiments about blockchain are very high, but the company has yet to research and develop the technology. KAIFA is a bitcoin miner manufacturer for domestic bitcoin mining giants, but the business is not profitable as it was just started three months ago.
KAIFA’s shares (000021.SZ) rose over 15% in the past three days as public regards KAIFA as a blockchain technology. The company noted that they are working on possible cooperation over blockchain projects with well-known companies, but there are fuzzy uncertainties to consider.
Wait, We Have More to Deny
Earlier this month, rumors said that IDG Capital and Blockchain company Circle will invest in Sichuan Shuangma Cement Company (stock:000935) to develop blockchain, which has put the company in the spotlight. The Sichuan-based company on Sunday announced that they have no intention to develop blockchain-related services and have no links with IDG Capital and Circle.
U9 Game last Friday released an announcement that they are only reporting and sharing what’s going on in the blockchain industry on its news site. The company stressed that they have no plans to raise funds for any blockchain projects.
Another two public enterprises also ruled out possibilities to race in blockchain and warned investors the risks of blockchain projects.
What do you think of these Blockchain phobia? Are they really rule out the cutting-edge technology? Leave your comments below.
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Some UK Mortgage Lenders Refuse to Serve Bitcoin Investors
British bitcoin investors trying to use their earnings to buy real estate are facing difficulties in securing loans from mortgage lenders. Several building societies refuse to work with them even after they converted the cryptocurrency to fiat and provided a paper trail for its origins.
Also Read: Pineapple Will Match up to $4M in Bitcoin to Test Curing PTSD With Psychedelic Drug
Squeamish Mortgage Lenders
One broker described to the Financial Times how he was unable to secure a loan for a client because: “The first mortgage lender I rang asked me what a cryptocurrency was. I rang two other lenders and they said they would not touch it. When I mentioned where the money had come from there was massive reluctance to help or understand the problem. I do not believe the mortgage providers in general are ready for this issue and research tells me that a lot more people will be knocking on our doors with funds made or raised in this fashion.”
The Building Societies Association commented: “There is currently no regulation of these electronic currencies, which puts them into the highest risk category in relation to money laundering. In addition, it is well known that such currencies are popular with criminals, who use them to launder the proceeds of crime.”
FCA to Blame?
A mortgage broker explained: “Lenders are so frightened about being hauled over the coals by the Financial Conduct Authority for not complying with anti-money laundering rules that they go beyond what in many cases you and I might consider to be reasonable.” The head of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, added that: “The rules are made by governments and lenders and regulators and the first real guidance we’ve had was the speech from (the FCA Chief Executive) Andrew Bailey saying that he didn’t see how cryptocurrency was a real currency.”
The FCA commented: “Our existing rules and guidance related to customer due diligence checks under the money laundering regulations require financial firms to take an approach tailored to the risks they face. We do not currently plan to issue guidance to mortgage brokers and lenders about the specific risks arising from sources of funds being used in housing transactions.”
How should British bitcoin investors handle difficulties in securing a mortgage? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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The Futility of Government Bans – Bitcoin Always Finds a Way
Cryptocurrencies have been threatened at one point or another by nearly every country on the planet. Rarely does a government venture beyond rhetoric. Those resorting to crackdowns are often met with greater public appetite for decentralized virtual money, making all that initial fuss an exercise in futility. Be they communist strongholds or liberal democracies, bitcoin cannot be stopped.
Also read: India’s Banks Block Crypto Accounts
Government Threats Met with Pushback
In response to a recent Republic of Korea (ROK) bureaucrat’s statement, causing mainstream media to roar about a “ban” on bitcoin, the South Korean street riled to virtual barricades. Citizens flooded petition signatures to the President. Social media contained oceans of angry comments demanding the offending minister’s sacking. The pressure grew so intense, agencies within the same government began contradicting one another, ending with an official presidential announcement no “ban” was forthcoming. Sensing a political market opening, normally reticent ROK politicians jumped on the bandwagon to defend cryptocurrency legitimacy.
The above is something like a rare historical scientific control with regard to just why bitcoin and cryptocurrencies cannot be banned. For our purposes, ROK’s geographical juxtaposition and its post-war politics fit comfortably beside its northern neighbor, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea. The two nations share a peninsula, a people, and a history, ripe for an organic experiment in prohibition.
Cryptocurrency probably made its way to DPRK through its wealthier brethren, and perhaps even China in bitcoin’s early years. Obviously, DPRK has a “ban” on bitcoin, de facto. Yet cryptocurrencies are still an issue for the country, something it must address, a problem some reports have as the regime tacitly embracing, and likely as a way around sanctions. Arguably the most closed country in the world is being confronted by a new monetary reality, which illustrates bitcoin’s inherent power under the most extreme of circumstances.
Pronouncement after pronouncement, rule changes, fines, bank harassment, appeals for international cooperation, taxes, emergency measures, the liberal democracy of ROK has been very busy. To be sure, the last round of news from South Korean regulators brought about double digit dips in bitcoin’s price, domestically and internationally. But even that appears to be temporary as markets see bitcoin retain relative price resiliency.
A Dozen Countries are Experimenting with Bans
The side-by-side control of having a hermit kingdom and republican democracy both grapple with bitcoin yields insight into what sort of prohibition is possible, and what is even meant by the word “ban.” Bitcoin cannot be banned in the ultimate sense, as it resembles the character of pushing on a sturdy balloon. Push it down on one side, and it grows on the other.
Of the 195 countries of the world, 12 have openly tried to ban bitcoin and crypto at various levels: Brazil, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Israel, Morocco, Bolivia, Algeria, Ecuador, Kyrgyz Republic, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
However, that list is misleading. Not all governments have banned cryptocurrency in the same way. Israel, for example, has effectively prevented crypo stocks from being listed on its indices and aided the practice of its banks not allowing bitcoin business accounts. Yet its prime minister has made positive comments, and still another regulator has advocated making Israel a welcoming environment for bitcoin.
It’s worth pointing out Israel is a representative democracy, one of the only in Southwest Asia. The Israeli street is passionate about cryptocurrency and its potential, and, like South Korea, has the electoral ability to influence outcomes should regulators overplay their hand.
Wealthy Will Not Allow Ban
Charles Hugh Smith argued crypto prohibition won’t happen due to the influence of wealthy investors using it as a store of value unable to be monkeyed with by politicians. His point at once affirms and jettisons the democratic thesis, as it all comes down to levers of power. The same way assets such as housing are owned and closely guarded, Mr. Smith postulates, bitcoin will be protected even more. Wealthy holders have gone to great lengths already to keep the currency away from governments.
For South American countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, and Ecuador, the challenges are both political and economic when it comes to prohibition. Each has versions of command economies, and nationalist fervor is easily whipped up when supposed threats are made against their respective currencies, and bitcoin can certainly represent that. However, even where economic expression is limited and politics are a crazy mix of bureaus and committees, crypto has found a way through. Its popularity grows in Latin America.
The remaining half, from China to Nepal, have almost no tradition of what anyone would ever call democracy, though in some cases governments have pulled back and allowed their populace more expression in personal economic matters. That too is debatable. For odious governments such as Nepal, cracks are appearing. Smartphone adoption continues apace, as does internet access generally. Add to those its young population, some 40 percent under 20 years, and there’s a recipe for crypto.
Prohibition, in the sense Mr. Smith might be thinking, almost always only impacts those without the means to subvert laws. That’s not as true when it comes to cryptocurrency. Whatever else its positives, all anyone needs is a $20 Android phone and they’re immediately able to participate in a huge transfer of wealth. Governments can shut down websites; they can arrest exchange owners; they can make onboarding hell; they can tax it as capital gains. Governments cannot stop an idea whose time has come.
Do you think bitcoin can be banned? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Google Search Volume for Bitcoin Keywords Increased by as Much as 1000% During 2017
Following bitcoin’s incredible performance and increased media coverage during 2017, there is no doubt that bitcoin has witnessed increased user adoption. Estimates regarding the scale of bitcoin’s growth vary due to the anonymous nature of bitcoins transactions; however, the search engine traffic for terms such as ‘bitcoin’ are generally seen as a reliable indicator of the growth in bitcoin’s user adoption. The most recent figures made available by Google indicate an increase in searches for prominent keywords relating to bitcoin of many hundreds of percent when comparing data from 2016 and 2017, whilst bitcoin became the ninth most visited page on Wikipedia during last year – indicating a significant increase in bitcoin user adoption.
Also Read: Venezuela Urges 10 Other Countries to Adopt Its Oil-Backed Cryptocurrency
On Wikipedia, Bitcoin Was the Ninth Most Visited Page for 2017
Traffic for bitcoin’s Wikipedia page peaked on the 8th of December – when BTC experienced a dramatic retracement of approximately 20%, falling from the then all-time high of $17,171 USD on Bitfinex, before bouncing off the approximately $14,000 area. Despite bitcoin’s meteoric price performance during 2017, the Wikipedia report recognizes some of bitcoin’s shortcomings that emerged during the year – stating that bitcoin “prov[ed] totally unsuitable as a means of payment” due to the controversy surrounding the scaling issues that have plagued BTC throughout the year.
Google Searches for Bitcoin Reach Record Highs
A large number of dominant keyword groupings pertaining to bitcoin received between 100,000 and 1,000,000 searches monthly last year. Among those that experienced the highest growth when compared with 2016 were ‘current bitcoin’ – for which searches increased by 895.9%, ‘btc price’ – which increased by 828.5%, sell bitcoins – gaining in volume by 626.5%, bitcoin miner – up 590.6%, btc rate – up 510.4%, bitcoin calculator – up 471.2%, bitcoin rate – up 461.4%, buy bitcoin – up 273.5%, and bitcoin trading – up 170.9%. Searches for ‘earn bitcoin’ increased by 74.6%. Several notable keywords also grew to receive between 10,000 and 100,000 searches last year, including ‘bitcoin market’ – which increased in search volume by 900%, ‘btc chart’ – searches for which grew by 826.2%, ‘currency bitcoin’ – with searches increasing by 826.1%, ‘purchase bitcoin’ – which increased by 752.5%, and ‘bitcoin account’ – increasing by 291.2%.
Curiously, some of the top keyword groupings that produced the least growth during 2017 included ‘bitcoin mining’ – searches for which grew by 33.6%, ‘bitcoin exchange’ – which grew by 17.5%, and ‘bitcoin wallet’ – which saw a meagre increase in search traffic of only 0.9%.
Do you think that 2018 will yield further increases in search volume for keywords pertaining to bitcoin? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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Coingeek Funds Terabyte Block Initiative for Bitcoin Cash With 3.6M Euro
On January 15 the cryptocurrency media outlet and blockchain company Coingeek owned and operated by the financial tycoon Calvin Ayre announced funding an initiative called the ‘Terab Project’ with 3.6 million euro. Coingeek alongside its partners Nchain and Lokad, plan to massively scale the bitcoin cash blockchain to terabyte (1 million MB) size blocks which could allow 7 million transactions per second.
Also read: Kraken Exchange Returns After Longest Downtime Since 2013
Coingeek Plans to Fund Research and Development for Terabyte Sized Blocks
Coingeek.com has revealed to the public that it is funding the open source development of 1 terabyte blocks for the bitcoin cash (BCH) protocol. The company is collaborating with the French quantitative supply chain technology provider, Lokad, as well as support from Nchain and its chief scientist Craig Wright.
“The legacy Segwit bitcoin has shackled its own progress by refusing to allow the current block size cap (1MB) that only allows for 3-4 transactions per second to be lifted and thus has fated the coin to the dustbin of cryptocurrency history,” explains Coingeek’s announcement. But last October, the BCH community welcomed news that a 1 gigabyte (GB) block was successfully mined and propagated through the ‘Gigablock Testnet Initiative,’ the collaboration between Bitcoin Unlimited and Nchain.”
Seven Million Transactions Per Second
Lokad founder, Joannes Vermorel has recently researched and explained that terabyte-size blocks are viable on the BCH chain. By funding the Terab Project with 3.6 million euro, Coingeek believes this type of scaling could improve transaction throughput exponentially stating during the announcement:
A single terabyte block (added every 10 minutes) can contain about 4 billion Bitcoin transactions, and provide capacity of 7 million transactions per second — The scale of a network with 1 TB blocks would be immense, and enable BCH to power not just monetary transactions but machine-to-machine data transactions of many types.
The Terab Project Is Only Meant for a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
Coingeek says that Nchain’s chief scientist Craig Wright will work closely with the Terab Project, and Lokad will hire and manage a team to develop the Terab software. The Terab Project and its features will only be built for the BCH chain. Coingeek’s owner, Calvin Ayre believes this type of development is meant to be applied to Satoshi’s vision a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system.”
“The criticisms of cryptocurrencies are very useful as they help us see what hurdles we have to take down in order to achieve low-fee micro-transactions — They are a few more which we will be addressing in due course but rest assured we will prove that BCH is the one true chain,” Ayre details during the Coingeek announcement.
Additionally, Coingeek reveals that it plans to fund more projects that are focused on enabling the growth and adoption of the bitcoin cash network. The company says that if developers within the open source community have ideas or applications they would like to create for BCH they can contact Coingeek for possible funding.
What do you think about the Terab Project and terabyte-sized blocks for the bitcoin cash blockchain? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Images via Jon Morishita, Coingeek, and Calvin Ayre.
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