South Korean Officials Caught Trading On Insider Knowledge of Crypto Regulations
South Korean government officials have reportedly been caught insider trading. They sold all of their cryptocurrency holdings and profited just before the regulators announced crypto regulatory measures. The country’s Financial Supervisory Service is investigating the case.
Also read: South Korea Urges 23 Countries, EU, and IMF to Collaborate on Curbing Crypto Trading
A Case of Government Insider Trading
A right-wing party lawmaker said at the meeting, as reported by Joongang Ilbo:
There is intelligence that FSS staff sold all of the virtual currency that they invested in just prior to the announcement of the government’s measures.
“We have confirmed the intelligence,” FSS Governor Choi Heung-sik admitted. “We have confirmed that some public officials have done such an act,” Chief of the Office of the Prime Minister, Hong Nam-ki, added. The news outlet noted that the lawmakers called for “thorough investigation and punishment,” and quoted them emphasizing:
It is a tremendous thing for civil servants to influence the market and gain profits.
Chosun elaborated, “It is expected that the moral hazard controversy will spread if the government uses the inside information and profits from virtual currency transactions while the financial authorities publish a hard-line policy saying that ‘the cryptocurrency transaction is gambling’.”
FSS Crypto Policies
The Korean Public Service Ethics Act “strictly restricts the stock trading of public officials in order to prevent misuse of internal information,” Chosun pointed out. However, since cryptocurrency is currently not defined as a financial asset or currency, “there is no code of ethics and no code of conduct for virtual money investment in the FSS regulations.” However, “the misuse of internal information could lead to punishment,” the publication added.
On Tuesday, the FSS announced that it has created a Virtual Currency Task Force which has two divisions: a “virtual currency counterpart” and a “virtual currency checkpoint,” Asia Today explained. The former is dedicated to cryptocurrency-related tasks while the latter is a consultation body of crypto-related inspections and supervisions.
What do you think of South Korean officials profiting from insider knowledge? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Cryptocurrency Activities Will Be Legal and Tax Free in Belarus Starting in March
The decree signed by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko which legalizes cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, and smart contracts, will enter into force in March. Cryptocurrency activities are not restricted by the decree and will be tax exempt until 2023.
Also read: South Korea Urges 23 Countries, EU, and IMF to Collaborate on Curbing Crypto Trading
Cryptocurrencies Soon To Be Legal
The decree which legalizes cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICOs) and smart contracts in Belarus will go into effect on March 28. Entitled “On the development of the digital economy,” it was signed by President Alexander Lukashenko on December 21, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported.
“The decree entitles legal entities and individual entrepreneurs who are residents of the High Technology Park (the HTP) to perform operations with tokens (including cryptocurrency),” explained Iryna Chelyshava, an associate attorney at the Belarusian law firm of Vlasova Mikhel & Partners. “Others can use tokens in the territory of Belarus through residents of the HTP,” she elaborated on Jurist.
The park describes itself as “the main experimental site for the implementation of pilot projects,” including those based on cryptocurrencies. According to its announcement this week:
The HTP Administration draws your attention to the fact that Decree No.8 ‘On the development of the digital economy’ comes into force on March 28, 2018.
No Restrictions and No Taxes
“The new decree legalizes ICOs, cryptocurrencies, and smart contracts,” the HTP explained. It “does not imply any restrictions and special requirements for the operations of creation, placement, storage, alienation, exchange of tokens, as well as the activities of crypto exchanges and crypto platforms.” Furthermore, the park clarified:
Activity such as mining, acquisition, alienation of tokens, carried out by individuals, are not entrepreneurial activities, and tokens are not subject to declaration. At the same time, until 2023, activities related to mining, the creation, acquisition and alienation of tokens are not taxed.
The decree does not specify the nature of the certain civil right, and therefore the concept of ‘token’ is provided with a high degree of flexibility.
By making smart contracts legal documents, “Belarus becomes the first country in the world to legalize smart contracts at the country level,” the HTP noted.
Anton Myakishev, the head of Microsoft’s Belarus office, told Reuters that “the decree is a breakthrough for Belarus,” adding that “it gives the industry the possibility to make a leap forward in its development and allows foreign capital the possibility to come to Belarus and work in comfortable conditions.”
What do you think of Belarus making a tax-free zone for cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Austrian Bitcoin Miner May Seek an IPO on the London Stock Exchange in 2018
Are you an environmentally conscience stock investor looking to add some bitcoin exposure to your portfolio without fearing you might be melting the polar ice caps? A new “green” energy cryptocurrency mining venture may soon be available for you to invest in.
Also Read: Businessman Outright Buys Two Electric Power Stations to Do Bitcoin Mining in Russia
Bitcoin IPO
The company already raised about $2.8 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) in November 2017, but now believes that listing its shares on an exchange will provide a more suitable venue to raise finds safely. “I want investors to be able to invest in a company that is genuinely risky but that operates within a framework which is secure,” said Hydrominer Chief Financial Officer Davies Guttmann.
AIM is the LSE’s venue for smaller companies to float shares with a more flexible regulatory system than is applicable on the main market. The Vienna-based miner plans to raise a “double-digit million” sum, according to its CFO. “We will not be able to raise nearly enough money than we could use.” He also added that a leading auditor has been invited to review the business and that it is profitable.
Green Bitcoin
Hydrominer also claims to be in advanced negotiations to form joint ventures in Austria, Canada and eastern Europe. A partnership deal could be announced within months, according to the CFO. Longer-term, Hydrominer plans to be an infrastructure provider for others in the cryptocurrency industry, offering hardware, software and skills.
Should bitcoin firms seek the validation of traditional securities markets? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
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Visa CEO: Bitcoin is Not a Payment System
Visa, the world’s largest credit card company, is widely regarded as being hostile to Bitcoin. It would seem intuitive that a traditional financial provider should look unkindly on anything that threatens its hegemony. Publicly, though, the company has had very little to say about Bitcoin, preferring to focus on matters within its own domain. In a CNBC interview on Wednesday, the corporation’s CEO broke his silence, opining – predictably – that Bitcoin is not a payments system.
Also read: Visa Veto Leaves Several European Cryptocurrency Cards Locked Out
Legacy Finance Meets Future Money
In an interview on Wednesday, recorded at New York’s National Retail Federation conference the previous day, Kelly was pressed for his thoughts on Bitcoin. “I don’t view it as payment system player,” said the CEO. “We at Visa won’t process transactions that are cryptocurrency-based. We will only process fiat currency-based transactions.”
This tallies with the actions of Visa subsidiary Wavecrest, which cut off debit card services to dozens of European crypto card companies less than a fortnight ago. At the time, Visa denied that it was striking back at the threat posed by cryptocurrencies. The company was adamant that it was irregularities on behalf of Wavecrest clients that triggered the ban.
As news.Bitcoin.com noted at the time:
Given that it processes more than 100 billion transactions a year versus bitcoin’s circa 130 million, it’s premature to assert that Visa is feeling threatened by cryptocurrency. Whatever bitcoin is, be it a store of value or a medium of exchange, it is not, as yet, a Visa killer.
Visa stated that the crypto cards had been suspended due to “continued non-compliance with our operating rules”, and insisted it wasn’t part of a targeted campaign against cryptocurrency. Many in the crypto community weren’t so sure, and Alfred Kelly’s comments this week will only bolster their suspicions. They arrived on the same day that the US Treasury described cryptocurrencies as an “evolving threat”, whose undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence made the usual noises about bitcoin and terrorism.
Visa Vetoes Cryptocurrency Support
Corporations exist to protect their own interests, and the CEO of Visa was never going to exhort the world to start buying bitcoin. Cryptocurrency companies intent on bridging the gap between fiat and crypto will know what they have suspected from the start: they’ll need to do so without the support of Visa and its global subsidiaries.
Do you think Visa feels threatened by the rise of cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Mark Cuban’s NBA Team Mavericks to Sell Tickets for Bitcoin “Next Season”
The NBA has hundreds of millions of fans all over the world, and at least some of them will soon be exposed to the mainstream use of cryptocurrency for payments for the first time. This is thanks to one famous team owner that now promises that bitcoin can be used to buy tickets starting the following season.
Also Read: Businessman Outright Buys Two Electric Power Stations to Do Bitcoin Mining in Russia
Bitcoin Steps Up to the NBA Court
And this doesn’t look like just a empty boast on Twitter from the billionaire TV personality. When asked to confirm he explained to Bloomberg that the statement is “True. And we will be taking Ether as well. As far as tokens, we will be taking tokens originated by companies we have business relationships.” Cuban further said that: “Some people want to buy products in krypto to prove a point. We are happy to make it easy for them. And for Existing Mavs fans who prefer to spend krypto currency we are happy to make it easy for them.”
From Shark to Bear to Bull
Cuban took an interest in bitcoin a few years ago, but initially as a reluctant critic. Back in 2014 he said “I haven’t invested in Bitcoin yet — I go up and down on it,” on the set of TV show. Later on that year he explained that he believed that bitcoin was “great as an encryption technology,” but thought its future was doomed as central banks will not allow it to grow.
During the great rally of 2017 Cuban seemed to have grown fonder of the cryptocurrency, first just telling his many fans to follow bitcoin news. By October he stated in “Mark Cuban’s Guide to Getting Rich,” that “If you’re a true adventurer and you really want to throw the Hail Mary, you might take 10 percent [of your savings] and put it in bitcoin or ethereum — But, if you do that, you’ve got to pretend you’ve already lost your money.”
How long do fans have to wait until the entire NBA starts accepting bitcoin? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
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Ethereum Network Congestion Forces Exchanges to Halt Withdrawals
Scaling problems that have been sporadically affecting the Ethereum network have resurfaced. While bulls and bears were battling it out in the markets, the Ethereum blockchain was fighting to restore some semblance of normal service. The congestion forced a number of exchanges to halt withdrawals, with one going so far as to advise customers to use a different cryptocurrency.
Also read: Despite Regulations, One South Korean Crypto Exchange Rises to the Global Top
Ethereum Enters the Slow Lane
First up was Bitstamp, which noted that there were ETH withdrawal delays, before updating the situation four hours later to say the matter had been resolved. Users of Kucoin exchange have been more significantly affected on account of ethereum withdrawal delays that have dragged on for days. The exchange posted the following notice on Wednesday, including a novel suggestion: that users withdraw in neo instead of ether. This suggestion is unlikely to have been of much help to users who needed their ETH to interact with the ethereum ecosystem.
More Gas, More Money, More Problems
What is beyond dispute is that numerous exchanges have encountered similar problems of late, with Bittrex reporting only a week ago: “Due to incredibly high gas prices, we’re preventing new ETH and asset deposit addresses from being created. Existing deposit addresses will work as normal.”
Eth Gas Station currently reports fast transactions as requiring 51 gwei, or around $0.93 to process. The web is awash with crypto projects promising that their new blockchain can handle a gazillion transactions a second. The reality, however, is that if these networks were ever to be stress tested in the wild like Ethereum or Bitcoin, they would face the exact same same problems. Scaling blockchains while preserving decentralization is even harder than it sounds.
Do you think scaling problems are inevitable as blockchains become busier? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/