Category: Crypto

Categories
Crypto News

French Financial Authority Blacklisted More Cryptocurrency Sites

On September 26th, the Autorite Des Marches Financiers (AMF – the French Financial Markets Authority) published a list of new websites that are not authorized for cryptocurrency trading, including some offering “atypical investment” options, as reported.

Dozens of new crypto-related sites pop up in France without complying with the recently adopted cryptocurrency regulations

The French financial authority warned the public about websites such as www.goodcoin.fr, www.cryptofrance.info, and www.achat-bitcoin.co. Also, it was reported that the list is made up of 21 recently detected websites. They also stressed that it is not exhaustive since more and more Internet sites are appearing that do not comply with the newly-adopted French cryptocurrency regulations.

This blacklist complements AMF’s existing lists of websites that offer investment opportunities in digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, and which also provide derivatives based on cryptos.

Also, France adopted new ICO regulations, recently

Recently, France’s Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, issued a legal framework for Initial Currency Offers (ICOs), a corporate financing methodology used by a large number of cryptocurrency-related projects.

On that occasion, it was indicated that the AMF would be the institution in charge of granting or denying authorization to carry out ICOs.

French officials see cryptocurrencies as movable property

According to its website, “the AMF is an independent public authority responsible for ensuring that savings invested in financial products are protected, that investors receive adequate information and supervise the orderly functioning of markets.”

Also, in April this year, the French Council of State established that cryptocurrencies would be considered as movable property, which implied a reduction in the taxes applied on the profits obtained from them, from 45% to 19%. That decision was welcomed by the country’s cryptocurrency enthusiasts, as well as by the crypto- and blockchain-related companies that operate across the European country.

Now, the AMF decided to place some renowned crypto-related sites in its blacklist because they do not comply with the new regulations.

Categories
Crypto News Tech

A Canadian Company Partnered With Samsung To Develop 10-nm ASIC Chips for Bitcoin (BTC) Mining

The Canadian company Squire Mining announced on Tuesday in Vancouver, Canada, an alliance with South Korean companies Gaonchips and Samsung Electronics, for the design and production of 10-nanometer ASIC chips for Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment.

On August 1st, Squire Mining announced that it had contracted a company to design, test and manufacture an ASIC chip for Bitcoin (BTC) mining. This Tuesday, the Canadian company stated in a press release that it chose Gaonchips as the manufacturer of the integrated microcircuits and Samsung Electronics as the producer of the 10-nanometer ASIC chips themselves.

As manufacturing equipment handles smaller scales, the same semiconductor substrate can accommodate more transistors. It is for this reason that the minimum size of the components included in the chip, or the minimum separation between two conductive wires, expressed in nanometers, determines how advanced the manufacturing process is.

While Samsung and other semiconductor manufacturers have begun to produce 7nm chips, these are more expensive than 10nm chips. Although this implies that the respective equipment has a lower hash rate than the 7 nm equipment, the price/performance ratio can be attractive in the competitive Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment market, clearly dominated by the Chinese manufacturer Bitmain.

Canadian company partnered with Samsung to produce 10-nm ASIC chips for Bitcoin (BTC) mining

Squire programmers and developers are already working with Gaonchips on fine-tuning the first prototype of the ASIC chip, says the Canadian firm. After confirming that the prototype meets all the specifications and design requirements, they would commence the first stage of mass production of the 10-nanometer ASIC chips themselves, operated by Samsung.

The first prototype makes it possible to test the software and check that the final chip will integrate correctly with the other components of the finished Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment.

For this purpose, a transistor matrix is used, the connections of which are programmed according to the design. This field-programmable FPGA logic gate array precedes mass production. In the case of announced ASIC chips, that FPGA prototype should be ready by the end of the month, says Squire.

Categories
Crypto News

Google Ads To Remove Cryptocurrency Advertisements Ban in October

The renowned Google announced, through its support page, that it will partially eliminate the cryptocurrency ads ban it maintained since earlier this year on Google Ads. In this way, starting with October 2018, crypto advertisements will be allowed only for regulated cryptocurrency exchange platforms located in the United States and Japan. The restriction is still maintained for Initial Coins Offerings (ICOs), crypto wallets, and crypto investments consultants.

Cryptocurrency exchange platforms which want to advertise themselves on Google must obtain a certification issued by the company, to be authorized to conduct marketing campaigns, as Google reported in a statement released on September 25th.

Google Ads will allow cryptocurrency advertisements in the US and Japan starting with October 2018

Google Ads policy on financial products and services will be updated in October 2018 to enable regulated crypto exchanges to advertise their services in the United States and Japan. Advertisers must obtain a Google certification in the specific country in which they want to publish their cryptocurrency advertisements.

Last March, Google announced that it would begin restricting ads related to crypto coins and ICOs due to a change within its Google Ads’ financial services policy. The measure published 6 months ago went into effect in June this year. At that time, Scott Spencer, Director of Product Management and Sustainable Ads at Google, said they had seen “enough damage to the consumer or possible damage” through fraudulent advertising, so they made the decision to ban cryptocurrency advertisements.

The Google Ads’ decision to ban cryptocurrency advertisements affected the cryptos market

After Google’s decision was announced at the end of March 2018, the cryptocurrencies market suffered a fall due to the possibility of new regulatory measures. This brought the Bitcoin (BTC) price from $9,100 per unit to about $8,300, a drop of 8% in only 24 hours.

Now, Google Ads decided to remove the ban on cryptocurrency advertisements, similarly to Facebook which on June 26th announced that it considers revoking the decision to prohibit ads related to crypto coins. Both companies kept the interdiction on ICOs.

Categories
Crypto News

US Government Invested About $6 Million In Analyzing Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Transactions

US government authorities have just invested $5.7 million on commercial contracts with specialized companies to analyze cryptocurrencies and blockchain transactions.

These contracted firms have offered services to the US government, according to a Diar study, to improve the fight against tax evasion, money laundering, financing of terrorism, and arms and drug trafficking in the Dark Internet markets, as well as other illegal activities that involved cryptocurrencies and blockchain transactions.

According to the research of this publication, the demand from government agencies for analyzing blockchain networks has increased along with the growth of Bitcoin (BTC) popularity and the volume of transactions confirmed on that network. Additionally, government agencies have been demanding blockchain transactions analysis services to link people’s identities to their Bitcoin (BTC) addresses.

The cryptocurrencies and blockchain enthusiasts are not happy with the US government’s decision to analyze crypto transactions

The contracted investigative firms could be tracking transactions in cryptocurrency exchange platforms or services related to cryptos to link them directly to the identity of a suspect of financial crimes.

The pseudo-anonymity of crypto coins allows intelligence agencies to follow a trail, which can often be decrypted by US government-contracted companies

On the other hand, the Diar research states that the Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have raised in 2018 only the total of what they did last year, but the popularity of this fundraising scheme seems to be migrating to more specific and select projects. According to the data collected, 70% of the crypto tokens have a lower price than during their ICO.

According to information from TokenData, cited by Diar, by August 2018 there were only 17 projects that completed a round of funding, the minimum in one year. According to projections by Ricky Tan, founder of TokenData, it is unlikely that ICOs and pre-sales of tokens will accelerate during the remainder of the year.

Categories
Crypto News

Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) Issued New Guidelines For Crypto and Blockchain Technology Companies and Banks

According to Reuters, the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) issued a guide recently for banks that want to do business with crypto-related companies to solve out issues regarding the access for firms related to cryptocurrencies into the Swiss banking sector. The guidelines were built with the support of the Crypto Valley Association (CVA), to maintain Switzerland as a center for businesses based on crypto and blockchain technology.

According to the press release, just a few of the 250 Swiss banks have agreed to receive funds raised through Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), while Switzerland’s fourth-largest bank, Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB), closed the accounts of more than 20 crypto startups so far this year.

CVA Director Oliver Bussmann said that about 530 startups related to crypto and blockchain technology had been established in the Swiss Crypto Valley, in Zurich and Zug. These companies need access to banking services to make their operations viable. However, the banks claim that, by signing contracts with these companies, they could violate their anti-money laundering (AML) rules as well as other regulations. Bank sources argue that some of the startups that carried out ICO did not adopt the necessary controls to their investors.

The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) new guidelines make a difference between ICO-financed blockchain technology companies and those crypto-related firms finance with fiat money

“We believe that, with these guidelines, we will be able to establish a basis for discussion between banks and innovative startups, simplifying dialogue and facilitating the opening of accounts,” said Adrian Schatzmann, the Strategic Advisor at the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA).

Both the SBA and the CVA are confident that the new rules will create clarity for banks about the assessments they must make, and for crypto and blockchain technology companies about the information they must provide when opening a bank account. In this sense, the guide distinguishes between companies based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) that raise capital through ICOs and those that do not use this mode to raise funds.

The new guidelines also make a distinction between companies that are financed with cryptocurrencies, usually Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) and those that are funded through fiat money. According to the text, blockchain technology-based companies that do not receive financing through ICOs should be treated under the same parameters as any other commercial company.

Startups that use ICOs, on the other hand, should adhere to particular criteria depending on whether the financing is through fiat currency or if it is through cryptocurrencies.

Exit mobile version