Category: Crypto

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Jon Montroll, Founder of BitFunder Crypto Exchange, Pledged Guilty

The founder of now-defunct crypto exchange platform BitFunder, Jon Montroll, has declared himself guilty of the federal accusations of obstruction of justice and securities fraud, according to a Reuters press release.

Montroll, BitFunder crypto exchange platform’s founder, pledged guilty

The prosecutors said that Jon Montroll, 37, also called Ukyo, admitted to pleading guilty to the obstruction of justice, acknowledging that he gave false account statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during an inquiry into the falsification of the BitFunder hack of 6,000 BTCs in 2013.

Montroll, who is originally from Saginaw, Texas, ran BitFunder, where people could sell virtual shares of companies in exchange for Bitcoin (BTC), along with the exchange and Bitcoin (BTC) depository, WeExchange Australia Pty Ltd. which was one of the largest crypto-related companies in the world. Montroll seized the WeExchange’s users’ BTC and traded them for fiat money, which he later used for personal expenses.

In July 2013, Montroll also started soliciting investments in a security it named Ukyoan Loan, vowing for a daily interest rate and a straightforward withdrawal procedure. However, after the hacking of 6,000 BTC, Montroll could not afford to pay the sums owed to the loan investors or to WeExchange and BitFunder clients. Montroll kept on soliciting investments but did not disclose any information about the hacking.

At the beginning of this year, the SEC and the DOJ filed the charges against Jon Montroll

In February this year, the SEC and the Department of Justice (DOJ) formally filed charges against Montroll, accusing him of conducting operations on an off-the-record crypto exchange, deceiving the users of that exchange and making “false and misleading statements in connection with an unregistered offering of securities.”

In the case of BitFunder crypto exchange platform, the cyber attacks led to the loss of over 6,000 BTC, which back then totaled approximately $720,000, while now would represent more than $45 million.

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Bank Of Canada Study Reveals That Bitcoin (BTC) Awareness Increased Among Canadians

Canadian citizens used Bitcoin (BTC) primarily for investment purposes in 2017, according to a recent study by the Bank of Canada (BoC) published on July 23rd. The study is an update of the results of the Bitcoin Omnibus Survey conducted by the Central Bank of Canada in a short period between December 12th and 15th 2017, just days before Bitcoin (BTC) reached its record high of $20,000 on December 17th.

According to the survey results, Canadians have mainly used the leading cryptocurrency in the world for investment purposes in 2017, rather than for transactions, which had previously been cited as the main reason for dealing with Bitcoin (BTC) in 2016.

While 58 percent of respondents said the primary motivation was “like an investment,” 12 percent of Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) holders allegedly used BTC because “My friends own Bitcoin,” 7 percent because of their interest in new technologies, while 6 percent to buy goods and services on the Internet.

Among non-transactors, those who used Bitcoin (BTC) did that “once or twice, but not regularly,” while the vast majority of them, 77 percent, responded that they invested in Bitcoin (BTC).

Bitcoin (BTC) awareness increased among Canadian in 2017, in comparison to 2016

Residents of British Columbia presented the highest level of knowledge about Bitcoin (BTC), with reported growth from 77 percent in 2016 to 93 percent in 2017. The prairies ranked second in the Canadian provinces regarding BTC awareness, while Ontario residents came third.

Canada’s provincial financial regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), had published a report in late June concluding that only three percent of Ontario residents had completed a brief test on the basics of Bitcoin (BTC), while 34 percent demonstrated common knowledge.

In early June, the Bank of Canada ‘s executive, James Chapman, said that cryptocurrencies pose no risk to the fiat money system, saying the only thing that can be a threat in a case of hyperinflation. Ontario in third place, according to the study.

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The Ex-VP Of JPMorgan Chase Claimed Blockchain Could Avoid The Next Global Financial Crisis

The ex-Vice president of US investment banking JPMorgan Chase, Pang Huadong, has claimed that the blockchain technology “may be the key to avoiding the next global financial crisis,” reported the China Economic Times today.

Pang Huadong, who is now an honorary academic consultant at the Blockchain Asian Institute, remarked that his involvement with JPMorgan in the 2008 financial crisis had prompted him to consider that blockchain may well be the underlying technology for building transparency and reliability in the global financial system.

When I started working at JPMorgan in 2007,] 13 people managed more than $40 billion[in assets]…. when the 2008 financial crisis was at its worst, the average daily loss was $300 million. Only little by little did I realize that blockchain technology could be the key to avoiding the next global financial crisis.

Pang Huadong, ex-Vice president of JPMorgan Chase

Blockchain technology could help avoid the next global financial crisis, said Pang Huadong, the ex-VP of JPMorgan Chase

Huadong continued by saying that “while the technology is still at a very early stage,” its perspectives for growth are boundless. Pang Huadong considers that the core of blockchain’s breakthrough, more specifically, its property of developing decentralized and accountable systems can drastically mitigate global financial crises risks and “establish confidence-building mechanisms at the lowest cost.”

While the Chinese government’s stance on decentralized cryptocurrencies continues to be tough, the blockchain technology has been increasingly popular among leaders in politics, the academic sector, and the financial world. Moreover, even the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has publicly applauded blockchain technology’s potential.

Additionally, only the past week, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology’s official journal informed that China would be leading an international research team focused on the Internet of Things (IoT) standardization and blockchain technology. Also, on July 16th, the assistant director of China’s Ministry of Information Technology called on China to “join forces” to encourage blockchain as a central technology within the new digital financial age and pleaded for alleviating institutional bottlenecks in optimizing the conditions for its successful integration.

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Cryptocurrencies Are Not Threatening The Global Financial System, According To G20 Members

Cryptocurrencies were a significant part of the discussions at the G20 forum held this weekend in the city of Buenos Aires. For two days, representatives of central banks and financial institutions from 20 countries around the world discussed issues of global interest.

The President of the Central Bank of Argentina, Luis Caputo, was responsible for explaining to the public the conclusions of the third meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Presidents. Caputo mentioned during his speech that there was a consensus among members that cryptocurrencies do not pose a risk to the global financial system. However, they agreed that they should be supervised because of their potential to be used in criminal activities, including money laundering and terrorist financing.

Cryptocurrencies were discussed. The consensus is that they do not impose a global risk on the financial system, but it was very much taken into account, as I said before, that these are technologies that are just beginning, so you have to have a lot of control. Above all, also be very careful about what may be illegal activities.

Luis Caputo, the Central Bank of Argentina President

The G20 members called for better anti-money laundering standards, and cryptocurrencies use supervision

The official press release of the meeting of finance ministers and central bank presidents also stated that among the documents to be consulted for the group’s future action is the “report of cryptocurrencies on the work of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the bodies that establish international standards.”

In that statement, they stressed that “technological innovations, including those underlying cryptocurrencies, can bring significant benefits to the financial system and the economy as a whole,” referring to distributed accounting technologies (DLTs).

It concludes with a reiteration of the G20 members’ commitment to the implementation of FATF standards, an international anti-money laundering organization, and a request that they clarify how they apply their rules to cryptocurrencies by October 2018.

At the previous G20 meeting, held last March, it was determined that cryptocurrencies do not have the attributes of existing sovereign fiat currencies and this position was reiterated in the previous press release. Also, the group had committed to a more detailed analysis of regulatory issues to be discussed at the recent meeting.

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Ripple And Its XRP (XRP) Token To Take A “Big Hit” Regarding The SEC’s Verdict On The “Security” Issue

According to some cryptocurrencies market experts, Ripple and its XRP (XRP) crypto are going to receive a “big hit” from the SEC’s verdict which is more likely to declare XRP as security. However, as the same analysts state, Ripple can cope with that adverse decision.

According to an earlier statement from SEC, both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are not securities, but XRP (XRP) is different. Therefore, it could be declared security. In fact, the XRP token, dubbed by Ripple as an “independent digital asset” is troublesome for the authorities.

In fact, Ripple, the renowned FinTech company, still owns around 60 billion XRP out of the total of 100 billion XRP. For this reason, many lawsuits involving XRP (XRP) emerged across the United States declaring the token as a “never-ending ICO” meant to raise millions of US Dollars for Ripple company, despite the fact the crypto-coin emerged out of thin air.

Ripple and its XRP (XRP) to take a big hit from SEC – Can Ripple cope if XRP is declared a security?

“We absolutely are not a security. We don’t meet the standards for what a security is based on the history of court law,” stated Ripple’s Cory Johnson, in April. Also, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated last month that, according to him, “it’s really clear that XRP (XRP) is not a security,” because it “exists independent of Ripple.”

Now, according to some cryptocurrencies markets experts, if the US SEC declares that XRP (XRP) is a security, the crypto token, as well as Ripple, will take a “big hit” because it is listed on many major cryptocurrency exchange platforms, and such a lousy news would trigger a very adverse reaction from the cryptocurrency traders and investors towards XRP.

However, the same experts believe Ripple can cope with the declaration of the XRP (XRP) as a security because its currently-installed platforms for fast and secure cross-border payments, such as xCurrent, don’t use XRP to perform their operations.

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