Government

New Zealand Financial Regulator Warns Public About ‘Profit Bitcoin’ Scam

Amid the apparent global surge of cryptocurrency-related scams, New Zealand’s financial regulator has warned the public against another suspected Bitcoin (BTC) investment scam scheme.In an April 6 statement, the country’s major financial watchdog, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), issued an official warning against “Profit Bitcoin” — an alleged get-rich-quick scam that promises returns by using software that “wins” Bitcoin trades with “99.4% accuracy.”Scam purportedly involved false claims from the New Zealand’s governmentThe FMA noted that the entity and its website, theprofitbtc.com, have the “hallmarks of a scam,” emphasizing that Profit

Revised Crypto Laws in Japan to be Enforced Starting May 1

New laws for regulating cryptocurrencies in Japan will start to be enforced next month.The Payment Services Act (PSA) and Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), two of the pieces of legislation passed by the Japanese House of Representatives last year to regulate crypto, were scheduled to come into effect starting in April. However, with unexpected delays, no enforcement date had officially been set until last week.In the April 3 edition of an official government newsletter, it was announced that the revised versions of the PSA and FIEA would be enforced

Blockchain App Used to Track COVID-19 Cases in Latin America

A Canada-based company is turning to blockchain technology in their efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic in Latin America.Emerge, a blockchain startup based in Toronto, is launching a public safety system app called Civitas to assist local authorities in many nations. According to a company blog post, the app was designed “to improve safety and cut store wait times by reducing gatherings in tight spaces, reducing the probability of contagion.” The software program could associate locals’ government ID numbers with unique blockchain records, allowing authorities to determine if they qualify for

People’s Bank of China Continues CBDC Development Talks

The People’s Bank of China held a teleconference on April 3 in Beijing, China. One of the main points confirmed during the call involved the institution’s continued research and development of a central bank digital currency, or CBDC.CBDC development is one of the bank’s top priorities The meeting summarized the central bank’s achievements with fiat currency, gold, silver, and securities since the end of 2019. Executives analyzed the bank’s present challenges in depth, while acknowledging that their top priority for 2020 is the continued research and development of a CBDC, saying: “The

Africa Using Blockchain to Drive Change, Part Two: Southern Solutions

With pundits like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey predicting that Africa “will define” the future of Bitcoin (BTC), cryptocurrency and blockchain technology continue to attract interest from both public and private establishments across the continent. Many of these adoption cases have been moving beyond finance, developing solutions targeted at issues like unemployment, identity management, health care and supply chain, among others.Amid the growing enthusiasm for crypto and blockchain technology in Africa, industry stakeholders interviewed by Cointelegraph identify a lack of education as one of the major hurdles standing in the way of more

FATF Grades U.S. Government on Crypto Regulation Enforcement 

The Financial Action Task Force, one of the most prominent Anti-Money Laundering (AML) enforcers in the world, has called out the United States government for being lax on policy enforcement. On March 31, the body published a report in which it explained that the United States is only “largely compliant” with its AML and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) regulations – especially when it comes to the issue of virtual currencies. Higher Awareness is Good, but Loophole Still Exist In the report, the FATF outlined the United States’ degree of compliance with the recommendations it issued last

Govt. Pauses SEC Suit Against $30 Mln ICO Amid Parallel Investigation Concerns

Prosecutors have paused a United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against the alleged operators of a $30 million fraudulent ICO amid concerns that proceedings may impact the integrity of a parallel investigation into the defendants.The United States attorney’s office for New Jersey intervened in the case on April 2.SEC suit paused amid integrity concerns over the parallel investigationThe SEC action against defendants Boaz Manor, Edith Pardo, and the associated companies CG Blockchain Inc and BCT Inc has been halted to maintain the integrity of parallel criminal investigations into

April Fools, Celebrity Scams, & Manipulated Markets: Bad Crypto News of the Week

Bitcoin seems to be settling happily above $6,000 and is currently just north of $6,500 again. Let’s hope we’ve seen the last of those $5,000 movements and we’re ready for a steady climb back to double figures before the halving in mid-May. It’s getting closer.In the meantime, the Federal Reserve now appears to have merged into the federal government. An opinion piece in Bloomberg has described how an alphabet soup of financial programs intended to help the economy through the current crisis is allowing the government to buy up securities

Blockchain Experts Weigh in on Russia’s Controversial Coronavirus Tracking App

Experts suggest that blockchain technology could have been a better solution for handling coronavirus-related data in Russia.Moscow’s COVID-19 App is pulled from Google PlayOn March 25, an app called “Social monitoring” appeared in Google Play store. According to the app’s description, it was designed for social monitoring as well as for providing access to emergency services.Users soon noticed that the app required many sensitive permissions, including geolocation, bluetooth pairing, biometric data, and calls. Notably, the data was also being openly transmitted without encryption. The backlash against the app led to

Talking Digital Future: Smart Cities

My journey into smart cities and their future development was a really big surprise, as the way I arrived there was not something that I had planned. I was working as the chief information officer for a company in Northern California called O'Reilly Media when I got a call from a headhunter who asked if I would consider being the chief information office for the City of Palo Alto. I can vividly remember — it was only about eight years ago — my feeling when she asked the question. The

Coronavirus & Bitcoin Price: Is China Losing Its BTC Mining Monopoly?

This week the price of Bitcoin (BTC) surged more than 15%, reaching a high at $7,200 before pulling back into the $6,800 range. Despite the recovery, Bitcoin still has a way to go in order to reach the $8,000 level seen before the coronavirus-triggered selloff on March 12.Cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360The drop had several consequences on the Bitcoin network. Having reached the $3,800 price range, the accentuated drop forced some Bitcoin miners to throw in the towel and shut down their operations due to mining becoming unprofitable.As miners have