Idag släpptes en rapport av Arcane Research i samarbete med Bitcoin-handelsplattformen Bitstamp som beskriver fallet för BTC som framtiden för säkerheter i finansvärlden.

Rapporten på nästan 70 sidor dyker djupt in i de olika anledningarna till varför detta är och hur de ser det bli. Här är en sammanfattad version innan du gräver mer i rapporten för att lära dig mer.

De många användningsfall av kryptovaluta

Bitcoin, som Internet på många sätt, är en tom duk. Det är den teknik som utvecklare kan bygga på, och det kreativa kan använda och implementera på olika sätt.

Revolutionerande tekniker som de två kommer inte så ofta, och när de gör hur de passar in i vardagen är det inte alltid klart. Och även när användningsfall är uppenbara dyker andra användningar upp när tiden går och användarna av tekniken hittar andra sätt att tillämpa den.

När Bitcoin först började lades det upp som den första formen av kryptografiskt säkra digitala kontanter. Från och med de första dagarna har tillgången förvandlats till mer av en värdebutik, en spekulativ tillgång för handel och en övertygande digital valuta som potentiellt kan störa många finansiella aspekter.

Vart det går vidare är svårt att säga exakt och kan ta många former. Vissa ser att kryptovalutan blir den globala reservtillgången, medan Arcane Researchs rapport pekar på att Bitcoin tar över säkerhetsmarknaden, och här är varför.

Bitcoin „perfekt“ för att bli den globala säkerhetstillgången

På grund av tillgångens potentiella och till synes obegränsade användningsfall är det den kanske mest spekulativa tillgången historiskt. På grund av detta handlar det med vild volatilitet som orsakade att det var särskilt attraktivt med derivathandlare. Och det är där ett nytt användningsfall har oväntat blomstrat.

Enligt Arcane har Bitcoins användning som säkerhet i huvudsak startats av derivatmarknaden på grund av digital portabilitet, vilket fungerar som ett bevis på koncept för andra säkerhetsärenden.

Rapporten fortsätter att kalla Bitcoin den ”perfekta” säkerhetstillgången av skäl bortom portabilitet. Andra orsaker till detta påstående är att tillgången inte kan beslagtas och därför är fri från motpartsrisk, och den handlas globalt, 24/7 över alla gränser.

Bitcoins användning som säkerhet i DeFi-applikationer växer också tack vare Wrapped BTC. Den totala användningen i alla säkerhetsapplikationer från DeFi till derivat och sedan vissa förväntas nå 1 000 000 BTC år 2023.

Säkerhetsmarknaden är för närvarande en 20 biljon dollar marknad som bara väntar på att bli utnyttjad av Bitcoin. Även om inte alla kanske har sett detta användningsfall komma, är det verkligen en tillgång som skulle kunna tjäna, och skulle i slutändan gynna investerare och ekosystemet båda.

La Banca di Singapore dice che le Cryptocurrencies „potrebbero sostituire l’oro come riserva di valore“, ma difficilmente potrebbero sostituire le valute Fiat

Una nuova nota di ricerca pubblicata dalla Bank of Singapore (BOS) suggerisce che le crittocittà hanno maggiori probabilità di sostituire l’oro come riserva di valore. Tuttavia, la nota dice che è improbabile che tali valute digitali possano sostituire le monete fiat anche se il loro appeal cresce.

Unità di cambio inefficiente

Secondo la nota della ricerca, è la volatilità delle crittocorse che le rende „un’unità di scambio inefficiente“. Questa inefficienza, a sua volta, rende le crittocromie un mezzo di scambio inadatto. Tuttavia, come spiega un rapporto di un punto vendita locale, le valute Bitcoin Evolution crittografiche hanno maggiori possibilità se riescono a superare „ostacoli chiave come la fiducia, la volatilità, l’accettazione normativa e i rischi di reputazione“. Una volta superati questi ostacoli, allora tali „valute digitali possono essere utilizzate anche nei portafogli degli investitori come potenziali beni rifugio e per la diversificazione delle attività“.

Nel frattempo, lo stesso rapporto dei media cita Mansoor Mohi-uddin, il capo economista di BOS, che spiega che anche gli investitori „hanno bisogno di istituzioni affidabili per poter detenere le valute digitali in modo sicuro“. Oltre a questo, l’economista dice che „la liquidità deve migliorare significativamente per ridurre la volatilità a livelli gestibili“.

Sebbene il valore del bitcoin sia aumentato di oltre il 300% nell’ultimo anno, l’asset digitale ha subito ampie fluttuazioni di prezzo. Ad un certo punto, l’asset cripto è crollato di oltre il 30% in un giorno che è diventato noto come il Giovedì Nero. Usando questo crollo dei prezzi come esempio, Mohi-uddin conclude che l’asset cripto è in realtà „correlato con le azioni e altri asset a rischio piuttosto che essere scambiato come un rifugio sicuro anticiclico“.

Secondo la valutazione dell’economista, questo significa che l’asset cripto è „probabilmente oggetto di dumping da parte degli investitori durante un crollo del mercato, come è avvenuto all’inizio della pandemia nel marzo 2020“.

Investitori istituzionali e liquidità

Nel frattempo, la BOS suggerisce che la maggiore partecipazione ai mercati delle criptovalute da parte di investitori più grandi potrebbe essere un modo per risolvere la sfida della liquidità. La BOS dice:

Una maggiore partecipazione da parte degli investitori istituzionali, come gli asset manager con orizzonti temporali a più lungo termine rispetto agli acquirenti al dettaglio o agli hedge fund, potrebbe contribuire ad aumentare la liquidità, a ridurre la volatilità e a far sì che l’azione sui prezzi sia guidata più dai fondamentali che dalla speculazione.

Per quanto riguarda la potenziale funzione delle valute digitali come alternative al fiat money, la nota di ricerca di BOS considera i rischi di reputazione come un ostacolo. Inoltre, Mohi-uddin sostiene che i governi hanno dimostrato la loro riluttanza ad abbracciare una tecnologia che „potrebbe potenzialmente spostare le valute nazionali“. Inoltre, afferma che i governi potrebbero non tollerare tecnologie che limitano la „capacità dei politici di stampare denaro durante le crisi economiche“.

Austrian crypto company Bitpanda launches a debit card that can be used to make transactions not only in euros, but also in precious metals or cryptocurrencies.

Vienna-based FinTech company Bitpanda is launching its own debit card. The company announced this on its own homepage. Customers will thus be able to use the card to make payments also in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Future or precious metals such as gold. The card is currently only available for citizens within the Eurozone. There are no account management or card issuance fees involved, according to Bitpanda. Payments in euros would also be carried out free of charge. Only for transactions with foreign currency does the crypto company charge a fee.

The payment processing with digital or physical assets is carried out by converting the current rate of the respective asset into euros. For example, if one pays for a coffee with Bitcoin, the Bitpanda debit card converts the cryptocurrency into euros and debits the amount from the account. In the process, the usual trading surcharges are paid to the Viennese FinTech. Premium customers receive a cashback of between 0.5 and 2 percent. In addition, the debit card is to support contactless payments as well as GPay and Samsung Pay.

Bitpanda launches own index for Bitcoin and Co.

Previously, Bitpanda came under the spotlight in October when the company announced plans to map the top 25 cryptocurrencies in its own index. Via the Bitpanda Crypto Index (BCI), crypto users have since been able to build a „diversified cryptocurrency portfolio.“ The portfolio regularly readjusts itself to market changes. Thus, the listed coins and tokens in the BCI can also change on a monthly basis.

This was made possible through a partnership with MV Index Solutions, the index division of leading asset manager VanEck. MVIS obtains the data for this from CryptoCompare, a market observation platform for the crypto space.

The Stable Act could mean the end of Tether.

The US government wants tighter controls on stablecoins.

Tether could be replaced by a regulated crypto-dollar.

Unregulated stablecoins such as Tether face increasing regulatory pressure from the US government.

A new US bill called the Stable Act is causing anxiety in the crypto community. The introduction of this law could effectively put an end to billions of dollars in transactions and set the industry back several years.

The law, as reported by BeInCrypto , calls for banking licenses for stablecoin issuers such as Tether.

It doesn’t end there. The bill proposes additional requirements for Federal Reserve reporting. It also offers issuance approval in addition to constant checks, and an insurance policy to cover assets.

Another proposal may require stablecoin issuers to store their reserves directly with the U.S. Federal Reserve. This puts them under the control of the central bank and significantly limits their open use.

An apocalyptic law for Tether and crypto

A report from Dragonfly Research offers an in-depth analysis of the current use of stablecoin . He concludes that if the bill passes, it could spell the end of Tether:

Make no mistake: the day Tether is slain it will prove to be apocalyptic .

Tether is by far the largest and most widely used stablecoin. Its supply has grown 410% this year alone, from $ 4.1 billion in market cap in early January to $ 20.9 billion today, according to the Tether Transparency Report .

Tether, or the “cryptodollar” as the report researcher calls it, has revolutionized the industry over the past two years. He opened up huge trading gateways with massive liquidity that was not possible using fiat.

The USDT has been a liferaft for many citizens in countries with hyperinflation or tight currency controls. It also helped fuel the rise of DeFi alongside Ethereum.

However, several US agencies and prosecutors are investigating Tether. The company has so far produced very few defenses or audits.

Tether cannot support its monumental growth, which is not sustainable, the research added. The authors say the day of his demise will bring down the entire industry.

Crypto markets will collapse, exchanges will be in disarray, millions of crypto traders will likely have their assets frozen, and prices will drop everywhere.

The future of stablecoins

Currently, the “Stable Act” is only a proposal. It is the subject of much criticism from industry leaders and entrepreneurs, for example. They say the proposal sends the United States back to a dark age in terms of innovation and digitization.

However, a recent statement from the Presidential Task Force bodes ill for this crypto segment. The statement suggests that all stablecoin holders should be subject to KYC (know your customer) requirements, which indicates that stablecoins are still in their sights.

Tether may not be the future of the digital dollar. First, a regulated stablecoin that becomes the de facto standard is a likely replacement. Then there will inevitably be more audits and identity checks by governments, banks and tax authorities. If so, the freedoms we have today with the digital money movement could be a thing of the past.

BTC-rally komt op stoom terwijl Litecoin de hoogtepunten van 2019 ziet. BCH ziet Square-cashback-boost en Bancor bouwt voort op DeFi-winsten met Coinbase-toevoeging.

Bitcoin kwam boven de $ 20k, zoals ik vorige week voorspelde , en de munt bereikte zondag een hoogste punt van $ 24.300.

De cryptomarkt is maandag enigszins gedaald, omdat markten reageren op een nieuwe aanval van coronavirus-paniek in Europa

Bitcoin was vorige week gestegen toen de US-dollar werd geteisterd door het langverwachte tweede stimuleringspakket voor de Verenigde Staten, dat naar verwachting later op de dag zal worden aangenomen. De deal is voor $ 900 miljard, waarbij de bevolking elk een cheque van $ 600 krijgt. De markt heeft die deal nu geprijsd en de huidige heropkomst van viruspaniek heeft de dollar met meer dan 1% gestegen. Een nieuwe virusstam die in het VK wordt aangetroffen, is naar verluidt besmettelijker en dit is het zien van andere landen die een reisverbod op vluchten van en naar het land instellen, waarbij Frankrijk 20% van de voedselvoorziening stopzet door transport te blokkeren. Een nieuwe ronde van chaos op de financiële markten zou Bitcoin ondersteund kunnen worden, hoewel de liquiditeitsgolf van maart een waarschuwing was.

BTC haalde vorige week wat negatief nieuws van zich af dat de financiële toezichthouder FinCEN probeerde zijn klauwen in de cryptocurrency-ruimte te krijgen. Een regel die vrijdag door het ministerie van Financiën is voorgesteld, zou ertoe kunnen leiden dat houders van Amerikaanse digitale valuta moeten voldoen aan de ken-uw-klant (KYC) -vereisten om hun bezit over te dragen van beurzen naar persoonlijke portemonnees. Brian Armstrong, CEO van de Coinbase-beurs, zei dat het bedrijf de regels zou uitdagen, in een Tweet die werd gedeeld door Litecoin-oprichter Charlie Lee.

De sterke opmars van Bitcoin in de afgelopen week betekent dat de munt zal uitkijken naar het $ 20k-cijfer voor ondersteuning en dat traders de aandelenmarkten in de gaten moeten houden. We gaan het jaareinde in wanneer portefeuilles worden aangepast vóór het nieuwe jaar en grote beleggers willen misschien winst nemen op de schuimige marktwaarderingen als ze bang zijn voor een nieuwe ronde van virusonrust in 2021.

De totale markt voor cryptocurrency is nu $ 662 miljard en BTC is verantwoordelijk voor 66% van dat cijfer

Litecoin was de best presterende munt van de week met een voorschot van 34%. Het op vier na grootste muntenproject heeft nu een marktkapitalisatie van $ 7 miljard.

Grayscale, een van de grootste beheerders van digitale activa, heeft de laatste tijd belangstelling voor de munt opgemerkt en heeft een diepgaand onderzoekspaper uitgebracht dat het „een van de meest interessante digitale valuta’s van het ecosysteem“ noemt. Het bedrijf maakte onlangs bekend dat het beheerd vermogen medio december was gestegen tot $ 13 miljard. Het bedrijf heeft meer dan $ 10 miljard geïnvesteerd in Bitcoin, en hoewel er slechts $ 75 miljoen in LTC is, is de vraag gestegen, dus het is mogelijk dat LTC door nieuwe investeerders als ‘ondergewaardeerd’ wordt beschouwd, aangezien de recente rally van Bitcoin de aandacht op de markt vestigt.

Sąd w Paryżu skazał domniemanego rosyjskiego hakera Bitcoin Alexander Vinnik na pięć lat więzienia za przestępstwa związane z praniem brudnych pieniędzy oraz za podanie fałszywych informacji o pochodzeniu dochodów. Oprócz tego na Vinnika nałożono karę grzywny w wysokości 100 tys. euro (121 tys. dolarów).

Podejrzany o oszustwo związane z bitcoinami, domniemany właściciel rosyjskiej giełdy krypto walutowej BTC-e, Alexander Vinnik rozpoczął w ubiegłym miesiącu w Paryżu długo oczekiwany proces. Według francuskich prokuratorów, Vinnik był podejrzany o bycie głównym twórcą „Locky’ego“, który doprowadził do szyfrowania danych użytkowników, po czym rzekomo zażądał okupu w bitcoin. W 2016 r. i do 2018 r. kilka podmiotów we Francji było celem tego złośliwego oprogramowania, w wyniku czego dwadzieścia ofiar zapłaciło okup za pośrednictwem BTC-e.

W procesie sądowym w Paryżu, który odbył się w zeszłym miesiącu, 41-letni Vinnik został oskarżony o oszustwo związane z okupem w wysokości 135 mln euro (157 mln dolarów) i stanął w obliczu nawet dziesięciu lat więzienia. Ponadto Vinnik, który twierdzi, że był niewinny, stoi w obliczu 21 zarzutów ze strony amerykańskich agencji prawnych, oskarżając go o pranie miliardów dolarów związanych z grupami przestępczymi, a także o kradzież tożsamości, a nawet o ułatwianie handlu narkotykami.

Vinnik, który wcześniej twierdził, że był tylko pracownikiem BTC-e, z miesięcznym wynagrodzeniem w wysokości 10.000 euro, wcześniej zaprzeczył wszystkim wymienionym oskarżeniom.

Był również poszukiwany w Rosji, w rzeczywistości Vinnik rozpoczął strajk głodowy, domagając się ekstradycji do Rosji, gdzie został oskarżony o mniejsze oszustwa na kwotę 9.500 euro (11.200 dolarów).

Wcześniej w czerwcu nowozelandzka policja przejęła aktywa warte 91 milionów dolarów od Rosjanina, który wyprał miliardy dolarów w kryptońskiej walucie. Policja twierdziła, że aktywa te znajdowały się w nowozelandzkiej spółce Canton Business Corporation, która rzekomo prowadziła nieczynną już giełdę BTC-e.

According to Danny Masters of CoinShares, Bitcoin’s risk due to its volatility has disappeared by 2020.

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According to statements by CoinShares‘ president, Danny Masters, the main risk associated with Bitcoin is not having that cryptomontage. During an interview with CNBC, he stated that the feeling related to that digital currency, is „electric“.

According to his position, the vision of the pioneering cryptomone currency as a risky asset for investors has changed. Now, by contrast, for a portfolio manager, there is a potential danger if he does not own a certain investment in Bitcoin.

For Masters, who served as a former JPMorgan commodity trader, Bitcoin is an asset that has become increasingly trusted. This explains why dozens of institutional investors, rather than turning away from cryptomoney in times of crisis, are actively seeking it out.

75 crypto exchanges that were buried in 2020

The risk is in other assets rather than in Bitcoin
The time when Bitcoin was presented as a risky investment, due to its volatility, seems to be behind us. „The professional risk of having Bitcoin in an institutional portfolio, as an administrator of the portfolio, is rapidly migrating to a professional risk of not having Bitcoin in the portfolio. This is a really surprising development,“ he explained.

At the same time, CoinShares‘ chairman believes that Bitcoin’s volatility is not a source of nervousness for investors. This is due, in his view, to the fact that other assets are even more volatile than the crypt-currency itself.

„The volatility of other asset classes, has proved to be much higher than people expected,“ he stressed in that regard. The most popular of the digital currencies, it has a maturity index that it did not have before, which gives a good image in front of all types of investors, he said.

For him, Bitcoin’s stigma of volatility has been lifted from major investors. He also stressed that the question is not whether companies will open up to Bitcoin or not, but when and to what extent.

The environment is less and less affected by the crypto currency

An important aspect that, according to Masters, minimises the risk of Bitcoin, is that it no longer wobbles from external shocks. In a report published by the firm in October, he stressed that, at other times, a case like BitMEX would have meant a resounding fall for the currency.

The economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 pandemic only strengthened the cryptomoney. On the other hand, Trump’s statements, threats and attacks by regulators such as BitMEX and the hacking of KuCoin, do not seem to have damaged Bitcoin’s momentum.

„I was surprised by the lack of negative price movement,“ he explained, referring to the cases mentioned. On the contrary, he points out that the level of greed surrounding Bitcoin has increased considerably.

Events that would otherwise have led to a massive sale are being responded to by more investors. At the same time, a large number of investors are on the lookout for Bitcoin’s price to fall in order to invest large sums, which excludes any hint of risk.

This could explain why, after each correction, the price rises in a very short time.

Things to consider
During an interview with CNBC, the president of CoinShares assures that it is more risky not to have Bitcoin than the opposite.
In his view, Bitcoin’s volatility doesn’t make investors nervous because other assets are even more volatile.
The level of greed has not diminished despite external events that would otherwise have affected the price of the currency.
Bitcoin, he explains, has already shed the old stigma of representing an investment risk.

Bitcoin dyppede under $ 18.000, før han gendannede på et højere volumen end gennemsnittet. I mellemtiden viser eters prisudvikling en afvigelse fra bitcoin.

Bitcoin (BTC) handler omkring $ 18.374 pr. 21:00 UTC (16:00 ET). Glider 0,85% i løbet af de foregående 24 timer.
Bitcoins 24-timers rækkevidde: $ 17.990 – $ 18.752 (CoinDesk 20)
BTC under dets glidende gennemsnit på 10 dage og 50 dage, et baissignal for markedsteknikere.

Find USD / BTC-volumener på større spillesteder.

”En tilbagetrækning lige under rekordhøjden er ikke uventet, og det vil endda være sundt,” sagde David Lifchitz, investeringschef hos kvanthandelsfirmaet ExoAlpha. ”Vi kunne se Bitcoin Lifestyle bevæge sig sidelæns herfra i en $ 18.000 – $ 19.000 rækkevidde eller måske endda trække sig tilbage til $ 16.000, før vi prøvede en ny rækkevidde på alle tiders højeste.”

Bitcoins rekordhøje pris er $ 19.783, der er sat den 4. november 2017 ifølge CoinDesk 20-data.

Bitcoin-handel på Bitstamp siden 20. november.

Bitcoins pris var overalt mandag og dyppede under $ 18.000 og ramte så højt som $ 18.752, inden den afregnede til $ 18.374 som ved pressetiden.

Læs mere: Bitcoin står over for volatilitet, når futuresmarkedet viser tegn på overophedning
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Det så ud til, at flere handlende ramte salgsknappen i betragtning af verdens ældste kryptovalutas volatilitet mandag.

”Mest sandsynligt vil vi røre ved $ 19.000-mærket inden starten på en korrektion,” bemærkede Constantin Kogan, administrerende partner hos Wave Financial.

En anden uge er begyndt med højere USD / BTC spotvoluminer end normalt, en faktor der førte til bitcoins bullish løb i sidste uge. Pr. Pressetid nåede den daglige volumen $ 907 millioner, hvilket er meget højere end den sidste måneds daglige gennemsnit på $ 489 millioner.

Oplysninger om bitcoin-pris hele tiden.

Analytikere holder øje med Kina-baserede kryptostrømme for at hjælpe med at indikere, hvor prisen kan være på vej. Kina-fokuseret børs OKEx har for eksempel ikke haft nogen udstrømning siden 16. oktober efter standsning af tilbagetrækninger. Siden da er bitcoins pris steget til over $ 18.000 fra $ 11.500, mens OKEx-brugere ikke har været i stand til at trække nogen krypto fra børsen.

Darius Sit, administrerende partner for det maleriske firma QCP Capital. sagde OXEx “muligvis bidraget” til prisstigningen, men et større problem har været at dukke op på fastlandet. „Det er ikke kun OKEx men over hele linjen – vanskeligheder med at få fiat“ ud af Kina, tilføjede Sit.

Bitcoin udstrømmer på OKEx (orange) versus pris (blå) siden 1/9/20.

”OKEx-historien er bare underlig,” sagde George Clayton, administrerende partner for investeringsselskabet Cryptanalysis Capital. OKEx er „enormt, men med al den institutionelle strøm omkring krypto, tror jeg ikke status for en enkelt børs er tilstrækkelig til at påvirke priser ud over typisk daglig volatilitet.“

Det er faktisk muligt, at institutionelle investorer, der har stablet sig ind, kan hjælpe med at absorbere eventuelle problemer, som Kina-baserede kryptovirksomheder måtte have. Derivatmarkedet er et tegn på dette, da bitcoin-futures ramte 7 mia. $ I åben rente søndag med institutionel mødested CME på 1 mia. $.

Bitcoin futures åbner interesse det sidste år.

„Det er vigtigt at huske, at der bevæger sig et stort stykke institutionelle penge og ikke så meget detailhandel,“ bemærkede Chris Thomas, leder af digitale aktiver for Swissquote Bank. „Så vi ser et mere struktureret skridt højere her, som skal fortsætte et stykke tid endnu.“
BTC, ETH korrelation brydning

Den næststørste kryptokurrency efter markedsværdi, ether (ETH), handlede mandag omkring $ 595 og klatrede 5,3% på 24 timer fra kl. 21:00 UTC (16:00 ET).

Siden 20. november har prisen på bitcoin været relativt stagneret og er kun steget med 3% pr. Pressetid.

Spot bitcoin-handel på Bitstamp siden 20. november.

Prisen på ether er steget med over 25% i samme tidsperiode.

Spot etherhandel på Bitstamp siden 20. november.

Ifølge data fra CoinDesk Research var afkast af bitcoin og ether stærkt korreleret i marts, april og maj på en 90-dages rullende basis – selv før begyndelsen af ​​marts-udsalg, der tog sin vejafgift på aktiver over hele linjen. Siden juni har korrelationer dog for det meste været lavere.

Bitcoin og eters 90-dages korrelation i 2020.

Nogle investorer tilskriver den nylige eterkurs, der er adskilt fra bitcoin, Ethereum-netværks plan om at skifte til „2.0“

Every Friday, Law Decoded offers an analysis of the week’s critical stories in the areas of policy, regulation and law.

Editor’s note

Are you over the election? I’m already over them. But you can bet that as soon as I finish writing this week’s Law Decade, I will compulsorily go and check what is happening in Georgia and Pennsylvania. And I think I’m not the only one.

Although the elections hijacked all news cycles, cryptomonies were not abandoned on a street corner. Probably the most remarkable thing is that Bitcoin Millionaire scam is reaching highs that I haven’t seen since January 2018. Given that the price of BTC often reacts positively to fears of political instability, this is not entirely surprising.

The most specific interactions of regulators with cryptosystems are the ongoing enforcement measures. The US Department of Justice has taken the lead in this internationally. Law Decoded has spoken extensively about the Justice Department over the past month, and for good reason. They have taken huge steps to address what they perceive to be the illegal use of crypto coins since a framework was issued in early October to bring digital coins into compliance.

While we may be seeing some legal tantrums and vote counting, Biden appears to have won the White House. The Department of Justice is headed by the Attorney General, Bill Barr is the current Attorney General and it was Trump. While the regulatory lobby is unlikely to reverse its new capabilities to monitor crypto currencies, Barr has been at the forefront of that fight, as well as other anti-technology measures to ban end-to-end encryption and Section 230. The attitude of any nominee for Biden who intends to replace Barr will therefore be very important.

A deal with the Department of Justice

The Department of Justice filed a request to seize a huge amount of tokens that had originated on Silk Road, following an IRS and Chainalysis investigation.

The pile of crypto coins has a total value of USD 1 billion and was under the control of an unknown hacker, who is referred to enigmatically as „Individual X“ in the Justice Department’s file. Mr. X had apparently handed over these tokens to the Justice Department on November 3, which was the same day that the funds were moved.

According to the complaint, in 2013 Individual X stole at least 69,471 Bitcoin from Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road who is currently serving a double life sentence. Since then, apart from a transfer of 101 BTCs to the defunct BTC-e exchange, these currencies had remained mostly intact, going through a series of forks and increases in value.

Some speculation suggests that the hacker in question made a big deal to keep himself out of jail. The complaint specifies that Ross Ulbricht knew his identity online, which may mean that Ulbricht gave up his information to get some leniency for his own sentence. USD 1 billion can probably persuade the justice system to be very merciful.

Visa’s purchase of Plaid is heavily criticised

Last week, Cointelegraph reported in a news series that the Department of Justice was investigating Visa’s acquisition of USD 5.3 billion Plaid, which had initially been announced in January. This week, the agency filed a formal complaint, initiating an antitrust suit that, if successful, would cancel the acquisition.

Antitrust considerations have taken on great importance recently because of concerns that the use of data has been a new means of illegal market domination, something that the Sherman Act of 1890 was hardly prepared for. Major technology companies have to answer questions about how they prioritise content and share consumer information.

Plaid is a highly regarded mediator, allowing interoperation between the digital systems that handle financial information, the kind of personal information that people are somewhat susceptible to keeping private. The Department of Justice claims that Visa is trying to swallow a potential competitor. But, regardless, Plaid is facing a series of class action lawsuits for its own misuse of customer data, which is especially egregious because most people who send their data through Plaid don’t even know they are doing so. Perhaps that is what caught Visa’s attention.

Is the Cayman Islands returning from exile?

New legislation in the Cayman Islands has begun to tighten anti-money laundering controls in the country’s crypto currency market and, in particular, to increase registration of local crypto currency exchanges.

The Cayman Islands legislature initially began considering a comprehensive review of cryptomonies in April, but the first provisions are only now being implemented.

Like many other British territories and Crown dependencies overseas, the Cayman Islands has a long history as a hotbed for tax evasion, relocation and money laundering. They seem to be trying to change that image, at least in part. The European Union did not remove the country from its blacklist until October, although it is not yet on the white list. The US still identifies the jurisdiction as „most at risk“.

The problem is that most of these tax havens derive much of their income from hosting financial services that the UK itself, the EU or the US would not allow. So how much motivation does the Cayman Islands have to clean up its act?

Further reading

Chris Giancarlo and Daniel Gorfine of the Digital Dollar Project gave their opinion on a cashless future for MarketWatch.

Volkov Law Group completed its analysis of the Department of Justice’s cryptomoney enforcement framework published last month.

Brookings‘ Techstream collected the misinformation seen during the week of the presidential election.