by Samuel Mbaki | Mar 27, 2023 | Banking, Cryptocurrencies
Several Chinese banks are reportedly seeking to offer financial services to crypto firms in Hong Kong despite a crypto blanket ban in mainland China. Hong Kong has been active lately in crypto regulation and plans to have a new licensing regime for crypto exchanges this June.
America out China in?
New information has surfaced via a March 27 report by Bloomberg stating that Chinese banks, including Bank of China LTD, the Bank of Communications Co., and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, are lining up to support crypto establishments in Hong Kong.
One source stated that a Chinese bank sales representative even visited a main office of a crypto company to pitch banking services despite the current ban. Reports have also been surfacing that China could be on the way to reconsidering the blanket ban on cryptos.
Such developments would be vital, considering that some lawmakers in the US are not so happy with the crypto space. They are using enforcement measures to regulate the space, charging crypto exchanges and platforms heavily for not registering while not offering chances for them to do so.
However, the readoption of crypto in China is still unconfirmed and only time will tell how far it will go and the role it might play in revitalizing the crypto space. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on this and other financial technology-related news.
by Fintech Express | Mar 25, 2023 | Blockchain
NFT investor Brandon Riley has lost $135K by burning his crypto punk NFT when trying to get a loan by collateralizing it. He used the wrong method permanently removing his NFT from circulation.
‘Hard-to-use’ UI costs an investor a $135K NFT
Brandon has gone on Twitter to mourn his massive five-figure loss earlier today, claiming that his process of borrowing money has cost him 77 ETH. Riley had purchased the crypto punk NFT alongside another BAYC NFT earlier this month and said he hoped to hold them through to the next decade.
In a tweet, he said he believes he has the stomach to ride the bull and bear runs and can manage to watch the assets get a 90%+ downturn. He added that he believes the assets will most likely have appreciated by far in the next decade.
What happened?
Now, his dream of holding his beloved punk has gone in flames. Riley is a seasoned NFT collector who knows the need to buy NFTs before a bull market. However, he needed some cash and opted to get a loan against his punk NFT.
Some Twitter users asked him what happened, and he explained that the unfamiliar wrapping of the NFT cost him. He accidentally sent that asset to a burn wallet after completing the process.
Riley explained that he was not wrapping the asset to sell it on Blur but wanted to make it his “forever punk.” He added that the asset was beloved to him as its number was the exact reverse of his BAYC, and he was wrapping it only because he needed to draw some liquidity from it.
Some onlookers believed Riley had “deep pockets,” which he denied by claiming that he bought the asset with borrowed money. While concluding and conceding the mistake, Riles noted, “I just shouldn’t have attempted this on my own, I guess,” which should be a lesson for everyone.
by Jefferson Nunn | Mar 21, 2023 | Cryptocurrencies
All successful technologies in the past few decades experience five major waves. Crypto is nearing wave five. Unlike other major technologies, Crypto is unique in that not only does it tie technology to finance, but it also represents a major paradigm shift in our approach to work.
One of the unique crypto aspects is this philosophical underpinning about how work is done. The removal of even one potential overlord from the traditional workflow – a “boss” if you will – has the traditional finance community completely riled up. It is my opinion that the centralized finance debacles that we have seen has led to the current atmosphere of distrust within the crypto community. We must restore trusted communications between project leaders if we are to continue crypto’s evolution beyond wave 5.
Crypto technology is usually associated with just a faster way of paying someone. For example, $100 is converted to some number of bitcoins and sent to another address within minutes. Although this is a major ‘selling’ point of crypto, it is not the only aspect of crypto’s evolutionary approach to finance. Decentralized Finance, NFT’s and Smart Contracts are major evolutionary steps that has increased the fear and loathing of crypto by leaders of Centralized Finance.
The average consumer is not well informed by their usual sources of news. Industry publications such as Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and others has positioned crypto as something to fear. This is because Smart Contracts has removed the traditional concept of an overlord. The traditional finance community has long held the belief that an asset manager is required to manage any financial asset. A banker, a stockbroker, an investment advisor and so on are examples of these.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has removed the need for such individuals. An asset can be placed within a DeFi Cryptocurrency Smart Contract and earn compounded interest automatically. Sometime between 2013 and 2015, I believe that this new concept was seen as a major threat to Centralized Finance (CeFi) and their community rallied to create many CeFi Cryptocurrency exchanges with the same appeal as the DeFi Cryptocurrency Smart Contracts.
FTX, Voyager, Luna, Celsius and many others came out of the 2015 boom and bust cycle. When each of these exchanges failed, a new word was spread by traditional finance journals, such as the Wall Street Journal. To wit, their headline reads: “Contagion” and “Fear” spreads in the Crypto community. There are now so many TV shows, articles and more that state that Crypto is something to be afraid of. Investors have lost “billions” to crypto. A more accurate article would be to say that investors were scammed by the centralized finance community utilizing the selling points of crypto technology.
Throughout this entire process, the crypto technology has continued to improve and mature. Ethereum has switched to proof of stake and is continuing to evolve in both transaction speed and technical language capabilities. There are many crypto projects that are evolving as well. Solve.care, Drone Industry Systems, Presearch and many others are leveraging the crypto technology to create something better for all of us. Within each of the three projects, it is not necessary to be an investor of the project to receive a benefit.
With Solve.Care, one can just be a member of an exchange and then to see a doctor. The care wallet takes care of everything. With Drone Industry Systems, one can rent rooftop space or place a drone within their network. With Presearch – simply search on Presearch.com. Each of these services has an access point for a traditional user of the system. Crypto technology is leveraged to provide an enhanced experience for the end user. If one is interested to become an investor of these projects, then the traditional rule of finance still applies – due diligence is necessary. I suspect that even these rules needs to be enhanced over time such that investing into and providing governance around these projects becomes meaningful. DAO is still in the early days and it will likely take at least a decade before DAO’s become commonplace and standardized.
Regardless, it is important to continue to communicate. Traditional Finance does not have a lot of runway left. The formula behind it is simply broken beyond repair. Any true dashboard that examines the underpinnings of even the US Dollar is flashing code red. I hope and I pray that cryptocurrency can provide a stable foundation for the language of energy. It can and it has done some incredible things over the last decade. But what it has not been able to do is to restore trusted communications between project leaders.
There must be a way that we can continue to communicate and to share projects without the fear and loathing that these centralized financial leaders have so wrongly imposed upon us. To our audience, we cannot be held to such a high standard to imply that any spoken word is the absolute truth beyond the shadow of a doubt. We have all been wrong at some point or other in our lives. We have all associated with undesirables from time to time. Such are the rigors of life.
If we communicate about a project, this does not imply endorsement of any kind. Each of us will do as much as we can to examine a project. If it looks cool or exciting, we might invite others to examine the project. By no means do we imply that everyone should immediately become accredited investors and to deploy their life savings in the gamble that they will immediately become rich. This concept is a creation by centralized finance leaders and spokespersons. They portray themselves as the gatekeepers of the overnight success sensation. That one requires an investment advisor to immediately gain unimaginable wealth. There are no genies in this world. And the world has long used up its’ three wishes.
What cryptocurrency can do – through some seriously hard work by some talented individuals – is to save our world from a certain death. Capitalism is on a path to consume itself and to leave nothing left. One look at Putin’s threats to unleash a radioactive end to this world is sufficient. All of this fear leads to the immediate reaction to shell ourselves off from the world and to speak no further evil. This cannot and does not work.
We must communicate to a community. We must share in our understanding of a broader world and to invite participation in and of it. No person is an island.
Sharing our understanding about another project to a community does not imply an endorsement or investment advice. It simply is saying to the world, “hey look – I found something cool and exciting!” In this way, we can all work together towards a better world.
If a project shares a coupon code or a lead generation form from another project, it doesn’t mean that the other project is a guaranteed winner. It may just be a way for the community to examine the project and to learn more about it for any variety of reasons.
On standard TV Talk Shows, Oprah Winfrey shares many products. These products do not carry her endorsement. There have been several spectacular failures of a product featured by Oprah. There are also many good products that the consumers have enjoyed. Oprah is not judged by the products that she features. She invites the owners of the products onto the air to discuss the products to her audience. The audience can make up their own mind about the product. She is using her capabilities as a leader to interview other leaders.
The crypto community needs to get past its’ fear of another. There will be failures. There will be successes. Over time, standards will be created and the crypto community will soon enjoy the fifth wave.
by Samuel Mbaki | Feb 21, 2023 | Cryptocurrencies, Regulation
Christopher Emms has been allegedly arrested and detained in Moscow for aiding North Korea with its crypto pursuits. It’s not Emm’s first time to be arrested on the matter as he had been in Saudi custody too but was released for lack of enough evidence.
Moscow detains a suspect for aiding North Korea
The Moscow bureau of Interpol has allegedly detained Christopher Emms in connection with past allegations of consulting for North Korea in crypto-related services. The British Citizen was arrested upon his landing in Moscow as his name had been on Interpol’s “red notice”
The 31-year-old British Citizen is alleged to have contacted North Korea and consulted for them in April 2022 alongside Spanish national Alejandro Cao De Benos. Interpol alleges that the two offered knowledge to North Korea on how to use blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in money laundering and evasion of sanctions.
More information indicates that the two planned and moderated the 2019 Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference. It also indicated that there was a third person in the conspiracy, Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum developer. Griffith was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in November 2019 and pleaded guilty to the charges, which ended up getting him 63 months in prison.
Now, Emms could face up to 20 years in jail for one count of conspiring with North Korea to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Crypto crackdowns continue
Crypto crackdowns are increasingly becoming a hot trend in the crypto market. The US has been at the forefront of these crackdowns. Earlier this month, the US settled charges with Kraken crypto exchange and continued taking legal action against crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman Fried. Binance plans to settle charges with the US SEC by taking a penalty.
The UK has been adamant about a crypto advertisement, a stance South Africa is also taking. The two countries seek to free their citizens from the dangers of wrong and deceitful crypto advertisements.
These efforts foreshadow a coming regulatory clean-up in the crypto space. Keep watching fintechexpress for this and other news as soon as they happen.
by Samuel Mbaki | Feb 11, 2023 | Blockchain, Finance
Blockchain technology has been a phenomenal sensation in the fintech industry over the past decade following the launch of bitcoin. Bitcoin ushered in an era of digital money and changed how money functions for good. Here is how blockchain technology can be used to improve the finance sector.
- Increased transparency: One of the most significant benefits of blockchain technology is that it enables increased transaction transparency. This is because all transactions are recorded in a public ledger accessible to all interested parties. This increased transparency can help increase the credibility and trust of fiscal deals, thereby reducing the liability of fraudulent activities.
- Advanced effectiveness: Another crucial benefit of blockchain technology in finance is the improved effectiveness of processes. Transactions can be reused briskly and with lower bureaucracy than traditional financial systems. As such, this technology can help financial institutions save time, enabling them to offer more competitive services to their customers.
- Decentralized Operations: Blockchain technology operates on a decentralized system, meaning no central authority controls it. This makes the system more resistant to malicious attacks and reduces the threat of time-out caused by system failures.
- Better Data Management: With blockchain technology, financial institutions can store, manage, and track their data more effectively. This can help ease the delicacy and trustability of data and ensure that it’s fluently accessible when demanded.
- Increased Security: Blockchain technology uses advanced encryption to secure data, making it more difficult for hackers to steal sensitive information. This increased security can help prevent fraud and other malicious conditioning, giving financial institutions and users peace of mind.
- Further Accessible Services: Blockchain technology can make financial services more accessible to a broader range of people. For illustration, people who don’t have access to traditional banking services can use blockchain-grounded fiscal services to store and transfer their finances securely.
- Enhanced Compliance: This technology can help ensure financial institutions behave fluently with nonsupervisory conditions. This is because all transactions are recorded in a public tally, making tracking and covering them easier.
- Reduced Costs: By reducing the need for interposers, blockchain technology can help financial institutions save on its expenditure. This can help reduce the cost of services for clients, making them more affordable and accessible.
- Increased Competition: The use of blockchain technology can increase competition in the financial sector, enabling new entrants to enter the request and offer innovative services. This can help drive invention and facilitate the overall quality of financial services.
- Better Tracking of Finances: Blockchain technology can help fiscal institutions track the inflow of finances, enabling them to cover and help counter money laundering and other illegal uses. This can help reconfirm the character of banking institutions and increase public trust in the financial sector.
Conclusion
In conclusion, blockchain technology is implicit in bringing about numerous positive changes in the finance sector. This technology can help financial institutions offer better services to their clients and contend more effectively by perfecting transparency, effectiveness, security, and availability.
Still, it’s important to note that while blockchain technology has numerous benefits, it’s still a relatively new and untested technology, and its full impact on the finance sector remains to be seen.
