Freedom of Speech in Peril as China’s Baidu Tieba Shuts-Down Cryptocurrency Online Forums

Colleagues, everyone in free and democratic countries knows that China’ Communist Party subjugates its citizen by placing severe restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. Enter the global crypto ecosystem. The PRC is home to the world’s largest crypto mining company – Bitmain. The PRC is not a haven for crypto exchanges. BitBox and Bit-Z are the most prominent exchanges based in China, whereas Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange moved out of China. The exception is Hong Kong which home to Bitmex, OKEx, BitFinex and several other exchanges presumably due to less government scrutiny. Nonetheless, the PRC has forced the shut-down of cryptocurrency-related social media discussion forums in Baidu Tieba … a Chinese version of Reddit. The question is why? While information is scarce the Cryptocurrency Academy assumes the answer may be due to the prevalence of bad actors and nefarious purposes which are common among second and third tier cryptocurrencies used for money laundering, drug transactions and circumvention of trade sanctions. Send us your thoughts today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/)  

Will Iran’s State-Backed Cryptocurrency Enable the Country to Evade US Economic Sanctions?

Colleagues, Iran has taken a major step toward the creation of a state-backed cryptocurrency. The primary goal of this effort is assumed to be the country’s circumvention of new US economic sanctions in the wake of US President Trump revoking support of the Iran nuclear arms accord in May 2018. Work on a national cryptocurrency dates back to late 2017 when the US President re-affirmed his campaign promise to revoke the accord and re-impose stiff trade sanctions. This initiative has the backing of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and is led by their National Cyberspace Center. Back in January 2018 the US Treasury issued a severe warning against Iran’s use of cyber warfare and development of a cryptocurrency for this very reason. Bottom line: Iran, Russia and Venezuela has announced plans to develop digital currencies for the purpose of evading Western (aka US) trade sanctions. Transaction “transparency” is a vital factors in whether their efforts will be successful at essential protecting nefarious money laundering activities. We assume the currencies which be intentionally designed to avoid detection by the US and its allies. Details to follow in the coming months.

Share your thoughts today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/)  

Will social media-based payment tools allow for “secure” cryptocurrency transactions and fundraising?

Colleagues, Google Pay, Alipay, WeChat Pay and Facebook Payments are among the most popular tools for online payments, money transfers and fundraising. Each tool is confronted with the dilemma of whether to accept cryptocurrency transactions. The Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission and the People’s Bank of China have release strong warnings against the so-called “crypto payments model”. In the US Google Pay and Facebook Payments are faced with similar challenges. They are global platforms and what is acceptable in one country or region may be prohibited elsewhere. The potential security risks are numerous – exchange fraud, money laundering, lack of transaction transparency along with the fundamental integrity of many second and third tier cryptocurrencies are bona fide concerns among government regulators, platform vendors and users alike. There is no “one size fits all” solution. Bottom line: We see marriage of online payment tools and cryptocurrencies as yet another ‘test’ as cryptos seek mass market adoption. Like other crypto related challenges we do believe that in time such issues will be resolved … although for now no one knows the precise solution. Share your thoughts today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/) 

How can Blockchain be used to secure digital documents and transactions in the public sector?

Colleagues, with good intensions the Japanese, Chinese, American and British governments are exploring the use of Blockchain to securely maintain and transmit documents containing sensitive information about their citizens. The latest example of the UK’ Ministry of Justice assessment of Blockchain for protecting its repository of digital forms of evidence. In the US Blockchain represents a means of securely processing records for Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs. Noble endeavors indeed. Nevertheless, the obvious dilemma is that such data and documents needed for smooth government processes will only be as secure as the Blockchains used to manage them. Protecting cryptographic keys remains a top concern. Using hardware security modules (HSMs) and trusted computers in place of digital wallets and as Blockchain nodes will give security-conscious users and organizations greater confidence. As reported by McKinsey and Company recent breaches of crypto exchanges clearly indicate that Blockchain participants and their access to the Blockchain represent a security weakness that must be addressed before the technology. Bottom line: As we have previously reported Blockchain adoption will be directly correlated to the level of both perceived and actual security. Such security is likely to increase as the technology matures. Share your thoughts today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/)  

What will it take for the US SEC to approve cryptocurrency ETFs?

Colleagues, the US SEC maintained its tough stance when it comes to its approval or denial of cryptocurrency ETFs when it refused to grant approval of two new funds submitted by NYSE-based Arca. The Cryptocurrency Academy knows that the US SEC, similar to the Federal Reserve Board, views cryptos as highly speculative investment vehicles. The underlying issue is that both the SEC and the Fed are not convinced that Bitcoin and its sibling Altcoins are bona fide “securities”. Neither of the two Arca proposals would hold “tangible crypto tokens”. Moreover, they are based on crypto “futures”. The combination of these two facts is a non-starter from their perspective. So what are potential crypto investors to do? We see two options. First, invest directly in the cryptocurrencies of choice. And second – as we have commented on over the past few months – invest in the underlying Blockchain software firms. Bottom line: We maintain our prediction that within the next 24-36 months as cryptos gain maturity and market adoption along with strict governance the SEC will much more positively predisposed to approve crypto-related funds. Share your thoughts today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/)  

What would be the impact of securing the Siacoin Distributed Storage Protocol have on Crypto Mining?

Colleagues, the global cryptosphere is rigorously debating the security of the Siacoin Distributed Storage Protocol (aka the Siacoin Blockchain). More security translates into higher trust and integrity of the platform … right? The answer depends on which segment of the crypto ecosystem you ask. The new security code would fork Siacoin and in turn disabling mining products offered by Bitmain and Innosilicon. At press time we are waiting for Nvidia and AMD to weigh-in on this matter. Both companies have seen demand for their mining ASICs slow during H1 2018. So what is the end goal? Some would say driving increased capacity around the world to create a data storage marketplace that is more reliable and lower cost than traditional cloud storage providers. Our view is that this inevitable debate represents just one more growing pain as cryptocurrencies and their underlying Blockchains mature. The issue will get resolved and yes there will be winners and losers. More to come. Share your thoughts today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/)  

Are cryptocurrencies illegal in Islamic nations? They are banned in Saudi Arabia

Colleagues, here at the Cryptocurrency Academy we are not predisposed to playing politics. Yet, in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia we see the collision of cryptocurrencies, religion and government leading to the prohibition of crypto activity “within” the countries boarders. The Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has declared them as a fraud as well as a potential breach of Sharia law. The key question becomes how pervasive is the prohibition of cryptocurrencies across the Islamic world? Islamic nations are not all created equal and some governments are strictly conservative while others are more open to so-called Western trends. Qatar, the UAE, Indonesia and Malaysia are much more progressive in their thinking and business practices. Iran, for purely financial reasons, is launching its own government-back cryptocurrency as a means of evading US economic trade sanctions. Bottom line: The Cryptocurrency Academy views Saudi Arabia as the outlier when it comes to banning cryptocurrencies while other Islamic nations are racing to embrace them with the goal of giving their economies a viable position in the global financial system. Let us know your thoughts today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/)