Seoul to debut blockchain petition system in March

Seoul is set to launch its blockchain-powered petition system on March 1. The system will enable the residents of the city to air their views and share them with the local government. It will replace the existing system which has been marred by claims of fake identities and vote manipulation.

Known as Democracy Seoul, the new system will give the residents of South Korea's capital the opportunity to turn the government's attention to issues that affect them. A resident will be able to propose any issue on the platform and if it gets at least 1,000 votes from other residents, the city's Mayor Park Won-soon will have to address it. This system will be similar to an existing national system that allows South Koreans to air their issues with the government. Once an issue receives 200,000 votes, the national government has to address it.

The national petition system, as with any other online voting system globally, has been marred by accusations of vote manipulation and fake identities. As Decrypt reports, experts have unearthed that it's quite easy to deceive the system, even with little technical expertise. All one needs to cast a vote multiple times is to use a different username and internet service provider.

The use of blockchain will eliminate the authenticity challenge, with the technology being used to verify the identity of every person who votes, preventing duplicate voting. Blockchain will also give the system more transparency, giving the residents more trust in the system.

The blockchain system comes just a fortnight after the Seoul Mayor lowered the threshold number of votes required for the government to respond from 5,000 to 1,000. This will make it possible for the government to respond to more issues. According to a report by the Maeil Business Newspaper, Democracy Seoul has registered over 5,900 civic proposals since it launched in October 2017. 59 of these proposals have gone on to become official city policies.

As Seoul launches its blockchain petition system, South Korea is working on its national blockchain voting system. Announced in November 2018, the system provides real-time visibility of the voting process, making the system more credible. The system incorporates other emerging technologies including the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and big data.

Finland officials confounded over confiscated crypto

Finland has a problem many people wish they had. Finnish authorities are sitting on millions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency and they don't know what to do with it. The currency was seized from criminals years ago, and the government is debating over the best way to liquidate the proceeds. So far, it can't figure out the best way to do it.

According to local media, the Finnish Customs Service has 1,666 BTC that it confiscated from drug dealers several years ago. It doesn't specify when the seizure(s) may have occurred, but says that the confiscated amount was worth around $760,000 at the time. Today, that amount would be worth around $15 million. While other countries find ways to liquidate seized crypto, the Customs Service isn't sure it wants to, but it's logic for hesitating leaves a lot to be desired.

According to the government agency, liquidating the assets would put them back onto the crypto market, where they could once again find their way into the hands of criminals. The repeated excuse that crypto is bad because it facilitates criminal activity has already been shown to be lacking in any substantial foundation by several studies and, if that were a legitimate reason for not liquidating assets, the government would never liquidate any type of assets – real estate, vehicles or more – because they, too, could end up in the hands of criminals.

The solution is simple. For the crypto assets to be calculated, they have to be held in wallets. For the assets to be sold, they have to be exchanged from one wallet to another. Therefore, record the transactions, record the wallet addresses and order the recipients to register any future exchanges or sales with financial authorities or face legal repercussions.

In other parts of the world, government agencies are more than willing to sell confiscated digital currency. The US Marshal's Office has created an almost regular practice out of it and has regularly held auctions to convert digital currency to fiat. However, it may wish it had not been so anxious. If it had held onto all the crypto it has seized, it could have potentially gained as much as $1.7 billion through value increases.

Canaan Creative enters strategic partnership with Northern Data

Crypto mining firm Canaan Creative has announced it has teamed up with blockchain firm Northern Data in a wide ranging strategic partnership.

According to the announcement, Canaan will work alongside Northern Data to pool resources and expertise towards developing on a number of technological and operational fronts. The cooperation will include work on artificial intelligence, blockchain development and data center optimization at scale.

NG Zhang, CEO at Canaan Creative, said the partnership would help the firm expand into new markets, as well as fostering technological advancement: "Our R&D team is collaborating with Northern Data. Both sides have achieved positive results. In addition, Northern Data will provide computational resources support for our overseas R&D in the U.S. Canaan looks forward to further cooperation in product development, AI, and high-performance computing."

Canaan Creative is the second biggest manufacturer of crypto mining equipment in the world. Northern Data specializes in developing high power computing infrastructure, including for blockchain technologies.

Aroosh Thillainathan, CEO of Northern Data AG, said the partnership would help unlock the "massive potential" of blockchain technology.

The partnership follows on from a similar arrangement reached by Northern Data in recent weeks with SBI Crypto, a subsidiary of Japanese financial giants SBI Holdings.

It comes ahead of the firm's plans to launch a new data center in Texas, which will power one of the world's largest crypto mining firms, with a capacity of up to 300 megawatts.

DOJ uses Larry Harmon charges to warn other crypto criminals

Larry Dean Harmon stands accused of committing money laundering for his role in the Helix tumbler and mixing service offered on AlphaBay, a darknet site. For those wondering how these services run afoul of the law, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has helpfully released their side of the story, clearly laying out what Harmon allegedly did.

For those who don't know what a coin mixer or tumbler do, these service allegedly offer to obscure the traceability of cryptocurrency. While they advertise that this increases privacy for users, it can also be interpreted as a form of money laundering, particularly when the transactions being obscured are for illicit purposes. That's what the DOJ is highlighting in this case.

"Helix allegedly laundered hundreds of millions of dollars of illicit narcotics proceeds and other criminal profits for Darknet users around the globe," said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the DOJ's Criminal Division.  "This indictment underscores that seeking to obscure virtual currency transactions in this way is a crime, and that the Department can and will ensure that such crime doesn't pay."

The bottom line is that due to the traceability of blockchains, these tumblers don't work as well as some hope they would. "For those who seek to use Darknet-based cryptocurrency tumblers, these charges should serve as a reminder that law enforcement, through its partnerships and collaboration, will uncover illegal activity and charge those responsible for unlawful acts," said U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Shea of the District of Columbia.

The charges against Harmon suggest he helped launder as much as $3.7 billion in crypto, if calculated at today's prices. He offered the service through Helix, which appeared on the AlphaBay darknet site. He specifically advertised his services as a way to avoid the prying eyes of law enforcement.

"The brazenness with which Helix operated should be the most appalling aspect of this operation to every day citizens. There are bad actors and then there are criminals who facilitate hundreds of other crimes," said Don Fort, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation. "The sole purpose of Harmon's operation was to conceal criminal transactions from law enforcement on the Darknet, and because of our growing expertise in this area, he could not make good on that promise."

Time will tell if the DOJ can make their charges stick on Harmon, but the evidence looks to be on their side. What authorities have proven is that no matter how criminals try to obscure their transactions, the law will always have a way of tracking them down.

$10K Bitcoin Prompts Influencers to Call a Bull Market

Cryptocurrencies have gained significant value over the last few weeks and it's causing exuberance among digital currency proponents. Now a number of traders and influencers believe bitcoin and other coins are in bullish territory. Despite the surge to $13K last July and the deep pullback that followed, BTC investors and influencers have no issue believing that crypto is on the threshold of another bull market.

'Calling the Bull' Is a Bold Move, But a Number of People Are Doing So After BTC Surpasses $10K
Bitcoin traders, analysts, and thought leaders on social media and forums seem to think that the crypto market is facing another bull run. Statements about a "bull market" and a possible "altcoin season" are littered all over Twitter and news articles about the cryptoconomy's swift rise. You can find a number of crypto influencers explaining that the bitcoin bull market is overdue for a variety of reasons.

Some people claim the reward halving is pushing BTC's price up, they say miner capitulation is over, the BTC hashrate has touched an ATH, and most of the non-ideological investors capitulated. Moreover, lots of crypto investors are stressing that "this time is different" even though they know calling a bear or bull market requires judgment and is considered a bold call. But this hasn't stopped a number of crypto's influential figures from doing so.

"Early signs of a bull market," explained @American_hodl on Wednesday. "I am finding myself explaining bitcoin to skeptics and new entrants again. This did not happen during the bear. During the bear, it was just us here."

However, other people disagree with American_hodl and the others who assume the market has turned bullish. Some individuals have certain price points that need to be obtained until they call the bull. "We aren't in a bull market until we close above $10.7k," emphasized @llamamarket. "So I'm patient but it looks more likely I was wrong about $5k at least at this very moment. I'll keep everyone posted if/when I buy." The specific price point at which a bull market occurs has been a trend lately and the crypto influencer Luke Martin touched upon the subject on February 6, tweeting:

Fun observation about BTC in a bull-market is the post each day stating: 'Bitcoin isn't bullish until we cross $10k' which quickly turns into 'Not bullish until we cross $11.6k' which quickly turns into 'Not bullish until we cross $14k,' which turns into 'Not bullish until…'

Bullish Pomp Tweets 'Altcoin Season' Phases, and Never Shorting the Bull
Anthony "Pomp" Pompliano, the well known cofounder of Morgan Creek Digital Assets has been talking about the bull run lately too. On Twitter, Pomp felt the need to give an "important message as we enter the next bitcoin bull market." Pomp explained: "BTC is very volatile, you can lose all of your money, only invest what is ok to lose, Twitter is not investment advice, don't buy BTC with credit cards, keep low time preference, [and] do your own research." When BTC crossed the $10K zone, Pomp let his 309,000 Twitter followers know that he still thinks "bitcoin will hit $100,000 by end of December 2021." In between all the social media and forum discussions about the bull market, a number of individuals say that "altcoin season or altseason" typically happens before the BTC bull market or comes in phases.

Managing partner at Blocktown Capital, Joseph Todaro, discussed the altseason topic and the next bull market on Wednesday. "This is the first altseason of the next bull market," Todaro tweeted. "You only get 3 real altseasons: The early alt pump when bitcoin is still less than ATH (weak), the mid alt pump after bitcoin passes ATH ~$20k (strong), [and] the late alt pump as bitcoin marks cycle top (strong). Bitcoin just hit $10,000." Todaro also quipped and said:
"You know we are in a bull market when Peter Schiff refuses to tweet about bitcoin."

Despite knowing about the prior BTC price dump after July's $13K high, bitcoiners everywhere are still calling the bull after the $10K position was reached. "Bitcoin is currently in an intense bull market and investors are getting excited," another individual tweeted on Wednesday.

"Never short bitcoin in a bull market," explained the BTC thought leader Whale Panda on Tuesday. "Never short bitcoin, period," the popular Twitter account @Arminvanbitcoin replied to Whale Panda's statement. Crypto Twitter influencer Paul McNeal from thecryptocurator.com tweeted to his 20,000 followers about the bull market situation as well: "Market Cap goes up – Bitcoin dominance goes down — Welcome to the bull market of 2020."

This week in crypto

A recompilation of some of this week's cryptocurrency activity shows that the Bitcoin ecosystem is rapidly evolving in 2020. Just barely a month has been put in the books, but not a day goes by without some advance being seen in crypto technology, regulations or operations. As the first week of February comes to a close, it is becoming more apparent that this year is going to see a lot of positive action as digital currencies continue to play a more prominent role in finance.

Despite India not yet knowing how it wants to view the crypto world, at least one exchange is willing to weather the storm and see what happens. Zebpay has announced that it will make a return to the country after shutting down just a year ago over regulatory confusion. Perhaps this will be the year that the Reserve Bank of India wakes up and realizes that it can't stop progress.

While they are at varying stages of addressing the technology, more central banks than ever are broaching the subject of central bank digital currency (CBDC). According to a recent study, four countries have already launched a CBDC, nine have something in development and five more are looking at pilot projects to break into the industry. It's only a matter of time before digital currency becomes as mainstream as email and streaming TV.

Some crypto companies in the UK are going to soon have to start shelling out more money to operate in the country. The Financial Conduct Authority has released a new fee schedule that will force companies with income of up to £250,000 (a little less than $327,000) to pay around £2,000 (about $2,600), while those that earn over that amount will be charged £10,000 ($13,000). The agency justifies the charges as being aligned to what is needed to properly oversee the industry.

Bitberry, a South Korean crypto wallet that has strong ties to the Upbit crypto exchange, is shutting down at the end of this month. It argues that its profits have weakened to the point that keeping the wallet running is no longer economically viable, and urges users to withdraw their funds before it's too late.

It comes as no surprise to anyone that Venezuela's Petro is falling flat. Even domestically, no one wants to have anything to do with the state-backed supposed stablecoin, and many merchants won't even allow the currency to be used for payments. Also as no surprise, the growing sentiment in the country is that Petro is nothing more than a scam.

A lawyer who worked for the fraudulent OneCoin project wants to be vindicated. He has been convicted for being involved in the company as it laundered over $400 million, but claims he's innocent and wants a judge to throw out the charges. His argument is that he wasn't aware of what was going on and only rarely met with the alleged masterminds behind the fraud. However, he probably won't find a lot of sympathy, as court testimony showed that he had moved massive amounts of money between bank accounts in various countries.

Despite certain exchanges' attempts at suppressing Bitcoin SV (BSV) last year, the digital currency's market position shows that it has prevailed. It gained 43% last month, more than any of the other top coins, and will only continue to improve over the long-term, thanks to the recently completed Genesis upgrade. As simply as that, BSV now has no hard cap in place for block size and has unlimited scaling capabilities – positive claims that no other crypto blockchain can make.

The fight between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Telegram lingers on, with the financial regulator launching one accusation after another at the global messaging platform and its GRAM token sale. The SEC has asserted that Telegram never developed a usable product for which the GRAMS had been offered, but the company showed this week that this wasn't the case. It released a white paper, providing the backstory to the Telegram Open Network blockchain, and what work has been done to move it forward.

While some countries appear to be ready to step lightly into the crypto space and others are determined to see it go away, Australia is one of the few countries that has seen the future. Establishing a number of regulations and laws that will help the ecosystem flourish, the exchanges that enter the fray are willing to play by the rules and allow the market to evolve as a viable and legitimate offering. It's only a matter of time before other countries are forced to follow suit.

Police arrest 10 in $6.6M Israeli crypto scam

European authorities have arrested 10 suspects accused of defrauding over $6 million from tens of investors. The suspects conducted a crypto pyramid scheme targeting investors in several European countries, including France, Belgium and the U.K. The arrests are the culmination of an extensive investigation that began in 2018.

The investigation was led by Europol and Eurojust, EU agencies that focus on law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation respectively. In a press release, Eurojust indicated that the scheme had defrauded 85 investors, mainly from France and Belgium, although it was based in Israel.

The scheme targeted its victims by phone, promising them incredible returns of up to 35% for a small investment. In a classic pyramid scheme technique, the fraudsters paid off the initial investors using money raised from late-stage investors. The initial payments led many of the investors to stake more money and recommend the scheme to others.

However, after some time, the payments stopped, as they always do. The criminals began to channel all payments into bank accounts belonging to several fake companies in Asian countries and Turkey.

Investigations into the crime ring started in 2018, with Eurojust issuing investigation orders to authorities in the U.K., Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary, Portugal and the Czech Republic to assist with the investigations. In January last year, the authorities made the first arrests, bringing in four suspects arrested in France. Europol also partnered with authorities in Luxembourg to seize $1.1 million.

This is the latest case of crypto fraudsters being brought to book. In January alone, tens of crypto fraudsters have faced the law in connection to millions of dollars lost through crypto scams. The DoJ, for instance, recently charged two alleged fraudsters for using fake identities to raise over $30 million in an ICO. The two were behind CG Blockchain, a company that claimed to develop blockchain auditing tools.

The SEC, on the other hand, charged ICOBox with the issuing of an unregistered ICO in which it raised $14 million. Just days prior, it had charged a San Diego, California man for defrauding $3.5 million from investors in a cloud mining scam.

The law enforcement actions are a positive sign for the crypto industry as it indicates the authorities are cracking down on the rampant crypto scams. Once the industry sheds the scammers, it will appeal to more people and likely attract government support.

This week in tech: India, Turkey, UK make moves as China’s investment drops

The world's first central backed digital currency is yet to see the light of day, but progress is being made. This week, the Bank of England announced that it plans to explore possible use cases for a digital currency. The BoE has joined hands with the Bank of International Settlements and five other central banks in the project, among them the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank. The move could be among the most significant steps in the push for the use of CBDCs across Europe and beyond.

The move by the BoE is one of many in the past year, as the world seeks to adopt blockchain-based digital currencies. According to the World Economic Forum, central banks are waking up to digital currencies. During the Davos 2020 conference this week, the WEF launched the CBDC Policy-Maker Toolkit that's aimed at helping central banks find the best way to integrate digital currencies into their monetary systems. The organization gathered insight from central bank researchers, international organizations, global policy‑makers and experts from over 40 institutions.

Still on CBDCs, the MIT blockchain research group believes that most of them will use technology currently being applied by existing digital currencies. The Digital Currency Initiative published a report this week stating that most CBDCs will copy features such as "the usefulness of programmability in money and the importance of preserving user privacy."

In India, the government is struggling to find some middle ground on crypto and blockchain. While the Reserve Bank has had its issues with crypto, the country's securities regulator believes blockchain will play a key role. Ajay Tiagi, the chairman of the Security and Exchange Board of India is urging the exploration of blockchain applications in the securities market, such as in clearing, settlement and record-keeping.

Still in India, the country's Telecoms and IT Minister has called for blockchain solutions for improving quality of government schools. Ravi Prasad called on the National Informatics Center to develop solutions for public schools, saying he is very keen on leveraging blockchain technology in primary education. He was speaking during the inauguration of a blockchain center of excellence in Bengaluru.

In Turkey, the city of Konya is working on integrating blockchain, including developing its own digital currency. The city has blockchain experts already looking into how the technology can be integrated in social programs. The proposed digital currency, City Coin, will be used in the social programs as well as other state payment systems.

The world's largest brewing company is also using blockchain, leveraging the technology to help African farmers prove their income. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the maker of the popular Budweiser, has developed a blockchain-powered system that keeps track of all the farmers supplying it. This system replaces the tedious paper trails previously used. The farmers can use it to prove their income to banks and other financial institutions, a crucial factor in acquiring credit facilities.

Argo Blockchain had the best year yet in 2019, a report this week revealed. The report claimed that the crypto mining company saw a tenfold increase in its revenue last year. Argo, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange generated $11 million, up from $987,000 in 2018.

While blockchain technology is rising to the top, China has scaled down its investment in the technology. A report by state-run Xinhua revealed that the country saw 245 financing deals in blockchain in 2019. These deals accounted for $3.6 billion, a 40.8% drop from the previous year. Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou had the most deals, the report stated.

FATF Holds Global Forum to Discuss Crypto Supervision

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and over 50 delegations involved in crypto supervision recently gathered to discuss how to regulate crypto assets and related service providers. While examining three key areas, they stressed the importance of international cooperation, citing that cryptocurrencies are global products.

FATF-Led Discussion on Crypto Supervision
The Financial Action Task Force held a "supervisors' forum" in France last week to discuss crypto asset supervision. The aim of the forum was "to promote more effective supervision by national authorities" in the area of crypto assets and related service providers. The FATF is an intergovernmental organization with a focus on developing policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. Supervisors are designated authorities or non-public bodies with compliance responsibilities of each country.

According to the FATF, this event was the first opportunity for regulators to discuss how to implement new measures for crypto assets and related service providers since it finalized them in June 2019. Attendees included 135 representatives from over 50 delegations involved in virtual asset supervision, the FATF detailed, elaborating:

Supervisors play an important role in ensuring that regulated entities, such as banks and financial institutions, implement the FATF's standards to detect and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

3 Key Areas Discussed
The event's participants shared their knowledge and experience in supervising and regulating virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). They discussed three main topics, starting with the lessons learned so far from countries that have already established a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and VASPs.

The second topic concerns common issues when drafting VASP laws and regulations. Representatives shared their approach to developing an AML/CFT regime for VASPs in their jurisdictions and outlined how they were implementing the FATF's recommendations. The third topic discussed was about the tools, skills, procedures, and technology needed to effectively supervise VASPs. The FATF remarked:

The importance of international cooperation was also highlighted, as virtual assets are inherently global products.

The supervisors and regulators identified a number of areas that need further action which they plan to discuss at the next FATF Plenary and other supervisors' meetings to be held in May.

Implementing the FATF Standards
The supervisors' forum is an initiative of the Chinese Presidency of the FATF to promote more effective supervision by national authorities. Two have been held so far, the first of which was held in November 2019 in Sanya, China. It focused on the effectiveness of supervision without discussing crypto assets.

The FATF's explanation from its crypto guidance.
The FATF issued guidance for crypto assets and VASPs in June 2019, with the support of the G20 countries. The money-laundering watchdog subsequently revised its assessment methodology. It sets out how the FATF will determine whether countries have successfully implemented its recommendations and are regulating the crypto sector. The FATF's rules apply both when cryptocurrencies are exchanged for fiat currencies and for other digital assets.

The challenge now is for countries and affected entities to effectively implement its recommendations, the FATF affirmed. By bringing together practitioners from around the world, the organization explained that it "is beginning to develop a global knowledge base on 'what works' in supervising virtual assets," adding:

This will help ensure a consistent global approach to supervision and will help the VASP sector adjust to the new regulatory environment.

A FATF meeting.
While acknowledging that implementing its requirements will be challenging for the crypto sector, the FATF believes that "it will ultimately increase trust in blockchain technology as the backbone behind a robust and viable means to transfer value." Noting that adopting its rules will "ensure transparency of virtual asset transactions and keep funds with links to crime and terrorism out of the cryptosphere," the money laundering watchdog declared:
Countries need to implement the FATF's measures, and soon … The FATF will evaluate next steps in June 2020.

CabbageTech founder sentenced to 33 months in prison

Patrick McDonnell has been sentenced to 33 months in prison by a New York court. The founder and CEO of CabbageTech Corp., a fraudulent crypto trading company, entered a guilty plea last year for defrauding investors. The court also ordered him to pay back the money he defrauded his investors.

McDonnell was first arrested in March last year and charged with fraud. The Staten Island, New York resident was the mastermind behind CabbageTech, otherwise known as Coin Drop Markets, a company he touted as a crypto advisory and trading firm. He posed on social media platforms as an expert trader, promising to make his investors huge profits if they invested with his firm. However, he channeled most of the investment into his personal use.

Following his arrest, McDonnell pleaded guilty to wire fraud. And now, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis has sentenced him to serve 33 months in prison for his crime. He will also have to pay $224,352 in restitution to his investors.

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard Donoghue, who led the prosecution, sounded a warning to other crypto scammers. He stated, "Patrick McDonnell is headed to prison for deceiving investors, using an alias, false promises and false balance statements for one purpose only—so that he could steal their money. This Office will continue to vigorously prosecute white-collar criminals who defraud the investing public."

McDonnell conducted his scheme between November 2014 and January 2018, the Department of Justice revealed in its press release. He promised his investors that he would offer trading advice and even trade cryptos on their behalf. He ended up doing neither, and instead, he published false financial statement indicating a thriving business. He ended up collecting $194,000 in fiat, 4.41 BTC, 2016 Litecoin, 620 Ethereum Classic and 1.3 million Verge tokens for a total of $224,350.

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission has been instrumental in the McDonnell case, having been the first agency to investigate him. The Commission requested the court to treat cryptos as commodities for this particular case, giving it jurisdiction over the proceedings. McDonnell had argued that the CFTC had no authority to regulate his business, an argument that the judge rejected, ordering him to pay $1.1 million – $290,000 in restitution and $870,000 in penalties.

New York wants crypto companies to pay their own way

New York has a love/hate with cryptocurrency. It's the only state that requires companies in the industry to obtain a separate license, the BitLicense, to operate, while recognizing that digital currency is legitimate. There is even talk of the state issuing its own quasi-crypto, minus the decentralization, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo now believes that companies should take a more vested interest in their activity if they want to operate within the state's borders. Cuomo has proposed changes to New York's Financial Services Law (FSL) that would require those entities to cover all expenses related to regulation and licensing.

In Cuomo's State of the State (in pdf) plan, he explains that there are gaps in the oversight of companies licensed under the Bank Law and Insurance Law, and those covered by the FSL. Entities covered by either of the first two are obligated to provide payments to the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) to cover their regulatory costs, but this isn't the case for those covered by the FSL. The governor wants to amend the FSL in order to close these gaps.

While the plan doesn't specifically mention cryptocurrency businesses, they're regulated by the NYDFS and the FSL. This can only mean that they would be subject to the same regulations as any other entity under the FSL's guidance.

No mention is made about how much any costs would be, or when the plan might be put into action. Nor does it indicate if businesses already licensed would have to pay any retroactive fees, or if they would automatically be grandfathered into the policy. The governor's office is now accepting public comments on the proposals, with any input expected on or before January 27.

Several lawmakers in New York, along with a law professor from Cornell, have introduced a plan that would see a statewide digital currency become active. Dubbed "public Venmo," the project would introduce an electronic banking platform and a digital currency that would be available for use across the state.

According to Vice, Public Venmo is the brainchild of Senator Julia Salazar, Assemblyman Ron Kim and Cornell law professor Robert Hockett. Kim explains, "I believe that our proposal, the Inclusive Value Ledger, has the potential to be truly revolutionary," Kim said in a public statement. "The creation of a free public savings and payment platform that all New Yorkers can use, not only to pay for goods and services but also to transfer money directly to each other through, could fundamentally reshape New York into a fairer, healthier, wealthier, and more inclusive place for all."

As opposed to other digital currencies, Venmo wouldn't be completely decentralized. It would be issued, monitored and regulated by a central government-led entity that maintains a government-controlled master wallet.

IMF Helping Philippines Become Important Crypto Market

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is providing the Philippines with technical assistance regarding crypto assets. The IMF believes the country may become an important crypto market and has provided the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas with suggestions for the country's crypto regulation, including quarterly data collection from approved crypto exchanges.

IMF Helping Philippines' Central Bank
The International Monetary Fund published a 34-page Technical Assistance Report on the Philippines this week as part of its periodic consultation with the country's regulators. The report and recommendations within it are based on an assessment the IMF staff conducted in July. The contents of the report constitute technical advice provided by the IMF staff to the authorities of the Philippines in response to their request for technical assistance, the report details.

The IMF is also helping the Philippines' central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), in several areas to improve the quality of monetary and financial statistics compiled by the central bank. "At BSP request, the mission also delivered a lecture on the treatment of crypto assets in macroeconomic statistics," based on the latest methodology released by the IMF's Statistics Department, the organization detailed. Emphasizing the growing number of crypto exchanges approved by the BSP, the IMF asserted:

The Philippines may become an important market for crypto assets.
The BSP adopted a formal crypto regulatory framework through the issuance of Circular No. 944 in 2017. Businesses engaged in the exchange of cryptocurrencies for fiat money in the Philippines are required to register with the central bank as remittance and transfer companies.

IMF Encourages the BSP to Collect Data From Crypto Exchanges
According to the BSP's most recent list, there are currently 13 approved crypto exchanges in the Philippines. They are Betur dba Coins.ph, Rebittance, Bloomsolutions, Virtual Currency Philippines, Etranss Remittance International, Fyntegrate, Zybi Tech, Bexpress, Coinville Phils, Aba Global Philippines, Bitan Moneytech, Telcoin, and Atomtrans Tech.

The IMF report also notes that "The mission encourages the BSP to start exploring the possibility of collecting data on these exchanges for macroeconomic analysis, in particular international financial flows using crypto assets," elaborating:

The mission suggests requesting aggregated data, on a quarterly basis, on gross transactions, indicating the country of origin and destination of the funds transacted.

"In addition, it would be useful to breakdown the parties involved in the transactions between individuals, financial corporations, and nonfinancial corporations," the staff advised.

The suggestions by the IMF are similar to the recommendations by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body responsible for developing policies to combat money laundering. The FATF issued guidance on a risk-based approach to virtual assets and related service providers in June. It urges countries and obliged entities to design customer due diligence processes to meet both the FATF standards and national legal requirements. Its recommendations include "identifying the customer and, where applicable, the customer's beneficial owner and verifying the customer's identity on a risk basis and on the basis of reliable and independent information, data, or documentation to at least the extent required by the applicable legal or regulatory framework."