Bitcoin Guru

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, internati...

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 imple...

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 Easter...

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 t...

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 impr...