Cryptocurrencies – Financial Treason & Crime

SOPHIE MELLOR, 06 April 2021

As the value of virtual currencies spirals ever higher, so have the scams related to them.

According to new data from the U.K.’s fraud reporting service Action Fraud, scams involving cryptocurrency investment rose 57% across the U.K. in 2020, with a total of 5,581 reports made.

Investors lost a total of £113 million to crypto scammers in 2020, up from £76.6 million the previous year. Continue reading “Article: Reflecting crypto craze, crypto-related scams spiral higher in the U.K.”

04/06/2021

Article: Crypto Lobby Forms to Shake Reputation as Criminals’ Currency

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Crypto Lobby Forms to Shake Reputation as Criminals’ Currency

Joe Light, 06 April 2021

Even as cryptocurrencies steadily gain support on Wall Street, they’re still regarded by regulators as a tool for criminals to conceal shady transactions — posing a challenge to the nascent industry as it seeks to win wider respect.

That’s creating a potentially lucrative opportunity for new groups in Washington advocating for digital currencies. Some prominent crypto lobbying organizations say they’ve increased their membership and raised millions of dollars to help improve the industry’s image. Continue reading “Article: Crypto Lobby Forms to Shake Reputation as Criminals’ Currency”

04/04/202105/13/2021

Article: Cryptocurrencies: A bubble or harbinger of a cashless world?

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Cryptocurrencies: A bubble or harbinger of a cashless world?

ATANU BISWAS, 04 April 2021

The US Treasury described Bitcoin a “decentralised virtual currency”. For every transaction through Bitcoin, for example, some personal information from the user is used to create a kind of password. A ‘hash’ is given for every Bitcoin transaction, with a ‘public key’ and a ‘private key’. Each of these keys is inverse to each other, but it’s not easy to derive one from the other. The ‘public keys’ are available on public domain. Details of each transaction report are available in the database called ‘blockchain’. It is distributed across and maintained by nodes (computers). From this open source, anybody can tell how many Bitcoins are traded at a public key. But, nobody knows who the owner of those Bitcoins is as the security of the ledger cannot be broken. Anonymity and privacy are the characteristics and also the potential danger of cryptocurrencies. Continue reading “Article: Cryptocurrencies: A bubble or harbinger of a cashless world?”

04/02/202104/03/2021

Article: Morgan Stanley backs Bitcoin for 12 mutual funds

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Morgan Stanley backs Bitcoin for 12 mutual funds

EXPLICA .CO, 02 April 2021

US investment bank Morgan Stanley has filed an update to its prospectus related to bitcoin (BTC) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institution applied for 12 of its funds to have exposure with the first cryptocurrency.

According to the bank, the funds would have indirect exposure to bitcoin in two ways: through cash-settled futures and through the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), one of the world’s largest trusts focused on digital assets.

On the type of futures that funds can invest in, Morgan Stanley noted: “The only bitcoin futures that a fund can invest in are cash-settled bitcoin futures that are traded on listed futures exchanges. CFTC ‘.

In the document, the bank explains that the Selected funds will be able to invest up to 25% of their assets in bitcoin. The institution also stressed that this type of operation implies a risk of illiquidity since bitcoin futures are not traded so “intensely” because they are relatively new. Continue reading “Article: Morgan Stanley backs Bitcoin for 12 mutual funds”

03/31/202104/01/2021

Article: No Surprise Here: Institutions Could Run Bitcoin’s Price Higher

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No Surprise Here: Institutions Could Run Bitcoin’s Price Higher

ETF Trends, 31 March 2021

Institutions are slowly warming to Bitcoin, which many market observers believe will lead to substantial long-term price appreciation.

Institutional investors are playing an increasingly prominent role in the Bitcoin market, and that role is likely to continue growing. For smaller investors, there are tangible benefits to this scenario. Continue reading “Article: No Surprise Here: Institutions Could Run Bitcoin’s Price Higher”

06/13/201804/06/2021

Article: Market manipulation caused surge in prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, researchers say

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Market manipulation caused surge in prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, researchers say

DUNCAN RILEY, 13 June 2018

A new research paper has confirmed long-held suspicions that the Tether cryptocurrency was used by people linked to the Bitfinex exchange to drive up the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies last year.

The paper, written by University of Texas Professor John Griffin, who is known for catching fraud in financial markets, and graduate student Amin Shams, details the direct relationship between the issuing of Tether during bitcoin price drops and how it was used to buy bitcoin on the drop, artificially creating demand and driving the price up. Continue reading “Article: Market manipulation caused surge in prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, researchers say”