· May 1, 2018 · 5:00 pm
‘Cryptocurrencies Not a Threat’ Says Hong Kong Report on Organized Crime
The Financial Services and Treasury (FSTB) of Hong Kong has released its Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment report which indicates that cryptocurrencies are left out of organized crime or ML/TF concerns.
Amid the growing crypto-related regulatory chaos and tense debate on the matter of combating financial crime, the FSTB which sheds light on a few key matters.
Crypto is Not a Threat. Period.
The cryptocurrency market has long been the subject of criticism and negativity – not just by so-called ‘experts’ but by government banks and agencies as well. To add insult to injury, the vast majority of the arguments against crypto lack any hard, verifiable facts.
Earlier in April, Mark Carney, Bank of England’s governor, once again bashed cryptocurrency, claiming that a ‘huge amount’ of illicit activity is run through cryptocurrency. Yet, the facts, as laid down in had stressed that ‘risks of digital currency used for money laundering to be relatively low’.
Iran, on the other hand, on cryptocurrencies that prohibited banks from dealing with virtual currencies. Fear of money laundering was one of the reasons given for the ban, however, in typical fashion, no hard facts were presented to back up the claims.
At the same time, the Center for Sanctions and Illicit Finance of the Defense of Democracies Foundation that a tiny 0.61% of the money which enters cryptocurrency trading and conversion platforms has been used against regulations.
Circling back to the recent report of FSTB, it goes on to further build on the premise that cryptocurrencies do not pose a threat and should not be regarded as means for illicit activities. The Hong Kong Police Force further reinforces the report’s opinion, admitting that they see absolutely “no apparent sign of organized crime or ML/TF concerning the trading of cryptocurrencies”.
There you have it – three completely independent sources from credible authorities have unanimously disclosed that cryptocurrencies are far from posing any measurable risk related to money laundering, finance terrorism, or other illicit activities of the kind.
Regulations Don’t Necessarily Prevent Illicit Activities
The other thing the report touched is the lack of definitive regulation around cryptocurrency trading in the country. The licenses required for Money Service Operators only pertain to those entities who deal with fiat currencies.
Yet, even they seem to be riskier than cryptocurrencies. According to the same report, the risk assessment of the Government towards Stored Value Facilities (SVF) much like the popular Alipay, PayPal, or Octopus Card, is measurably higher.
Do you think cryptocurrencies pose a threat in terms of being used for illicit activities? Please let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons
Published at Tue, 01 May 2018 21:00:01 +0000
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Bitcoin Will Cost $500,000 By 2030 – Snapchat Investor Liew
bitcoin at $500,000 by 2030 is the latest sky-high prediction to come from high-flying personalities, this time Snapchat’s first investor.
Smith, Liew: Developing Markets Will Drive bitcoin’s Moontrip
In a joint presentation with Blockchain CEO Peter Smith, Jeremy Liew, whose stake in Snapchat is now worth $2 billion, said that external factors driving interest in bitcoin would propel it to unseen heights in the coming decade.
Remittance increases, mobile penetration and political uncertainty top the list.
Business Insider Liew and Smith as saying:
We believe bitcoin awareness, high liquidity, ease of transport and continued market outperformance as geopolitical risks mount, will make bitcoin a strong contender for investment at a consumer and investor level.
Developing countries represent a significant market for bitcoin, with countries such as Kenya already conducting financial activities via mobile, having skipped banking in what was previously a highly cash-driven economy.
With such mobile monopolies come easier remittances. In Kenya, dedicated startup BitPesa is both markets with bitcoin.
Enough users, according to Smith and Liew, and the virtual currency’s value will take care of itself.
“Put another way, we need a population of bitcoin users around a quarter of the Chinese population (or 5% of the global population) in 2030 to see bitcoin at $500k,” they said.
bitcoin Slow And Steady In 2017 – $1000 A Piece
Current hurdles facing bitcoin propagation, specifically network capacity and the wary approach taken to related financial instruments by regulators, do not faze Smith in particular.
“The SEC’s ruling wasn’t a surprise to us,” he said about the Winklevoss twins’ .
“We know that getting this sort of approval is going to take (a potentially long) time. In the meantime, bitcoin is already simple to buy and hold and, as the asset continues to mature, we’ll continue to see an increase in the development and deployment of surrounding products.”
Nonetheless, in keeping with the current sentiment, both agree on a 2017 bitcoin price of $1000 – slightly less than today’s spot rate.
bitcoin’s Reliability Unrivalled Despite Problems
Other recent price estimates to come from well-known sources include several from Vinny Lingham, who in December $3000 this year.
His optimism came with a hint of caution, however, the entrepreneur adding that too rapid a price increase would be detrimental to the industry and reintroduce volatility and associated lack of trust.
Smith concluded:
…bitcoin is incredibly resilient and stable…In fact, the bitcoin Blockchain has operated for 7+ years with no downtime, a feat no other back-end system operating at this scale can claim.
What do you think about Jeremy Liew and Peter Smith’s forecast? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Coinbase, Blockchain, Shutterstock
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