Swiss Government Orders Preliminary Report on State-Issued E-Franc Cryptocurrency

Osato Avan-Nomayo · May 19, 2018 · 12:00 pm

The Swiss government appears to be taking concrete steps in going forward with its plans to create a state-issued cryptocurrency. The government of the Alpine nation has requested a preliminary report on the risks and opportunities of the e-franc. Switzerland is one of the crypto-friendliest countries in the world.

Risk and Opportunities of the e-franc

Cedric Wermuth is the principal proponent of the study. Wermuth is the vice president of the country’s Social Democratic Party. According to Reuters, the Swiss Federal Council has backed Wermuth’s proposal for an e-franc report.

With the backing of the government, it is now up to the country’s parliament to move the process forward. Once the lower house of parliament gives its approval, the country’s finance ministry will conduct a study.

Earlier in the year, Romeo Lacher, the chairman of the Swiss stock exchange, urged the government to consider issuing a national cryptocurrency. According to Lacher, such a move would boost the local economy and improve the country’s cashless financial infrastructure.

Conversely, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) dismissed the need for a national crypto. The country’s apex bank believes the operating cashless ecosystem in the country does not require an upgrade. Speaking in April, Andrea Maechler, the SNB governor, said that government cryptos posed a higher risk than private-issued digital currencies.

Proceeding with Caution

In light of the inherent risks, the government is moving with a fair amount of caution. A statement from the Federal Council on the proposed report said that:

The Federal Council is aware of the major challenges, both legal and monetary, which would be accompanied by the use of an e-franc. It asks that the proposal be adopted to examine the risks and opportunities of an e-franc and to clarify the legal, economic and financial aspects of the e-franc.

The government has given no official timetable on the proposed date when the report will be published if the study is approved.

Switzerland isn’t the only country that is mulling the idea of a state-issued crypto. The Swedish Riksbank previously announced that it would create the e-krona, a cryptocurrency version of its fiat currency. Earlier in the year, Venezuela released the petro, a digital currency backed by the country’s oil reserves.

Will the proposed e-franc have more legitimacy than Venezuela’s petro? Do you think a state-issued crypto is good for a country’s economy? Let us know in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock and Bitcoinist archives.

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Published at Sat, 19 May 2018 16:00:18 +0000

Altcoin News

April 15, 2017

Global Banking System Under Threat As Hackers Crack NSA, SWIFT Again

Hacker group Shadow Brokers has allegedly proved the US National Security Agency (NSA) hacked SWIFT international banking network.

NSA ‘Documents And Files’ Show SWIFT Transactions ‘Monitored’

In “documents and files” released Friday, Reuters reports, the group said it had evidence the NSA used SWIFT to “monitor money flows among some Middle Eastern and Latin American banks.”

The news marks the second time Shadow Brokers has laid claim to compromising NSA secrets. In August 2016, the group said it had entered an agency affiliate and taken details of cyberweapons, which it planned to auction for one million bitcoins.

If true, it is also a further blow to SWIFT, which last year recorded several high-level security failures worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

“NSA hacked a bunch of banks, oil and investment companies in Palestine, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen, more,” Mustafa Al-Bassam, computer science researcher at University College London, commented on the findings.

bitcoin Core Dev: Implications Beyond Spying ‘Burning Question’

Reactions from within the cryptocurrency community meanwhile focussed on the broader implications of Shadow Brokers’ latest attack.

Core developer Wladimir van der Laan wrote on Twitter “(finding) indication of tools for manipulation of banks/markets, more than spying” was now the “burning question.”

So the burning question about #SWIFT #eqgrp leak: did anyone find indication of tools for manipulation of banks/markets, more than spying?

— Wladimir (@orionwl) April 15, 2017

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As the traditional financial system comes under increasing threat from cyber criminals, bitcoin could emerge as the go-to method for storing wealth thanks to its decentralized blockchain and SHA 256 encryption, especially when compared to the ‘honeypot’ of banks’ centralized databases.

Microsoft Back In Spying Spotlight

The released data does not only focus on SWIFT, but also on Microsoft. Having been outed as involved in NSA spying activities by Wikileaks’ Vault 7 dump in March, the corporation this time is facing stolen code for compromising Windows, “at least some of which still work.”

In a responsorial statement, Microsoft protested ignorance. No official correspondence regarding the threat had been received.

“Other than reporters, no individual or organization has contacted us in relation to the materials released by Shadow Brokers,” it told Reuters.

Regarding the specifics of the SWIFT hack, it appears Dubai-headquarted service bureau Eastnets could be a major target.

Like Microsoft, the SWIFT intermediary denied any malicious activity had occurred.

“The reports of an alleged hacker-compromised EastNets Service Bureau network is totally false and unfounded,” the BBC quotes a spokesperson as saying. “The EastNets Network Internal Security Unit has run a complete check of its servers and found no hacker compromise or any vulnerabilities.”

NSA spying activities are claimed to have affected not just companies, but politicians and even everyday consumers.

As part of Vault 7, WikiLeaks suggested end-user electronic devices such as smartphones and smart TVs could have become microphones for intelligence officers to listen in on.

Even Donald Trump and his family may have fallen victim.

What do you think about the Shadow Brokers’ latest claims? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Swift, Twitter, Shutterstock

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