Italy Completes Consultations on Registration of Crypto Companies

Public consultations on a new regulatory regime for crypto companies in Italy are now closed. Interested parties were invited by the Ministry of Economy and Finance to share suggestions and comments on a draft decree introducing registration and reporting requirements in the sector. The new set of rules will come into force within 3 months of adoption.

Also read: Spain Mulls Tax Breaks for Blockchain and Crypto Firms

Italy Trying to Understand the Phenomenon

The ministerial decree has been designed to “explore and understand the various aspects of the virtual currency phenomenon”. The legal document, aimed at implementing Italy’s updated and “strengthened” anti-money laundering laws, was published by MEF’s Treasury Department on February 2. Interested parties had two weeks to express their opinions and suggest amendments.

In May 2017 the Italian government issued another decree requiring “service providers related to the use of virtual currency”, like exchanges, to fulfil their obligations to prevent money laundering and illicit crypto transactions. The new document introduces additional responsibilities for crypto businesses. They will have to report regularly their activities to the Finance Ministry.

The text of the proposed decree clarifies that although cryptocurrency is used as a “means of exchange for the purchase of goods and services”, it is not issued by a central bank or other public authority. The embedded disclaimer also states that cryptos are “not necessarily connected to a currency that is a legal tender”.

Exchanges and Merchants to Register and Report

The new notification regime will also be applicable to commercial companies accepting cryptocurrency payments for goods, services and utilities. The Ministry wants to conduct a “systematic survey” starting with determining the number of operators in the sector. Upon commencing activity, every company should register with the Italian Agency of Intermediaries OAM in order to operate legally in the country.

The Department of the Treasury has already completed a preliminary evaluation of the technical specifications for the register, the Ministry of Finance said in a press release. The new regulatory regime is to be launched within 3 months after the decree enters into force. Its implementation responds to the need to understand the new phenomenon and its dimensions, said Roberto Ciciani, Head of the General Directorate for Prevention of Financial Crimes.

Regulators point out that the revised Italian legal framework will comply with the latest EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive – 5MLD, which introduces stricter rules to prevent financial crimes. The previous directive was adopted in Italy on May 25 last year.

The use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by individuals remains largely unregulated in Italy. However, a law requiring identification of parties in crypto transactions has been introduced in the parliament. In 2016 the Italian tax authority Agenzia delle Entrate stated that cryptocurrency purchases and sales are exempt from VAT. With some limitations, personal crypto holdings and gains from transactions do not generate taxable income.

Do you think the new requirements for Italian companies to register and report will lead to more restrictions or to legalization of the crypto sector?

Elon Musk might be able to send his personal Tesla car into space, he might change the way humanity produces and stores energy, and he might even build a colony on Mars one day. However, even this real-life Iron Man apparently can’t escape the reach of crypto mining hackers.

Tesla Cloud Mining

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), the electric car manufacturer based in Palo Alto, California, is the latest corporation to fall victim to ‘cryptojacking’, according to newly released research from cyber security firm RedLock.

The researchers’ CSI team found that hackers had infiltrated Tesla’s Kubernetes console (a system for containerized apps that was originally designed by Google) which was not password protected. Within one pod, access credentials were exposed to Tesla’s AWS (Amazon Web Services) environment which contained an Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) bucket that had sensitive data such as telemetry. In addition to the data exposure, the hackers were mining for cryptocurrency from within one of Tesla’s Kubernetes pods.

The CSI team noted some sophisticated evasion measures that were employed in this attack. Unlike other crypto mining incidents, the hackers did not use a well known public mining pool in this attack. Instead, they installed mining pool software and configured the malicious script to connect to an unlisted or semi-public endpoint. This makes it difficult for standard IP/domain-based threat intelligence feeds to detect the malicious activity, they explain.

                                        

Don’t Panic

Tesla showroom, Silicon Valley, California

According to the research, the Tesla hackers also hid the true IP address of the mining pool server behind Cloudflare, a free content delivery network (CDN) service. The hackers can use a new IP address on-demand by registering for free CDN services. This makes IP address-based detection of crypto mining activity even more challenging.

Moreover, the mining software was configured to listen on a non-standard port which makes it hard to detect the activity based on port traffic. Lastly, the CSI team also observed on Tesla’s Kubernetes dashboard that CPU usage was not very high. The hackers had most likely configured the mining software to keep the usage low to evade detection, they explain.

Fortunately, Musk need not worry about his computing resources being diverted to crypto mining anymore. The RedLock CSI team immediately reported the incident to Tesla and the issue was quickly rectified they say.

How can companies and individuals protect their computer systems from crypto malware? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Crypto Investment Shows ‘Limitless Ignorance Of Human Race’, Hedge Fund Tells Clients

One of the world’s largest hedge funds Elliott Management, founded by billionaire Paul Singer in 1977, dedicated three pages to describing its negative view of cryptocurrencies in a fourth-quarter letter to clients, calling cryptocurrencies “one of the most brilliant scams in history," Business Insider reported Feb. 20.

In the letter dated Jan. 26, Elliott claims that people encountering cryptocurrency have switched from sense of “WTHIT (What the hell is this?)”  to a stable FOMO (fear of missing out). Elliott likens cryptocurrency investors to buyers of a “black box” that will, according to the firm, turn out to be empty.

The firm does not shy away from hyperbole in the letter, insisting that cryptocurrency is the “equivalent of nothing” and that the desire to invest in it is an “indication of the limitless ignorance of swaths of the human race”, continuing:

“This [cryptocurrency] is not just a bubble. It is not just a fraud. It is perhaps the outer limit, the ultimate expression, of the ability of humans to seize upon ether and hope to ride it to the stars...

But is it not glorious that when the equivalent of nothing attracts priests and parishioners who run up the price, the very willingness of the mob to buy it at higher and higher prices is seen as validation of the thing, rather than an indication of the limitless ignorance of swaths of the human race?”

Further along in the letter, Elliot expresses skepticism about the scarcity of Bitcoin (BTC). Despite the fact that Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins, the letter from Elliot argues that the forking of the Bitcoin Blockchain could threaten scarcity, stating: “this limitation [scarcity] is not nearly as sacrosanct as the bitcoin evangelists would have you believe."

According to Business Insider, Elliott managed $34.1 bln as of January 1, 2018 and the Elliott Associates LP fund returned 8.7% last year

In 2017 alone, the number of digital currency-based hedge funds grew from 30 to about 130.

Traditional hedge funds have also increasingly been buying up cryptocurrencies, most famously that of American investor Bill Miller, who as of Dec. 2017 held 50 percent of his fund’s money in Bitcoin.

You can now study Blockchain at university

An Australian university is banking on Blockchain, the technology behind the lucrative yet volatile cryptocurrency industry, by launching a nation-first course in the emerging sector.

Australia's first short course on Blockchain strategy, aiming to educate the nation's next wave of tech start-up entrepreneurs, will take flight on Tuesday at Melbourne's RMIT University.

"Blockchain is now becoming a core part of contemporary digital literacy," Vice Chancellor Martin Bean said.

The online eight-week program is set to begin in mid-March with students given the chance to hear from global experts in the growing space.

Blockchain is a decentralised, shared ledger that - with the help of complicated cryptography - records transactions in a verifiable, secure and permanent way.

Before Blockchain's birth in 2008, it was impossible to place value on virtual currencies like Bitcoin as there was no way of distinguishing a legitimate digital coin from a copy.

The same principal applies to managing real money digitally, with banks slowly grasping Blockchain's potential benefits as a faster, inexpensive and autonomous system.

"There is a real demand for Blockchain training and a skills gap in the market that needs to be addressed," Alan Tsen, the Melbourne manager of financial tech company Stone and Chalk, said.

As demand presently outstrips supply in the US, there is a desperate need for more programmers in the growing industry predicted to be worth $176 billion by 2025, according to Gartner Research.

Aside from banking, the database system has potential applications for tracking the ownership history of real-world items, electronic voting, cybersecurity and electricity management.

In 2017, the Australian government tipped in $2.57 million to help power a cutting-edge start-up project that could make peer-to-peer solar energy trading a reality.

T-HOMMIE PLANS TO RETURN BACK TO MUSIC SOON

In an interview with the Mega HipHop Star on the rise T-Hommie at Rita Lori's Club at Garki, Abuja on Valentine's Day, T-Hommie said that he went underground for almost 4 years for emotional rehab and financial replacement sourcing. His new manager Usman Donalds an Abuja based business dude promised Nigerians especially the lovers of good music that he will satisfy the hunger of T-Hommie's fans and commence a complete campus tour as soon as the needful is done. 

T-Hommie speaks with deep sense of regret ... I don't know how good I am that was why I didn't keep the faith of pushing music as a professional career and a risk driven business but I think everything happens for a reason and I will put it as a task of success not only a talent to be delivered.

Wax Large Entertainment will bounce back to success and business.

SEAN GARET COMBS FEATURES LIVE ON SUPCELEBRITIES ON HIS BIRTHDAY

Today marks the first official appearance of T-Hommie's son popularly known as SEAN GARET COMBS as his father is TENNIE HOMMIE SEAN COMBS II. This appearance is remarkable due to so many unlisted reasons but to mention a few. 

Sean Garet birthday was celebrated with friends and well wishers in the neighborhood and being that he is the next of kin of SupCelebrities Group his appearance brought his aunties live on this network and you see what we mean by a born lil Boss. 

This is Sean Garet's aunty the woman so dear to Garet's father heart but not a wife but a good sister in-law but the likeness was misunderstood by the family.
It's a pleasure and a platinum opportunity for her to get featured here simply because of the love show. SupCelebrities encourages Amaka to keep it up. Indeed a clear smile of a damsel.

This is not the first time of SupCelebrities First Lady to appear here but just to recall your attention she is the mother of Sean Garet a born great star. 

Lol, as a matter of fact these ones at the back i'm sure they are his aunties but they are too little to be addressed as aunties right? But nature has made it so. I think reporting correctly, they are the twins of the house and also Chika. To grace the happy moment called for all this not really much but love is all we need.

What do you understand here??  The family is even having a great time with Sean Garet like a world prince honor's day. It's funny that the reality of life has been destined before manifestation but this fact is what differentiates a fool and a wise one. Let's always try to seek knowledge.

Great people this article is not for a gossip.
Inspired to establish a peacful coexistence among family ties.

Blockchain bitcoin wallet start-up raises $40 million from Google, billionaire Richard Branson

Blockchain, a bitcoin wallet start-up, has raised $40 million led by venture capital firm Lakestar, Google's investment arm GV, and billionaire Richard Branson, the company said on Thursday.

The investment comes at a time of rising interest in cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin, which recently hit a record high and has seen a massive rally since the start of the year.

Blockchain has created a bitcoin wallet which is essentially a piece of software to store the digital currency and carry out transactions with other users.

The money will be used to expand the team further and invest in more research and development, Blockchain CEO Peter Smith, told CNBC on Thursday. In addition, the start-up is looking to open new offices in different countries to expand.

Smith said that the recent rally in bitcoin has caused high demand for Blockchain's wallet product, and the funding will help to meet that.

"We are really focused on scaling to meet the record demand we are getting in the market," Smith told CNBC in a phone interview.

"We started raising this round before the run up in the cryptomarket. It was good timing in the end because while we were closing the round, we were massively up on every level. Our traffic has been growing 15 percent week over week in last two weeks."

Blockchain has nearly 15 million sign-ups with "billions of dollars worth of monthly consumer wallet activity", Smith said, adding this includes deposits and transactions.

Gross revenue is forecast to be more than 1,000 percent year-over-year in June, Smith added, but could not disclose the specific figure.

Blockchain was founded in 2011 and now has users in 140 countries. Its last funding round came in 2014 when it raised $30.5 million. Other investors in its latest round include Nokota Management, Digital Currency Group and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mosaic Venture Partners, Prudence Holdings, Virgin, and Richard Branson.

Blockchain Is Latest Bitcoin Start-Up to Lure Big Investment

The bets that Silicon Valley is placing on Bitcoin are getting bigger.

Even though concerns remain about the digital currency’s staying power, Bitcoin start-ups are attracting more dollars from well-known venture capitalists.

In the latest move, Blockchain, a Bitcoin wallet provider and software developer, is expected to announce on Tuesday that it has closed a roughly $30.5 million fund-raising round, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Wicklow Capital. The investment, raised from Blockchain’s first round of outside financing, is one of the biggest in the digital currency industry to date.

Since it was founded in 2011, Blockchain, which is based in Britain, has gained respect in the industry for adhering to the virtual currency’s original philosophy of anonymity and decentralization. Roger Ver, a libertarian known in some circles as the Bitcoin Jesus, was the first backer and supporter of the company.

The price of one Bitcoin, which reached a peak of about $1,150 last year, fell over the weekend to its lowest point of the year after tumbling 20 percent, to about $286, according to CoinDesk, a virtual currency website. Bitcoin was trading on Monday evening at about $330.

But despite the failure of some Bitcoin-related sites and new regulatory challenges, more than $250 million has been invested in Bitcoin companies, most of that in the last 12 months, according to Wedbush Securities, a financial services firm.

“Over the course of the next 10 years, Bitcoin is going to have a big impact,” said Jeremy Liew, a partner at Lightspeed who will join Blockchain’s board. “Where is the central nexus of value creation in this whole industry? It has to be the wallet,” he said.

Blockchain’s financing round follows a spate of big investments in Bitcoin companies, particularly those that offer storage services. Coinbase, for example, secured $25 million last year in a financing round led by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Another Bitcoin company, Xapo, said in July that it had raised $40 million from investors including Greylock Partners and Index Ventures.

Bitcoin has been slow to gain more widespread use in the mainstream. In developed countries, virtual money is still largely the plaything of technology enthusiasts and speculators, though some retailers and stores have trumpeted their acceptance of Bitcoin. In emerging markets, where some see enormous potential for Bitcoin, the infrastructure to process transactions simply does not exist.

For Bitcoin to become more widely adopted, supporters say, the virtual currency must find a unique application that will take it beyond the realm of speculation. And for that to happen, companies must first build a robust platform, which is what Blockchain says it is trying to do.

Blockchain has criticized other companies that essentially allow customers to bet on Bitcoin’s price, a practice that it sees as straying from the currency’s core mission.

Blockchain says it tries to make it easier for people across the globe to use Bitcoin. The company has 2.3 million consumer wallets, making it among the most popular wallet services in the world. It has also developed a search engine that allows users to verify transactions quickly in the currency’s public ledger, known as the Bitcoin blockchain. Most of the company’s revenue comes from advertising.

Peter Smith, the president of Blockchain, said the company planned to use its new financing to expand and to invest in developing markets. The company says it is working on software to make it easier to transfer Bitcoin. “Right now, we’re going into a period where it’s not just enough to have Bitcoin be tantalizing,” Mr. Smith said. “We need Bitcoin to actually be useful.”

It is this emphasis on improving the Bitcoin platform that seems to have attracted Blockchain’s latest investors, a group that also included Mosaic Ventures and Richard Branson. In particular, investors said that they had been impressed with Blockchain’s ability to establish itself as a key player in the industry without outside capital.

“Blockchain is far and away an early leader in Bitcoin,” said Rafael Corrales, a partner at the venture capital firm CRV who personally invested in Blockchain’s funding round. “They’re actually enabling the entire ecosystem.”

Governments could benefit from cryptocurrencies

Governments could benefit from cryptocurrencies

The world is constantly changing. People are always thinking of innovative new ways to streamline processes and to make things run more efficiently. In some cases, it’s a welcome change as the benefits are clearly evident.

However, in other cases, these changes can be viewed as threatening and are met with resistance and skepticism. Case in point is the cryptocurrency industry.

Virtual currencies have an aim of giving monetary power back to the people and in a sense, is revolutionizing the global financial market. This is the same market that is controlled by governments and central banks. Because of this, its easy to see why these entities would be against the disruptive nature of cryptocurrencies.

However, digital currencies are here to say, and are part of an increasingly lucrative industry. In fact, the combined market cap for cryptos recently reached the $800 billion mark. In addition, it is becoming a viable option for citizens in countries where the economy is in the red, or where authoritarian leaders are in charge.

Actually, it seems to be governments that fall into the latter category who seem to be resisting the most as giving citizens autonomy over their own money seems to be a frightening thought indeed. The thing is, these government don’t see that by embracing crypto, they could fill their coffers too, potentially through tax initiatives.

China was one of the first countries to act on their perceived threat of cryptocurrencies. The country banned ICOs and went on to shut down exchanges. Because of this, the country also managed to lose billions of yuans’ worth in tax, which would have helped grow their GDP. However, this hasn’t stopped the crypto industry from operating in China, albeit underground.

Governments that are more secure seem to have a different view in that they realize the importance of virtual currencies in our world today. Japan has accepted Bitcoin as legal tender, and is also regulating the trade in the country. In this way, they can benefit from crypto as well. In fact, if estimates are to be believed, Bitcoin accounted for 0.3% of GDP growth in Japan.

The consequence of fighting against the inevitable is that you lose. When the rest of the world runs smoothly and is flourishing under the growth of crypto adoption, countries like China may be left standing at the bank withdrawing the last of the dwindling supply of fiat currencies, because traditional money will become a rare breed in the future.

Russian officials do not have to declare their crypto

Russian officials do not have to declare their crypto

Russia continues its ever-evolving relationship with cryptocurrencies with its latest move. The country has previously been very vocal about their plans to control and regulate the digital currency industry.

Russian President Vladmir Putin has declared July this year as the deadline for a definitive framework for the industry, and his government has even submitted a draft law detailing processes for issuing, taxing, buying and trading virtual currencies.

The country’s Ministry of Labor has released their income, expenses and property declaration guidelines for government employees, and its got an interesting little side note. The framework states that state workers do not have to declare any “virtual currencies” they may have attained.

Government employees already do not have to declare “goods and services in their natural forms”, and now cryptocurrencies form part of that.

A reason for this, according to the ministry’s representative is due to the lack of clear legislation:

“At present, approaches to the definition and regulation of cryptocurrencies in the Russian Federation at the legislative level are not defined.”

According to Russian news portal, Izvestia, some experts believe that this new addendum will increase the level of corruption in the country’s government, a problem that is continuing to grow. Over the last 10 years, state corruption has increased by 30%.

In 2009, it became mandatory for government employees to declare their income. In addition, state workers also have to publicize any gifts of traditional fiat money that they have received from friends of family.

Vladislav Tsepkov, who is part of the Business Against Corruption Center, does not feel as though crypto corruption will be an issue though. The government-created organization aims to protect the rights of entrepreneurs. Tsepkov had this to say:

“But cryptocurrency is not a means of payment, it cannot be spent. If they [government workers] sell it and get real income, then it will need to be declared, so the risks are minimal.”

Even though clear and concrete crypto regulations still need to be approved and adopted, Russia has made no secret of the fact that they are against crypto usage. Authorities have even cautioned investors that they are “high risk”.

They may not be on board with Bitcoin, but Russia definitely sees the potential of Blockchain Technology. The country recently announced that they hope to develop and issue a state-controlled virtual currency known as the CryptoRuble. Some government officials believe that this state-run crypto could be used to circumvent financial sanctions placed on the country.

The 'Dean of Blockchain Lawyers' Just Got a New Job

One of the first and most influential lawyers to represent blockchain and cryptocurrency businesses is joining one of the industry's oldest startups in an executive role.

Announced today, Marco Santori is leaving Cooley LLP, where he's been a partner since November 2016, to become the president and chief legal officer of Blockchain, a longtime client and one of the industry's best-known wallet startups.

The move is a return to roots for Santori, who started out advising early bitcoin startups on legal and policy matters but over the years shifted to working on enterprise blockchains and, most recently, initial coin offerings.

But he said his heart was always in bitcoin's potential to empower individuals.

"I didn't get into this to do ICOs," Santori told CoinDesk. "It's a fascinating area of the law, but that's not the train that I'm on."

Likewise, he said:

"I'm not trying to rebuild Wall Street on top of a blockchain. I'm trying to give ordinary people a better option for finance, a better option for storing their funds and using their funds."

Blockchain is the best place for him to fulfill that vision, Santori said. The company, which has offices in New York and London, allows users to store and send bitcoin through their web browsers without downloading any software.

It's raised a total of $70 million to date. According to co-founder and CEO Peter Smith, the company has more than 20 million users.

Strategic role

Smith said Santori will play a strategic role, helping Blockchain meet the demand that exploded last year by scaling up not only the legal and regulatory functions but also corporate development, including acquisitions and partnerships.

"In our space, it's so special: go-to-market strategies and acquisition strategies are all reliant on the regulatory and legal side," Smith told CoinDesk. "Having someone come out of that vertical who understands how to run deals is very key."

Santori is uniquely suited for such a role, having been on "at least one side of every major transaction in the digital currency space over the last four years," Smith said.

The chief legal officer position is newly created. The president's title previously belonged to Blockchain co-founder Nic Cary, who will maintain an active role as vice chairman, focusing on public affairs and external relations as Santori takes over the policy and expansion duties, a company spokeswoman said.

Cary said in a press release that he will be "dedicating more of my time [to] building our brand in key regions like India, hiring the brightest talent, and educating more people on the benefits of digital assets."

A long, strange trip

In many ways, Santori's career has mirrored the blockchain industry's evolution.

He first made a name for himself as a bitcoin-savvy lawyer while working at Nesenoff & Miltenberg LLP. In 2013, he became the chairman of regulatory affairs committee at the Bitcoin Foundation and the following year represented the trade group during the New York State Department of Financial Services' BitLicense hearings, watched across the globe.

In late 2014, he joined the white-shoe firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, and simultaneously was retained as global policy counsel for Blockchain. Santori made partner at Pillsbury two years later.

This period coincided with a long bear market for bitcoin. The industry's focus turned to seeking ways corporations and governments could take advantage of the underlying technology without having to touch the currency.

During that era, Santori was a key figure in shaping the state of Delaware's blockchain strategy. He helped to craft legislation that allowed firms incorporated in the First State to record their shares on a distributed ledger.

At Cooley, where Santori's been a partner since November 2016, his work has centered around ICOs, which took off like a rocket last year, despite the legal uncertainties surrounding these token sales.

ICO controversies

Santori tried to bring some clarity to the market last year with the SAFT, or Simple Agreement for Future Tokens.

In this structure, a blockchain project raises money exclusively from accredited investors, thereby avoiding securities registration requirements; once a network or product is built, the tokens needed to use it are distributed to the investors, who can resell them to the public.

The SAFT idea has been controversial, with some legal scholars fearing it may have the opposite effect from its intent and increase the legal risk for token issues.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators around the globe have begun cracking down on ICOs. And last month, without naming any names, SEC chairman Jay Clayton voiced disapproval of lawyers who have been advising ICOs that resemble securities offerings but don't comply with the securities laws.

Santori said his move to Blockchain was in the works long before Clayton made those remarks. As for the remarks themselves, he gave a very lawyerly response.

"The SEC and the bar are in a learning process about how these things ought to be treated, about where the value is, where the risk is," Santori said, adding:

"Regulators all around the world are responding primarily to headlines. There's been a failure on the part of the industry and the bar to explain the value to regulators. We all have a lot of work to do together."

Santori said his departure from Cooley is bittersweet, since he hasn't finished building the firm's fintech practice, but there aren't enough hours in the day to do that and perform his new duties at Blockchain.

"I wish I could do both," he said.

Image via Marco Santori