CSBS Sets One Company One Exam For Nationwide Money Transmitter License

CSBS Sets One Company, One Exam For Nationwide Money Transmitter License

By RTTNews Staff Writer | Published: 9/25/2020 10:18 AM ET

The U.S. State Regulators organization has rolled out a state-initiated program whereby nationwide payments firms, including cryptocurrency firms, will undergo one comprehensive exam in 2021 to satisfy all state examination requirements for the money transmitter license across the U.S. The firms holding licenses in 40 or more states in the U.S. will be eligible for the exam.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) will offer the one company, one exam to 78 of the nation's largest payments and cryptocurrency companies in 2021 that currently hold the license in 40 or more states. These companies move a combined more than $1 trillion in customer funds annually.

CSBS is the nationwide organization of banking regulators from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The streamlined state examinations, known as MSB Networked Supervision, for the money transmitters license will be conducted from 2021. This follows the successful completion of One Company, One Exam pilots conducted in 2019 and early 2020. The pilots included several companies, including Western Union.

MSB Networked Supervision is one of several state-driven programs based on recommendations from the CSBS Fintech Industry Advisory Panel, which emphasized the need to increase multistate exam coordination.

This exam protocol will enable states to fine tune a risk-based approach to each company's operations when compliance issues arise. Each exam will be led by one state overseeing a group of examiners sourced from across the country. This will help regulators gain more insight while also freeing up state resources.

This exam when compared to the multistate exams will be a significant change in terms of driving harmonization and streamlining of state supervision across the board.

This initiative has broad support from all CSBS members and Money Transmitter Regulators Association (MTRA) membership, which spans all state regulators that regulate money transmission.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Article written by an RTT News Staff Writer, and posted on the RTT News.com website.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Phil Anderson Again Accepting Campaign Donations In Cryptocurrencies

Phil Anderson Again Accepting Campaign Donations In Cryptocurrencies

By RTTNews Staff Writer | Published: 9/24/2020 10:17 AM ET

Phil Anderson is again challenging the state regulators by accepting election campaign donations in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Anderson is a candidate for Wisconsin State Assembly, District 47. He is a real estate broker, entrepreneur, business owner, and US Army Veteran.

Anderson had accepted cryptocurrency donations during his 2018 campaign for Governor of Wisconsin, which the Wisconsin Ethics Commission (WEC) found to be a serious challenge to compliance with state law.

Anderson is again challenging the WEC by accepting bitcoin donation for his 2020 Assembly campaign as the WEC had failed to arrive at a decision on its legality in 2018. He had challenged the WEC by accepting bitcoin donations in 2018.

"Cryptocurrency is money, and as such, is a legitimate way to make campaign donations. The WEC declined to interpret its own rules competently, and the Wisconsin Assembly refused to take up the issue," says Anderson.

WEC had in 2018 said that they would wait for the Wisconsin Legislature to make a law allowing or disallowing donations in cryptocurrency.

Anderson cited many other campaigns nationally, including Senator Rand Paul, to have accepted donations in cryptocurrency. Federal Elections Commission rules allow cryptocurrency donations, but many states have not caught up, he added.

"I refuse to give in to ignorance and bureaucratic incompetence," continues Anderson. If my opponent or the Ethics Commission are interested in challenging me, I'm ready for a fight."

Anderson is using crypto payment processor BitPay's donation platform, which, like other donation platforms, can require the donor submit the contact information necessary to conform with state regulations.

Cryptocurrency donations are converted to dollars and deposited directly into the bank account registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Gemini Crypto Exchange Gains FCA Approval To Expand Into The UK

Gemini Crypto Exchange Gains FCA Approval To Expand Into The U.K.

By Brenda Ngari – September 24, 2020

Crypto exchange Gemini, founded by Tyler and Cameroon Winklevoss, is expanding its footprint into the United Kingdom after receiving approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

According to an official blog post on Sept.24, the New York-based firm was granted an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license by the financial watchdog. This means that Gemini can now conduct crypto operations in the UK as a regulated entity.

Gemini Opens Its Doors To UK Crypto Investors

Gemini’s approval by the FCA indicates its intention to provide crypto services to the masses. The exchange will allow both retail and institutional investors to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies. Gemini has added support for pounds sterling (GBP) as a funding currency to give UK customers “a more local experience”.

In addition, UK users will be able to seamlessly fund their accounts via SWIFT wire transfers, Faster Payments, and CHAPS. This will ensure that they do not incur additional foreign exchange charges.

Besides the EMI license, Gemini has also been approved as part of FCA’s Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD) crypto-asset registration process. This approval means that the exchange will have to be compliant with all anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws and policies that the FCA has put in place to protect consumers.

Gemini’s Move Into UK Is A Stepping Stone To Global Expansion

Gemini’s move into the UK is part of its global expansion strategy. The exchange’s CEO Tyler Winklevoss said in a statement:

“Going live with our full services available in GBP in the UK is another exciting step forward in Gemini’s international expansion, advancing our mission to empower individuals and organizations around the world through crypto.

Tyler further noted that providing crypto services in the UK is a huge feat for Gemini.

“The UK is a global center of financial innovation with a stringent and progressive regulatory regime. We’re proud to help usher the crypto revolution into this historic market and become a part of its rich tradition. We look forward to welcoming consumers and institutional customers to our platform.”

Gemini is currently ranked as the 67th-biggest crypto spot exchange in the world by CoinMarketCap. Back home in the United States, Gemini is competing with leading exchange Coinbase. Right now, the exchange will also have to face off other FCA-approved exchanges in the new British market.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Brenda Ngari and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Number of Bitcoin Addresses Depositing BTC to Exchanges Has Doubled

Number of Bitcoin Addresses Depositing BTC to Exchanges Has Doubled

John P. Njui   •   BITCOIN (BTC) NEWS   •   SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

In summary:

  • The number of Bitcoin addresses depositing BTC to crypto exchanges has doubled since the beginning of the year
  • An average of 100k unique Bitcoin addresses are sending BTC to exchanges daily
  • The last time such a number was witnessed, was during the peak of the 2017 bull season
  • The latest Bitcoin pullback originated from BTC held in exchanges and not the usual massive transfers before a dump

The number of Bitcoin addresses depositing BTC to crypto exchanges has doubled since the beginning of 2020. This is according to the team at Glassnode who also added that approximately 100,000 unique Bitcoin addresses send BTC to crypto exchanges on a daily basis. Furthermore, the last time such an influx of BTC to exchanges was witnessed, was during the peak of the 2017 bull market.

The Recent Bitcoin Pullback Originated from ‘Inside’ Crypto Exchanges

The recent Bitcoin pullback from $11,000 levels to a local bottom around $10,300 caught many crypto analysts off-guard, specifically those who rely on on-chain data to anticipate major BTC moves. What usually happens before such as sell-off, is the rapid transfer of large amounts of Bitcoin as is so often seen with BTC miners. However, this was not the case this past week.

According to veteran Bitcoin analyst, Willy Woo, the recent pullback originated from within exchanges further providing a link with the analysis of the team at Glassnode that points towards continual Bitcoin deposits to exchanges since the beginning of the year.

Bitcoin traders could be transferring their BTC and setting limit orders to maximize on their Bitcoin profits in anticipation of a potential bear market brought about by an uncertain stock market.

Mr. Woo shared his analysis of the recent pull-back via the following tweet.

$7k Highly Unlikely for Bitcoin

In terms of the short term price of Bitcoin, there have been a few calls for BTC dropping hard below the psychological price level of $10k and even as far down as $7,700. However, Mr. Woo sees the latter scenario highly unlikely as explained below.

While I've heard talk of bearishness down to even 7k, I don't see fundamentals supporting this as a likely event.

On spot markets (Binance listed below), we have plenty of bids below this level and a liquidity gap above through to 10.8k-11k.

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

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Blockchain Patents In The US Skyrocket In 2020: Study

Blockchain Patents In The U.S. Skyrocket In 2020: Study

By RTTNews Staff Writer | Published: 9/23/2020 10:36 AM ET

Blockchain patents are skyrocketing in the U.S., with more blockchain-related patents being published in the first half of 2020 than in the whole of 2019, a year that had already seen more than three times the blockchain patents published in 2018, according to a new study published by IP consulting company KISSPatent.

The study also reveals that blockchain-only companies are keeping their distance from filing for patents as very few are filing. Curiously enough, it is mostly large companies like the Fortune 500 that are dominating the patent world with their blockchain-related applications.

Blockchain is an important foundation technology for decentralized, trustless interactions. It is the underlying technology for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. It is also used for all kinds of applications like finance, insurance, healthcare, logistics and many more.

Not surprisingly, the most popular category turns out to be fintech applications, being about half of all blockchain patent applications. These include applications using cryptocurrencies, or supporting storage or exchange of cryptocurrencies, or supporting other financial transactions over blockchain.

The second most popular category was decentralized business platforms and solutions deployed over blockchain, at a little more than 10 percent of all blockchain patent applications.

Other popular categories for blockchain patents include business services with a financial component, healthcare, traditional banking services and general business services that are grafted onto blockchain.

Fintech companies and traditional banks actually apply blockchain technology in different ways, to support their different business models.

According to the study, the U.S. is the number one country with 2112 blockchain patents. The Cayman Islands is surprisingly the second country with 350 blockchain patent filings as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's subsidiary that owns all of its blockchain patents/applications is located there.

They are followed by Canada with 118, Japan with 108, South Korea with 87 and China with 77 blockchain patent applications.

Alibaba and IBM are the top two US blockchain patent application publishers. Alibaba has published nearly 10 times more blockchain patents in the US than nearest rival IBM in 2020.

However, IBM currently owns the most blockchain patent applications, but Alibaba is catching up fast and should overtake IBM this year. Bank of America, Mastercard, nChain and Walmart are the other significant blockchain patent players.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Article written by an RTT News Staff Writer, and posted on the RTT News.com website.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Was Made Into a Demigod Because of this One Thing

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Was Made Into a Demigod Because of this One Thing


Image courtesy of American Vision

Sep 21, 2020 by Gary DeMar

It’s not what a person says that matters; it’s what a person does. The Bible is very clear on this:

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits (Matt. 7:15–20).

When the fruit of someone’s life is rotten, the best thing that can be done to modify that person’s legacy is to manufacture a different legacy. The following meme that I saw posted on Facebook is an attempt to do that for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG):


Image courtesy of American Vision

The above claims are just plain wrong. Women have had credit cards and their own credit history long before RBG served on the Supreme Court. In 1974 the Senate passed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that made it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their gender, race, religion, or national origin.

What about leasing apartments? When I met my wife in 1977, she was leasing an apartment in her own name, and she had her own credit cards. This was common long before the 1970s. The same is true with owning property.

Title IX was established in 1972 to provide everyone with equal access to any program or activity that receives Federal financial assistance, including sports. This means that federally funded institutions, such as public schools, are legally required to provide girls and boys with equitable sports opportunities. RGB didn’t have anything to do with these new laws.

Unfortunately, this law has resulted in some negative consequences. Also, the push for transgender rights under the guise of "gender" may end up ruining women's sports.

RBG’s “accomplishments” were mostly about abortion. Nearly every article I’ve read praising her is due to her stance to keep abortion legal with no exceptions and laws normalizing homosexuality and transgender rights. Here’s just one example:

On the court, Ginsburg offered the clearest and most cogent defense of abortion rights. She showed that sex discrimination involved often-baseless generalizations — a conclusion that helped advance successful equality claims made by LGBTQ+ groups.

Ginsburg has become an icon for a reason. Her impact on constitutional jurisprudence is hard to overestimate.

Why is the Left in such a panic? Because of abortion:

President Trump has hinted that Judge Amy Coney Barrett, widely believed to be a skeptic of Roe, will be the next in line for the high court. With Barrett's nomination, abortion would no longer be a sleeper issue in the 2020 election. It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of the right to choose hinges on who replaces Ginsburg, and when.

Don’t be deceived by a person’s demeanor and small stature. It was some of her policies that were evil. “Ginsburg’s jurisprudence also left a lot to be desired for conservatives. During a joint interview, [the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin] Scalia once quipped about his dear friend, ‘What’s not to like–except her views on the law[?]’” (Heritage) Exactly!

Yes, she was a champion of women’s rights. But there were other women who were equally passionate about such rights and fought for them. What made her such a standout for the Left was her support of abortion. This is the ultimate equal right.

“It is essential to woman’s equality with man that she be the decision maker, that her choice be controlling,” Ginsburg told Senators during her four days of questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Since men can’t get pregnant, in order to equal the playing field, women should be able to control their bodies and kill their unborn children. That’s RBG’s legacy, and it’s the Democrats who want to continue it.

If there’s one thing the death of RBG is showing us, it’s that the Supreme Court has too much power and authority. Five unelected judges should not be able to make law for 330 million people, and no one judge should be turned into a demigod for supporting a law that is a destroyer of human life on a massive scale.

Will a law prohibiting abortion stop women from getting abortions? No, in the same way that laws against murder and theft have not stopped people from murdering and stealing. It's the fact that our nation has passed laws giving women the right to kill their unborn babies that's the crime.

Original article posted on the AmericanVision.org site, by Gary DeMar.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

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BinanceUS CEO calls companies not integrating crypto ignorant’

Binance.US CEO calls companies not integrating crypto ‘ignorant’

The CEO called digital assets a "pandemic resilient" solution for businesses.


Image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

            SEPT 22, 2020

Catherine Coley, the CEO of crypto exchange Binance’s United States branch, says adopting crypto may be one of the only ways for businesses to be “pandemic resilient” going forward.

In a Sept. 21 interview with Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast, Coley said crypto had the ability to offer “uses beyond speculation” wherein investors could engage in e-commerce transactions, drive new businesses, and other real-world applications like mortgages:

"If you’re building a company in the next five years and you do not consider digital assets as a component, you’re going into this in an ignorant way. It’s an adoption case that is pandemic resilient."

The CEO said going forward, companies should take their cues from cryptocurrency, which has made conversations about money more digestible for the average person but also more accessible to professionals in traditional finance.

“This is an industry that is reaching a significantly different audience than finance,” said Coley. “I’ve been able to stay off the streets because of crypto and there is so much benefit in that, that people underestimate.”

Coley has served as the CEO of Binance.US since 2019. In the last month, the exchange announced it had cleared regulatory hurdles to expand its operations to Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. New legislation may make it possible for the exchange to open its doors to all traders in the U.S. by 2021.

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Original article posted on the CoinTelegraph.com site, by Turner Wright.

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This Is Why The World’s Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund Now Indirectly Owns Nearly 600 Bitcoins

This Is Why The World’s Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund Now Indirectly Owns Nearly 600 Bitcoins

By Brenda Ngari – September 21, 2020

Norway Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, now holds almost 600 bitcoins. This is according to a recent report published by crypto analytics firm Arcane Research.

Why Is The Norwegian Government Fund Indirectly Holding BTC?

Norway has arguably the largest wealth fund in the world, followed by China. The fund saves all the revenue from the country’s lucrative oil and gas industries in global companies, stocks, shares, real estate, and bonds for posterity.

Arcane Research noted in its September 19 blog post that the Norwegian Government Pension Fund has a 1.51% equity stake in Virginia-based business software firm MicroStrategy.

As you will recall, MicroStrategy recently completed the acquisition of 16,796 bitcoins, bringing the firm’s total bitcoin stash to 38,250. The company also made the benchmark crypto its primary treasury reserve asset for its “solid store of value” properties.

Arcane Research observed that via this ownership stake, the government fund now indirectly holds 577.58 BTC — worth approximately $6.3 million at current prices. The analytics firm further stated that it is very likely that the Norwegian Government Pension Fund has gained indirect exposure to bitcoin through other investments on top of its bitcoin exposure through MicroStrategy.

Positive Outlook On The Bitcoin Market

The central banks’ money-printing actions have led to many investors looking for alternative assets to store their wealth in. Besides MicroStrategy, institutional investors are also foraying into bitcoin.

According to Skew analytics, Bakkt bitcoin futures volume shattered a new record high on September 15, with the physically-settled contracts taking the lion’s share. Interestingly, the Bakkt Futures volume boom came less than a day after MicroStrategy’s bitcoin purchase.

The growing interest in bitcoin by corporations and institutional investors has already boosted the price of bitcoin in recent days. The flagship cryptocurrency is hovering above $10,492 at press time, down 3.73% in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin could continue to attract more high net worth investors in the near-term. This will likely light a fire under the bulls, subsequently pushing the price of the asset higher.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Brenda Ngari and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Xage To Develop Blockchain-powered Data Protection System For US Space Force

Xage To Develop Blockchain-powered Data Protection System For U.S. Space Force

By RTTNews Staff Writer | Published: 9/21/2020 10:23 AM ET

Blockchain startup Xage Security, Inc. has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force Research Lab to evaluate, develop and deploy a blockchain-powered data protection system for U.S. Space Force (USSF).

Xage will develop a system for end-to-end data protection across military and civilian assets to support command and control for the USSF. Xage solution will be in the form of a blockchain-protected space system security.

The solution will enable the USSF to enforce verification for any system access, efficiently protect resources even when out of contact, and ensure data can be trusted and protected from source until delivery to the operational units.

The USSF was established by the U.S. Air Force in December 2019 to protect space, the highest battlefield ground, by developing military space professionals, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and organizing space forces.

“The USSF requires decentralized enforcement of security to establish space domain resilience and objective situational awareness–across every asset and data element,” said Xage CEO Duncan Greatwood.

Space systems require a security solution that blocks cyber attacks before they gain traction, protects the space platform at a granular level, and ensures data integrity, confidentiality, and access across various organizations and units.

Any security solution deployed must remain resilient even in the face of the most sophisticated attacks, and must be able to prevent and combat cyberattacks in real time.

The Xage Security Fabric, rooted in tamperproof blockchain technology, is well suited to handle the diverse ecosystem of space and terrestrial assets. It also removes singular points of entry, ensuring that a single hack is no longer capable of wiping out all operations across a system.

Xage’s Dynamic Data Security offering can enforce fine grained access control and data control among applications, across both USSF and commercial assets, and between space and ground.

Xage’s Enforcement Point solution also provides granular identity-based access control for ground systems communicating with satellites with confidential payload protection.

This is the second contract for the cybersecurity firm has got from the U.S. Air Force following the contract received in December 2019 to evaluate Xage’s blockchain-protected Security Fabric.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Crypto Analyst: ChainLink’s Annual Returns Could Mimic an Early BTC

Crypto Analyst: ChainLink’s Annual Returns Could Mimic an Early BTC

John P. Njui   •   DEFI • CHAINLINK (LINK) NEWS • ETHEREUM (ETH) NEWS   •   SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

Quick take:

  • Timothy Peterson has predicted that Chainlink will exhibit early Bitcoin returns of 300 – 400% per year
  • The value of LINK is very much linked to the adoption of the ChainLink network
  • More crypto projects continue to integrate ChainLink technology
  • Timothy Peterson has also foreshadowed a possible bottom for LINK in late September

In a recent tweet, Crypto Analyst Timothy Peterson of Cane Island Alternative Advisors has predicted that ChainLink (LINK) is on a path towards experiencing returns similar to an early Bitcoin of 300 – 400% per year. According to Mr. Peterson, the price of LINK is very much linked to the adoption of the ChainLink network.

Use of ChainLink’s Price Feeds and Oracles Continues to Grow

Mr. Peterson has constantly used Metcalfe’s Law to highlight the relation between network activity and the value of the associated token. In this case, activity on the ChainLink network continues to grow with multiple crypto projects signing up to use the project’s price feeds.

In this past week alone, several crypto projects have announced their use of ChainLink’s price feeds. To begin with, TrustSwap announced that it will be using ChainLink’s ETH/USD price reference data for its SmartLock and SmartEscrow products.

Other crypto projects that announced the integration of ChainLink technology in the last week include SpectreAI, Matic Network, Zapper, Hacken, XinFin Network, Baseline protocol and Crypto.com.

A Possible Bottom for ChainLink in Late September

In terms of the short term value of ChainLink in the crypto markets, Timothy Peterson has suggested that late September could be a possible time-frame for LINK to bottom in the crypto markets. He shared his price analysis of ChainLink via the following tweet that also highlighted that its value is tied to unique function calls on the ChainLink network.

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe