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Botswana government all set to present virtual asset bill to parliament for cryptocurrency regulation

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Botswana’s administration plans to introduce a “Virtual Asset Bill” to the country’s parliament, which may make it one of the first African countries to pass legislation governing cryptocurrencies.

According to a recent official gazette, a Botswana government draft bill that seeks to control new and emerging virtual asset enterprises and offer a regulatory body with its tasks and powers is slated to be presented to its parliament.

Press release by Bank of Botswana (November 10, 2021)

An earlier press release by the Bank of Botswana stated the participation and regulation of crypto assets. The Bank indicated that they have been watching and monitoring trends in the growing trade of crypto assets, particularly Bitcoin, both internationally and locally, including involvement by residents and other domestic entities in regional and global trading platforms. Moreover, the Bank admits receiving and responding to public and media inquiries on the issue, including legality in Botswana, authorities’ approval, and the presence of any regulatory framework for the licensing, regulation, and protection of “investors/consumers.”

The Bank also observed no specific legal or regulatory framework on or proscribing investment in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin in Botswana. In context, trading in bitcoin or other decentralized technologies, commonly known as “cryptocurrency,” is analogous to investing in any other intangible asset, with risks such as total loss of value or possible exploitation of the technology to the harm of investors. These operations put the investor’s money at risk, and they rely on the investor’s confidence and thorough understanding of the nature and scope of the risks connected with these sorts of firms.

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The idea of presenting the Virtual Asset Bill with other proposals such as the Financial Intelligence Bill came barely over two months after Botswana’s central Bank cautioned people engaging in cryptocurrency trading that the country lacked a regulatory framework to control such trade.

Nonetheless, according to the draft published in the Extraordinary Government Gazette on December 23, Botswana authorities intend to include “provisions for managing, mitigating, and preventing money laundering and financing of terrorism” in the proposed law. The document also aims to restrict the growth of virtual assets as well as new developing business practices and technology.

In the meantime, some cryptocurrency enthusiasts believe Botswana’s intention to change its financial regulations is tied to its removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) graylist in October 2021. The FATF has previously flagged the nation due to shortcomings in its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) regimes.

Digital assets information sought out by Congress’s Agriculture Committees

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The U.S Congress sent out a letter, on 12 January 2022, to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) requesting more information on digital assets marketplaces. The letter was addressed to Rostin Behnam, chairman of CFTC.

Currently, the agriculture committees are asking Behnam to report on the growth of the crypto industry and to specify how privileged the CFTC is to step up when that rise puts the consumers in jeopardy. The letter in detail talks about CFTC’s rapport with crypto, along with its supposition of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether being commodities. It also reprises that the CFTC is authorized to enforce actions against digital asset forum though the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

The letter asserts that the CFTC has been active in prosecuting persons and entities engaging in misconduct in digital asset markets under its jurisdiction and that the Commission had also issued interpretive guidance on retail transactions in certain digital assets and educated the public on the technology underlying this marketplace and its attendant risks.

It has been highlighted that the consumers reported losing nearly $82 million to cryptocurrency scams between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, more than 10 times the amount from the same six-month period a year earlier.

Considering the hike of digital assets that are being traded on decentralized financial (DeFi) protocols, the committees have expressed concern over the DeFi protocols offering derivatives contracts on unregistered exchanges which is the subject of the recent CFTC enforcement action.

8 specific explanations to 8 questions on digital assets

Congress wants to understand the benefits and risks better to identify the CFTC’s role. To understand the scope and size of the digital asset markets, the benefits and risks presented by these emerging technologies, and the role of the Commission with respect to these markets, the Congress has laid down a set of 8 questions for the CFTC to answer.

The questions ask the CFTC to estimate the measurement of the digital asset house on the whole and its U.S members, also to analyze and differentiate it to the conventional finance house. Information on any collaboration the company has with digital asset stakeholders and different businesses working to manage the trade and questions whether or not the Commission’s present authorities are sufficient to guard shoppers in the digital asset house was also requested.

Bitfarms Adds 1,000 BTC to its Treasury

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Global Bitcoin (BTC) self-mining company, Bitfarms Ltd. announced through a press release on 10 January 2022, that it currently holds over 4,300 Bitcoins (BTC).

The Canadian Bitcoin mining company seems to have taken the proverb “when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade” very literally by making the best out of the ‘subsiding value of Bitcoin’ situation.

The firm, during the first week of January 2022, purchased 1,000 BTC at US$43.2 million. This acquisition of the asset has supposedly increased the BTC holdings of the firm by 30% to over 4,300. Emiliano Grodski, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bitfarms, said,

“Our guiding company strategy at Bitfarms is to accumulate the most Bitcoin for the lowest cost and in the fastest amount of time for the benefit of our shareholders. To that end, we continually optimize our capital allocation. With the dip in BTC, while mining hardware prices remain high, we seized the opportunity to move cash into BTC. We continue to be committed to executing our operational growth strategy and delivering our goal of 8 Exahash/second by the end of 2022.”

Bitfarms, the first OSC prospectus approved miners

Although being founded in 2017, the Bitcoin mining firm, started trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) only in July 2019 after becoming the first Bitcoin mining company to have completed its long-form procedures with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).

The company claims to have a diversified production platform with five industrial-scale facilities located in Quebec and one in the state of Washington. Seemingly, each facility is 99% powered with environmentally-friendly hydropower and secured with long-term power contracts.

In other news, this announcement has been made in less than a fortnight after Bitfarms secures a $100 million credit from the Goldman Sachs of crypto, Galaxy Digital LLC, an affiliate of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., a provider of blockchain and cryptocurrency financial services for institutions.

According to the company’s statement at the time, on 31 December 2021, it had made an initial $60 million draw with a six-month term at an interest rate of 10.75% per annum. At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at $41,832.38 with a bullish market at 2.23% in the last 24 hours.

GAO says cryptocurrency increases the risk of drug/human trafficking

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In a recent report on Monday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that virtual currency is increasingly being used in an unauthorized manner to facilitate human and drug trafficking.

According to the reports, a government agency that provides auditing and investigative reports to Congress emphasized that the gazebos, also called crypto ATMs, were in a way responsible for the rise of this crime, as the machines are less regulated than the crypto exchanges and that the transactions are the most difficult to trace. The investigating authority of the Congress stated,

“Virtual currency’s anonymizing features can attract criminals’ use to avoid detection when paying for illicit activities such as human and drug trafficking,”

The GAO brief suggests that policymakers, regulators, and law enforcement authorities have identified virtual currency, human trafficking, and drug trafficking as the topmost priority areas of concern. It also warns that the federal agencies may lack complete data when determining or reporting the illegal use of cryptocurrency.

In light of recent events, it has been noted that the number of suspicious activity reports filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that involve virtual currency and drug trafficking has increased five times (252 to 1,432) to what it was back in 2017.

GAO suggests collaboration of IRS and FinCEN

The agency has made nine recommendations to selected agencies to improve their data collection practices.

The agency believes that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) should work together in regulating the crypto ATMs.

To get a better judgment of the issue, GAO has asked FinCEN and all other law enforcement agencies to review registration requirements for the crypto ATMs used to exchange these digital assets for liquidated assets in different locations like convenience stores. The agency has also asked them to take appropriate actions and to contain more detailed data regarding individual crypto ATM locations (registrations, renewals, etc). This helps in identifying high-risk kiosk operators to monitor for compliance, while also enhancing information per law enforcement that makes it easier to identify potentially illicit transactions.

PrimeXBT’s $100,000 trading competition to make Christmas more interesting

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The crypto-verse has managed to amass recognition and increased adoption. To spruce things up for the crypto community, platforms like PrimeXBT have set up a trading contest.

PrimeXBT has been a prominent member of the crypto industry. With the inclusion of over 50 assets from a wide range of industries like crypto, forex, indices, and commodities, the platform has managed to outshine several exchanges. PrimeXBT’s covesting feature has been its major selling point.

The extensive user base of the exchange and its virtual presence across 150 countries motivated it to roll out a brand new product called the Contests module. This feature allows users to take part in contests formulated by the platform. PrimeXBT decided to commemorate the launch of this module with its very first contest, the Grand Trading Competition.

The prize money involved in this trading competition is $100,000. The prize money would be distributed among the first ten traders that win the competition.

PrimeXBT’s Grand Trading Competition

The competition is made available to literally every PrimeXBT user and an individual can be a part of it without having to pay any sort of entry fee. This risk-free environment will put off the pressure on losing funds while upholding the spirit of enjoying the competition.

With the platform’s wide range of markets, participants have to show their best Return of Investment a.k.a ROI, and beat all the others to the top.

By merely showing off their best ROI, participants can win up to $50,000. The $100,000 prize money part of the trading competition is split into various parts. The trader acquiring the first position will be rewarded with $50,000. Traders in the second and third positions would be given $20,000 and $10,000, respectively.

Following the third position, the rest seven of them would be awarded with funds ranging between $500 to $7,000 based on their performance.

How to jump into PrimeXBT’s trading competition?

Being a part of any competition curated by PrimeXBT is an easy task. The main part involves the creation of an account on the platform. Existing users can simply log in to their accounts and select the “Contests” section from the top menu under the “Products” option.

Soon after this, all the live contests would be displayed on the screen. More details will be provided once the user clicks on the “view” option under every contest. Users can enter the contest of their choice by simply clicking the “join” button.

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PrimeXBT's $100,000 trading competition to make Christmas more interesting 3

The next step involves entering a nickname and agreeing to the rules of the respective contest. Users can view their contests under the “My Contests” tab and commence trading.

The latest contest module by PrimeXBT poses as a great opportunity for people who would want a risk-free way of making money.

FBI traced embezzled $150 million to Bitcoin

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FBI’s investigation of the theft of the $150 million from a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation has been traced to Bitcoin(BTC).

The Department of Justice(DoJ), US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California issued a press release on 20 December 2021 stating that Rei Ishii, an emplyee of Sony LIfe Insurance Company Ltd., allegedly embezzled the $154 million when the company attempted to transfer funds between its financial accounts.

After acquiring certain insurance companies, Sony Life was to transfer funds from its Citibank account in Bermuda to its Japanese accounts.

Ishii managed to embezzle these funds by distorting the transaction instructions, which caused the funds to transfer into an account controlled by him at the Silvergate bank in La Jolla, California. the money from these funds was immediately used to buy 3,879 Bitcoins on Coinbase. He tried to cloak this theft by transferring the bought Bitcoins into a hardware wallet, in an attempt to ensure that the essence and ownership of the funds were unknown.

Like stealing wasn’t bad enough, Ishii tried to coerce Sony Life into an arrangement. He asserted that it would not be possible for the company to recover any part of the stolen money. Ishii even alleged that the company would go down with him if they filed criminal charges against him.

However, the FBI tracked down the funds and seized them on 1 December 2021. The stolen money in the form of Bitcoins was then transferred to the FBI San Diego’s Bitcoin wallet.

Stolen money accounts to $180 million in Bitcoin cryptocurrency: FBI

Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said, “It is our intent to return the stolen money to the victim of this audacious theft, and today’s action helps us do that.” He further went on to thank the prosecution team, the FBI, and Japanese authorities for their impeccable work on the case.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said,

“The FBI was able to recover these stolen funds for two very important reasons, first, Sony and Citibank immediately contacted and cooperated with law enforcement as soon as the theft was detected, and the FBI worked in partnership with both to locate the funds. Second, the FBI’s footprint internationally through our Legal Attaché offices and the pre-existing relationships we have established in foreign countries – in this instance with Japan – enabled law enforcement to coordinate and identify the subject. The FBI’s technical expertise was able to trace the money to the subject’s crypto wallet and seize those funds.”

All the Bitcoins that are worth $180 million, traceable to the theft, have been recovered and fully preserved, according to the press release.

Robo Trading with Delta Exchange: How you can level up your trading game

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While economies worldwide were hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and are still reeling from its after-effects, the crypto industry has been one of the few to see a positive demand shock across geographies. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global crypto industry is set to grow at a CAGR of 11.1%, from $910.3 million in 2021 to $1,902.5 million in 2028. And despite proposals for regulations and outright bans in some jurisdictions, cryptocurrencies have continued to skyrocket in value.

A large part of the planet is betting on cryptocurrencies as the currency of the future, and supporters and enthusiasts are flocking to get hold of them before they become any more valuable. With the potential to make huge profits in a significantly shorter space of time than other standard investments like stocks or bonds, it’s no shocker that people are now getting into crypto trading more than ever. This volatility, however, is also one of its major drawbacks.

Cryptocurrencies are infamous for their dramatic price movements that can occur within the space of a few seconds or minutes. Moreover, since cryptocurrency markets operate 24/7, traders are inevitably required to monitor crypto exchanges across the globe at all times. This causes difficulties for most traders to react to market fluctuations promptly. Slowdowns in crypto exchanges and transaction delays aggravate the matter even further.

This is where trading bots come in. Crypto trading bots are essentially automated trading systems that trade on behalf of traders and investors. When certain conditions for trade are satisfied, they allow traders to execute trades automatically. Trading bots are especially useful in a highly volatile market like the crypto market since they are more efficient and make fewer human errors.

Delta Exchange, one of the world’s leading crypto derivatives exchanges, offers advanced Robo Trading strategies that help investors actively trade in the crypto markets and make profits. Here’s a look at the various types of Robo Trading strategies available on Delta Exchange. Some of these strategies also offer users additional; rewards in DETO – the utility token of Delta Exchange.

  1. Top 20 momentum

The Top 20 momentum strategy trades in the top 20 cryptocurrencies, which are chosen on the basis of their market capitalization. This strategy takes long or short directional positions based on short-term price momentum. Subscribers can also earn DETO rewards up to 3000 per day.

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  1. Top 2 momentum

Similar to the Top 20 momentum strategy, the Top 2 momentum strategy trades in BTC and ETH only – the top 2 cryptos based on market cap.

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  1. BTC momentum

This strategy can be used solely for BTC inverse perpetual and has given returns of around 6.50% since inception. The strategy also takes long or short positions on the basis of price momentum.

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  1. ALTBTC momentum

The ALTBTC momentum strategy provides returns of around 1.80% and trades in top altcoin pairs.

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  1. DeFi momentum

This momentum strategy trades in the top DeFi assets which are chosen on the basis of their market capitalization. Generally expected to perform well in a volatile and trending market, this strategy maximizes the holding period for profitable trades and minimizes it for losing trades. This helps to improve performance while reducing drawdown.

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  1. Large Cap AMM

The Large Cap AMM strategy is particularly designed for a relatively lower risk profile and primarily aims to minimize drawdowns. Being an AMM (Automated Market Maker), this strategy aims to make profits by providing liquidity on the books of coins like BTCUSDT and ETHUSDT, which have a significantly large market capitalization. Users are also eligible for DETO rewards under this strategy. In proportion to their ownership of the units outstanding, 17500 DETO/day are distributed to subscribers.

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  1. BTCUSD AMM

The BTCUSD AMM strategy aims to deliver bids and offers to order books on BTCUSD inverse contracts. Users should be aware, however, that contributions to this strategy may only be made in BTC. DETO rewards include 2000 DETO per day.

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  1. Cash Future Arbitrage

This strategy enables investors and traders to profit from the premium offered by BTC and ETH futures over their spot market prices. Traders may also use the strategy to earn funds by trading perpetuals and spot pairs in a market-neutral setup. Under this strategy, 3275 DETO/day are distributed to subscribers as DETO rewards.

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There’s no doubt that crypto trading bots are here to make your crypto journey easier. Take it a step further with Robo Trading strategies from Delta Exchange to enhance your trading game.

You can also follow Delta Exchange on Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Telegram.

Crypto Lottery Game Lucky Block Launches for Pre-Sale

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Pre-sale runs until February 1, 2022

lucky

LuckyBlock, a cryptocurrency lottery, has launched a pre-sale of their Lucky Block token. The Lucky Block lottery uses blockchain technology and voting polls on every purchase to ensure transparency and fairness, allowing everyone to be a winner.

The internet has created a demand for online gambling, with companies offering easily accessible online wagering. Lucky Block envisions a worldwide crypto lottery with players using blockchain protocols, operating on the Binance Smart Chain.

“We believe the lottery should not be bound geographically or tied to local financial systems,” shared the creators of LuckyBlock. “Instead, our focus is to develop further transparency and fairness in gaming, creating a lottery where every player has better odds of winning while providing a solid investment strategy for token holders and contributing to the community.”

General lottery odds are stacked too high, and they are centralized meaning players can’t see where all the money is going. Additionally, platforms on a centralized server are vulnerable to hacking, while physical systems are more likely to experience ‘fixing’ or rigging of the game. With Lucky Block being decentralized, every transaction is logged in the blockchain for increased visibility. This ledger of interactions prevents undetectable system tampering for rigging. With a general lottery, the people have no vote in who gets the grants. With Lucky Block, the community can vote as to which causes are granted.

LuckyBlock will reduce draw times and allow multiple draws per day giving players more chances to win while lowering costs per lottery. Being on the blockchain allows for faster, if not instant, prize pay-out alongside full tracking and recording, regardless of the win size via distributed ledger technologies.

32,500,000,000 tokens will be available until February 1, 2022, to allow early adopters in at an advantageous rate. Of the presale launch proceeds, 20-25% will be allocated to the liquidity pool via a 1-year smart contract lock-up.

When the jackpot is distributed, 70% goes to winners, and the remaining 30% is evenly distributed to token holders, back to Lucky Block, and charity.

To learn more and purchase your presale tokens, visit https://luckyblock.com/ and join the community Telegram here: https://t.me/LuckyBlockChainTG

About LuckyBlock

LuckyBlock has also partnered with European financial marketing sensation Finixio, a London-based media company that runs 15+ leading comparison brands across personal finance, cryptocurrency & technology sectors.

n.exchange Partners with FatBTC, Enables More Fiat Options for Millions of Traders Worldwide

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Partnerships between crypto organizations are stimulating constant improvements in the relatively young industry by creating more options and opportunities for people to join the future of finance. FatBTC and n.exchange, two companies that have been operating in the crypto space since the industry’s early days, are now joining forces to create more crypto purchase possibilities.

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n.exchange is enabling tomorrow’s financial system by providing a seamless gateway into the crypto world. Established in London, in 2016 n.exchange has grown exponentially within the last 5 years. The organization now consists of a growing number of experts in the fields of Technology, Crypto, Finance, Marketing, and Sales and is set to continue to grow. 

Currently, the teams are distributed worldwide, creating an effective remote environment as a response to the ever-changing market needs. The company now also has offices in Lithuania and Portugal, where top engineering and commercial talent is being attracted to showcase their unique abilities in continuously achieving organizational goals of n.exchange. The ultimate vision is ambitious, according to n.exchange founder, Oleg Belousov, the future, where crypto is accessible to everyone, is being locked next door, the n.exchange aims to unlock it.

That has been shown recently when n.exchange partnered up with FatBTC, a Chinese multifunctional exchange that operates in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. This fresh business integration is now enabling millions of FatBTC users to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum using the Russian Ruble. Both organizations are set to remove current financial ecosystem barriers as well as to enable a simple and seamless gateway into the crypto world by bridging traditional and digital finance to encourage ideas of financial revolution and widespread adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. 

FatBTC has been promoting the trading of pioneer blockchain currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum since 2014. The rapid exchange growth has onboarded millions of registered users worldwide and today, the application is available in multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, and Arabic. 

With the rapid growth of cryptocurrency adoption in 2021, the crypto market is getting crowded while the traditional financial markets are being inflated. Moreover, as the traditional banks are continuously increasing charges to consumers, more fintech and crypto companies are focusing to ease these feelings by offering modern solutions for people to participate in economics. Therefore, such partnerships between crypto companies are necessary and inevitable to ensure financial security, stability, and trust within society. What we cannot achieve alone, we will achieve together. 

How to Choose Between Parachains and Parathreads?

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The third generation of blockchain technology is running full steam ahead, with the Polkadot ecosystem leading the charge. The reason Polkadot is such a hot topic right now is that it patches up the issues of scalability and interoperability. This means that developers can use their system to create multi-chain projects that run off blockchains in unison. Further, through chain bridges, projects can integrate with existing blockchains. To do this, they run a series of parachain slots that connect to a Relay Chain, with devs bidding on slots to win time. Alternatively, there are parathreads, which can give businesses access to the Relay Chain on a pay-as-you-go basis. To find out which is the best option, continue reading.

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How to Choose Between Parachains and Parathreads? 23

What Are Parachains?

Essentially, parachains are blockchains that exist on the Polkadot network. They are connected to a central Relay Chain and allow for interoperability and scalability. Parachains take up a dedicated slot and can therefore be bid on by developers looking to create. Alongside publicly available parachains, there are common good parachains that are put aside for projects that benefit the central Relay Chain or the entire community. These slots are decided on by a public governance system. If you win a parachain bid, you have access to the Relay Chain for the entirety of the lease and your bond is your allotted a share in DOT.

 What are Parathreads?

Parathreads are essentially the same as parachains in terms of functionality. The only difference is that they don’t need to be bid on. Instead, they access the Relay Chain when they need to. Payment for a parachain is made for the time connected to the chain. The question of parachain vs parathread is dependent on the type of project being completed and the amount of revenue you have.

  Parachains or Parathreads?

When you bid on a parachain slot, you will need to start a bid at 5 DOT, which is worth around $200 depending on the market. To win the slot, you are going to need a heft fund alongside an invested community. To give you an idea, Acala won the first parachain auction with a lock-in DOT worth $1.3 billion. They can now use that parachain slot for the entirety of the lease. Once they’ve finished, their assets are unfrozen.

If you don’t have the financial backing yourself, or a supportive community, a parathread would be the best option for you. As well the financial side, the practical side of your project will dictate whether you need to invest in a full parachain slot. For instance, if your project runs mostly on your network and would only need limited interoperability, then there’s no feasible point in having a parachain slot. Just because you opt for a parathread now, doesn’t mean you can’t occupy a parachain in the future. The Polkadot ecosystem marks an exciting step forward in the blockchain space by allowing devs to work on interoperable projects. Their system of bidding and freezing assets for the duration of the lease will guarantee that the ecosystem keeps rolling forward.