Paysafe, a specialist payments platform, has announced that its Skrill digital wallet has expanded its cryptocurrency offering to the US in partnership with Coinbase. 

In collaborating with Coinbase, the firm will provide a new cryptocurrency white label solution to Skrill, continuing the digital wallet’s US expansion by enabling customers across 37 states and territories to gain a deeper efficiency in buying and selling multiple cryptocurrencies.

Lorenzo Pellegrino, CEO of Skrill, NETELLER, and Income Access at Paysafe, said: “US consumer interest in cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency trading is stronger than ever, so we’re delighted to better serve our customers’ needs by launching our Skrill crypto offering in the country in partnership with Coinbase. Powered by Coinbase’s sophisticated platform, our crypto offering is just Skrill’s latest US move to provide consumers with a best-in-class digital wallet.”

Skrill’s crypto offering, which was first launched in 2018 and is already available in over 30 countries, can now be used by consumers in Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, DC, Washington state, and Puerto Rico. 

Brett Tejpaul, Head of Institutional Trading at Coinbase, added on the collaboration between the two firms: “As we focus on building the crypto-economy, we look to partner with leaders like Skrill who can white-label our turnkey solution to provide and support digital assets to their clients without having to learn the nuances of building a crypto exchange.”

Young minds in the U.S. state of Georgia will soon begin to learn about digital currencies in high school. This is after the state’s House of Representatives passed a bill that calls for these schools to teach the students about financial literacy, with digital currencies being one of the areas of interest.

The bill calls for state education officials to develop the program in pursuit of “quality basic education.” It states, “The State Board of Education shall prescribe a program of study in personal financial literacy to be completed by students during high school.” Each local education board will have to implement the minimum program of study beginning in the 2021-2022 year.

It will cover 16 different areas, all pertinent to the students’ financial literacy. One of these is cryptocurrency, with the others including local tax assessments, investments such as stocks and bonds, simple contracts, state and federal laws concerning finance and money management such as saving, credit and managing debt.

The bill sailed through the lower chamber by a vote of 169-2, an indication of just how significant digital currencies, and other financial literacy matters, have become in recent times. It has now gone to the state’s Senate for further consideration.

Georgia joins a rising number of jurisdictions that are imparting digital currency and blockchain knowledge on young minds, preparing them for the future of payments. In 2020, Colombia’s capital of Bogota launched free online blockchain lessons. As CoinGeek reported, the courses seek to give the residents a better understanding of the technology and spur innovation in the South American country.

In France, the government introduced digital currency education courses to the country’s high school curriculum. The courses imparted basic knowledge about digital currencies, including Bitcoin’s future as the global payments network. It also looked at digital currencies vis-à-vis the fiat currency system, including why such systems have lost the trust of most citizens.

Aside from governments, many private institutions have taken up the responsibility of availing information about Bitcoin to the world. Winklevoss twins-owned Gemini exchange recently launched Cryptopedia, an open-access education portal.

One of the best portals to learn about Bitcoin is the Bitcoin SV Academy. The platform, which launched in December, offers meaningful, comprehensive and high-quality content that enables its users to easily learn about Bitcoin, whether they are experienced in the field or novices. The Bitcoin Association has also partnered with Saxion University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands to launch the first Bitcoin SV-focused massive open online course (MOOC), offering courses and all assessments free of charge to anyone interested in learning about Bitcoin.

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeek’s Bitcoin for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoin—as originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto—and blockchain.

Nigeria’s central bank didn’t restrict citizens from trading digital currencies, a senior official has clarified. Rather, the bank’s directive only applied to banks, prohibiting them from processing transactions related to digital currencies.

Adamu Lamtek, the deputy governor in charge of corporate services at the Centra Bank of Nigeria clarified the regulator’s stance during a recent event organized by the watchdog, local outlet TodayNG reports.

“The CBN did not place restrictions from use of cryptocurrencies and we are not discouraging people from trading in it. What we have just done was to prohibit transactions on cryptocurrencies in the banking sector,” he stated.

The official reiterated the bank’s message—that the measure was in the interest of Nigerians. Lamtek pointed out that Nigerian digital currency traders were exposed to several risks through digital currencies and that the ban would protect them from many of these.

The official, however, didn’t address concerns that by banning the legal channels, it could push the traders to unregulated platforms that are riskier.

CBN’s clarification will do little to put the minds of Nigerian digital currency users at ease. The lack of access to the banking industry has effectively shut down all on-ramps for the users. These banks are already acting on the directive and are threatening to shut down any digital currency-related accounts.

As one regular trader told Quartz, he had received a number of calls from his bank asking him to quit “illegal trading of crypto or risk losing his account and funds.”

He added, “To bypass banks, we carefully delist crypto-related information from transaction details, or else you’ll be locked out of the system and lose everything. So right now, it’s about our survival, banks don’t want transparency.”

Nigerian exchanges are also devising ways to work around the ban without breaking the law. One of these is the use of global currencies like the U.S. dollar, but as local outlet Tech Cabal notes, this only works for people with foreign bank accounts. Other Nigerian exchanges like Buycoins have launched their own stablecoin, the NGNT, which they claim is pegged to the Naira.

See also: CoinGeek Live panel, Digital Currency & Global Compliance: Tools & Tips for Exchanges, Wallets & Other Service Providers

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeek’s Bitcoin for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoin—as originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto—and blockchain.

Turkey could soon have a regulatory framework for the digital currency industry, one of the country’s top leaders has revealed. The minister further stated that he has warmed up to digital currencies, describing them as “effective for world trade.”

Mustafa Varank, the Minister for Industry and Technology, spoke in a recent interview with Bloomberg HT. He revealed that he has been anti-Bitcoin for years now, viewing it as just a tool for criminals. However, in recent months, this stance has changed.

“I was much more negative about cryptocurrencies. I did not believe that this business could be very involved in world trade. I see that they are very active today,” he told the outlet.

The minister disclosed that the Turkish government is endeavoring to introduce regulations to the nascent industry. He believes that if left unsupervised, the digital currency industry “is a very suitable area for fraud.”

He added, “We will not leave the risky cryptocurrency space unsupervised. At the point we have reached today, we are talking about an area that is very uncontrolled, has great risks, and where fraud is a possibility.”

Varank’s remarks come barely a week since Turkey’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance revealed it’s working towards regulating the industry. The ministry is working with the central bank and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency on the regulations.

Varank believes that all developed economies will eventually regulate digital currencies. Currently, some have already started formulating these regulations, even though they are in the very early stages. “In the coming days, both western countries and other world states will definitely start to introduce regulations regarding this area.”

The minister observed that Turkish investors “love risk.” This has been one of the biggest appeals of digital currencies, he believes. While it has its upsides, this appetite for risky high-yield investments also has its drawbacks. One of them is the rise of scams targeting Turkish investors.

A few years back, two scammers launched Turcoin, a token they claimed was the Turkey’s national digital currency. As CoinGeek reported at the time, the scammers managed to raise 1 billion Turkish lira ($133 million). The project was a pyramid scheme in which existing investors earned more money when they brought in new investors. It also promised a guaranteed monthly income of $52 for a minimum investment of $315. The scammers fled the country when their scam got exposed.

Varank, however, is still warning people about dealing with digital currencies. He observed that the market is still subject to manipulation by a few high-ranking individuals. He singled out Elon Musk as one of those with great influence over the markets.

“With one tweet, Elon Musk can suddenly turn the market upside down,” Varank stated.

Musk, the world’s second-richest man, has become notorious for his market-moving tweets. He usually targets the meme token Dogecoin as well as BTC. His company Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of BTC recently as well. The SpaceX founder would, however, hate Bitcoin SV.

See also: CoinGeek Live panel, Digital Currency & Global Compliance: Tools & Tips for Exchanges, Wallets & Other Service Providers

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeek’s Bitcoin for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoin—as originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto—and blockchain.

Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager with $43.6 billion in net assets under management (AUM), has announced five new single-asset digital asset investment trusts, bringing its total number of investment products to 14. According to a press release by Grayscale on Wednesday, March 17, the new products are Grayscale Basic Attention Token (BAT) Trust, the Chainlink (LINK) Trust, the Decentraland (MANA) Trust, the Filecoin (FIL) Trust, and the Livepeer (LPT) Trust. They function the same as Grayscale’s other single-asset investment trusts. According to the asset manager, these new investment trusts are now open for daily subscription by the eligible individual and institutional accredited investors.

Grayscale’s nine other single-asset investment products provide exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Horizen (ZEN), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar Lumens (XLM), and Zcash (ZEC). Other Grayscale investment products like Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund, provide exposure to the top digital currencies by market capitalization.

Grayscale, based in New York, is a leader in digital currency investment and management with $43.6 billion in net assets under management (AUM) across all of its products with Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) at the top with $36,696.8 million in AUM.

According to the latest AUM update by Grayscale, Grayscale Basic Attention Token Trust now has $2 million, Chainlink Trust $1.4 million, Decentraland Trust $8.7 million, Filecoin Trust $0.04 million, and Livepeer Trust $1.7 million in AUM.

Grayscale currently offers 14 investment products of which 6 products are available in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, including OTCQX. They include Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX: GBTC), Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust (OTCQX: BCHG), Grayscale Ethereum Trust (OTCQX: ETHE), Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (OTCQX: ETCG), Grayscale Litecoin Trust (OTCQX: LTCN), Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (OTCQX: GDLC).

According to Grayscale, the addition of these new investment products aim to meet the growing investors’ demand for crypto assets as interest in cryptocurrencies is rising due to recent Bitcoin-related events and increased activity in DeFi. Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale, commented:

Bitcoin has recently received some legit recognition from Elon Musk, companies like Square, and several major banks. This has led it to new highs in a few cryptocurrencies. It seems everyone wants to get in on the action. But if you're like most people, you have far more money in your retirement account than you do sitting on the sidelines. What if you could tap into your retirement account to trade cryptocurrencies? You’ve no doubt already looked into it and found that your financial services company doesn’t offer cryptocurrencies. No surprise there. The way to get around this is by using an IRA custodian who does allow you to trade cryptocurrencies. That’s where BitIRA comes in. They focus on moving retirement accounts into IRAs that let customers trade cryptocurrencies in a tax-sheltered account. In this article, we’ll go through how it works. Get BitIRA's free guide to cryptocurrency IRAs >>>

BitIRA allows you to create a digital currency IRA for trading cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2017 and is based in Burbank, CA. You can use a Traditional, Roth, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA. You can also use any retirement account that is eligible to be rolled over to an IRA. Your retirement account probably restricts your investment choices to just stocks and bonds. But BitIRA provides cryptocurrency trading through your IRA. And because you’re trading in an IRA, there aren’t any taxes to worry about. Trading cryptocurrencies through an IRA has only been possible since 2014. Through Notice 2014-21, the IRS deemed cryptocurrencies to be property, making them eligible for investment in retirement accounts.

BitIRA handles the entire process of setting up your account, making their offering a turnkey service. The minimum investment to open an account is $5,000. BitIRA uses Equity Trust Company and Preferred Trust Company to custody funds. 

Buying and selling of cryptocurrencies are done through one of BitIRA’s cryptocurrency exchange partners. It does provide a wallet, which is a cold storage wallet. You don’t take possession of the wallet keys as those are maintained by BitIRA. Learn more about BitIRA >>>

The following cryptocurrencies can be traded with BitIRA:

Yes, your BitIRA account will be a self-directed IRA. In addition to cryptocurrencies, you can invest in other non-traditional assets. These include precious metals and real estate.

The IRS doesn't allow penalty-free distributions from IRAs until age 59 1/2. The same rules apply to your BitIRA. All of your cryptocurrency assets must remain under your IRA until you reach retirement age. If you take distributions early, expect to pay penalties and taxes. Get BitIRA's free guide to digital currency IRAs >>>

BitIRA takes pride in its team of knowledgeable "Digital Currency Specialists" and "IRA Specialists." They're available by phone Monday-Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM (PT) at 1-800-299-1567. You can also email the customer support team at info@bitira.com.

Yes - there are custodial, storage, and trading fees. Trading fees are per transaction (i.e., buy/sell) and dependent on the partner exchange. Unfortunately, BitIRA doesn't provide a list of partners or offer any trade fee estimates. 

The custodial fees are also unclear. On one page, BitIRA says that customers can expect to pay the following custodial fees:

However, BitIRA's main FAQ page says: "Fees for every account will vary, so it’s impossible for us to tell you here what your fees will be." You may want to talk to a team member to get more specific cost information before moving forward with opening an account.

You can visit the BitIRA website to get started by downloading their free guide to digital currency IRAs. If you decide to open an account, you'll need to talk one of their Specialists.

It typically takes 1-3 weeks to complete the account setup process before you can begin trading. However, there are a few variables that can impact the timeline. 

For example, If you're rolling over your retirement account into an IRA, the amount of time it takes will depend on your financial services company. BitIRA also must perform due diligence on new accounts.

BitIRA is just a holding vehicle for your investments. However, they have taken precautions to ensure that your assets are safe. BitIRA uses an insured cold storage solution for its Digital Currency IRAs. Currencies held in storage are fully covered against theft. 

During the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies, you are covered by the company’s dollar-for-dollar insurance policy against theft or fraud. BitIRA’s Digital Currency IRA is compliant with Level 2 CryptoCurrency Security Standards (CCSS). 

Any cash held in the account is in an FDIC-insured account.

BitIRA specializes in IRA cryptocurrency investing and has the back-end infrastructure to protect your digital assets. They handle the entire process of setting up a self-directed IRA for cryptocurrency trading, making the process easy. 

We’d say BitIRA is worth checking out if you want to trade cryptocurrencies through your IRA. But before you open a new account or roll over an existing IRA, you'll want to get clarity regarding setup and ongoing fees. Compare self-directed IRA providers here >>>

BitIRA is a turnkey service that allows you to trade and safely store cryptocurrencies inside a Traditional, Roth, SIMPLE, or SEP IRA.

Robert Farrington is America’s Millennial Money Expert® and America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™, and the founder of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to helping millennials escape student loan debt to start investing and building wealth for the future. You can learn more about him on the About Page, or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.

He regularly writes about investing, student loan debt, and general personal finance topics geared towards anyone wanting to earn more, get out of debt, and start building wealth for the future.

He has been quoted in major publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Fox, ABC, NBC, and more. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.

The former bodyguard to embattled John McAfee has pleaded not guilty in a $13 million digital currency fraud case. Jimmy Gale Watson Jr. faces a seven-count indictment including conspiracy to commit securities fraud and substantive wire fraud.

McAfee hired Watson in 2017 to be his private bodyguard. The decorated former Navy Seal rose up the ranks, becoming one of the executives behind the McAfee Team, a digital currency team founded by the antivirus software innovator that purported to give investors tips and advice on the best projects to invest in.

However, as CoinGeek reported earlier this month, the team was using social media for pump and dump schemes. The U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment against the pair for two schemes in which they were accused of promoting junk projects and ICO projects without disclosing they were receiving payments to do this. They would also buy these tokens beforehand and once they shot up in price, they would dump them and crash their markets, investigators said.

For their pump and dump scheme, they made at least $2 million, according to the Justice Department. Their biggest revenue stream was through promoting junk ICO projects, earning them $11 million, authorities said.

As Law360 now reports, Watson has pleaded not guilty to the seven charges against him before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Fox in a New York Federal court.

The DoJ charged him, and McAfee, with one count of conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud which carries a five-year sentence; one count of conspiracy to commit securities and touting fraud which carries a similar sentence; two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of substantive wire fraud, each of which carries a 20-year sentence; and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering which carries a maximum potential sentence of ten years in prison.

In addition, the SEC and the CFTC have filed civil charges against Watson and his former boss, who is currently in jail in Spain. McAfee was arrested on separate charges—namely, tax evasion and making false statements. Spanish authorities are working with their U.S. counterparts to extradite him to face his charges.

FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney warned anyone thinking of using digital currencies exempted them from following the law, stating, “When engaging in illegal activity, simply finding new ways to carry out old tricks won’t produce different results. Investment fraud and money laundering schemes carry a strict penalty under federal law.”

Follow CoinGeek’s Crypto Crime Cartel series, which delves into the stream of m>ShapeShift, Coinbase, Ripple and  Ethereum—who have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for naïve (and even experienced) players in the market.

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeek’s Bitcoin for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoin—as originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto—and blockchain.

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged six people with operating an unregistered money transmitting business. The six also face other charges including wire fraud for the business, which enabled customers to convert fiat currency to digital currencies.

Among the six facing the charges is ‘Nobody’, a 52-year old resident from Keene, New Hampshire. Nobody was born Richard Paul, but decided to change his name before eventually running for mayor. Nobody has a long criminal record that includes criminal trespass and drug charges, authorities said.

Another public figure also facing the charges is Aria DiMezzo, whom local outlets describe as a “trans-woman anarchist who is also founder of a satanic church.” DiMezzo won the race to become the Republican candidate for Cheshire County Sheriff in 2020, but she lost in the elections.

The other four are Renee Spinella, Andrew Spinella, Colleen Fordham and Ian Freeman. Freeman, host of the Free Talk Live radio show, also faces charges of money laundering and operating a continuing financial crime enterprise.

As per the DoJ indictment, the six have operated their illegal enterprise since 2016. In that time, they have enabled their customers to convert over $10 million worth of fiat currencies into digital currencies. They would receive a fee for their service. They did this through a virtual exchange that operated on several websites. They also operated digital currency ATMs in New Hampshire.

“The indictment alleges that the defendants knowingly operated the virtual currency exchange business in violation of federal anti-money laundering laws and regulations,” the DoJ said.

Investigators said some of the defendants opened bank accounts in the names of purported religious entities. They used these accounts to mislead financial institutions and law enforcement authorities that they were a religious organization receiving charitable contributions. In addition, they allegedly instructed their customers to lie about their digital currency purchases, in some cases asking them to falsely claim the payments were donations to the defendants’ church.

The indictment comes after the FBI raided a number of premises in New Hampshire associated with Free Keene, a libertarian-style group that describes itself as a peaceful revolution.

Follow CoinGeek’s Crypto Crime Cartel series, which delves into the stream of m>ShapeShift, Coinbase, Ripple and  Ethereum—who have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for naïve (and even experienced) players in the market.

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeek’s Bitcoin for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoin—as originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto—and blockchain.

New York-based fund issuer and asset management firm VanEck filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a Digital Assets ETF, capitalizing on an ever-growing appetite from retail investors for exposure to the broader blockchain and crypto industry. 

Digital assets is a broad term to describe everything from cryptocurrencies, to blockchain-based financial services, to tokenized physical assets and commodities. According to a filing published today by the SEC, the VanEck fund seeks to invest in companies with at least 50% of their revenues from the global digital assets segment, including semiconductor and online money transfer companies.

There are similar digital asset funds offered by other managers on the market today, but they are limited to accredited investors. The VanEck ETF would be a first for retail investors. In Canada, Montreal-based Exponential Ventures and Vancouver’s 3iQ have listed a Digital Asset Fund on the equity crowdfunding platform FrontFundr.

While there are already several blockchain ETFs on the market, these funds generally hold stocks with a diverse exposure of interests in blockchain and crypto. This can range from semiconductor companies like Nvidia, AMD, and TSMC, which all have a hand in producing silicon used by bitcoin miners, to computer hardware vendors like Asus and Gigabyte, which integrate said silicon into graphics cards used in the mining process.

The issue for investors is that these companies are affected by other macro trends, such as the popularity of PC gaming, a successful iPhone launch, or fallout from COVID-19. Although some ETFs hold publicly-traded miners like Riot Blockchain, investors are hard-pressed to find pure exposure to the burgeoning technology services sector that uses blockchain technology. 

In 2019, technology market research house Gartner published a report that said blockchain technology will create more than $176 billion dollars worth of business value by 2025 and $3.1 trillion by 2030.

According to the filing, the ETF will invest in digital asset exchanges, payment gateways, mining operations, software services, equipment and technology or services to the digital asset industry, digital asset infrastructure businesses, or companies facilitating commerce with the use of digital assets, among others.

The filing also notes that the fund will invest in companies that hold significant amounts of digital assets on their balance sheets, presumably referring to firms like Microstrategy which holds over a billion dollars of Bitcoin.  Should Coinbase’s IPO prove to be a success, it would also give investors a chance to hold macro exposure to the subsequent IPOs of exchanges. 

VanEck’s ETF is designed for investors who are looking for exposure to the digital assets, but unwilling or unable to put the time into physically holding assets like Bitcoin themselves.

Valkyrie Digital Assets filed an application on Friday for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the second such filing in the last 30 days.

The Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC would serve as the custodian for the proposed ETF, according to Dallas-registered Valkyrie Investments, the parent of Valkyrie Digital Assets,.

Leah Wald, CEO of Valkyrie Investments, told CoinDesk, “Our executive team has previously launched multiple ETFs, publicly traded funds, and ETPs, including bitcoin funds.”

Wald explains the team behind the ETF includes, “Steven McClurg and John Key who have collectively worked on over 100 esoteric and novel deals that have passed regulatory scrutiny.”

At the end of December, VanEck re-submitted an application to the SEC for a VanEck Bitcoin Trust ETF.

While an ETF is seen as advantageous because it trades on the stock market in much the same way as shares in popular companies such as Apple and Microsoft, over the years the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected bitcoin ETF proposals due to concerns about market volatility and industry manipulation. 

In August 2018, it rejected nine such proposals on the same day.

Read more: The Case for a Bitcoin ETF

Still, there’ve been signs the SEC is warming to the idea. In October 2020, then-Chairman Jay Clayton, who many saw as lukewarm toward crypto, said the agency was still open to considering ETF proposals.

Now, with a new administration causing a changing of the guard at the SEC, it is widely hoped by crypto advocates that such an ETF will be approved in 2021. Clayton stepped down officially last month and was replaced by Gary Gensler, who is widely seen as being more pro-crypto than is his predecessor.

Also adding to optimism is this month’s departure of Dalia Blass, the director of the SEC’s division of investment management. Blass was the author of a 2018 letter within the SEC expressing concerns that the bitcoin market was not large enough or liquid enough to be ready for an exchange-traded product.

CORRECTION (Jan. 23, 18:03 UTC: Changes to note that Valkyrie Investments is based in Dallas, not Valkyrie Digital Assets.

Digital Currency is a currency found only in an electronic form as it is used for trading over the internet. They are famous for allowing transparent and secured digital payments. Although their popularity is constantly growing, their adoption as a reliable alternative to physical money is nowhere close. Some of the popular digital currencies are Ethereum, Bitcoin and Litecoin.

Also known as electronic currency, the digital currencies are of various kinds, including virtual and cryptocurrencies as one of its types. The biggest category of electronic currency includes virtual, crypto-assets and digital money. Based on their purpose and functionality, electronic currencies work in different ways.

With the growing popularity of digital currencies in countries like the U.S., India and Japan, nations have started working towards regulating these currencies. In 2015, New York made headlines for being the first state in the U.S. to regulate virtual currency companies. Many countries have plans to launch their own cryptocurrencies.

The list of digital currencies in the market is vast. We will list out the most popular ones below as they have a higher trade volume or are backed by established institutions.

Bitcoin is the most famous and most valued cryptocurrency currently in existence, and it was created in 2008 by a group of people going by the alias Satoshi Nakamoto.

It’s decentralized and uses peer-to-peer transactions to connect users worldwide without the need to pass through the bank system. It is the trendsetter for the crypto world, and its price fluctuates with the depreciation of fiat money.

Ethereum is a smart contract platform that allows to leverage of blockchain technology to create numerous different digital portfolios. It can create more cryptocurrencies to operate on the blockchain. It can also be sent, received, or held as digital money.

It’s the second-biggest cryptocurrency and is the most used one since its applications are many and it keeps adding new useful features.

It’s the first proof-of-stake blockchain platform based upon peer to peer-reviewed research. It combines new forms of technology to guarantee it’s users the most secure decentralized applications. Like many cryptocurrencies, the principal use of Cardano is to shift back power from institutions and banks to the actual people making the transactions.

One of the first fiat-based electronic currencies globally, this yuan alternative is the first step for China towards the digitalization of their cashflow. It’s centralized, meaning it has an institution behind it and is used as an alternative to real cash. It has currently entered the testing phase in Shanghai and is seeing positive feedback for its ease of use and security.

Polkadot allows for cross-blockchain transfers of assets of any kind facilitating a platform to connect with a wide web of networks. It’s one of the most recent cryptocurrencies, and it tries to solve a few common problems in the space, like the need for specialized exchanges to trade between users.

This has been a guide to what is Digital Currency. Here we discuss examples, working and how to buy digital currency along with importance. You may learn more about financing from the following articles –

The post Digital Currency appeared first on WallStreetMojo.

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The internet has served to create several sectors and industries which would not have existed otherwise. Its biggest influence has been on entertainment and popular culture, with the way we consume content today being very different to what the landscape was just a decade ago, let alone longer. Several traditional industries have also been heavily influenced as a result. Take music for example. Where people used to buy physical cassettes and CDs earlier, now, most music consumption takes place online, with fans listening to their favorite artists on streaming sites and apps. Spotify has become one of the largest companies in that space, and is available almost globally, with hundreds of millions of users, even though it is still finding it difficult to turn a regular profit. Thus, it is interesting to see that Spotify is taking a look at the digital currency space, both as a profit-making venture and as a way to support and enhance its streaming options.

This is linked to the impending launch of Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra, which has now been renamed to Diem. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has said that the likes of Diem could eventually lead to a system where users would be able to pay artists directly for their music, no matter where they are in the world. Spotify is also one of the founding members of Diem, while it is also advertising for a role as an associate director for payments, strategy and innovation. All of this points towards the music streaming giant taking more than just a passing interest in the digital currency space. It actually acquired a startup called Mediachain Labs three years ago, which is a blockchain startup, with the aim of improving its system for attribution of tracks on its platform to its various performers, artists and other contributors. Thus, this is not the first foray by Spotify into this space, and it actually makes sense for it to be investigating this area, since digital currencies are poised to change the way we spend money, especially online, in the near future.

Of course, cryptocurrencies and blockchain have shown a lot of promise in various other sectors, with the world of online casinos being one of the most effective ones. Over the last couple of years, as the interest in cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin, has risen, many casino operators have begun creating casino with Bitcoin (BTC) i.e. online casinos where users can place bets and withdraw their winnings through cryptocurrencies rather than traditional money. This has proven to be quite popular, and may provide the template for wider industry adoption in the years to come. Doing so allows users to be able to maintain their privacy, given the strict rules that blockchain uses, while it also secures transactions, once again due to blockchain. It is extremely difficult, bordering on impossible to hack crypto transactions, and this has been a big reason for the popularity of crypto casinos. There is an audit trail clearly created as well, in the event of a mishap or problem, which makes it easy to find where the issue occurred. At the same time, using blockchain to underpin actual online games means that customers are reassured that the game itself is not unfair and have not been manipulated by the casino. However, there are issues as well. The biggest is that there is little or no regulation, meaning that consumers have little recourse in case the casino itself is fraudulent. There are also concerns around money laundering and other illegal uses of cryptocurrencies. Since they are decentralized, they are also difficult to regulate at one single point, making traditional regulators obsolete in this regard. Thus, there are multiple pros and cons associated with cryptocurrencies at the moment, but it is undeniable that they represent the future of finance, which is why Spotify is looking to investigate the space.

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites.

The central bank ban is in order, argues Boniface Chizea

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently harvested wide-ranging criticism following its sudden directives to deposit money banks to sever all dealings with account holders certified to have any dealings in digital currency. We were made to understand that the immediate reason for this action was the fact of the discovery of tremendous inflow of funds into the economy, often of doubtful integrity which has the potential of destabilizing the country’s financial sector.

It was reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alerted the Central Bank to the effect that fraudulent Nigerians took control of large chunks of palliative releases in the wake of the various stimulus packages which they proceeded to send into the country leveraging on the digital currency ecosystem. It was reported that most illegal transactions such as proceeds from kidnapping, bunkering and payment of bribes have found digital currency difficult to track, isolate and arrest source of payment and now the preferred mode for transactions. The awareness of this development accounted for the prompt drastic action by the Central Bank to control the damage.

It would be wrong for us in undertaking this discussion to assume that we are all on the same page with regard to what digital currency really is. Cryptocurrency has been defined as digital assets designed to work as medium of exchange using cryptocurrency to secure transactions and to control the creation of additional units of the currency. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto currency in 2009. And since then, numerous cryptocurrencies have been created, referred to as altcoins as a blend of bitcoin alternatives.

The legal status of cryptocurrencies varies substantially from country to country as its understanding is still evolving in most countries. For instance, China Central Bank banned the handling of bitcoins by financial institutions in China during an extremely fast adoption period in early 2014. In Russia, though cryptocurrencies are legal, it is however illegal to actually purchase goods with any currency other than the Russian Ruble! On March 25, 2014, the United States Internal Revenue Services ruled that bitcoin will be treated as property for tax purposes as opposed to currency. It is illegal to buy and sell bitcoin in South Africa but there has been no specific ban. Bitcoin is accepted in Kenya as a medium of exchange like any other government issued instrument while digital currencies are not known to have arrived the shores of Ghana though it has been reported that the government has commissioned a study to facilitate an appreciation of the use of digital currencies.

There are a number of challenges identified with the use of digital currencies; they suffer from slow speed of transactions and lack standardization. The operations of blockchains are decentralized and therefore do require any central authority to oversee their operations. The various versions of digital currencies in existence today suffer from lack of interoperability. Bitcoins are costly to operate as they rely on intensive computer power and are heavy on the consumption of electricity power.

Since the step taken by the Central Bank, all manner of stakeholders as we must come to expect have joined the fray with raging criticisms of the policy thrust. First of all, let’s look carefully at the implication of this directive for the digital currency transactions which have been with us for over a decade now. This instruction if kept to the letter as should be expected would spell the death knell; kiss of death for the operators of digital currency in our economy. It is not possible to envisage how they could operate outside the banking system.

Not at all surprising there has been tremendous push back. In fact, latest word out there is that some digital lawyers have on February 8, 2021 approached the Federal High Court in Lagos to try and test the legality of this CBN directive. Now the argument is that the Securities and Exchange Commission in September 14, 2020 declared cryptocurrencies as legal digital assets protected under Section 44 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 (as amended). That being the case the courts are hereby being urged to revalidate the Investments and Securities Act 2007 which gave the authority of regulating Capital Market operations to Securities and Exchange Commission. Therefore, regulatory dysfunction is being cited which if upheld could mean that the Central Bank had acted ultra vires in giving its directives. The foundation of this argument would appear to me shaky as the Central Bank’s instructions is to banks which no one could ever argue that the Central Bank is not in a position to regulate. Well, this matter is now subjudice and advisedly we should allow the courts to have their say on the matter.

Other notable reactions have come from former Vice President of Nigeria and a Presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar who based his criticism on the fact that the directive is against the youths who are at the receiving end of the worsening unemployment situation in the country. Well, I don’t suppose that the argument here is strong enough as it would be unrealistic to expect the Central Bank of Nigeria mindful of its core mandate of the maintenance of financial stability to allow a trend which is clearly destabilizing to go unchecked because we would like to protect employment. This would amount to a case of cutting one’s nose to spite his face!

Oby Ezekwesili, Madam due process, has asked the Central Bank to step back to study to learn from the unfolding scenario so as not to mortgage the future of the country, pointing out that the world is a school and we are all here to learn. But the records are that committees have been reported to have been constituted in the past by the Central Bank to understudy development with digital currency; may be more than one committee for advice on the way forward. Probably the only valid point to make on this score is the fact that we have been lethargic with coming up with concrete steps to signpost the way forward even if it must be admitted here that the overall profile of this entire ecosystem is still cast in hazy cloud. It is premature to assume that a consensus had been crystallized across board on how to handle digital currencies and therefore understudying the concept remains veritable work in progress.

Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor at the Central Bank criticism anchored on the quantum of capital importation due to digital currency lately as a basis for withholding necessary regulatory restraints is a bit surprising. If as has been argued that this channel has laid itself bare for illegal use for money laundering and all manner of illicit financial flows which are difficult to track because of the mere nature of their operations; how do we expect the CBN to aid, encourage such inflows which even makes its operations a veritable nightmare as it remains in the dark regarding the volume of liquidity being injected into the economy through such channels?

There is no doubt that the recent central bank reaction is expected given the exigency of the suffocating situation of the Nigeria economy as it struggles to keep its head above water in the devasting environment of the ravaging pandemic. Witness the IMF recently raising the alarm on the state of the economy asking for strategies to be evolved for the increase in revenue inflows, recommending that the Value Added Tax rate be increased in response. One expects that the position taken would be up for review as future developments warrant and better insight into the operations of digital currencies. Meanwhile, the Central Bank has a mandate to underwrite the stability of the financial system. It must be unfettered as it attempts to keep fidelity to this historic mandate.

Chizea wrote from Lagos

Canada is becoming North America’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) hub as CI Global Asset Management (CI GAM) became the latest company to file a preliminary prospectus for a Bitcoin ETF.

The fund named CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCX) would be managed by CI GAM, and Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital will act as the ETF’s sub-advisor, which will execute Bitcoin trading. The two companies previously partnered to launch a close-ended Bitcoin fund that is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

CI GM’s parent CI Financial, which is listed both in Toronto and New York, is a major asset management company overseeing more than $230 billion in assets.

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The filing came a week after the Canadian stock exchange-listed two Bitcoin ETFs, which turned out to be a massive hit. The first Bitcoin fund managed to build an AUM of over $421 million in merely two days of its listing.

Friday’s announcement further detailed that BTCX will price its Bitcoin holdings using the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin Index.

While Canadian regulators and stock exchanges are embracing the Bitcoin ETFs, there is still not a peep in the neighboring United States. Many companies in the country have been pushing to get approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years now, but all attempts failed.

Meanwhile, other Canadian companies are pushing to receive approval for Bitcoin ETFs. 3iQ, which already manages a close-ended Bitcoin fund in Canada, filed a Bitcoin ETF preliminary prospectus last week.

The total number of nations exploring the concept of central bank digital currency (CBDC) is actively growing. Interestingly, the transformation journey for decentralized finance commenced way back more than a decade ago.

However, Bitcoin has championed the adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency at large. The adoption process has managed to gain considerable momentum in the last several years, particularly in 2020. The current COVID-19 health crisis has to some extent harmed the traditional financial space with people preferring cash-less options to avoid the virus.

The increasing popularity of the flagship cryptocurrency, bitcoin, and the emergence of many blockchain-based projects like Facebook’s Libra launch in 2019 has made authorities to realize the huge potential and importance of regulation-free and decentralized financial networks. The authorities have now taken the initiative of protecting the traditional banking and finance sector against disruptive crypto technology.

Despite the influence coming from decentralized cryptos, central banks have reacted with CBDCs. CBDC is considered more of a reaction than an embrace of the crypto industry that the banks consider to be a threat that must be managed. They went ahead to implement the concept of stablecoins to enjoy an in-depth knowledge of the crypto scene to create their version of digital currency.

Lately, after unbearable efforts to curb their shrinking liquidities in Central Banks has also reached a consensus to form Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The new digital currency will offer a regulation-free and decentralized financial system to compete with the steadily grown crypto industry. It will be regulated and operated by the involved monetary authorities or central banks of a specific country.

Central Bank Digital Currency is a digital asset that represents the fiat money of a country. Notably, the present concept of CBDC makes use of the blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) resembling the cryptos concept.

Nonetheless, CBDC varies from other virtual currencies and cryptos since they are decentralized and it is not. Other virtual currencies are not issued by the state and they also do not have the legal tender status that is declared by the government.

The development of CBDC aims at fusing the best of both worlds; the security and convenience of digital forms like cryptos coupled with the regulated, reserve-banked money circulation of the traditional banking networks. Every CBDC acts as a secure digital equivalent of a particular fiat currency. It can then be used as a payment mode, store of value, and a unit of account.

Every CBDC unit will be designed to represent a fiat currency with a unique serial number and it will be distinguishable to prevent imitation. It will also work alongside other types of fiat currencies because it is still apart of the central bank’s money supply. Two main types of CBDC exist, Retail CBDC and Wholesale CBDC. Both of them have their unique purposes.

This version of a digital currency offers a fast and seamless transaction between the Central banks and other private banks. Furthermore, this version has aimed to offer a successful cross-border transaction between banks. A perfect example is what happened during the piloting phase in project Inthanon – Lionrock, after a cross border transaction was completed between the Bank of Thailand and Hong-Kong Central Banks.

This version of digital currency allows individuals to transact conveniently in their day-to-day life. Retail CBDC has aimed to offer a decentralized traceable ledger that will mitigate various criminal activities that have engulfed both old banking systems and the cryptocurrency industry.

A CBDC system differs by mode of operation from old banking systems and other forms of cryptocurrencies. CBDC systems operate uniquely since the involved tokens are not to be issued by any monetary authority. Thus, no government will declare these units as legal tenders. The CBDC design has embraced the need to have a convenient and secure policy that will steer the virtual currency system.

Since Central Bank Digital Currencies depend on the old banking system to some extent, some of their liquidity holdings shall be backed up in old systems. The CBDC network will operate as a

digital payment mode, a store of value, and a unit of account.

This unit will represent a secure digital token that will replace an equivalent value of fiat money. Moreover, since cyber-criminal activities have become rampant in recent times, each CBDC will have a unique serial no to avoid imitation. CBDC will work seamlessly alongside other forms of fiat currencies.

Every financial system remains dynamic due to the introduction of new technologies. The establishment of government-backed digital currency represents an incredible win for both momentary authorities and consumers. The advent of CBDC has attracted some advantages which include;

CBDC comes with some challenges just like cryptos and other forms of digital platforms. Some of them include the disintermediation of commercial banks in the case that consumers begin to adopt CBDC entirely. That scenario may result in a vicious cycle as banks strive to raise deposit rates to enable them to attract more money. Thus, it will result in less bank credit extended at higher interest rates.

Doubts have also been raised on whether CBDCs need the central banks that issue them to undertake KYC/AML processes and many other operational burdens that the commercial banks normally handle.

Quite a good no of central banks explores the importance of the adoption of digital currency. Although, most of them are in the research phase, several central banks are implementing this newly set platform. Some of the countries include:

The Asian economic powerhouse that has a population of more than one billion presents a perfect testing ground for the implementation of any type of cryptocurrency. Currently, it is undeniable that China is among the leading countries in terms of digital currency adoption.

Its project for the creation of the new virtual currency began early in 2020. Currently, it was reported that it has already passed the first testing stage where RMB 1.1 billion ($162 million) was processed across almost 3.1 million digital Yuan transactions. These transactions were executed between April and August of this year and they make the digital Yuan the most widely used CBDC in any form of a commercial setting.

This European nation has been interested in CBDC for some time now. It was also an early tester for digital currency implementation. Early in 2020, Sweden unveiled a year-long pilot project of its proposed digital currency known as e-krona. The government is convinced that in 2023, the adoption of this digital currency will be quite successful and retailers would start to use it for different day-to-day transactions.

The central bank of Uruguay launched and ran a successful pilot program for its digital currency e-peso in 2017. It was heralded by several top financial institutions. But since then, it has not implemented any form of large-scale introduction to the general public.

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) completed the second testing phase of its much-awaited CBDC known as Project Inthanon. This project was launched in August 2019. The first phase of this project focused on creating a proof-of-concept decentralized Real-Time Time Gross Settlement system (RTGS) that is well-designed to use a CBDC on a distributed ledger.

The second phase which is now complete began in February aiming to further explore how DLT can be used in the tokenization of BOT-issued debt instruments on distributed ledger technology. It incorporates regulatory compliance and efficient data reconciliation that functions into the payment process utilizing DLT.

This project’s third phase is in progress and is scheduled for completion later this year.

This European country started the pilot project for the first digital euro currency early in 2020 and has recorded a lot of success in its first phase of testing.

In recent years, blockchain-based technology has strived relentlessly aiming to integrate with traditional finance systems. For the fact that modes of payment have drastically evolved in the last decade, Central banks are looking forward to integrating this new technology with traditional monetary systems to remain afloat and relevant with the finance technology’s dynamism.

Since CBDC has become a reliable option in finance, it shows how much people and enterprises are ready to embrace this technology. Many countries are still exploring the CBDC concept which includes the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the last ten years, payment methods have drastically changed and they will continue to evolve as new technology breakthroughs are made around the world.