Tag:Cryptocurrency

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Islamic-compliant Cryptocurrency Exchange Certified
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UK FCA Probes Crypto Businesses
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Fintech Trends – Shift From ICOs to STOs
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An old-fashioned bank heist – in cyberspace
5
Weather Bureau IT mining cryptocurrencies?
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ASX Listings and Cryptocurrencies
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Hong Kong regulators take action against cryptocurrency exchanges and ICOs
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Cryptocurrency 2018: When the Law Catches Up with Game-Changing Technology
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Hacking of digital currency exchange leaves Japanese company footing the bill
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Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) under German law

Islamic-compliant Cryptocurrency Exchange Certified

By Jonathan Lawrence

Rain, a cryptocurrency exchange in Bahrain has received a Shari’a compliance certification from Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB).  SRB is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain as a Shari’a advisory firm authorised to issue Shari’a compliance certifications.  SRB reviewed Rain’s brokerage service and determined that the sale, purchase and custodian activities of Rain are in compliance with Shari’a principles.  The Shari’a certification covers three cryptocurrencies (bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin). Rain aims to enable family offices, investors and Islamic institutional investors to buy, sell and store cryptocurrency in an Islamic-compliant way.

Rain was co-founded in 2017 by blockchain professionals from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Silicon Valley.  In September of that year, Rain was invited to join the Central Bank of Bahrain’s regulatory sandbox.  It was the first digital currency exchange to be admitted to the sandbox – but since then four more have joined including UAE’s BitOasis.  However, many governments in the Middle East (including those of Saudi, Egypt and Morocco) have officially banned cryptocurrencies, urging residents not to invest in them.

UK FCA Probes Crypto Businesses

By Jonathan Lawrence

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK financial regulator, confirmed to the Financial Times on 30 December 2018 that it was investigating 18 businesses involved in the sale of cryptocurrencies. The regulator has also issued alerts and warnings about dozens of companies suspected of cryptocurrency investment fraud. Currently, the transfer, purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies are not regulated in the UK. However, companies that sell regulated investments with an underlying cryptocurrency element may need FCA authorisation to do so depending on their activities.

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Fintech Trends – Shift From ICOs to STOs

By Nicholas Hanna and Mark Tan

In recent months, there has been a noticeable shift by token issuers away from initial coin offerings (ICOs) towards security token offerings (STOs) largely driven in part to a recent bottoming out of the retail market (including Bitcoin and Ethereum) and softening demand from retail investors for ICOs.

This trend appears to have resulted from retail investors having come to realize the inherent limitations that ICOs possess, namely the fact that tokens issued in connection with an ICO generally only have “utility” and not much inherent value. Additionally, we are now also starting to see more interest from sophisticated and/or accredited investors and funds, who also tend to prefer “security” tokens instead of “utility tokens” when looking to make an investment, due to the inherent value that the former possess.

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An old-fashioned bank heist – in cyberspace

By Cameron Abbott and Sarah Goegan

In the old days the bank robbers would rob the local town and ride off into the sunset. The new version is a little less easy to see. Coinrail, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it was hacked on 10 June.  That’s a polite phrase for “our customers lost a lot of coins”.

The cyberattack resulted in more than $40 million USD worth of altcoins (coins that aren’t bitcoin or Ethereum) being stolen. This represented around 30% of coins traded on the exchange. Quite a substantial amount, considering Coinrail is a smaller cryptocurrency exchange!

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Weather Bureau IT mining cryptocurrencies?

By Cameron Abbott and Allison Wallace

The Australian Federal Police are investigating two members of the Bureau of Meteorology’s IT team for allegedly running an operation in which they made use of the Bureau’s powerful computers to “mine” cryptocurrencies.

It was revealed late last week that the AFP raided the Bureau’s Melbourne CBD offices on February 28, and questioned the two employees. No charges have been laid, or arrests made. Read More

ASX Listings and Cryptocurrencies

By Jim Bulling and Edwin Tan

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has recently provided several comments in relation to entities that are listed or looking to list on the ASX that are involved in cryptocurrency-related businesses, such as developing cryptocurrency tokens, conducting Initial Coin Offerings and operating cryptocurrency exchanges.

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Hong Kong regulators take action against cryptocurrency exchanges and ICOs

By Rizwan Qayyum

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) have issued formal warnings to seven cryptocurrency exchanges and seven issuers of initial coin offerings. This follows their initial statement on ICOs released on 5 September 2017, and represents their first regulatory action.

The SFC has sent letters to seven cryptocurrency exchanges “in Hong Kong or with connections to Hong Kong”, which provides a warning that they should not be trading cryptocurrencies which are “securities” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (“SFO”) without a licence.  The exchanges responded immediately, either by confirming that they do not provide trading services for such currencies or took rectification measures, including removing relevant cryptocurrencies from their platforms.

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Cryptocurrency 2018: When the Law Catches Up with Game-Changing Technology

By David E. Fialkow, Edward J. Mikolinksi and Jack S. BrodskyBlockchain technology and the virtual currency, or cryptocurrency, that uses this technology are revolutionizing the way businesses function and deliver goods and services. Even as cryptocurrency becomes a widely debated topic, gaining the critical attention of regulators and policymakers, individuals and businesses are investing billions of dollars in cryptocurrency annually. To understand how blockchain and cryptocurrency may impact you, your business, and your industry, it is important to understand what cryptocurrency is and how the underlying blockchain works. This article provides a brief introduction to these concepts as well as a primer on cryptocurrency legal issues.  To read the full article, click here.

 

Hacking of digital currency exchange leaves Japanese company footing the bill

By Cameron Abbott and Allison Wallace

Coincheck – one of Japan’s largest digital currency exchanges – says it will repay hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of virtual money, after hackers broke into its network, stealing a reporting 58 billion yen (AUD660 million) worth of NEM (a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin).

Hackers broke into the Coincheck network early Friday morning, but it wasn’t discovered until nearly eight and a half hours later. Read More

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) under German law

By Hilger von Livonius and Philipp Riedl

The raising of funds for cryptocurrency projects (also called Initial Coin Offerings or ICOs) gain more and more market interest. Although there is no specific and coordinated regulatory framework applicable to ICOs, it is not something happening in a completely unregulated area.

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