blockchain

USA: allegations of unregistered securities in Initial Coin Offering.

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One would have thought that Initial Coin Offerings had been a flash in the pan and already out of fashion. And that may, to a point, be so: their heyday was, of course, three or four years ago.

But the essential problem seems to be that things take a while to filter through so that, when stories reactivate interest, everything old becomes new again, to coin a phrase. So the news that a case relating to conduct in 2017 and 2018 may be the spark that reignites burning embers as some people remember the concept of the ICO and think "that might be a way to help my business that's struggling through the CoVid-19 Pandemic.

BIScom Subsection:

Enforcement

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Digital identities - how and why we are where we are, what it's proposed we do about it and whether it will work.

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The fintech world is at last waking up to the biggest problem facing real-world businesses: how to perform KYC on customers you will never physically meet and who live lives which do not intersect with your own except for one specific purpose - the provision of a service. Of course, being tech-driven, fintechs are looking for a tech solution and they've even got a name for it - Digital Identities. The world is full of "White Papers" but there are no practical applications nearing real-world testing, so far as we can ascertain. It appears that, as in so many cases, people are starting with the tech and trying to make the problem fit it, rather than looking at the problem and trying to build tech around reality, says Nigel Morris-Cotterill.

Long read. Free.

**This article has been updated for spelling, grammar and one or two additions or amendments performed to improve clarity.** 11 November 2019.

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Want a giggle? Read on, McDuff

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If you were going to launch a pump and dump spam-scam masquerading as legitimate share picks from a regulated stockbroker, you'd want to make sure your mail was at least opened, wouldn't you? So you'd layer one trigger word after another until you found the target's sweet spot and, all the while, you would have to avoid those pesky spam-filters. So you'd use current buzzwords so that the victim dare not ban them for fear of missing out. Want to see how it's done? PS: watch out for suspicious action on the US shares mentioned.

BIScom Subsection:

Crowdfunding

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Crypto-currencies, block chain and distributed ledgers.

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This ultra-simplified explanation clarifies the absolute basics of a subject that has become shrouded in myth and mystery.

The blockchain, crypto-currencies (or cryptocurrencies) like bitcoin, distributed ledgers and smart contracts are, actually, stuff you already know..

BIScom Subsection:

Cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets

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Is the blockchain gold-rush over?

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Last year it was FinTech. 2018 was scheduled to be the year of RegTech but the crazy inflation in the value of crypto-currencies at the end of 2017 hijacked that and this year became the year where no sentence was complete without the word "blockchain" somewhere in it, or so it seemed. But the love affair is already turning sour as reality sets in and the buzzword junkies are at last being shown for what they are: opportunists who will be onto the next big thing as soon as someone tells them what it is.

CoNet Section:

IT & Communications

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So, what's this blockchain thingy? - a World Money Laundering Report exclusive (part 8)

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Conclusions

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So, what's this blockchain thingy? - a World Money Laundering Report exclusive (part 7)

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Regulation
Policing
Impact on the conventional sector

"No head-scratching and audible sighs of relief as knickers become untwisted. "

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So, what's this blockchain thingy? - a World Money Laundering Report exclusive (part 6)

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Outstanding risks

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So, what's this blockchain thingy? - a World Money Laundering Report exclusive (part 5)

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Interacting with a blockchain

How Ethereum demonstrated the benefits of blockchain-based currency for financial crime reduction.

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So, what's this blockchain thingy? - a World Money Laundering Report exclusive (part 4)

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How up to date is a blockchain? How secure is a blockchain? A blockchain does not make new things happen.

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So, what's this blockchain thingy? - a World Money Laundering Report exclusive (part 3)

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Tokens, anonymity, blockchain outside currencies and more...

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So, what's this blockchain thingy? - a World Money Laundering Report exclusive (part 2)

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Blockchains are not only for currencies.

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So, what's this blockchain thingy? - a World Money Laundering Report exclusive (part 1)

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In this exclusive multi-part analysis, World Money Laundering Report looks at blockchains from a layman's perspective, demystifies the topic using plain language and often humour and explains some of the risks that it creates for regulators, investigators, providers of financial services and the public at large.

Note: there is nothing technical here. It's intended to be simple, bordering on the simplistic from a techy standpoint, for non technical people.

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Bitcoin is old hat: these alternatives are a bigger risk but you don't know it yet.

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Every so often, Bitcoin hits the news because a criminal gang is using it for some nefarious purpose. We examined BitCoin in a special issue (see here) in 2013. It was not our first look at virtual currencies: that was way back in the mid 1990s, before we even launched World Money Laundering Report, and we've kept a watching brief ever since. Here's the current scary stuff.

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