| | | Effective PR

cryptocurrencies

"Crypto ATMs offering cryptoasset exchange services in the UK must be registered with us and comply with UK Money Laundering Regulations). None of the cryptoasset firms registered with us have been approved to offer crypto ATM services, meaning that any of them operating in the UK are doing so illegally and consumers should not be using them."

Thus said the Financial Conduct Authority today after receiving the judgment in Gidiplus v The Financial Conduct Authority.

An article published by CNBC ("Here’s why regulators are so worried about Facebook’s digital currency") says in its teaser "Facebook’s argument is that it won’t be minting new money with its digital currency."

That is absolutely untrue. This is why.

It's almost impossible to open a website or blog with even a peripheral interest in financial matters and not see a headline saying something like "The Death of Bitcoin." Total tosh. So are the click-bait headlines in the style of "is blockchain dead?"

This is why.

If the domain name used to send a spam and the subject line are inconsistent, that's often a guide to the probability that a the spam is also a scam. If the subject matter of the content is unrelated to a domain name that indicates a connection to a specific subject, that is also an indicator. So digital@myrountrips.net writing about "Multiple revenue streams" and "The Most Profitable Digital Currency System in the World" ticks more than enough boxes. Then we are promised no-lose crypto-currency trading.

Aside from giving Digital Currency Exchanges a TLA (three letter acronym) AUSTRAC has sidestepped all the "is it, isn't it?" fuss in so many countries and stated the obvious: because digital currency is "money" in the economists' sense of the word, anyone operating an exchange is subject to the same rules and regulations as anyone operating an exchange in fiat currencies. But here's the surprise: the requirement to register with AUSTRAC and to put in place money laundering, etc compliance and risk management systems comes into force today. And the notice was only published this morning. Moreover, there is an unexpected consequence for the mainstream financial sector.

The grand-daddy of the current crop of electronic currencies is, of course, Bitcoin. In recent months, its value has appreciated exponentially until it reached more than 5,000 dollars. But it's just the most famous so-called "cryptocurrency" and now the technology is "in the wild," anyone with the necessary, apparently not very advanced, IT skills can make one. China says "enough is enough" and is taking steps to more or less outlaw cryptocurrencies or, at least, to make their use difficult. China has explained its reasoning - and it makes a huge amount of sense. The questions are whether the horse has already bolted, can access to cryptocurrencies outside China be banned and just how much use is it really for money laundering, a main plank of the Chinese objection.

hahagotcha