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Zambia SEC Warns Crypto Enthusiasts About Making Investments in Onyxcoin Cryptocurrency

The Securities and Exchange Commission in Zambia has issued a statement warning the general public that the creator of OnyxCoin Kwakoo is in no way a licensed investment advisor and should not solicit funds from within or outside the country. The CEO of the commission was reported to have made this statement as relayed by the Lusaka Times on August 2.Relatedly, the CEO had noted that the Securities Act, No. 41 of 2016 dictates that certain activities — such as Kwakoo’s — requires proper licensure in the country, except drastic legal measures, are taken to curb future occurrences. Chitalu had also added that the SEC was under the impression that Onyxcoin promoters are falsely claiming that that the cryptocurrency would experience a 1000% growth and make lots of profit for holders by June 2021. Going by the information stated on the commission’s official website, the Zambia SEC had also warned against ICO’s and cryptocurrencies generally:Other possible MLM schemes the commission also pointed out“The Commission would also like to advise investors, both current and potential, to observe extreme caution when dealing with self-proclaimed cryptocurrency educators, trainers and advisors (whose numbers are rapidly increasing) as the credibility and accurateness of their teachings and advice are unverified.”In a previous report, the National Bank of Rwanda had issued a warning to the public about alleged crypto scams, including Onyxcoin, Supermarketings Global Ltd 3 Friends System Group Ltd and OneCoin.

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Market Researcher States That Bitcoin is an Indicator for Geopolitical Turmoil

Nicolas Colas, a market researcher and Co-founder of market research firm DataTrek Research, says that Bitcoin could be used as an indication for geopolitical turmoil.

Bitcoin serving as indicators

On August 14, in a CNBC interview, Colas had claimed that Bitcoin was one of the few assets whose price had predicted the Hong Kong’s protest which also involved its local capital flight.

He had said that he believed that Bitcoin was a safe haven when asked by the interviewer. He said:

“We are definitely seeing that, and really are perked up around the Hong Kong protests and some of the currency flight that happened out of Hong Kong and the mainland, and Bitcoin was one of the few assets that we watched that actually predicted that uncertainty ahead of time. Nothing else was really moving, Bitcoin was.”

Colas expressed his certainty about the digital currency’s ability to hit the $20,000 mark again, saying that the currency is still new and in its infant stage and had a lot of room for growth.

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BTC Breaks Its Strong $10,000 Support Amidst US-China War Trade Cool Off

The price of Bitcoin has taken a serious hit in the past few days as the largest cryptocurrency has dipped below its supposedly strong support of $10k and bounced back up.

Market visualization. Source: Coin360

The relief of the market as the tension eases off with Bitcoin taking the hit

As the data reflects from coin360 shows, we see that investors have not just had a gloomy week but a have been bashed during the entire week.

As it has been observed in recent months Bitcoin has been seen to have developed a pattern; Bitcoin reversed its success from the previous weekend when geopolitical uncertainty and fiat currency weakness and within several jurisdictions had pushed its price above the $12,000 spot.

Hong Kong and Argentina took the lead as regards fueling this theory which critics of Bitcoin such as Peter Schiff had taken the opportunity to refute as the markets fell. He made a statement through a tweet on Tuesday saying that:

“Now that trade tension with China has eased, the pressure on the yuan is off. Those who bought Bitcoin to speculate on Chinese safe-haven buying, which never happened, are taking their chips off the table,”

On the other hand, Bitcoin advocates on social media, have been seen to be more open to other explanations. According to a survey conducted by a regular analyst and trader Josh Rager delivered a rare even split regarding the future Bitcoin price. In the survey, amongst the 35000 participants, 50% of them had voted for and against the price of Bitcoin taking below $10000 in the short term.

Bitcoin's Largest Competitor Ethereum Quickly Gaining Ground in Colombia

From every indication, it appears the second largest cryptocurrency and most formidable Bitcoin rival, Ethereum has been seen quickly gaining ground as it gains tremendous popularity in Colombia.

Ethereum becoming Colombia’s best option

It has been seen that the South American region has been very receptive to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. Countries such as Venezuela that have experienced extreme situations ranging from inflation of their currency to other economic situations which ultimately renders them useless to persons within that geographical location have been left with little or no choice but to seek refuge in cryptocurrencies.

While some others have turned to other cryptocurrencies such as dash to make sure they are able to meet their daily needs such as feeding, the government hasn’t been of much help in this situation.

Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro had recently introduced the Petro, which was alleged to be backed by the countries rich oil reserves. However there has been no mention of backing this native digital currency by the country’s oil reserves in the country’s whitepaper, and many believe this to be false and not workable. Also, Maduro had made efforts to integrate Petro into the salary scheme of workers in the country so as to enable ease of there payment through this digital currency as the value of the Venezuelan Bolivar is fast hitting rock bottom. But unfortunately, this plan too had failed.

Although the plans to integrate Petro into the country’s financial system had failed, its citizens have been able to take on other solid substitutes like Bitcoin, and now Ethereum which has been gaining a lot of popularity recently. This was reflected in a survey conducted by Paxful, a cryptocurrency platform that allows peer to peer trading between users who want to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. From every indication, this looks like a good sign for the altcoin.

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The Fight for Freedom: Bitcoin and Hong Kong Battle Old World Control

The fight for freedom takes on many forms. Financial, speech, right to choose and right to act.

In 2019, we are all part of a very interesting period in history.

People want freedom. More control over their lives and more trust.

Government and banking are two key factors that regulate people’s freedom.

Depending on where you live, you will need to trust different governments. You trust them to be fair. Manage the currency you work each and every day to earn. As well as the right to certain freedoms being given.

Financial Freedom

Money makes the world go around. Money allows us to travel, eat, have shelter and do business. Money is an ever-important tool in dictating which options are open to all of us.

More options equal more freedom

Bitcoin and blockchain were created to aid in this fight. To ensure people control their own finances. No middle man. No bank. Complete control over money. Money that cannot be inflated or printed. Bitcoin is not stable, but it is getting better.

Hong Kong is undergoing a very special change. 1 country 2 systems. At this moment, there is a divide between ideals. A divide between freedoms. All made possible by powerful governments and money.

Capital restriction is well known in China. Citizens are told how they can spend their money. Even where they can spend it. The government controls the people through banking and law. They have a very distinct system. One that comes at a price. That price is control. The government is in control of the people. In control of finance. In control of the country.

Bitcoin is a system that removes control. There can be no central power. Bitcoin is decentralized. Trust is passed to computing. Exactly the same way we trust our self-driving cars. Handing our lives over to a program, that has been made exactly to drive us safely. We trust in technology every day. Every time we take an elevator. Bitcoin is the same. A technology made with complete security to handle our finances. That we control. With access keys. Again, like a car.

Human error is a problem. We all make mistakes. We can be clumsy or just have a bad day. Bitcoin has no bad days. It doesn’t get sick. It doesn’t need a 2-week break. It never shows up late to work. It’s 24/7, 365 days a year.

Technology is the way forward. In finance and the fight for freedom.

Hong Kong and Bitcoin will both face trials before they get what they want. Many battles lie ahead. People in power do not want to lose it. This applies to those in government. As well as those in finance. The Hong Kong movement and Bitcoin movements threaten the power of an old system. Old methods of doing things. Old systems that are powerful. But not always best when we look back in history.

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Canadian Crypto Exchange Shuts Down to Protect Customers

In Vancouver, Canada, another cryptocurrency exchange has closed down. This is not the first Canadian based Exchange to encounter problems, with some users losing everything last year when another exchange lost access to private keys.

This came when Quadriga, Canada’s biggest exchange was unable to gain access to over 145 million USD of Bitcoin and other digital assets. Following the death of CEO Gerald Cotten.

This time, Einstein Exchange has been forced to close after multiple customer complaints detailing access problems to assets as worrying normality.

The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has been the body that decided the closure was necessary. Customer worries over asset management and potential money laundering within the company led to this decision.

It was reported that an employee of Einstein came forward with claims of concern that the exchange had been involved with illegal activities and that they should be stopped.

The BCSC went on to say that all Canadians should be cautious when buying or selling crypto assets. Not one exchange has been authorized in the province and customers must be aware of the risks involved.

Following Einstein, a second exchange ezBtc is under pressure, with it also receiving complaints and customer dissatisfaction surrounding asset management and access.

The BCSC again gave advice, claiming users should hire lawyers to ensure they can retrieve their digital assets.

With regular claims about asset access, Canada’s crypto exchanges continue to face huge problems.

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Tezos SEA Collaborates With Singaporean Government-Backed Platform to Launch a Training Program for Tezos Developers

Tezos Southeast Asia (TSA), a non-profit-oriented arm of Tezos, has entered into a partnership with Tribe, a Singapore government-backed blockchain platform for the sole aim of launching a training program for Tezos’ developers which is expected to start in the first quarter of next year.

The president of TSA, Caleb Kow, was reported to say that the said training will make the fosters developers as it will ultimately make the sharing of information possible to novices.

“By enabling trainers with a good knowledge of Tezos blockchain technology, they will be able to amplify the impact in their respective teams through the continual transfer and sharing of knowledge to new learners,” said Kow.

With this collaboration, Tezos Southeast Asia (TSA), as a dedicated promoter of Tezos blockchain, will succeed in attracting more developers who will have the potential to utilize Tezos blockchain solutions to meet the real-world applications.

The main focus of the training program will be on the technical knowledge of Tezos blockchain, and it will help the developers to get knowledge and abilities to create blockchain applications on Tezos that will help to provide solutions to the real-world problems. The training will be structured in such a way that the initial developers will have to pass across their knowledge to their students.

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Government of India to Deploy Blockchain Technology at a National Level

The Indian government has been eyeing blockchain technology since as it has a huge potential of being applied in various sectors such as banking, cybersecurity, education, and governance, securing the future of their economic development and growth. This strategic plan was made known in response to a question in the Lok Sabha as reported by the Indian Times on Nov. 27.

Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said that blockchain technology is a diversified research area with multiple applications. He said, “Blockchain technology, as one of the important research areas having application potential in different domains such as governance, banking and finance, cybersecurity, and so on.”

The press release then noted that Dhotre went on to say that the potential application of blockchain technology has led to the consideration of utilizing it across the national level. “Considering the potential of Blockchain Technology and the need for shared infrastructure for different use cases, an approach paper on National Level Blockchain Framework is being prepared.”

According to the report, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has always been supporting projects by acting as executing agencies. Such projects include; the Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), Distributed Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology with The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), and others.

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China’s Low-Cost National Blockchain Service Network to Launch in April

The Chinese government’s State Information Center revealed its plans for its national Blockchain Service Network (BSN), aiming to provide small businesses and individuals to operate blockchain applications easily without using a private blockchain network.

Tang Sisi, the Deputy Director of the Smart City Development Research Center of the State Information Center said that the BSN will be officially launched for commercial operations in April.

The China Urban Governance and Innovation Forum, led by the State Information Center and jointly initiated by China Mobile, China UnionPay, and other corporations have been taking part in the launch of the BSN. The beta period for the network will be provided to 400 companies and 600 developers for testing for free.

The beta testing period is set to run from October 2019 to March 2020, with Hangzhou being the first city. Hangzhou is the home of the BSN Development Alliance, the city has planned a blockchain pilot for digital identity.

The service aims to lower costs, estimated that hosting a Dapp will only cost RMB 2000-3000 a year, approximately $260 – $390 USD.

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Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen Comments on AI and Technology Advancement at the AFF 2020

At this year’s Asian Financial Forum, held in Hong Kong, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was invited to speak at a Luncheon with moderator Norman Chan, the Senior Advisor at the Hong Kong Academy of Finance.

She started off elaborating on her life after working for the Federal Reserve, “Once a central banker, always a central banker. I find myself addicted to central banking.” Yellen also mentioned the current state of central banking, that the “processes are coming together, but it is important to keep in mind of finding common ground.”

She was asked whether existing central bankers, could be replaced with AI robotic policymakers. Yellen responded that she was not sure about how AI will listen to experiences, and communicate with stakeholders, as central bankers do a lot more than interpret data; they also need to understand what people see in their lives.

Yellen believes that political independence “might be a good idea,” as economic performance is best when central banks work independently from politics. In contrast, US President Trump believes that central banks should not have independence and should have political influence. Concluding her response to the question, Yellen believes that her successors and colleagues have been doing a great job and have been making non-political judgments.

On the note of disruptive technology, Yellen said that the current Trump administration’s foreign policy had driven attention to advanced technology as “having national security issues.”

However, Yellen has confidence in technology, saying, “Tech will be central to military applications, and all important computational applications in the future.” She added that some of the current technological applications are not compatible and interoperable; therefore, the advancement of technology would be necessary for welfare, and the tensions between the US and China as well.