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European Union Parliament Considers Petition for Crypto Fraud Victims Fund

The European Union (EU) Parliament is considering a petition filed by a consortium of individuals, organizations and companies that seeks to establish a restitution fund for victims of crypto fraud.

The EU Parliament has announced that they are considering a petition submitted by a consortium of crypto fraud victims. The objective of the petition is to seek for the establishment of a restitution fund for victims of crypto fraud.

The victims represented by their lawyer, Dr. Jonathan Levy, have suffered losses exceeding €40 million and like tens of thousands of other crypto crime victims worldwide have been unable to recover their funds through law enforcement, national regulatory authorities or the courts.

In the petition, Dr. Levy urges the European Parliament to act directly to help the victims of crypto-active crimes as part of its EU strategy for the creation of a genuine single market for digital financial services.

The petition has been submitted to the EU Parliament—with the EU indicating that it will institute EU wider regulation of crypto assets to be phased in by 2022. Under the current EU rules, there are no provisions for victims of crypto crimes which usually range between fraud, extortion, money laundering, and cyber attacks.

The EU projects that the annual losses to individuals, organizations, and companies as a result of crypto-related crimes are in the billions of Euros and constitute a “massive transfer of wealth to organized crime firms.”

According to the EU announcement, the consortium of victims includes: disabled and elderly victims being preyed upon by crypto scammers posing as brokers. An American investor whose crypto wallet was hacked and nearly 1000 Bitcoins sent to a criminal operation; and, companies and individuals from Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and Australia who were deceived into investing in fraudulent crypto-asset funds, nonexistent crypto mining operations, and deceptive ICOs by seemingly legitimate companies registered in England and Germany.

The consortium also includes victims of some of the more notorious crypto Ponzi schemes like OneCoin, as well as numerous offshore online casinos and FOREX platforms that use crypto to evade AML and consumer protection laws.

Turkey’s Crypto Law heading to Parliament after President Erdogan’s Approval

Cryptocurrencies have become an issue for many governments and central banks, which has prompted the government of Turkey to take new steps.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country has been accelerating its regulation of the digital tokens market.

Turkey’s President confirmed last Friday that completing a crypto law draft will soon be shared with parliament for mainstream implementation in the country. He said so while speaking at a press conference in Istanbul. The value of the Turkish Lira has been falling, and implementation of the new law will help counter the Lira value.

There has been a significant growth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Turkey. At The same time, the country has been experiencing inflation and according to Erdogan, the currency event is not about mathematics but a process. He implied a possibility and the potential of Lira’s value growth. Most consumers have been prompted to use crypto as an alternative to circumvent the issue of inflation.

“With this understanding, we intend to channel it to a dry spot. But the exchange rate will find its own price on the market.” stated president Erdogan.

With the new crypto law, President Erdogan has envisioned Turkey becoming one of the ten largest economies in the world. He also spoke about the rising prices in the region, where he shared plans to follow those people who change labels of price list organizers several times within a day. He wants them to lower dollar’s increases.

The government is also looking to establish a central custodian bank that will help to eliminate counterparty risk. According to a Bloomberg report, this is cited by a senior official familiar with the plans.

The largest trading platforms in the country, Thodex and Vebitcoin, collapsed, affecting hundreds of thousands of Turkish cryptocurrency investors who were not able to access millions of dollars worth of digital assets after the exchange went down.

According to governor Sahap Kavcioglu of the Central bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT), the treasury and finance ministry is working on cryptocurrencies and that the bank does not intend to ban cryptocurrencies.

Crypto Trading Booming in Turkey

As recently reported by Blockchain.News, cryptocurrency trading volumes are rising in Turkey as the increasingly authoritarian government in the country is becoming more diligent about setting its currency, the Lira, on fire. Erdogan, who has retained power since 2003, has been working in an unexpected manner. Last month, the President lowered Turkey’s key interest rate to 18% from 19% instead of raising them to tighten the money supply. The move made the Lira lose 10% of its value against the US dollar. As a result, many Turkish citizens invest their funds in cryptocurrencies as a safe haven.

Concerning Turkeys’ economic policy have made the Lira fall almost 40% since September, driving local citizens to look for other places to invest their savings in avoiding the impact of surging inflation. According to data from the Chainalysis blockchain analysis firm, the number of crypto trades in the country has soared above one million per day as the nation’s currency plunged to a series of record lows.

Converting the Lira into gold or US dollar has become common among Turkish citizens who have seen the Lira lose 90% of its value since 2008. However, the authoritarian government has been looking to make such practices harder. Since Bitcoin prices started increasing dramatically this year, cryptocurrency trading has gained much popularity in the country.

UK Parliament Requests Calls for Evidence on Crypto Impacts

The Treasury Committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom has put out a Call for Evidence as it embarks on a mission to investigate the future of cryptocurrencies and how they will impact the UK.

The call for evidence put out by the Treasury Committee welcomes public opinion before September 12.

The UK, just like other governments around the world, has been looking closely into the potential capabilities of cryptocurrencies, as well as their potential negative impacts. In a bid to usher in a robust regulation to guide the emerging industry so as to protect consumers and not stiffen innovation, the Parliament considers insights from the public will be in its best interest.

“Treasury Committee will examine the potential risks and opportunities associated with the use of crypto-assets, their impact on social inclusivity, and the possible need for regulatory change in the future,” the committee says on its website.

As announced, the inquiry will cover three core areas: “the role of crypto-assets in the UK, including the opportunities and risks that crypto-assets may bring to consumers, businesses, and the Government (and associated bodies)”; “The potential impact of distributed ledger technology on financial institutions, including the central bank, and financial infrastructure,” and; “The regulatory response to crypto-assets from the Government, the FCA and the Bank of England, considering how regulation could be balanced to provide adequate protection for consumers and businesses without stifling innovation.”

The UK has been lagging behind the European Union whose Parliament, Council, and Commission concluded its comprehensive crypto framework – MiCA – back in June.

Governments are now realizing how inevitable the digital currency ecosystem is, a move that has spurred the United States Treasury Department to send a crypto framework to President Joe Biden detailing its scheduled approach to embracing digital assets and their underlying technologies.

UK Parliament Committee Set Out Inquiry Into Risks and Benefits of NFTs

A group in the UK’s House of Commons is now planning to launch an inquiry into the operation, risks, and benefits of NFTs and the blockchain at large, as well as to see how the industry could impart the UK economy.

Taking the first move to regulate NFTs, the Members of Parliament or MPs will examine whether NFT investors, especially vulnerable speculators, are put at risk by the market.

“NFTs swept through the digital world so fast that we had no time to stop and consider,” said Julian Knight, Chair of the DCMS Committee. Julian added, “Now that the market is veering wildly, and there are fears that the bubble may burst, we need to understand the risks, benefits, and regulatory requirements of this groundbreaking technology.”

Notably, the outcome of the investigation is most likely to be concluded in regulation proposals that the Treasury will review.

Per the announcement, Julian Knight believes investors, specifically the vulnerable ones, are at risk of being “swindled into buying NFTs” whose value may become worthless at purchase.

Julian said the inquiry will scrutinize to see whether “greater regulation” could be needed to protect consumers at risk and the broader markets from “volatile investments.”

“This inquiry will also help Parliament understand the opportunities presented by an exciting new technology which could democratize how assets are bought and sold,” Julian concluded.

Notably, this update follows a report about the United Kingdom making further steps to becoming one of the most recognized crypto hubs in the world.

Last month the House of Commons, the Parliament, passed an amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill to regulate Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies as financial instruments. The Bill was initially proposed when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was the Chancellor of the Exchequer and sought to regulate stablecoins.