Tag: transactions

Blockchain-Powered Cross-Border B2B Transactions to Surpass $4.4 Trillion by 2024

According to Juniper Research, blockchain-enabled B2B cross-border payments will be totaling in value by more than $4.4 trillion by 2024. This will be a substantial rise from the current $171 billion. It is speculated that this uptrend will be instigated by the immutable storage provided by blockchain technology, as well as real-time settlement and clearing of B2B transactions.

The new study by Juniper Research deemed “Blockchain: Key Vertical Opportunities, Trends & Challenges 2019-2030” showed that financial institutions would be able to save a whopping $7 billion by 2024 as blockchain will be involved in the automation of ‘Know Your Customer’ checks. Expressly, it will be used in pinpointing users through self-sovereign identity. 

Top 5 leading blockchain vendors

Juniper Research also analyzed 15 chief blockchain vendors based on their experience, solutions, customer deployments, and marketing efforts. They were positioned as follows:

IBM

Infosys Finacle

Guardtime

R3

Ripple

IBM was ranked at the apex because of its distinctive blockchain resolutions in production, as well as its broad and sturdy client base. Conversely, the study noted that Infosys Finacle had depicted itself as a notable blockchain player for financial institutions.

Dr. Morgane Kimmich, the research author, asserted: “The implementation of blockchain is part of a wider strategy for financial institutions to digitally transform operations. Blockchain will enable stakeholders to reduce operational costs in a competitive market that is becoming increasingly commoditized.”

The research also revealed that IBM, Visa, and Ripple were considerably spearheading cross-border payment innovations through blockchain.  

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Bitcoin Network Transacts a Whopping $8.9 Billion in a Single Hour

The Bitcoin network has reached an unprecedented level in terms of chain volume as it transacted $ 8.9 billion in one hour on Dec. 5.

Rafael Schultze-Kraft, Glassnode’s co-founder, ascertained that this movement made history because it was the highest hourly volume of Bitcoin to be recorded in its 11-year existence. 

Bitcoin’s Immense Capabilities Shown

The processing of close to $9 billion by the Bitcoin network depicted a milestone in its long-term quest of being a medium of exchange. 

On-Chain data from Blockchain.com shows that the total daily transaction value of Bitcoin in USD grew from nearly $250 million in 2017 to more than $1.5 billion in 2019. Expressly, it increased 5-fold in 2 years. 

These statistics, therefore, indicate how the Bitcoin network is continuously processing substantial transactions daily. This trend is expected to rise even further with continual Bitcoin adoption. 

This historical mark demonstrates the capability of the Bitcoin network to settle billions of dollars in value in a short time. This attribute would, therefore, position Bitcoin to compete with traditional safe-haven assets. 

As reported by Blockchain.News on Dec 2, Ellington Properties, a Dubai-based developer, selected Bitcoin Suisse (BTCS) as its ideal crypto brokerage provider to facilitate Bitcoin payment for its international customers. 

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Huge Worries As Some Coinbase Customers Express Dissatisfaction Over $10 Maximum Daily Limit

According to ongoing reports and speculation from some quarters in the cryptocurrency world, as regard allegations being brought against Coinbase, the United States San Francesco based cryptocurrency giant exchange and wallet service of restricting some clients to a maximum withdrawal of $10 per day.

A Coinbase user first reported this issue on Reddit about the restriction from Coinbase on Feb. 2. The post on Reddit with the handle of the owner showing Unholy_Crab1 claiming that he reached out to Coinbase to ascertain the reason for the restrictions and to seek an increase for his withdrawal limits, which was duly turned down by the exchange giants.

While sharing proof to back up his claim via screenshot of his transactions and previous attempts to make a withdrawal, The screenshot clearly shows that the maximum withdrawal allowed to him in Bitcoin (BTC) gateway was actually $10.

As at the time the claim was reported,the thread of the post from the Redditor has garnered 40 plus comments, although the majority of comments from other Redditors seem to be tilted in support of the claim while also expressing doubts and skepticism towards Coinbase terms of service so far.

Some users are showing signs of inconvenience as they speculate Coinbase might put into place more related restrictions if prices of cryptocurrency continue to cross the all-time high (ATH) threshold. Other users commented that a withdrawal limitation capped at a meager $10 per day is quite outrageous and could be seen as a total rip off by customers or users of the titanic cryptocurrency exchange.

Coinbase has been duly asked to provide an official statement of their side of the stories to gain clarity into the matter. The Coinbase representatives are yet to respond as users continue to wait to bring the report to closure.

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CipherTrace Unveils New Compliance Software For Banks Against Illicit Crypto Transactions

Blockchain security and analytics provider CipherTrace has unveiled a new cryptocurrency compliance product recognized as “Armada”, which is designed to eradicate risky crypto blind spots for financial institutions and banks. The new product targets financial institutions and banks dealing with cryptocurrencies.

CipherTrace Dedicated to Help Banks

Armada targets a large number of financial institutions, which have not adopted the proper AML (anti-money laundering) and KYC (know your customer) guidelines that could assist in detecting unregistered digital asset transactions. With the use of the new tool, financial institutions would be able to meet their anti-money laundering obligations and gain visibility into risky crypto blind spots. This assists in keeping the KYC procedures secure and also conducting due diligence on all VASPs (virtual asset service providers).

Dave Jevans, CipherTrace CEO, said that: “If Kunal Kalra’s banks had been using Armada to monitor their accounts, we could have identified Kalra much earlier.”

CipherTrace works with financial institutions and banks and their existing monitoring tools to assist in enhancing their AML procedures. It also assists in tracing the source of on-chain funds, matching user IDs, and finding problematic wallet addresses. The firm is backed by Galaxy Digital owned and operated by Mike Novogratz, one of the most vocal cryptocurrency supporters within the industry.

With Armada, banks and financial institutions can learn more about counterparty risks linked with unregistered virtual asset service providers and money service businesses. Jevans further described that if M.Y. Safra Bank deployed Armada, it would easily detect illegal crypto transactions. He revealed that although the bank has not been fined by the OCC (Office of The Comptroller of The Currency), it must focus on reporting and monitoring suspicious activities and carrying out independent AML/BSA audits.  

He stated that the bank also must allow an independent party to reviews its previous activities and not only hire a BSA officer, but also adequate support staff in the next 180 days.

CipherTrace is a California-based company that provides a suite of blockchain forensic services and tools, which allow its clients to analyze crypto transactions flow like identifying laundered or hacked funds and also provides theft asset recovery service.

Cryptocurrency Theft Alarming At $4.4 Billion In 2019

According to a report released by CipherTrace, the crypto sector lost about 4.4 billion in thefts and scams in 2019, up by more than 150% from $1.7 billion in 2018. The report shows that crypto theft has increased at an alarming rate because malpractices have been taking place through crypto exchanges. The trend has been triggered by an increased number of criminals who are keen to undertake bigger heists. Criminals endeavor to use every means to chase money, which is there and ripe for taking. However, regulatory scrutiny within the crypto sector is being beefed up across the world as the market developers and participants are seeking to penetrate the crypto space. CipherTrace assists law enforcement and financial regulators in their investigations on cryptocurrency-related AML and compliance issues.

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Europol Places Bitcoin Mixer Wasabi Wallet on its Radar for Promoting Dark Web Transactions

The general regulatory difficulty experienced by Bitcoin and altcoins lie in the skepticism of regulatory agencies due to their cryptographic nature. Transactions are generally obscured as privacy is the watchword.

This creates a source of concern as the likelihood of the currencies being used in dark web transactions is high. Monitoring agencies have been able to fight this partly by ensuring companies or firms that will be involved with digital currencies adhere to some compliance clause. Europol has placed Wasabi wallet under its lenses as there are indications the Bitcoin mixer is involved in Dark Web Transactions.

Published evidence against Wasabi

Wasabi is a light wallet that uses an effective protocol called “coinjoin” to mix Bitcoins. With coinjoin, the Wasabi wallet can merge different transactions originating from non-related users into one transaction. When this is achieved, it then redistributes the Bitcoin units into many standardized amounts on the output side making it difficult to link the origin of transactions. 

This privacy-centric way of mixing Bitcoin has sparked an influx in dark web transactions as published by Europol’s EC3 in a two-part report. Citing data from Chainalysis, the first part of the report published in April read:

“Over the last three weeks, BTC in the amount of nearly 50 million USD were deposited into Wasabi with almost 30% coming from dark web markets. This is a significant amount, relatively speaking, given the dark web transactions are estimated to have only 1% of total transactions.” 

The investigation noted the difficulty in tracing individual transactions on Wasabi but believes that sloppiness can give its users away.

What this means for us

While we may admit that blockchain technology gives transactional invincibility, it should be on record that governmental watchdogs will do all to suppress dark web transactions. There will always be a good and bad side in the fight for global acceptance of blockchain technology and its derivatives. The course of the good side will flourish while the perpetrators will always be hunted down.

Blockchain Startup Developed Solution to Crypto's Irreversible Transaction Problem

An Israel-based blockchain startup has developed a way to retrieve crypto funds sent to wrong addresses. The startup has developed a new technology that could prevent the loss of funds caused by human error when sending Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies. The mistake is common as wallet addresses are represented by a unique and random string of alphanumeric characters that can easily be entered incorrectly.

Users at Fault of losing crypto assets

According to research, 55% of respondents said that they had experienced stressful human errors when sending crypto assets, and 18% revealed that they had lost money through such kind of sending errors. The new technology is an important solution to challenges facing most non-technical customers using cryptocurrencies.

Kirobo’s Retrievable Transfer feature functions by developing a new layer solution onto existing blockchain protocols. This gives crypto-service providers and customers new capabilities. Users are now able to cancel a transaction if they sent funds to wrong addresses. Asaf Naim, Kirobo CEO, said: “Our aim is to make blockchain transactions as simple and as secure as online banking.”

The company’s logic layer provides a unique transaction code that the recipient must enter in order to receive funds from the sender. Until the recipient has entered the appropriate code, the sender may retrieve the money at any time.

Loss of funds normally happens when a sender includes an error in the long string of alphabetic characters that make up crypto addresses. A way to increase efficiencies and make transactions less risky could assist in encouraging new users of cryptocurrencies.

Adam Levi, DAOstack CTO, and adviser to Kirobo stated that by removing the fear from cryptocurrency transactions, Kirobo would boost the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Kirobo stated that it does not store or hold a user’s private keys. The unique code simply governs whether or not the transaction would be finalized. The feature also can operate offline in case Kiboro’s servers go down.    

The company’s platform has obtained support from the Israel Innovation Authority, the arm of the Israeli government, whose responsibility is to foster industrial research and development. Kirobo also has been audited by the Scorpiones Group cybersecurity firm.

Now Kirobo’s Retrievable Transfer feature is available for Bitcoin transfers on crypto wallets from France-based company Ledger. The firm expects to roll out the support in other crypto wallets over the coming months.

Avoiding Loss of Funds

Anyone using crypto assets needs to know about crypto scams and related risks to stay safe while using crypto.

Cryptocurrencies keep breathing headlines and attracting users and investors from all over the world. However, when users deal with cryptos, they are exposed to higher risks than any other internet user. It has become more vital to stay informed on how to prevent unfortunate events from happening and avoid losing hard-earned crypto coins.

SEC Charges App Developer Abra for Unregistered Security-Based Swaps

Abra and its affiliate Plutus Tech have agreed to a cease-and-desist order and a combined penalty of $150,000 after being charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for selling unregistered security-based swaps to investors in 2019.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged California-based Abra and a related firm Plutus Tech in the Philippines for the sale of unregistered security-based swaps to retail investors and for failing to transact those swaps on a registered national exchange.

According to the official SEC release on July 13, by leveraging Abra’s app, users were able to enter into contracts that provided them with synthetic exposure to price movements of stocks and securities trading in the Unites States—through blockchain-based financial transactions. Users could then choose to mirror these securities and make an investment that would rise and fall with the real-world price. The regulators state that these swap transactions violated US securities law.

Abra first started offering the security-based swaps to investors in February 2019 in the US and abroad. According to the SEC,  Abra marketed its app to retail investors but took no steps to determine whether users who downloaded the app were “eligible contract participants” as defined by the securities laws.

According to the order, Abra stopped offering contracts to US investors in February 2019, after conversations with SEC staff, only to resume the business in May 2019, this time limiting the sales to non-US people. However, the SEC maintains that Abra’s employees in California designed and marketed the swap contracts, as well as screened and approved the users. The SEC also states that it was Abra’s US-based employees who effected thousands of stock and ETF purchases withing the US to hedge the contracts.

“Businesses cannot ignore the registration requirements designed to provide investors with the information necessary to evaluate securities transactions,” said Daniel Michael, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit, “Further, businesses that structure and effect security-based swaps may not evade the federal securities laws merely by transacting primarily with non-U.S. retail investors and setting up a foreign entity to act as a counterparty, while conducting crucial parts of their business in the United States.”

After being charged by the SEC for violating federal securities law—Abra, and its Philippines-based affiliate Plutus Tech have agreed to a cease-and-desist order and to pay a combined penalty of $150,000.  In a parallel action, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also announced a settlement with Abra and Plutus Technologies for similar conduct.

CipherTrace Unveils Crypto Predictive Risk Model to Combat Suspicious Transactions in Wake of Twitter Scam

CipherTrace, a cryptocurrency intelligence company, has introduced a predictive risk-scoring model to instantly avert money laundering of cryptocurrencies from ransomware attacks and theft. This model will enable crypto exchanges, hedge funds, OTC desks, ATMs, financial investigators, payment processors, and custody solutions to flag down suspicious transactions based on the predictive analysis scores generated.

  

Mitigating Twitter-like hacks

On July 16, the world woke up to the shocking news that Twitter had been hacked as high-profile figures like Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates had been hit by a massive Bitcoin Scam. Things went haywire because victims lost Bitcoin worth nearly $200,000 in a matter of hours. 

CipherTrace seeks to mitigate such hacks by warning the relevant stakeholders like exchanges and payment processors of the incoming plunder as the score given will show the transactions are traveling through illegal paths.

As per the announcement:

“Real-time analytics and predictive risk scoring for cryptocurrencies enables exchanges and other Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to be able to score transactions from low to high risk based on whether the funds have been tainted by traveling through illicit paths or associated with known bad actors or sanctioned geographies.”

User privacy is not sacrificed as the company asserts that it offers the foresight without personally identifiable information being processed by the software.

Crypto user protection

Crypto fraud and theft continue causing nightmares to users. For instance, a recent report by leading blockchain tracking and analytics provider Whale Alert revealed that scammers have looted Bitcoin worth $24 million so far in 2020. 

The crypto predictive risk model seeks to eradicate this by undertaking predictive analysis enabling users to freeze stolen funds. Moreover, ransomware launderers will be stopped, and this offers crypto users protection. 

Dave Jevans, CipherTrace CEO, noted:

“The introduction of predictive risk scoring provides VASPs with a powerful new tool to identify potentially illicit funds before those transactions are finalized on the Bitcoin blockchain. This capability will also help VASPs offer an improved, more efficient user experience to their customers.”

This development is touted a game-changer in altering Bitcoin’s lingering reputation in the movement of illegal funds.

US Department of Homeland Security Can Now Trace Illicit Monero Cryptocurrency Transactions

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will now be able to track transactions of the most privacy-oriented cryptocurrency coin, Monero (XMR), leveraging a new tool by crypto intelligence company CipherTrace.

In an official release, CipherTrace mentioned that the forensic tools were developed under contract with DHS Science & Technology Directorate. Law enforcement and government agencies will now be able to use the tools to visualize and trace Monero transactions flows in criminal investigations.  

Monero The Black Sheep of Crypto

Although Bitcoin cryptocurrency has been ranked the number one cryptocurrency choice among criminals, a significant number (45%) of darknet market transactions are carried out using the privacy coin Monero.

Monero employs a unique design to ensure user anonymity and always enforced privacy. Ring signatures are built into the protocol design and thus enable transaction mixing. Therefore, when someone tries to locate the source of a Monero transaction, it would appear as if a whole crowd of users took part in the exchange, thus making it almost impossible to identify the true source.

Law enforcement officials have been highly interested in finding a way to trace Monero. In the past, there has been no tool with the capacity to trace Monero transactions. However, Dave Jevans, the CEO of CipherTrace, said that the company has developed the first tool that has the ability to track Monero transactions.

Jevans mentioned that the tool has been in development for over a year. The US Department of Homeland Security will now use the tool to carry out investigations and trace Monero transactions.

The tool provides the US DHS with visualization, exploration, and search tools for tracking Monero transaction flows; integrated with CipherTrace’s Inspector financial investigations products. The tools help to ensure investment funds, OTC trading desks, and cryptocurrency exchanges that they do not accept Monero currencies from illicit proceeds and investigate Monero obtained from potentially illicit sources and take appropriate actions to stay in compliance.

Blockchain And Data Privacy

As people have public blockchains, the strive for anonymization in both processing and transaction is a key element for preserving consent and protecting privacy. Monero is one cryptocurrency that has taken the lead on this, and which uses stealth addresses and ring signatures. Such mechanisms now support the hiding of the core information of a transaction. Such anonymization has made life increasingly difficult in detecting and investigating crypto-related crimes. Thanks to the recent development of forensic tools for law enforcement and government agencies to monitor, track, and investigate illicit Monero transactions.

Ethereum Settled Transactions Worth $1.5 Trillion in Q1 of 2021

With a market capitalization of $265.54 billion and a price of $2,386, Ethereum (ETH) continues to showcase its considerable potential in the crypto space.

The second-largest cryptocurrency has enjoyed a remarkable bull run thanks to mainstream adoption and booming decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) industries. For example, in March, payment giant Visa Inc. announced that it will leverage the Ethereum blockchain to settle USDC transactions.

These developments have helped the ETH network outdo the transactions it settled in 2020 in just the first quarter of 2021, as alluded to by “Documenting Ethereum.” The crypto data provider explained:

“Ethereum settled $1.3 trillion in transactions in 2020. ETH settled $1.5 trillion in transactions in Q1 2021 alone.”

This uptrend in transactions is based on the fact that more participants are joining the Ethereum bandwagon. For instance, WeWork, an American commercial real estate company that provides flexible shared workplaces, has partnered with Coinbase and Bitpay to accept crypto payments in the form of Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin, and Paxos. 

CME Ether Futures hit ATH volumes

According to data analytics firm Skew, CME Ethereum futures saw record volumes on April 19 as open interest surged past $360 million, whereas daily volume breached the $300 million mark. 

These record-breaking volumes show the high demand the Ethereum network is experiencing. Crypto analyst Joseph Young recently pointed out that Ethereum’s supply crisis is intensifying. Therefore, based on market forces, high demand and a slackened supply usually trigger a price increase, as is the case with Ether.

Ethereum, together with other altcoins, has enjoyed a remarkable bull run. For instance, Dogecoin (DOGE) recently entered the top-ten list despite it being initially invented as a “joke currency” based on the “Doge” meme featuring a Shina Inu dog.

DOGE has defied many odds to emerge victorious in the crypto space thanks to backing from famous individuals like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and American rapper Snoop Dogg as it currently sits sixth with a price of $0.3215.

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