Crypto Enters Wall Street, Aussie Firm Goes Bust: Best of the Week
- Catch up on last week's top stories.
Australian investment firm goes under
Sydney-based Halifax Investment Services, an investment management company, has taken down its website and is unresponsive to attempts to communicate. According to the website of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the firm has been assigned external administrators.
Halifax is a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, and its CEO also heads two other entities. One of these is an investment education website offering courses on how to trade effectively.
Morgan Stanley invests in technology company
Investment bank Morgan Stanley invested $15 million in Integral, a company that sells software for foreign exchange companies. The money came from a branch of the bank called Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. Integral will use the money to expand its business.
CEO Harpal Sandhu said: "We look forward to partnering with Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and leveraging their deep experience and global resources."
The FCA investigates
The Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial regulator, requested data from the country's foreign exchange companies because it wants to assess the impact of new EU financial law. The laws came into effect three months ago.
The information request consisted of 46 questions covering areas such as customer numbers, financial status of customers, trading volumes, and percentage of clients that make a profit.
The regulator has not revealed the purpose of the request, and so some British companies are hoping that the move was a sign that the restrictive new laws may only be temporary for them.
The EU and offshore brokers
Foreign brokers operating inside of the EU are taking in between €2 and 3 million a month, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. At the same time, companies working in such jurisdictions can't find a credit card companies willing to service them.
The reason that offshore jurisdictions (such as Vanuatu, Bermuda, Jersey and the Isle of Man) are cut is odd because they were blacklisted by the EU as a result of information made public by the Panama Papers. The reason that they are nonetheless attracting customers from Europe is that the EU recently enacted strict laws which prevent people from gambling irresponsibly with their foreign exchange trades.
Coinbase courts Wall Street
Coinbase, the US' predominant cryptocurrency exchange, is now officially serving financial institutions, opening a trading desk for big-money customers. This is part of a new direction which the firm is pursuing as it tries to maintain profitability in a depressed market.
A Coinbase spokesperson said that financial institutions are seeing the bear market as a good opportunity to buy shares; when asked if Coinbase has forgotten its normal customers, the answer was no: “Perhaps the revolution began on the retail side, and we absolutely love and respect and take care of our 25 million retail clients, but...we need diversity and we need new participants."
Analysis: Wall Street invasion
Retail investors, that is, individual traders, are what drove the cryptocurrency market explosion in 2017. However now that their interest is waning, big companies are stepping in instead. Companies are now beginning to actively market to the latter.
But does this mean that the man in the street can no longer dream of a shiny Bitcoin to call his own? Do trading companies care about him any more?
In this analysis, Finance Magnates discusses this issue and has gathered opinions from a number of industry people. What are traders looking for? Which companies are providing for them? Read here and find out.
Analysis: the long arm of the law
Cryptocurrency is no longer the Wild West that it used to be, as governments around the world work on new laws to control the industry for the purpose of gathering tax and protecting the public. Even in countries where the government has been slow to react, companies themselves have banded together to create codes of conduct so as to convince the public that they are legitimate.
However many companies are not interested in being controlled, and set themselves up in obscure locations that don't have any of these pesky laws. Is this a good business plan? Read this analysis and find out.
Analysis: anarchy in the UK?
The UK is lagging behind its first-world cousins in cryptocurrency legislation, in that it does not have any. A recent Treasury committee concluded that Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. Read this Term are but a fad, and with the recent market crash, they must feel gratified. But CryptoUK, a self-regulatory organisation, continues to fight for a place in society for Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Read this Term businesses.
In this analysis, Finance Magnates looks at the direction that British law is taking, speaking to a number of relevant figures on the way.
Australian investment firm goes under
Sydney-based Halifax Investment Services, an investment management company, has taken down its website and is unresponsive to attempts to communicate. According to the website of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the firm has been assigned external administrators.
Halifax is a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, and its CEO also heads two other entities. One of these is an investment education website offering courses on how to trade effectively.
Morgan Stanley invests in technology company
Investment bank Morgan Stanley invested $15 million in Integral, a company that sells software for foreign exchange companies. The money came from a branch of the bank called Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. Integral will use the money to expand its business.
CEO Harpal Sandhu said: "We look forward to partnering with Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and leveraging their deep experience and global resources."
The FCA investigates
The Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial regulator, requested data from the country's foreign exchange companies because it wants to assess the impact of new EU financial law. The laws came into effect three months ago.
The information request consisted of 46 questions covering areas such as customer numbers, financial status of customers, trading volumes, and percentage of clients that make a profit.
The regulator has not revealed the purpose of the request, and so some British companies are hoping that the move was a sign that the restrictive new laws may only be temporary for them.
The EU and offshore brokers
Foreign brokers operating inside of the EU are taking in between €2 and 3 million a month, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. At the same time, companies working in such jurisdictions can't find a credit card companies willing to service them.
The reason that offshore jurisdictions (such as Vanuatu, Bermuda, Jersey and the Isle of Man) are cut is odd because they were blacklisted by the EU as a result of information made public by the Panama Papers. The reason that they are nonetheless attracting customers from Europe is that the EU recently enacted strict laws which prevent people from gambling irresponsibly with their foreign exchange trades.
Coinbase courts Wall Street
Coinbase, the US' predominant cryptocurrency exchange, is now officially serving financial institutions, opening a trading desk for big-money customers. This is part of a new direction which the firm is pursuing as it tries to maintain profitability in a depressed market.
A Coinbase spokesperson said that financial institutions are seeing the bear market as a good opportunity to buy shares; when asked if Coinbase has forgotten its normal customers, the answer was no: “Perhaps the revolution began on the retail side, and we absolutely love and respect and take care of our 25 million retail clients, but...we need diversity and we need new participants."
Analysis: Wall Street invasion
Retail investors, that is, individual traders, are what drove the cryptocurrency market explosion in 2017. However now that their interest is waning, big companies are stepping in instead. Companies are now beginning to actively market to the latter.
But does this mean that the man in the street can no longer dream of a shiny Bitcoin to call his own? Do trading companies care about him any more?
In this analysis, Finance Magnates discusses this issue and has gathered opinions from a number of industry people. What are traders looking for? Which companies are providing for them? Read here and find out.
Analysis: the long arm of the law
Cryptocurrency is no longer the Wild West that it used to be, as governments around the world work on new laws to control the industry for the purpose of gathering tax and protecting the public. Even in countries where the government has been slow to react, companies themselves have banded together to create codes of conduct so as to convince the public that they are legitimate.
However many companies are not interested in being controlled, and set themselves up in obscure locations that don't have any of these pesky laws. Is this a good business plan? Read this analysis and find out.
Analysis: anarchy in the UK?
The UK is lagging behind its first-world cousins in cryptocurrency legislation, in that it does not have any. A recent Treasury committee concluded that Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. Read this Term are but a fad, and with the recent market crash, they must feel gratified. But CryptoUK, a self-regulatory organisation, continues to fight for a place in society for Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Read this Term businesses.
In this analysis, Finance Magnates looks at the direction that British law is taking, speaking to a number of relevant figures on the way.