Month: Oktober 2020

A couple from Hilversum, the Netherlands, have been convicted of money laundering after using bitcoins on dark web services.

Rotterdam District Court ordered the couple to return 2,532 BTC and 250,000 euros

According to court documents, convicts exchanged cash for Bitcoin Future scam from anonymous customers at busy fast food outlets.

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The Rotterdam District Court in the Netherlands seized 2,532 bitcoins (approximately $ 29 million) from a couple guilty of money laundering on dark web platforms.

According to a court statement , the man and his wife, from the town of Hilversum in North Holland, were also sentenced to two and two and a half years in prison respectively for money laundering.

The Dutch prosecution successfully prosecuted the couple for laundering more than 16 million euros ($ 18.9 million) in two and a half years, after establishing that the source of the large sum of bitcoin in their possession came from illegal transactions on the dark web.

Details of the case

According to the court statement, two separate sums of 1,488 BTC and 1,044 BTC were seized from the suspects, as well as € 250,000 in cash. In addition, the two suspects were individually fined € 45,000 and were forced to return € 138,000 and $ 40,000.

The court ruled that the couple bought bitcoin to exchange large amounts of euros for cash from individuals and businesses. These transactions were not disclosed to the Dutch authorities and were carried out using methods to maintain the anonymity of customers.

It was explained by the court that the exchanges usually take place at a fast food restaurant in a big city, without any due diligence or know-your-customer protocol. This method is generally advantageous for dark web criminals looking to trade their fiat currencies for currencies without going through the usual checks of crypto-fiat currency exchange platforms.

“Des traces du dark web”

The court ruled that the BTCs acquired bore the mark of dark web activity. The use of bitcoins on the dark web has been linked to criminal activities like child pornography and sponsored murder, and authorities often target these underground markets.

In an excerpt from the court documents, we can read:

Traders did not ask their customers for identity papers, while large amounts were often exchanged. The suspects, a man and his wife, came into contact with customers through internet advertisements and a dark web place of commerce. Much of the bitcoins traded bore traces of the dark web. The court ruled that the suspects laundered more than 16 million euros in two and a half years.

Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba, recently spoke at the Bund Summit in Shanghai about the possibilities of digital currencies in the global financial system.

Jack Ma believesthat the crypto industry is disruptive

He sees the possibility that this could contribute to the overhaul of the financial system. In his eyes, global financial regulations are an obstacle to innovation. In this context, he urged China to adapt the system to the growing Chinese economy.

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Meanwhile, he drew attention to the future role of digital currencies. In his estimation, the Chinese CBDC could be of vital importance in building a new financial system in the next 30 years:

The digital currency could add value and we should think about how we can create a new kind of financial system through the digital currency

The financial system founded by the Basel Convention is also too conservative for him. He believes that China cannot cope with the growing economy adequately through this system:

After the Asian financial crisis, risk control highlighted in the Basel Conventions has focused only on risk control, not development, and rarely takes into account opportunities for young people and developing countries.

The Basel Convention brought with it international regulation for banks that was intended to reduce risk in the global economy. As a reaction to the global financial crisis, Basel III – provision of the Basel Convention of the Bank for International Settlements for the Regulation of Banks – was adopted in 2008. As a result, the rules became quite strict. The financial crisis led, among other things, that Satoshi Nakamoto decided to start Bitcoin.

This is by no means a new fact and yet we still hear too little about it. Whether it is during speeches or articles in the mass media, the theme is too often avoided. I’m talking about the carbon footprint and the ecological transition potential of cryptocurrencies. Today, the energy used by these digital currencies comes mainly from “green” sources. Between hydraulic, geothermal or even solar, examples around the globe are legion. Thus in these lines we will come back to the energy needs of the mining industry, accompanied by its mix. Then, we will observe what are the issues that act in favor or against „green mining“. Obviously, this article exclusively concerns currencies working with Proof of Work.

Before discussing the mining industry and its challenges, let’s analyze the phenomenon of Proof of Work (PoW), or Proof of Work.

The advent of the first cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) was enabled by many innovations

The PoW consensus is now used to validate transactions on the Crypto Engine network . In the absence of a trusted third party or banking intermediary, we need technology to process payments. “ Blockchain ” technology is often mentioned , but its operability is mainly guaranteed by the existence of this protocol.

This protocol is unfortunately imperfect. The validation system based on the latter allows a significant energy expenditure. This consumption is made by validators called “ minors „.

To approve cryptocurrency transactions, they must individually solve complex mathematical calculations. To achieve this, miners who have graphics cards or Asics consume electricity. They are comparable to microcomputers. With the difference that they are specialized – in particular Asics – in the resolution of this type of calculation.

In addition, the more numerous minors participate in the validation system, the more energy consumed will be. Indeed, the mathematical difficulty of the calculations is adjusted according to the number of validators.

This adaptation is explained by the need to maintain the economic incentive at the same level, regardless of the number of actors involved. As a result, the more players there are, the more energy will be required to validate transactions.

State of play of the mining industry’s consumption level

Nowadays, the strong competition on the network to validate transactions results from high energy consumption. So much so that for several years the consumption of Satoshi’s currency has given rise to lively controversy. Compared to the energy demand of states of several million people, and even to household appliances , it is often described as “ energy intensive „.

This name is certainly justified because of the astronomical quantities of electricity it requires, but it is not harmful for all that. Unfortunately, the debate traditionally ends on this point. Without taking into perspective a number of factors essential to the debate. This gives rise to dramatic comparisons and caricatures that have no place . The most notorious remains today that brought to Bitcoin, it would be responsible for climate change .

It is therefore time to review the copy too often blank or riddled with errors made by „experts“ when asked about the subject. And thus, realize the true environmental footprint of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies that use PoW.

Understand the irregularities made by Bitcoin scavengers and the true impact of the mining industry
Contextualize perverted figures during debates

Today, the mystery surrounding the amount of electricity consumed by the mining industry remains. The opacity of the sector makes its precise estimation impossible. On the other hand, many researchers or research groups have looked into the subject. Some even with very outlandishly inspired calculation methods.

I am thinking in particular of the notorious Alex de Vries . Where it obtains for the period of June 2018 an annual consumption of Bitcoin of 70 Twh . In contrast to figures published by Cambridge and Jean-Paul Delahaye , a French mathematician, indicate 44 Twh and 40 Twh respectively (over the same period).

However, even these results have been the subject of debate, as they omitted certain characteristics to denote reality. As for the work of Alex de Vries, a publication was made to illustrate the multiple errors of reasoning made. The PwC consultant is now seen more as a detractor of Bitcoin rather than a real researcher.

The truth about industrial consumption is therefore not an infused science. And even for prestigious universities such as Cambridge. In this case, when you look for the level of consumption you do not get 1, but 3 different figures. With 3 rating levels, one low, high and medium. As of October 20, 2020, the estimates are between 37.68 and 97 Twh. Consequently, the difference observed between each of the scales shows the clear ignorance of information in the field.

Dla świata Bitcoin grudzień 2017 był dniami chwały i koszmarem, wszystko w jednym. W ciągu tego miesiąca i następczego wycofania świat zobaczył, co mogłoby się stać, gdyby szum wokół kryptowalut ustąpił rzeczywistości.

Teraz, prawie trzy lata później, cena Bitcoin Storm w czasie prasy wymaga 75-procentowego skoku, aby osiągnąć maksimum [prawie] 20 000 USD.

Jednak patrząc na dynamikę obecnego wahania cen w stosunku do grudnia 2017 r., Widać, że prawdopodobnie jesteśmy bliżej niż myślisz

Cofnijmy się trochę, 19 000 $ nie było fazą, to był pierwotny wzrost, był to pierwszy raz, kiedy Joe codziennie słyszał o tych „magicznych pieniądzach internetowych” i wskoczył na modę. Co więcej, wahania cen były poważne, niestabilne, szybki skok do 20 000 USD i szybki spadek poniżej 10 000 USD w lutym i tak niski, jak 3 000 USD w listopadzie. Tak, nikt tego nie oczekiwał. Ale teraz nie tylko rynek dojrzał, ale także cena.

Przepływ Bitcoina ponad 10000 USD i jego utrzymanie jest dowodem na to, że rynek kryptowaluty dojrzewa, ponieważ cena się utrzymuje. Według raportu Chainalysis , w całej historii cen kryptowaluty nie spędziła ona więcej niż 13 tygodni na handlu powyżej 10000 USD. W rzeczywistości jego najdłuższy okres wyniósł 13 tygodni w grudniu 2017 r. Wraz z zamknięciem ceny Bitcoina na poziomie 11 300 USD 16 października oznacza to 12. z rzędu tydzień powyżej 10 000 USD, o jeden mniej niż niesławny wzrost w grudniu 2017 r.

Patrząc z perspektywy, obecny zwrot wzrostowy przekroczył wzrost o 10 000 USD z września 2019 r., Kiedy Libra , CBDC , zmieniające się stanowisko Chin w sprawie blockchain i Bakkt obniżyły Bitcoin z 13,800 USD w czerwcu do 7000 USD na koniec roku. W całym tym cyklu Bitcoin handlował ponad 10000 USD przez 11 tygodni, zgodnie z Chainalysis.

Ponieważ Bitcoin spędził 12 tygodni od przedostatniego tygodnia lipca, handlując kwotą ponad 10000 USD, teraz dzieli go zaledwie tydzień od przekroczenia wyczynu z grudnia 2017 r.,

Co nie jest kwestią drobną

Poprzedni ruch kryptowaluty o ponad 10000 USD odpowiednio w styczniu i lutym 2020 r. Nie liczy się, po prostu dlatego, że były to ruchy dzienne i nie trwały do ​​końca tygodnia. Wychodząc z marcowych minimów, odreagowania od kwietnia do maja i stabilności od czerwca do lipca, ostatni kwartał 2020 roku może pobić wszelkie rekordy, jeśli cena utrzyma się w pięciocyfrowym przedziale.

Cena Bitcoina utrzymująca się na poziomie ponad 10000 USD pomimo złota, tradycyjnej bezpiecznej przystani, której nie można odzyskać i jednej z największych giełd kryptowalut, BitMEX, oskarżony o pranie pieniędzy przez prokuratorów federalnych, jest świadectwem jego siły przetrwania i pędu do przodu.