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.

Kraken prédit que Bitcoin produira une performance négative pour septembre avant de revenir à une „ volatilité agressive “

Dans son rapport sur la volatilité d’août 2020, l‘ échange de crypto – monnaie basé aux États-Unis Kraken a prédit que septembre apportera des rendements excessivement négatifs pour Bitcoin ( BTC )

Le rapport note qu’historiquement, septembre est le mois le moins performant de Bitcoin, avec un rendement moyen de -7%. Il souligne que, comme Bitcoin a sous-performé ses rendements moyens pendant la plupart des mois de 2020, les performances de ce mois-ci étaient probablement encore pires que d’habitude.

Malgré les perspectives baissières à court terme, le rapport identifie quelques lueurs d’espoir, notamment qu’une part record de l’offre de Bitcoin Up n’a pas bougé depuis plus de 12 mois – Kraken notant que «historiquement, cette dynamique a préfiguré un nouveau marché haussier . »

Le rapport ajoute que Bitcoin est susceptible de connaître des fluctuations agressives à mesure que les marchés s’éloignent davantage du creux local ou de la «poche supprimée» de juillet pour la volatilité:

Douze fois dans le passé, la volatilité annualisée du Bitcoin a atteint un creux entre 15% et 30% avant de grimper, en moyenne, à 140% et de revenir à + 196% sur 94 jours. À la fin du mois d’août, 38 jours se sont écoulés depuis le creux de volatilité de 23% établi le 24 juillet, la volatilité passant à 44% et le prix gagnant + 25%

«Ainsi, l’histoire indique que nous pourrions avoir amplement de place pour une volatilité et des gains plus élevés dans les mois à venir», explique le rapport

Kraken note également que septembre a historiquement produit la plus faible volatilité en moyenne, ce qui suggère que la BTC pourrait ne pas voir une volatilité accélérée avant au moins le quatrième trimestre de 2020.

Cependant, la boule de cristal de Kraken n’est pas nécessairement un guide fiable pour les événements futurs, la bourse ayant récemment prédit qu’un rallye BTC entre 50% et 200% était imminent le 10 août – alors que Bitcoin se négociait entre 11500 et 12000 dollars, soit seulement 500 dollars de le sommet local qui a précipité le récent retracement de 20%.

Le rapport note qu’en août, la corrélation de Bitcoin avec l’or a également atteint un nouveau sommet historique de 0,97, avant de retomber brusquement à 0,25.

Bitcoin a également produit une forte corrélation avec le S&P 500 pendant la majeure partie du mois d’août. Après avoir affiché un sommet local de 0,84, la corrélation entre BTC et le S&P 500 s’est effondrée à moins 0,02, ce qui suggère que Bitcoin pourrait rompre avec la méta-tendance des marchés hérités.

La crisi finanziaria del 2008 si ripresenterà nel 2020?

Il secondo trimestre è stato uno dei peggiori del 21° secolo. L’attuale situazione della pandemia COVID-19, quasi tutto il mondo sta affrontando una battuta d’arresto della propria economia a causa dei blocchi imposti in precedenza. Per questo motivo le istituzioni finanziarie si trovano attualmente ad affrontare una situazione di scarsità. A maggior ragione, gli investitori sono fuggiti per „Safe Haven to Invest“ a seguito della pressione della pandemia

La speculazione sul tremante sistema bancario si è fatta più intensa quando il magnate degli affari Warren Buffett ha chiuso tutte le posizioni del suo stabilimento, Berkshire Hathaway, da Goldman Sachs. Inoltre, le sue partecipazioni nella maggior parte dei titoli bancari, tra cui JP Morgan Chase e Wells Fargo, sono diminuite.

Paradisi sicuri da investire nel 2020!

Molti analisti e ricercatori che hanno messo in guardia con la loro analisi sulla crisi imminente, hanno anche detto che la crisi potrebbe aggravarsi ulteriormente. L’autore di „Rich Dad, Poor Dad“ Robert Kiyosaki ha recentemente allertato le masse con i possibili scenari che potrebbero verificarsi. Ha ipotizzato che l’uscita di Buffett dalle banche sia legata al possibile fallimento della banca. Ha anche detto che la Fed e il Tesoro potrebbero distribuire denaro per evitare rivolte.

„Quanto oro, argento, Bitcoin hai?“ ha chiesto all’autore indicando alcune delle opzioni di investimento di Safe-haven.

I crittografi come Bitcoin potrebbero moltiplicare i vostri soldi

Il mercato dei crittografi, in continua crescita, potrebbe essere un mercato potenziale su cui fare affidamento. La crescente capitalizzazione del mercato cripto e del mercato Defi indica lo spostamento dell’attenzione degli investitori dalle altre opzioni di investimento.

Il Bitcoin, la più grande e primitiva cripto-valuta, è considerato il più favorito di tutti i tempi. A causa della sua enorme capitalizzazione di mercato e di oltre la metà del dominio del mercato, si prevede che il Bitcoin Rush raggiungerà i 20000 dollari entro la fine di quest’anno e i 100 mila dollari a breve.

Attualmente, il Bitcoin è scambiato a $11730 con una variazione positiva dello 0,42%. La valuta si è rialzata di oltre il 50% dall’inizio del 2020. Pertanto ci si aspetta un ritorno piuttosto buono se investito nei cripto come il Bitcoin.

Infatti, come per Anthony Pompliano (aka Pomp), Bitcoin è stato uno dei migliori paradisi sicuri durante le crisi globali. Nella sua serie di recenti thread di Twitter, egli spiega che il valore del Bitcoin è aumentato di quasi il 70 per cento rispetto all’anno precedente.

Uno dei motivi principali per cui il prezzo della Bitcoin potrebbe salire presto è „la sua offerta limitata“. D’altra parte, questa moneta era emersa durante la crisi economica del 2008 ed è sopravvissuta con successo per oltre un decennio. Infatti, il gettone è valutato più delle altre opzioni di investimento tradizionali in un solo decennio.

Attività tradizionali come l’oro un’opzione potenziale

L’oro, uno dei metalli preziosi in uso nelle civiltà primitive, è una delle modalità di investimento più affidabili. Attualmente, l’oro è scambiato a 1935 dollari che ha recentemente superato i 2000 dollari/ounce. Sfortunatamente non è riuscito a mantenere e a scendere al di sotto della soglia. Tuttavia, attualmente, è molto vicino ai $2000/ounce e si prevede che guadagni molto di più.

L’investimento in oro ha catturato l’attenzione di tutto il mondo, soprattutto quando l’Oracolo di Omaha, Warren Buffett, ha scaricato le puntate della Banca per l’oro. Recentemente ha eliminato le sue posizioni in Goldman Sachs e ha investito in una società mineraria canadese di estrazione dell’oro. Questa mossa è stata speculata per contribuire all’impennata dei prezzi dell’oro.

Inoltre, la mania è salita ancora di più con il fatto che all’inizio degli anni ’80, quando Buffett ha acquistato 3500 tonnellate di argento, si è poi radunato oltre l’84 per cento prima che la bolla scoppiasse. Certamente con il fatto che le persone in tutto il mondo seguono i consigli di investimento di Buffett. Detto questo, uno scenario simile è previsto con l’oro quando Buffett ha investito in oro ora.

L’argento supera l’oro – Prevede l’analista

D’altra parte, l’argento è sempre bastonato con altri metalli preziosi come l’oro. Gli investitori considerano di detenere l’argento proprio come l’oro, che potrebbe essere d’aiuto in tempi di crisi. Inoltre, gran parte della produzione totale viene utilizzata per scopi industriali, spesso legati all’economia dello Stato.

L’argento lavora sia metalli preziosi che metalli di base. Ha sempre sostenuto l’incertezza che girava durante la guerra commerciale globale, Brexit, e recentemente, COVID-19.

Tuttavia, si può andare in due modi per investire in argento. Acquistare un argento fisico come monete o lingotti dalle banche o dalla gioielleria o investire in futures in argento o in argento elettronico attraverso il mercato delle materie prime o le borse come MCX, NCDEX, ecc.

Mentre l’oro è salito di oltre il 32 per cento quest’anno, livelli massimi che non si vedevano dal 1979, dall’altro lato i prezzi dell’argento sono saliti di oltre il 30 per cento l’anno scorso. Infatti, lo stratega delle materie prime e dei cambi della Deutsche Bank, Michael Hsueh, si aspettava che l’argento avrebbe superato l’oro.

The blockchain browser formerly known as „Braver“, which originally forked off from the open source browser Brave, was renamed „Bold Browser“ today, citing legal threats from a „certain party“.

An anti-adware bifurcation
Braver Browser was launched in June after rumors that Brave would have automatically filled in the company’s affiliate link in searches for certain cryptomoney exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase.

Announcing the project on a now-deleted tweet on June 6, Braver’s team said it had removed the Brave reference link injection, adding that the full version would remove „all adware,“ including the basic attention token (BAT) – the ERC-20 utility tokens given to Brave content creators for promoting the platform.

Brave gets harsh criticism for auto-completing its Binance affiliate link

At about the same time, Brave co-founder and CEO Brendan Eich tweeted that the bifurcated project „will have to change the name, also run a number of services and updates on its own. He added, „We don’t allow free travel on our servers.

Legal Threats
On July 9, Braver changed his name to „Bold Browser“ on Twitter, Github and Discord, tweeting:

„Due to legal threats sent to one of our community members by a certain party, specifically seeking to harm them financially due to the bifurcation of this browser, we are immediately changing the name and removing all association to the ‚browser that won’t be named.

BitFlyer Partners with Brave Browser to Develop New Crypto Wallet
Bold Browser pointed out that he was also removing all references to „a browser we mentioned earlier in our tweets,“ and called it „a goodwill gesture for those who send legal threats to open source contributors.“

When asked if they expected the legal threats to stop after the rebranding, a Bold Browser contributor told Cointelegraph:

„The threat letter required the coders to change the name of Immediate Bitcoin and remove all references to them. Everyone did their best to comply. You’ll have to ask them to see if they find it sufficient to return to their privacy and anonymity by respecting the standards by which they advertise“.

Ripple, Brave and Huobi join global instant payment network PayID
Cointelegraph contacted Brave for additional details, but did not receive a response until the close of this issue.