Luke Parker
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Earlier this week, Vanuatu became the first sovereign nation to accept bitcoins in return for granting citizenship through its DSP Citizenship Program. The Chairman of the Vanuatu Information Center (VIC) – which oversees Vanuatu citizenship applications - Geoffrey Bond, had sent an official request earlier this month seeking permission to accept bitcoin as a form of payment. Andrew Solomon Napuat MP, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, affirmed the decision last week.
On October 25th, the Bitcoin blockchain is set to hardfork and create a new cryptocurrency called Bitcoin Gold (BTG). Existing private keys holding a Bitcoin balance at that time will be credited with the same amount of Bitcoin Gold on November 1st, similar to how they received Bitcoin Cash at the beginning of August.
The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) has released a list of the first 11 companies permitted to operate exchanges that trade fiat currencies against digital currencies such as bitcoin. Since the Payment Services Act (which legalized digital currencies in Japan) went into effect in April this year, all companies trading fiat for cryptocurrencies were required to register as a ‘virtual currency exchange business’. The law was enacted with the provision of a 6-month grace period to give companies the opportunity to complete registration. Those operating digital currency exchanges before the introduction of the registration system were labeled ‘deemed operators’ and fell into a few different statuses. According to the Japanese financial publication Newspicks, 17 companies remain under review,12 have chosen to shut down at their own discretion and two have not applied for registration.
Korean gaming giant Nexon announced on Tuesday the acquisition of Korbit, Korea’s first ever Bitcoin Exchange, the second largest in volume behind Bithumb. Nexon’s holding company (NXC) announced its plans on Tuesday to acquire 125,000 shares of Korbit for 91.25 billion won (approximately US $80.3 million), giving it a 65.19 percent ownership stake in Korbit. The deal is being billed by Korea’s leading financial newspaper Hankyung as “the first large-scale merger & acquisition among domestic virtual currency-related companies.”
The Bank of Russia recently held a meeting with Russian President Vladamir Putin, where the legal status of cryptocurrencies was discussed. Citing the belief that cryptocurrency legalization represents “a loss of control over the money flows from abroad," the Chairwoman of Russia’s Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, clarified that her organization is against any type of legalization. Earlier this month the Bank made a general announcement that revealed more of their stance on cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. Recalling the usual risks from fluctuating exchange rates, technical difficulties, anonymity, and the lack of a responsible issuer, the Central Bank stated clearly that its position hasn’t changed on cryptocurrencies since they declared non-state-issued currency banned in January of 2014.
The Central Bank of Central Banks, Switzerland’s Bank for International Settlements (BIS), released a report on Sunday that looks at central bank cryptocurrencies (CBCCs), and if they would they be useful. The 17-page report, titled “Central Bank Cryptocurrencies,” was co-written by Morten Bech and UC Santa Barbara’s Rodney Garratt.
Due to a recent update on a long-delayed upgrade to the underlying code of the internet, the world wide web is on the verge of adding a native payments system. The new specifications detail a suite of tools that allow merchants to accept many payment types, including Bitcoin, much more easily. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has been working on a currency-agnostic web payment standard for more than two years. The 470-plus member organization is responsible for creating and maintaining the international standards for the world wide web and constantly works with the public and corporations to develop guidelines for its use.
September has been a wild ride for Bitcoin, echoing January 2017 as a month dominated by news driven by the Chinese government. The current round of announcements began on the Sept 4, when the government made the sale and trading of ICO tokens illegal across China. Many of these digital assets were traded on bitcoin exchanges.
The OpenBazaar project, led by the well-funded startup OB1, has been working towards delivering a mainstream-friendly version of their peer-to-peer marketplace application. The open source software directly connects people, circumventing the need for middlemen, and uses Bitcoin as the main payment method. This makes OpenBazzar a free online marketplace, with no fees or restrictions on what can be sold.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), and six other government departments and ministries related to the Chinese economy, recently announced that Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are now illegal in the country. Referring to them as “illegal financial crimes,” the country’s central bank blames ICOs for “disrupting the financial markets” and calls for their immediate ification.
