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Motion Record of the Trustee (Returnable
- 32 - cryptocurrency business. In its investigation and review of text and email communications, the Monitor noted that certain TPPs were instructed by Mr. Cotten to provide limited information to the financial institutions in relation to the intended use of the account and its association with the cryptocurrency industry to limit scrutiny by the financial institutions. 80. The Monitor identified a number of accounts that were frozen or closed subsequent to the financial institution becoming aware of the nature of the underlying transactions. The Monitor’s investigation indicates that frequently, Quadriga’s approach to addressing financial institution queries into the nature of the account usage was often to simply move on to another financial institution to avoid further questioning. 81. The Monitor’s investigation also identified many “cash” transactions where certain Users repeatedly funded their Accounts with large cash deposits. The Monitor has been advised that this involved the User physically handing cash in the form of legal tender to a representative of Quadriga. As an example, the Platform recorded $12.1 million of “In person Payments” received from one User through a series of nineteen (19) cash transactions over a 5-month period. The Monitor has been unable to verify how or if these cash deposits were appropriately deposited into the Quadriga treasury system through TPP accounts or other accounts. The Monitor has also reviewed communications which appear to indicate that Mr. Cotten sometimes credited a User’s account with a deposit with the understanding that the User would deliver cash at some point in the future. The deposits, once credited to the User’s Account, were subsequently used by the User to trade and remove Cryptocurrency off Platform. -
Moneylab Reader: an Intervention in Digital Economy
READER A N INTERVENTION IN DIGITAL ECONOMY FOREWORD BY SASKIA SASSEN EDITED BY GEERT LOVINK NATHANIEL TKACZ PATRICIA DE VRIES INC READER #10 MoneyLab Reader: An Intervention in Digital Economy Editors: Geert Lovink, Nathaniel Tkacz and Patricia de Vries Copy editing: Annie Goodner, Jess van Zyl, Matt Beros, Miriam Rasch and Morgan Currie Cover design: Content Context Design: Katja van Stiphout EPUB development: André Castro Printer: Drukkerij Tuijtel, Hardinxveld-Giessendam Publisher: Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, 2015 ISBN: 978-90-822345-5-8 Contact Institute of Network Cultures phone: +31205951865 email: [email protected] web: www.networkcultures.org Order a copy or download this publication freely at: www.networkcultures.org/publications Join the MoneyLab mailing list at: http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/moneylab_listcultures.org Supported by: Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool van Amster- dam), Amsterdam Creative Industries Publishing and the University of Warwick Thanks to everyone at INC, to all of the authors for their contributions, Annie Goodner and Morgan Currie for their copy editing, and to Amsterdam Creative Industries Publishing for their financial support. This publication is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. EDITED BY GEERT LOVINK, NATHANIEL TKACZ AND PATRICIA DE VRIES INC READER #10 Previously published INC Readers The INC Reader series is derived from conference contributions and produced by the Institute of Network Cultures. They are available in print, EPUB, and PDF form. The MoneyLab Reader is the tenth publication in the series. -
FOIA) Document Clearinghouse in the World
This document is made available through the declassification efforts and research of John Greenewald, Jr., creator of: The Black Vault The Black Vault is the largest online Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) document clearinghouse in the world. The research efforts here are responsible for the declassification of hundreds of thousands of pages released by the U.S. Government & Military. Discover the Truth at: http://www.theblackvault.com Received Received Request ID Requester Name Organization Closed Date Final Disposition Request Description Mode Date 17-F-0001 Greenewald, John The Black Vault PAL 10/3/2016 11/4/2016 Granted/Denied in Part I respectfully request a copy of records, electronic or otherwise, of all contracts past and present, that the DOD / OSD / JS has had with the British PR firm Bell Pottinger. Bell Pottinger Private (legally BPP Communications Ltd.; informally Bell Pottinger) is a British multinational public relations and marketing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. 17-F-0002 Palma, Bethania - PAL 10/3/2016 11/4/2016 Other Reasons - No Records Contracts with Bell Pottinger for information operations and psychological operations. (Date Range for Record Search: From 01/01/2007 To 12/31/2011) 17-F-0003 Greenewald, John The Black Vault Mail 10/3/2016 1/13/2017 Other Reasons - Not a proper FOIA I respectfully request a copy of the Intellipedia category index page for the following category: request for some other reason Nuclear Weapons Glossary 17-F-0004 Jackson, Brian - Mail 10/3/2016 - - I request a copy of any available documents related to Army Intelligence's participation in an FBI counterintelligence source operation beginning in about 1959, per David Wise book, "Cassidy's Run," under the following code names: ZYRKSEEZ SHOCKER I am also interested in obtaining Army Intelligence documents authorizing, as well as policy documents guiding, the use of an Army source in an FBI operation. -
Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 2 to a Proposed Rule
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (Release No. 34-80729; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2017-06) May 19, 2017 Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 2 to a Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Listing and Trading of Shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.201 On January 25, 2017, NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca” or “Exchange”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”), pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”)1 and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule change to list and trade shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.201. The proposed rule change was published for comment in the Federal Register on February 9, 2017.3 On March 22, 2017, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,4 the Commission designated a longer period within which to approve the proposed rule change, disapprove the proposed rule change, or institute proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove the proposed rule change.5 On April 6, 2017, the Exchange filed with the Commission Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule change. On April 21, 2017, the Commission published notice of Amendment No. 1 and instituted proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove the proposed 1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 2 17 CFR 240.19b-4. 3 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 79955 (Feb. 3, 2017), 82 FR 10086 (Feb. 9, 2017). 4 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). -
Bitcoin Reveals Exchange Rate Manipulation and Detects Capital Controls
Bitcoin Reveals Exchange Rate Manipulation and Detects Capital Controls G.C. Pieters∗ Trinity University, Economics Dept, 1 Trinity Place, San Antonio, Texas, 78212. Abstract Many countries manipulate the value of their currency or use some form of capital control, yet the data usually used to detect these manipulations are low frequency, expensive, lagged, and potentially mis-measured. I demonstrate that the price data of the internationally traded cryptocurrency Bitcoin can approximate unofficial exchange rates which, in turn, can be used to detect both the existence and the magnitude of the distortion caused by capital controls and exchange rate manipulations. However, I document that bitcoin exchange rates contain problematic bitcoin-market-specific elements and must be adjusted before being used for this purpose. As bitcoin exchange rates exist at a daily frequency, they reveal transitory interventions that would otherwise go undetected. This result also serves as verification that Bitcoin is used to circumvent capital controls and manipulated exchange rates. Keywords: Bitcoin; Exchange Rates; Black Market; Unofficial; Financial Integration; Capital Controls JEL Codes: F30, F31, F38, E42, G15, O17 ∗Corresponding author Email address: [email protected] ( G.C. Pieters) 1I am grateful for helpful comments and suggestions from Christoffer Koch and participants at the 2016 International Trade and Finance Association Conference and 2017 Liberal Arts Macroeconomics Workshop. 1. INTRODUCTION This paper is a contribution to timely, high-frequency, accurate measurement of unofficial exchange rates, de facto exchange rate regimes, and de facto capital controls. While policies that result in manipulated exchange rates|such as capital controls|may seem like a problem that distorts the trade and finance flows of only a few countries, Calvo and Reinhart(2002) found that governments display fear of floating: officially declaring they allow their exchange rates to float (a de jure floating regime), while still actively manipulating their exchange rates (a de facto managed regime). -
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies Law Enforcement Investigative Guide
2018-46528652 Regional Organized Crime Information Center Special Research Report Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies Law Enforcement Investigative Guide Ref # 8091-4ee9-ae43-3d3759fc46fb 2018-46528652 Regional Organized Crime Information Center Special Research Report Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies Law Enforcement Investigative Guide verybody’s heard about Bitcoin by now. How the value of this new virtual currency wildly swings with the latest industry news or even rumors. Criminals use Bitcoin for money laundering and other Enefarious activities because they think it can’t be traced and can be used with anonymity. How speculators are making millions dealing in this trend or fad that seems more like fanciful digital technology than real paper money or currency. Some critics call Bitcoin a scam in and of itself, a new high-tech vehicle for bilking the masses. But what are the facts? What exactly is Bitcoin and how is it regulated? How can criminal investigators track its usage and use transactions as evidence of money laundering or other financial crimes? Is Bitcoin itself fraudulent? Ref # 8091-4ee9-ae43-3d3759fc46fb 2018-46528652 Bitcoin Basics Law Enforcement Needs to Know About Cryptocurrencies aw enforcement will need to gain at least a basic Bitcoins was determined by its creator (a person Lunderstanding of cyptocurrencies because or entity known only as Satoshi Nakamoto) and criminals are using cryptocurrencies to launder money is controlled by its inherent formula or algorithm. and make transactions contrary to law, many of them The total possible number of Bitcoins is 21 million, believing that cryptocurrencies cannot be tracked or estimated to be reached in the year 2140. -
Testimony of Lecia Brooks Chief of Staff, Southern Poverty Law Center
Testimony of Lecia Brooks Chief of Staff, Southern Poverty Law Center before the Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy Committee on Financial Services United States House of Representatives Dollars against Democracy: Domestic Terrorist Financing in the Aftermath of Insurrection February 25, 2021 My name is Lecia Brooks. I am chief of staff of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Now in our 50th year, the SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people. SPLC lawyers have worked to shut down some of the nation’s most violent white supremacist groups by winning crushing, multimillion-dollar jury verdicts on behalf of their victims. We have helped dismantle vestiges of Jim Crow, reformed juvenile justice practices, shattered barriers to equality for women, children, the LGBTQ+ community, and the disabled, and worked to protect low-wage immigrant workers from exploitation. The SPLC began tracking white supremacist activity in the 1980s, during a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and other organized extremist hate groups. Today, the SPLC is the premier U.S. nonprofit organization monitoring the activities of domestic hate groups and other extremists. In the early 1990s, the SPLC launched its pioneering Teaching Tolerance program to provide educators with free, anti-bias classroom resources, such as classroom documentaries and lesson plans. Now renamed Learning For Justice, our program reaches millions of schoolchildren with award-winning curricula and other materials that promote understanding of our nation’s history and respect for others, helping educators create inclusive, equitable school environments. -
Blockchain and The
NOTES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX Notes Introduction 1. The manifesto dates back to 1988. See Timothy May, “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto” (1992), https:// www . activism . net / cypherpunk / crypto - anarchy . html. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid. 5. Ibid. 6. Timothy May, “Crypto Anarchy and Virtual Communities” (1994), http:// groups . csail . mit . edu / mac / classes / 6 . 805 / articles / crypto / cypherpunks / may - virtual - comm . html. 7. Ibid. 8. For example, as we wi ll describe in more detail in Chapter 1, the Bitcoin blockchain is currently stored on over 6,000 computers in eighty- nine jurisdictions. See “Global Bitcoin Node Distribution,” Bitnodes, 21 . co, https:// bitnodes . 21 . co / . Another large blockchain- based network, Ethereum, has over 12,000 nodes, also scattered across the globe. See Ethernodes, https:// www . ethernodes . org / network / 1. 9. See note 8. 10. Some blockchains are not publicly accessible (for more on this, see Chapter 1). These blockchains are referred to as “private blockchains” and are not the focus of this book. 11. See Chapter 1. 12. The Eu ro pean Securities and Market Authority, “Discussion Paper: The Dis- tributed Ledger Technology Applied to Securities Markets,” ESMA / 2016 / 773, June 2, 2016: at 17, https:// www . esma . europa . eu / sites / default / files / library / 2016 - 773 _ dp _ dlt . pdf. 213 214 NOTES TO PAGES 5–13 13. The phenomena of order without law also has been described in other con- texts, most notably by Robert Ellickson in his seminal work Order without Law (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994). 14. Joel Reidenberg has used the term “lex informatica” to describe rules imple- mented by centralized operators online. -
IRS, Will You Spare Some Change?: Defining Virtual Currency for the FATCA
Valparaiso University Law Review Volume 50 Number 3 Spring 2016 pp.863-911 Spring 2016 IRS, Will You Spare Some Change?: Defining Virtual Currency for the FATCA Elizabeth M. Valeriane Valparaiso University Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Elizabeth M. Valeriane, IRS, Will You Spare Some Change?: Defining Virtual Currency for the FATCA, 50 Val. U. L. Rev. 863 (2016). Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol50/iss3/10 This Notes is brought to you for free and open access by the Valparaiso University Law School at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Valparaiso University Law Review by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. Valeriane: IRS, Will You Spare Some Change?: Defining Virtual Currency for t IRS, WILL YOU SPARE SOME CHANGE?: DEFINING VIRTUAL CURRENCY FOR THE FATCA I. INTRODUCTION The founding father commemorated on the one-dollar bill said, “[t]o be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”1 Although the quote relates to war, we adopt the underlying message as it relates to law. Arguably, creating law is the most effective means of resolving future legal disputes, especially issues that emerge when applying yesterday’s law to the ever changing norms of today’s society. Cryptocurrency, a type of electronic money, presents many legal issues as this new medium of currency has found its way into the world’s economy.2 Not to be confused with other digital currency, such as game awards or airline miles, cryptocurrency is not confined to a defined 1 George Washington, President, State of the Union Address (Jan. -
Anonymity-Driven Demand for Cryptocurrency: Theory and Policy Implications
Anonymity-Driven Demand for Cryptocurrency: Theory and Policy Implications Sophie L. Zhou* 20th April 2021 Latest version available HERE Abstract Anonymity-seeking individuals prefer cryptocurrencies for online payments, but due to know-your-customer requirements on cryptocurrency exchanges, they resort to peer-to-peer markets for purchasing cryptocurrencies. I develop a search-theoretic model capturing this phenomenon. The model allows demand for cryptocurrencies to be governed by both consumption and speculative motives, and matches empir- ical observations of Bitcoin velocity and peer-to-peer transaction share. Allowing currency competition, I show that anonymity renders fiat-money-based e-payments and cryptocurrencies imperfect substitutes. Lowering the fiat money inflation rate is insufficient for eliminating cryptocurrency demand, and raising the participation cost on cryptocurrency exchanges becomes necessary. I further analyze the optimal participation cost on cryptocurrency exchanges, weighing up the benefit of financial inclusion against the cost of illicit activities often associated with anonymity. JEL codes: E41, E42, E44, E26 Keywords: Cryptocurrency, anonymity, monetary search, currency competition *Deutsche Bundesbank Research Centre, Wilhelm-Epstein-Straße 14, 60431 Frankfurt am Main, Ger- many. Email: [email protected]. A previous version of this paper was circulated under the title: Anonymity, Secondary Demand, and the Velocity of Cryptocurrency. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily -
Bitcoin Financial Regulation: Securities, Derivatives, Prediction Markets, and Gambling Jerry Brito [email protected]
digitalcommons.nyls.edu Faculty Scholarship Articles & Chapters 2014 Bitcoin Financial Regulation: Securities, Derivatives, Prediction Markets, and Gambling Jerry Brito [email protected] Houman B. Shadab New York Law School Andrea Castillo Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_articles_chapters Part of the Banking and Finance Law Commons, Business Organizations Law Commons, Commercial Law Commons, and the Consumer Protection Law Commons Recommended Citation 16 Colum. Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 144 (2014-2015) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at DigitalCommons@NYLS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles & Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@NYLS. 144 COLUM. SCI. & TECH. L. REV [Vol. XVI THE COLUMBIA SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LAW REVIEW VOL. XVI STLR.ORG FALL 2014 ARTICLE BITCoIN FINANCIAL REGULATION: SECURITIES, DERIVATIVES, PREDICTION MARKETS, AND GAMBLINGt Jerry Brito*, Houman Shadab,** and Andrea Castillo*** The next major wave of Bitcoin regulation will likely be aimed at financial instruments, including securities and derivatives, as well as prediction markets and even gambling. While there are many easily reglated intermediaries when it comes to traditional securities and derivatives, emerging bitcoin- denominated instruments rely much less on traditional intermediaries such as banks and securities exchanges. Additionally, the block chain technology that Bitcoin introducedfor thefirst time makes completely decentralized markets and exchanges possible, thus eliminating the need for intermediaries in complex financial transactions. In this Article we surey the type of financial instruments and transactions that will most likely be of interest to regulators, including traditional securities and derivatives, new bitcoin-denominatedinstruments, and completely decentralized markets and exchanges. -
Blueprints for 3D Handgun Take Refuge in Pirate Bay (Update) 10 May 2013, by Robert Macpherson
Blueprints for 3D handgun take refuge in Pirate Bay (Update) 10 May 2013, by Robert Macpherson The State Department—which confirmed it has been in contact with Defense Distributed, but gave no specifics—is tasked with monitoring and licensing US arms exports through its Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. "The United States is cognizant of the potentially adverse consequences of indiscriminate arms transfers, and therefore we strictly regulate exported defense items and technologies to protect our national interests," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said. But the crackdown on the Liberator clearly came too late to forestall the re-posting of its computer- A 3D printer prints an object during an exhibition in New aided design (CAD) files on The Pirate Bay, a York on April 22, 2013. Blueprints for the world's first 3D popular peer-to-peer file sharing service that has printable handgun took refuge Friday at file-sharing been linked by its critics to film and music piracy. website The Pirate Bay, upsetting a US government attempt to get them off the Internet. "Nice try blocking this fed," wrote one Pirate Bay user, utilizing a slang word for federal government, in a comments section that veered strongly in favor Virtual blueprints for the world's first 3D printable of Americans' constitutional right to own and carry handgun found a safe harbor Friday at file-sharing firearms. website The Pirate Bay, dodging a US government attempt to pull them off the Internet. Defense Distributed, a Texas nonprofit that promotes the open-source development of firearms using 3D printers, withdrew the files needed to make the single-shot Liberator at the behest of the State Department on Thursday.