Private Equity Moris Beracha Wuani

By Moris Beracha . - In the world, millions of people are participating in sports betting, either as a hobby or as a way to get easy money. Given the rise of cryptocurrencies and electronic money, some bookmakers have decided to take the technology path and open transactions that allow holders to use tokens from their personal wallets to try their luck. Within sports betting, many businesses appear and disappear almost instantly; also, some providers do not care much about delivering a good experience to their customers and many sportsbooks make deposits easy for customers but no withdrawals. In this regard, it should be noted that there are a large number of platforms for sports betting and it is not an easy task to decide which one to participate in. Being able to invest a Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency requires to take into account different factors, such as the opinions of existing users, the levels of quotas and promotions, withdrawal limits ...

By Darryn Pollock Despite Bitcoin being the oldest, most well established, and functional cryptocurrency around, there is no doubting that there are some issues that need resolving. Those issues have been placed under the magnifying glass in more recent times with the emergence of other cryptocurrencies that are looking at being better than Bitcoin. Teenage Bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman has said that the major cryptocurrency needs to resolve some of this issues surrounding it or else it will die. He has pinpointed four issues which he believes need to be fixes, and they range from its complexity with regards to use, high transaction fees, slow processing speeds and in-fighting among development teams. Long term dead   Despite making his fortunes off some savvy and early investing in Bitcoin, Finman said in December last year that he believes that Bitcoin is “Long Term Dead”, but added that cryptocurrencies in general are here to stay. His four issues t...

By Jeffrey Gogo Africa continues to dominate Google Trends search interest for “bitcoin,” but that has not translated into widespread adoption of cryptocurrency by users and businesses. Apart from opaque regulation and a lack of awareness, one of the major reasons for this failure has been the expansive use of mobile money on the continent.   Crypto Adoption Disappoints, Even as Africa Dominates Bitcoin Search Interest According to Google Trends, the biggest search interest for bitcoin in the world is by potential investors from Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya – the three biggest cryptocurrency markets in Africa. That dominance is, however, predominantly limited to trading activities on exchanges. On a few occasions, bitcoin may be used as a means of payment, mostly to overseas suppliers. But despite that world-leading interest, Africa still lags behind the rest of the world in everyday BTC use and adoption. The cryptocurr...

  T heblockcrypto.com Pantera Capital , a blockchain and crypto-related venture firm, has raised $125 million in its on-going third round of funding, CoinDesk reports . The $175 million funding round is expected to close in March. Pantera partner Paul Veradittikit is hopeful the company will secure the remaining funds, although he admitted the crypto winter had made it more challenging to gather funds. So far, high net-worth individuals, family offices, and those with the ability to move money fast have contributed to the fund, he said and he would continue meeting with institutional investors. According to Pantera’s pitch deck, the new fund is aiming to “invest in later stage rounds to support the more mature companies” at between $3 million to $8 million per investment. Half of the capital is allocated for follow-on funding, which will go towards investing in around 30 to 50 firms – depending on much funding is secured in the current ...

By Adrian Zmudzinski The vice president of blockchain and digital currencies for IBM , Jesse Lund, said that he expects Bitcoin’s ( BTC ) price to eventually hit $1 million. Lund made his prediction during an interview with comparison and news platform Finder.com, published on YouTube on Feb. 20. Towards the end of the interview, Lund was asked what he expects the price of Bitcoin to be on this new year’s eve. He answered that he thinks it is going to be higher than the current price, clarifying, “I’ll go with $5,000.” He then continued his prediction, adding: “I see Bitcoin at a million dollars someday.” Lund explained that he “likes that number,” given that “if Bitcoin is at a million dollars, then satoshi is on value parity with the U.S. penny.” He noted that at such a value, the whole network would have over $20 trillion of liquidity. He then suggested that such liquidity could change corporate payments and high value payments in general, concluding:...

 By Adrian Zmudzinski The  G20  countries have called for the taxation of cryptocurrency, as well as its  regulation  to combat  money laundering , Japanese news outlet Jiji.com  reports  Dec. 2. According to Jiji.com, the final text of a document jointly delivered by G20 leaders calls for “a taxation system for cross-border electronic payment services.” The article then specifies that under current laws, foreign companies that do “not have a factory or other base in Japan” cannot be taxed by the local government. The publication then cites that the G20 leaders seek to “build a taxation system for cross-border electronic services.” The member states, which gathered this weekend in Buenos Aires,  Argentina , are reportedly at work on the system and “will consider the issue during 2019 when Japan will be the president of the summit.” A final version of regulations, after considering proposals from each member state, is reported...

Moris Beracha .-  The discussion on the regulation and use of cryptocurrencies in Europe and other countries worldwide is ignited and many countries regard these digital assets as significantly important in the economic future of countries. At the meetings of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization, held in New York City this 2018, the Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, said that digital assets will inevitably be the future of money thanks to Blockchain technology and for that reason the governments of the world should pay special attention to this issue. “I passionately believe technology revolutionizes and improves systems. That’s why in Malta, we have launched ourselves as the Blockchain Island. By being the first jurisdiction worldwide to regulate this new technology that previously existed in a legal vacuum. Blockchain makes cryptocurrencies an inevitable future of money. More transparent, it helps filter good business from...

By Pawel Kuskowski During the summer, an agent at the US’s Drug Enforcement Administration, Lilita Infante, said the ratio of legal to illegal activity in bitcoin has inverted. Talking to Bloomberg , she said illegal activity is now a problem in about 10 percent of transactions - not the 90 percent she saw five years ago.  Lilita thinks that it is speculation driving the cleaning up of transactions. We’ve also seen, over that five-year period, regulation coming into force, the professionalisation of exchanges and increasing numbers of individuals trading and investing paying attention to the anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) aspects of doing so.  But, even if regulations are in place, there are - as is the way with illegal activity in any industry - things to look out for that will be hidden. Whether you’re making payments in crypto, are involved in initial coin offerings (ICOs) or using any blockchain-based payment processes...

By Michael del Castillo  /Forbes Marwan Forzely has come a long way since his days at Western Union. The serial entrepreneur, who sold his previous company to Western Union to help the money-transfer giant directly connect to customer bank accounts, has raised $25 million to cut intermediary banks out of the payment process altogether. Instead of relying on a series of correspondents to move money between different jurisdictions around the world, Marwan’s latest venture, Veem, uses bitcoin to directly connect its clients’ bank accounts with suppliers and customers. While neither counterparty is required to directly hold bitcoin, and an algorithm automatically routes transactions along the most efficient payment rails, more than half the transactions processed by Veem rely on the cryptocurrency as a replacement for correspondents. Led by banking giant Goldman Sachs, with GV (formally Google Ventures), Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley Bank, Trend ...

By Ana Berman The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) has issued basic guidelines for banks working with blockchain startups on Friday, September 21. As Reuters reports, the measure was taken to prevent a mass crypto exodus out of Switzerland. The document states that banks see blockchain as an opportunity for Switzerland to house financial and technology startups despite "risks," especially money laundering. Due to a significant increase of crypto-related companies based in the country, the SBA has decided to provide a road map for banks to open their corporate accounts. The guidelines divides blockchain companies into two large groups: those with and those without Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). Blockchain companies without ICOs should be treated like other small- and medium-sized companies, and will be obliged to accept relevant Swiss regulations and apply them to their business models. The second group includes blockchain startups with ICOs who issu...

By Kate Rooney Nearly 50 representatives from U.S. financial giants and cryptocurrency startups are set to meet with Washington lawmakers this week to talk through what some say is an incomplete and murky regulatory landscape. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, is hosting a roundtable, "Legislating Certainty for Cryptocurrencies," on Tuesday and asking industry experts to weigh in on how to police the new asset class ahead of a House bill he plans to introduce this fall. "Your input is critical to helping us preempt a heavy-handed regulatory approach that could stall innovation and kill the U.S. ICO market," Davidson said in a letter to invitees. The congressman outlined a list of eight questions for the meeting, including: "What is the best way to protect consumers from fraud?" The meeting will also cover private funding disclosures and token issuance laws, a spokesperson for Davidson said. Representatives from Fidelity, State Street, leading venture...

Billy Bambrough Bitcoin has seen quite a heavy sell-off over the last 30 days but that was preceded by a bull run, leaving the bitcoin price more-or-less flat — and reminding investors to take a wider view of market movements. Despite hitting highs of almost $7,500 earlier this month, the bitcoin price has dropped back to just over $6,300 today — pretty much exactly where it was some 30 days ago. There were fears in early September bitcoin, as well as other major cryptocurrencies including ethereum, ripple, and litecoin, were going into freefall as investors panicked over whether the much anticipated institutional money that many have been expecting to be injected into the market will actually appear. That sudden sell-off now seems to have stabilized — with many still feeling positive a major bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) could be approved this month by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Elsewhere, the New York ...

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock By Osato Avan-Nomayo Bitcoin price has risen dramatically in Iran following the government’s decision to grant legal recognition to the country’s cryptocurrency mining industry. Bitcoin Premium Comes to Iran While Bitcoin $6307.03 -0.04% suffered an almost $1,000 drop in the rest of the world, the top-ranked cryptocurrency was reaching new heights in Iran. Buoyed by the government’s legalization of cryptocurrency mining activities, the local price of BTC shot up to more than $26,000 on the localbitcoins platform for Iran. This figure amounts to more than four times than the average spot price around the world. However, there are counter reports that the $20,000+ BTC price in Iran is grossly exaggerated, with the actual value on the street being closer to $8,400. The confusion lies primarily in the difference between the official and black market exchange rial/dollar exchange rate. The license given to cryptoc...

By Kate Rooney    The world's largest cryptocurrency moved back into the $7,000 range as a key exchange in South Korea, one of bitcoin's biggest markets, came back online. The digital currency hit a high of $7,100 Tuesday, up 6 percent this week after starting Monday around $6,600, according to data from CoinDesk. The cryptocurrency is still down about 50 percent since the beginning of 2018, and 64 percent from its high in December. After losing the equivalent of $30 million in a June hack, Seoul-based Bithumb was forced by its banking partner Nonghyup Bank to temporarily stop taking new customers. The world's fifth largest exchange reopened account registrations again this week, according to local media outlet Yonhap News and multiple crypto industry news sites. "All of this buying is coming from Asia," said Brian Kelly, founder and CEO of BKCM. "The biggest news in the market right now is that South Korea exchanges are coming back online." Bithumb...

By Rachel Wolfson While the world of crypto still very much resembles the digital wild west for big financial firms, there is hope that the cryptocurrency market will “go to the moon” once institutional investors join the ranks of high-net-worth individuals and hedge funds in the space (currently there are over 400 ).  This could happen sooner rather than later, as a number of self-regulatory advancements are being made that are starting to attract interest from institutional investors. Actions centered on regulatory compliance and adding stability to the volatile crypto market are being performed to demonstrate that the crypto market is becoming ripe for large financial firms. 2018: The Year Of Security Token Offerings Regulatory uncertainty around ICOs and the crypto market in general have taken center stage since the emergence of initial coin offerings (ICOs) last year. Not surprisingly, utility tokens (user tokens that are not desig...