NYDIG Will Bring Bitcoin to 650 Banks

What you need to know today in crypto and beyond

June 30, 2021

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Today's must-reads

Top Shelf

INCREASING COMPLAINTS: Cryptocurrency platforms have been getting more complaints filed against them, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase has received the most complaints in the last 12 months, with about 1,600 registered.

CBDCS: Both Russia and Spain are considering central bank digital currenices (CBDCs) as an alternative to their traditional currencies. The Bank of Russia, on Tuesday, named 12 banks to take part in the initial testing of a CBDC. Meanwhile, Spain’s Socialist Party, the governing body in the country, has also presented a proposal. That follows the European Central Bank’s announcement of its intention to create a digital euro.

ON DEMAND: NYDIG will bring crypto purchases to 650 banks and credit unions through a tie-up with enterprise payments provider NCR. The initiative is a reaction to customers of NCR banking clients turning to outside exchanges to buy crypto and could introduce crypto to 24 million customers.

TONE DEAF: Democratic congressman Bill Foster of Illinois said crypto needs “a backdoor.” The blockchain caucus co-chairman said a trusted third party should be able to reverse transactions with a skeleton key, until the industry can deal with crypto-ransomware attacks. An example could be the courts, which could establish a type of pseudo-anonymity where information would be revealed only to those in the judiciary, Foster said.

–Helene Braun

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EIP 1559: Ethereum's Fee Market Upgrade Explained

CoinDesk Research's newest report dives into the economic impacts and investment implications of Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559. At its core, the code change is designed to make transaction fees on Ethereum less volatile and more predictable.

At the same time, EIP 1559 also poses several risks to Ethereum including risks of miner capitulation or revolt, technological risk in the form of unexpected bugs, and risk of user disappointment.

In this report, CoinDesk Research gives an overview of how EIP 1559 works and its intended impact for investors, miners and users. Download the full report.

What others are writing...

Off-Chain Signals

–H.B.

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Putting the news in perspective

The Takeaway

Financial Communication Is Communication

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international anti-money laundering group, is keeping watch on “extreme right wing” (ERW) activity. In a new report, the U.S. Treasury-backed agency looked at how ethnically or racially motivated acts of terrorism are finding funding.

What it found, and defined, was a nebulous group of actors ranging from lone wolves to small organizations to international movements using an equally diverse set of mechanisms to finance their hate campaigns.

“Notably, most of the funding for ERW groups appears to come from licit sources,” the FATF wrote. This includes crowdfunding, cryptocurrencies and commercial operations like buying real estate or hosting music festivals, among other sources of cash flow. “Successful disruption of ERW groups and individuals, and their violent activities, requires an understanding of how they are financed,” it said.

Indeed. Racially and ethnically motivated hate campaigns are among the most vile, contemptible and loathsome acts imaginable. And an understanding of how a rising trend of hate crimes is financed and propagated would only help.

But I would still caution skepticism when reading the FATF's report. The term “extreme right wing terrorism” (ERWT) covers a lot of ground in a paper short on detail. There’s no indication of how much money is being raised, how it’s spent or by whom. There’s no solid definition of what constitutes terrorism or the right wing. There were also few proposed solutions at this point from an agency that has often looked to increase surveillance.

“There is limited information on how ERW groups move their funds,” FATF wrote.

Throughout the 45-page document are examples of individuals or organizations – like convicted Norweigen terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed eight people by detonating a van bomb, and Atomwaffen, a known neo-Nazi group – that showcase how certain payment mechanisms are utilized.

But scattered throughout the document are also statements like:

“The vast majority of ERW-motivated attacks in recent history have been perpetrated by self-funded individuals (so called lone-actor attacks), rarely involving complex organisation and weapons."

“As expenses for these attacks are low, and do not differ from normal transactions, there are often few or no red flags in the financial system and most useful financial information is only discovered through police investigations after an attack has taken place."

“This is partly because some ERW groups are not considered illegal and as such financial transactions associated with them or their members are not monitored."

“Authorities may see these attacks as having fewer opportunities for financial disruption and place less importance on the financial investigation associated with these attacks.”

Those state that right-wing terrorism, as FATF defines it, is primarily committed at the individual level and financed through means familiar to us all. But it suggests that a more granular level of financial scrutiny might be called for.

Evidence of some of the most loathsome individuals crowdfunding donations, dropping links to their BTC wallets or soliciting funds over Telegram should not be grounds for further surveillance of these networks, which are primarily used by everyday people for everyday things.

In one section, FATF outlined further considerations, noting that not all jurisdictions “classify violent activity by ERW individuals or groups as terrorism” and that not all their activities rise to the level of a crime. While Atomwaffen may raise funds by selling merchandise online, that is an act of political speech under U.S. laws.

There was a time when civil liberties organizations fought for the right of the Worst to march, speak and organize, knowing that an encroachment on one group could be used against another (perhaps one you agree with). The same might be said for financing.

–D.K.

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