Crypto Briefs is your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Regulation news
- Ethereum (ETH)-focused major blockchain company ConsenSys is rolling out a product for exchanges and DeFi companies, focused on the know-your-customer regulatory compliance requirements, Bloomberg reported. The company will be able to analyze transactions relating to more than 280,000 coins that have been issued on Ethereum, it added.
- The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) member jurisdictions must demonstrate progress on implementing Travel Rule solutions by June, when their efforts will be reviewed at FATF’s plenary meeting, which will be held virtually on June 24, Pawel Kuskowski, CEO and co-founder of Coinfirm, an AML and blockchain analytics software provider, said.
Blockchain news
- Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck is keen to introduce blockchain-powered shareholders’ meetings and blockchain-powered voting systems, reports Cnet Japan. The company says that it hopes to use its own know-how in the field of user interface/user experience to decentralize its shareholder meetings. A number of Japanese companies are looking into transitioning into “virtual” shareholder meetings after a February 2020 legal amendment effectively legalized them in the country. Advocates say that blockchain-powered remote meetings can cut down on spending on overheads including venue costs, with tamper-proof voting systems cited as another potential benefit.
- The South Korean military is set to use a blockchain-based ID solution to power a new AI-based complaints chatbot. Per the military’s official news arm the Kookbang Ilbo, the project will allow military personnel to lodge complaints via a 24-hour chat platform that has been developed by the military. As part of the service, the bot will make use of the blockchain-powered ID platform to verify the identity of those making complaints and speed up the complaints management process.
- Russian citizens in the capital Moscow will be able to use blockchain voting in a referendum on constitutional amendments on June 25, per an official announcement from the Mayor of Moscow. The Mayor stated that city residents would be eligible to apply for the right to use an electronic voting platform for the referendum, and claimed that the “security and transparency of the vote” would be safeguarded by the blockchain-powered platform. The paper-based referendum is slated to take place on July 1 and was originally due to take place on April 22 – and may see President Vladimir Putin extend his rule.
Privacy news
- The news that Coinbase wants to sell its blockchain analytics software to United States federal agencies – the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as reported by The Block on Friday, has been met with a wave of criticism. Documents related the purchases by the two agencies were published in April and May. Among comments, Jameson Lopp, CTO at crypto security specialist Casa, said that people distrust in the exchange is stronger now and that they’ll make the analytics software obsolete.
Security tokens news
- Security token platform Securitize distributed a “royalty payment” to holders of Lottery.com security tokens on Friday, reports Securities.io. Securitize says it’s the first registered securities record keeper that also disburses token-holder payments completely on a blockchain. While transfer agents distribute payments to owners, among other things, they’re not “paying agents,” meaning they don’t usually also deliver the payments as well. The article comments that this is a prime example of the potential behind digital securities.
Exchange news
- On June 1, when bitcoin (BTC) hit USD 10,000, Coinbase experienced a 5x traffic spike over 4 minutes. “Our autoscaling was unable to keep pace with this dramatic increase in traffic,” the exchange explained in a blog post, adding that their request error rate spiked to 50%, causing customers to experience errors when interacting with coinbase.com and their mobile apps.
Crime news
- A total of 175 people have been charged with crypto fraud-related offenses since 2017 in South Korea, per statistics released by the nation’s prosecution service. According to Seoul Shinmun, prosecutors believe crypto crime in the same time period has accounted for a whopping USD 2.8 billion, with 278 cases reported. Among the 175 charged, prosecutors said that a large number were repeat offenders, with multi-level pyramid scams also common.
