Saudi Arabia And IBM Completes TradeLens Pilot

According to reports, Saudi Arabia in partnership with IBM has recently completed a blockchain-powered pilot for cross-border trade.

Dubbed as TradeLens, is an initiative that leverages the power of blockchain in the digital supply chain. It was created by IBM and shipping giant Maersk last September 2018 with over 100 participants.

The country concluded the pilot scheme linking its own cross-border trade platform FARAH with TradeLens blockchain platform.

The project was part of Saudia Arabia’s wider economic strategy which it calls the Vision 2030 initiative.

Ahmed Alhakbani, Saud Customs governor, states that the pilot comes in line with the Kingdom’s strategy to facilitate trade and enhance surety levels while working to establish the kingdom as one of the world’s premier logistics hubs.

Linking FASAH to TradeLens is a clear example that the government is on the right track on achieving this.

Saudi Arabia seems to be on the same direction as United Arab Emirates which recently stepped up activities aimed at integrating blockchain technology at state level in recent months. Clearly more and more countries are beginning to understand the potential of blockchain technology and some have already undertaken steps to leverage the emerging technology

South Africa Launches Crypto Assets Regulatory Working Group

News outlets have reported the formation of a crypto asset regulatory working group dedicated to crypto and blockchain in South Africa (SA).

The South African finance minister, Tito Mboweni, states that after board industry comment and participation the crypto regulatory working group will be able to release a final research paper on the subject matter sometime in 2019.

The finance minister also reveals that the SA Revenue Service is working to include cryptocurrencies in the Tax forms for the next year.

The Taxation laws amendment bill of 2018 include amendments that would ensure that losses may only be offset against profits from crypto.

He further explains that crypto currencies will not be classified as personal-use assets subject to capital gains tax but instead by classified as financial service subject to VAT.

The cryptocurrency scene in South Africa is very much alive despite current market conditions.

It has been reported in the past that 38% of South Africans wished they had invested in cryptocurrencies earlier.

900 retailers Now Accepting Bitcoin Cash

The number of retailers that are now accepting Bitcoin Cash has increased to more than 945 stores worldwide in the last few months.

This demonstrates a healthy growth of merchants accepting payment using Bitcoin Cash.

Low fees and faster transaction processing is the main reason why merchants are drawn towards this crypto.

According to sources the largest concentration of merchants accepting bitcoin cash comes from Europe with around 337 locations accepting the P2P digital currency.

This is followed by North America which as a total of 134 physical stores in North America. Australia and Asia comes in third and fourth place with 120 and 75 respectively.

BCH is an excellent alternative to traditional payment options such as credit and debit cards which charges generally in the 3.5 percent of every transaction.

In comparison a typical BCH transaction would only cost less than $1.00 or less regardless of how much you are sending.

Crypto Lenders Thriving During Bear Markets

Reports have revealed that cryptocurrency lenders are better off compared to other crypto-related projects during the crypto bear market.

Creditors that offer their services in the cryptocurrency industry are finding strong demand from borrowers who either do not want to sell their crypto holdings at depressed prices as well as from short sellers.

In fact, current market condition has contributed to the growth of some of these lending companies such as crypto lending company BlockFi which has grown ten folds.

The chief executive officer of Genesis Captial, Michael Moro, says that the bear market has certainly helped to fuel growth.

Genesis Capital is company that allows users to borrow cryptocurrencies in exchange for dollars.

It has been reported in the past that Genesis was able to process around $550 million during its first six months of activity, now it has issued $700 million in loans and has about $140 million in outstanding loans with an average duration of six weeks.

Business has been good for Genesis that the company now is planning on doubling its staff to 12 and expanding its operations to Asia.

This is in contrast to other crypto-related companies which has been affected negatively by the market downturn forcing some of them laying of more than half of their workforce.

First US State To Create Cryptocurrency Task Force

Clyde Vanel, a New York State assemblyman and Chair of Subcommittee on internet and New technologies has declared New York as the first state in the United States (U.S.) to create a cryptocurrency task force aimed at studying regulations, use cases and definition of cryptocurrency.

Dubbed as the “Digital Currency Study Bill” it was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo last December 21, 218.

Included in the task force are technologist, consumers, investors, blockchain related companies and organization as well as academics.

They are appointed by the governor, Senate and Assembly and expected to report on their findings on or before December 15, 2020.

The report is expected to tackle issues regarding the impact of regulations on the development of digital currencies and blockchain industries on a state level as well as its effects on local tax receipts. It will also tackle issues on transparency of the digital currency market.

New York has been the leading state in terms in finance as well as proper fintech regulation.

It hopes that with the help of the task force it will be able to stroke the balance between having a robust blockchain industry and cryptocurrency economic environment with strong safeguards to protect investors and consumers.

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