After A Year Of No Approval Japan Okays 17th Crypto Exchange

After a long wait, over a year in fact Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has finally approved another cryptocurrency exchange to legally operate in its jurisdiction.

This will be the 17th licensed cryptocurrency exchange in the country.

Coincheck have finally attained approval from the regulator after several improvements on its services and after being acquired by a traditional financial institution Monex Group.

The parent company of the cryptocurrency exchange, Monex has issued a press release Friday stating that Coinex has registered with the Kanto Financial Bureau as a cryptocurrency exchange agency in accordance with the Payment Service Act as of January 11, 2019.

The Exchange will initially support nine cryptocurrencies.

The approval of CoinCheck comes after more than a year since the last time FSA approved one.

The tightening of cryptocurrency exchange approval comes in the wake after CoinCheck was hacked a year ago which many describe as the biggest crypto heist in history.

Since then CoinCheck was acquired by another business group who brought in new management group as well as fresh new capital for the ailing crypto exchange

Dormant Bitcoin Whales May Stir Up Price Action According To Analyst

It has been reported in main stream media that long dormant bitcoin wallets of whales are resuming activity and may serve as a catalyst to stimulate price actions.

The reports were made based on the data and analysis of crypto analytics startup Flipside Crypto.

The firm is backed by Coinbase as well as veteran crypto capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) giving their analysis weight and legitimacy.

According to Flipside, a significant amount of Bitcoins are being moved by long-inactive bitcoin holders, these are those who have not transferred or moved their Bitcoin between six-thirty months.

The holders accounts are more or less has around 60% of the coins total circulating supply.

The head of data science at Flipside, Eric Stone says that it is a big shift and has the potential to instigate more price swings.

This seems to support what a blockchain research firm Chainalysis published last October when it said that around 85% of all Bitcoin in circulation is owned by only around 1,000 addresses.

During that time only a third of the bitcoin whales were active traders.

These traders were not responsible for price volatility has they usually traded against the herd buying on price declines.

Blockchain Education Centers Opens In New York

It has been reported that the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) through a series of partnerships will launch the NYC Blockchain Center.

NYCEDC has partnered with venture fund future, perfect labs and Global Blockchain Business Council in order to make the initiative possible.

The main aim of the center is to provide a place for education resource and a venue for investors, innovators, and academia where they can engage in active dialogue on topics like regulations, consumer protection as well as blockchain innovation.

The announcement also details this year’s NYC BigApps Blockchain Challenge which is a part of a series of public competitions that tasks New York City’s developers and innovators to develop solutions that addresses civil and urban problems.

The NYC Blockchain Center opened January 10 and comes a couple of weeks after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Digital Currency Study Bill that essentially created the New York’s crypto task force which is primarily responsible to study the said subject and suggest recommendation on how to define, leverage, regulate and use them.

Tax Breaks For Blockchain Research and Development In South Korea

Blockchain-related research and development programs will now be eligible for tax credit in South Korea.

The initiative is primarily aimed to stimulate innovation in the industry.

This was revealed by a local media Last January 8, 2019.

The initiative was proposed by the local Ministry of Strategy and Finance which will revise the enforcement decree of last year’s tax law and will take effect on the following month in February.

Research and development on wearable robots as well as find dust reduction technology will also receive the same proposed tax amendments.

Tax reduction varies depending on the size of the company.

Large companies will see 0-2% reductions while medium and small companies are entitled to 8-15% and 25% tax reductions respectively.

Europe Banking Watch Dog Wants Unified Laws On Crypto

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has recently published its much-anticipated report of the applicability and suitability of EU law to crpto-assets.

The report was released last January 9 which analyzed crypto assets and its use within the European Union.

Essentially the report concluded that cryptocurrencies are currently not regulated by the EBA which means consumers in the EU are more susceptible to manipulation and fraudulent activities.

According to the executive director of EBA, Adam Farkas, the European Commission should asses if regulatory action is needed to achieve a common EU approach to crypto-assets.

EBA is EU’s main banking authority and is the agency tasked to ensure that all banks of the member states of the Union complies with financial regulations that are implemented in the organization.

The European Commission will be tasked to create the regulatory framework that the EBA has recommended.

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