Judge Refers Craig Wright for Criminal Prosecution in Bitcoin Case

July 16, 2024 Bitcoin.com

Britain’s public healthcare chief flags rise in crypto trading addiction

June 13, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Crypto firms have already breached new UK promo rules 221 times, says FCA

October 26, 2023 Coin Telegraph

britain

Many of the firms the FCA warned were breaching the new rules appear to be dubious high-yield return schemes, but legitimate firms have seen warnings too.

Crypto-promoting firms have breached the United Kingdom’s new crypto marketing rules at least 221 times since coming into force in early October, says the country’s financial regulator.

In an Oct. 25 statement, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said since the Oct. 8 crypto promotion rules came into place, firms are still failing to provide visible enough risk warnings, provide adequate information about risks, and are making claims about the safety, security or ease of using crypto without highlighting the risks involved.

The FCA’s latest warning count comes after it said on Oct. 9 that it issued 146 alerts on breaches of the new rules in the 24 hours after the new regime went live.

Find out the 3 common issues we've identified with #cryptoasset financial promotions.

Consumers should check the FCA Warning List before making any investment in #crypto https://t.co/CKn4cFxb11
— Financial Conduct Authority (@TheFCA) October 25, 2023

While many of the FCA’s crypto-related alerts appear to be illegitimate schemes offering high-yield returns on crypto investments, the FCA has taken action against seemingly legitimate businesses as well.

An Oct. 10 statement noted it had placed restrictions on Rebuildingsociety — the FCA-regulated firm Binance partnered with to approve its marketing and communications to comply with the FCA’s new rules. Binance subsequently halted onboarding new U.K. users.

“We expect authorized firms approving the financial promotions of cryptoasset firms to take their regulatory obligations seriously,” the FCA statement said. “Where this is not happening, we will take action.”

It added it’s working with social media platforms, app stores, search engines, domain name registrars and payment providers to remove, block and stop the flow of funds to banned promotions.

Under the new rules, crypto-related ads can only be promoted or approved by FCA-authorized or regulated firms and applies to all businesses — even those without a U.K. presence.

The promotions must have “prominent risk warnings” and not incentivize investing in crypto. Promotions typical in overseas markets such as referral bonuses and memes are banned and restricted in the U.K.

Transak compliance head James Young told Cointelegraph the FCA’s regime is “very challenging” for businesses to implement but believes the consumer protection will increase adoption “on an exponential scale.”

Magazine: NFT Collector: William Mapan’s Distance sells out, NFT float in Macy’s Parade, Nouns DAO forks

UK politicians don metaverse avatars as they share Web3 roadmap

September 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain

“Web3 represents a paradigm shift that reimagines the very fabric of the internet,” said British MP Natalie Elphicke.

A group of British politicians took to the metaverse to address global leaders in a 51-nation gathering on Sept. 20, setting out a vision for the United Kingdom’s blockchain and Web3 industries.

The metaverse gathering saw eight British Lords and politicians address global leaders on the opportunities and challenges posed by the growth of Web3 technology

Natalie Elphicke, member of parliament and chair of the new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Blockchain Technologies, appeared as her unique avatar in the metaverse, where stressed the importance of the next iteration of the internet:

“Web3 represents a paradigm shift that reimagines the very fabric of the internet.”

As chair of the APPG on blockchain technologies, I was pleased that me and Avatar Natalie could join the British Blockchain Association’s Global Summit today to give a keynote speech - held in the metaverse. @Brit_blockchain @APPGBlock pic.twitter.com/hDriQA5rAv
— Natalie Elphicke MP (@NatalieElphicke) September 20, 2023

In her keynote, Elphicke said that the U.K. has the potential to become a blockchain-enabled “smart country” but noted the nation was “lagging competitors” in securing blockchain-related jobs.

The first UK national priority is Web3 industry growth and workforce planning, she said before adding:

“Part of that is about making the UK an attractive hub for Web3 founders, developers, programmers, and companies to work here,”

*Natalie Elphicke metaverse avatar. Source: APPG*

Elphicke called for more national blockchain roadmaps and collaboration between countries, commenting that so far, fewer than 12 countries have published roadmaps.

She said another priority was taking forward the National Blockchain Roadmap, published in 2021. The roadmap sets out an ambition to build a blockchain-based “digital nation” with the technology being applied to climate mitigation efforts, industrial symbiosis networks, and digital identity programs.

She also mentioned DeFi, stating that it poses “unique challenges and opportunities for regulators and policymakers,” before adding that “ensuring transparency, auditability, and accountability in these ecosystems is paramount.”

The Conservative Party politician also spoke about real-world asset tokenization. “It is unquestionable that our world is being tokenized,” she said before adding “Physical assets are getting tokenized, and this trend will only grow from here.”

However, on Sept. 19, an online safety bill aimed at regulating certain UK internet services including activities in the metaverse passed through parliament.

Magazine: Is the Metaverse really turning out like ‘Snow Crash’?

UK to spend $130M on AI chips amid scramble to buy up computing power

August 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

UK to spend 0M on AI chips amid scramble to buy up computing power

The chips will be used to set up an AI resource as a recent report said 20% of firms can’t get enough computing power for AI.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to spend $130 million (100 million pounds) to buy thousands of computer chips to power artificial intelligence, amid a global shortage and race for computing power.

The Telegraph reported on Aug. 20 that the United Kingdom aims to build an "AI Research Resource" by mid-2024 as part of Sunak’s plan to make the country an AI tech hub.

The government is reportedly sourcing chips from makers NVIDIA, Intel and AMD — and it is understood that the science funding body UK Research and Innovation — which is leading the effort — is in the late stages of ordering 5,000 NVIDIA graphic processing units (GPUs).

However, while $130 million has been allocated to the project, the funds are reportedly seen as insufficient to match Sunak’s AI hub ambition, meaning government officials could pressure for more funding in an upcoming November AI safety summit.

It follows a recent report that said many companies are struggling to deploy AI due to available resources and technical obstacles.

In March, an independent review of the country’s AI computing capabilities said investment in the space is “seriously lagging” behind international counterparts in the United States and European Union.

At the time, less than 1,000 NVIDIA chips were available for researchers to train AI models — a panel recommended the U.K. make available at least 3,000 top-quality chips to meet immediate needs.

On Aug. 16, S&P Global’s global AI trend report found that many firms reported they’re not ready to support AI, due to not having enough computing power, along with challenges managing data and security concerns.

We teamed with S&P Global to launch a global survey of #AI practitioners & decision-makers to see what’s driving or hindering their AI projects.

Today, we published the survey’s findings in this new 2023 Global Trends In AI report. Get the skinny here https://t.co/k9W5AQ9hwg
— WEKA (@WekaIO) August 16, 2023

While it's still early days for AI — S&P senior research analyst Nick Patience said a deciding factor for who will lead in the space will be decided by who can support AI workloads.

AI Eye: Apple developing pocket AI, deep fake music deal, hypnotizing GPT-4

Crypto memes can be considered financial promotions, says UK watchdog

July 18, 2023 Coin Telegraph

britain

Memes found to be non-compliant with financial promotion rules could carry up to two years in jail under a proposal from the FCA.

Crypto firms and influencers may need to start slapping disclaimers on crypto memes to stay compliant with advertising laws in the United Kingdom, according to a new proposed guidance from the country's financial regulator.

On July 17, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released a proposed guidance on social media financial promotions which targets promotional memes and financial influencers — “finfluencers.”

Too many people across the UK are being shown financial promotions from unsuitable sources.

We’ll be ramping up our work to stamp out illegal financial promotions, particularly those found on social media. #financialpromotions #financialservices https://t.co/sK8r5ExxVm
— Financial Conduct Authority (@TheFCA) July 17, 2023

The FCA said it’s seen memes from crypto firms circulated online which many don’t realize are subject to its promotional rules.

It said promotional memes are particularly prevalent in the crypto sector and added any type of communication could be considered a financial promotion.

*Example of a crypto investing-related meme the FCA considers a financial promotion. Source: FCA*

The FCA considers crypto a high-risk investment. It can be advertised to retail investors at large but there are requirements such as including risk warnings and a ban on investment incentives.

It said in Q4 2022, 69% of financial promotions on websites or social media from authorized firms were amended or withdrawn following FCA intervention.

It launched the consultation to update its guidance from 2015 and make clear its expectations on how marketers are to implement its regulations around promotions.

Finfluencers in the crosshairs

The FCA stated it’s seen an increase in the number of finance-oriented influencers promoting financial products they have little knowledge of, which typically target a younger audience.

It warned influencers their promotions could be an offense punishable by up to two years in jail, an unlimited fine or both. The law applies even to promotions from outside the U.K. which could have an effect in the country.

In its reasoning for the reminder, it cited a report that claimed over 60% of 18-to 29-year-olds follow social media influencers, with three-quarters saying they trust their advice.

A 2021 FCA survey found 58% of respondents under 40 years old cited hype from social media and the news as reasons for their investment in what the watchdog considers a high-risk product.

Public comments on the proposed guidance are open until Sep. 11.

Magazine: Cryptocurrency trading addiction — What to look out for and how it is treated

Binance UK office one of 2,403 companies sharing ‘utility closet’ in Suffolk

June 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

address

Binance has drawn attention for using a small building as its registered office in the UK, but tech firms have used a similar trick for years.

The United Kingdom-registered address for an entity of one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, Binance, is nothing but a tiny building in Britain’s east that is shared by thousands of other companies.

On June 19, a post on the r/buttcoin subreddit showed the so-called “utility closet” Binance Ltd and thousands of other firms use as a registered office address in the U.K. — a tactic often used by other tech firms and large companies.

Binance Ltd’s address points to the small town of Mildenhall in Suffolk county, England. Google Maps shows the site is a small, nondescript garage building on the outer edge of the town about an hour and a half's drive from Britain’s capital London.

*The top image shows Binance’s office address registration with the government while the image spliced below shows the address on Google Maps. Source: Reddit*

Companies House — the government's company’s registrar — shows Binance Ltd shares the address with 2,403 active companies in total.

The address is actually the site of a company called OfficeServ, a virtual registered address service provider that aims to give a “believable business location,” as per its website.

Companies House shows Binance Ltd is registered to provide ”other service activities not elsewhere classified.” Binance has around six entities in Britain across various addresses registered to provide IT and financial services.

Cointelegraph contacted Binance for more information on the entity but did not immediately receive a response.

Tech firms shell games

Technology companies have employed such virtual “shell” addresses around the world and in the United States for years. These are used for a host of reasons — from providing privacy, obscuring patent filings or registering a business in a corporate tax haven.

Most notable is the Corporation Trust Company, the world’s largest registered agent service firm, used by thousands of firms, including well-known companies such as Google, Walmart, Coca-Cola and Apple. It operates out of a similarly nondescript brick building in Delaware.

This utterly nondescript building in Wilmington, Delaware is (probably) the most famous address in corporate law.

1209 North Orange Street.

It houses the Corporation Trust Center, the registered agent address of about three hundred thousand businesses. Including some giants. pic.twitter.com/HhdaUfKXCU
— Lucius Winslow (@Lucius_Winslow) November 15, 2020

The firm was used by Apple last November in an attempt to obscure the patent fillings for its recently announced Vision Pro headset and related operating system.

Another firm, Wyoming Corporate Services, was described in a 2011 Reuters exposé as a “brick house” in a “sleepy city” and home to 2,000 registered companies at the time.

Magazine: Peter McCormack’s Real Bedford Football Club puts Bitcoin on the map

Bank of England opens applications for ‘proof of concept’ CBDC wallet

December 12, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bank of England

The bank requires the wallet to execute basic features such as transacting value and requesting payments and set its budget at nearly $255,000.

The Bank of England (BOE) is seeking a “proof of concept” for a wallet that will be able to hold a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

On Dec. 9, the BOE posted a request for applications on the United Kingdom government's Digital Marketplace, a service where government organizations can solicit work for digital projects.

Simple guidelines for what the proof-of-concept wallet would have to achieve were outlined, with the wallet seemingly only needing to offer basic functionality such as a signup process, a way to update details, and show balances and transactions amongst other requirements such as displaying notifications.

Of course, the wallet also has to demonstrate it can be loaded and unloaded with a CBDC along with being able to request peer-to-peer payments through an account ID or QR code and can be used to pay online with businesses.

Key deliverables for the project are to create a mobile app for iOS and Android, a website for the wallet, an example merchant website and the back-end infrastructure to serve the wallet website and apps while also storing user data and transaction history.

“No work has been done” on a CBDC sample wallet the bank said, and it “will not develop a user wallet itself.”

The stated aims of the project are to “explore the end-to-end user journey” as the BOE seeks to “sharpen functional requirements for both the Bank and private sector” along with making the CBDC product “more tangible for internal and external stakeholders.”

A budget of $244,500, or 200,000 British pounds, for an expected five-month project was set for the proof-of-concept with the BOE slated to evaluate five suppliers. There were no applications at the time of writing.

The BOE has previously stated it is seeking to launch a CBDC by at least 2030.

The sample wallet is supportive of the BOE’s work as part of Project Rosalind, a joint experiment it’s carrying out with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub aimed at creating prototypes of an application programming interface (API) for a CBDC. The proof-of-concept wallet will also be test implemented with the Rosalind API.

On Dec. 9, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, shared a number of reforms to Britain’s financial services sector which included consulting on proposals for the establishment of a CBDC.