The Chief Scientist of Quebec Rémi Quirion says public concern that Bitcoin is being used for illicit activities like tax evasion and money laundering is largely overblown,  Forbes reports

The statement prepared by the l’Agence Science-Presse, which is a partner of Fonds de Recherche du Québec, said, “Bitcoin is not above the law, nor is it a magnet for illicit transactions: it forms only a tiny part of the criminal money circulating around the planet.”
They add that the transparent and public nature of the Bitcoin Blockchain, where transactions are recorded and distributed across a global network, is not an ideal platform for engaging in anonymous criminal activity.

“The anonymity of Bitcoin is a myth, [it] is no more transparent as money, because you have to go through a platform where you have to give personal information. At the limit, if the name is not his, we always know the address of the transmitter and that of the receiver.”

The statement cites a study from the Center for Sanctions and Illicit Finance of the Defence of Democracies Foundation, stating that “dirty Bitcoins” only represent 0.61 percent of trade and conversion services between 2013 and 2016. The largest proportion in the targeted period was 1.07 percent.
Geneviève Bruno of the Quebec provincial police, Sûreté du Québec, said that money laundering via Bitcoin is “not an emergent phenomenon here and we do not have any records related to that.”
The agency also characterizes allegations of tax evasion via Bitcoin as “anecdotal” adding:

“Most users do not have the skills for themselves [to] manage their portfolios and exchange platforms or online portfolios are already subject to anti-money laundering rules...Since Bitcoin is transparent, it will be very easy to identify all the people trading on an online exchange or portfolio platform."

While the statement largely refutes allegations of Bitcoin as a tool for criminals, it does urge investors in Bitcoin to remain cautious and exercise due diligence, adding that the ultimate responsibility falls upon the user.
Last month, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, TMX Group, announced that one of its subsidiaries had entered into a partnership to open a cryptocurrency brokerage firm in Canada.

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Top cryptocurrency investors Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to consider a cryptocurrency exemption at a private meeting, the  Wall Street Journal reports April 19.

The Silicon Valley-based venture capital firms met with top officials of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, which regulates Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), to argue against stringent cryptocurrency regulations that they claim would impair the development of the young growing industry.
According to WSJ, the group of crypto investors argued that ICO tokens should not be considered as investments, but as products that can be used to access services of startup companies, which would allow startups to carry out token sales without observing formalities  such as business reviews and financial reports. The group assured the SEC that ICO issuers would be held accountable in cases of fraud.
The SEC has privately expressed skepticism to such a broad exemption, and is more likely to opt for a “limited exemption” from oversight, wherein each investor would acquire investments limits, and the purchased tokens would not be resold to third parties for profit.
Since the SEC introduced its cryptocurrency probe in February, which followed previous suggestions that ICOs may be violating securities laws, the regulatory body has increased pressure on ICO projects. The SEC even shut down stock trading of three companies due to “questions regarding the nature of the companies’ business operations” vis-a-vis ICOs.
The question of cryptocurrency and ICO regulations is a crucial issue, with many crypto believers expressing their concerns over excessive regulatory scrutiny towards the industry. Others, like head of regulatory relations at Ripple Ryan Zagone, encourages regulatory measures. Recently, Zagone compared the existing crypto regulatory framework to the early days of the Internet.

“We’re at that time now where we need more clarity and rules and we need more certainty. It’s a good time to start revisiting that ‘wait and see’ ­approach taken by regulators.”

According to Perianne Boring, president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, developing sensible regulation will take time, “You can’t start writing laws and regulations today and expect to get it right, it’s building on wet cement.”
In March, Chief Legal and Risk Officer at Coinbase Mike Lempres claimed that at its current stage, the US regulatory system “is harming healthy innovation” due to a lack of understanding of what should be allowed and what should be not, and how digital assets should be considered; either as securities, commodities, property, or currency.

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The Nano Foundation has announced it will sponsor a legal fund to provide all victims of the hack of cryptocurrency exchange BitGrail with equal access to representation and pursue their legal interests associated with BitGrail’s insolvency, according to a Nano Foundation blog post April 9.

In February, the Italy-based digital currency exchange BitGrail suffered a loss of one of its hosted tokens, Nano, and afterwards froze trading. The trading platform claimed that 17 mln Nano had been stolen in the hack, amounting to about $187 mln at the time the losses were detected.
To ensure all victims would receive proper legal support and have a chance to recover their assets, the Nano team reportedly contacted Espen Enger at the end of February to launch a legal fund. At the time Enger represented the interests of almost 600 BitGrail hack victims . Shortly after, the Nano team also contacted the Italian law firm of Bonelli Erede, which collaborated with Mr. Enger. Nano Foundation stated in the announcement:
“As a result, we are announcing today that Nano will be matching the contributions of the victims to the legal fund established by Mr. Enger — including both past and future donations, for up to $1 mln — with a goal of establishing a total legal fund valued at $2 mln.”
According to the blog post, the victims represented by Espen Enger have managed to raise more than $300,000 in different currencies, including over 53,000 Nano, on their own. With the donation from the Nano Foundation, the sum will double to a value of over $600,000. The company claims that outside of making donations, the foundation will not have any access to or control over the funds.
The Nano Foundation stated in the announcement that all reliable evidence they had reviewed “continues to point to a bug in BitGrail’s exchange software as the reason for the loss of funds.” Meanwhile, BitGrail denies the responsibility for the security breach, insisting the fault lies in Nano’s software.

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South Korean regulator the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said it would inspect three domestic banks servicing cryptocurrency exchanges to check compliance April 9.

A statement confirms the banks will undergo inspections April 19 - 25, with regulators looking to ensure they are conforming to new anti-anonymity regulations introduced at the end of January this year.
Cointelegraph previously reported on the steps taken by Seoul to remove anonymity and multiple trading accounts on domestic cryptocurrency exchanges.
As part of the legislation, Koreans using exchanges to trade may only hold one account, the identity details of which must match their bank account.
The requirements put new pressure on both exchanges and banks to ensure trading remained legal, with smaller institutions reportedly struggling to get to grips with the FSC’s demands.
Now, Nonghyup Bank, Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank will face individual scrutiny, Nonghyup in particular standing out as the service partner of Coinone and Bithumb, two of Korea’s biggest exchanges.
Investigators will check adherence to various rules, including anti-money laundering as well as the providence of customer data.
Meanwhile, preparations continue on filling in the remaining legal gaps in the local cryptocurrency economy, with tax legislation due to be released by June.

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A new class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court Eastern District of New York on behalf of investors in Nano (XRB, formerly Raiblocks), according to a class action complaint signed April 5.

The lawsuit is being filed by an American individual, Alex Brola, through Silver Miller law firm, and alleges that Nano’s core team both violated US securities laws by selling unregistered securities as well as negligently misrepresented the reliability of crypto exchange BitGrail, from which around 17 mln Nano ($187 mln at the time) were stolen in mid-February.
The lawsuit asks that Nano be ordered by court to “rescue fork” the investors’ missing NANO “into a new cryptocurrency in a manner that would fairly compensate the class of victims.”
In the aftermath of BitGrail’s Feb. 9 announcement on their website that the 17 mln Nano had been hacked from the exchange, Nano developers and BitGrail’s owner and operator Francesco “The Bomber” Firano reportedly entered into a conflict over whether or not Firano had asked for the ledger to be edited to “cover his losses.”
Nano then accused Firano of “misleading the Nano Core Team and the community” on their official blog.
Although Nano investor Alex Brola is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit, having reportedly bought $50,000 worth of Nano on Dec. 10, 2017, the complaint claims there are “at least hundreds if not thousands of putative Class members” that Silver Miller plans to contact during the discovery period.
Silver Miller writes in the class action notice that they are a “strong advocate for aggrieved investors harmed by the misrepresentations and illegal actions of cryptocurrency exchanges and issuers.” The law firm is currently working on class actions against crypto exchanges and services Coinbase, Kraken, BitConnect, Cryptsy, and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) promoters Monkey Capital, Giga Watt, and Tezos.
Tezos has been the subject of multiple lawsuits over the question of its compliance with SEC regulations. The Tezos class action lawsuit filed last fall by Silver Miller alleges that Tezos violated securities laws during their ICO,  which raised $232 mln, making it the world’s second largest ICO to date in terms of most funds raised.

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News is emerging of the seizure of €400 mln from an account that is reportedly affiliated with crypto exchange Bitfinex at the Cooperative Bank in Skierniewice, Poland. The investigation is allegedly tied to Colombian drug cartel operations, a local news outlet reported April 6. The report has not yet been officially confirmed or denied by Bitfinex.

The confiscated funds are said to correspond to the defrauding of €400,000 from The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the construction of its embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Prosecutors are said to be investigating accounts linked to two companies. One is registered in the vicinity of Pruszków, and is said to be headed by someone of Canadian-Panamanian descent. The second company is allegedly presided over by a man with Colombian and Panamanian citizenships. Both companies are said to have over 1.27 bln PLN ($371 mln) deposited on their accounts.
It is this second account that is reported to be tied to Bitfinex. In late 2017, documents posted online appeared to show Bitfinex directing its customers to an account at the Cooperative Bank in Skierniewice, as Bloomberg reported.
On Polish forum Bitcoin.pl, one Bitfinex user has claimed he was interrogated by Polish police last week: “I testified as a witness regarding the case of Crypto sp z o.o because they sent me money from Bitfinex and their accounts were blocked.”
Today’s reports in Polish media raised the suspicion that there is a connection between Panama registered Crypto sp z o.o (and parent company Crypto Capital Corp.) and narcotics trafficking networks, suggesting that the criminals converted fiat into crypto to cover their tracks.
No charges have been filed yet, with Polish prosecutors awaiting Europol and Interpol cooperation.
There has been much controversy surrounding Bitfinex and sister company Tether, both receiving subpoenas from U.S. regulators in December for undisclosed reasons. In 2017, Wells Fargo & Co. allegedly refused to continue operating as a correspondent bank for Bitfinex and sister company Tether. Bitfinex then filed a lawsuit that was quickly dropped.
Blogger Bitfinex’ed repeatedly posted his concerns about the obscurity surrounding the exchange’s bank accounts, resulting in Bitfinex threatening to pursue legal action against him.
Speculation has also arisen that Tether has been operating a fractional reserve and is covering over its reserve deficit in complicity with Bitfinex. Suspicions mounted further when Tether allegedly dissolved its relationship with a third-party auditor.
As of press time, Bitfinex has not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

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The crypto markets are holding their own this week, with Bitcoin (BTC) not venturing too far away from $7,000, even amid news that India’s central bank would stop dealing with crypto-related businesses.

The relatively steady prices could be attributed to a big adoption win in Asia yesterday, when Omise and OmiseGO signed a Memorandum of Understanding for fintech and Blockchain innovation with a South Korean banking affiliate.
BTC is currently trading for around $6,880, up a little more than 3 percent over a 24 hour period to press time.

Ethereum (ETH) is also nearing $400, currently trading at around $381 and up a little more than 3 percent over a 24 hour period to press time.

Of the top ten coins listed on CoinMarketCap, only EOS is in the red, down less than 1 percent over a 24 hour period and trading for around $5.92 to press time.
Monero, which recently updated its protocol to protect the cryptocurrency against ASIC miners, specifically Bitmain’s recently announced Antimer X3, is up a little more than 1 percent over a 24 hour period, in 11th place on CoinMarketCap, trading around $170 by press time.
Total market cap is around $258 bln according to data from CoinMarketCap, up from April 1’s intraweek low of around $243 bln.



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