cryptocurency

Kerala Outlines Plans to Become India’s Blockchain Hub

09/01/2020 by Idelto Editor

The Indian state of Kerala is actively exploring using blockchain technology to improve a wide range of existing systems, including financial. Thousands of people are already being trained in the state to become blockchain experts, some of whom have already graduated, according to the state’s electronics and information technology secretary. He recently revealed the state’s plan to train 20,000 blockchain professionals.

Also read: Regs Roundup: SEC Actions, Crypto Tax-Free in Korea, New Chinese Laws

Kerala’s 5-Year Blockchain Plans

The state of Kerala is positioning itself to become the blockchain hub of India, with plans to use the technology in a number of areas. Shri. M. Sivasankar, the state’s electronics and information technology secretary, told the Economic Times on Tuesday:

We are looking for intelligent use of blockchain in specific domains in the next five years so that its applications can be sustained. Companies that produce solutions based on the technology can sell it as products or services.

The state plans to use the technology to boost the efficiency of its existing financial system and to create a talent pool of blockchain professionals. According to the news outlet, the government of Kerala is also trying to implement blockchain technology in several pilot programs, such as for land records, workforce management, organic food traceability, and immunization.

Sivasankar emphasized that the technology can benefit the state’s financial sector, which comprises several banks that are headquartered in the state, chit fund companies, microfinance lenders, remittance service providers, and other organizations. He elaborated:

Since there is a huge financial market, we can provide the blockchain provider access to the market so that they can develop new concepts and models … The state’s strength in blockchain will be an incentive to attract the right companies that will trigger the ecosystem.

The Blockchain Academy

Kerala has a blockchain institute called Kerala Blockchain Academy (KBA), an initiative of the state government under the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management. Established in 2017, Kerala Blockchain Academy offers certification programs, R&D activities, and consultancy. It is a member and official training partner of Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Project and a general partner of the R3 Consortium.

Four initiatives are listed on the academy’s website. Powerhouse offers different blockchain certification programs as well as workshops, seminars, and corporate training on different blockchain technologies. Blockchain Research Group focuses on R&D activities and knowledge creation.

The third initiative is Blockchain Garage, which focuses primarily on industry and government collaborations to develop solutions using blockchain technology, such as Ethereum, Hyperledger, Sawtooth, EOS, and Corda. The last is the KBA Innovation Club which aims to help students from academic institutions from all over the country deeply explore the potential of the technology. The academy’s website also has a nationwide job listings page.

Through the academy, Sivasankar foresees Kerala becoming a talent hub for blockchain experts. The secretary recently said that the state plans to train 20,000 people in blockchain development over the next two years. He additionally revealed:

Around 2,000 of them have gone for the next level in the blockchain developer programme and 800 have graduated.

Several Indian ministries and local authorities have independently explored the use of blockchain technology. In November 2019, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Shri Sanjay Dhotre detailed the steps the government had taken to promote blockchain technology to Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament. He said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had identified blockchain technology as an important research area with application potential in various domains such as governance, banking and finance, and cybersecurity.

Recently, India’s National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) announced its permissioned blockchain-based platform called Vajra, aimed at making payments fast and secure.

What do you think of Kerala’s plan to become the blockchain hub of India? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter, and Kerala Blockchain Academy.

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Coinhive Users Speak Up After Being Investigated by Japanese Police

25/06/2018 by Idelto Editor

The Japanese Police have been cracking down on users of remote mining software apps, such as Coinhive, without their website visitors’ consent. After being investigated and having their property impounded, users are speaking up about the unfairness of the investigation.

Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space

Problems with the Investigations and Arrests

The Japanese police have been actively investigating website owners using programs such as Coinhive to mine cryptocurrencies without their site visitors’ consent. Recently, the police from 10 prefectures reportedly caught 16 people using such programs; three were arrested while the others had their information sent to the prosecutors.

However, some experts are voicing concerns about how the police handle these cases. Famous Japanese security researcher Dr. Takagi Hiromitsu recently pointed out a few key problems. Firstly, he noted that the police only started investigating Coinhive after antivirus software companies declared Coinhive to be a virus. In addition, most articles about Coinhive in Japan are based on interviews with a major anti-virus firm, Trend Micro. Dr. Takagi explained (loosely translated):

It’s a simple story, antivirus software dealers are profitable enough to threaten people. In this way, it encourages everything as a cyber crime and advertises its own products.

Another problem is that the police in many prefectures are not accustomed to dealing with cybercrime, unlike the Tokyo police. A recent notice posted by the Metropolitan police department warns website operators considering installing mining tools that:

Even in the case of installing on a website operated by himself / herself, there is a possibility of [it] becoming a crime when installing a mining tool without clearly indicating to the viewers that the mining tool is installed.

With just a “possibility” of it being a crime, the police started investigating and making arrests, a Coinhive user who claims to be under investigation told news.Bitcoin.com, emphasizing that the police made arrests based solely on their opinion with no clarity of the law.

He elaborated, “People currently being investigated or arrested are primarily those who began using Coinhive since last September” and some have already stopped using the program long before the police started the investigations. “The possibility of Coinhive being a crime wasn’t pointed out until a Nikkei article of Dec 10,” he said.

Furthermore, he explained that the Japanese media coverage is often one-sided, painting a picture of Coinhive based on the police’s interpretation. “Some Japanese television and newspapers don’t understand what the problem is.”

The Story of Moro-san

A Japanese freelance designer who previously used Coinhive on his website, Moro-san, recently shared his story and experience in dealing with the Kanagawa prefectural police. Kanagawa is a coastal prefecture south of Tokyo; its capital city is Yokohama. Moro-san wrote:

It’s embarrassing. It was the first time in my life to be taken in by the police.

He started using Coinhive in late September last year but removed it from his website in early November. Three months later, in early February, he received a call from the police while at work in Shibuya. They immediately headed to his workplace, brought him back to his house, showed him a search warrant and started searching his house. Other than the charge of violating a law that bans the deployment of computer viruses, they did not offer any other explanations, Moro-san described.

The police proceeded to question him about his website. “After several hours of interrogation I realized that Coinhive seemed to be the cause,” Moro-san detailed, adding that the police then “checked [his] server information and each account information, etc.” After about 10 hours of interrogation and searches, “One desktop PC, one laptop, [and] one smartphone were confiscated.” The police left at about 9 p.m., saying they will contact him back “at a later date.”

In early March, Moro-san was interrogated again at the Kanagawa prefecture police station. The police asked him about his usage of Coinhive, took his fingerprints and measurements. The interrogation began in the morning and continued through the afternoon.

After it was over, Moro-san was released around 5 p.m. with seized items returned to him except his desktop PC, which was returned at a later date with all data including the OS deleted.

In late March, Moro-san was briefly interrogated at the Public Prosecutors Office and was fined 100,000 yen (~US$909). “I’m exhausted both mentally and physically at this point, I let myself go with the flow,” he described. He also shared:

The final profit obtained from Coinhive was less than 1,000 yen [~$9]. (Since the minimum withdrawal was from about 5,000 yen [~$45], real profit is 0).

What do you think of how the police handle the Coinhive cases? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Coinhive. Editor’s Note: Some statements have been translated from Japanese. Translation help by “VHGad3WzZolyYx”.

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England: Unauthorized Crypto Futures and ICOs are Criminal Offences

07/04/2018 by Idelto Editor

England: Unauthorized Crypto Futures, ICOs are Criminal Offences

In a statement released 6 April 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of England attempted to clarify its jurisdiction in the ever-booming cryptocurrency industry. While acknowledging cryptos are “not currently” regulated by the bureau, crypto futures, contracts for difference (CFDs), options, and initial coin offerings (ICOs) do indeed fall under their purview. Furthermore, crypto firms running afoul of necessary FCA authorization are committing “a criminal offence.”

Also read: India Searches for Ethereum Over Bitcoin

England’s FCA Warns Crypto Firms About Unauthorized Trading

“We are aware of a growing number of UK firms offering so-called cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency-related assets,” the FCA statement on the requirement for firms offering cryptocurrency derivatives to be authorised began. “As indicated in our Feedback Statement on [distributed ledger technology], cryptocurrencies are not currently regulated by the FCA provided they are not part of other regulated products or services.”

“Cryptocurrency derivatives are, however, capable of being financial instruments,” the FCA continued, and “although we do not consider cryptocurrencies to be currencies or commodities for regulatory purposes, [firms] conducting regulated activities in cryptocurrency derivatives must […] comply with all applicable rules in the FCA’s Handbook and any relevant provisions in directly applicable European Union regulations.”

Regulated “activities in relation to derivatives that reference either cryptocurrencies or tokens issued through an initial coin offering (ICO), will require authorisation by the FCA.” That would include three principal areas: “cryptocurrency futures – a derivative contract in which each party agrees to exchange cryptocurrency at a future date and at a price agreed by both parties; cryptocurrency contracts for differences (CFDs) – a cash-settled derivative contract in which the parties to the contract seek to secure a profit or avoid a loss by agreeing to exchange the difference in price between the value of the cryptocurrency CFD contract at its outset and at its termination; [and] cryptocurrency options – a contract which grants the beneficiary the right to acquire or dispose of cryptocurrencies. Firms unsure about their status are encouraged “to seek expert advice if you have any remaining questions.”

The FCA issued a previous warning regarding crypto CFDs. It was “aimed at retail investors who may be considering or soliciting cryptocurrency CFDs (contracts for difference). The U.K. regulator emphasized the risks associated with the price volatility, charges and funding costs, leveraged trading products, and price transparency,” News.Bitcoin.com reported back in November of last year.

Times Have Changed

Just prior to that warning, however, the agency seemed to be championing crypto when it accused financial institutions of withholding financial services from distributed ledger technology (DLT) start-ups on a wholesale basis. Times have changed.

“It is firms’ responsibility,” the FCA concluded, “to ensure that they have the appropriate authorisation and permission to carry on regulated activity. If your firm is not authorised by the FCA and is offering products or services requiring authorisation it is a criminal offence.”

Is licensing a positive or negative step for crypto? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock.

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