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Crypto-Based Transfers Can Cut Remittance Costs in Africa by 90% Remittances have become a lifeline for many people in Sub-Saharan Africa, but the cost of sending money via banks and money transfer operators remains punitively high. On average, it costs 9.3% (of value transferred) to send the equivalent of $200 to the region, the highest remittance rates anywhere on the planet, according to the new World Bank 2019 report. However, the cost drops dramatically by as much as 90% when money is sent through cryptocurrency-based fintech companies like Bitpesa. Also read: Central Bank Digital Currencies Take Center Stage at IMF Spring Meetings Banks Most Expensive Cash Transfer Agents Africans working abroad last year sent $46 billion to support families in their home countries. The money is often used to pay for education, buy food and clothes, start a business, build a house and cover daily living costs. Money sent from overseas is a vital tool of survival for many families in Africa’s often unstable economies. But too much of the money is being taken in transfer fees by financial companies. According to the World Bank, banks are the most expensive agents for sending money back to Africa at 10.2%, followed by money transfer operators at 7.7% and post offices at 5.5%. This is by far too costly when compared to the Sustainable Development Goals target of cutting financial transfer costs to within 3% of total transaction value by 2030. Some people have now started to put their hopes in bitcoin-backed fiat remittances as a way of cutting fees and improving efficiency and speed during transfers. When American political science graduate Elizabeth Rossiello founded Bitpesa in 2013, the company initially focused on facilitating bitcoin-supported cash transfers between citizens of the U.K. and Kenya. However, Bitpesa now has operations in eight African countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. Stephany Zoo, head of marketing at Nairobi-based Bitpesa, told news.Bitcoin.com that the company helps people in Africa send or receive money from around the world at a fraction of the cost charged by traditional agents. Bitpesa also caters to global remittance companies using API services for payments to mobile money operators, as well as bank networks in the African countries in which it has a presence, she stated. “We process our remittance payments with a blend of traditional and personal insurance such as pooling, as well as using cryptocurrency,” Zoo elaborated. “Our fees are 1 to 3% so it’s significantly lower than those mentioned in the World Bank report. A lot of our clients are money transfer operators that actually move the money and we are the underlying technology or software behind what they do as well as being their foreign exchange provider.” Informal Cash Transfers In September, Bitpesa signed a deal with Japanese company SBI Remit allowing people across Africa to make payments for cars, beauty products and electronic gadgets. Africans making overseas purchases deposit their local fiat currencies into Bitpesa’s bank account, after which the payments are sent on the BTC blockchain to SBI Remit, which in turn makes the final payments in Japan. The entire process can be completed within a matter of hours, at about half of the usual transfer cost. Conventional banking methods take a few days to handle similar transactions, Bitpesa claims. The fiat to crypto deposit and transfer also applies to remittance services, only this time the funds go directly into the account of the person receiving the money. “[This] cuts out all the middlemen, saves on conversion and transfer fees, and can be done in just a few clicks,” Bitpesa says on its website. The World Bank data does not capture the true value of the amount of money sent to Africa from abroad or from other African countries. Often, remittances flow through informal channels carried by friends, family members or by bus drivers across borders. That’s because sometimes the effort of sending cash through MTOs is just not worth the risk. To do so means revealing your identity by producing a passport, work permit or visa – documents which a number of migrant workers don’t have. Likewise, some cryptocurrency-based remittances fly beneath the radar, with it being unnoticed that they are serving this purpose. For example, Uganda’s Coinpesa is primarily a crypto exchange and does “not directly engage in the remittance business,” according to chief executive officer Suleiman Murunga. “However, that does not mean that we are not processing trades that originated as a remittance,” he observed. Murunga noted how cryptocurrency-based remittances were hard to track on an exchange, but also highlighted how this characteristic could help lower transfer costs to around 2%, having eliminated the cost of conversion from crypto to fiat. Transfers Powered by In-House Crypto Tokens In Nigeria, Sure Remit charges between 0-2% for non-cash remittances. The company claims to host a network of hundreds of merchants throughout the world and uses an in-house token, RMT. Built on the ethereum blockchain, the token can be exchanged for a variety of services, such as to purchase and send vouchers, send airtime, pay bills and buy groceries. Instead of receiving cash, recipients in Nigeria get vouchers that they can use to obtain whatever services or goods they need. Elsewhere in southern Africa, Wala utilizes its own digital coin called dala to help users send money, buy airtime and data, pay bills and school fees in a number of countries at no cost. Wala sits on top of banks’ existing infrastructure which “helps banks better serve their customers.” The South African company believes that “once people are digitally engaged, the cost of financial services will decrease.” Now, as the Sub-Saharan African remittance market is expected to grow 4.2% in 2019 and 5.6% in 2020, according to the World Bank, Bitpesa’s Stephany Zoo is optimistic crypto-based remittances business will claim a share of the market, saying: “I think that to improve market share, [crypto money transfer firms] must work with companies that have hybrid infrastructure and are more digitally focused because it is more effective, faster and easier to hold accountable than other traditional routes of remittances.” What do you think about the cost of remittances in Africa? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitpesa and World Bank. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com The post Crypto-Based Transfers Can Cut Remittance Costs in Africa by 90% appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Crypto-Based Transfers Can Cut Remittance Costs in Africa by 90% Remittances have become a lifeline for many people in Sub-Saharan Africa, but the cost of sending money via banks and money transfer operators remains punitively high. On average, it costs 9.3% (of value transferred) to send the equivalent of $200 to the region, the highest remittance rates anywhere on the planet, according to the new World Bank 2019 report. However, the cost drops dramatically by as much as 90% when money is sent through cryptocurrency-based fintech companies like Bitpesa. Also read: Central Bank Digital Currencies Take Center Stage at IMF Spring Meetings Banks Most Expensive Cash Transfer Agents Africans working abroad last year sent $46 billion to support families in their home countries. The money is often used to pay for education, buy food and clothes, start a business, build a house and cover daily living costs. Money sent from overseas is a vital tool of survival for many families in Africa’s often unstable economies. But too much of the money is being taken in transfer fees by financial companies. According to the World Bank, banks are the most expensive agents for sending money back to Africa at 10.2%, followed by money transfer operators at 7.7% and post offices at 5.5%. This is by far too costly when compared to the Sustainable Development Goals target of cutting financial transfer costs to within 3% of total transaction value by 2030. Some people have now started to put their hopes in bitcoin-backed fiat remittances as a way of cutting fees and improving efficiency and speed during transfers. When American political science graduate Elizabeth Rossiello founded Bitpesa in 2013, the company initially focused on facilitating bitcoin-supported cash transfers between citizens of the U.K. and Kenya. However, Bitpesa now has operations in eight African countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. Stephany Zoo, head of marketing at Nairobi-based Bitpesa, told news.Bitcoin.com that the company helps people in Africa send or receive money from around the world at a fraction of the cost charged by traditional agents. Bitpesa also caters to global remittance companies using API services for payments to mobile money operators, as well as bank networks in the African countries in which it has a presence, she stated. “We process our remittance payments with a blend of traditional and personal insurance such as pooling, as well as using cryptocurrency,” Zoo elaborated. “Our fees are 1 to 3% so it’s significantly lower than those mentioned in the World Bank report. A lot of our clients are money transfer operators that actually move the money and we are the underlying technology or software behind what they do as well as being their foreign exchange provider.” Informal Cash Transfers In September, Bitpesa signed a deal with Japanese company SBI Remit allowing people across Africa to make payments for cars, beauty products and electronic gadgets. Africans making overseas purchases deposit their local fiat currencies into Bitpesa’s bank account, after which the payments are sent on the BTC blockchain to SBI Remit, which in turn makes the final payments in Japan. The entire process can be completed within a matter of hours, at about half of the usual transfer cost. Conventional banking methods take a few days to handle similar transactions, Bitpesa claims. The fiat to crypto deposit and transfer also applies to remittance services, only this time the funds go directly into the account of the person receiving the money. “[This] cuts out all the middlemen, saves on conversion and transfer fees, and can be done in just a few clicks,” Bitpesa says on its website. The World Bank data does not capture the true value of the amount of money sent to Africa from abroad or from other African countries. Often, remittances flow through informal channels carried by friends, family members or by bus drivers across borders. That’s because sometimes the effort of sending cash through MTOs is just not worth the risk. To do so means revealing your identity by producing a passport, work permit or visa – documents which a number of migrant workers don’t have. Likewise, some cryptocurrency-based remittances fly beneath the radar, with it being unnoticed that they are serving this purpose. For example, Uganda’s Coinpesa is primarily a crypto exchange and does “not directly engage in the remittance business,” according to chief executive officer Suleiman Murunga. “However, that does not mean that we are not processing trades that originated as a remittance,” he observed. Murunga noted how cryptocurrency-based remittances were hard to track on an exchange, but also highlighted how this characteristic could help lower transfer costs to around 2%, having eliminated the cost of conversion from crypto to fiat. Transfers Powered by In-House Crypto Tokens In Nigeria, Sure Remit charges between 0-2% for non-cash remittances. The company claims to host a network of hundreds of merchants throughout the world and uses an in-house token, RMT. Built on the ethereum blockchain, the token can be exchanged for a variety of services, such as to purchase and send vouchers, send airtime, pay bills and buy groceries. Instead of receiving cash, recipients in Nigeria get vouchers that they can use to obtain whatever services or goods they need. Elsewhere in southern Africa, Wala utilizes its own digital coin called dala to help users send money, buy airtime and data, pay bills and school fees in a number of countries at no cost. Wala sits on top of banks’ existing infrastructure which “helps banks better serve their customers.” The South African company believes that “once people are digitally engaged, the cost of financial services will decrease.” Now, as the Sub-Saharan African remittance market is expected to grow 4.2% in 2019 and 5.6% in 2020, according to the World Bank, Bitpesa’s Stephany Zoo is optimistic crypto-based remittances business will claim a share of the market, saying: “I think that to improve market share, [crypto money transfer firms] must work with companies that have hybrid infrastructure and are more digitally focused because it is more effective, faster and easier to hold accountable than other traditional routes of remittances.” What do you think about the cost of remittances in Africa? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitpesa and World Bank. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com The post Crypto-Based Transfers Can Cut Remittance Costs in Africa by 90% appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Japan to Provide G20 With Solution for Crypto Regulation Japan is preparing to share its experience regarding cryptocurrency regulation with finance ministers and central bank governors from other G20 countries at the upcoming summit which it will host in June. According to local media, Japanese regulators have a solution for crypto regulation to offer the G20 countries. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Postpones Crypto Case at Government’s Request Crypto Regulatory Manual Japan is often known as one of the most crypto-advanced countries, having legalized cryptocurrency as a means of payment in April 2017. According to local news outlet Sankeibiz, Japanese regulators have created a handbook “that each [G20] country can use for regulations, such as measures to prevent the outflow of virtual currency.” “International rules are being developed to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, with virtual currency restrictions in place,” the news outlet described Monday. “On the other hand, there are no rules in terms of the protection of customer assets and the soundness of the market, so it is the first time that certain ideas are shared internationally,” A wide range of regulatory measures are being adopted by the G20 countries, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported, with some currently over-regulating crypto assets. The publication conveyed: Since it is difficult to establish common rules, we [Japan] decided to put them in a guidebook, to have the know-how in a form that suits each country, and to raise the level of regulation. According to the news outlet, the manual addresses key regulatory areas such as “Necessary measures to protect customer assets,” “Measures against cyber attacks,” and “Ways of providing information to customers.” The Japanese Experience Japan is drawing from its own experience after two major cryptocurrency exchanges in the country were hacked last year — Coincheck in January and Zaif in September. Following the hacks, the country’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), increased its oversight of crypto exchanges including conducting on-site inspections and issuing business improvement orders. The agency has also been holding study group meetings which have resulted in many new proposed measures for the crypto industry. Earlier this month, the FSA released a guide containing reference cases to help financial institutions identify suspicious crypto transactions and report them to the authorities per Article 8 of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds. Crypto transactions involving a large amount of cash or foreign currency and high-value transactions that do not match customer income or assets are suspicious to the FSA. Transactions in accounts that frequently receive crypto remittances from multiple addresses are also suspicious, especially if large withdrawals are made immediately after receiving them, the agency explained. The FSA also warned of transactions in accounts suspected of being fake or with names that appear to be fictitious, adding that customers with a large number of accounts, especially under different names, should also be red-flagged. Moreover, the regulator noted that transactions employing “anonymization technology when a customer deposits virtual currency into an account” are suspicious. Also on the list are transactions from multiple accounts using the same IP address, those that appear to be domestic but have foreign IP addresses and languages, and ones “that make tracking IP addresses difficult.” Do you think the G20 should follow Japan’s lead regarding crypto regulation? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Japan to Provide G20 With Solution for Crypto Regulation appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Japan to Provide G20 With Solution for Crypto Regulation Japan is preparing to share its experience regarding cryptocurrency regulation with finance ministers and central bank governors from other G20 countries at the upcoming summit which it will host in June. According to local media, Japanese regulators have a solution for crypto regulation to offer the G20 countries. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Postpones Crypto Case at Government’s Request Crypto Regulatory Manual Japan is often known as one of the most crypto-advanced countries, having legalized cryptocurrency as a means of payment in April 2017. According to local news outlet Sankeibiz, Japanese regulators have created a handbook “that each [G20] country can use for regulations, such as measures to prevent the outflow of virtual currency.” “International rules are being developed to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, with virtual currency restrictions in place,” the news outlet described Monday. “On the other hand, there are no rules in terms of the protection of customer assets and the soundness of the market, so it is the first time that certain ideas are shared internationally,” A wide range of regulatory measures are being adopted by the G20 countries, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported, with some currently over-regulating crypto assets. The publication conveyed: Since it is difficult to establish common rules, we [Japan] decided to put them in a guidebook, to have the know-how in a form that suits each country, and to raise the level of regulation. According to the news outlet, the manual addresses key regulatory areas such as “Necessary measures to protect customer assets,” “Measures against cyber attacks,” and “Ways of providing information to customers.” The Japanese Experience Japan is drawing from its own experience after two major cryptocurrency exchanges in the country were hacked last year — Coincheck in January and Zaif in September. Following the hacks, the country’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), increased its oversight of crypto exchanges including conducting on-site inspections and issuing business improvement orders. The agency has also been holding study group meetings which have resulted in many new proposed measures for the crypto industry. Earlier this month, the FSA released a guide containing reference cases to help financial institutions identify suspicious crypto transactions and report them to the authorities per Article 8 of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds. Crypto transactions involving a large amount of cash or foreign currency and high-value transactions that do not match customer income or assets are suspicious to the FSA. Transactions in accounts that frequently receive crypto remittances from multiple addresses are also suspicious, especially if large withdrawals are made immediately after receiving them, the agency explained. The FSA also warned of transactions in accounts suspected of being fake or with names that appear to be fictitious, adding that customers with a large number of accounts, especially under different names, should also be red-flagged. Moreover, the regulator noted that transactions employing “anonymization technology when a customer deposits virtual currency into an account” are suspicious. Also on the list are transactions from multiple accounts using the same IP address, those that appear to be domestic but have foreign IP addresses and languages, and ones “that make tracking IP addresses difficult.” Do you think the G20 should follow Japan’s lead regarding crypto regulation? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Japan to Provide G20 With Solution for Crypto Regulation appeared first on Bitcoin News.

5 Major Indian Laws That Apply to Cryptocurrency India has a number of laws that currently apply to cryptocurrency. A new Cambridge University report explains some of these laws. News.Bitcoin.com talked to one of the authors of the report to uncover more details. Meanwhile, the Indian government is currently finalizing regulations specific to crypto assets. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Postpones Crypto Case at Government’s Request Laws Applicable to Cryptocurrency Cambridge University’s Centre for Alternative Finance has recently released its new Global Cryptoasset Regulatory Landscape Study, sponsored by Japan’s Nomura Research Institute. India is among the countries covered in the report which outlines a number of existing laws applicable to cryptocurrency and token sales. While the Indian government is working on drafting the legal framework specifically for cryptocurrency, several existing laws apply to crypto assets in addition to the infamous RBI circular that prohibits all regulated entities from providing services to crypto businesses. For cryptocurrencies that are deemed securities, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956 may apply. However, the report states that “Currently, there is regulatory uncertainty regarding applicability” of this law to tokens but some “may fall within its remit if, inter alia, they are issued by an identifiable issuer and backed by the underlying assets of the issuer.” It further details: Some tokens may also fall within the purview of collective investment schemes which are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Companies Act and Payment Systems For all token types, “the regulations under the Companies Act, 2013 and rules thereunder would be triggered, along with other RBI regulations,” the report reads. News.Bitcoin.com talked to Hatim Hussain, one of the authors of the report, who explained on Sunday how each Indian law applies to crypto assets. Regarding the Companies Act, he elaborated, “These are primarily the Companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rules, 2014 (Deposits Rules) which specify when the receipt of money, by way of deposit or loan or in any other form, by a company would be termed a deposit, and also provides certain exemptions from its applicability.” Payment tokens may also be subject to the Payments and Settlements Systems Act 2007 (PSSA). The Cambridge report claims that there is nothing in this act “to exclude virtual currency, since only the term payment is referred to, as opposed to currency, legal tender or money.” Therefore, if a cryptocurrency activity “were to constitute a ‘payment system’ or other regulated activity, the issuer would need payment system authorisation from the RBI under PSSA and would require compliance with KYC/AML norms.” Money Laundering Further, the use of cryptocurrencies may fall under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA), which carries statutory penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. However, the report clarifies that “it is unclear whether the reporting obligations prescribed under Chapter IV of the PMLA extend to wallet operators, cryptoasset exchanges or third-party bitcoin services,” adding: A majority of cryptoasset trading platforms are self-regulatory and follow extensive KYC/AML norms. Unregulated Deposit Schemes There is also the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill 2018 which has been tabled in Parliament. It proposes to prohibit all unregulated deposits which could apply to initial coin offerings (ICOs), according to the report. Hussain explained to news.Bitcoin.com that the bill “provides a schedule of regulated deposit schemes, and all unregulated deposit schemes are prohibited.” Additionally, “The term deposit includes ‘an amount of money received by way of an advance or loan or in any other form, by any deposit taker with a promise to return whether after a specified period or otherwise, either in cash or in kind or in the form of a specified service, with or without any benefit in the form of interest, bonus, profit or in any other form, but does not include … [certain enumerated categories],’” he described, elaborating: An ICO might be regarded as an ‘unregulated deposit scheme.’ So, virtual currency token issuers would need to ensure, in order to be outside the purview of the Ordinance, that (A) the scheme is regulated and/or (B) there should be no liability of returning any money received. Hussain added that this bill “was passed in the Lok Sabha (House of Commons) on February 13, 2019 but will lapse in the House of Representatives (Rajya Sabha) after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha due to elections in May this year.” He further remarked, “Ordinances are usually required to be approved by the Parliament within 6 weeks or they lapse, in this case, no official confirmation about its approval by the Parliament has been made yet … Considering the elections, I am sure the 2019 Ordinance would take another few months (at least) to be made into a law.” What do you think of Indian laws as they apply to cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: None of the information in this article is intended as investment advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Neither Bitcoin.com 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. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post 5 Major Indian Laws That Apply to Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News.

5 Major Indian Laws That Apply to Cryptocurrency India has a number of laws that currently apply to cryptocurrency. A new Cambridge University report explains some of these laws. News.Bitcoin.com talked to one of the authors of the report to uncover more details. Meanwhile, the Indian government is currently finalizing regulations specific to crypto assets. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Postpones Crypto Case at Government’s Request Laws Applicable to Cryptocurrency Cambridge University’s Centre for Alternative Finance has recently released its new Global Cryptoasset Regulatory Landscape Study, sponsored by Japan’s Nomura Research Institute. India is among the countries covered in the report which outlines a number of existing laws applicable to cryptocurrency and token sales. While the Indian government is working on drafting the legal framework specifically for cryptocurrency, several existing laws apply to crypto assets in addition to the infamous RBI circular that prohibits all regulated entities from providing services to crypto businesses. For cryptocurrencies that are deemed securities, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956 may apply. However, the report states that “Currently, there is regulatory uncertainty regarding applicability” of this law to tokens but some “may fall within its remit if, inter alia, they are issued by an identifiable issuer and backed by the underlying assets of the issuer.” It further details: Some tokens may also fall within the purview of collective investment schemes which are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Companies Act and Payment Systems For all token types, “the regulations under the Companies Act, 2013 and rules thereunder would be triggered, along with other RBI regulations,” the report reads. News.Bitcoin.com talked to Hatim Hussain, one of the authors of the report, who explained on Sunday how each Indian law applies to crypto assets. Regarding the Companies Act, he elaborated, “These are primarily the Companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rules, 2014 (Deposits Rules) which specify when the receipt of money, by way of deposit or loan or in any other form, by a company would be termed a deposit, and also provides certain exemptions from its applicability.” Payment tokens may also be subject to the Payments and Settlements Systems Act 2007 (PSSA). The Cambridge report claims that there is nothing in this act “to exclude virtual currency, since only the term payment is referred to, as opposed to currency, legal tender or money.” Therefore, if a cryptocurrency activity “were to constitute a ‘payment system’ or other regulated activity, the issuer would need payment system authorisation from the RBI under PSSA and would require compliance with KYC/AML norms.” Money Laundering Further, the use of cryptocurrencies may fall under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA), which carries statutory penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. However, the report clarifies that “it is unclear whether the reporting obligations prescribed under Chapter IV of the PMLA extend to wallet operators, cryptoasset exchanges or third-party bitcoin services,” adding: A majority of cryptoasset trading platforms are self-regulatory and follow extensive KYC/AML norms. Unregulated Deposit Schemes There is also the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill 2018 which has been tabled in Parliament. It proposes to prohibit all unregulated deposits which could apply to initial coin offerings (ICOs), according to the report. Hussain explained to news.Bitcoin.com that the bill “provides a schedule of regulated deposit schemes, and all unregulated deposit schemes are prohibited.” Additionally, “The term deposit includes ‘an amount of money received by way of an advance or loan or in any other form, by any deposit taker with a promise to return whether after a specified period or otherwise, either in cash or in kind or in the form of a specified service, with or without any benefit in the form of interest, bonus, profit or in any other form, but does not include … [certain enumerated categories],’” he described, elaborating: An ICO might be regarded as an ‘unregulated deposit scheme.’ So, virtual currency token issuers would need to ensure, in order to be outside the purview of the Ordinance, that (A) the scheme is regulated and/or (B) there should be no liability of returning any money received. Hussain added that this bill “was passed in the Lok Sabha (House of Commons) on February 13, 2019 but will lapse in the House of Representatives (Rajya Sabha) after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha due to elections in May this year.” He further remarked, “Ordinances are usually required to be approved by the Parliament within 6 weeks or they lapse, in this case, no official confirmation about its approval by the Parliament has been made yet … Considering the elections, I am sure the 2019 Ordinance would take another few months (at least) to be made into a law.” What do you think of Indian laws as they apply to cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: None of the information in this article is intended as investment advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Neither Bitcoin.com 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. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post 5 Major Indian Laws That Apply to Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The Tie Uses Sentiment Analysis to Gauge the Mood of the Markets Predicting which way the crypto markets will move next is an art that even the most experienced chart-gazers struggle to master. Gaining an edge over your fellow traders calls for seeking out signals that the rest of the pack aren’t already monitoring. The Tie’s sentiment analysis service is one such weapon which, when used intelligently, can improve the accuracy of your investment decisions. Also read: Crypto Rocket Lets You Track Over 2,000 Cryptocurrencies The Tie Taps Into the Current Market Mood The Tie is an all-in-one crypto trading platform, but it’s best known for its sentiment analysis (SA). The pricing, technical, onchain data, and portfolio management services it provides, while capable, can be found on a plethora of competing platforms. SA is where The Tie comes into its own. The site provides an insight into the current performance of leading crypto assets, with a particular focus on social media sentiment. This can sometimes be used as an indicator of an impending price move, or at least so the theory goes. For bitcoin cash (BCH), The Tie currently rates the asset’s sentiment to be 58% positive, and provides one-hour price projections whose upper and lower limits sit $7 apart. A string of other metrics include daily sentiment momentum, tweet dominance, relative tweet volume, and unique data sources. An ‘i’ symbol next to each of these metrics explains their purpose in greater detail. For traders who prefer the cold hard stats of onchain data compared to the fuzziness of sentiment analysis, The Tie also records stats such as total BCH network fees over the last 24 hours (0.5 BCH) and number of active addresses for the same period (35,167). Another Trading Tool to Add to Your Arsenal In addition to analyzing individual coins in depth, The Tie provides a holistic view of the cryptoconomy via its Sentiment Tilted Index and Equally Weighted Index. The former rates the top 20 market capitalization crypto assets, rebalanced daily based on daily sentiment. For a more conventional tracker of current prices and market valuations of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin.com Markets has got you covered. The platform, available in English, Russian, Chinese, and Korean, allows you to pick your favorite digital coins and calculate their price in a number of crypto and fiat currencies. Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to third party companies or any of their affiliates or services. Bitcoin.comis not 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 third party content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post The Tie Uses Sentiment Analysis to Gauge the Mood of the Markets appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The Tie Uses Sentiment Analysis to Gauge the Mood of the Markets Predicting which way the crypto markets will move next is an art that even the most experienced chart-gazers struggle to master. Gaining an edge over your fellow traders calls for seeking out signals that the rest of the pack aren’t already monitoring. The Tie’s sentiment analysis service is one such weapon which, when used intelligently, can improve the accuracy of your investment decisions. Also read: Crypto Rocket Lets You Track Over 2,000 Cryptocurrencies The Tie Taps Into the Current Market Mood The Tie is an all-in-one crypto trading platform, but it’s best known for its sentiment analysis (SA). The pricing, technical, onchain data, and portfolio management services it provides, while capable, can be found on a plethora of competing platforms. SA is where The Tie comes into its own. The site provides an insight into the current performance of leading crypto assets, with a particular focus on social media sentiment. This can sometimes be used as an indicator of an impending price move, or at least so the theory goes. For bitcoin cash (BCH), The Tie currently rates the asset’s sentiment to be 58% positive, and provides one-hour price projections whose upper and lower limits sit $7 apart. A string of other metrics include daily sentiment momentum, tweet dominance, relative tweet volume, and unique data sources. An ‘i’ symbol next to each of these metrics explains their purpose in greater detail. For traders who prefer the cold hard stats of onchain data compared to the fuzziness of sentiment analysis, The Tie also records stats such as total BCH network fees over the last 24 hours (0.5 BCH) and number of active addresses for the same period (35,167). Another Trading Tool to Add to Your Arsenal In addition to analyzing individual coins in depth, The Tie provides a holistic view of the cryptoconomy via its Sentiment Tilted Index and Equally Weighted Index. The former rates the top 20 market capitalization crypto assets, rebalanced daily based on daily sentiment. For a more conventional tracker of current prices and market valuations of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin.com Markets has got you covered. The platform, available in English, Russian, Chinese, and Korean, allows you to pick your favorite digital coins and calculate their price in a number of crypto and fiat currencies. Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to third party companies or any of their affiliates or services. Bitcoin.comis not 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 third party content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post The Tie Uses Sentiment Analysis to Gauge the Mood of the Markets appeared first on Bitcoin News.