MICROBT ANNOUNCES OFFSHORE ASIC FACTORY

On Friday, China-based bitcoin mining rig manufacturer Microbt announced plans to create an offshore facility that produces the company’s Whatsminer devices and parts for North America. The firm revealed the expansion news when it announced a recent partnership with the New York-based Foundry Digital LLC.

Microbt’s Whatsminer mining rigs have become popular during the last few years and the company has been able to obtain a large portion of mining device sales. On September 25, the China-based firm announced a partnership with Foundry and detailed it contracted a Southeast Asian firm to create Whatsminer equipment for U.S. customers.

In a press release, Microbt said the partnership with Foundry and the creation of the offshore manufacturing operation will “strengthen the foothold in North America.” Moreover, the Southeast Asian manufacturer will allow for American purchases without the taxes invoked by the cold war between China and the U.S.

When U.S.-based individuals and companies purchase miners from China, they have to pay a 25% tariff.

“As a part of the new partnership, Foundry would be the first to receive the new batches of the M30S that Microbt plans to produce in Southeast Asia,” the announcement notes.

“We will continue working closely with Foundry to provide the highest quality of machines and after-sale services to our customers in North America,” Jiangbing Chen, COO of Microbt said during the announcement. “This would not only further decentralize Bitcoin’s hashrate but also secure the global network,” the Microbt executive added.

The news follows Bitmain’s recent partnership with Foundry announced on September 10. Bitmain is also eying North American buyers as well, with a shop set up in Malaysia and the recent partnership with Core Scientific revealed on September 17. The two firms plan to create a cooperative mining rig repair center in North America in order to “significantly reduce machine downtime.”

Mining, according to the third “Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study” published by the University of Cambridge, is steadily reaching an “industrial scale.” Foundry’s collaboration with Microbt and the offshore shop hopes to fuel North American mining capabilities.

During the last few months, U.S. and Canadian mining operations have purchased large amounts of mining rigs from Chinese manufacturers. Firms like Marathon, Hut8, and Riot Blockchain have all announced purchasing next-generation miners from both Bitmain and Microbt.

“With our collaboration and Microbt’s upgraded production capabilities we look forward to continuing to facilitate the timely procurement and delivery of the latest generation bitcoin mining hardware for our clients, who are institutional (cryptocurrency) miners in North America,” said Mike Colyer, CEO of Foundry....

EU TO CREATE LEGAL CERTAINTY FOR CRYPTOCURRENCIES

The European Commission has put forward a prospective regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, as discussed on the organization’s website and in original documents.

European Union: A Complete Crypto Framework

The new framework regulates several aspects of digital commerce, with a significant focus on cryptocurrencies (“crypto assets”) and blockchain companies (“DLT market infrastructures”). It clarifies explicitly which assets are considered “crypto assets” and provides rules for the digital finance industry.

The Commission intends to build upon existing rules. It notes that some crypto assets fall under existing laws, but that those laws predate cryptocurrency and blockchain as it is known today. As such, the new proposal suggests a regime for market infrastructures that handle cryptocurrency transactions.

The framework will also protect consumers against unregulated crypto markets. As such, it will regulate crypto custody services, custodial wallet providers, and exchanges.

It will also regulate stablecoins, a function that was incidentally requested by several EU countries earlier this month.

The proposed framework aims to cover all digital assets and services—not just publicly traded cryptocurrencies but also utility tokens, asset-backed tokens, stablecoins, and e-money tokens. It sets rules for DLT market infrastructures or companies that handle assets on a decentralized ledger.

The proposal does not treat all assets like financial instruments because each has different functions and risks.

Instead, the goal is to provide “legal certainty” around those assets within the European Union.

What Does This Mean for Companies?

In practical terms, the regulations under consideration mean that digital finance services will need to have a physical presence in the European Union to operate. They will also need to follow capital requirements and governance standards, and they will need to separate client assets from their own assets.

The rules are not merely restrictive; they also offer benefits. The Commission says that services that register in one jurisdiction will operate across the entire EU with an “EU passport.”

However, the proposal hasn’t been enacted yet, and it may change in the meantime. It will need to be agreed upon by legislators (European Parliament and the Council) before it takes effect....

VENEZUELA LEGALIZES CRYPTO MINING

Bitcoin mining in Venezuela is now a legal and regulated activity following years of regulatory hostility in the Latin American country. This is according to a new decree from Venezuela’s National Superintendency of Crypto Assets and Related Activities (SUNACRIP), which brings all activities related to crypto mining under its regulatory jurisdiction.

Under the new dispensation, Venezuelan miners will work under license from SUNACRIP, and they will be mandated to join a “National Digital Mining Pool” under the body’s supervision. The new regulation also creates a legal basis for the importation, sale, production and use of crypto mining equipment in Venezuela for the first time.

Venezuela’s New Crypto Mining Regulations

The decree, published on September 21 in Venezuela’s Official Gazette and signed by SUNACRIP superintendent Joselit Ramirez prescribes a registration and regulatory process for Venezuelan residents who wish to manufacture application-specific integrated circuit mining equipment in the country or operate mining farms.

To this end, it establishes a Comprehensive Registry of Miners which will have information on all crypto miners in Venezuela. The information to be captured includes the type of mining-related activity they are involved in and the type of equipment they work with. The regulation also establishes SUNACRIP as the sole regulator over the country’s entire crypto mining sector.

Moreover, it creates a National Digital Mining Pool which all miners on Venezuelan territory must join to avoid being in regulatory default. According to the decree, any miners in the country who do not join the pool will face “measures, infractions and sanctions, set forth in the Constituent Decree on the Comprehensive Crypto Assets System.”

Implications of Regulations

Venezuela has traditionally adopted a position on crypto mining that varies between vagueness and outright hostility. In 2017, CNBC described Venezuela as “one of the most dangerous places in the world to mine Bitcoin.” Earlier this year, the Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela seized 315 Antminer S9 Bitcoin mining rigs, claiming they were not properly registered for operation in the country.

Despite this state of affairs, research published in May 2020 by the Center for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge ranked Venezuela among the world’s top ten contributors to the Bitcoin network’s hashing capacity and the top Bitcoin mining country in Latin America with 0.42% of the total hashrate.

In an economy decimated by hyperinflation, trade sanctions, political upheaval and battered export income that has effectively rendered the bolivar irrelevant, The Atlantic reports that Bitcoin miners in Venezuela can clear as much as $500 a month.

With the creation of the mandatory national pool for miners, SUNCRIP effectively assumes control over the payment of block rewards to crypto miners, which some fear will lead to extra taxation, frozen funds or delayed payments....

BITCOIN EXCHANGE BITHUMB UP FOR SALE

Bithumb, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, is allegedly up for sale to the highest bidder, according to the South Korean news outlet Herald. Responsible for more than 50% of the domestic trading volume with 4.77 million users, Bithumb is considered the primary driver of cryptocurrency trading in the country. 

According to the news report, Bithumb Holdings is now trying to sell its 74% stake in Bithumb Korea. Several buyers have already sent letters of intent, offering between $430 million and $604 million for the exchange. The interested parties are unknown at the time.

The Seoul Metropolitan police are currently investigating the exchange’s chairman Lee Jung Hoon for incurring deliberate investor loss of ~$25 million and evading property responsibilities. The police have also raided the exchange twice this month.

This makes selling Bithumb less than easy

The Korean branch of KPMG, Samjong KPMG, is in charge of the sale and enforcing compliance with local laws. The buyer will also be responsible for implementing the revised bill of the Special Payments Act starting from March 2021. The revised bill lays the foundational requirements for reporting and operation processes, regulates licenses for digital asset service providers, and ensures compliance with FATF recommendations.

According to local news outlets, the South Korean investment banking industry perceives the sale of Bithumb Holdings as an effort for investors to relieve themselves of the legal and managerial disputes, recover their investment, and exit the market unscathed. 

BK Global Consortium was expected to purchase in 2018. The deal was scrapped after the investor failed to pay the full amount. The price at the time was allegedly $345 million. ...

LEAKED DATA OUTS BITCOIN INVESTMENT COMPANY AS SCAM

A South African group calling itself “Anonymous ZA” has published fresh information that seemingly supports long-standing allegations that Mirror Trading International (MTI), an ostensible bitcoin investment company, is running a multi-level marketing scam. The new information, which was reportedly obtained after a breach of MTI internal systems, shows that the investment company is “entirely structured around a tree/pyramid scheme.”

According to a report, the leaked data suggests that MTI has a practice of distinguishing between “normal members and founder members.”

Assessing the data, Anonymous ZA says it would appear that while “deposits made by founder members are not easily traceable yet they (founders) seemingly get better ROI than regular members.” The data also shows that “founder members are also at the top of the pyramid scheme and earn more money from their binary bonuses than ROI or any other source.”

Perhaps in revelations that may lend credence to allegations often leveled against MTI, the report quoting Anonymous ZA says:

“The database further shows payouts of $ 86.25 million (8,171.6 BTC) to normal members, with $21.4 million (2,036.5 BTC) in the form of bonuses for referring new members. Payouts to founding members amount to $18.45 million (1,744 BTC).”

The report confirms that members are paid to recruit new members but it fails to provide the number of founding members.

Earlier in July, the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) accused MTI of running a multi-level marketing scam as well, as it operated in the state of Texas without a license. The TSSB subsequently issued a cease and desist order against MTI and some of its employees. Afterward, the South African regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) issued its own public statement which repeats allegations made by TSSB. However, the FSCA statement goes further by asking investors to withdraw their funds from MTI.

Anonymous ZA closes its statement in which it says “unless MTI can display or prove control of a Bitcoin wallet, or another storage facility to the value 17k BTC, it will stand by its view that: MTI is a Ponzi scheme.”

Meanwhile, following the latest revelations, the MTI management moved to confirm the breach in a fiery response. Cheri Marks, one of MTI’s founding members and spokesperson, suggests a criminal offense was committed by those behind the breach which occurred September 18. Marks then goes on to threaten legal action against the perpetrators as well those publishing stories based the illegally obtained information:

Yes, we had a security breach of our administration portal. Yes it was a criminal act. Yes we will be pressing charges and everyone publishing the personal information illegally obtained we will refer to our legal council.
Marks then attacks assumptions that MTI had stopped trading claiming that “in August over 34,000 withdrawals were effected to the tune of 5,933 bitcoin without so much as a hiccup.”

Throughout the rant, Marks challenges the media to name a single disgruntled investor out of the “170,000 that are growing their bitcoin with MTI.”

Still, Marks fails to adequately deal with concerns that founders are possibly getting larger payouts than the rest of investors. Instead, Marks chooses to boast about her status as founder saying:

“The fact that MTI has founder members is nothing new. Yes there is an extra profit share for them and this does not affect the company or the members in any way, nor is it a state secret.”

Throughout the seventeen-minute video, Marks complains of media bias and the “intention to slander, not to provide a decent and informed view of MTI, its founders, shareholders or members.”

Marks also briefly discusses MTI’s interactions with FSCA but fails to provide a satisfactory answer to why the regulator still went ahead and asked investors to withdraw funds even after the MTI “CEO opened our live trading account and BTC balance for the FSCA to see.”

Surprisingly, just after the encounter with FSCA, the investment company made the decision to invest in bitcoin only. Critics argue the move was intended to remove MTI from the tutelage of regulators. Meanwhile, reports say the FSCA has been made aware of the data leak and is looking into it....