{"id":12102,"date":"2019-02-15T18:25:53","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T18:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=12102"},"modified":"2019-02-16T08:34:23","modified_gmt":"2019-02-16T08:34:23","slug":"news-me-in-athens-on-sunday-australian-ico-inquiry-ripple-quadrigacx-enterprise-blockchain-jpmorgan-coin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/02\/15\/news-me-in-athens-on-sunday-australian-ico-inquiry-ripple-quadrigacx-enterprise-blockchain-jpmorgan-coin\/","title":{"rendered":"News: Me in Athens on Sunday, Australian ICO inquiry, Ripple, QuadrigaCX, enterprise blockchain, JPMorgan Coin"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Reminder \u2014 I\u2019m speaking at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sgt.gr\/eng\/SPG2234\/\">Blockchain: Utopia or U-turn?<\/a> at the Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens, Greece, <em><strong>this Sunday,<\/strong><\/em> 17 February \u2014 my bit\u2019s 7:30-8:00pm, talking about <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/book\/\"><em>Attack of the 50-Foot Blockchain.<\/em><\/a> Jemima Kelly from FT Alphaville is on straight after me. \u201cThe entrance is free and on a first come, first served basis. The distribution of entrance tickets begins one (1) hour before each event.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>I managed to miss my flight today\u00a0\u2014 but I&#8217;ve just dropped a painful amount on a ticket for tomorrow \u2014 EasyJet is probably a fitting punishment \u2014 and I&#8217;ll see you all just in time not to attend the Crypto Rave. I&#8217;m sure there are pints with my and Jemima&#8217;s names on them &#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">some days you just need to read the first-hand account of an american \u201canarcho-capitalist\u201d getting beaten up by actual anarchists in greece <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7YLN7gNorf\">pic.twitter.com\/7YLN7gNorf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Kumquat Disliker\/Eater (@bgreysk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bgreysk\/status\/1094604679772848128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 10, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m disconcerted at how optimistic this <a href=\"https:\/\/treasury.gov.au\/consultation\/c2019-t353604\/\">Australian Treasury ICO consultation paper<\/a> is. They seem convinced that all this horse poop means there&#8217;s <em>gotta<\/em> be a pony in there somewhere! You have until the end of February to get a sensible, coherent response submitted.<\/p>\n<p>Also in from Australia: &#8220;ASX-listed company, Byte Power Group Limited (Byte Power), has <a href=\"https:\/\/asic.gov.au\/about-asic\/news-centre\/find-a-media-release\/2019-releases\/19-026mr-byte-power-pays-33-000-for-alleged-breach-of-disclosure-obligations\/\">paid a penalty of $33,000&#8243;<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 they claimed a partner&#8217;s crypto exchange was &#8220;well advanced in the software development,&#8221; when they knew it wasn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<p>In the US, the CFTC&#8217;s Division of Market Oversight <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cftc.gov\/PressRoom\/PressReleases\/7869-19\">has listed<\/a> &#8220;cryptocurrency surveillance practices&#8221; \u2014 how well exchanges monitor for market manipulations, and how checkable that monitoring is \u2014 as an examination priority for 2019.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The ETF saga is getting to &quot;when litecoin on Gox&quot; levels of tiresome at this point. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iWlSYSFxCG\">https:\/\/t.co\/iWlSYSFxCG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ciar\u00e1n Murray (@C1aranMurray) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/C1aranMurray\/status\/1095793687186075648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 13, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ripple&#8217;s XRP token went up dizzyingly in 2017, from $0.006 to over $2 a coin. Here&#8217;s a document of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tr0lly.com\/ripple\/public-relations-tricks\/\">misleading, and actually false, claims by Ripple<\/a> and its CEO during that price rise.<\/p>\n<p>How Ripple&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tr0lly.com\/ripple\/ripples-circular-business-model\/\">circular business model<\/a> works.<\/p>\n<p>Ripple has claimed through 2018 and 2019 that they don&#8217;t run XRP\u00a0\u2014 but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fincen.gov\/news\/news-releases\/fincen-fines-ripple-labs-inc-first-civil-enforcement-action-against-virtual\">FinCEN sure thought they did in 2015,<\/a> and even required particular modifications to the software for compliance.<\/p>\n<p>FT Alphaville: &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/ftalphaville.ft.com\/2019\/02\/15\/1550206803000\/Why-online-propaganda-mobs-are-an-investment-red-flag-\/\">Why online propaganda mobs are an investment red flag:<\/a> If an enterprise needs an army of online thought police to protect it, it&#8217;s definitely not an investment worth making&#8221; \u2014 in stocks, but particularly in cryptos.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Did you know?<br \/>Twitter has introduced a new feature that lets you summon an army of idiots.<br \/>All you have to do is tweet \u201c[XXX] is a scam\u201d, where [XXX] is the ticker of any cryptocurrency, and the idiots will pop up out of nowhere. As simple as that.<br \/>Works best with XRP, TRX, EOS.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Trolly McTrollface (@Tr0llyTr0llFace) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Tr0llyTr0llFace\/status\/1094262137759952897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 9, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hi, I&#8217;m Amy Castor. Today I&#8217;m at the Mt. Quadriga world headquarters in Tokyo, Canada.&#8221; Amy has compiled an amazing <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2019\/02\/12\/how-the-hell-did-we-get-here-a-timeline-of-quadrigacx-events\/\">timeline of QuadrigaCX.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jennifer Robertson signed an affidavit saying she wasn&#8217;t involved in Gerald Cotten\u2019s Quadriga business dealings \u2014 but three Quadriga users say that when they cashed out from the exchange in 2016 and 2017, their actualmoney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechronicleherald.ca\/news\/local\/quadrigacx-ceos-wife-questioned-over-access-to-bitcoins-284629\/\">came via Robertson&#8217;s company<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/cHXMp\">archive<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s when Quadriga weren&#8217;t just sending out <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MitchAirey\/status\/1095520934453223424\">packages containing wads of physical cash<\/a> \u2014 a <a href=\"https:\/\/support.quadrigacx.com\/support\/solutions\/articles\/9000126905-what-is-cash-delivery-withdrawal-\">service they offered,<\/a> apparently sending customers cash from their Bitcoin ATMs. Rather than banking it properly themselves, for some reason.<\/p>\n<p>Quadriga &#8220;inadvertently&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/quadriga-inadvertently-sent-btc-to-dead-ceos-cold-wallet-ey-report\">sent 103 BTC<\/a> from its accessible stash to one of the inaccessible cold wallets \u2014 or maybe to a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProofofResearch\/status\/1095439940035465218\">coin mixer.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The British Columbia Securities Commission <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-quadrigacx-crypto-canada\/canada-securities-watchdog-says-crypto-firm-quadriga-beyond-its-purview-idUSKCN1PW2MR\">would have had no say in QuadrigaCX,<\/a> because it didn&#8217;t trade securities or derivatives.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechronicleherald.ca\/news\/local\/indian-death-certificate-scams-fuel-skepticism-around-quadrigacx-ceos-death-284247\/\">CAD$450 to buy a death certificate<\/a> in India. Just in case you were wondering.<\/p>\n<p>Jack Julian from CBC has been <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackJulian\">live-tweeting the bankruptcy protection hearings.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And I was quoted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/finance-and-economics\/2019\/02\/09\/what-happens-when-your-bitcoin-banker-dies\">The Economist<\/a> on Quadriga. And <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/5lbs5UVDQ0U?t=220\">put on video<\/a> by CoinTelegraph.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Wood thanks the lawyers for their submissions. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if you\u2019ve made my life any easier.\u201d No guarantee of a decision today.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jack Julian (@JackJulian) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackJulian\/status\/1096084428181377024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 14, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ENTERPRISE BLOCKCHAIN TRANSLATOR:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Cryptocurrency:<\/em> free money machine!!<\/li>\n<li><em>Blockchain:<\/em> a data store that wants you to pay it attention because it&#8217;s descended from the free money machine.<\/li>\n<li><em>DLT:<\/em> software that has a Merkle tree somewhere deep in its guts, and considers that enough to market itself as a bit like the free money machine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A log file in a Merkle tree turns out to be what businesses really want from a &#8220;blockchain&#8221;\u00a0\u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/breakermag.com\/corporate-america-wants-the-amazon-version-of-blockchain-says-gartner\/\">according to Gartner,<\/a> &#8220;over 60 percent of use cases are just using the immutable data audit trails.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>JP Morgan has a new unit of internal accounting for transfers between its large customers! \u2014 but they put out a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpmorgan.com\/global\/news\/digital-coin-payments\">press release<\/a> about it using the words &#8220;blockchain&#8221; and &#8220;cryptocurrencies,&#8221; so, you know. It&#8217;s literally the 180-degree opposite of Bitcoin \u2014 a centrally-adminstered invitation-only dollar-backed stablecoin \u2014 but this is still <em>good<\/em> news for Bitcoin, apparently. I&#8217;m quoted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-47240760\">the BBC article.<\/a> I suspect the key innovation is that JP Morgan won&#8217;t have to pay interest on deposits.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The libertarian fantasies of cryptocurrencies: Digital money needs tough regulation rather than just bleating in favour of \u2018innovation\u2019&#8221;\u00a0\u2014 from those socialists at, er, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/eeeacd7c-2e0e-11e9-ba00-0251022932c8\">the Financial Times.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Technical Analysis the old-fashioned way \u2014 &#8220;crypto psychic&#8221; Sharon Michelle claims the power to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/finance\/city\/1085531\/Crypto-psychic-claims-predict-bitcoin-prices-crv\">predict the price of Bitcoin!<\/a> Payment in cash only, thanks.<\/p>\n<p>Craig S. Wright has <a href=\"https:\/\/researchoutput.csu.edu.au\/en\/publications\/the-quantification-of-information-systems-risk-a-look-at-quantita-3\">a genuine Ph.D from Charles Sturt University<\/a> \u2014 but his earlier claim of a doctorate in theology is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/btc\/comments\/aegyza\/i_have_a_couple_doctorates_craig_s_wright_2015\/\">rather shakier.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m nocoining to the Very Serious People \u2014 with a piece in Foreign Policy: <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2019\/02\/13\/forget-bitcoin-try-your-mattress\/\">&#8220;Forget Bitcoin, Try Your Mattress.&#8221;<\/a> It&#8217;s gained a fan base already, with Kai Sedgwick kindly awarding me as one of the Buttcoin Foundation Employees of the Month on news.bitcoin.com: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/3-people-who-hate-bitcoin-with-a-passion\/\">&#8220;3 People Who Hate Bitcoin With a Passion&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 elevating me to the same category as Krugman and Roubini. Just call me Tom Marvolo Ripple \u2014 Lorp Volpemort.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Student tip: think twice about writing a dissertation on Blockchain &amp; law. Having supervised\/graded a dozen, I now feel confident in saying that it is &#8211; for the average student &#8211; a bad topic. 50% ends up being a sketched outline of the tech, leaving 50% space for serious analysis<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tatiana Cutts (@TatianaCutts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TatianaCutts\/status\/1076414222970613760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 22, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<br><br><div align=\"center\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\"><img src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/become_a_patron_button.svg\" alt=\"Become a Patron!\" title=\"Become a Patron!\" width=217 height=51><\/a><br><p style=\"align:center;\" class=\"patreon-badge\"><i>Your subscriptions keep this site going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\">Sign up today!<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just call me Tom Marvolo Ripple \u2014 Lorp Volpemort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[138,1152,74,1151,167,146,876,9,1142,75,6,938,338,339],"class_list":["post-12102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-australia","tag-bcsc","tag-blockchain","tag-byte-power","tag-cftc","tag-craig-wright","tag-fincen","tag-ico","tag-jennifer-robertson","tag-jpmorgan-chase","tag-links","tag-quadrigacx","tag-ripple","tag-xrp"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12102"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12134,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12102\/revisions\/12134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}