Europe
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.
European Union
Watchdog to look into ICOs for appropriate regulation: The EU’s top securities watchdog has set up a new process for verifying ICOs in the region. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is following USA’s lead on this matter by individually examining each ICO based on its inner workings.
United Kingdom
Royal land registry plans bockchain for business: Partnering up with R3, Her Majesty’s Land Registry (HM Land Registry) is gearing up for the use of DLTs to increase ease of use and speed up its transactions and record keeping.
With holdings worth GBP 4 trillion, HM Land Registry represents 85% of England and Wales by area. Established in 1842, it handles GBP 1 trillion worth of mortgages in the UK.
The UK government is actively looking into blockchain solutions and recently has granted the national telecom regulatory body Ofcoma GBP 700,000 for research into blockchain for managing the country’s landline numbers.
France
700 French savers scammed in crypto exchange phone scam: As many as 700 French savers fell prey to a fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange scheme, according to Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).
A whopping EUR 31 million was conned from the unsuspecting members of the public who knew nothing about the blockchain technology and its workings. While France remains open to cryptocurrency projects, incidents like these may force the government to take a tougher stance on the matter.
Norway
Norwegian financial regulator announces new crypto regulations: The Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) of Norway is enforcing new rules and regulations to ensure crypto exchanges operating within its territory are compliant with local money laundering rules.
The new rules apply to individuals and organizations that hold private keys on behalf of their customers. Private crypto investors who do their own trading or assist others without access to the keys do not come under the new regulations.
Startup offering token rewards for ocean cleanup: A Norwegian startup is using blockchain-based rewards to help people clean up beaches and ocean water. Wilhelm Myer, the CEO of Nordic Ocean Watch, is working on the idea to engage the public for removing plastic waste from the oceans and beaches with tokens allocated as reward for their efforts.
The first overseas collection point has been stationed in the Bali Island in Indonesia, in time for the Our Ocean Conference that will take place from 29-30 October 2018. Myer aims to increase awareness regarding this crucial struggle against water pollution on this forum and highlight the working model of his project.
Slovenia
Non-profit hub hopes to become leading platform for European blockchain stakeholders: The European Blockchain Hub has launched recently as a non-profit organization in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The founders have partnered with 13 different organizations for promotion of blockchain industry. The partners come from a range of industries, such as research, education, regulation and includes some prominent names such the Blockchain Alliance Europe and the Slovenian government itself.
A spokesperson informed that the hub will promote “European values and principles of good corporate governance”, including support for blockchain adoption and startups.
The European Blockchain Hub will be headquartered in Slovenia’s biggest shopping district, BTC City. The district is the Silicon Valley of Slovenia, with large tech companies and even driverless cars.
Lithuania
FICS probe reveals Euro banks traded large sums of cryptos: Investigating financial activities that happened over a period of two years, Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Services has revealed that major European banks have been facilitating crypto-fiat dealings.
With increased interests in crypto and fundraising from ICOs, the FCIS is concerned with money laundering being done under the garb of crypto transactions through e-wallets located overseas.
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