The Rundown
The 18 Millionth Bitcoin
The countdown begins to the 18 millionth Bitcoin (BTC) that was expected to be mined early Friday morning.
The most popular cryptocurrency currently has 18,000,137.5 Bitcoin in existence. At a rate of 1,800 BTC mined daily.
After this, there are just three million left to be mined from a total of 21 million Bitcoin. Notably, it is said that about 14 to 19 percent of BTC is gone or lost forever. There are also stolen coins, and some hundred thousand stashed away by Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous person believed to have created Bitcoin.
Bitcoin HalvingIn May 2020, the scheduled "Bitcoin halving" will take place wherein the reward for Bitcoin miners for solving a block that connects transactions will be down to 6.25 from 12.5 Bitcoins.
Then, there will be about 376,562.5 left to mine when the next halving occurs, which is due every four years. The code in BTC is designed in such a way that limits the production of the cryptocurrency homologizing it to gold, which opposes how the fiat money is easily printed.
5 Good Minutes
FATF Joins BIS in Calling Stablecoins “Global Risk”
Stablecoins pose a money laundering and terrorist financing risk to the world, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said Friday.
In documents released after its latest meeting, the intergovernmental organization referred to cryptocurrencies as a “major strategic initiative,” and said cryptos whose values are pegged to fiat currencies could have a particularly big impact.
Some 800 representatives from 205 jurisdictions met from Oct. 16 to Oct. 18 to discuss various issues under the jurisdiction of FATF, led this year by Xiangmin Liu of China, according to the publication. Crypto-related concerns were front and center.
While the document addressed cryptocurrencies broadly, it singled out stablecoins on multiple occasions, writing:
“Emerging assets such as so-called global ‘stablecoins’, and their proposed global networks and platforms, could potentially cause a shift in the virtual asset ecosystem and have implications for the money laundering and terrorist financing risks. There are two concerns: mass-market adoption of virtual assets and person-to-person transfers, without the need for a regulated intermediary. Together these changes could have serious consequences for our ability to detect and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.”
A second document, titled “Money laundering risks from ‘stablecoins’ and other emerging assets,” said the FATF will continue to examine the characteristics and perceived risks of stablecoins and may even clarify or update its virtual currency guidance to better address this class of cryptocurrency.
“The FATF will continue to ensure its standards remain relevant and responsive and it will report to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in 2020 on the risks from global ‘stablecoins’ and other emerging assets,” the second document read.
The FATF’s warning followed a report from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies and the and Bank of International Settlements (BIS) calling stablecoins a growing threat to monetary policy, financial stability and competition.
The Hard Truth
Circle to Spin Out Poloniex
Crypto exchange Poloniex is spinning out from its parent firm Circle, the companies announced Friday.
According to a pair of blog posts, Poloniex will now become Polo Digital Assets, Ltd., an “independent international company” backed by an unnamed Asian investment firm. The trading platform will not serve U.S. customers after this year.
In Friday’s blog post, Circle co-founders Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville wrote:
“It is bittersweet for Circle to see this incredible product and business spin out on its own … We’ve made enormous progress with Poloniex, including massive infrastructure improvements, adding more fiat options with USDC integration, launching best in class native apps for traders, and building global operations capabilities that can deliver excellent customer service.”