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“The moment Bitcoin is identified as a currency, it will legally disappear” – said Vienna stock exchange chief Boschan

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Christoph Boschan is unlikely to become a convinced Bitcoin investor anytime soon. Most recently, the head of the Vienna Stock Exchange compared the Bitcoin hype with the tulip mania and attested a crash as soon as BTC was regulated as a currency or financial instrument. In an interview with BTC-ECHO, Boschan wants to clarify the question: Is there a threat of an exchange rate collapse?

In an interview with Die Presse , Christoph Boschan hit a low blow a few days ago: Bitcoin is “vastly inferior to any alternative course of action” and shows similarities with “the tulip mania”. He rounded off the criticism with the ironic formulation that Bitcoin was after all “extremely important for criminal payments”. The criticism again made waves in the crypto space. However, if the statements are straightened out a bit, an existing basic Bitcoin problem becomes apparent.

Bitcoin: a matter of regulation

Opinions are divided on Bitcoin, not only among investors but also among regulators. There is still no common European legislation that creates a binding framework for crypto values. Crypto regulation is a country issue. The EU Regulation on  Markets in Crypto Assets  (MiCA) is still in draft status .

Germany, on the other hand, has a special role in European comparison. Since 2020, crypto values, including Bitcoin, have been included as financial instruments in the German Banking Act . In contrast to the MiCA draft, which provides for a separate division of tokens, e-money tokens, utility tokens and other crypto values, German legislation tries to create a uniform framework.

In Austria, however, Bitcoin is classified neither as a currency nor a financial instrument, but as a property right. This is “the great stroke of luck for Bitcoin” and “ultimately an expression of our liberal economic order”, as Christoph Boschan explains

Bitcoin is currently classified as a property right rather than a currency or financial instrument. It cannot be otherwise, because if it were classified as a currency its existence would simply not be permitted, its issuance and use would be forbidden and prosecuted in many cases – Articles 16 and 128 of our EU treaty only give the ECB the right to issue a currency.

Christoph Boschan

According to the CEO of the Vienna Stock Exchange, the regulatory status can be reduced to the following formula: “The moment BTC is identified as a currency, it disappears legally”. A supposedly sensational thesis that may lure crypto enthusiasts out of the reserve, but according to Boschan only reflects the “current legal situation”. After all, Bitcoin cannot be classified as a currency, since the “house right” for the issue of currencies lies with the EU.

Ripple precedent

According to Boschan, the same applies “to regulation as a financial instrument”. Finally, the example of Ripple shows “what it means to be viewed as a financial instrument”. In December last year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared the Ripple currency XRP a security token, which resulted in a legal dispute with the Californian FinTech.

But this example shows that the legal situation for the token economy is anything but clear. Contrary to the attitude of the SEC, XRP is not classified as a security in other jurisdictions, but as a utility token. In addition, it is unclear whether the SEC is right with its move. Ultimately, the competent courts will decide on the regulatory status. The precedent Ripple shows: crypto assets and regulation are still in the discovery phase.

Bitcoin regulation shows gaps

The blanket criticism that the Vienna Stock Exchange boss unloads representative of supposedly Bitcoin-skeptical stock exchange representatives may be understandable from a crypto investor’s point of view, but it is not more correct. Statements such as: “If you regulate Bitcoin like a currency or a financial instrument, then it is no longer worth anything”, should be understood less as a rejection or attack on Bitcoin and the financial infrastructure behind it, and rather as a pointer to a lack of regulations.

As a manager, however, I can conclude with astonishment that the BTC industry is looking for such proximity to “currencies” or “financial instruments” and that this is the basis for sales. This is not strategically smart, but rather toxic, because the other way around it becomes a shoe, both – both the identification as a currency and as a financial instrument – are the greatest Achilles heels of the value of Bitcoin.

Christoph Boschan

Ultimately, however, it depends on the design of the legal framework. After all, Bitcoin is classified as a financial instrument in Germany, but it has not lost its value.

A common misconception?

A few friends from the crypto environment are likely to have Boschan also made the statement that Bitcoin is a vehicle for illegal purposes. According to Boschan, this view is derived from “very simple observation from the reality of life”. Whenever the Vienna Stock Exchange is exposed to blackmailing cyberattacks, “the payment requests come exclusively in BTC, […] not in euros, not in dollars, not in yen, not in gold, not in stocks, bonds or other derivatives, all of which are digital would be even smoother ”.

Obviously, the criminals use the most obvious instrument for them.

Christoph Boschan

As is so often the case, the devil is in the details. Wanting to push Bitcoin and Co. into the corner of a shadow currency, which is primarily used by criminals, belongs in the realm of fables . As the blockchain analysis company Chainalysis outlines in the current 2021 Crime Report , only a small fraction of 0.34 percent of all crypto transactions were for illegal purposes in 2020. Compared to the previous year, the criminal crypto cash flows have decreased by almost 2 percent, “the crime related to cryptocurrencies has decreased significantly in 2020”.

However, what is generally true of illegal crypto transactions is not particularly true of ransomware attacks. According to the report, “the total amount paid by ransomware victims has increased by 311 percent this year”. Accordingly, “no other category of cryptocurrency-based crime has had a higher growth rate”. According to Chainalysis, 2020 is not only the Covid year, but also “the year ransomware exploded”.

Bitcoin economy wins through exchange

In this light, Boschan’s remarks seem to be a very sober confirmation of the increase in ransomware identified by Chainalysis. So the Vienna Stock Exchange CEO finally defends himself against the attempt to put him “across the board in the anti-crypto corner”. Because the opposite is ultimately the case:

As an infrastructure provider whose foundation is databases, we are extremely attentive and very open-minded about developments relating to distributed database infrastructures. We have dozens of initiatives behind us and we certainly share the fascination that can trigger.

Christoph Boschan

Against this background, the Bitcoin-critical tones are already losing their explosive power. Boschan’s statements can certainly be read as a call to action to embed the crypto market in clear regulations. Ultimately, this creates the basis for sustainable growth in the industry, on which a wide variety of service providers are based. In the long term, the Bitcoin economy can only benefit from an unbiased discourse with traditional financial market players.

 

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LedgerFi’s ($LFT) Token Pre-sale: More than 8% sold out in less than 30 min on XDC Sale

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LedgerFi, a leading decentralized web 3.0 secure communication platform built on the XDC Network, is excited to announce that their token sale will commence on March 14th, 2021 on XDC Sale. The token sale will offer investors the opportunity to purchase the native $LFT tokens of LedgerFi and join an innovative ecosystem of Decentralized Communication Service integrated with Decentralized Finance for enabling the seamless exchange of digital assets through a unified platform. 

LedgerFi has envisioned to become the world’s first Decentralized Digital Asset Exchange (DDAX) platform through which users can transfer all types of digital assets with a military grade security, cryptographic encryption, privacy and prevention from cyber attacks using the power of Blockchain technology.

LedgerFi is a one-stop-shop for DeFi users that provides access to various communication protocols and services in the industry such as Ledger Mail which is already live in the market and it has 750K users exchanging 2M+ emails,and upcoming products like

  • Ledger Chat: The Decentralized Instant Messaging Solution enabling users to instantly chat with peers without worrying about centralized governance. LedgerChat allows users to seamlessly communicate with each other without compromising their Digital Identity & Data Sovereignty. It’s in beta at the moment.
  • Ledger Live: The Decentralized Audio & Video Call Platform allows individuals & businesses to connect with each other in real-time. The centralized access point utilized in conventional VoIP solutions is eliminated with blockchain based communication technologies. Eliminating the hassle of handling centralized, cumbersome & hackable legacy platforms with the high-performing next-gen solution. Instead, a blockchain based communication system sends the signal from the calling party to a receiving number, which is then replaced by a dispersed network shared by all network users.
  • Ledger Pay: The Decentralized Cross-Border Remittance platform providing human-readable, interoperable & lightning-fast payment transfer capabilities for financial inclusion of the unbanked individuals.
  • Ledger Mint: Metaverse Interconnected NFT Transfer Hyper-personalized social connectivity for transferring, exchanging & showcasing NFTs and other digital assets through an interactive & interconnected platform.

Token Sale Details

  • Presale Address: 0x7db6AaF98bDFE47f197a3b1bbC3Cfe6CB0f302c4
  • Token Address: 0x65d358C56Ff2E64C007060D5D4dF308986734f5C
  • Total Supply: 400,000,000 LFT
  • Soft Cap: 7,500,000 XDC
  • Hard Cap:15,000,000.0 XDC
  • IDO Rate: 1.5 LFT per XDC
  • Listing Rate: 1.0 LFT per XDC
  • Liquidity %: 51
  • Min Contribution: 4,000 XDC
  • Max Contribution: 400,000 XDC
  • IDO Start Time: 14 Mar 2023, 19:30
  • IDO End Time: 05 Apr 2023
  • Liquidity Unlock Date: 05 May 2023

About LedgerFi

LedgerFi provides a web 3.0 communication service built on blockchain technology for secure communication through email, chat & payment applications. LedgerFi provides blockchain based Decentralised communication service & Decentralised Digital Assets Exchange for secure communication.

Media contact

ZEX PR WIRE

ag@zexprwire.com

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Terra Casino That Could Burn 24 Billion LUNC within 6 Months Goes Live

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Terra Casino, an online bookie dedicated to burning LUNC tokens, has been launched. Although the transparency of Bookie’s LUNC Burn is still a thing of concern within the Terra Classic community, it has the capability of burning about 24 billion LUNC within six months. The new development was announced via the official Twitter handle of […]

The post Terra Casino That Could Burn 24 Billion LUNC within 6 Months Goes Live appeared first on Times Tabloid.

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Bank of America to Leverage Ripple ODL Services Once XRP Lawsuit Ends, Garlinghouse Affirms

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Ripple, the crypto solutions company which offers cross-border payment services is also known for its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) merchandise. Whereas numerous fintechs have partnered with Ripple to use its ODL services, the ongoing XRP lawsuit has hindered more enterprises from joining forces with the San Francisco-based crypto firm. Among the financial companies halting their adoption […]

The post Bank of America to Leverage Ripple ODL Services Once XRP Lawsuit Ends, Garlinghouse Affirms appeared first on Times Tabloid.

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