Summary:
- US Department of Homeland Security wants to track Monero and Zcash transactions
- International cooperation is necessary to root out ICO frauds, US SEC’s official says
- Survey: 29% of freelancers would be paid in cryptocurrencies
A beginning of Wednesday’s trading has not been so successful for major cryptocurrencies so far as most of them have experienced noticeable declines. It’s especially true when it comes to EOS (EOS on xStation5) and Bitcoin Cash (BITCOINCASH on xStation5) as both have not performed well thus far. Bearish moods have resulted in a noticeable decrease in the crypto market cap as it’s shrunk by nearly $5 billion compared to the Tuesday’s value.
Bitcoin (BITCOIN on xStation5) experienced a moderate drop losing over 1.5%, and it is trading in the vicinity of the $3850 handle at press time. Source: xStation5.
US Department of Homeland Security eyes on Monero and Zcash
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it wanted to monitor transactions being conducted via cryptocurrencies operated on privacy blockchains. The document released on November 30, DHS Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) 19.1 Pre-Solicitation, contained as much as 10 topics. One of them is named “Blockchain Applications for Homeland Security Forensic Analytics”. In the document, DHS explains that it wants to concentrate on creating blockchain forensic applications focused on privacy-oriented cryptocurrencies like Monero and Zcash. Earlier, DHS took efforts focused on Bitcoin, but now the Department also wants to get surveillance tools for privacy coins.
Ethereum (ETHEREUM on xStation5), like a majority of its peers, has marched lower. Source: xStation5.
US SEC Official: International cooperation is necessary to eliminate ICO frauds
Steven Peikin, co-director of the US Securities and Exchanges Commission’s Division of Enforcement, made some ICO-related remarks during his speech on December 3 at Harvard Law School’s Program for Regulators of Securities Markets. According to a transcription of the speech on the Commission’s website, US SEC’s official paid attention to international cooperation as essential factor to eliminate ICO frauds. “The sponsors of ICOs are, in many instances, located outside the United States, and international cooperation is critical to our ability to investigate and, where appropriate, recommend that the Commission bring enforcement action”, Peikin said. However, Peikin underlined at the beginning of the speech that the views expressed in this speech are his own, and “do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission or its Staff”.
Although Ripple (RIPPLE on xStation5) has seen some declines today, it’s still hovering close to the $0.35 handle which may be a technical roadblock. Source: xStation5
29% of freelancers would prefer to be paid in virtual currencies
Nearly a one third of freelancers would want to get paid in cryptocurrencies, according to a survey conducted by Humans.net. 18% of respondents would prefer to receive all money in virtual currencies whereas 11% of them would want to get only a part of payments in this way. No one should be surprised by these results as cryptocurrencies allow to make various payments quicker and cheaper. This fact could be crucial when payments are large and generate high fees. The survey covered over thousand of randomly chosen American freelancers.
