Your Crypto News on Steemit December 29, 2017

• EXMO Boss Pavel Lerner apparently Kidnapped!
• Imminent Ban in South Korea: Ban on Anonymous Transactions!
• Most Money will flow into these Fintech Niches next Year!
• ATB Coin has to answer in Court!
• Israel: Will there be a ban of Cryptocurrencies on the Exchanges?
• European Union: No own Cryptocurrency!

---

Pavel Lerner, chairman of the crypto exchange EXMO, was apparently abducted on Boxing Day in Ukraine. So he is said to have been captured and abducted shortly after leaving his Kiev office. Since then he lacks every trace.

According to consistent international media reports, Russian citizen Pavel Lerner was forcibly overwhelmed and kidnapped on Tuesday in front of his office in Kiev. He was allegedly dragged into a black Mercedes-Benz by several men, who subsequently disappeared. The men were supposed to have worn storm masks and so could not have been identified. The Kiev police are said to have confirmed a kidnapping on that day, but has not yet announced whether the abducted person is actually Pavel Lerner.

Lerner, a blockchain expert known in the crypto scene, is the chairman of the EXMO Finance crypto exchange. An Exchange can trade Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum and Litecoin against US Dollars, Euro, Russian Rubles, Polish Zloty and Ukrainian Hryvnia, among others. As a result, EXMO's focus is clearly on the Eastern European market, as explained by the company's headquarters in Kiev. However, the crypto exchange is officially registered in the United Kingdom.

In addition to the abduction of Chairman Pavel Lerner, the same day, there was also a distributed denial of server (DDoS) attack on the EXMO website, temporarily suspending the website and, accordingly, users' access to the crypto exchange cut off from the net. However, a representative of EXMO told Russian and Ukrainian media that both events would not affect daily business. So for the customers and users there would be no difficulties.

About the exact circumstances and backgrounds of the deed is still unknown. However, it is obvious that the kidnapping is related to the learner's work at EXMO. However, whether the kidnappers are concerned with claiming the highest possible ransom for the EXMO boss, or whether they intend to reach Wallet Private Keys via him, can not be clarified.

---

South Korean plans to restrict cryptocurrency trading have left Bitcoin investors in trouble on Thursday. The price of the oldest and most important cryptocurrency dropped ten percent on Thursday to $ 13,600. On Wednesday it had cost at times 16,500 dollars.

On the Bitstamp trading platform, the price temporarily fell below $ 14,000. Recently, the Bitcoin was still 7.9 percent down at 14.150,68 dollars. In their pull the shares of the Bitcoin Group, operator of the only German Bitcoin exchange, fell by 2.4 per cent.

South Korea, one of the world's most important countries for virtual currency trading, wants to ban the opening of anonymous accounts for cyber currencies, among other things. There will also be a new law that will allow regulators to close stock exchanges where Bitcoin & Co. is traded under certain circumstances. "We share the view that cryptocurrency trading is irrationally overheating," the government said. "We can no longer tolerate this abnormal speculation."

In tech-savvy South Korea, investments in cryptocurrencies are very popular. Nearly a million people are estimated to own Bitcoin, but most of them are low in population, reports AFP. The demand is so high that the price is 20 percent higher than in the US, the world's largest market for the currency. In South Korea, around one fifth of Bitcoin's global trade is handled.

Bitcoin is the best-known of the original digital currency currencies. At the beginning of the year, a bitcoin cost even less than $ 1,000; In mid-December then almost 20,000 dollars. The development was last driven by the launch of futures contracts by two major US exchanges. But speculators can now easily set course for falling.

Representatives of the classic financial world have been watching Bitcoin skeptically for some time now. In the face of the rapid rise in prices, even the comparison with the famous Dutch tulip mania in the 17th century was tried. At that time, the prices of tulip bulbs had risen rapidly, before the bubble finally burst.

Only shortly before Christmas had warned the German financial supervision. "These are highly speculative transactions with the possibility of total loss," said the president of the regulator Bafin, Felix Hufeld. There would be "excesses that would produce bitter losers." Hufeld therefore advises caution. An investor must know "that in the worst case he can lose all his money."

Ban on anonymous transactions in South Korea

The South Korean government has announced it will ban anonymous cryptocurrency transactions this week. At the same time, the Southeast Asian government is again warning of the bursting of a Bitcoin bubble. Thus, the crypto-critical attitude of South Korea is exacerbated by a new one. Since last year, the government has been trying to keep the crypto-boom in order and to curb the skyrocketing user activity.

The South Korean legislators have again looked closely and want to continue to turn on the regulative screws. After the country's government announced in December that it wanted to keep minors from using cryptocurrencies about future registration obligations, it is confirming this course this week.

According to the South Korean news agency in Yonhap, Hong Nam-Ki, the country's policy-coordinator, announced after a cabinet consultation on Thursday, December 28, to ban anonymous domestic crypto transactions.

The government can not let the "abnormal situation of speculation continue unhindered," Hong said.

In the future, all domestic transactions, account withdrawal and account deposits should only be possible with registered identity-verified user accounts.

Although a corresponding bill is not yet available at this time, possible regulations are currently conceivable. For example, the law might require financial providers to insist on know-your-customer policies. In such a case, for example, cryptocurrency users would need to identify and register with banks and exchanges as described by Hong before doing their business.

Shortly before Hong's statements, Governor Choe Heung-Sik, who is responsible for FSS's local financial regulator, had expressed similar criticism about cryptocurrencies. He warned journalists about a near end of Bitcoin on Thursday.

The assessment of the former university professor and current FSS director is:

These sounds are not new from the ranks of the South Korean government. Rather, this has been driving for weeks an increasingly intense course of containment against cryptocurrencies.

While their popularity is flourishing as an alternative means of payment and has arrived in the mainstream like no other country, the South Korean government surrounding Prime Minister Lee Nak-Yeon is decidedly critical.

So she had announced in mid-December, to curb the public enthusiasm. Appropriate measures, in addition to the abovementioned crypto ban on minors, should be the taxation of investment returns. Likewise, the government had already cracked down on the ban on ICOs and is currently planning a ban on crypto derivatives, as they are currently establishing on the American stock exchanges.

---

From augmented reality commerce to blockchain, these fintech areas will be the most heavily invested in 2018.

2018: A lot of money for the fintech industry

82% of all US private banks want to put more money in the fintech sector over the next three years. This emerges from a survey, which was commissioned by the Fintech offerer Fraedom in order. Overall, US fintech companies are expected to receive $ 4.7 billion in investment next year, Statista said.

Not least, those companies that develop products based on blockchain will benefit from this money. As early as 2017, the financial industry showed a strong interest in technology. While almost all major banks are already experimenting with the blockchain, the Australian stock exchange has already announced Australian Securities Exchange to use the technology in the future for the settlement of after-hours trading.

From augmented reality commerce to regtech: These fintech segments will be the focus of investors in 2018

In addition to Blockchain, the topic of artificial intelligence remains the focus of fintech investors. Growing volumes of data require better analytics, and that's where technology is expected to deliver its greatest potential. But also in the automation of other finance areas, artificial intelligence will play a key role.

Regtech, ie regulatory technologies, will also be in greater demand in 2018, according to some analysts. The B-to-B payment market is also expected to grow. According to Accenture, banks in this segment could earn up to $ 11 billion by 2020, if they can offer the right products.

At the same time, however, consumer-facing banking startups and providers of financial tools remain an interesting market for investors. Therefore, some market observers are currently assuming that in 2018 we will see more cooperation between traditional banks and these new market participants.

In terms of trade, 2018 will clearly be dominated by augmented reality (AR). This is partly because Apple and Google equip their respective smartphone operating systems with the appropriate technologies. However, AR glasses, such as the Magic Leap One, which was announced for 2018, also offer retailers completely new ways of presenting their products. For this they will need the necessary know-how from specialized providers.

---

ATB Coin must face a class action lawsuit. They are initially accused of not filing their coins with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

On December 21, Raymond Balestra filed a class action lawsuit in New York against ATB Coin LLC, Edward Ng (CEO) and co-founder Herbert W. Hoover. ATB Coin allegedly violated the Securities Law. The coins were said to have been sold with the clear promise of profit, without having registered them with the appropriate body.

Thus, the coins were issued with the promise to the investors that the purchased ATB coins would later have a higher value than the invested cryptocurrencies. One could acquire the ATB Coins with Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin.

ATB Coins have been developed as a fast and cost effective blockchain technology based payment system. In addition, the developers offer, inter alia, a multi-coin wallet. The total invested coins should currently have a value of over 20 million US dollars.

Action against ATB Coin has signal effect

The plaintiffs include investors. Such private lawsuits may well send a signal to the jurisdiction of the United States. The hitherto unresolved legal situation regarding the treatment of cryptocurrencies and ICOs makes a classification in the legal system all the more difficult. Further lawsuits may well force the courts into an official ruling in line with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That there are always problems with scores due to scams at ICOs is nothing new. However, the previously unresolved legal situation is another point that makes the classification of ICOs difficult again and again.

For example, while Russia has attempted to align with initial public offerings, the situation in the US is already different. As we reported recently, Trump is launching a law by the New Year that could also affect the taxation of cryptos & Co.

---

The Israeli Financial Market Authority seems to be thinking about banishing companies from the country's crypto exchanges, which do business with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. The reason for these considerations is insufficient regulatory framework conditions, as the Supervisor complains. In the coming week will now be discussed in more detail about how to continue.

Yesterday I reported on the plan of the Israeli Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with the central bank of the country, to issue its own national cryptocurrency: the Crypto-Shekel. The reasons given for the need included the containment of money laundering and tax evasion. The fact that this measure is also aimed at pushing back Bitcoin and other non-governmental cryptocurrencies is evident in the current debate about the ban on cryptocurrencies from the crypto exchanges.

For example, Schmuel Hauser, ISA's Chief Operating Officer, is in favor of refusing to support business models based on cryptocurrency trading unless there is sufficient regulation for them. Accordingly, even companies operating in this field are not expected to issue stock exchange licenses and impose a temporary trading restriction on these companies until satisfactory regulatory action has been found.

With that, Israel is taking a different path than its US protective power, where Bitcoin futures trading was launched on two major stock exchanges later this month. First, the trade started on 10.12. on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), before closing on 17.12. also at the futures exchange CME was launched.

The slightly different way that Israel approaches cryptocurrency acceptance may also be related to the fact that the State of Israel has always placed a greater focus on counter-terrorism as a national task. The risk of abuse of Bitcoin for terrorist financing, which threatens inadequate regulation of the cryptocurrency, thus seems to be a risk that nobody in the Jewish state wants to take in sight.

---

Carl-Ludwig Thiele, a board member of the Bundesbank, one of Europe's largest banks, has confirmed that the European Union is not considering a digital currency.

Carl-Ludwig Thiele said:

This statement contradicts a previous statement by Bundesbank Chairman Jens Weidmann that a digital currency comparable to Bitcoin could potentially protect European citizens. Thiele also warned investors that significant losses were possible. He explained:

Regulation?

The European Central Bank had already proposed to regulate digital currencies (such as Bitcoin). This is in contrast to other statements that say the government is unable to regulate cryptocurrencies. BaFin President Felix Hufeld said that the regulators in cryptocurrencies must "stay on the ball" and still have much to learn on this topic.

Some high-profile personalities (such as Nobel laureate and economist Joseph Stiglitz, on the other hand) are of the opinion that z. For example, the crypto-currency Bitcoin should be banned.

Despite the rejection of the concept in the European Union, other countries still consider state cryptocurrencies. Russia and Dubai have both started to work towards nationalized digital currencies.

---

If you missed the Crypto News from yesterday just click here!

I am not sure if I will find the time tomorrow and on December 31, 2017 to make a Your Crypto News on Steemit post so maybe this is the last Your Crypto News on Steemit edition in 2017. I hope you all had a great 2017! Let's say good bye 2017 and welcome 2018! I had a lot of fun here on Steemit with you all and can't wait to see where 2018 will bring us.

I wish you all a lovely Friday and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
ⓁⓄⓥⒺ & ⓁⒾⒼⒽⓉ

I see you all in 2018 :)
Best regards
@danyelk