Tag: private

  • Tether Asks Court to Protect Private Companies’ Confidential Information

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    Crypto industry media company, CoinDesk, has formally joined a legal case involving
     
     stablecoin 
    operator Tether and the New York Attorney General’s office. The matter involves the release of Tether’s breakdown of its reserve composition.

    The conflict started in June last year when CoinDesk filed a Freedom of Information Law Request (FOIL) for documents that detail Tether’s reserve breakdown. Normally, New York’s Freedom of Information Law allows members of the public to submit requests for access to government records, like court documents or records involving lawmakers and their work.

    In May last year, Tether produced the reserve breakdown information to the New York Attorney General as part of its settlement agreement with the agency. The settlement agreement closed a longlegal fight between Tether and crypto
     
     exchange 
    Bitfinex over whether Tether’s parent company, iFinex, co-mingled funds and misrepresented the reserve backing of USDT stablecoin.

    Initially, Tether’s attorney asked the Attorney General’s Records Access Officers to deny the request, and they complied. But CoinDesk later appealed such a decision and saw success when Freedom of Information Law Appeals Officer Kathryn Sheingold granted access to the documents.

    The dispute is still ongoing. Tether is now trying to block access to the documents. The company claims that handing over the requested information would compromise its competitive advantage. The company further argues that providing the requested information would compromise its investment strategy, which other firms could use to close the competitive gap between themselves and Tether. Tether also claims that the information in the documents would compromise its relationship with its partners who are crucial to the aspects of its business that draw customers.

    But CoinDesk says that it is only interested in the document that shows Tether’s breakdown of its reserves, which was sent to the Attorney General in May last year. However, Tether maintains that such information is already accessible to the public in a form that does not compromise the company’s competitive advantage. In other words, Tether does not want to disclose further information about its business. The company fears that doing so would allow bad actors access to compliance information that could enable them to poke holes in the company’s compliance system.

    Mystery on Tether’s Reserve Assets

    Questions about stablecoins, especially the one called Tether, have been knocking around financial circles for months. The major question is whether stablecoins are stable as they claim to be? A Tether coin is claimed to be worth $1. Tether puts all these dollars in a bank to back the USDT cryptocurrency one to one, and keep their price stable at $1. However, many people still ask a big question about the largest stablecoin issuer (Tether): whether Tether really has the $71 billion in a bank somewhere backing the 71 billion Tethers in circulation?

    Critics have raised questions about Tether as a potential systemic risk on the crypto ecosystem. Last year, Tether put out a testimony about its reserves to reassure users that the popular stablecoin is stable. However, the testimony seems unlikely to reassure most vocal critics. Some critics fear that the real use of Tether stablecoin is to keep the price of Bitcoin high. The company has been investigated by the New York Attorney General for claims around its backing and settled with the New York Attorney General’s Office with an $18.5 million fine in February last year.

    When Tether was launched in 2014, it claimed that each Tether (USDT) was backed 1:1 with US dollars. In March 2019, the company updated its website to state that all Tether tokens are backed 100% by Tether’s reserves. For the first time, Tether revealed a breakdown of its reserves in March 2021. Its testimony showed that the company held almost 76% of its reserves in cash and cash equivalents and other short-term deposits and commercial paper. The rest is held in secured loans, bonds, and other investments, including Bitcoin.

    Fears around stablecoins are not just limited to Tether. In October last year, the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission Gary Gensler asked Congress to give the SEC more authority to regulate cryptocurrency.

    Crypto industry media company, CoinDesk, has formally joined a legal case involving
     
     stablecoin 
    operator Tether and the New York Attorney General’s office. The matter involves the release of Tether’s breakdown of its reserve composition.

    The conflict started in June last year when CoinDesk filed a Freedom of Information Law Request (FOIL) for documents that detail Tether’s reserve breakdown. Normally, New York’s Freedom of Information Law allows members of the public to submit requests for access to government records, like court documents or records involving lawmakers and their work.

    In May last year, Tether produced the reserve breakdown information to the New York Attorney General as part of its settlement agreement with the agency. The settlement agreement closed a longlegal fight between Tether and crypto
     
     exchange 
    Bitfinex over whether Tether’s parent company, iFinex, co-mingled funds and misrepresented the reserve backing of USDT stablecoin.

    Initially, Tether’s attorney asked the Attorney General’s Records Access Officers to deny the request, and they complied. But CoinDesk later appealed such a decision and saw success when Freedom of Information Law Appeals Officer Kathryn Sheingold granted access to the documents.

    The dispute is still ongoing. Tether is now trying to block access to the documents. The company claims that handing over the requested information would compromise its competitive advantage. The company further argues that providing the requested information would compromise its investment strategy, which other firms could use to close the competitive gap between themselves and Tether. Tether also claims that the information in the documents would compromise its relationship with its partners who are crucial to the aspects of its business that draw customers.

    But CoinDesk says that it is only interested in the document that shows Tether’s breakdown of its reserves, which was sent to the Attorney General in May last year. However, Tether maintains that such information is already accessible to the public in a form that does not compromise the company’s competitive advantage. In other words, Tether does not want to disclose further information about its business. The company fears that doing so would allow bad actors access to compliance information that could enable them to poke holes in the company’s compliance system.

    Mystery on Tether’s Reserve Assets

    Questions about stablecoins, especially the one called Tether, have been knocking around financial circles for months. The major question is whether stablecoins are stable as they claim to be? A Tether coin is claimed to be worth $1. Tether puts all these dollars in a bank to back the USDT cryptocurrency one to one, and keep their price stable at $1. However, many people still ask a big question about the largest stablecoin issuer (Tether): whether Tether really has the $71 billion in a bank somewhere backing the 71 billion Tethers in circulation?

    Critics have raised questions about Tether as a potential systemic risk on the crypto ecosystem. Last year, Tether put out a testimony about its reserves to reassure users that the popular stablecoin is stable. However, the testimony seems unlikely to reassure most vocal critics. Some critics fear that the real use of Tether stablecoin is to keep the price of Bitcoin high. The company has been investigated by the New York Attorney General for claims around its backing and settled with the New York Attorney General’s Office with an $18.5 million fine in February last year.

    When Tether was launched in 2014, it claimed that each Tether (USDT) was backed 1:1 with US dollars. In March 2019, the company updated its website to state that all Tether tokens are backed 100% by Tether’s reserves. For the first time, Tether revealed a breakdown of its reserves in March 2021. Its testimony showed that the company held almost 76% of its reserves in cash and cash equivalents and other short-term deposits and commercial paper. The rest is held in secured loans, bonds, and other investments, including Bitcoin.

    Fears around stablecoins are not just limited to Tether. In October last year, the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission Gary Gensler asked Congress to give the SEC more authority to regulate cryptocurrency.

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  • Era7 Debuts NFT Launch after Closing Seed & Private Round One Led by Premium Lineup of Blockchain Investors | by Bit Media Buzz | Dec, 2021

    Era7 Debuts NFT Launch after Closing Seed & Private Round One Led by Premium Lineup of Blockchain Investors | by Bit Media Buzz | Dec, 2021

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    Bit Media Buzz

    Singapore, December 6th, 2021 — BSC-based (Binance Smart Chain) Era7: Game of Truth is set to open the sales of its first batch of NFT Mystery Boxes on 20th December 2021, paving the way for the launch of Era7’s most anticipated Play-to-Earn NFT Trading Card Game in the first quarter of 2022.

    Era7’s journey into the blockchain gaming space is backed by some of the biggest names in the industry, who have rallied behind its vision and mission. To date, Era7 has completed its seed round and an initial private round of financing, led by Hashkey and MOBOX, and a dozen other renowned VCs and institutions including Huobi Ventures, OKEx Blockdream Ventures, Good Games Guild (GGG), AU21 Capital, AlphaCoin Fund, Waterdrip Capital and more.

    Funds will be directed towards the ongoing game development as well as marketing and operations. Notably, besides investing, MOBOX will also come on board Era7 as co-developer consultants, providing technology support towards the development of Game of Truth.

    An Excellent Opportunity to Access Privileged NFT Prices

    The upcoming NFT sale provides a good opportunity for early supporters to benefit from the privileged pricing of the unique trading cards. In the first batch of NFTs on sale, while the Mystery Boxes are priced the lowest, buyers will be able to enjoy privileged pricing across all NFT trading cards. Endowed with different features, all cards have intrinsic in-game value and can hold considerable upside potential in the TCG market as the trading cards gain increasing value alongside growth in the game’s popularity and a corresponding scarcity of the NFT cards on open markets.

    Indeed, for fans of the game, this is the perfect opportunity to strategically collect cards and position themselves early in the game, not to mention an excellent opportunity to invest early at the lowest NFT prices for future returns.

    According to Era7, they will also implement an NFT airdrop right before the NFT sales to reward the community for their continued support and commitment to Game of Truth.

    Game of Truth aims to be a Benchmark for NFT trading card games

    Era7: Game of Truth is the first trading card game to deploy the concept of NFTs and DeFi to captivate gamers with its unique Play2Earn features. Designed to drive traditional gamers to GameFi, Era7 gives them and blockchain gamers the opportunity to earn, own, and exchange in-game items with real-world monetary value.

    By providing modestly competitive and fast-paced gameplay, combining combat and strategy, Game of Truth hopes to become every gamer’s choice. In a three-minute game, players may think about how to configure and strategize their greatest decks in PVP (player-versus-player), PVE (player-versus-environment), and other tournament types to win the game as well as token rewards.

    The Era7 developers aim to establish a market-oriented approach for the Game of Truth. By combining cutting-edge technology and ground-breaking new gaming innovations, Game of Truth’s target of being a TCG benchmark in the world of GameFi looks poised to take off.

    About Era7: Game of Truth

    Era7: Game of Truth is a Play-To-Earn NFT-based trading card game (TCG). It offers the perfect combination of traditional gaming and decentralized finance (DeFi) to gamers, bringing an entertaining gaming experience while providing an avenue to earn.

    According to Era7 ancient folklore, the seven races on the continent of Truth battle against each other for supremacy all year long, to vie for the title “King of Truth”. The victor from the Game of Truth emerges as the ruler of the continent whereby he and his race then enjoy the highest honors in the land.

    Founded by core team members from internationally renowned game developers with over 15 years of valuable experience such as Com2uS, NCsoft, Nexon, and Netmarble, Era7 is backed by heavyweight VCs and blockchain institutions such as Hashkey, MOBOX, Huobi Ventures, OKEx Blockdream Ventures, Good Games Guild (GGG), AU21 Capital, AlphaCoin, Fund Waterdrip Capital and more.

    Era7: Game of Truth Official Links

    Website: https://www.era7.io

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Era7_official

    Telegram: https://t.me/Era7_Official

    Telegram (Chinese): https://t.me/Era7_Official_CH

    Discord: https://discord.com/invite/jtFRzTv5Zw



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  • India misinterpreted private crypto ban, says crypto bill creator

    India misinterpreted private crypto ban, says crypto bill creator

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    The creator of India’s crypto bill, former Finance Secretary Subhash Garg, dismissed the notion of banning “private cryptocurrencies” as a misinterpretation while highlighting the enormous potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

    The Parliamentary discussions around a controversial crypto bill sparked fears around the ban on cryptocurrencies, with no clear indication about the ban’s scope. As Cointelegraph reported, an episode of panic selling among Indian investors followed the announcement. In an interview with local news channel News 18, Garg clarified:

    “[The description of the crypto bill] was perhaps a mistake. It is misleading to say that private cryptocurrencies will be banned and to intimate the government about the same.”

    He believes that the Indian government should formulate a bill after discussing it with stakeholders and crypto investors. Furthermore, the bill suggests banning private cryptocurrencies without clarifying what the word “private” stands for.

    As a result, the crypto community in India self-interpreted two different versions of the bill’s agenda — one that considers banning all non-government issued cryptocurrencies and the other that excludes cryptocurrencies running on the public blockchains such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

    Garg also pointed out a flaw in classifying cryptocurrencies as assets after underscoring the vast ecosystem powered by disruptive technology. He also said that crypto exchanges have limited interests and do not represent the entire community:

    “You don’t classify the wheat that you produce, you don’t classify the clothes you produce, as assets. That is too much of oversimplification to treat this as an asset.”

    On an end note, Garg added that the central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiatives, especially in countries like India, are complex. According to him, the government first needs to address challenges, including the unavailability of smartphones and digital wallet issuance.

    Related: Singaporean crypto exchange enters India amid regulatory uncertainty

    The Indian crypto market continues to attract international firms with the latest being Coinstore, a Singaporean crypto exchange. As Cointelegraph reported, Coinstore has allocated a $20-million fund to set up three new offices in the region.

    Speaking to Cointelegraph, Coinstore spokesperson was hopeful for the development of a positive crypto regulatory framework:

    “Strict KYC process, security requirement for exchanges, as well as gradual regulation of certain cryptocurrencies naturally protects the Indian users and would clarify the legality of certain cryptocurrencies.”