Japan Tops Crypto Losses to North Korean Hackers

Bitcoin's global merchant acceptance witnessed a substantial surge, growing by 174% throughout 2023, with the Philippines proving itself in leading the way within the Asian region.Photo by rc.xyz NFT gallery on UnsplashRegion facing regulatory restrictionsThat’s according to BTC Map, a provider of bitcoin merchant mapping services. The data, derived from BTC Map's open-source mapping data via OpenStreetMap, revealed that the number of venues accepting bitcoin payments surged from 2,207 at the beginning of the year to 6,126 by the year's end. This diverse array of businesses included restaurants, bars, shops and various services. The expansion of bitcoin vendors is a global phenomenon, with concentrations notably observed in Europe, the United States and Latin America. The Philippines stands out in Asia with hundreds of vendors, while regulatory restrictions in East Asia, especially China, have limited adoption. While it's great to see a high level of direct adoption among Filipino merchants, it's easy to understand why this level of adoption hasn’t been matched within Asia’s largest market. China has had a long-standing ban on cryptocurrency trading, mining or its use as a means of payment. Despite the ban, it appears that crypto trading is still alive and well in China, although beneath the surface. With mining too, while the sector shrank considerably once a ban was imposed, there is believed to be a significant ongoing level of bitcoin mining occurring still within China’s borders. However, when it comes to vendors, this is likely to be an activity that is far too visible to the authorities and with that, China’s 1.4 billion citizens are not getting the opportunity to buy goods and services with the world’s leading cryptocurrency. Compounding matters, the Chinese authorities have been working diligently on a myriad of projects to bring about day-to-day retail use of the country’s central bank digital currency, the digital yuan. Those efforts are not likely to be aligned with an accommodation of or tolerance of bitcoin payments. The increase in merchant listings showcased a slight decline from the peak in September, which reached 6,590 merchants. BTC Map's platform allows businesses and users to tag locations accepting bitcoin payments, with the rise in numbers potentially attributed to increased user contributions to the database. This surge in bitcoin adoption globally occurred against the backdrop of the cryptocurrency's price volatility throughout the year. Despite potential limitations in data collection due to its reliance on volunteer contributions, the overall trend indicates a growing acceptance of bitcoin. Ongoing challenges to adoptionA panel of bitcoin leaders at the Plan B conference in October discussed the challenges and opportunities of global bitcoin adoption. Notably, they highlighted the difficulty of onboarding new users and merchants, particularly in diverse cultural contexts. In El Salvador, where bitcoin is legal tender, obstacles persist in convincing merchants to accept bitcoin payments. Geographically, concentrations of bitcoin-accepting vendors were more prevalent in Central and South America, while Africa and Asia demonstrated fewer such establishments. The United States and Europe led in the global count of crypto-friendly merchants. The panel stressed the importance of education in overcoming these challenges, emphasizing the need for user-friendly applications to facilitate mainstream adoption, moving away from complex technologies. As bitcoin continues its global expansion, the industry recognizes the vital role education and user-friendly solutions play in fostering broader acceptance. 

SBI Remit and Shonan Shinkin Bank Join Forces on International RemittancesSBI Remit, a long-time partner of Ripple, has expanded its collaboration in Japan, partnering with Shonan Shinkin Bank to offer international remittance services.The partnership, operating under the guidance of SBI Group and announced by SBI Remit last week, claims to provide a more efficient and cost-effective solution for international employees living in Japan who need to transfer money abroad.Photo by Naoya Matsuda on UnsplashEfficient overseas transfersBoth Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture, the area of operation of Shonan Shinkin Bank alongside the city of Yokosuka where it is headquartered, have witnessed a surge in the number of migrant employees working there. That makes these metropolitan areas ideal locations for this particular collaboration.According to the press release, the partnership “was formed as mutual use of both parties’ network and strengths would allow Shonan Shinkin Bank to offer highly convenient international money transfer services that deliver convenience for foreign nationals working at local companies while enabling SBI Remit to develop new markets.”The collaboration, named SBI Ripple Asia, aims to leverage Ripple’s distributed ledger technology to streamline international payments. The technology has the potential to disrupt the remittance sector by offering real-time processing of cross-border payments. This approach significantly reduces transfer times and costs. One of the key elements of the partnership involves the use of XRP, Ripple’s native digital asset, for on-demand liquidity (ODL) between Japan and the Philippines. ODL allows for near-instantaneous transfers.Broader sector trendThis partnership is part of a broader trend in the financial industry, where blockchain technology is being harnessed to enhance services. Ripple, in particular, has been targeting remittances through an offering that enables a competitive edge through both speed and cost-effectiveness relative to transfers. Foreign workers in Japan, particularly the 280,000 Filipinos working in the country, stand to benefit from this new offering. That’s due to the ongoing need for foreign overseas workers to send money back home.The SBI Remit and Shonan Shinkin Bank collaboration highlights the immense potential of blockchain technology in reshaping financial services, especially in regions with a high concentration of foreign workers.This development represents yet another significant achievement in the longstanding partnership between SBI and Ripple. The two companies first began to cooperate by way of a mutually beneficial partnership in 2016 with the establishment of SBI Ripple Asia. The recent demonstration of using XRP for ODL remittances in Japan and the Philippines showcases the tangible benefits of this collaboration, with the potential to reduce international transfer times from days to mere minutes.With the demand for seamless international money transfers on the rise, the partnership between SBI Remit, Shonan Shinkin Bank, and Ripple is poised to make a significant impact on the remittance landscape in Japan and beyond.Foreign overseas workers and the families they support in their home countries have long since been at the edge when it comes to financial inclusion. In the press release, Shonan Shinkin Bank was stated to be committed to achieving financial inclusion by partnering with various stakeholders to provide solutions to the various issues facing small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as providing international remittances and other solutions to the diverse local community.As the financial industry continues to embrace blockchain solutions, collaborations like this one serve as a testament to the ongoing evolution of global payments systems.

Pakistan Implements Ban on CryptocurrencyPakistan has moved to ban cryptocurrency once more, with the country’s Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Aisha Ghaus Pasha disclosing the move last week.According to multiple local media reports within Pakistan, on May 16 Ghaus Pasha stated at a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, that cryptocurrencies are banned and “will never be legalized in Pakistan.”Photo by Hamid Roshaan on UnsplashFATF Grey ListGhaus Pasha supported this position by outlining that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had set the banning of crypto as a condition for Pakistan’s removal from its “Grey List.”FATF is an initiative of the G7 group of countries, first established in 1989. Its mandate is to develop policies geared towards combating money laundering, and most especially, terrorist financing. The FATF grey list includes those jurisdictions who are deemed to require increased monitoring relative to their efforts to keep money laundering and terrorist financing to an absolute minimum.Pakistan had found itself on the FATF grey list over the course of a number of years. That meant reputational damage on an international basis, together with loss of investor confidence. It also signals the likelihood of weaknesses in a country’s financial system and in its financial controls. The categorization would have had an impact on the country’s ability to access international finance, impacted trade relations, and involved increased compliance costs.Against that background, there may be a certain logic to the Finance Minister’s stance, despite it naturally being distasteful to those of us that support the development of decentralized systems, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. After an extended period on that Grey List, Pakistan was only removed from it in October of last year.Currency devaluationNotwithstanding that, governments in the developing world may have added incentives in banning cryptocurrencies. Their currencies are oftentimes unstable, and the Pakistani rupee is no exception. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin find their greatest use case in countries that have their currencies devalued or economies that fall into the trap of hyperinflation relative to the sovereign currency.In Pakistan’s case, the rupee plummeted to a record low against the US dollar in January. Naturally, that hurts ordinary citizens and provides the conditions under which people are more likely to investigate decentralized cryptocurrencies. On that basis, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Pakistani government’s decision to ban crypto was publicly supported by Sohail Jawad, Director of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).Pakistani banks are naturally following the government and the central bank’s lead, in implementing the ban. One circular obtained by CoinDesk stated: “As per regulatory instructions from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), any remittance of foreign exchange directly/indirectly outside Pakistan to overseas foreign exchange trading, margin trading, and CFD trading apps/websites/platforms through any payment channel is not allowed/permitted by SBP and such payments are inherently risky and illegal.”Community reactionNaturally enough, the crypto community internationally and locally, is not enamored by the move. However, people who have been in the space over the last few years are accustomed to ever-changing stances taken by governments as a reaction to a technology that they simply don’t know how to deal with.Waqar Zaka, a Pakistani who works within the Web3 space commented previously on a ban that was implemented in Pakistan in 2017, only later to be found to be unconstitutional. Another Pakistani community member took to Twitter in taking a stand against the decision. Others still immediately considered how they could circumvent the ban.Crypto has always benefited from jurisdictional arbitrage, and while bans are not in any way helpful, in the longer run, they will never stop the roll out and further development of this innovation.