Author: Cristian Lipciuc

Cristian Lipciuc is a blockchain journalist working with startup companies across multiple domains such as freelancing, app development & cryptocurrency. Cristian specializes in applied blockchain technologies, cryptocurrency integration, the adoption of new technologies by governments, and cybersecurity.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Cryptocurrencies

Ralph Kalsi Expands Business With Blockchain Autonomous Solutions

Ralph Kalsi — founder of leading Australian company Ralph Kalsi Blockchain Consultancy — has launched the autonomous company Blockchain Australia Solutions with the goal of ramping up research on blockchain technology and its applications — such as quality assurance, eco-friendly housing, and much more.

Setting Aside Marketing To Pursue Research

After a successful career in digital marketing, Kalsi has taken the decision to retire from the lucrative field of digital marketing in order to focus on the development of blockchain technology and its game-changing potential. 

Consulting services will also be provided by Blockchain Australia Solutions. BAS has made itself a fully separate entity from Kalsi’s previous firm. Formerly the Managing Director of One Stop Media, Ralph Kalsi dove into the competitive field of blockchain in 2016 — and became a world leader in his field within only three years.

Aside from blockchain development and consulting, Blockchain Australia Solutions also provides a vast range of services to help investors commodify real-life assets such as art, venture capital funds, and real estate into security token offerings (STO).

Blockchain Australia Solutions will also provide tailor-made Blockchain-powered solutions to companies and even to entire industries that show an interest in this field.

 The organisation aims to transform every aspect of our society  using an innovative approach towards a myriad of problems.

Since it was founded, Blockchain Australia Solutions has partnered up with Fintech Australia — an advocacy group for new technologies in the financial sector that aims to use blockchain technology — among other cutting edge technologies —  in order to create a fintech ecosystem in Australia and beyond.

  BAS has also joined forces with R3Corda, a company that harnesses blockchain technology in order to find solutions to specific business challenges in both dynamic and highly regulated markets, all while providing industry-specific distributed ledger technology for companies in a variety of industries. 
With a great track record in an innovative field, Ralph Kalsi’s full embrace of blockchain is yet another example of leading figures using blockchain to change the current modus operandi.

Categories
Australia Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Law

Aussie Government Contractor Walks Free Despite Using Government Supercomputers For Mining

Cryptocurrencies are digital tokens – functioning on blockchain technology – that allow people to conduct financial transactions in a peer-to-peer system. “Cryptomining” is the use of computer processing power to solve equations – which help to consolidate and secure the cryptocurrency system. The miner is then rewarded for this activity with cryptocurrency tokens – which is a huge drain on electrical power and PC components.

Jonathan Khoo, a 34-year-old former contractor for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), was accused of using the government supercomputers placed at his disposal at work in order to mine Ether (ETH) and Monero (XMR). The total value of cryptocurrencies gained is only about $9,420 AUD, which he promptly deposited into his own accounts.

Huge Bill Racked Up

Although 9240 AUD isn’t that big of a sum, it turns out an AUD 76.668 electricity bill to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) was allegedly a direct consequence of Khoo’s actions.

By installing code on 2 of the supercomputers at CSIRO, Khoo was able to use resources at the Institute’s disposal for personal gain. This diverted power away from the operations that were supposed to run on these supercomputers.  

When asked for comment, Federal Police cybercrime operations commander Chris Goldsmid stated that Khoo’s conduct had caused a loss of trust in the government and had hindered the important and legitimate activities of the CSIRO supercomputers.

“This man’s activities diverted these supercomputer resources away from performing

significant scientific research for the nation, including pulsar data array analysis, medical research and climate modelling work.”

In spite of an offence carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years, magistrate Erin Kennedy gave the Sydney resident a 15-month intensive corrections order – in exchange for his guilty plea. Khoo will serve out his custodial sentence in the community – and must fulfil  300 hours of community service. He will also receive counselling.

Categories
Australia Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency Seen As A Fall-Back Strategy By Forbes

As you all know, Australia is still under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic – imposing one of the strictest set of measures worldwide. According to a recent Forbes article, the pandemic might be a good reason for Australians to have some bitcoin set aside – which many young people seem to have done in the earlier stages of the epidemic.

Gold May No Longer Be The Most Independent Asset

Clem Chambers – a Senior Forbes Contributor and the CEO of stocks and investment website ADVFN – feels shocked that Australia has imposed such severe measures on its own citizens, likening the current restrictions on travel to those imposed by states behind the former Iron Curtain.

“ As far as Australia goes, to me, it is not just what is going on there that is so shocking, but that it can happen to one of the coolest, most advanced and democratic countries on earth. One month a free country, weeks later a not-so-open prison. “

Back then, if you wanted to leave the country, it was more or less imperative to have some gold stowed away, as your access to paper currency could be cut off at a moments notice, once the alarm has sounded. Even before that, gold was always seen as something that could get you through hard times, whether due to economic turmoil, war or social unrest.

Now, Clem Chambers argues that if the lockdown lasts much longer, Australians could be put in a situation where they would have to cross the border illegally, or deal with an economic collapse. If this were to happen, Clem believes that having some cryptocurrency set aside would keep you going if banks collapse or your assets are frozen.

While such a scenario is highly unlikely, one should always prepare for unforeseen circumstances – and with cryptocurrencies, you can do so while also diversifying your investment portfolio.

Categories
Australia Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Law Scams

Online Romance Cryptocurrency Scams On The Rise

Scams carried out by means of romantic attraction are one of the oldest tricks in the book – but reports from the Financial and Cyber Crime Group reveal that many fraudsters have modernized their methods.

Investigators have reminded Australians to stay vigilant to online romance scams, following a spike in complaints involving cryptocurrency-related fraud – many of which start on online dating platforms.

The Financial and Cyber Crime group has investigated more than 70 complaints from victims over the last six months –some Queensland victims have lost several hundred thousand dollars.

Criminal Organizations Seem To Be The Culprits

The ASIC has reported that from March through May of 2020, the rate of online scams involving cryptocurrency has increased by 20%. These scams follow a generally predictable pattern.

First of all, a romantic partner or even a simple acquaintance tells an unsuspecting victim how they made money on a certain trading platform and encourages them to deposit as many funds as possible. Reassuring the client that it is perfectly safe to trade – since blockchain transactions cannot be faked – the bad actor gains the victim’s trust.

The catch, however, is that the platforms the victims are directed to are actually fake and do not deal with cryptocurrencies. Once the new user starts trading, the user is shown fake data to convince them that they are turning a profit.

Eventually, the user is shown more fake data showing trading losses, despite the fact that there is either no trading taking place – or the devaluation of the cryptocurrency imitated by the platform is nowhere as severe.

Once a victim tries to withdraw whatever funds they have left, the bad actor either suddenly cuts off all contact or requests more money in order to release the remaining funds.

The targets also often become victims of identity theft or data mining, carried out through the usual methods – however, due to the nature of cryptocurrency trading platforms, it does not look out of place for the fake website to request a photo of an ID card and a selfie in order to perform KYC.

The ASIC suggests all traders employ caution and use their better judgment. Before engaging in cryptocurrency trading, always make sure that the platform you are trading on is legitimate. For an in-depth list of measures you can take to stay safe while trading cryptocurrencies, you can check out our article on the subject. 

Categories
Australia Blockchain Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin SV Introduced As An Option On 4 More Online Platforms

The ability to buy and trade Bitcoin SV (BSV) has been enabled on 4 more platforms whose target markets are the UK and Australia.

The platforms who have just gone live with a BSV offering are Bitcoin.com.au – and it’s UK counterpart Bitcoin.co.uk – Coinloft.com.au, and BuyaBitcoin.com.au.

A Blast From The Past

Bitcoin SV – a cryptocurrency that claims to be the only version of Bitcoin that still follows Satoshi’s original vision for a crypto world – is seeking to expand its market and hopefully attract new investors as well as older investors who have had skin in the game for years and remember the days when a pizza was bought for a few thousand bitcoins.

The Bitcoin Association’s Founding President, Jimmy Nguyen, has a positive view of the move by these 4 trading platforms and hopes that this is only the beginning of widespread Bitcoin SV adoption.

“These retail sites help bring digital currencies to the mainstream by making it easy for everyday users to buy BSV.   They also forge new links between the traditional financial system and the digital asset ecosystem.  We look forward to more growth of Bitcoin SV’s ecosystem across the world.”

Coinloft offers a variety of cryptocurrencies for sale on their website that can be paid for through a multitude of payment methods. Aside from the usual online payments done via credit or debit card, you can even buy cryptocurrency on the Coinloft platform from your local post office.

Buyabitcoin is a fintech company based in Melbourne that also allows payment at your local retailer. Like Coinloft, Buyabitcoin also offers its services at Australian Post Offices – and at certain newsstands too.

Whether Bitcoin SV will take off in the current competitive market for cryptocurrencies in Australia is yet to be seen. Between market cornerstones like Ethereum and Bitcoin and new innovative currencies like Qoin, Bitcoin SV may have a hard time establishing itself on the crypto market.

Categories
Australia Crypto News Cryptocurrencies

Qoin means to become yet another pillar of crypto stability

Qoin is an Australian-made cryptocurrency that seeks to join USD Tether and other stablecoins as a currency good for saving assets in — as opposed to the volatile cryptocurrencies not tied to a widely adopted currency.

Qoin, however, does not rely on another currency, but rather on real-world goods and services.

More Takers, More Value

Qoin’s chief marketing officer Andrew Barker says the market for Qoin was envisioned as a currency that anyone can invest in, regardless of the level of expertise. 

More precisely, it is for those investors who might still be queasy about cryptocurrencies, following the notorious tumble in 2017.

“Mums and dads” looking for something more stable to invest in, with the mindset, “I’m not going to make a fortune overnight but I’m not gonna lose a fortune overnight. “So based on each new Qoin merchant who joins the ecosystem, the value of Qoin increases.”

If many merchants affiliated with Qoin were to stop accepting Qoin as a payment method, the value of the cryptocurrency could tumble. However — since its introduction in January of 2020 — the value of the coin has risen from AUD 0.15 to AUD 2.01.

Party limousine operator Chris McMilan has put Qoin stickers on his vehicles to see if the new cryptocurrency garners interest — and he is not alone. From jewelers to grocery stores to service providers, Qoin currently has amassed nearly 8000 partner businesses — and talks with plenty of other businesses are always underway.

This week, Qoin has also launched in New Zealand, a move that proves the interest for the new cryptocurrency is rising. Whether Qoin becomes a big player on the Australian market — and APAC at large — it is a project that fits in nicely with the government’s prediction that by 2030 cryptocurrencies will contribute $3 trillion to the national economy. 

Categories
Australia Crypto News Regulation

AirTree Explorer Program To Make Life Easier For Budding Crypto Investors

The Australian Fintech sector is constantly growing and is already a world leader when it comes to alternative finance – yet all these new companies need investors.

Angel investors and seed round buyers have become rather scarce in recent years. More precisely, the downward spiral has been worsening for the past three years, with 2019 alone showing a nosedive of 46% in volume terms and 29% in aggregate dollars invested.

According to the Australian government, within 10 years all fintech may be blockchain-based. The interest in blockchain-based companies is definitely there, but more funding is needed to spur Australia’s development in fintech. Which is why AirTree have decided to do something to help

Open Source Investing Program For FinTech Companies

Today, Venture Capital firm Airtree has announced its Explorer Program, a pilot program to help support the next generation of technology investors in Australia and NZ, with a focus on new Australian fintech companies.

The Explorer Program is aimed not only at budding investors who may not have too many assets to invest but also at startup founders themselves!

The pilot phase will onboard 20 explorers from across Australia and New Zealand and will give entrepreneurs everything they need to succeed as investors in cryptocurrency startups.

Following an open-source investor education program and networking with professionals eager to lend them a hand, the selected entrepreneurs will receive a cheque to invest in fintech startups.

“For any Explorer that introduces us to a company that we invest in, we’ll bring you in on the investment alongside AirTree by giving you a small cheque to invest. There are no weird complications — you become like any other shareholder on the cap table, and you maintain your own relationship with the founders. You can start to build your own track record — but without needing piles of your own cash to invest. “

Applications to the AirTree Explorer program are open until the 30th of September – so if you’re looking into becoming an investor, give it a shot!

Categories
Australia Commodities Cryptocurrency Law

Australian University Detects GDPR Conflict With Blockchain

A recent finding by the University of South Australia casts doubt on the legality of blockchain transactions when met with European privacy standards.

According to the new research, blockchain can violate important European Union laws that are part of the well known GDPR agreement – due to the fact that blockchain stores all information about a buyer, or a seller.

Dr. Kirsten Wahlstrom, a researcher working in the field of cryptocurrency technology weighed in on the resurgence of blockchain technology, comparing it to the anonymous wild west the Internet was 20 years ago.

“We’re at a really delicate point with this because, increasingly, societies and economies are organised around data, and that has huge implications for privacy. The main problem is, we’re still struggling to understand what ‘privacy’ actually means in an online world. It’s not the same as data security and protection, it’s about how individuals control their whole online identity, and expectations around that change from person to person and situation to situation.”

Dr. Kirsten noted the fact that the definition of privacy is changing – and more so due to the mainstream adopting of blockchain, which makes it impossible for a blockchain contributor to hide their identity if previously revealed.

The European Union’s “Right To Be Forgotten” has been a relief for privacy buffs worldwide – yet Dr. Kirsten states that as long as the EU GDPR stays the way it is, blockchain technologies may not see widespread adoption within the EU. If information is permanently stored within a blockchain, EU laws would, at the moment, prevent the information necessary to catch a bad actor from being used in an international court case.

Dr. Kirsten is in favour of delving deep into the ethics regarding the privacy owed to each human being. Optimistic about the future of blockchain, she nevertheless admits it might take a while until the technology is properly regulated by all relevant bodies.

Categories
Australia Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies

Australian National Jailed For Buying Controlled Substances With Cryptocurrency

Thomas Nickless, a 27-year-old port worker, has received a 2-year sentence – out of which he must serve eight months – for attempting to import illegal substances into Australia via the dark web via post to the Victorian coastal hamlet of Metung.

The Australian Border Force has seized five parcels addressed to the defendant, over a period of nine months between May 2018 and February 2019.

Cryptocurrency Used For Untraceability

The packages – which were addressed to Nickless from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands – contained 61 grams of MDMA (also known an ecstasy), 9.8 grams of cocaine, and 35.3 grams of other amphetamines.

Nickless had used cryptocurrency to purchase the drugs, a practice made common back in 2011 before by the Silk Road .onion website – which has since been taken down by the FBI.

“The attempted importations were part of your small-scale business to bring drugs into Australia by post, pick them up at the Metung post office, use them yourself and sell small amounts to friends and acquaintances,” said County Court Judge Gerard Mullaly.

Nickless had bought a total of 15 similar parcels from the deep web using cryptocurrency, but only 5 were stopped by the Australian Border Force.

This is not the first drug-related offence of the defendant – in March 2019, a police raid on Nickless’ house yielded small amounts of ketamine, Xanax, and MDMA, as well as several home-grown marijuana plants.

Even though the scale of the busted operation was relatively small compared to other drug deals made on the black market, the jury decided a non-custodial sentence would not be appropriate.

Thomas Nickless pleaded guilty to seven charges including trafficking offences, attempting to import a border controlled drug, and possession.

Although Nickless was sentenced to two years in prison,  he is only obligated to serve eight months as part of a recognizance release order.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Cryptocurrency Law

Lygon Blockchain Guarantee Solution To Go Commercial

Recently, ANZ Bank, Westpac, and Commonwealth Bank joined forces to found Lygon, a company that will switch traditional bank guarantees signed on paper for blockchain-based smart contracts.

Now – after a successful pilot with its founders and 20 other Aussie businesses – Lygon seems to be going commercial.

 Speeding up SLAs

Up until now, banks would issue physical guarantees after an arduous KYC procedure that could take up to a month to complete.

With Lygon, the expected SLA has shrunk to a single day. The three Australian banks ANZ, Westpac, and CBA Switch – partnered with the Scentre Group – are planning to market the Lygon platform for commercial use, according to a report published on the 1st of September.

When asked for comment, Nigel Dobson, the chairman of Lygon, stated the following:

“The commercialization of the Lygon platform represents a significant milestone for blockchain technology in Australia and globally. We’ve gone from a proof of concept to a newly incorporated company and commercially available platform in two years – at a time when the demand for digital has never been stronger. In digitizing a bank guarantee, we’ve essentially transformed a three-way contract. We’ve digitized the paperwork, the process, and the legality behind it. This means wherever there’s a manual, paper-based process based on legal frameworks or similar regulations, we can apply Lygon.”

Lygon is reported to have brought new applicants on board within in under 15 minutes – a great show of interest in the platform to be certain.

In addition to checking potential customers credit, Lygon will support several common bank operations such as including amendments and cancellations.

After the commercial launch of the blockchain banking platform, Lygon shareholders say they plan to expand into New Zealand and other international markets in 2021. In order to garner more interest in the platform, the developers have promised more features to come soon.