Author: Sam Town

Sam Town is a FinTech and Blockchain Journalist from Adelaide, Australia. I work with a broad spectrum of finance, technology, and blockchain businesses to deliver engaging, high-quality content across a range of topics. Areas of specialization include FinTech, blockchain, NeoBanks, crowdfunding, P2P lending, tax structuring & strategy, artificial intelligence, InsurTech, and finance IoT applications.

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Crypto News Cryptocurrencies

Easy Crypto Launches Auto-Buy Feature For Australian Crypto Investors

Purchasing cryptocurrency has traditionally been a complicated process. While the cryptocurrency ecosystem has matured dramatically over the last decade, streamlined, regulated fiat to crypto payments have only recently become mainstream.

The modern cryptocurrency ecosystem is far more accessible than ever before, providing crypto investors and traders with the ability to purchase Bitcoin or other cryptos through a wide variety of different payment methods — from bank transfers, to crypto ATMs, or with credit or debit cards.

Buying into the cryptocurrency market may be simple — but it’s important to carefully plan your capital distribution. Easy Crypto, a popular New Zealand-based cryptocurrency brokerage platform, now allows both NZ and Aus-based users to set up automated cryptocurrency purchases in a few simple steps, streamlining the purchasing process and allowing for careful investment budgeting.

What is Easy Crypto? 

Founded in 2018 by Alan and Janine Grainger, Easy Crypto is a simple, easy to use cryptocurrency brokerage platform designed to streamline the process of purchasing or selling cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stellar, Nano, and more.

Notably, Easy Crypto is one of the first fully-guaranteed crypto platforms in the Asia Pacific region, providing users with a full guarantee that their funds are safe while using the Easy Crypto service. Easy Crypto doesn’t hold user capital, and focuses on providing a simple, transparent purchasing interface ideal for first-time or casual crypto buyers.

Additionally, Easy Crypto provides a dedicated portfolio tracker, allowing users to track their investment and stay up to date with market movements. 

How Does Easy Crypto Auto Buy Work?

Easy Crypto’s Auto-Buy functionality can be set up in a relatively straightforward manner, allowing users to automate purchases of over 60 different cryptocurrencies. 

Easy Crypto provides a dedicated section for automatic payments, which provides users with a clean interface which is used to select the schedule, payment, and distribution of which cryptocurrencies to purchase. 

When set up, Easy Crypto’s Auto Buy function will automatically purchase and distribute cryptocurrency to the addresses designated by the user. Payments can be made via bank accounts on an automated basis.

Categories
Australia Crypto News Cryptocurrencies

Australians Secure the Bag: Economic Stimulus Spent on Retail, Crypto, Cocaine

The Australian government has announced that it will extend record-breaking stimulus support payments into 2021, detailing several multi-billion dollar efforts to protect Australian jobs from the COVIC-19 pandemic. 

While the fiscal efforts of the Australian government are designed to assist Australian families, employees, and employers through the pandemic-induced financial crisis, Australian consumers have other ideas on how stimulus capital should be spent. 

Aussies Spend Super Funds on Furniture, Gambling, Cryptocurrency

Data published by Accenture’s illion and AlphaBeta platform indicates that retail spending in Australia has skyrocketed 17 percent above normal levels, with over 2.8 million Australians seeking early release of superannuation funds as part of the Australian Government’s COVID response. 

Consumer spending across Victoria, which has recently returned to stage 3 lockdown in several regions including Melbourne, has decreased due to lower retail activity — but that hasn’t stopped Australians in other states from spending 54 percent more than normal at department stores, 51 percent more on online gambling, and 114 percent more than normal on furniture.

The retail sector isn’t the only market benefiting from COVID stimulus — Australian cryptocurrency purchasing and investment patterns match those published by popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase earlier this year, with Australians investing a portion of the $2.8 billion paid out thus far under the early superannuation release scheme directly into crypto markets.

Cocaine Use at 20-Year High

While the retail and cryptocurrency markets are experiencing an inflow of new capital, so too is the Australian illicit drug trade. Australians in lockdown, according to academic data, are more likely to spend money on illicit drugs such as cocaine, resulting in a large spike in cocaine use across the country.

Data published by the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare reveals that cocaine use is at a 20-year high — academic studies into the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on Australians indicate that lockdown periods are likely to increase illicit drug use in Australia despite supply chain interruptions.

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto News Regulation

TikTok Could Hack Your Bitcoin Wallet Right Now — Australian Government Considers “National Security Risk” App

The Australian government has stated that popular Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok is under scrutiny for any potential risks it may pose to user privacy or potential national security risks as new evidence emerges that TikTok could compromise user security — including cryptocurrency wallet data.

The social media app, owned by China-based Bytedance, recently opened new offices in Australia amidst international privacy concern that saw TikTok banned in India and US President Donald Trump promoting a campaign to ban the app as part of a new presidential re-election campaign.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stated that the Australian Government is currently “having a good look” at TikTok, hinting that an Australian TikTok ban is not out of the question:

“If we consider there is a need to take further action than we are taking now, then I can tell you we won’t be shy about it”

TikTok Accused of Leaking User Data

Concerns regarding the potential security issues presented by TikTok aren’t limited to national security, however. Independent penetration testing and cybersecurity firm Penetrum has published extensive documentation focusing on TikTok, condemning the app for spying on and gathering the personal information of all users.

Penetrum data, published via a public data repository and presented via a security analysis white paper, levels concerning claims against TikTok, claiming that over 37 present of known IP addresses linked to the platform are based in China and that the application harvests and shares data with third party vendors and business partners.

What does this mean for cryptocurrency holders, investors, and traders that use smartphone-based wallet applications, though?

Independent Audit Highlights Severe Security Risk

Penetrum data indicates that TikTok presents a severe security risk due to:

  • Always-enabled remote webview
  • OS-level command access
  • Compromised device information and GEOlocation data
  • User activity monitoring

Based on the evidence presented by Penetrum, TikTok is able to read and share clipboard — or copied and pasted text — on user devices, or access camera functionality without altering the user. 

While many wallet apps generate cryptocurrency wallets without user string input, there are many extant apps in use today that allow users to paste private keys when importing wallets — potentially revealing them to malicious applications.

While Penetrums findings have yet to be backed up by additional studies by other third-party cybersecurity firms, the international concern directed at TikTok due to privacy concerns should cause smartphone crypto wallet users to consider whether the social media platform is worth the risk.

Categories
Crypto News Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Law

Aussie Crypto Entrepreneurs Target Google, Facebook, & Twitter with $300 Billion Class Action Lawsuit

Sydney-based legal firm JPB Liberty is preparing to sue international tech giants Google, Facebook, and Witter in a massive Australian class action lawsuit that could potentially see major platforms pay over $300 billion USD, or $436 billion AUD.

Spearheaded by Israeli-Australian lawyer Andew Hamilton, the Sydney-based legal firm — which also maintains offices in Tel Aviv — aims to take multiple social media giants to task over cryptocurrency-related advertising bans executed by the platforms in 2018.

Claimants: Crypto Advertising Bans Harm Legitimate Businesses

Crypto currency-related ads on Google, Facebook, and Twitter were banned in 2018 by all three platforms within a single month. While the bans were reversed in late 2018. Facebook maintained pre-approval for blockchain-focused ads and a review process for any advertisement regarding cryptocurrency-related services or products.

JPB Liberty’s class action lawsuit has attracted multiple litigants, accumulating over $872 million worth of claims thus far, and is currently pending funding to file subsequent to senior barrister review. The Sydney-based law firm will represent companies and individuals that claim that the sweeping bans enacted by social media platforms harmed their businesses. 

Law Firm Seeks Funding to Execute 

Cryptocurrency entrepreneurs participating in the class action lawsuit state that the low number of regulated exchanges in 2018 and the largely unregulated nature of the cryptocurrency ecosystem that lead to the sweeping bans impeded legitimate business growth. 

JPB LIberty is currently organizing funding from institutional litigation funders, investors, and venture capital sources — claimants stand to gain 70 percent of any possible settlement, while funders will capture 30 percent.

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Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Tax

Over 340,000 Australians Won’t Be Getting a Tax Refund — Including Aussie Crypto Traders

The Australian Taxation office has received over 1.7 individual tax returns in 2020, a 12 percent increase over last year. As online lodgements spiked over 640 percent on July 1, however, the ATO has been quick to remind Australian taxpayers that not everybody is going to get a tax return, based on the rate of mistakes made in this year’s returns.

Tax returns filed from the 1st of July have broken an all-time record for online lodgements, with the ATO receiving in excess of 740,000 returns, compared to the 100,000 returns received in the same time period in 2019.

Despite a large number of early tax return lodgers, it’s highly likely that many Australian taxpayers won’t receive a tax return in the first batch of payments —of which $1 billion has already been distributed — due to a number of common mistakes.

The ATO has highlighted a number of major errors that are commonly made in tax returns, which are likely to prevent over 20 percent of early lodgers from receiving a payment. 

ATO Warns Crypto Holders to Declare Crypto Gains

ATO assistant commissioner Karen Foat highlighted the importance of manually adding any and all sources of income when lodging a tax return in a statement this week — specifically mentioning cryptocurrency gains.

“We are asking taxpayers to add any amounts that aren’t automatically included to your return. This includes cash wages, foreign-sourced income, or even gains from cryptocurrency,”

While cryptocurrency gains can be accessed in a wide variety of ways, the ATO has recently taken specific measures to combat cryptocurrency-based tax evasion — notably issuing over 350,00 tax warning letters to Australian taxpayers associated with cryptocurrency usage. 

Cryptocurrency tax can be relatively complex in Australia. If you’re not sure of your tax obligations regarding cryptocurrency in Australia, check out Crypto News Australia’s cryptocurrency taxation guides.

Categories
Australia Bitcoin Bitcoin Mining

South Australian Electricity Now Cheapest in Aus — But Bitcoin Mining Remains Unprofitable

South Australian electricity prices are set to fall below Victorian and NSW prices for the first time in almost seven years, providing SA residents with significant reductions in power costs. 

Despite the significant price decrease in electricity costs, however, Bitcoin mining across Australian remains largely unprofitable for Australian Bitcoin miners. 

Major Australian energy supplier Origin is set to provide South Australian residents with savings of 5.6 percent this year, with default contracts falling 4.4 percent. AGL, similarly, will be lowering average household electricity prices by 2.7 percent during the 2019 to 2020 financial year.

SA energy regulator ESCOSA has published data that indicates an average saving of $62 per household in the state. SA Minister for Energy and Mining, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, highlighted the importance of providing South Australian households with affordable energy rates amidst the current health and economic crisis:

“Cheaper wholesale electricity is very good news for South Australian businesses large and small and will assist our economic recovery as we emerge from the coronavirus lockdown”

Australian Bitcoin Miners Operate at a Loss After Halving

Energy prices may be falling in South Australia — but it’s not yet time to break out the ASICs. 

Even at Australia’s lowest energy rage, equivalent to 20.47 US c/kWh, Bitcoin mining remains largely unprofitable, with even the most advanced and efficient ASIC units running at a loss.

One of the most profitable ASICs in the market at the moment — the Bitmain Antminer Z15 — operates at a loss in Australia. With best-case Australian energy prices hovering around $0.29/kWh, the Z15 would cost roughly $10.34 daily to run, with a total daily income of 0.000072 BTC, yielding a daily loss of $9.40 and an annual loss of roughly $3,430.

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto Debit Cards Crypto Exchange

Revolut Hints Toward Australian Launch of New Crypto Service

Crypto, gold and stock trading platform has announced the launch of new cryptocurrency trading services across the United States, with the digital bank platform stating that Australia is next.

Revolut customers across 49 US states are now able to purchase, sell, and trade both Bitcoin and Ether on Revolut’s crypto platform. The UK-based platform launched services in the US in March 2020, but held off on launching crypto trading features due to regulatory hurdles.

The new crypto trading facilities provided by the platform are delivered in partnership with Paxos, a New York-based trust. In addition to assisting with the launch of Revolut’s new crypto trading feature set, Paxos is also launching a new crypto brokerage platform, providing custodial services for clients such as Revolut and handling regulatory compliance.

Paxos CEO Chad Cascarilla has stated that the new launch will streamline the process of entering the crypto market for firms, providing financial enterprises with access to APIs that deliver regulatory compliance and a range of technological capabilities that facilitate the purchase or sale of crypto. 

Revolut to Launch New Crypto Service for Aussies

Revolut crypto chief Edward Cooper expressed future plans for the new crypto trading capabilities of the Revolut platform, noting that the Asia-Pacific region — specifically Australia — will be the next country to access the new crypto trading feature set. 

“We’ll launch the core product first and then see what steps we need to make to launch the crypto product. We’ll probably be fastest to market in the Australian market, so I’d imagine Crypto Australia is next.”

In addition to cryptocurrency and security trading features, Revolut also provides users with the ability to spend cryptocurrency directly via crypto cards, a market currently limited within Australia.

Categories
Crypto Exchange Cryptocurrency Tax Regulation Trading

Crypto Exchanges Provide ATO, US Secret Service With Trade Data & Analysis Tools

Cryptocurrency is widely touted as a pseudo-anonymous means of value transfer free from the restrictions of government bodies and related oversight. Anonymous digital currencies, however, are only as private as the platforms that are used to trade them.

Government bodies around the world, including the Australian Taxation Office, now have access to a broad spectrum of data delivered to them by major exchanges such as Coinbase — including advanced blockchain analysis tools.

US Secret Service Gains Access to Blockchain Analysis Tools

Recent public records published by the US Government reveals that the US Secret Service, part of the US Department of Homeland Security, has signed a four-year agreement with Coinbase that will provide the agency with access to the platform’s advanced blockchain analysis software.

Coinbase Analytics is a cryptocurrency analysis platform that allows government agencies and other parties to track the flow of cryptocurrency across multiple blockchains, facilitating the identification of cryptocurrency users by linking transactions and wallets to specific exchange accounts and fiat/crypto bridges.

ATO Leverages Exchange Data to Target Aussie Traders

The US Government isn’t the only authority making use of cryptocurrency exchange data. The Australian Taxation Office now has access to bulk records from Australian cryptocurrency exchanges, which is used to ensure that Australian crypto traders are meeting their tax obligations.  

The ATO currently operates a joint effort with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) to link cryptocurrency balances and trades to Australian traders. 

While Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are often referred to as “anonymous” value transfer systems, there are many ways through which cryptocurrency exchange users can be tracked and identified. The ATO issued over 350,000 tax warning letters to Australian crypto traders earlier this year, demonstrating the results of exchange data gathering and analysis.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Law Regulation

Cashless Australia: COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerates Digital Payments as Gov Prepares to Criminalize Certain Cash Payments

The COVID-19 pandemic has halved cash payments throughout Australia as health-conscious consumers shift towards digital and contactless payment options. With bank branches and ATMs set to slowly disappear, Australia is positioned to be one of the most cash-free countries in the world.

Commonwealth Bank insights indicate that Australia will be wholly cashless by 2026, ranking Australia as the 6th most cashless society in the world. A cash-free future, however, has many Australians concerned.

While a cashless economy allows for greater financial security, queuing times, more efficient taxation, and more efficient hygiene routines, opponents of the cashless revolution cite the necessity of cash transactions for the unbanked and underbanked.

Australian Government Set to Legislate Against Cash Payments

Australia’s cashless future, however, could be mandatory. Government limits on cash transactions that present the risk of prison time if violated are already in the works — in 2019, the Morrison Government proposed legislative changes that would criminalize cash transactions in excess of $10,000.

The Currency (Restrictions on the Use of Cash) Bill 2019 is yet to be finalised, but will establish four new criminal offenses that relate to cash payments that exceed $10,000 for goods or services transacted between two individuals or parties.

Notably, these offenses will apply to anybody regardless of their awareness of the new legislation, should it pass, with a maximum penalty of two years in prison and or a $25,200 fine. The core premise of the bill focuses on eliminating the “black” economy, minimizing money laundering, bribery, terrorist financing, and tax evasion. 

Introducing legislation that criminalizes cash transactions over a certain amount, however, is likely to accelerate the adoption and use of cryptocurrency. The Restrictions on the Use of Cash Bill specifically refers to cryptocurrency, stating:

Crypto-currencies and other digital currencies are generally unregulated and often do not create clear records of transactions in a form that can easily be used to identify the parties to a transaction.

Cryptocurrencies a Dark Horse in the Race Towards Cashlessness

The Treasury’s Black Economy Task Force is aware of the virtually untraceable nature of cryptocurrency transactions not associated with a crypto-to-fiat bridge, noting that some non-cash payment methods, including the many cryptocurrencies which are being traded, are just as anonymous as cash. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the use of digital fiat payments and significantly contributing to the adoption and use of cryptocurrency payments, Australia is indeed transforming into a cashless society. 

Whether or not the new digital payment platforms used by everyday Australians in our cashless future will resemble centralized fiat currency or decentralized cryptocurrency virtually immune to legislative control, however, remains to be seen.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Education

Australian Government Invites Aussie Blockchain Experts to Join Supply Chain & Credentialing Think Tank

The Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources is putting together a team to build a blockchain-powered future for Australia — and they want Australia’s best and brightest blockchain experts on board.

The National Blockchain Roadmap Steering Committee published an announcement on July 9 seeking expressions of interest from the Australian blockchain community, inviting industry professionals to join working groups focused on the applications of blockchain technology in supply chain and credentialing use cases.

The Blockchain Roadmap Steering Committee, established in February 2020, is a collaborative endeavor between government representatives, academics, and industry experts operating with the goal of realising blockchain opportunities within Australia.

Australian Government Aims for Digital Economy Dominance by 2030

The formation of the two new working groups is driven by the Q1 release of the committee’s blockchain roadmap, which establishes a number of goals for the implementation of blockchain technology that include the development of frameworks for blockchain education, the creation of support programs for blockchain startups. 

The overall goal of the committee is to establish Australia as a leading digital economy by 2020. Digital Economy and Technology Division Head and Steering Committee Chair Narelle Luchetti clarified the purpose of the new working groups in the July announcement, highlighting a focus on supply chain and credentialing use cases:

“By recognising the rich opportunities that exist to leverage blockchain across our economy, these collaborative working groups will play a central role. They will help progress two important use cases for this technology – supply chains and credentialing.”

Working Groups Will Focus on Agriculture & Education

The Roadmap Steering Committee is currently seeking expressions of interest from professionals that can share expertise on blockchain development, advise on the specific economic opportunities presented by blockchain, and assist in identifying potential barriers to adoption.

The two working groups will focus on the applications of blockchain technology in credential management in the education sector, as well as blockchain-based provenance in the supply chain industry with a focus on the agriculture sector.Interested blockchain industry experts and academics can find more information, as well as a submission form for expressions of interest, as via the National Blockchain Working Group website.