The cryptocurrency market remains range bound with slight bearish bias. Bitcoin (BTC), which has a market cap of $169.82 billion, continues to struggle at $9,200 levels. At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin was trading at $9,214, reflecting a loss of 0.3% in the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) is expected to trade at $238.80, down 0.6% in the same period. XRP, the native crypto of Ripple, has lost 0.8% to trade at $0.1974. Major altcoins which have gained ground in the past 24 hours include ChainLink (LINK-$8.62, 8.4%), Stellar (XLM-$0.0967, 3.9%), Monero (XMR-$71.28, 5.0%), LEO (LEO-$1.15, 1.8%), Cosmos (ATOM, $4.18, 5.5%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH-$227.66, -0.5%), Tezos (XTZ-3.28, 12.6%), Cardano (ADA-$0.1318, 0.4%) Binance Coin (BNB-$17.69, -2.1%), Huobi (HT-$4.26, 0.2%), and OKB (OKB-$5.21, 2.3%). Major altcoins which have lost ground in the past 24 hours include Ethereum Classic (ETC-$6.25, -0.9%), Litecoin (LTC-$43.39, -0.6%), Tron (TRX-$0.01758, -0.8%), IOTA (IOTA-$0.2462, -1.1%), EOS (EOS-$2.54, -0.1%), Dash (DASH-$71.31, -0.5%) and Bitcoin SV (BSV-$179.79, -0.2%).
Government level initiatives
USACIDC searching for a SaaS tool to track illegal crypto trades
The United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Command (USACIDC) is on the lookout for a Software-as-as-Service (SaaS) tool to assist in tracking illegal crypto trades. In addition to the USACIDC, the Major Cybercrime Unit and the FBI will utilize the SaaS platform to spot activities such as blackmail, fraud, and money laundering conducted using cryptos.
Until July 20th, the institution will accept bids for an already developed, tested, and ready-to-install platform that can serve the purpose described above.
According to USACIDC, a division of the US army that carries out criminal scrutiny across the globe, the web application they are looking for must have the ability to examine Bitcoin (BTC) and other top cryptos in real-time while also paving the way for users to “conduct an in-depth investigation into the source of cryptocurrency transactions.”
The document further states that the cloud application should assist the USACIDC in speedily identifying “criminal and suspicious financial connections, identify suspicious cryptocurrency transactions, and investigate cryptocurrency connections.”
Japan government looking at adding a CBDC in its economic plans
The government of Japan intends to include a proposal for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in its formal economic blueprint. Notably, ten days before, the Bank of Japan had announced that it would begin trialing the digital yen to assess its practicability from a technical point of view.
As per Nikkei, the suggestion for CBDC will be included in the Honebuto Plan for Economic and Fiscal Revitalization. The Honebuto Plan forms the basis for the economic and fiscal policy of the country, and the report states that the government of Japan will “consider a CBDC while coordinating with other countries.”
After China started piloting its CBDC (digital yuan), the government of Japan has expedited the development of its own CBDC. Last March, Kozo Yamamoto, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Member of the House of Representatives and a former official at the Ministry of Finance, asked the government to take steps for the creation of CBDC quickly: “If Japan doesn’t issue a digital currency and people in the world use other digital currencies, the Japanese yen will be forgotten and lose its sovereignty.“
Private sector initiatives
MUFG to launch native crypto later this year
The fifth-largest bank in the world, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), intends to roll out its native crypto in the second half of this year. The MUFG token was structured as a blockchain-powered stablecoin, pegged 1:1 with the Japanese yen. Even though the venture was started five years back, the launch of the MUFG token was postponed multiple times. Despite being the largest bank in Japan, it was unsuccessful in its plan to launch the token in 2018 and 2019.
The cryptocurrency was initially structured to function on a blockchain network and pave the way for real-time p2p transactions. After several postponements, the bank has decided to launch the crypto token before the end of this year.
Hironori Kamezawa, president and CEO at MUFG, revealed plans to Mainichi Shimbun, a local media outlet. Along with the forthcoming launch, MUFG intends to unveil mobile retail payments powered by cryptocurrency in partnership with the Recruit Group.
Kamezawa revealed that roughly 1 million Recruit member stores have already signed up to participate in the venture. He said, “We think that everyone will be able to use it openly.” The CEO also stated that the MUFG token would be offered to non-Recruit stores in the future.
Miscellaneous
Crypto market looking to increase the hiring of legal teams
The cryptocurrency market is on the verge of seeing an increase in the hiring of legal teams, as per a report by Bloomberg Law. The news report has come soon after Coinbase hired Paul Grewal, the ex-vice president and deputy general counsel of Facebook, as the head of its group of lawyers.
As the crypto sector is aggressively trying to enter into the financial mainstream, experts believe that the number of legal experts hired will rise considerably in the months ahead.
In particular, Marco Santori, chief legal officer of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, stated that the company’s legislative team would be doubled next year. According to him, crypto-focused firms “are serious about participating in the international discourse around the development of crypto law.”
In the meantime, a decisive regulatory infrastructure is still not available in several countries. Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s general counsel, emphasized that the industry requires “smart regulation that both recognizes and fosters the potential of this technology.”
As per Santori, lawyers who relish “intellectual challenges” are fully occupied due to the absence of specific rules for the crypto sector.
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