The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has issued a cease and desist order to Karatbit Foundation to immediately stop unauthorized business in Germany. BaFin alleges that Karatbit Foundation is issuing the KaratGoldCoin (KBC) without the necessary license, according to a Nov. 11 announcement. Karatbit describes itself as a provider of a blockchain-based payment system that enables users to conduct transactions with gold, as well as trade gold with cryptocurrencies. The company claims that over 500,000 acceptance points around the world and ten crypto exchanges support trading of gold and gold products for KBC. Absence of the necessary licence and …

The past week has marked a number of crypto- and blockchain-related developments in the German-speaking world. Malta Enterprise partnered with Deutsche Telekom's IT service subsidiary to offer its blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) marketplace, French IT company Atos and Austrian startup Smart Digital proposed industrial plant inspections using blockchain, and the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) launched a market survey on crypto assets derivatives. Below is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph auf Deutsch. BaFin launches a market survey into crypto derivatives BaFin’s survey contains 19 questions in five subject blocks and is …

The German-speaking world has experienced another week full of exciting developments in the crypto industry, with Germany setting the pace in the European fintech scene, German banks arguing in favor of a digital euro, Austria testing how to trade electricity with blockchain technology, and the Swiss crypto trading platform Sibex securing a $1.8 million investment. Here is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph auf Deutsch. Austria: Pilot project tests local blockchain electricity trade In a pilot project starting in November in Styria, Austria, local energy communities will be able to trade …

German banks have presented a position paper in which they make several arguments for the digital euro. On Oct. 30, in a paper released by the Association of German Banks (Bankenverband), which represents more than 200 private commercial banks and eleven member associations, banks stated that the “economy needs a programmable digital euro.” Monetary policy is the state’s responsibility, says Bankenverband The paper states that the responsibility for the monetary system lies with sovereign nation-states and that any currency provided by banks or private companies must fit into a state-determined system. “Anything else would ultimately lead to chaos and instability,” …

Five European Union member countries have reportedly teamed up to prevent the issuance of Facebook’s stablecoin Libra. Private meetings to turn EU against Libra Following a series of private meetings in October, France is reportedly leading the anti-Libra effort with Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, political news publication Politico Europe reports on Oct. 30. Citing sources familiar with the matter, Politico states that the countries’ deputy finance ministers have presented their unified position against Libra to other EU ministers at a private meeting on Oct. 28 in Brussels. According to the report, the group intends to prevent Libra from …

The venture capital arm of German marketplace Deutsche Börse has sealed a new partnership for allowing institutional investors to obtain digital securities. Deutsche Börse pushes regulated digital securities In a press release on Oct. 30, Deutsche Börse Venture Network (DBVN) confirmed the deal with local fintech company Cashlink, the benefits of which will be available immediately. From now on, investors with DBVN will be able to complete the funding process entirely digitally using tools based on so-called distributed ledger technology, or DLT. The digital securities will automatically have the same regulation guarantee as Deutsche Börse’s regular offerings. “With this new …

A German startup is attempting to list a Bitcoin (BTC) derivative product on the Frankfurt and Luxembourg stock exchanges. According to German business news daily Handelsblatt on Oct. 29, the startup Iconic has filed a prospectus for regulated trading of a Bitcoin exchange-traded note (ETN), which could become available as soon as the beginning of December 2019. Iconic said that it will issue an ETN that will offer investors exposure to the seminal cryptocurrency on a regulated marketplace. The ETN will also be issued its own International Securities Identification Number. Handelsblatt states that, while Iconic is based in Frankfurt, the …

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) are not real money, according to a statement published by the German federal parliament on Oct. 28. Not a payment vehicle, not a store of value Per the announcement, the assets offered by the current cryptocurrency landscape — such as Bitcoin — provide only a very limited portion of the features expected of traditional money. The statement – titled “Crypto tokens are not real money” – is based on an answer provided by the German federal government to a question from the Free Democratic Party parliamentary group. The answer provided defines the basic features of …

The German-speaking world has seen an array of crypto and blockchain-related developments over the past week, with the Federal Ministry of Finance concluding that cryptocurrencies are hardly involved in money laundering and terrorist financing (TF), Bitwala integrating a feature for automatically generating cryptocurrency tax reports, and the Graz startup Lab10 Collective developing a more energy-efficient blockchain. Below is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph auf Deutsch. Risk analysis by the Federal Ministry of Finance: Crypto is hardly involved in money laundering and terrorist financing Under the auspices of the Federal Ministry …

The German Federal Ministry of Finance has expressed concerns about rising use of privacy tokens due to their association with criminal activities and difficulties in tracking them. Published on Oct. 19, the ministry’s “First Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing National Risk Assessment” for 2018-2019 provided analysis aimed at the identification of existing and future risks in the field of anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorism financing (TF) in Germany. Among other challenges, the report examines circulation of cryptocurrencies in the darknet for criminal purposes. Pseudo-anonymous vs. anonymous tokens The report marks a distinction between pseudo-anonymous and anonymous tokens, noting that pseudonymity …

The German-speaking world has seen another week of events in the crypto industry, with a new survey revealing that 27% of Germans are interested in using Facebook’s planned Libra stablecoin, which has been discussed all over the world since its announcement in June 2019. Despite existing criticism of Libra, global regulators do not plan to ban either Facebook's crypto initiative or other stablecoin projects, the European Central Bank (ECB) director claimed earlier this week. Here is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph auf Deutsch. Lykke launches utility token to bet against …

German Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz has doubled down on his previous statement that policymakers should prevent the issuance of Facebook’s Libra stablecoin. At the International Monetary Fund and World Bank fall meeting on Friday, Scholz stressed that stablecoins could pose international risks, Reuters reported on Oct. 18. Scholz expressed his utter skepticism regarding the social media giant’s plans, stating: “We will carefully monitor the situation with all the means at our disposal. I am not in favour of the successful creation of such a world currency because that is the responsibility of democratic states.” Scholz notes that the …