Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
November 12, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- Three years ago,
several Blockchain companies left New York in response to the
BitLicense, which aimed to place them under a common regulatory
framework. This year, rampant speculation has been hitting the
space daily on what Crypto projects will be the next to fall to
regulatory crackdowns. Then came the charges that were brought
against EtherDelta last week.
Now, we are left with two
questions: who will be next to fall and why? Before this happens,
can Crypto exchanges do anything about it?
In terms of the first question,
only time will tell, especially because the regulatory system in
the United States is so fragmented. As to the second question, it
is possible to conclude that further transparency is
key.
What do I mean by this?
On September 18, the New York
Attorney General released a report on its investigations into
Crypto exchanges operating in New York. In it, according to
Coindesk and other sources, the AG’s office indicated that Virtual
Private Network usage by Crypto exchanges may assist market
manipulation in some fashion. How this might happen boils down to
what a VPN is at its core. Because it is a tool to thoroughly mask
a computer’s IP address and all of the data that it transmits, a
VPN essentially acts as an extra layer of security for all Crypto
trading.
Perhaps even more importantly,
since VPNs let their users bypass excessive censorship by
heavy-handed governments, they represent the only way for these
users to invest in Cryptocurrencies. Because of this, at the same
time, VPNs represent the only avenue for Crypto exchanges to stay
live in countries like this. China serves as the top example for
this, though with the events surrounding EtherDelta, the United
States has come into focus in one specific sense. With EtherDelta
being the only high profile exchange to be recently taken down by
the United States government, it is logical to wonder why others
have not already followed.
Is it because using VPNs to obscure
certain elements of such platforms is an industry norm? Is it
because while the platforms do not do this, the users do? Perhaps,
the answer lies somewhere in between these two
possibilities?
According to the same Coindesk
article that referenced VPNs and market manipulation, the
possibility of Crypto exchanges obscuring where their headquarters
are is all too real. Apparently, in August, the Chinese government
made a motion to ban more than 120 websites that were using VPNs in
order to run Crypto exchange services in China.
Judging by the same report, the
Chinese government also does not actually have a reliable way to
block VPN usage. Given this, it is safe to say that if China, who
is known for having the “Great Firewall” cannot do this, then the
United States has almost no chance of succeeding where they have
failed.
By: BGN Editorial Staff