The EU regulators are striving hard to regulate crypto to prevent financial crimes

 

The anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulation in Europe and globally have gone through various structural changes in the last few years. The penetration of illicit funds and high-end money laundering schemes have now managed to get the attention of the public and regulators. The most notable example is the Wirecard scandal which revealed that several shell companies were involved in the illegal distribution of pornography and narcotics. As financial institutions and regulators tend to expand their knowledge on criminal practices, the AML requirements are also expected to be improved. In most cases, these trials have been reactive overwhelmingly, and it is mostly a trial-by-fire process.

The European Union has now started to introduce more rigid regulations to meet the ever-evolving challenges in blockchain, and it is also striving hard to improve the licensing model. Most of the countries are now trying to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies, and Germany is way ahead of others and is leading from the front. The regulatory bodies must also evolve along with the cryptos and financial crimes to address, monitor, and enforce regulations. FATF is the most popular monitoring body, which is well-known for outlining the general guidance for cryptocurrencies.

 

2 Trillion Dollar Bill: Afghan War Burdens Every US Citizen with $20K Debt

The United States has spent over two trillion dollars in the Afghanistan war, combating the Taliban. But to no avail. Things have gone haywire, clearly. After two decades of confronting the Taliban, the US army along with NATO forces has decided to leave the country. Needless to say, the amount spent in Afghanistan is going to pinch every American. The mammoth interest rates will continue to climb given how the modern debt structure functions.

The two trillion dollar bill includes the direct funding cost of $800 billion and $83 billion to train the Afghan army. The rest of the amount was spent on development projects, such as building bases, roads, etc.

America spent more than the combined net worth of Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and the 30 other American richest billionaires.

According to the estimates of the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the interest rate will climb up to $6.5 trillion by 2050, which translates to $20,000 for each and every US citizen. These numbers are frightening, clearly.

Besides, the US army lost its 2448 service members, according to the university report. As many as 4000 civilian contractors lost their lives. Around 66,000 Afghan army personnel were killed. The number of civilians killed is 47,245. The Taliban fighters killed stand at 51,191.

In addition to what was spent in the war, the United States invested in infra sectors too including healthcare. 

There’s no denying that the protective umbrella of the US presence played a vital role in favor of its allies, but the country ended up troubling its own citizens. It’s estimated that every US citizen is burdened with $20K war debt.

 

Microsoft to Use the Ethereum Blockchain to Prevent Piracy

Tech giant Microsoft in a recent announcement has stated that it is planning to use the Ethereum blockchain to combat digital piracy by relying on the network's transparent and decentralized nature. The Redmond-based company is now concentrating on new concrete system named Argus, which Microsoft dubbed as the "first public anti-piracy system."

Microsoft along with other researchers from Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba and Carnegie Mellon University has recently laid out the design, implementation, and evaluation of the new system. Microsoft has said that Argus will be running on a public blockchain to allow digital piracy informers to remain anonymous while maintaining a great level of transparency for the wider public at the same time.

Argus will be protecting the identity of the informers and it will also allow the firm to backtrack the source of the pirated content. Furthermore, by optimizing various cryptographic operations, the cost for piracy reporting will be "reduced to an equivalent cost of sending about 14 ETH-transfer transactions," the company added, contrary to the typically transaction fees for which Ethereum is known for.

 

OPPO Opens a Camera Innovation Lab in India

The global smartphone brand OPPO has announced the establishment of a Camera Innovation Lab at its Hyderabad, India R&D center. This center will develop new solutions in imaging technology.

The establishment of this lab in India will further improve its presence in the country. The lab will be developing localized features, camera solutions using AI and imaging software to improve the user experience in its products.

“Imaging technology has always been a focal point of OPPO India R&D. With this lab set-up, while we work towards elevating the overall camera experience for our users, our focus is on localization of global solutions and developing new solutions which can be globalized. What we will be developing in India Camera lab will end up in the hands of millions of OPPO users across the globe,” said Mr. Tasleem Arif, Vice President and Head of R&D OPPO India.

The addition of AI capabilities in smartphones has greatly improved their imaging technology. The Camera Innovation Lab in Hyderabad will help OPPO generate a realistic dataset and provide advance quality imaging and video shooting experience.

The company intends to use the lab to test its smartphone camera in a variety of artificially set scenes and analyze data produced from them. The lab will also have specialized machines to test various light sources, with different photography/videography scenarios.

 

Retail Giant Walmart Focus on Hiring Digital, Cryptocurrency Lead

Walmart, the largest US retailer by total sales, has stated that it is looking to hire a digital currency and cryptocurrency product lead. The company has stated that this new role seeks to provide leadership with ways to identify technology and current customer trends. Part of the role's remit will also include driving the retail giant's digital currency strategy. Investments needed to build on those existing trends will also be advised by the crypto product lead.

It is likely that Walmart is making moves to accept cryptocurrency as payment. Besides, in 2019, the company applied for a patent on price-stable crypto similar to Facebook's nascent project, which was called Libra. Walmart has also experimented with distributed ledger technology for many nonfinancial uses like tracking drugs and food along the supply chain.

Now Walmart has created a fintech unit called Hazel. This move has now signaled the big-box retailer has not lost its appetite for a piece of the consumer finance pie. It is only a matter of time before the world's retail giants open the floodgates by enabling crypto payments; the rest will follow pretty quickly when that happens.

 

 

Due to shortage of supplies and pressure on the supply chain, back-to-school shopping is expected to be a bit different from the previous year

It is a well-known fact that the back-to-school season is a peak time for family shopping. Generally, the children from elementary school to high school are expected to spend more than $850 in school supplies this year—which is more than $60 than 2020. According to the reports from National Retail Federation, the total back-to-school spending is projected to reach a whopping $37.1 billion this year. Parents will have to deal with a shortage of high-demand items this year.

GlobalData Retail’s MD, Neil Saunders, has stated that some important products like sneakers, backpacks, stationery, and gadgets are expected to be in high demand while the supply chain might not be in a position to fulfill all the Demands. He furthermore added that the supply shortage might not reach catastrophic levels, but continued pressure on the supply chain will hurt their operations, and there is a chance that not all the retailers will get a minimum amount of supply to meet the demands. This will lead to the consumer having to select from a small range of supplies, and few may not even be able to get exactly what they wanted, especially during the end of the season. Parents are now choosing online modes for purchase, and retailers are trying to adapt to the new norm.

 

UnionPay International to Launch Tajikistan’s First Contactless E-Wallet

UnionPay International (UPI) has announced that it is partnering with International Bank of Tajikistan to launch the country’s maiden contactless e-wallet. This will make UnionPay the very first payment brand to offer mobile contactless payment services in the country.

This expansion into Tajikistan will mean that UnionPay mobile payments will now reach to 10 million. UnionPay’s standard e-wallets are present in over 20 countries and regions, including Macao, South Pacific, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. The company has rolled out an astounding ten e-wallets in the second quarter of this year.

UPI is continuously applying its technology, specifications and market experience of the Chinese mainland mobile payments to the international market successfully. It offers a variety of wallet products such as the UnionPay App, mobile QuickPass and QR code e-wallets outside the Chinese mainland. Users can enjoy diverse payment experiences with a scan, tap or click.

“The e-wallet launched in Tajikistan reflects these features. Local POS terminals supporting UnionPay QuickPass account for over 80% of the total, and the International Bank of Tajikistan has also issued a large number of UnionPay cards within the country over the past three years,” said UPI’s press release.