Brazil’s Congress Set to Undertake Deep Probe of the Country’s Cryptocurrency Market

Cryptocurrency news website Cointelegraph, reported that Brazililian lawmakers have overwhelmingly voted to approve a resolution to launch an investigation into the country’s cryptocurrency market.

Congressman Aureo Ribeiro, instigated the request to formally task the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (PCI) to conduct the probe. The request came as a result of the widespread proliferation of cryptocurrency related fraud transpiring in Brazil. Congressional support for Ribeiro’s resolution is overwhelming, as the document was signed by 234 Congressmen, which exceeded the required minimum of 63 votes.

According to Cointelegraph, the approved resolution specifically named cryptocurrency operators Atlas Quantum and its CEO Rodrigo Marques, Trader Group and Zero 10 among many others, as needing thorough investigation.

The growing number of complaints put forward by people coming from all over Brazil, indicated that the proliferation of cryptocurrency-related fraud throughout the country, has reached epidemic proportions.

Congressman Ribeiro, who also authored a bill proposing for the regulation of Brazil’s cryptocurrency operations, wrote in the resolution that

”The lack of regulation and vigilance over the crypto market in Brazil presents potential risks to investors and users, as its operations combined with high levels of anonymity, abstraction, cross-border transactions and other peculiarities inherent to the cryptocurrency technology.”

The Brazilian congressman also explained in the resolution, why Atlas Quantum, once purported as the biggest cryptocurrency company in Brazil, calls for a deep probe.

The Main Problem with Atlas Quantum

Homegrown Brazilian cryptocurrency company Atlas Quantum, is currently facing financial problems and legal issues.

Last September 18, 2019, Atlas Quantum released a video to present itself as a robust company with more than $54 million in bitcoins to its name. However, Atlas made further claims that the exchange company HitBTC has frozen 1,862 BTC ($15.3 million) and over $5.4 million in stablecoin Tether (USDT) that Atlas allegedly maintains in three crypto accounts.

On October 05, 2019, HitBTC denied Atlas Quantum’s claim by informing investors that the said crypto-investment company does not have any value stuck in the HitBTC platform. HitBTC further stated that the video released by the alleged Atlas Quantum team is fake, as exchange company noted the non-standard placement of amounts to show the purported balances of Atlas Quantum’s account.

Moreover, HitBTC asserts that it has not received any request for assistance in connection with the supposed frozen accounts. .

The video came at a time when numerous investors expressed fears that the crypto-investment company will not be able to fulfill its obligations to meet all requests for withdrawals. The case attracted wide media coverage, to which Atlas Quantum responded by presenting an audit report allegedly attesting to the veracity of the amount of Bitcoins and other altcoins held by the beleaguered company.

The audited statement though is regarded as contentious, as many of Atlas’ investors doubt if Atlas Quantum has sufficient cryptocurrency resources to honor its commitments.

Equity Release : A Financial Scheme that Can Help Seniors Cope with the Loss of a Spouse

Home equity release is fast becoming a financial solution taken by UK’s population of senior adults. During the second quarter of this year alone, the Equity Release Council had established that as much as £971 million in equity release loans were availed by Britons aged 55 and older.

Many do so in order to cope with the loss of their spouse, when preferring to live independently in the home where they raised their brood. After all, maintaining a house requires extra funds that a state pension cannot provide.

Moreover, the Centre for Ageing and Demography of the UK National Statistics Office released a report in August 2019 that describes the dramatic change in the structure of the UK population. According to the report, there are more older people making up the UK population, since previous generations had produced fewer children. The only factor driving a rise in the number of people residing in the UK are the migrants. .

The report also said that Britons today tend to have a longer life span. Generally, most British men are said to live up to 79.2 years old, while British women often survive the death of their husband up to age 82 and beyond. Yet senior citizens who have to survive after the death of their spouse, face financial and health issues while living alone.

Seniors Address Extraordinary Financial Needs by Way of Equity Release Mortgage

In seeking professional advice from financial experts, many older adults in the UK learned that there is a financial facility offered exclusively to senior homeowners. Availed by way of an equity release arrangement, a lot of older Britons were able to borrow a percentage of their property’s value, without having to face the burden of making monthly payments.

The amount borrowed plus the total interest compounded on the outstanding balance will be settled through the sale of the property; but only when the senior borrower dies, or when he or she needs to enter a nursing home for long term. The scheme works on the principle that a real property appreciates in value and therefore can be sold in the future at a higher valuation.

It is possible that the proceeds from the sale of the property could exceed the total amount due on the loan. The borrower’s heirs would still stand to receive the residual value, once all payments due on the mortgage have been applied.

On the other hand, to avoid burdening heirs with unpaid obligations arising from an equity release mortgage, the UK Equity Release Council, requires the incorporation of a “No-Negative Equity Guarantee” to the mortgage contract. It is a clause that constrains the lender to consider the mortgage paid through the sale of the property. That is regardless of any resulting deficiency, in case the proceeds of the sale is less than the total amount due. .

Using an equity release calculator uk lenders carefully evaluate the value of a property. That way, they can ascertain that the amount loaned out as equity release plus compounded interest, can be adequately covered by the future value of the mortgaged property.

Cryptocurrencies – Does It Have An Effect On The Global Market

Binance withdraw is an option to take as it is one solution for global crypto exchange providing a platform for trading and exchanging over a hundred cryptocurrencies. Since 2018, Binance is regarded as one of the largest crypto exchange in the globe with regards to the volume of trading.

Platforms like this have been created as cryptocurrencies have become tremendously popular because of the potential gains it offers, however the volatility of cryptos includes the risk of losses as well. For instance, Bitcoin increased from around $1,000 to over $19,000 in 2017 prior to dipping to over $3,000 in the onset of 2019. In 2017, ICO or Initial coin offerings raised over $3.7 billion with a succession of new digital currencies entering the cryptocurrency market.

The Responses

The response to digital currencies has been unenthusiastic among financial institutions as well as central banks. Although there are several bodies that have supported cryptocurrencies, numerous central banks continue to be careful taking into consideration the tremendous volatility of the market. Moreover, concerns with capital control as well as tax evasion have directed to several widespread issues.

  • United States Federal Reserve

Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, deems that technical concerns persist as well as governance and risk management are crucial prior to digital currencies becoming mainstream.

  • European Central Bank

Vitor Constancio, former VP of the European Central Bank, described Bitcoin a “tulip” pertaining to the bubble in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Additionally, a lot of other governors have voiced out comparable skepticism.

  • Bank of England

Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, described cryptocurrencies as part of a finance “revolution” wherein it made the central bank one of the technology’s governmental proponents.

  • Bank of Japan

The Bank of Japan does not envisage a cryptocurrency market.

  • People’s Bank of China

The People’s Bank of China supposes that situations are “ripe” to accept and welcome cryptocurrencies, however the central bank would want complete control. Moreover, authorities are tightening up on the nation’s cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Bearing of Crypto on Global Investments

In terms of transactions that are frictionless and controlling of inflation, cryptocurrencies have numerous benefits, however a lot of investors are including these digital currencies as assets to their expanded and wide-ranging portfolios. To be specific, the market which is non-correlated in nature makes digital currencies a probable border against risk, akin to valuable metals such as gold. Numerous products that are exchange-traded via cryptocurrency have surfaced for this reason.

Conversely, several experts are concerned and fearful that a collapse in the cryptocurrency can have an undesirable bearing on the wider market, like how securities that are backed by mortgage set off a worldwide financial crisis. However, it’s good to note that the entire capitalization in the market of every digital currencies is beneath that of numerous public corporations. This means that it might not have a significant impact or bearing on the global markets.