TheRebel

Bitcoin and Co are Legal Tender in China

According to CnLedger, a trusted news source for crypto currencies in China, domestic merchants are now able to legally accept Bitcoin and other cryptos as payment methods.

According to local reports, the Shenzhen International Arbitration Court has officially recognized Bitcoin as a property so that individuals and businesses can own and transfer Bitcoin without conflict with existing financial regulations.

The Chinese court has confirmed that Bitcoin is protected by law. Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration ruled on a case involving cryptos. The verdict states:

Chinese law does not prohibit the possession and transfer of Bitcoins, which should be protected by law because of their property and economic value.The distribution and payment of Bitcoin in China is not officially illegal.

Katherine Wu, a crypto researcher at Messari, translated and analysed court documents published by the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration to address the rationale behind the arbitrator’s decision to treat Bitcoin as property.

Essentially, Wu explained that due to Bitcoin’s decentralised nature, which provides financial freedom and economic value to the owner, the asset can be recognised as property.

The court stressed that regardless of the legality of Bitcoin and other major crypto currencies, the circulation and payment of Bitcoin is not illegal. This means that merchants can freely accept crypto currencies as a payment method without violating local law.

In the opinion of the arbitral tribunal, Bitcoin’s circulation and payment, whether or not Bitcoin is legal, is not illegal. Bitcoin does not have the same rights as Fiat, but that does not mean that holding or paying with Crypto is illegal.

Earlier this month, China’s oldest technology magazine Beijing Sci-Tech Report (BSTR), a respected media company in the country, published its plans to accept Bitcoin for its annual subscription to promote the use of blockchain and practical applications of the dominant crypto currency.

BSTR announced that from 2019 the annual subscription to its magazine will be sold at a price of 0.01 BTC worth approximately $65. If BTC’s price were to rise significantly in the future, the magazine stated that it would compensate its customers accordingly.

Several hotels in China’s major cities have also begun to accept crypto currencies, one of which has called itself the Ethereum Hotel, offering benefits and discounts to those paying for their Ethereum services.

What does this show about China in relation to Crypto?

Given China’s optimistic attitude towards blockchain technology and positive comments from government agencies on the sector, it has become clearer that the government has probably imposed a blanket ban on crypto currency trading to prevent the devaluation of the Chinese yuan and limit market speculation.

But overall, the government remains open to crypto and the use of the blockchain to improve existing infrastructures and problems related to software and data billing.

Online Casino Law in Germany and the Rest of Europe

With the legally required closure of many gaming halls in Germany in 2017, online casinos are experiencing a further upswing. However, many players are asking themselves whether gambling in German online casinos halls is legal, or whether people might even make themselves liable to prosecution.

The reports on online casinos in the media are usually very one-sided. They do not concern themselves also in the core with the legality, but represent online casinos generally as the digitized Beelzebub.

When researching whether online casinos are legal or illegal, one quickly reaches the limits of legislation. The German State Treaty on Gaming is outdated and no longer covers today’s needs. The change which should come into force in 2017 failed miserably and was rejected by several Lands of the Federal Republic. For more than a decade now, a new law has been being drafted, but it now seems to be further away than it was in 2007. At that time, the renewal of the law had already been decided. In the meantime, however, even the “Draft of the Second State Treaty on the Amendment of the State Treaty on Gaming” has been put on ice. The title of the paper alone clearly shows how far one is from each other and, above all, from reality. In order to go to the question about the legality on the reason one must be expert. These sit with CasinoSpecialist, an online magazine, which concerns itself exclusively with Casino tests and everything with it in connection stands.

Online Casinos Legal with European License

In general, gambling is a matter for the federal states. However, these countries must comply with German law. For the European Union, however, the EU law is decisive. That means, if one wants to summarize it simply, that an online casino which possesses a license in the European Union and in the country properly its income taxed can be visited also from Germany.

The large political problem here is not the European Union right or the addiction danger, as the politicians always want to present it in the public, but the fear of it the monopoly position to lose. The state of Schleswig-Holstein has resisted the German regulation anyway and issued its own licenses. These are limited until 2019. However, it is already clear that the experiment has been successful and that in most cases the licenses will be renewed.

Are online licenses from Malta trustworthy?

The majority of online casinos have obtained their licenses from the Maltese MGA. Only while it is a small island in the Mediterranean Sea this does not mean that there are trafficking. For small states without natural resources, it is virtually impossible to cover their household needs. There are many other niche industries which are an important budget factor for small countries. Especially the Malta Gaming Authority is known for its hard controls and transparency.

Listed Online Casino Operators

Many casino operators are not only registered in the EU and Great Britain, they are also listed on the stock exchange. Some companies which also operate virtual gaming halls have been active in gambling for decades. At that time one did not know still at all that there will be sometime Internet. The traditional English bookmaker William Hill is just one example of the many listed companies.

So until the German legislation actually changes, online casinos with a valid European license are legal. Of course, this does not mean that there is no danger of gambling addiction. Even if casinos have protective mechanisms and offer help, everyone is responsible for their own behavior and must be aware of this responsibility.

Trumps Trade Dispute with China – The Players and the Strategists

First a breakthrough, then again not: the trade dispute between the USA and China is going back and forth. Beijing has recognized that the US government is at loggerheads – and is making cool use of this.

“My way of doing business is very simple,” wrote Donald Trump in his bestseller The Art of the Deal. “Sometimes I give in, but mostly I get what I want.”

The book from 1987 founded the myth Trump. Today we know: Trump’s talent as a wheeler is at least doubtful, his great business wisdoms were invented by a ghost writer. However, he has a talent for self-marketing with which he made it to the White House.

But that’s where Trump’s production reaches its limits. Acute example: the trade dispute with China. The crisis erupted in March when Trump threatened punitive tariffs on Chinese imports, followed by counter threats from Beijing. Two high-level discussion groups were to prevent the conflict from escalating into a real trade war.

The last meeting in Washington, however, raised more questions than it answered. It ended this weekend with a meaningless statement, followed by contradictory appearances by his economic advisors. Nevertheless, the president praised himself in tweets on Monday for a breakthrough that did not exist.

Maybe that’s a negotiating strategy. But Trump and his team probably underestimated the Chinese. They, in turn, used dilettantism, internal strife and general disorientation among the Americans to block the recent negotiations. Trump’s people were still trying to trick the Chinese delegation at the last minute, according to several US media: Chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow hastily reported that Beijing was prepared to buy US products worth at least 200 billion dollars in order to reduce trade inequality – a figure that was addressed but never decided.

China denied, Kudlow rowed back, the talks were adjourned. The joint declaration, which they fought for until late at night, contained only vague declarations of intent.

China wants to import more American agricultural products and energy than before – which was planned anyway: “To meet domestic demand, China must import energy, animal feed and meat,” Brad Setser of the Council on Foreign Relations told the Washington Post. Such a deal would have been “offered to every US president”.

Beijing’s announcement on Tuesday to reduce import duties on cars does not solve the real conflict either. Trump wants China to reduce its billion-dollar trade surplus.

Nevertheless, in return for China’s announcements to date, the US has suspended the threatened punitive tariffs for the time being – which benefits the People’s Republic more than the US and was propagated by the Chinese state media as the greatest success of the talks: The USA had unilaterally agreed not to “start a trade war”. Also all other stimulating topics resulted only in vague phrases.

Here tactics, there chaos

China is playing for the long term, while Trump is acting on a short-term basis. He is obviously more concerned with a quick victory, a crisp slogan for the congress election campaign in the fall – and possibly even personal countertrades for the benefit of his own company.

How chaotic and uncoordinated the US procedure is, especially without an informed tour from the Oval Office, was already shown in the first round at the beginning of May. Kudlow, Finance Minister Steven Mnuchin, Trade Minister Wilbur Ross, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Trump Advisor Peter Navarro travelled to Beijing. There was a gulf through the delegation, symbolic of the entire government: on the one hand, hardliners like Navarro who want to neutralize China; on the other hand, traditionalists like ex-banker Mnuchin. In Beijing they were so divided that according to US media reports they publicly shouted at each other and Navarro was temporarily excluded.

That was convenient for the Chinese. According to the New York Times, they had been cultivating Mnuchin, who advocated a gentler gait, for months as their “main contact”. It worked out: In Beijing, he conferred privately with the Chinese chief negotiator Liu He – which led to the vociferous dispute with Navarro.

The tactic from “The Art of the Deal” turns out to be a flop in the most momentous way so far. The book traced eleven steps to success at that time, from “Don’t dribble, but pad” to “Have fun! However, the others seem to be having the most fun at the moment.

Trump is Compromised

Donald Trump’s reticence towards the Russian president is striking. In an interview with FAZ.NET, journalist Luke Harding is convinced that Moscow has material against him.

In your book “Verrat” you describe Donald Trump’s close contacts with Moscow. Is the American President Agent Putin’s to you?

“agent” is not the right term, it makes the wrong associations. Donald Trump does not perform Cossack dances in the uniform of a Soviet colonel. What is crucial is that he has a special connection to Putin, both as a candidate, as an elected president and as a sworn president. One example is Trump’s reluctance to criticize the Kremlin chief – although he harshly criticizes everyone else, especially the Germans and their cars. He is rude to Theresa May, to the Mayor of London, to Hollywood, to the New York Times, to Jeff Sessions – but there is only one person on this planet to whom he is the kindness in person – Vladimir Putin. Trump has a habit of making a fool of himself about the height of little men and, when he talks about them, calling them small; Putin is very small, but Trump never mentions it.

What is the reason for Trump’s charm towards Putin?

He’s compromised. We have evidence that he was secretly recorded on video in Moscow. We don’t know what’s on the video. Maybe he goes to bed early and reads a 19th century French novella; maybe he can be seen having an exotic experience. What we know is that the KGB and its successor FSB have a long history of secretly recording celebrities on video. Trump’s connections with Russia go back a long time, to a trip in 1987, organized by the Soviet government. And paid for it, by the way. He was under surveillance even then. There is much to suggest that Trump is an on-off operation, so the KGB simply collected material to involve him and influence him. In secret service jargon, this is called “cultivating”, i.e. “growing up”.

Then what happened?

Trump was further “cultivated”. This was intensified during the Obama presidency in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Are there any other clues besides the allegedly compromising video?

All members in Trump’s first team had a connection to Moscow or a Russian dimension in one way or another. Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, Rex Tillerson, Felix Sater, Paul Manafort or Carter Page. It seemed to me almost as if Moscow had put together Trump’s team.

But that’s not evidence.

The financial links are the heaviest. In fact, Trump’s companies have operated for three decades as a washing machine for Russian cash. And partly as a shelter for Russian gangsters. Many of them lived in the Trump Tower in the 1980s and 1990s. There’s evidence of that. Several of them were later convicted and sent to prison. It is remarkable that I describe all this in my book, and Donald Trump did not sue me. A hundred thousand copies were sold, the book was number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and I openly accuse him of laundering money. And he didn’t react. There hasn’t been a letter from a lawyer at Trump’s yet. You can interpret this as you like!

Please note this interview has been translated from German.