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 of Finance, 35 authorities from the federal and state governments took part in the first national risk analysis in the area of combating money laundering and terrorism financing, which was initially launched in December.
According to the analysis, the use of crypto assets in such illicit financing is currently low. There is more evidence that crypto assets play a role the fields of right-wing extremism and Islamism. However, there is no reliable evidence that cryptocurrencies have been used to a greater extent in financing terrorism.
Crypto banking firm Bitwala began providing automatic tax reporting for cryptocurrencies
Bitwala integrated a feature that enables customers to automatically create standardized tax reports. In Germany and Switzerland, country-specific tax reports "comply with all legal requirements". The CryptoTax solution also makes it possible to create "customized reports that can either be processed by a tax accountant or routed directly to the tax authority."
1000 times more energy-efficient than Ethereum: Austrian startup presents a climate-friendly blockchain
The solution was developed by the Graz startup Lab10 Collective and represents a fully Ethereum-compatible platform for smart contracts. The company thus aims to fight against climate change. Lab10 Collective Board Member Thomas Zeinzinger commented on the product:
"For the past three years, we have been working intensively on how decentralized Internet technologies can contribute to greater sustainability and fairness in the economy. Climate change and the associated need for decarbonisation are an urgent challenge that we now radically address. "
Crypto-crime around Envion: Procuratorate searches office premises by former CEO Woestmann
The public prosecutor's office in Berlin initiated a search of the business premises of the insolvent crypto startup Envion CEO Matthias Woestmann and his lawyer. Former Envion CEO Matthias Woestmann lodged a second complaint against a judgment he had previously made, stating that he had unlawfully secured control of the company through a capital increase.
Following the court ruling, the founders of the Swiss crypto startup in liquidation had announced that they would return the remaining cash to the participants of their initial coin offerings.
IOTA and Fiware partner to launch smart solutions
The open source platform Fiware entered partnership with IOTA to use Tangle technology for smart solutions. Specifically, Fiware intends to deploy Tangle for the decentralized storage of data on devices.
Juanjo Hierro, CTO of the Fiware Foundation, pointed out that context data could be reviewed and shared with third parties, while the planned development will ensure the quality of the data stored in a ledger. This is purportedly especially important in applications such as quality management in food production and supervision of certain parameters of animal welfare on farms.