Report

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is regarded as the “queen” of technology, according to conversations on Twitter. The 6th edition of the Innovation Report of Talent Garden has analyzed the chats on Twitter across Europe, looking at the key trends in digital last year to forecast the trends of 2019.

Digital currencies have gained much momentum globally, including in South America. The World Bank recently issued a report and indicated that only 49% of adults in S. America have access to banks. Overall, it is difficult to create a new bank account since it involves multiple processes (bureaucracy) and weighty maintenance costs.

The executive body of the Irish Government – the Cabinet, officially approved a bill giving effect to the EU Fifth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive, according to a Thursday, January 3, 2019 report by the Irish Times.

The U.K disclosed that it has rolled out a total of 67 different inquiries into cryptoasset firms, out of which 49 were successfully closed and 18 are still ongoing. To boot, the U.K government has ratified that it is poised for action to offer more aid to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to assist regulate the cryptocurrency sector.

Mizuho Financial Group (MFG), Japan-based, is considering introducing a cryptocurrency that will be used for payments and remittances in March next year, according to a Wednesday December 26 report by Nikkei. MFG will collaborate with around 60 regional banking institutions on this project.

Authorities in South Korea arrested 9 drug dealers who sold narcotics through an obscured online platform using crypto, according to a report by Korea Herald. The office of Seoul Central District Prosecutor revealed on December 23, 2018, that the purported criminals used the darknet and even developed a website purposely to sell drugs.

Mayor Luigi De Magistris used Bitcoin (BTC) to purchase a pizza at the historic Neapolitan Pizzeria during the Blockchain Napoli project presentation that occurred on December 15, 2018, according to a recent Cryptonomist report.

The tax agency of the U.K published an exhaustive explanation of how it looks at digital assets plus how users will be taxed on their holdings, on Wednesday, December 19, 2018. Now, individuals who get crypto as a gift won’t pay the same taxes as those anticipating to accumulate money with them.

A report published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) outlines that 15 different countries are considering joining the global fintech trend and adopting central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as a method of payment. The IMF has emphasized two main reasons for such a decision in the report.