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Two executives at Coinbase and Ripple are leading a push for smart regulations and transparency in the crypto-sphere that would arguably drive adoption and take blockchain technology mainstream. 

Market integrity must improve

The Market Integrity Working Group’s co-chairs want regulators to grasp how they can advance the cryptocurrency industry. In an official company statement, Coinbase senior director and associate general counsel Rachel Nelson, in conjunction with Ripple’s head of global institutional markets Breanne Madigan, wrote: 

“To improve market integrity and provide consumers the confidence they deserve, Congress may need to enact legislation to support the orderly and secure functioning of crypto markets.”

Projecting wider regulations, they added: 

“Such legislation could expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) authority to include the regulation and oversight of digital commodity exchange markets.”

The need for a regulatory framework

The Working Group, which officially launched on Jan. 23 2020, outlined the problems that saddle exchanges. According to this organization, state-specific regulations are to blame: 

“Consumers and cryptocurrency exchanges deserve a clear regulatory framework, the establishment of which would ultimately enhance market integrity and drive consumer adoption of cryptocurrencies.”

The co-chairs argue that new exchanges face byzantine burdens while existing exchanges struggle against compliance requirements. But a regulatory framework would bolster market integrity and encourage consumer adoption of cryptocurrencies.

China has initiated a fresh crackdown on virtual currency initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency trading – which are banned in the country – in response to a surge in blockchain fever.


The governments of top tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, issued risk alerts to the public, warning of “illegal fundraising”, financial frauds or pyramid selling.

They also joined hands with the national internet finance association and the computer network emergency response centre to search for local traces of activity on the ground and tried to cut off connections with offshore platforms.

The coordinated endeavours came after President Xi Jinping hailed the use of blockchain technology in late October, a move meant to push technological development and troubleshoot with new technologies but which unexpectedly fuelled investor enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies.

The price of bitcoin, the most well-known application of the technology, rose nearly 40 per cent to more than US$10,000 soon after Xi’s speech. Its value has since fallen by about 30 per cent.

The Shanghai headquarters of the People’s Bank of China said on Friday that speculation in virtual currencies was on the rise since the promotion of blockchain technology and it had “severely disrupted economic and financial order”.

“Investors must not treat virtual currencies the same as blockchain technology. The issuance and trading of virtual currency contain multiple risks, including fictitious assets, operation failure and speculation,” it said.

In the risk alert issued on Thursday, Shenzhen’s financial regulator specified three targets for crackdown, including onshore trading platforms, service channels for overseas registered virtual currency trading platforms and virtual currency sales.

Thirty-nine local enterprises suspected of running virtual currency businesses had been identified, it said.

Former head of European Central Bank pours cold water on bitcoin

Meanwhile, Beijing police said they had cracked a fraud case concerning a trading platform called BISS, detaining dozens of people. No further details were provided.

China banned onshore cryptocurrency trading in September 2017, calling it a threat to financial stability, as part of the country’s de-risking campaign, which has also targeted peer-to-peer online lending platforms.

The government has already shut down six onshore virtual currency trading platforms, disposed of another 203 platforms linked to overseas servers and closed nearly 10,000 payment accounts, as well as about 300 WeChat marketing accounts, according to China Securities Journal.

“Such activities are not really based on blockchain technology, but use the concept to illegally raise funds, conduct pyramid selling or fraud,” the state-run newspaper said.

Blockchain — the technology many of us know simply as the underpinning of cryptocurrency — has the potential to revolutionize the staffing industry in a big way.

Our team is currently in research and development into blockchain technology, as are a number of our clients. From administrative efficiency to unhackable sensitive information and instantly accessible talent pools, it appears that blockchain may contain the answers to problems that have been plaguing the staffing industry for decades.

A Tamper-Proof, Verified Digital ProfileStaffing agencies are charged with handling and verifying extensive sensitive personal and financial information.

Storing information securely has always been a pain point for staffing firms, with the current norm of cloud storage making data vulnerable to tampering and hacking.

Blockchain greatly reduces the likelihood of information being accessed or falsified by unauthorized devices, and in many cases, it is virtually eliminated.

Another challenge that staffing professionals face is the time-consuming task of verifying candidates’ credentials. Theoretically, blockchain could eliminate this task.

With blockchain, it is possible to create verified digital profiles, allowing staffing firms to instantly access individuals’ identities, work history, background checks, references, student transcripts, salary history, certifications and licensures.

When information is added to the blockchain, it must be verified at the source, or in this case by the educational institution, previous employer or responsible entity, making it nearly impossible to falsify information.

A blockchain-based system of digital profiles would save potential employers and recruiters the step of verifying the accuracy of candidates’ resumes and applications, increasing the efficiency of staffing teams exponentially, and save candidates the step of filling in basic information on each individual application.

Measuring Candidates’ Behavioral Characteristics And Skill SetsBlockchain has the ability to incorporate additional measures into digital profiles, such as cognitive ability, personality traits, behaviors, habits and even skill competency extracted from individuals’ online assessments.

Our use of smart devices is providing endless amounts of anonymized user data that can be used to build a digital extension of ourselves in a way that some believe may replace the need for repetitive pre-employment behavioral and skills assessments.
If gathering data from individuals’ smart devices to assess personality, cognitive ability and skill ability seems far-fetched, then you may be shocked to learn this practice is already happening in many workplaces. With technology advancing at an exponential rate, it is now possible for employers to track and record what their employees do, where they go and who they meet.

Here are a few of the ways they do it:

1. Installing real-time employee tracking systems in ID badges to monitor hours worked, frequency of breaks and other behavioral insights.

2. Tapping into your email and calendar metadata, to/from data, subject lines and timestamps to obtain behavioral insights, employee engagement and effectiveness.

3. Monitoring your workstation by tracking your online browsing history, detecting idle workstations, taking screenshots and remotely monitoring computer screens to evaluate productivity and hours worked.

Companies gathering this information would be able to automatically populate a database that allows them to instantly measure employee engagement, productivity, effectiveness and efficiency, as well as habits and personality traits.

And some candidates may enjoy having their individual certifications and assessments available in their own blockchain to present to future employers.

Certainly, adding measures of cognitive ability, emotional intelligence and habits obtained by employers or our smart devices to digital profiles raises an important question: How much data will the public be willing to add to their digital profile?

Implications For The Gig EconomyWith the rise of the global gig economy, staffing firms are hiring freelancers and contract workers at an increasing rate.

Blockchain has the potential to ease challenges that are associated with this shift in the workforce landscape with real-time information sharing, cross-border payment transactions and smart contracts.

Blockchain could potentially eliminate the need for back-office functions by streamlining routine tasks from tracking payroll to issuing paychecks. Remote employees would benefit from real-time payroll processing and cross-border payments that are not susceptible to costly third-party intermediaries.

Contracts, the lifeblood of staffing firms and gig workers alike, would be made more efficient with blockchain. Smart contracts could eliminate the majority of the tasks associated with managing this paperwork. A blockchain smart contract is a protocol designed to digitally facilitate, enforce or verify negotiation or performance of a contract.

Participants can ensure their employees are transacting ethically, within rules that are agreed to through smart contracts. From Current To Future StateEarly adopters of blockchain are present in every industry from education to supply chain, healthcare and government. 

According to Deloitte’s 2019 “Global Blockchain Survey,” 77% of companies across multiple industries believe they will lose a competitive advantage if they don’t adopt blockchain technology, and 40% are willing to invest $5 million or more in developing blockchain technologies over the next 12 months.

Despite the emergence of blockchain innovators across industries in the past few years, blockchain’s heyday may still be a ways off. In July 2019, a survey on blockchain adoption found that over half of the respondents indicated that blockchain projects were more challenging to utilize than expected.

Most blockchain applications for staffing firms are still in the theoretical stage; however, their potential cannot be ignored. As blockchain moves from a capable yet underdeveloped technology into a mainstream solution, the applications for staffing firms will prove to be numerous.

For staffing firms, it will be important to stay abreast of the changes.Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?




Eric FriedmanEric Friedman is the Founder and CEO of eSkill, a global leader in skills testing and behavioral assessment solutions for employers.

A Swiss bank set up to handle both traditional financial products and new digital currencies has been given the go-ahead by the country’s regulators.

SEBA, the Swiss-based cryptocurrency bank, is now officially operational, The Block reports.

The bank reportedly shared a statement with The Block yesterday that said its Swiss clients can now open accounts with the bank. This goes for corporate businesses, asset managers, and professional private investors.

Launched earlier this year, the bank received its banking license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in August.

SEBA says it’s trying to bridge the gap between traditional and digital assets, whilst maintaining high levels of security. At the moment, the bank supports five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, $BTC▲1.78% Ethereum, Stellar, Litecoin, and Ethereum Classic.

Customers will be able to manage their asset accounts through an app and online banking. According to the statement, users will be able to convert cryptocurrencies into traditional currencies and back again all within these online services.

According to SEBA’s road map, the next phase is to roll out its offering to international customers, before expanding its product offering. However, there are no dates attached to this timeline so there’s no knowing how long either of those developments will take.It’s a bit of a politically conflicting situation depending on your perspective.

Many cryptocurrency and Bitcoin businesses have struggled to work with traditional banks. Regulatory uncertainty, and Bitcoin‘s checkered past have led banks to tread cautiously when dealing with cryptocurrency businesses.

SEBA’s offering could open a few doors for crypto companies that have so far struggled to get a foothold in the traditional banking system.

However, a bank holding your Bitcoin in custodial storage?

While that might prevent you from losing your private key, it comes with a number of obvious sacrifices.

SEBA joins competitor bank Sygnum AG, which received a license from FINMA back in September.

Switzerland has been one of the more progressive nations when it comes to cryptocurrency businesses. Last year, it allowed blockchain startups to apply for a FinTech license that would let them handle deposits of up to $100 million.