3 Reasons Economists Say Bitcoin Fails Under Regulation

Economist say regulation will kill bitcoin because:

  • bitcoin has no intrinsic value and price volatility
  • the government will regulatue anonymous transactions
  • bitcoin inherently “contradicts the idea of creating “a transparent banking system.”

CoinTelegraph | Former World Bank Chief Economist: Bitcoin Will Fail as Governments Increase Regulation

+1 State Requiring Cybersecurity for Insurance Licensees

State: South Carolina

The Legislation: House Bill 4655 (2017-2018 | SC). South Carolina Insurance Data Security Act

Requirements for South Carolina Insurance Licensees: 

  • insurers tmust “develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive information security program” for their customers’ data
  • based on model law with 3 steps and a 1/1/2019 effective date:
    • prevent breaches
    • detect unwelcomed access to data
    • remediate after a breach
  • including 3rd party oversight, with a 7/1/20 effective date

 

+1 State Legislature Passes Blockchain Legislation. 2 Points to the Legislation to Pave a Way for Blockcahin transactions.

Ohio Legislature passed SB220 (2018 | OH)  which addess blockahin by adding to the definition of electronic transactions.

The new definition of “electronic record”  & “electronic signature” to  include blockchain-based transactions.

Cleveland | Ohio legislature passes blockchain legislation

Regulatory TREND. Higher State Regulations for Credit Reporting Agencies. 8 states.

  • NY rules will require credit reporting agencies to comply with the state’s Department of Financial Services cybersecurity standards
  • An agreement between Equifax & 8 State Financial regulators will allow the states to:
    • impose punitive damages against Equifax
    • conduct annual  security audits 
    • develop written data protection policies and guides
    • monitor outside technology vendors
    • improve software patch management controls
  • The states:
    • Alabama
    • California
    • Georgia
    • Maine
    • Massachusetts
    • New York
    • North Carolina
    • Texas

ACA International | New York Issues Cybersecurity Regulation for Credit Reporting Agencies

NY Times | 8 States Impose New Rules on Equifax After Data Breach

3 Ways Crypto Currency can Increase Capacity for Renewables

  • “By running off electricity that would otherwise be curtailed because of low demand, crypto-mining could allow more clean energy to be profitably built on the grid”
  • Texas has been a leader in dealing with intermitancy that can power crytocurrency
    • Texas “competitive renewable electricity zones”  
      • average wind curtailment in Texas decreased from over 16% to less than 2%
      • wind generation more than doubled
    • private investment in energy storage
  • flexible demand option for crypto currency that can quickly ramp up operations during times of overgeneration

Trib Talk | Market operations engineer, ERCOT | Cryptocurrencies could increase capacity for renewable energy

Campaign & Lege TREND. Data Collection by Businesses. 1st Proposal in the Nation.

A ballot proposition in California would:

  • allow Californias to tell businesses not to sell their personal information
  • permit Californians lawsuits if  a business fails to implement reasonable security procedures and later suffered a data breach
  • creates a right to know for consumers to know when a business sells or discloses their information for a business purpose

Exception to the ballot proposal?

business that collect less than $50 million in annual revenue and meet certain other standards are excepted

Supporters:  Californians for Consumer Privacy

American Banker | Californians to vote on privacy measure — unless legislature acts first 

Lege Trend. Create a nonprofit + Partner with a Univeristy Law School = Legislative & Regulatory Recommendations

State: Vermont

Grid Security Partners:

  • Protect Our Power, an independent, nonprofit organization
  • The Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School

Goal of Partnership: to make the grid more resistant to physical or cyber threats & to improve its ability to restore power quickly in the event of an attack

Outcome: offer regulatory and legislative proposals

Valley News | Vermont Law School Team to Research Electrical Grid Security

Business TREND. Insurance Market Support for Data Security Laws

Insurance market expected an increase in policies after the the EU passed GDPR, here’s waht happened:

  •  language in GDPR isn’t clear on whether insurance policies can cover the hefty fines of up to 20 million euros or 4% of global revenue.
    • language is unclear and clarification is up to local regulators
  • 90% of the cyber policy market is in the US
  • Analysts expect a pick up in the European share of cyber policies

Wall Street Journal | Why Europe’s Cyber Insurance Windfall Hasn’t Happened