A new report from United States blockchain analyst, Chainalysis has revealed how public sector employees around the world feel about crypto-currency — both the technology itself and their own ability to understand and investigate it.
The State of Crypto Investigations Report found that the majority of those respondents from the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, believed in the potential of crypto-currency to enhance the global financial system.
However, they also acknowledged the growing abuse of crypto by criminals as adoption increases. The region also stood out in having a lower level of understanding of crypto-currency generally.
Some 67.7 per cent of Asia-Pacific respondents strongly or slightly agreed that crypto-currency is mainly used by criminals and malicious actors.
The survey stated that this pessimism seemed to be tied to having a lower level of understanding compared to respondents from other regions — 42 per cent of respondents from the Asia-Pacific said they were not very knowledgeable on the subject.
The three types of crime respondents said they had experience of involving crypto-currency included financial fraud, scams, and cyber-crime.
A disproportionate share of respondents from the region named cyber-crime and threat to finance as forms of crime they had encountered that had crypto involvement.
This might be due to the region’s digital growth and the corresponding rise in cyber threats and financial crimes, as Asia Pacific respondents said they were seeing crypto-currency in more than a quarter of their investigations.
On the credit side, roughly half said they believed crypto-currency would become widely adopted by the general population. Roughly half also believed crypto-currency would advance the financial system in a positive way.
Principal Solutions Architect at Chainalysis, Hayato Shigekawa said crypto-currency was becoming increasingly intertwined with global economies.
“The public sector’s recognition of crypto as an asset class continues to grow, and as we’ve seen in this survey, many believe in its potential to transform finance,” Mr Shigekawa said.
“However, as crypto-currency joins the mainstream, it is also becoming a channel for all sorts of crime, not just crypto-crime.”
He said it was worth noting that the Asia-Pacific region had the highest dissatisfaction scores regarding adequate resources, training and educational opportunities, and a lower level of understanding of crypto-currency itself, compared to other regions.
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Broadcom systems pass ransomware test
Broadcom Inc. says its Symantec cyber-security solutions have been assessed to combat ransomware and emerging threats for Australian Government entities.
Vice President and General Manager of the Enterprise Security Group at Broadcom, Rob Greer said the Government’s Information Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP) had assessed that the Symantec security solutions met the stringent security standards required.
“Stealthy, persistent attacks targeting Australian Government Agencies and other critical infrastructure are both costly and extremely disruptive,” Mr Greer said.
“With the successful IRAP assessments, security practitioners and other key stakeholders can be assured that the most rigorous protection standards have been met to secure their most important data and assets.”
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Robex gold production targets West Africa
Quebec-based Robex Resources Inc. has announced a strategic plan designed to realise its goal of becoming a leading gold producer in West Africa.
This plan includes securing equity financing of $C55 million ($A61 million) and an extension of the company’s $US35 million ($A53 million) bridging loan with Taurus Mining Finance Fund.
Robex has also refreshed its board with the appointment of James Askew as Chair and Matthew Wilcox as Managing Director and Chief Executive.
It is also selling its entire assets in Mali, including the Nampala mine, and will seek to explore a listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.
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MyBudget switches e-signing providers
Australian specialist in budgeting, debt solutions and money management, MyBudget has announced its successful transition to the Australian e-signing company, Annature.
This partnership involves MyBudget using Annature for all formal internal and external client-facing documents across its businesses, at a significantly lower cost than its previous e-signing provider, DocuSign.
Chief Marketing and People Officer at MyBudget, Danielle Puntureri said switching to Annature would reduce MyBudget’s e-signing costs by more than 280 per cent a year.
“Our newfound partnership with Annature now sees our costs reduced enormously to $A13,000 per year. For us, this is a far more cost-effective and commercially sensible arrangement,” Ms Puntureri said.
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Shoals launches new systems for solar
Shoals Technologies Group, which specialises in electrical balance-of-system (EBOS) solutions for the energy transition market, has launched a range of system-solutions focused on international developers and engineering, procurement and construction contractors.
The new product launch, at the Intersolar Europe conference in Munich, included solutions that enabled unobstructed rows, agri-solar, as well as North-South configurations in addition to existing East-West configuration solutions.
Vice-President of International Sales, Josep Tienda said the new suite of solutions brought exciting innovations in the utility scale solar industry.
“These new plug-and-play solutions were developed leveraging Shoals DNA and maintain the high standard we have set over the past two decades,” Mr Tienda said.
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Mutual benefits in VCI-TGL link
VCI Global Limited says it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Treasure Global Inc. (TGL) aimed at enhancing TGL’s e-commerce platform, ZCITY App.
In return, VCI Global will benefit from TGL’s extensive base of approximately three million users, gaining immediate market access to expand its comprehensive suite of financial services.
Group Executive Chair and Chief Executive of VCI Global, Victor Hoo said the partnership marked a significant advance towards enhancing financial inclusion across South-East Asia by leveraging cutting-edge technology to deliver seamless financial services.
“This strategic decision grants VCI Global swift access to a diverse and dynamic user base, accelerating the company’s full range of financial services and reinforcing its strategic position in the South-East Asia fintech and e-commerce landscape,” Mr Hoo said.
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Shire award for Mountain Assets
Mountain Assets has been awarded for Most Outstanding Professional Services at the Sutherland Shire Local Business Awards held at Sylvania Waters, in southern Sydney.
Receiving the award, Chief Executive, James Gardner said the event was a celebration of exceptional businesses in the Sutherland Shire who had made significant contributions through their services, innovation, and commitment to excellence.
“This recognition motivates us to continue striving for excellence and to serve our clients with the highest standards of professionalism and integrity,” Mr Gardner said.
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