n unknown Crypto currency trader has made 55 million dollars of fortune on paper in just over a month to $ 283 million. The dark world of virtual money is full of surprises.
The only reference to the person or persons behind the virtual wallet with the identification number 0x00A651D43B6e209F5Ada45A35F92EFC0De3A5184 was on June 11th at Instagram. At that time a message appeared in Indonesian, in which the author or authors indicated that they had achieved a 413 percent gain with Ether - the digital money of the Ethereum blockchain.
Hidden identities are popular in the world of virtual money. Cryptically. In June the total value of Crypto currencies such as Bitcoin and Ether had climbed to more than 100 billion dollars. They moved to the market value of McDonald's. Against this backdrop, some monitors now say that it might be time to link the wallet IDs to real human names.
Nothing illegal
A few years ago, Ross Ulbricht, who used the name of Dread Pirate Roberts, used Bitcoin to wash money and drug trafficking. Therefore, he was sentenced to a life imprisonment in the US. This does not mean that 0x00A651D43B6e209F5Ada45A35F92EFC0De3A5184 does something illegal. But the secrecy and opacity of the entire market could lead to sudden price movements. The value of Ether had climbed, for example, from eight dollars a unit at the beginning of the year to 400 dollars in June - until it was last around 250 dollars. The value of Bitcoin has also fallen sharply.
The lack of transparency also hinders the online currencies from reaching the masses, it says in documents on a draft law of the European Parliament from March. "One of the more important features is that there are no identities associated with it," says Spencer Bogart, head of analysis at Blockchain Capital. "This financial privacy is an important characteristic." The blockchain has the potential to significantly change the business and financial world. It allows for immediate execution of activities such as bank transfers and trading of securities. Companies like JPMorgan Chase, BP, Microsoft and ING Groep are already experimenting with this.
Too little transparency
Currently there are ethers with a volume of around 23 billion dollars. This means that dozens of electronic walletes have accumulated nine-digit positions. Many individuals may be owned by individuals, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Individuals can also have multiple purse exchanges at the same time. Candidates for Crypto-billionaires are probably Hedgefonds manager Michael Novogratz and Joseph Lubin, founder of ConsenSys, a blockchain studio working at Ethereum.
Novogratz, once a manager at Fortress Investment Group and Goldman Sachs, said last month that he has invested ten percent of his assets in virtual currencies. This corresponds to a volume of at least 90 million dollars, based on its net worth of 925 million dollars according to Bloomberg the Billionaires Index. Lubin, once Chief Operating Officer of Ethereum Switzerland GmbH, from whom the software was developed, could hold hundreds of millions of dollars in ether as various investors report. The Canadian businessman does not react to any inquiries. Also 0x00A651D43B6e209F5Ada45A35F92EFC0De3A5184 was not available for comment.
Crypto currencies could become a $ 5 trillion industry, but they need to develop sound business principles to meet supervisors' legitimacy, "said Novogratz at a conference in New York at the end of June.