The United Nations Development Programme has partnered with Dutch nongovernmental organization the FairChain Foundation to use blockchain for the more equitable funding of cocoa farmers. According to an Oct. 17 report from SpringWise, the partners will launch a new chocolate bar, made with Ecuadorian-grown cocoa, together with a token-based scheme that allows consumers to contribute directly to cocoa producers. Blockchain can “turn every product into a capitalist impact engine” As the report outlines, each bar — being marketed as “The Other Bar” — contains a QR code within its wrapper that consumers can use to donate a blockchain token directly …

Fiat money will become inferior to gold in the event of a total collapse of the world’s financial system, one of Europe’s central banks has said. Gold will rescue the economy from “collapse” In comments which have caught critics of fiat by surprise, the Dutch Central Bank, known as De Nederlandse Bank (DNB), said gold would be indispensable in the event of a fiat meltdown. Retweeted on social media on Oct. 13, a statement from the bank’s website describes gold as “the trust anchor for the financial system.” “If the entire system collapses, the gold stock provides a collateral to …

Crypto companies often find out the hard way that hackers know their security systems better than they do. As hacks in the crypto world can and often do result in hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tokens being stolen, the fate of a company’s future can often ride on its security measures. In an effort to batten down the hatches, companies offer bug bounties. These bounties are essentially competitions in which hackers are encouraged to try to compromise software. The hackers then submit a vulnerability report to the respective companies so that they are able to patch the bugs …

Having trumped up the risks of unregulated cryptocurrencies earlier this year, Dutch bank ABN Amro NV finds itself in the midst of a major money-laundering scandal. On Sept. 26, Bloomberg reported on news of a criminal probe into the bank’s alleged failures to report suspicious transactions and to adequately vet its clients. ABN AMRO — which remains over 50% government-owned after a costly bailout — saw its shares slump by as much as 10.3% in Amsterdam trading. This represents the highest plummet since June 2016, with the bank’s Additional Tier 1 bonds falling the most in six months, as Bloomberg …

Blockchain startup Modex announced the launch of its blockchain-based database platform for simplified blockchain deployment, which will be piloted by Dietsmann, a major oil and gas firm. Simplifying blockchain adoption On Sept. 19, Modex announced the release of its latest product, the Modex Blockchain Database platform (Modex BCDB) which simplifies the way companies can deploy blockchain technology projects. According to the announcement, Modex BCDB enables companies to start blockchain projects in just a few hours, instead of days or even months. Mihai Ivascu, CEO and founder of Modex said: “With the launch of Modex BCDB, we’re excited to usher in …

The Dutch central bank has today revealed it will begin regulating firms that offer cryptocurrency-related services as of Jan. 10, 2020. Reuters reported on Sept. 3 that De Nederlandsche Bank clarified that relevant firms in the sector must register with the institution if they wish to continue to operate. The bank’s official statement reportedly reads: “In concrete terms, firms offering services for the exchange between cryptos and regular money, and crypto wallet providers, must register with De Nederlandsche Bank.” Recent cryptocurrency developments in the Netherlands As reported, Dutch ministers had urged the country’s government this July to regulate cryptocurrencies and …

Rwanda’s central bank, the National Bank of Rwanda, is researching how to offer an official digital currency. BNN Bloomberg reported the news on Aug. 22. The central bank is said to be interested in offering digital currency as a means to increase transaction efficiency and foster economic growth. However, Financial Stability Director-General Peace Masozera Uwase warned work remains to be done before implementation is on the table, adding: “There are still concerns about how exactly you convert the entire currency into digital form, how to distribute that and how fast can you process those transactions [...] Challenges come in, if …

Eliyahu Gigi, a 31-year-old from Tel Aviv, has been charged with stealing over $1.7 billion in a variety of cryptocurrencies. Gigi allegedly stole Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dash (DASH) from users in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Lawyer Yeela Harel of the cyber department in the State Attorney's Office filed charges against Gigi on July 17, according to a report published the same day by Israeli business outlet Globes. Gigi has reportedly been charged with crimes including theft, fraud, and money laundering, among others. According to the report, Harel’s indictment claims that Gigi set up a network of scam …

Samsung SDS, Dutch bank ABN AMRO and the Port of Rotterdam have jointly conducted a proof-of-concept (PoC) shipment from South Korea to the Netherlands in which they tracked a container exclusively using an interoperable blockchain platform, according to a report by The Maritime Executive on July 1. According to the announcement, the container was tracked via the blockchain platform “DELIVER,” which allowed for the shipment to be instantly financed, fully tracked, and conducted paperlessly. According to Port of Rotterdam CFO Paul Smits, the traditional process of shipping is usually paper-heavy and inefficient: “Currently payments, administration and the physical transportation of …

Dutch ministers have urged the government to regulate cryptocurrencies and certain cash payments over money laundering concerns in a statement on July 1. The officials said that the government should ban cash payments over 3,000 euros, regulate cryptocurrencies and ban 500 euro banknotes, as these instruments can purportedly facilitate money laundering. The Netherlands do not recognize cryptocurrency as a legal currency, although last year a Dutch court found bitcoin (BTC) to be a legitimate “transferable value” in a penalty payment case. According to the statement, Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra and Minister of Justice and Security Ferdinand Grapperhaus sent the …

Europol, in conjunction with the United Kingdom’s South West Regional Cyber Crime Unit, the Dutch police, Eurojust, and the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA), has coordinated the arrests of six people suspected of stealing over $27 million in cryptocurrency, according to a press release on June 25. The attackers reportedly were involved in typosquatting, a fraudulent means to steal credentials by setting up a scam website with a similar name to an established one—hence the “typo” in “typosquatting”—and then recording login data. In this case, the report notes that Europol believes the hackers were able to use typosquatting to steal …

This article has been updated to clarify that David Treat will support the digital identity deal, rather than sign it. Global accounting giant Accenture will sign a formal deal with Canada, the Netherlands and other parties to use blockchain in identifying travelers. The company’s managing director of capital markets, David Treat, confirmed the move at the Synchronize Europe conference in London on June 18, attended by a Cointelegraph correspondent. Part of its expanding activities in the blockchain sector, Accenture will team up with the Canadian and Dutch governments, as well as Air France-KLM, Air Canada and several airports under a …