In today’s edition of Bitcoin briefly we cover a couple of stories that show how the cryptocurrency industry is attempting to police itself. One group of companies has begun functioning on the formation of a self-regulatory organization and another has created a 100 BTC whistleblower reward pool.

Crypto Self-Regulatory Organization

A number of corporations have collectively formed a working group to do and establish an industry-sponsored, self-regulatory organization (SRO) for cryptocurrency marketplaces operating in the USA. Initial participants in the Virtual Commodity Association (VCA) working group will include: Bitstamp, Bitflyer USA, Bittrex, and Gemini Trust. The VCA will have an executive director, independent board, and be tasked with establishing a framework for industry best practices. The VCA interim executive director will be Maria Filipakis, former executive Deputy Superintendent at the new york Department of financial Services (DFS) which created the state’s Bitlicense.

“We’re proud to be a section of the Virtual commodity Association as a way to add another component of protection for consumers,” stated Nejc Kodrič, Bitstamp chief executive officer. “We believe in the value of self-regulation, which we pursued in Europe nearly from our inception, and look forward to following a similar path in the U.S. those that can’t or won’t accommodates regulations put consumers – and their own operations – in danger.”

100 BTC Whistleblower Reward

Another group of actors in the business (including Ecoinmerce, ICO Alert, GZH, Step VC, and New Economies) has created the Crypto Community Watch, a program that provides an anonymous tip line to report wrongdoing. The group has provided a total of 100 BTC to be used as a reward pool for whistleblowers, that means people with information on fraudulent or illegal activity from within the industry. They explain that if reported information leads directly to the arrest or legal punishment of a bad person, the whistleblower liable for it will receive a portion of the reward pool. and every one submissions will be investigated by Crypto Community Watch members and sent to applicable law enforcement agencies when appropriate.

“From the recent exchange hacks to the nearly-weekly reports of fraudulent projects taking off with investors’ money, it’s clear that crypto has a drawback,” said Ecoinmerce COO Rex Chen. “Enough is enough. It’s up to the industry first and the regulators second to clean up the ecosystem. If you spend your time hacking, scamming, or intentionally misleading investors, your time is up.”