Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Four alleged masterminds of the “Oz Project” have been arrested after duping investors across Japan for at least four years. According to investigators, the scheme raked in $55 million from about 20,000 investors, promising 2.5 times returns in four months. Police in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, said Monday that four men have been arrested for defrauding investors in a cryptocurrency investment scheme called the “Oz Project.” The police said the group had amassed at least 6 billion yen (approximately $55 million). According to local media, the number of victims is between 10,000 and 20,000. According to investigators, the four men arrested were Shoji Ishida (59), Yukihiro Yamashita (61), Takuya Hashiyada (46), and Masamichi Toshima (52). Ishida is allegedly the operator of the Oz Project. They allegedly lured investors by promising them that their crypto investments would increase 2.5 times in four months. Investigators suspected that the group began duping people four year...

Data shows a number of groups from major universities are participating in decentralized finance (defi) governance. For instance, out of 15 of the largest voters in Uniswap’s last governance proposal, six of the major voters were tied to universities like Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, Penn, Michigan, MIT, and Columbia University. Blockchain University Groups Identified as Major Players in Defi Governance Decisions Just recently, messari.io researcher Jack Purdy tweeted about an interesting find he discovered while researching defi governance protocols. Purdy’s recent tweet showcased six prestigious universities that were involved in a recent Uniswap governance proposal voting process. “Universities are becoming some of the most active participants in crypto governance,” Purdy said. “Out of the 15 largest voters on Uniswap’s last proposal, 6 of them were Universities. That’s over $600 million of a useless governance token,” he added. Image shared by messari.io researcher Jack Pur...

A group of Binance customers are seeking to get their funds back after the platform froze in May. These users had leveraged positions and were unable to reduce them or close them. On May 19, Binance’s app crashed for more than one hour, leaving customers unable to manage their funds. These users are now pursuing legal action against the exchange in France and Italy. Users Organizing to Recover Funds From Binance A group of users affected by outages in the Binance service is organizing to battle the exchange. Hundreds are pursuing legal action in France and Italy after the exchange froze on May 19. This is the case for Anand Singhal, a freelance coder who entered a leveraged position with more than $50K dollars. When Singhal started checking prices and perceived the incoming fall, he tried to get out of his position. But he couldn’t. Due to the precipitous price fall that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies experienced at that time, Binance’s platform was unable to cope with the tran...

A new survey finds that 35% of Australians believe bitcoin will eventually be transacted more than fiat currency. Almost the same number of respondents believe that bitcoin “has a significant role to play in the future of currency.” Comparison platform Finder published Tuesday the results of a cryptocurrency survey, which it described as a “nationally representative survey of 1,012 Australians.” The respondents were asked whether they agreed with various statements about bitcoin. They must either agree or disagree. One of the statements was “Bitcoin will eventually be transacted more widely than traditional money.” The company commented: The research revealed that 1 in 3 Australians (35%) believe bitcoin will eventually be transacted more than fiat (traditional) currency. Kate Browne, a personal finance expert at Finder, opined: “While only 17% of Aussies own cryptocurrency, twice that amount believe it has a significant role to play in the future of currency.” Overall, Gen...

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has unveiled its plan to launch a digital currency as part of its 2023-2026 strategy to become one of the world’s top 10 central banks. A growing number of central banks worldwide are working to launch central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) revealed Monday its plan to issue a state-backed digital currency within the next five years. The announcement was part of the central bank’s “2023-2026 strategy” to “position it among the world’s top 10 central banks.” There are seven objectives in total, according to Gulf News. Among them was “issuing a digital currency and driving digital transformation in the UAE’s financial services sector, by utilizing the latest artificial intelligence and big data solutions.” The UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) published its decision on cryptocurrency regulation on Nov. 1, 2020, after consulting with the crypto industry and the ...

American inflation expectations have surged according to the results of the latest New York Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Expectations. The presumed inflation rate tapped the highest point since 2013 and alongside the forecast of lower purchasing power, consumer debt and fears of a housing bubble in the U.S. are on the rise. New York Fed’s Consumer Expectations Report Expects Inflation to Be 4.8% Over the Next Year U.S. citizens are worried about inflation after the government locked down the nation for more than a year and the Federal Reserve increased the M1 supply by 30%. Inflation has been so bad in recent times, American supermarkets are buying up to 25% more supplies to get ahead of inflation and higher supply chain costs that could arise. From 2020 up until today, bacon is up 14%, bread is up 7%, milk increased by 8%, and oranges are up 8% as well. There’s been a significant rise in lumber costs, the cost of gas has jumped, and the real estate market is frothy from th...

On July 12, an old whale from 2012 spent 740 bitcoin worth roughly $26 million at the time of transfer after nine years of choosing not to move the coins. The whale acquired the bitcoin on May 31, 2012, when the stash of crypto was only worth $3,700. Old School Whale Moves 740 ‘Sleeping Bitcoins’ Bitcoiners noticed a whale move 740 bitcoin ( BTC ) on Monday after the coins sat idle for over nine years. The bitcoin sat for approximately 3,330 days as the BTC was acquired on May 31, 2012. The address saw life in the spring of 2012 and the wallet has been stacking small increments of BTC since the first large deposit of 740 BTC nine years ago. At the time of acquisition, bitcoin ( BTC ) was trading for $5 per coin so the 740 BTC was worth $3,700. Today, however, the stash was worth over $26 million when it transferred on Monday. The whale movement was caught by whale-alert.io that stated on Twitter that a “dormant address containing 791 BTC (26,147,621 USD) has just been act...

Grayscale Investments has engaged the oldest bank in the U.S., BNY Mellon, to provide asset servicing for its bitcoin trust. The bank will also provide ETF services for the bitcoin trust upon its conversion to an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Grayscale Teams up With BNY Mellon Grayscale Investments announced Tuesday that it has selected the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) as an asset servicing provider for Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX: GBTC). The announcement explains: Through this agreement, BNY Mellon will provide Grayscale Bitcoin Trust with fund accounting and administration effective October 1, 2021. Additionally, it is anticipated that BNY Mellon will provide transfer agency and ETF services for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust upon its conversion to an ETF. “The agreement will offer Grayscale improved scalability, resiliency, and automation through BNY Mellon’s market-leading platform,” the company claims. Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, commented: “En...

S&P Dow Jones Indices, the world’s leading index provider, announced Tuesday the launch of five new cryptocurrency indices. The company now has eight cryptocurrency indices in total. The first newly added index is the “S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market (BDM) Index,” which “provides a wide performance snapshot of the cryptocurrency market and includes more than 240 coins at launch,” the announcement details. The other four new crypto indices are subsets of the BDM. The first of the four is the “S&P Cryptocurrency Largecap Index” which “measures the performance of the constituents with the largest market capitalization.” The second subset is the “S&P Cryptocurrency BDM Ex-Megacap Index” which excludes the constituents of the S&P Cryptocurrency Megacap Index. The crypto megacap index measures the performance of bitcoin ( BTC ) and ether ( ETH ). Another index being launched is the “S&P Cryptocurrency BDM Ex-Largecap Index” which excludes the constituent...

While most digital currency markets are down in value, a token called axie infinity, the native coin tethered to the blockchain-based trading and battle game of the same title, has reached new price highs jumping to $21.55 on Tuesday. The Axie Infinity platform has seen massive demand in recent days, and other tokens from the gaming economy like “smooth love potion” have also seen significant buying pressure. Axie Infinity Token Values Surge Last week, Bitcoin.com News reported on the booming Axie Infinity economy, as the project’s non-fungible token (NFT) assets and its native token have skyrocketed in value. The project is basically an Ethereum-based game that also offers a digital marketplace and governance protocol. The token, axie infinity (AXS), is leveraged for governance and other actions within the game. The game involves a battle between token-based creatures called “Axies,” and players can collect items, breed the creatures, and train them similarly to Pokemon or Hearth...

Britain’s Metropolitan Police have seized a staggering £180 million in cryptocurrency as part of a money laundering investigation. The announcement comes just weeks after Scotland Yard confiscated £114 million in crypto, breaking the previous record. UK Police Discover £180 Million in Crypto Linked to Criminal Transfers Law enforcement officials in the U.K. have announced the seizure of a record amount of cryptocurrency during an ongoing investigation into international money laundering. Detectives said they confiscated almost £180 million (close to $250 million) worth of crypto without providing more details about the type of coins and how they were seized. “This is believed to be one of the largest seizures globally and tops the £114 million confiscation made by the Met on Thursday, 24 June,” the U.K.’s Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) remarked in a press release published on its website Tuesday morning. Both seizures were conducted by members of the Economic Crime Command o...

Since the beginning of 2021, the cryptocurrency industry has experienced a marked surge in popularity, as institutions and individuals flock to the rapidly developing space in large numbers. Whilst the barrier to enter the space has significantly decreased since its birth a decade ago, there remain several sticking points which keep more widespread adoption difficult, particularly when it comes to interacting with local fiat currencies. There is a need for an effective and efficient liquidity bridge between crypto currencies and merchants that will only become stronger as the industry develops. Additionally, the influx of new participants – most of which are retail investors or traders – is causing a heightened level of volatility, which is in danger of rendering the mass adoption of the industry in the mainstream financial world untenable. Even with the ballooning of the stablecoin space in response to these issues, it is not quite ready to appeal to those industries that might see ...

Nigeria’s ongoing shortage of foreign exchange is forcing corporates and businesses to source this resource on the parallel market, a former official with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has said. According to Muda Yusuf, who is the previous director-general at LCCI, these shortages stem from the foreign exchange market liquidity constraints that have been experienced in the first half of 2021. Investment Risk As noted in a report based on data from July 8, 2021, the turnover at one of Nigeria’s multiple official forex markets dropped by 24.5% to $526.79 million. The report adds that most of these trades were consummated at the exchange rate of “between N400 and N460 to the dollar.” In contrast, the Nigerian naira’s parallel market exchange rate currently stands at N505 per dollar according to Abokifx . In his remarks, while speaking at the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) forum, Yusuf warned that such foreign exchange shortages could ...

Major Indian bank ICICI has asked customers not to use the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) for any crypto-related investments. ICICI, a leading private sector bank in India, has updated its retail outward remittance application to include cryptocurrency. With this update, the bank has asked its customers to declare under India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA) that they will not use the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) for any crypto-related investments. The bank’s declaration states: The above remittance is not for investment / purchase of bitcoin / cryptocurrencies / virtual currencies (such as ethereum, ripple, litecoin, dash, peercoin, dogecoin, primecoin, chinacoin, ven, bitcoin or any other virtual currency / cryptocurrency / bitcoin). Customers must also declare that the remittance is not for any investments in a “company dealing in bitcoins / cryptocurrency / virtual currencies.” Furtherm...

The secretary-general of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) secretariat, Wamkele Mene, says Africa will “one day have a common currency” via a proposed “Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).” He adds that such a currency will help “ease constraints of settling intra-African trade in foreign-denominated currency.” Challenges Ahead In comments recently carried by regional news outlet This Day, Mene admits that challenges will be encountered before the dream of a common currency is finally realized. However, to illustrate his own conviction that this objective will be achieved soon, Mene points to the situation before the realization of AFCFTA when “people never thought that there would ever be a free trade area in Africa.” AFCFTA is a free trade area that was founded in 2018 with trading commencing about two years later on January 1, 2021. The free trade area was created by the AFCFTA agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. Using the hi...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the U.K. advertising watchdog, declared it would crack down on misleading ads promoting cryptocurrency investments. The organization will include cryptocurrency campaigns as a “red alert” priority in the financial marketing department. The organization will be more proactive regarding these ads, it claims, contacting companies and issuing warnings in the future. UK Advertising Watchdog to Increase Vigilance on Crypto Campaigns The U.K. advertising watchdog is not happy about how cryptocurrency campaigns are being carried in the country. The Advertising Standards Authority said it will toughen its standards to crack down on ‘misleading’ cryptocurrency ads. Consequently, any ad that doesn’t comply with the standards issued by the regulator will be taken down. Miles Lockwood, director of complaints and investigations at the ASA, stated: We see this as an absolutely crucial and priority area for us. Where we do find problems we will crack do...