Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized bitcoin worth more than $2.2 million tied to ransomware payments. The cryptocurrency allegedly belongs to an affiliate of Gandcrab and Revil/Sodinokibi ransomware. US Seizes Bitcoin Worth Over $2 Million The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized almost 40 bitcoins from a Russian resident tied to Revil and Gandcrab ransomware, according to a court document unsealed Tuesday. The forfeiture complaint reads: The United States of America files this verified complaint in rem against 39.89138522 bitcoin seized from Exodus wallet … that is now located and in the custody and management of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Dallas Division. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is around $56,318.06 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. The amount seized totals almost $2.247 million. The seizure took place on Aug. 3. While the FBI did not reveal how it gained access to the wallet, the court document explains ...

The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the British defense and security think tank, questions whether or not non-fungible token (NFT) assets can be used for money laundering purposes. The report determines that in order to mitigate the money laundering risks a ‘know your customer’ monitoring system “needs to be implemented.” RUSI: ‘NFT Technology Can Raise Alarm Bells From a Money Laundering and Financial Crime Perspective’ The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies otherwise known as RUSI , was founded in 1831 and it is the oldest defense and security think tank worldwide. On December 2, RUSI published a report that covers the subject of non-fungible token (NFT) assets and the RUSI researchers ask whether or not NFTs can contribute to money laundering schemes. “This technology can raise alarm bells from a money laundering and financial crime perspective,” RUSI warns. “To start with, NFTs are most often purchased with cryptocurrencies on online marke...

Senator Elizabeth Warren has written a letter to the CEO of the New York bitcoin mining firm Greenidge Generation, Jeff Kirt, asking for details on the company’s emissions. Warren’s letter insists “Greenidge and other [bitcoin mining] plants raise concerns about their impacts on the global environment.” Elizabeth Warren Takes Aim at Bitcoin Mining Operations The former law professor and the United States Democratic Party senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren , has taken aim at cryptocurrency mining operations after she criticized digital currency markets in recent times. In mid-September, Warren pressed the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate increasing digital currency oversight. Warren has also denounced cryptocurrency mining in the past and she has cited bitcoin mining’s environmental impact on many occasions. On December 2, Warren shared a letter she sent to the CEO of the New York bitcoin mining firm Greenidge Generation Holdings ,...

Originally launched on June 15 th , 2021, EverRise is a blockchain technology company that offers bridging and security solutions across multiple chains through an ecosystem of decentralized applications. With their RISE token, they were the first to bring the buyback to crypto. Since then, the buyback mechanic has become standard in space with countless forks. EverRise v2.0 EverRise is working on bringing their ecosystem of dApps to as many blockchains as possible to increase adoption of safety protocols across all DeFi. Keeping that in mind, EverRise, have recently gone live with version 2 of their contract on Monday, November 29 th at 11:00pm UTC. The upgraded contract features several noteworthy innovations and changes. A representative from Certik.io noted in an update to the EverRise community, “The upgraded EverRise contract is a technological tour de force. The Certik team is impressed with the level of innovation and engineering.” The new RISE token will be available o...

During the last few months, the Smartbch project has swelled with numerous projects, custom tokens, and the total-value locked (TVL) in five Smartbch decentralized exchange (dex) platforms has jumped more than 180% since November 3. Smartbch Defi TVL Climbs 180% in a Month — Bitcoin Cash Universe Now Has 5 Dex Platforms Eight months ago, bitcoin cash ( BCH ) proponents were introduced to a new website ( smartbch.org ) that featured a project called Smart Bitcoin Cash or Smartbch for short. Smartbch is a Bitcoin Cash sidechain that is compatible with Ethereum’s EVM and Web3 API, but further allows people to interact with smart contracts and custom tokens for extremely low data transfer fees. Chain statistics in terms of total-value locked in decentralized finance (defi) indicates that Smartbch has $36 million in value today. That’s more than 180% higher than the Smartbch TVL of $12.9 million recorded on November 3. At that time, the metrics that derived from defillama.com, indica...

The crypto firm Blockchain.com is joining the slew of digital currency exchanges that have launched non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces in recent times. On December 2, the company announced it is launching the Blockchain.com NFT marketplace, and select users can sign up for beta access today. Blockchain.com NFT Marketplace Launches Beta Access Non-fungible token (NFT) assets have become a billion-dollar industry and it seems like this technology will be a mainstay for years to come. As the NFT hype grows exponentially in 2021, a number of crypto-asset exchanges have launched NFT markets this year. Well-known exchanges like Crypto.com, Coinbase, and FTX have revealed NFT markets in the midst of giant standalone NFT markets like Opensea and Rarible . Now Blockchain.com , the cryptocurrency-dedicated financial services company, has announced its NFT marketplace. “We want to make accessing the NFT market as easy as accessing the crypto market,” Blockchain.com’s announcement details....

The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that she has not made up her mind about whether the Fed should issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC). “There are some benefits” to a digital dollar, Yellen said, but noted that “there are also meaningful costs.” Janet Yellen Has Not Decided Whether the Fed Should Develop a Digital Dollar Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday during an interview at the Reuters Next conference that she has not formed an opinion about whether the Federal Reserve should create a digital dollar. She explained that the decision would require broad consensus among Congress, the central bank, and the White House. The treasury secretary believes that more study is needed on the advantages and disadvantages of having a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the U.S., including its effects on the banking system. Yellen opined: I see both pros and cons to doing it. And my own mind is not made up about this. According to the Atlantic Council’s Ge...

India is no longer planning to ban cryptocurrency, a cabinet note circulated by the government reportedly indicates. Activities relating to crypto assets will be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Crypto Will Not Be Banned in India, Cabinet Note Indicates Despite reports of the Indian government planning to ban cryptocurrencies, NDTV reported Thursday that a cabinet note circulated by the government indicates that cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and ether, will not be banned. Emphasizing that cryptocurrency is not recognized as legal currency in India, the publication noted: The legislation also describes cryptocurrency as cryptoasset. According to the cabinet note, crypto exchange platforms will be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the regulatory body for securities and commodity markets in India under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance. In addition, “A cut-off date will be prescribed for those having cryptoa...

Roskomnadzor, the government body responsible for oversight of communications in Russia, is taking steps to block six more VPN providers. The move comes after the agency cut access earlier this year to a number of VPN services helping Russians to reach “banned” information. Roskomnadzor Moves to Block More VPNs in Russia The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media ( Roskomnadzor ) is preparing to restrict another six VPN platforms active in the country. The targeted providers are Betternet, Lantern, X-VPN, Cloudflare Warp, Tachyon VPN, and Privatetunnel. VPN services such as those listed provide Russian residents with an option to bypass government restrictions and gain access to information that is prohibited by the law in Russia, Forklog noted in a report quoting Roskomnadzor’s announcement . In a growing number of cases, Russian authorities have treated crypto-related content as banned. In June, a court in the Perm regi...

Discussions on the future of “virtual currency exchangers” in Russia should be completed in 2022, a high-ranking representative of the country’s financial watchdog has indicated. Following international standards, authorities in Moscow would have to either regulate or ban such platforms. Decision on Digital Currency Exchangers in Russia Expected Next Year Considerations regarding the regulatory treatment of online exchangers working with cryptocurrencies must come to an end in 2022. That’s according to a statement by the Deputy Director of Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service ( Rosfinmonitoring ) Herman Neglyad, quoted by Tass. At this year’s Banking Legal Conference, the official noted that in the light of efforts to manage risks associated with money laundering and terrorist financing under the national risk assessment adopted in 2018, virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies are recognized as a high risk factor for Russia’s financial space. Neglyad also emphasized: Her...

Marathon Digital Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining-based company, has announced a new deal with Compute North, a data center service provider, to host more than 100,000 mining machines in its data centers. The deal is an expansion of an earlier deal that secured positioning for 73,000 mining machines in Texas. Now, the new partnership secures hosting for all of these machines, to be powered with renewables. Marathon Expands Mining Operations Marathon, one of the largest bitcoin mining companies in the U.S., has announced it will expand its prior agreement with Compute North to host more than 100K miners in data centers around the country. The former agreement secured hosting for 73K miners in several data centers managed by Compute North, which is a Tier 0 data center service provider. The partnership also includes the installation, operations, and deployments of Marathon’s existing and new mining facilities. With this partnership, Marathon will position all of its mining m...

PRESS RELEASE. Abu Dhabi, UAE – Empire Token’s flagship utility, the Empire NFT Marketplace, is now live on the Ethereum mainnet. The Ethereum Blockchain is a global computing platform and operating system which can be used to create decentralized services and applications. Fortunately, the bright future of this blockchain now has Empire on its side. NFT creators and traders can now use Ethereum coin and Ethereum based tokens to mint and trade NFTs on the Empire NFT Marketplace. Projects that are powered by Ethereum may include anything from smart contracts, voting systems, decentralized exchanges, and much more. Constructing a bridge to the Ethereum Blockchain will be the building blocks for exciting applications to come to the Empire Ecosystem. Empire NFT Marketplace expansion to Solana is likewise around the corner. Solana is a company that offers enterprise-grade blockchain solutions to meet the increasing demands of enterprises. Solana is a high-performance blockchain that’s de...

Hashed, a Korean blockchain VC firm, has announced the launch of Hashed Venture Fund II, a new fund that will focus on investing in Web 3.0-based startups. The fund raised $200 million for these investments, and while the company did not disclose those who participated, it did announce it will be scaling operations to have a more global impact. Hashed Focused on Web 3 Investments Hashed, one of the biggest blockchain-based VC firms in Korea, has announced the launch of a new fund that will focus on Web 3.0 investments. Hashed disclosed its new fund, called Hashed Venture Fund II, would open with $200 million available to incubate startups in the Web 3.0 arena, including play-to-earn initiatives and decentralized finance companies. With this fund, Hashed wants to expand its influence and reach a global scale, connecting with creators in places not contemplated before. Hashed’s announcement, written by partner Baek Kim, states: We are carefully scaling our impact in key markets. I...