Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

A court in Albania has ordered the extradition of the fugitive founder of cryptocurrency exchange Thodex to Turkey, where he is sought for fraud and other crimes. Faruk Ozer was arrested in Albania this summer, after disappearing last year as the coin trading platform collapsed. Albanian Judiciary Prepares to Hand Over Alleged Crypto Fraudster and Thodex Founder to Turkey A court in the Albanian city of Elbasan has authorized the extradition to Turkey of the founder and chief executive of the now-defunct Turkish crypto exchange Thodex. The 27-year-old Faruk Fatih Ozer was detained in the Balkan nation at the end of August. The order follows a series of court hearings throughout the past three months. Quoted by Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, Judge Elis Dine pointed out that the decision can be appealed to the Durres Court of Appeals within 15 days. Ozer fled Turkey after Thodex, which had attracted 400,000 users during the crypto boom in the country, suddenly went offline in the spring o

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), one of the largest pension plans in the world, is writing down its investment in the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. “Recent reports suggest potential fraud conducted at FTX which is deeply concerning for all parties,” the plan states. Major Canadian Pension Plan Writes Down FTX Investment Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), Canada’s third largest pension fund, issued a statement Thursday regarding its investment in the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The OTPP, which currently has about C$243 billion ($182 billion) in net assets, invests for 333,000 working and retired teachers, its website shows. The statement explains that the Ontario Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) fund invested C$75 million in FTX International and its U.S. entity, FTX US, in October last year. In January, the fund made a follow-up investment of C$20 million in FTX US. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan detailed: Our investment represented less than 0.05% of our tota

The Securities Commission of the Bahamas has ordered crypto exchange FTX to transfer its cryptocurrencies to a wallet controlled by the regulator. The “Urgent interim regulatory action was necessary to protect the interests” of FTX’s clients and creditors, said the regulator. Bahamas Regulator Takes Action to Seize FTX’s Cryptocurrencies for ‘Safekeeping’ The Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) announced Thursday that it has taken “the action of directing the transfer of all digital assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. (FDM) to a digital wallet controlled by the Commission, for safekeeping.” FTX Digital Markets is the Bahamian subsidiary of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Trading Ltd., which owns and operates the crypto trading platform FTX.com. The securities regulator noted that the agency is “acting under the authority of an order made by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas,” elaborating: Urgent interim regulatory action was necessary to protect the interests of clients and creditor

According to Julian Hosp, co-founder of the decentralized finance entity Defi Chain, the fall of the crypto exchange FTX and the domino effect it has had may have rekindled interest in decentralized finance (defi) and associated products. Hosp, however, conceded that the crypto exchange’s dramatic collapse also encourages regulators to adopt a harder line when dealing with crypto entities. Decentralized Finance Takes Center Stage While the massive failure of crypto exchange FTX and the chaos that followed is likely to embolden hardline regulators, experts like Julian Hosp of Defi Chain believe the ensuing loss of trust in centralized institutions will likely rekindle user interest in decentralized finance (defi) and associated products. For users who still believe in cryptocurrency’s value proposition — a viable alternative to centralized finance — Hosp said such individuals are likely to switch to self-custody. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, many users — seemingly spooked by