Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

South Korea’s prosecutors have reportedly obtained a court order to freeze assets worth about $104 million belonging to Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin. The authorities allege that he unfairly profited from selling cryptocurrency LUNA at high prices before the token crashed. Shin has denied the allegation. South Korean Authorities Freeze Terraform Labs Co-Founder’s Assets The Seoul Southern District Court reportedly approved local prosecutors’ request Thursday to freeze about 140 billion won ($104 million) in assets belonging to Terraform Labs co-founder Shin Hyun-seung, aka Daniel Shin. The pre-indictment freeze order is a precautionary measure to prevent a suspect from disposing of criminal proceeds before a trial. The prosecutors have accused the Terra co-founder of making “unfair” profits of about 140 billion Korean won by selling pre-issued cryptocurrency LUNA, now known as luna classic (LUNC), without proper disclosure to investors. However, Shin reportedly told the pro...

Bitcoin.com announced the creation of a program that will reward people affected by centralized crypto company insolvencies while encouraging the adoption of decentralized finance and self-custody. The CEX Education Program will draw its resources from Bitcoin.com ’s wallet token VERSE, which is launching in December. Five percent of the total VERSE token supply is dedicated to the program. Victims of FTX, Blockfi, Celsius, Voyager, and other failed centralized entities will be eligible to claim a reward from the CEX Education Program by signing up at getverse.com . In the future, Bitcoin.com will continue to use the program to assist victims and incentivize them to onboard to self-custodial products. “With slick UX, logos on sports stadiums, Matt Damon commercials, Tom Brady endorsements, and big ‘guaranteed’ returns, the lure of CeFi is strong. But as we’ve seen, lack of transparency in the centralized model, whether it be in crypto or tradfi, is an enabler for the gross mismanag...

The CEO of Ripple Labs, Brad Garlinghouse, believes that the crypto industry will come out stronger after the FTX meltdown if transparency and trust remain its key focus. He stressed the importance of having “honest conversations about solving real-world problems with crypto and blockchain.” Ripple’s CEO Optimistic About Crypto’s Recovery After FTX Meltdown The CEO of Ripple Labs, Brad Garlinghouse, shared his opinion Wednesday on the crypto industry’s recovery following the collapse of FTX during Ripple Swell, an annual conference held by Ripple. FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week. Reiterating what he said on stage at the conference, Garlinghouse tweeted: I firmly believe that crypto will be stronger because of this if we keep focusing on transparency and trust. Ripple has and will continue to lead in this regard. “With all that’s happening in the past few weeks (and over the course of this year’s ups and downs), it feels even more imperative that we’ve gathered tog...

Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey has weighed in on the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. “I told you so,” he repeatedly said, reiterating his long-standing advice that investors should not put money into crypto. Dave Ramsey on Bitcoin, Crypto, and the FTX Collapse Personal finance guru and Ramsey Solutions CEO Dave Ramsey weighed in on the implosion of cryptocurrency exchange FTX in a Dave Ramsey Show episode, published Friday. Ramsey, a self-proclaimed personal money management expert, calls himself “America’s trusted voice on money.” He is the author of seven best-selling books that have sold more than 11 million copies altogether. A longtime bitcoin and crypto skeptic, Ramsey called BTC “funny money” in December 2020. He also expressed his doubt that bitcoin could be cashed out, advising investors to sell their coins now. In January, he said crypto is fun and here to say but should only be a small part of a portfolio “for entertainment.” Referencing his warning abou...

Economist and gold bug Peter Schiff says bitcoin still has a long way to fall after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. He also believes that $10K is the real price of bitcoin, warning that “The lion’s share of the selling has not even started yet.” Schiff Predicts ‘Bitcoin Still Has a Long Way to Fall’ Gold bug and economist Peter Schiff has warned in a series of tweets about the price of bitcoin falling a long way from its current level. He began by referencing the forecast he made in June that the need to sell bitcoin to pay bills will only get worse as the recession deepens and long-term BTC holders without paychecks are forced to sell. Noting that it did not take long for his prediction to come true, Schiff tweeted Wednesday: The lion’s share of the selling has not even started yet. Bitcoin still has a long way to fall. He added in a follow-up tweet: “I’ve been warning for years that all the people who made money in crypto will be sued by all the people who lost money in...

During the last decade or so, data has become a hot topic and often a controversial one. As a result of Big Tech abuses and government-led collection schemes, people’s data is mined continuously and in ever-increasing amounts. Almost all of this is done without the consent of the individual whose data is being mined, and in some cases even without their knowledge. There have been several attempts made in web3 to give people more control over their data, and in cases such as Play-to-Earn (P2E) and Move/Sweat-to-Earn (M2E) , new methods for monetizing that data have also been explored. The primary problem with these existing models is that they require a significant amount of user participation and time to become profitable. Besides reducing the number of potential participants (not everyone has the time to play games or walk 2-3 hours per day), this also leads to user fatigue over time, as they experience comparatively little return on their time investment. The widespread adoption o...

Russian lawmakers have proposed changes to the current law “On Digital Financial Assets” in order to regulate crypto mining while banning the circulation of cryptocurrencies in the country. The legislation also prohibits the non-targeted advertising of crypto-related products and services. New Attempt to Legalize Cryptocurrency Mining in Russia After months of deliberations, efforts continue in Moscow to establish a more comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The latest initiative in that direction comes from a group of high-profile deputies from the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, including the head of the Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov. The lawmakers have filed a bill amending the law “On Digital Financial Assets,” in force since January of 2021. The draft is meant to regulate the extraction of cryptocurrencies as well as the taxation of the generated income. It permits the sale of the minted coins “without using Russian information infra...

At the time of FTX’s collapse, about 950 users in Taiwan had a total of $150 million worth of digital assets stored or held at the crypto exchange, a law firm has reportedly said. FTX users in Taiwan were reportedly investing in interest-bearing digital assets using cheap funds borrowed from local banks. FTX’s Popularity With Taiwanese Users According to a Taiwanese law firm, Enlighten Law Group, about 950 people in the country had digital assets worth $150 million stored on the crypto exchange FTX when it collapsed. The law firm also revealed that four unnamed individuals had incurred losses exceeding $5 million each. As stated in a report by Wublockchain, the number of FTX victims in Taiwan is over 30 times more than those that have come forward in China. The report also stated that only one Chinese user suffered losses that exceed $5 million. Explaining the reasons which seemingly attract Taiwanese users to less regulated crypto exchange platforms like FTX, the law firm pointe...

The United Kingdom Law Commission recently asked experts and users to participate in a ten-week exercise whose objective is to help the commission better understand how decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) operate. A blockchain expert says the commission’s call shows that the U.K. is “leading the way in thinking and developing the law and other institutions that are needed.” Legal and Regulatory Status of DAOs Not yet Clear The United Kingdom Law Commission recently said it is seeking experts’ opinions on decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and how the laws of England and Wales can accommodate them. In a statement released on Nov. 16, the commission acknowledged that thousands of DAOs exist today, yet only a “few appear to be structured using the law of England and Wales.” In addition to the ambiguities over what constitutes a DAO, questions have been raised about their legal status and “the liabilities of those who participate in them, and the rules and regulat...