Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Mastercard, the payments giant, has partnered with Polygon, an Ethereum scaling platform, to introduce emerging artists into Web3 technology. Mastercard’s artist accelerator, as the program is called, will teach five different emerging artists, including singers, musicians, DJs, and producers, to use blockchain tools to grow their brand and fan engagement. Mastercard Partners With Polygon to Teach Web3 Traditional finance companies are now seeking to harness the power of blockchain for a myriad of activities in different fields. Mastercard, one of the biggest payments companies, has partnered with Polygon, an Ethereum scaling platform, to introduce five different emerging artists to the possibilities that Web3 tech can bring to their activities. The Mastercard artist accelerator program will use the Polygon network to teach the selected artists how to perform a series of activities that will allow them to cut the middleman, mint their own NFT (non-fungible tokens) collections to

An Ohio man has pleaded guilty to stealing over 712 bitcoin that was “seized” by the U.S. government in another criminal case. He has agreed to forfeit some bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin as part of his plea. “Due to the increase in market prices, the total value of these forfeitable properties exceeds $12 million,” said the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). US Man Steals Brother’s ‘Seized’ Bitcoin The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that a 31-year-old Ohio man, Gary James Harmon, has pleaded guilty to “unlawfully stealing” bitcoin that was “seized” by the federal government in his brother’s pending criminal case. The DOJ described: Harmon pleaded guilty to wire fraud and obstruction of justice for unlawfully taking more than 712 bitcoin that had been seized by law enforcement and was subject to forfeiture in the pending criminal prosecution of Larry Harmon. As part of his plea, Gary Harmon agreed to forfeit “cryptocurrencies and other properties derived from the

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is attempting to regain access to his Robinhood shares, worth over $460 million. The former CEO of the collapsed crypto exchange claimed that he needs them to “pay for his criminal defense,” stressing that without them the consequences would be serious and “irreparable.” FTX customers, on the other hand, “face only the possibility of economic loss,” SBF’s court filing states. Disputes Over Robinhood Shares FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is trying to regain control of his Robinhood shares that are currently disputed by several parties, including SBF himself, the new FTX management, and bankrupt crypto lender Blockfi. Bankman-Fried has asked the bankruptcy court to deny the motion to enforce the automatic stay (stay motion) filed by the new FTX management on 56,273,269 shares of Robinhood Markets Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOD), worth more than $460 million, a Thursday court filing shows. The court document details that the fo

From the start of March, Nigerian public officials will be barred from withdrawing cash from government bank accounts, the head of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit reportedly said. Public officials that want to be exempted from this new regulation will have to obtain a waiver from the Nigerian Presidency. Government Workers Vulnerable to Money Laundering Nigerian government workers will be prohibited from drawing cash from government accounts starting on March 1, Modibbo R. Hamman Tukur, the head of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), has said. The new rule, which reportedly applies to federal, local and state officials, seeks to tackle the high levels of corruption and money laundering in government. In addition, a Reuters report said the new rule in is tandem with the Nigerian government’s goal of achieving a cashless economy. The report also quotes Tukur explaining the reasons behind this decision. He said: Civil servants are becoming more and more vulner

Gold is on the rise in 2023 and in the first week of the new year alone, the precious metal has jumped 2.36% against the U.S. dollar. Over the past 65 days, gold has soared 14.55% while silver has skyrocketed 22.31% against the greenback since Nov. 3, 2022. According to the head of metals strategy at MKS Pamp Group, there is a “decent amount of bullish ‘pent-up’ demand that has been carried over from last year” for gold. Central Bank Demand and Ongoing Geopolitical Tensions Continue to Drive Gold’s Ascent The insistence for gold has continued to rise according to market prices during the past seven days. Gold jumped from $1,823 per troy ounce to $1,866 in that time frame. While gold is up 2.36% against the U.S. dollar, a troy ounce of fine silver is down roughly 0.58% since the start of the year. Over the past two months, both gold and silver have risen a great deal, with gold jumping 14.55% and silver increasing 22.31% against the greenback. With precious metals on the rise, ‘go

Authorities in Romania have conducted more than a dozen raids against people suspected of hiding income from cryptocurrency operations. The searches took place in late 2022 following an earlier investigation which established that crypto traders had failed to report digital assets exceeding $50 million in value. Law Enforcement and Tax Authorities in Romania Go After Crypto Taxpayers Police and tax officials in Romania have carried out 17 raids in the fall of last year as part of an investigation against persons accused of evading taxation by concealing profits from transactions with cryptocurrencies, local media revealed. Addresses were searched in the capital Bucharest as well as the counties of Dâmbovița, Ilfov and Olt, according to Cristian Roman, partner at the Iordăchescu & Asociații law firm, who shared the information with Romania Journal. The lawyer was referring to data provided by the Romanian police. Law enforcement authorities in the EU country allege that, betwee

France has to adopt a licensing regime for crypto service providers, the head of the country’s central bank has suggested. According to the executive, the need to tighten regulatory oversight stems from the “disorder” in the industry throughout the past year. Licensing Should Replace Registration for Crypto Firms in France, Governor Galhau Says Banque de France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau has urged for subjecting crypto businesses to stricter regulatory requirements. Licensing must be introduced instead of the current registration in response to the recent volatility in the sector, he insisted. De Galhau also thinks that Paris should not hesitate but act even before the upcoming EU regulations take effect and make it obligatory for Digital Asset Service Providers (DASPs) to obtain licenses from the French government, Bloomberg reported. Around 60 platforms working with cryptocurrencies have so far registered with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers ( AMF ), France’s finan