Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s managing director has outlined the central bank’s plan to ensure seamless financial transactions across digital asset networks. “Currently, there is a proliferation of digital asset networks,” the head of Singapore’s central bank said. “We cannot wish these dynamics away and force consolidation of all financial transactions onto a single network. It is more feasible to work towards making these diverse networks interoperable.” Singapore’s Central Bank Discusses Digital Asset Plans Ravi Menon, the managing director of Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), discussed digital assets at Singapore Fintech Festival last week. “Digital assets have two critical features that can fundamentally transform the nature of financial transactions,” he began. The first is tokenization allows financial assets to be exchanged without intermediaries, which “eliminates settlement risk, duplicative reconciliation, and the need for larg...

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is reportedly facing a $4 billion demand from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in order to settle a criminal case. The Justice Department has been investigating Binance on allegations related to money laundering, bank fraud, and sanctions violations. US DOJ Wants $4 Billion From Binance The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly seeking more than $4 billion from Binance Holdings Ltd. as part of a proposed settlement to conclude its multiyear investigation into the crypto exchange and its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department has been investigating Binance on allegations related to money laundering, bank fraud, and sanctions violations, the news outlet conveyed, adding that negotiations between Binance and the DOJ include CZ potentially facing criminal charges in the U.S. According to the publication, an announcement could come as soon as the end of this month an...

Tether has announced the “largest-ever freeze of USDT in history.” In collaboration with crypto exchange Okx, Tether froze $225 million in USDT following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The tokens were allegedly linked to an international human trafficking syndicate in Southeast Asia responsible for a global “pig butchering” crypto scam. $225M in USDT Frozen by Tether Leading stablecoin issuer Tether and crypto exchange Okx announced Monday that they have collaborated with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) “in an investigation that led to Tether proactively and voluntarily freezing approximately 225 million in USDT tokens in external self-custodied wallets.” The wallets are “linked to an international human trafficking syndicate in Southeast Asia responsible for a global ‘pig butchering’ romance scam,” the crypto companies detailed, adding: The joint investigation was conducted using tools from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, and the action b...

On Sunday, November 19, 2023, Bitcoin achieved a historic milestone, registering the highest number of daily transactions ever confirmed within a 24-hour span. A significant 710,579 transfers were confirmed by miners that day, including a significant portion of 475,249 Ordinal inscriptions. Bitcoin Hits Lifetime Peak: 710K+ Transactions in 24 Hours This recent weekend marked a record-breaking moment for the Bitcoin network. Operating at a robust hashrate of 480 exahash per second (EH/s), the network verified an unprecedented total of 710,579 transactions – a new peak in Bitcoin’s storied history. This surpassed the previous high set on September 15, 2023, when bitcoin ( BTC ) miners verified 703,692 transactions . Furthermore, on November 12, 2023, the daily transaction volume ( 703,327 ) nearly eclipsed the former record, now ranking as the third highest in history. All of these days featured unparalleled levels of inscription-based transactions, with the most recent record estab...