Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

President Alexander Lukashenko has signed another decree regulating the crypto economy of Belarus. It envisages the establishment of a register for cryptocurrency wallets and addresses certain legal aspects pertaining to the circulation of cryptocurrencies in the country. Presidential Decree Aims to Prevent Use of Crypto Wallets in Criminal Activities Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a new decree that expands his country’s regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The move will allow the Belarus High-Tech Park ( HTP ), which oversees the nation’s crypto space, to create a register for crypto wallet addresses that are or can be used for illicit purposes. The stated goal is to “protect participants in the digital asset market from loss of property and prevent unintentional involvement in activities prohibited by law,” the president’s press service noted in an announcement . Decree № 48 , “On the register of addresses (identifiers) of virtual wallets and features ...

PRESS RELEASE. This was the title of a recent talk by Serge Var, CEO and Co-Founder of Point Labs, at the 2022 Web 3.0 Conference in January. Serge presented arguments that despite numerous projects calling themselves “Web 3.0” and “decentralized”, we are not quite there yet: we’re still relying too heavily on centralized systems, using centralized domains that can be taken away by governments or hijacked, untrusted centralized storage where the UI is stored, and browser extensions that can disappear tomorrow at Google’s whim. The only decentralized part of a typical “decentralized application” turns out to be the smart contract, with everything else open to being compromised. Such Frankenstein’s monsters crossbred from Web2 and Web3 parts (what many nicknamed Web 2.5) lead not only to multiple security fiascos, such as BadgerDAO recently losing $120M of participants’ funds because of a centralized UI that had been hijacked, but also gives a premature bad rap to the Web 3.0 conce...

The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies has placed Russia among the leaders in adoption. But while it is yet to reach the top of the ranking, the country already has a “disproportionate share” of global activity related to some forms of crime involving cryptocurrency, according to a new study by Chainalysis. Three Quarters of Ransomware Revenue Traceable to Russia, Researchers Say Individuals and groups based in the Russian Federation, which is in the top 20 of the Global Crypto Adoption Index by Chainalysis, can be linked to some $400 million in crypto-denominated ransomware revenue in 2021, the blockchain analytics firm revealed this week. In a preview of its 2022 Crypto Crime Report, Chainalysis elaborated: Overall, roughly 74% of ransomware revenue in 2021 — over $400 million worth of cryptocurrency — went to strains we can say are highly likely to be affiliated with Russia in some way. Platforms operating mainly on the Russian crypto market launder the bulk of extorted f...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned investors about the “risks with accounts that pay interest on crypto-asset deposits.” The warning coincides with the first enforcement action the agency took against crypto lending platforms. SEC Warns About Risks in Interest-Bearing Crypto Accounts The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy and the Division of Enforcement’s Retail Strategy Task Force announced Monday that they have jointly issued an investor bulletin “to educate investors about risks with accounts that pay interest on crypto-asset deposits.” On the same day, the SEC announced that it has charged cryptocurrency lending platform Blockfi for failing to register its crypto lending product. Blockfi has agreed to pay $100 million in penalties to settle the charges with the SEC and 32 state regulators. The SEC explained that “an interest-bearing account for crypto asset holdings … are not as safe as bank or credit ...

DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, is planning to launch crypto trading for retail investors this year, the bank’s CEO has revealed. He added that in the first half of this year, DBS will focus on making “access to digital assets a lot more convenient.” DBS Bank to Offer Crypto Trading to Retail Customers DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia by assets, is planning to launch cryptocurrency trading services for retail clients this year. During the bank’s fourth-quarter earnings call Monday, CEO Piyush Gupta was asked whether DBS has any plans to expand its digital asset exchange and if there is a roadmap for rolling out digital asset trading for retail investors given the growth in that market. Gupta replied: What we will focus on in the first half, the first two quarters, of this year is to make the access to digital assets a lot more convenient. He detailed: “Today, what happens is that you’ve got 24/7, but the customers still need to call and speak to bankers. So the...

Inflation continues to grip American wallets, according to a recent economic analysis from Moody’s Analytics, which shows inflation is likely costing the average U.S. household between $250 to $276 per month. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise the benchmark interest rate in March and St. Louis Fed president James Bullard believes the Fed needs to “front-load” rate hikes. St. Louis Fed President on Inflation: ‘People Are Unhappy, Consumer Confidence Is Declining’ Last week, the U.S. Labor Department published its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which noted inflation jumped 7.5% higher than it was a year ago. Following the report, Moody’s Analytics notes that the average U.S. household is likely paying $250 to $276 a month due to the added inflation. As the days continue in 2022, the U.S. dollar’s purchasing power has decreased and the price of goods and services has increased. Moody’s senior economist Ryan Sweet explained that a lot of Americans are feeling...

On February 14, Cere Network and Polygon launched a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and Web3 platform called Davinci, a project that aims to bolster the security behind NFT data. The platform is described as an “all-in-one Web3 media platform” that leverages Cere’s decentralized data cloud (DDC) platform and the proof-of-stake blockchain network Polygon. Cere Network Launches All-in-One Web3 Media Platform Built on Polygon Non-fungible token (NFT) media has become a big deal and a billion-dollar industry during the last year. However, the space has become filled with controversies as well with issues pertaining to intellectual property and copyrights to things like immutability . In March 2021, there was a furious debate over immutability concerns tied to NFT technology. Fred Jin, the co-founder of Cere Network believes that NFT content that’s not stored properly is an issue. “Most NFT content is not stored securely on the blockchain,” Jin said in a statement during the D...

Bitso, a Mexico-based cryptocurrency exchange, is expanding and strengthening its push into the Colombian market in the midst of growing interest in these new technologies in the country. Bitso has appointed Emilio Pardo as a new country manager, to debut the start of operations in Colombia in partnership with Banco de Bogota. Bitso Enters Colombian Market Bitso, a Mexican cryptocurrency exchange with more than four million customers, has set its sights on Colombia for its expansion. The company is now part of the regulatory crypto sandbox established in the country as part of the ongoing experiment to enable these virtual asset service providers to operate. Bitso’s crypto services will be available to customers of Banco de Bogota who have an account with the exchange. As a benefit for these 5,000 customers the trial includes, Bitso will not charge the normal fees for buying cryptocurrencies. These users will be able to buy Bitcoin ( BTC ), ether ( ETH ), bitcoin cash ( BCH ), and...

Liquidators of Mirror Trading International (MTI) have attacked the claim that declaring the collapsed bitcoin investment platform an unlawful scheme would jeopardize investors’ chances of recovering their funds. The Unsubstantiated Claim South African liquidators of Mirror Trading International (MTI) have rejected the claim that declaring the collapsed bitcoin investment platform an unlawful operation would result in victims losing everything. The liquidators suggested that the “unsubstantiated” claim is being propagated by a few MTI investors and their legal representatives. According to a Mybroadband report that cites a circular issued by Investrust, the liquidators are adamant that there is no evidence that supports the claims. The report said: The available evidence is overwhelming and uncontroverted: MTI was a massive fraudulent scam, and this will remain the position. The liquidators also warned MTI investors who stand to lose everything that they should not be hoodwink...

PRESS RELEASE. The popularity surrounding both the metaverse as well as different games has skyrocketed lately, with numerous projects all vying to attract investors. To that end, Geopoly is a geolocation economic simulation game that was introduced by Widow Games. It enables users to rent, acquire, improve, and sell real-world enterprises all over the world. The game runs in two layers: off-chain which runs on Android and iOS, and on-chain. The on-chain part of Geopoly is running on Polygon, and the connection with it provides an innovative ecosystem based on a gaming simulation technology that has not often been observed in this market. Geopoly therefore allows players to explore different possibilities, rent, purchase, invest and sell where the main aim is to create as much income as possible and dramatically develop the user’s enterprise. Players begin from the ground up to create the biggest real-estate empire the world has ever seen. Recently, the Geopoly presale with Seedi...

The U.K.’s. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has made its first non-fungible token (NFT) seizure. British authorities also seized some crypto and arrested three people in a fraud case involving 250 allegedly fake companies. “Our first seizure of a non-fungible token serves as a warning to anyone who thinks they can use crypto assets to hide money from HMRC.” NFTs and Crypto Assets Seized by UK Tax Authority Britain’s HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said Monday that it has seized three non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrency worth about 5,000 pounds in an ongoing fraud investigation. Three people have also been arrested. The U.K.’s tax, payments, and customs authority added that it was HMRC’s first-ever NFT seizure. The seized digital art NFTs have not been appraised. The ongoing value-added tax (VAT) repayment fraud case involves 250 allegedly fake companies accused of defrauding the public coffers of 1.4 million pounds ($1.9 million). The suspects allegedly attempted to cla...

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, says that a digital euro will not replace cash but would complement it. “A digital euro would give you an additional choice about how to pay and make it easier to do so, contributing to accessibility and inclusion,” the ECB explained. Digital Euro to Complement Cash ECB President Christine Lagarde talked about the digital euro at the plenary session of the European Parliament Monday on the 20th anniversary of the introduction of euro banknotes and coins. “Last year, we launched the digital euro project,” she said. “We will investigate how a digital euro could offer a convenient, cost-free means of payment, allowing people to pay anywhere in the euro area with risk-free digital money – for example, when making payments online, which preclude the use of cash,” the ECB chief continued, emphasizing: In any event, a digital euro would complement cash, not replace it. This is also why we launched the process for redes...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged cryptocurrency lending platform Blockfi in a first-of-its-kind action. The crypto lender has agreed to pay $100 million to settle the charges and pursue necessary registrations. SEC Charges Crypto Lending Platform Blockfi The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Monday that crypto lending platform Blockfi has agreed to pay $100 million in penalties. The SEC explained that “In this first-of-its-kind action,” it “charged Blockfi Lending LLC with failing to register the offers and sales of its retail crypto lending product, Blockfi Interest Accounts (BIAs).” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler commented: This is the first case of its kind with respect to crypto lending platforms. To settle the SEC’s charges, Blockfi agreed to pay a $50 million penalty and cease its unregistered offers and sales of the lending product. The company also agreed to pay an additional $50 million in fines to 32 states to settle simi...

According to an announcement from Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness the Bank of Jamaica plans to “roll out” its central bank digital currency (CBDC) after the country’s successful pilot last year. Jamaica’s CBDC Is Due to Launch This Year Jamaica, the island country situated in the Caribbean Sea is planning to launch its CBDC this year, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness. The Jamaican bureaucrat tweeted about the CBDC on February 10, when he said : “the Bank of Jamaica will roll out our own digital Jamaican dollar in 2022 after a successful pilot during 2021.” The statement follows the Jamaican central bank’s “successful” pilot it experimented with last year. At the end of 2021, the Bank of Jamaica told the public three schemes were tested during the pilot phase. The statements stemming from Holness reiterated that the CBDC was successful and the digital currency will be the foundational infrastructure. “This will serve as a foundation for Jamaica’s digital payments...

PRESS RELEASE. Lbank excited to announce that LBank Exchange —the world-class digital asset trading platform—has integrated Chainlink Price Feeds . By integrating the industry-leading decentralized oracle network, LBank Exchange will have access to high-quality, tamper-proof price feeds needed to help secure perpetual futures trading on the platform. This will provide our users with stronger assurances that LBank futures contracts are using reliable, high-quality market data for asset prices. Chainlink was chosen as the go-to oracle solution because its infrastructure is seamless to integrate and time-tested in production. Chainlink already helps secure leading DeFi protocols responsible for tens of billions of dollars in smart contract value. It stays secure and available even amidst unexpected network events, such as exchange downtime, flash crashes, and data manipulation attacks via flash loans. As a global digital asset trading platform that provides services to more than 6.4 m...

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), working in partnership with Bank ABC, recently announced it had successfully tested the transfer of funds across borders using JPMorgan’s JPM Coin. The test fulfills the central bank’s goal of creating safe and efficient settlement solutions for customers. Eliminating Inefficiencies in the Cross-Border Payment Arena With CBDCs Bahrain’s central bank recently said it had piloted its first cross border funds transfer using the JPMorgan blockchain. The transfer, which was carried out in partnership with Bank ABC, is the latest step taken by the CBB as it prepares to launch its digital currency. In his comments following the latest test, CBB governor, Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, is quoted by Unlock Media lauding the central bank’s ongoing tests. He said: We at the Central Bank of Bahrain are extremely pleased to announce the success of this test which aligns with our vision and strategy to continually develop and enrich the capabilities extended to ...

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, says that crypto assets and stablecoins are no match for well-designed central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). “If CBDCs are designed prudently, they can potentially offer more resilience, more safety, greater availability, and lower costs than private forms of digital money,” she said. IMF on Crypto, Stablecoins, and CBDCs IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva gave a speech last week at the Atlantic Council in Washington D.C. regarding the future of money, cryptocurrency, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Noting that central banks have moved beyond conceptual discussions regarding digital currencies and are in the experimentation phase, she noted: “These are still early days for CBDCs and we don’t quite know how far and how fast they will go.” Nonetheless, the IMF chief said: If CBDCs are designed prudently, they can potentially offer more resilience, more safety, greater avai...

Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, expects the United States Congress to take a long time to pass cryptocurrency legislation despite mounting interest in crypto investments and regulators calling for Congress to weigh in on crypto legislation. Congress Could Take a Long Time on Crypto Legislation The largest bank in Switzerland, UBS, published its view on U.S. crypto legislation Friday after the House of Financial Services Committee held a lengthy hearing on the regulation of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins last week. The Swiss bank’s U.S. Office of Public Policy explained that at the hearing, a senior Treasury official discussed recommendations made in a stablecoin report issued by the Department of the Treasury and other regulators. “To fill in regulatory gaps and address financial stability concerns, the regulators would like Congress to develop legislation that regulates stablecoin issuers as banks,” the UBS team detailed, noting that this proposal has received pushback from so...

Popular trading app Robinhood has revealed that its international expansion will be “crypto first.” The company said from the regulatory standpoint, crypto is “probably the easiest way to go global.” The trading platform is also looking for compliant ways to list more cryptocurrencies. Robinhood Becoming ‘Crypto-First’ Company Steve Quirk, Robinhood’s chief brokerage officer, talked about the firm’s turnaround strategy and crypto in an interview with CNBC last week. Noting that Robinhood now has seven cryptocurrencies listed, the executive revealed that the platform is trying to find ways to expand the number of cryptocurrencies listed. He described: We are doing a lot of exploration about finding compliant ways to expand that. Robinhood currently supports the buying, selling, and real-time market data for bitcoin ( BTC ), bitcoin cash ( BCH ), bitcoin sv ( BSV ), dogecoin (DOGE), ethereum ( ETH ), ethereum classic ( ETC ), and litecoin ( LTC ). Several executives from Robinho...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned about romance scams using cryptocurrency. Scammers use romance as a hook to lure people into bogus investments, especially crypto, the federal agency explained. “2021 numbers are nearly five times those reported in 2020, and more than 25 times those reported in 2019,” said the FTC. FTC Warns About Crypto Romance Scams The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a warning Thursday about crypto-related romance scams. The FTC is an independent agency of the U.S. government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil U.S. antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. “New data from the Federal Trade Commission show that more consumers than ever report falling prey to romance scammers. Consumers reported losing $547 million in 2021 alone,” the FTC wrote, adding: A growing trend in 2021 was scammers using romance as a hook to lure people into bogus investments, especially cryptocurrency. “Consumers who paid roman...

The Spanish parliament has introduced an amendment to the tax model 720 used to declare cryptocurrency and other holdings abroad, softening some of the penalties associated with it. The modification, which has not yet been approved, changes some of the harsher penalties that were declared illegal by the Court of Justice of the European Union last month. New Model 720 in Parliament An amendment of the tax model 720, which forced taxpayers to disclose crypto and other kinds of asset holdings outside of the country, was introduced in the Spanish Parliament on February 10th. The antifraud law which was approved last June dictates that cryptocurrencies abroad would have to be declared using this model. The proposed amendment seeks to eliminate certain penalties in the previous model 720 that were declared illegal by the Court of Justice of the European Union last month. According to the old structure, debtors could pay up to 150% of their holdings abroad depending on the circumstance...

Seven executives of the collapsed South Korean scam cryptocurrency exchange, V Global, were recently handed lengthy jail sentences as punishment for their role in running one of the country’s biggest crypto frauds. Verdict Sets New Benchmark Seven former masterminds of the now-defunct scam crypto exchange, V Global, were recently given jail sentences for their part in misappropriating nearly $1.9 billion in investors’ funds. Lee Byung-gul, who was the CEO of the entity when the funds went missing, was handed a 22-year jail term while his accomplices were given jail sentences that range between four and 14 years. According to a report by Forkast, the jailing of Lee Byung-gul and his fellow executives comes a month after prosecutors asked for life sentences. At the time, the prosecutors argued that handing the offenders life sentences would reflect the severity of the offenses. However, the report reveals that the jail sentences given to the CEO and his co-conspirators are in fact ...

On February 10, the well-known developer of Cydia and iOS Jailbreak, Jay Freeman, otherwise known as Saurik, published a Twitter thread about a bug he found in the Layer-2 (L2) scaling protocol known as Optimism. According to Freeman, the vulnerability, which has been patched, could have allowed an attacker to create an infinite amount of tokens. Cydia Creator ‘Saurik’ Discovers Optimism L2 Vulnerability Jay Freeman is a prominent software developer who is well known for his iOS Jailbreak and Cydia tools. Freeman’s Cydia graphical user interface (GUI) was released in February 2008, and it gives users with jailbroken iPhones the ability to download unauthorized software for the Apple smartphone operating system iOS. Freeman recently published a blog post called “Attacking an Ethereum L2 with Unbridled Optimism,” which explains how he reported a critical security issue to the developers of the L2 scaling solution Optimism. Optimism’s L2 solution allows users to move ethereum for a f...

The governor of Hungary’s central bank has called for a ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining in the European Union. “It is clear-cut that cryptocurrencies could service illegal activities and tend to build up financial pyramids,” he said. Hungarian Central Bank Chief Wants EU-Wide Crypto Trading and Mining Ban The Hungarian National Bank, the central bank of Hungary, published a statement Friday from György Matolcsy, the governor of the central bank, declaring that the “Time has come to ban crypto trading and mining in the EU.” He noted that “China declared all cryptocurrency activities illegal last September” and Russia’s central bank has proposed “a ban on crypto trading and mining.” Commenting on the Russian central bank’s crypto ban proposal, Governor Matolcsy said: I perfectly agree with the proposal and also support the senior EU financial regulator’s point that the EU should ban the mining method used to produce new bitcoin. In January, the vice chairman of the Boar...

Financial services firm Wells Fargo says that cryptocurrencies are viable investments that have entered the “hyper-adoption” phase. “Cryptocurrencies have been following an adoption pattern similar to other new advanced technologies, such as the internet,” the firm’s global investment team detailed. Crypto in Hyper-Adoption Phase, Says Wells Fargo Wells Fargo’s investment institute published a special report titled “Understanding Cryptocurrency” this week. The report attempts to answer whether it is “too early or too late” to invest in cryptocurrencies. The Wells Fargo team explained: We believe that cryptocurrencies are viable investments today, even though they remain in the early stages of their investment evolution. They added: “We recommend professionally managed private placements for now, as the investment landscape is still maturing.” The research team continued: “We see cryptocurrencies in the ‘early, but not too early’ investment stage, which is why we have emphasize...

Netflix has ordered a documentary series about the couple who allegedly laundered billions of dollars from the 2016 Bitfinex hack. Aspiring rapper Heather Morgan and her husband, Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, were arrested in New York this week. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also seized 94,636 bitcoins stolen from the Bitfinex hack. Documentary Series About the Bitfinex Hack and the Couple Involved, Coming Soon to Netflix American subscription streaming service and production company Netflix announced Friday that it “has ordered a documentary series about a married couple’s alleged scheme to launder billions of dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency in the biggest criminal financial crime case in history.” The company explained that Chris Smith — famed for directing “FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” and “Tiger King” — is set to direct and executive produce the Bitfinex documentary series. In addition, writer and producer Nick Bilton — famed for “Fake Famous,” “The Inve...