Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Alexander Vinnik, the alleged owner and operator of the infamous cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, has been found not eligible for release on bail in the United States, where he was recently transferred from Greece. The Russian, accused of large-scale money laundering through the now-defunct trading platform, and other crimes, rejects U.S. charges. Alexander Vinnik Remains in California Prison, Russian Embassy Offers Help Authorities in the United States have effectively denied release on bail for the IT specialist Alexander Vinnik, Russian media reported, quoting his record on the website of the Santa Rita Jail in California where he is incarcerated. Vinnik has been in the U.S. since his hasty extradition from Greece a little more than a week ago, which angered his international defense team. The crypto entrepreneur was arrested on a U.S. warrant in the summer of 2017, in the Greek city of Thessaloniki where he arrived on a family vacation. Greece first sent him to France in late 2...

Gold bug Peter Schiff has settled with Puerto Rico’s financial regulator and agreed to liquidate his Euro Pacific Bank. Schiff stressed that he is not admitting to any legal wrongdoing. Peter Schiff Liquidating Euro Pacific Bank Gold bug and notorious bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff has settled with the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico, also known as Oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras (OCIF), and agreed to liquidate his Euro Pacific Bank. He tweeted Wednesday: I have agreed to a settlement with Puerto Rican banking regulators that tasks me with leading an orderly liquidation of Euro Pacific Bank. He noted that the liquidation of Euro Pacific Bank is based on its having insufficient regulatory capital. The bank was not in compliance with the Puerto Rican minimum capital requirements. Schiff previously explained : “My team didn’t understand the rules. We were new to Puerto Rico. We were required to keep more capital than we though...

Shark Tank star and the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, is facing a class action lawsuit for promoting Voyager Digital’s crypto products. The plaintiffs claim that Voyager was “a massive Ponzi scheme” and Cuban “duped millions of Americans into investing.” Mark Cuban Sued by Voyager Investors A class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. district court of the southern district of Florida against Shark Tank star Mark Cuban, Dallas Basketball Ltd. (DBA Dallas Mavericks), and Voyager Digital CEO Steven Ehrlich. There are 12 lead plaintiffs. Referencing the case of “Mark Cassidy v. Voyager Digital Ltd., et al.,” filed in December last year, they alleged that Cuban and Ehrlich “went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing — in many cases, their life savings — into the Deceptive Voyager Platform and purchasing Voyager Earn Program Accounts (‘EPAs’), which are unregistered securities,” the lawsuit describe...

It is illegal to buy or sell cryptocurrency in Iran, the head of the country’s monetary authority has recently reminded citizens and businesses. The governor noted, however, that mining cryptocurrencies and using them in payments for imports is not against the law in the Islamic Republic. Top Banker Confirms Crypto Trading Still Illegal in Iran The purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies or using the digital assets for investment purposes is prohibited, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran ( CBI ), Ali Salehabadi, has recently told local media. At the same time, authorized persons and entities can legally mine crypto that can be employed for international settlements, the official pointed out. Referring to regulations adopted by the bank and other government institutions such as the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade two years ago, the CBI chief elaborated that it is legal for Iranian companies to pay for imports with cryptocurrency. He was quoted in a report by the English-lan...

PRESS RELEASE. SEOUL – Iskra took the stage at Korea Blockchain Week, outlining their vision of game publishing in the era of Web3. “The technology is now available for us to provide an ecosystem that enables better outcomes for everyone: players, game developers and the platform itself. There is now an opportunity for every stakeholder (especially players) to share in the overall value created by the game experience: from digital asset ownership, fandom development, to overall community participation.”, explains Ben Colayco, Iskra’s Global Managing Director. Iskra plans on distributing up to 100% of all platform fees to every stakeholder, based on their participation. Participation is determined through Iskra’s Community Ranking System that measures everything from running an Iskra network node (Pioneer NFT), staking Iskra’s native token (ISK), to simply using platform services. This form of Game Publishing for Web3 includes the players as stakeholders from the very beginning, cre...

Two of the biggest soccer clubs in Spain, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, have applied to receive trademarks for some elements in the metaverse. The clubs have introduced an application that encompasses different activities and services that they can conduct in the metaverse, including a cryptocurrency wallet and the possibility of selling virtual merchandise. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona Interested in the Metaverse Sports teams are now moving their activities to the metaverse, in order to create new profit sources and also to improve feedback and their relationship with fans. Recently, two of the biggest soccer clubs in Spain, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, have filed a joint trademark application to offer several services in the metaverse. Trademark Attorney Michael Kondoudis first reported about the trademark application on social media, reporting that it was filed on August 5. The trademark filing indicates that the two clubs may be interested in offering their own cryptocurrency...

India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen crypto exchange Vauld’s crypto and bank assets worth about INR 370 crore ($46,439,181). Vauld halted deposits and withdrawals last month. The Indian law enforcement agency is reportedly investigating more than 10 cryptocurrency exchanges. Indian Authority Freezes Another Cryptocurrency Exchange’s Assets The Enforcement Directorate (ED), a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the government of India, has frozen the assets of another cryptocurrency exchange. The agency announced Friday that it has conducted searches at various premises of Yellow Tune Technologies in Bangalore and has issued an order to freeze its bank balances, payment gateway balances, and crypto balances of Flipvolt Technologies’ crypto exchange totaling 370 crore rupees ($46,439,181) worth of assets. Flipvolt Technologies is the India-registered entity of Singapore-headquartered Vauld, a cryptocurrency trading, borrowing, and lending platform. ED ex...

The central bank of the Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, has announced that it will stop accepting crypto license applications for three years, starting next month. The central bank is the primary regulator of the crypto sector in the Philippines. Philippines Halts Accepting Crypto License Applications The Philippine central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, announced Wednesday that it will stop accepting new Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license applications for three years. In a memorandum dated Aug. 10, the central bank explained that it “aims to strike a balance between promoting innovation in the financial sector and ensuring that associated risks remain within manageable levels.” The central bank added, “The Bangko Sentral recognizes that as VAs [virtual assets] offer opportunities to promote greater access to financial services at reduced costs, they also pose varied risks that may undermine financial stability,” elaborating: In this regard, the regular ...

PRESS RELEASE. Zug, Switzerland, 12th August 2022: GAIMIN announces the opening of its gaming and monetization platform to the gaming community. Following recently completed initial testing of its monetisation and gaming platform, GAIMIN.io ltd is opening up its gaming and monetization platform to 10,000 gamers during August and September. GAIMIN’s monetization application enables a user to utilize the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) installed in a PC to participate in GAIMIN’s distributed data processing network, returning up to 90% of rewards generated back to the user. With a specific focus on PC-based gamers as users, GAIMIN’s app allows gamers to utilize their passively generated rewards to purchase in-game assets such as NFTs and native gaming tokens (including V-Bucks and Apex Legends coins) and as well as purchasing accessories and merchandise from GAIMIN Gladiators, GAIMIN’s esports division all of which is designed to deliver true utility for GAIMIN’s GMRX token. Andrew ...

The U.S. government banning the ethereum mixing service Tornado Cash and the enforcement that has followed has the crypto community in an uproar about the event. A large number of crypto and privacy advocates have spoken out against the actions the government has taken so far, and the nonprofit advocacy group Fight for the Future calls the ban “a threat to the future of financial privacy.” Advocacy Group Fight for the Future Says US Government Threatens Financial Privacy — ‘There Are Many Legitimate Reasons to Seek Anonymity in Financial Transactions’ On August 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash. The U.S. government claims that the application was used to allegedly “launder more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since its creation in 2019.” Following the ban, Github contributors were suspended from the software repository platform and on August 12, the Tornado Cash Discord s...

Mercado Libre, one of the biggest retailers in Latam, has announced that it plans to expand its cryptocurrency trading services to more countries in the region. The company, whose cryptocurrency services are now just available for customers in Brazil through Mercado Pago, its payments and digital wallet, already has more than 1 million customers using these services. Mercado Libre to Expand Crypto Offering in Latam More companies are extending their services to include cryptocurrency in Latam. Mercado Libre, one of the biggest Latam region retailers, has plans to expand its cryptocurrency services to include more countries in the zone. Osvaldo Gimenez, head of Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s digital payments and wallet service, informed El Pais about these plans. He declared: We are going to be expanding in the region the possibility of buying, selling and having cryptocurrencies in your account. It works with bitcoin, with ethereum and with the stable currency that reflects the va...

Picpay, a payments and wallet app, is now providing cryptocurrency services to more than 30 million users in Brazil. The company, that had announced this rollout last month, now allows its customers to purchase, hold, and sell digital assets from its platform. The organization partnered with Paxos, the issuer of the pax dollars stablecoin, in order to provide these services. Picpay Launches Crypto Trading Services in Brazil Fintech companies are introducing crypto as a way of getting their customers acquainted with cryptocurrency as an alternative investment opportunity. Picpay, one of the biggest payment and wallet apps in Brazil, has announced the rollout of its cryptocurrency trading services program in the country. The company, which has now more than 30 million active users, will allow them to purchase, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies directly through its app. The exchange and settlement services will be provided by Paxos, a New York-based blockchain services platform. In the...

This week the bitcoin mining company Genesis Digital Assets announced that the firm has secured 708 megawatts (MW) in capacity and revealed plans to create 130 full-time jobs in the United States. The chief operating officer at Genesis, Andrey Kim, said the firm has been pleased with “the pace” of the bitcoin mining company’s U.S. expansion. Genesis Digital Assets U.S. Expansion Gathers 708 MW of Power On Wednesday, Genesis Digital Assets revealed it has acquired 708 MW of capacity as the firm’s U.S. expansion continues. Presently, Genesis mines bitcoin in four locations in Texas, three locations in South Carolina, and one location in North Carolina. During the first half of 2022, Genesis secured the 708 MW from the Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina regions. The company said the expansion will create 130 full-time jobs and roughly 495 construction jobs for the local communities. “Every day, we are given a chance to create meaningful and lasting relationships by creating j...

Crypto exchange Hotbit has announced the suspension of trading, deposits, withdrawals, and funding on its platform. The exchange said law enforcement has frozen some of its funds and subpoenaed some senior managers as they investigate a criminal case involving the exchange’s former employee. Hotbit Suspends Trading, Deposits, Withdrawals Cryptocurrency exchange Hotbit announced the suspension of its services on Wednesday. The company wrote: We regret to inform you that Hotbit will have to suspend trading, deposit, withdrawal and funding functions. The exact time of resumption cannot be determined at the moment. The exchange detailed that the reason for the suspension is because a former management employee is suspected of violating criminal laws. The employee left Hotbit in April. Unbeknownst to the exchange, he was involved in a project last year that was in violation of the company’s internal practice, the announcement details. Law enforcement has subpoenaed a number of Hotb...

The world’s largest asset manager, Blackrock, has launched a spot bitcoin private trust. “Despite the steep downturn in the digital asset market, we are still seeing substantial interest from some institutional clients,” said Blackrock. Blackrock Launches Bitcoin Trust Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, has launched “Blackrock bitcoin private trust.” According to a Thursday blog post, the spot bitcoin private trust, available to U.S. institutional clients, seeks to track the performance of BTC , less expenses and liabilities of the trust. The asset management firm detailed: Despite the steep downturn in the digital asset market, we are still seeing substantial interest from some institutional clients in how to efficiently and cost-effectively access these assets using our technology and product capabilities. “Bitcoin is the oldest, largest, and most liquid cryptoasset, and is currently the primary subject of interest from our clients within the cryptoasset space,” th...

Authorities in Uzbekistan are restricting access to online crypto trading platforms based outside the country and not registered under its laws. A presidential decree obliges citizens and local companies to only use digital asset exchanges licensed by the government of the Central Asian nation. Uzbekistan Takes Steps to Prevent Crypto Trading and Custody on Foreign Platforms Uzbekistan’s National Agency of Perspective Projects ( NAPP ) has registered a spike in activities of online platforms providing crypto-related services to Uzbekistanis without the necessary license. The regulatory body says these facilitate trading of cryptocurrencies and request personal information without complying with a requirement to have their servers installed in the country. In a recent statement , the agency pointed out that such platforms “do not bear any legal responsibility for carrying out operations with crypto assets, cannot guarantee the legitimacy of transactions, as well as the proper storag...

Bank of England’s analysts say crypto assets could have important roles within the metaverse. “Widespread adoption of crypto in the metaverse … would require compliance with robust consumer protection and financial stability regulatory frameworks,” they added. Bank of England’s Analysts on the Metaverse, Crypto, and Regulation Bank of England’s economist Owen Lock and policy analyst Teresa Cascino published a blog post titled “Cryptoassets, the metaverse and systemic risk” Tuesday. “Cryptoassets could have important roles within the metaverse,” they began, cautioning: If an open and decentralized metaverse grows, existing risks from cryptoassets may scale to have systemic financial stability consequences. “Widespread adoption of crypto in the metaverse, or any other setting would require compliance with robust consumer protection and financial stability regulatory frameworks,” they stressed. Lock and Cascino explained that “The open metaverse will require a means with which to...

PRESS RELEASE. ReadON ( readon.me ), a company that aims to provide users with a brand-new content consumption experience by utilizing blockchain, completed its seed investment round of $2M led by SevenX Ventures. Other investors included HashKey Capital, Foresight Ventures, Sky9 Capital, ArkStream Capital, Puzzle Ventures, CyberConnect, M23 Fund, Smrti Lab and individual investors. The seed funding will be used to develop a ReadON mobile application and a decentralized recommendation system. Neo Y., Cofounder and CEO of ReadON, is a serial entrepreneur who founded a games and applications company that made over 500K DAU, $10 million in revenue in 2020. Neo previously worked as the Director of Product at Qutoutiao (NASDAQ: QTT) , responsible for designing the best Play2Earn product in China with 30M daily active users. Troy H., Co-founder and CTO of ReadON, was formerly the senior technology manager at ByteDance. Prior to that, Troy was a senior tech lead at Pinterest (NYSE: PI...

On August 9, a firm that uses landfill methane to fuel bitcoin miners, Vespene Energy, announced the company has raised $4.3 million in a funding round led by Polychain Capital. Vespene aims to use the funds for its pilot in California by using landfill methane to mine bitcoin and “mitigate a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.” Vespene Energy Raises $4.3M in Funding Round Led by Polychain Capital, Firm Aims to Give Landfill Owners the Ability to Monetize Landfill Methane Vespene Energy announced that the company has raised $4.3 million from a financing round led by Polychain Capital. According to the company’s website , the startup converts landfill methane into bitcoin value with no grid connections or pipeline buildout. Vespene essentially installs onsite data centers powered by micro-turbines, getting energy from municipal landfills’ methane. It gives landfill owners the ability to monetize their landfill methane, “reducing routine flaring and maintenance costs,” Vespe...