Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

A Latvian national has been handed over to the United States where he is accused of fraud through several companies offering false crypto investment opportunities. Ivars Auzins will appear in a federal court in Brooklyn to face multiple charges of wire and securities fraud. Latvian Authorities Transfer Alleged Crypto Fraudster to US Custody Ivars Auzins, a citizen of the small Baltic nation of Latvia, was extradited to the United States on Friday. The Latvian has been handed over to the American judiciary on a six-count indictment charging him with wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracies to commit wire and securities fraud in connection with the operation of eight businesses that purported to offer, invest in, or mine digital assets. Auzins will be arraigned on the indictment on Saturday in a federal court in Brooklyn before the Honorable Roanne L. Mann., the U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release. The charges were announced by United States Attorney for the East...

Binance is helping the South Korean city of Busan “grow crypto adoption within the city and beyond.” The global crypto exchange will also support the development of the city’s blockchain ecosystem and the Busan Digital Asset Exchange. Binance Signs MOU With Busan City Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced Friday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Busan Metropolitan City. Busan, located on the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula, is the second largest city in South Korea with approximately 3.4 million residents. “As part of the agreement, the city of Busan will receive technological and infrastructure support from Binance for the development of the city’s blockchain ecosystem and promotion of the Busan Digital Asset Exchange,” Binance explained. “Another form of cooperation between the two parties will be order book sharing,” the company added, noting that it will be establishing a presence in Busan by the end of the year. Binance CEO Changpeng Zh...

Twitter Inc. has been ordered to provide additional data relating to spam and bot accounts to Elon Musk. The social media giant has sued the Tesla CEO for terminating his $44 billion offer to buy the social media platform. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also questioned Twitter about the number of spam accounts. Court Orders Twitter to Give Additional Data to Elon Musk Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick, a judge on the Delaware Court of Chancery, signed an order Thursday requiring Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) to provide additional data to Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk. Plaintiff Twitter has sued defendants Musk and his two companies, X Holdings I and X Holdings II, for terminating the $44 billion deal to buy the social media platform. Musk has countersued Twitter. Judge McCormick stated in her order: Defendants’ data requests are absolutely abroad. She added: “Read literally, Defendants’ documents request would require Plaintiff to produce trillions upo...

This week the mining operation Applied Blockchain announced that it is changing its company name to Applied Digital. Furthermore, the mining operation released 2022 financial results and operational updates that noted that the mining firm entered a purchase agreement on August 15 for land in North Dakota. Applied Digital Enters Purchase Agreement on August 15, Groundbreaking Planned for Q3 2022 Another mining company is reporting expansion updates as Applied Digital (formerly Applied Blockchain) has revealed it has entered a purchase agreement on August 15. The deal will add a second mining facility in the state of North Dakota. The company’s news follows the firm getting a $15 million loan to fund growth and “buildout of its data centers.” Applied Digital said , on August 25, that it changed the company name to “reflect the company’s broader business opportunities within larger high-power computing (HPC) applications.” On the same day, it released a financial and operational upda...

After reports that merchants and holders of “Zugacoin” cryptocurrency are unable to make withdrawals, the founder of the Nigerian crypto, Sam Zuga responded by accusing unnamed “ignorant people” of working to tarnish the project. One Nigerian expert has advised prospective zugacoin investors to prioritize learning finer details about the project before investing. A Financial System for the Future As promoters of zugacoin — a Nigerian cryptocurrency ostensibly created to end poverty in Africa — continue to tout the token as a legitimate digital currency, there are growing reports on social media of merchants and holders of the coin who have failed to withdraw. These reports have sparked allegations that the project is yet another scam which is cleverly disguised as a complex cryptocurrency project. The complaints and allegations against the project have, in turn, prompted Archbishop Sam Zuga, the founder of Zugacoin, to issue a flurry of Facebook posts condemning “ignorant people” p...

Rico, a Brazilian brokerage platform part of XP Inc., has announced it plans to enter the cryptocurrency market next year. The division is expanding its operations and will also enter the banking sector, launching digital account services and a credit card. The platform follows in the steps of companies like Nubank and others that have already included crypto in their service portfolio. Rico to Expand Operations to Crypto and Banking Brazilian companies and banks are entering the cryptocurrency business as a way of offering a complete package of investments under just one organization. Rico, a Brazilian brokerage firm part of XP Inc., has announced it is expanding its portfolio of operations to include new services, including crypto. The company told Neofeed it plans to launch a cryptocurrency exchange on its platform for the next year, and also to enter into the world of insurance. In the same way, the company expects to launch a digital account with an associated card by the end...

Financial authorities in Singapore are taking steps toward increased oversight in the crypto space with the city-state’s central bank reportedly asking companies to provide additional information about their activities and assets. Ahead of a possible broadening of the applicable rules, the authority is trying to get a clearer idea of their financial state, knowledgeable sources say. Singapore Regulators Send Crypto Firms Questionnaire, Expect Prompt Response The Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) has sought to acquire detailed information from cryptocurrency firms operating under its license and also some of the applicants, Bloomberg revealed , quoting people familiar with the matter who chose to remain anonymous. The central bank sent a “granular questionnaire” last month, awaiting quick answers. According to the report, the regulator has asked the companies to provide data regarding the crypto assets they hold, their main lending and borrowing counterparties, the amount loan...

A new report shows that India has roughly 115 million crypto investors, and the country’s crypto economy is growing despite the recent market downturn, with more than half of the crypto investors surveyed planning to increase their crypto investments in the coming six months. Indian Crypto Ecosystem Is Growing, Report Shows Cryptocurrency exchange Kucoin published a report on India’s cryptocurrency ecosystem Tuesday. It features the results of a survey, conducted from October 2021 to June 2022, which the company described as “an in-depth look into the development of the blockchain industry and crypto space” in India. The survey respondents were 2,042 Indian adults aged 18 to 60, the company explained, adding that 1,541 of them were self-identifying crypto investors and 501 were crypto-curious consumers, who were interested in investing in crypto in the coming six months. Citing the survey results, the report details that as of June: There are roughly 115 million crypto investor...

The Denver-based gas-to-bitcoin infrastructure company Crusoe Energy is suing the rival firm Alkane Midstream LLC over alleged patent infringement and poaching customers in Colorado. Crusoe’s lawsuit claims since November 2019, “Alkane was actively monitoring Crusoe and its business.” Crypto Flare Mitigation Company Crusoe Files a Lawsuit Against the Texas-Based Alkane Midstream Gas-to-bitcoin flare mitigation company Crusoe Energy filed a lawsuit against the company Alkane Midstream on August 22, 2022. The gas-to-bitcoin infrastructure firm is asking the Denver division of Colorado’s federal court to order Alkane to stop infringing on two patents. The lawsuit obtained by Bitcoin.com News also claims Alkane caused Crusoe to lose work after two gas and oil refiners backed away from agreements made with the company in November 2021. The two gas and oil producers are called the “Colorado Producers,” and are not officially named in the lawsuit filed against Alkane. “Alkane has infri...

Law enforcement in Afghanistan has shut down over a dozen crypto exchanges in Herat, detaining the people who were running them. The offensive comes after the introduction of a ban on online foreign exchange that the Taliban seem to have applied to coin trading as well. Taliban Government Goes After Crypto Trading in Afghanistan Citing Scamming as Motive Afghan security forces have closed down a number of crypto exchanges in the western Herat province in the past week, the English-language Ariana News portal reported on Tuesday. At least 16 platforms trading digital currencies have been shut down, the outlet unveiled. The report quotes the head of the counter-crime unit of the Herat police Sayed Shah Sa’adat who reminded that Da Afghanistan Bank ( DAB ), the country’s monetary authority, said in a notice that crypto trading had caused lots of problems, including scamming people. He also stated: We acted and arrested all the exchangers involved in the business and closed their sho...

The overwhelming majority of Russians in big cities are well aware of the term cryptocurrency but those with a good understanding of the topic are quite a small proportion, a new poll has indicated. Experts say that currency restrictions imposed earlier this year are helping growth in interest and adoption. A Third of Russians Ready to Buy Crypto Assets Within Months Just 6% of Russian internet users understand cryptocurrencies relatively well, although 80% have heard about them. The findings come from a survey conducted by hardware wallet developer Tangem among 2,100 residents of Russian cities with a population exceeding 100,000. Some 45% of the respondents have a positive attitude towards the digital coins and almost an equal number (46%) are neutral, while 9% view them negatively, the company established. Being able to earn capital gains is the main motive for those willing to buy, while the assets’ lack of backing is the key factor for rejection. Close to a third (31%) of th...

With a cryptocurrency ownership rate of 10%, or four million people, South Africa “ranks 18th out of 26 countries for crypto adoption,” the latest Finder’s report has said. The report also noted that South Africa’s proportion of crypto owners holding bitcoin, 52%, is the third highest out of 26 countries. Just Over Half Own BTC According to Finder’s crypto adoption trends report for August 2022, about four million people, or 10% of South Africans, are cryptocurrency holders. With this crypto ownership rate, South Africa is ranked eighteenth out of twenty-six countries for crypto adoption, the Finder’s report said. Also, according to the report, South Africa’s crypto ownership rate of 10% is five percentage points lower than the global average of 15%. Regarding the cryptocurrencies held or owned by South Africans, the report said half of the respondents own bitcoin while the remaining half is split between three altcoins. “As it stands, roughly 5% of those surveyed in South Afric...

No privacy. No property. No prosperity. If you follow the news, you’ve seen the trend — putting legal limits on cash transactions, the emergence of surveillance-oriented, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and more recently, crypto mixing platform Tornado Cash being sanctioned by the United States Treasury. There is a new wave of propaganda increasingly demonizing individual financial privacy and “private” cryptocurrencies and protocols. You’ve likely experienced the dystopian push in your own life, as banks and financial institutions demand more and more sensitive, personal information, and freeze your hard-earned money while telling you to prove you are not a criminal or terrorist before you may access it. World Economic Frustration What is a “canary in a coal mine”? The Free Dictionary defines it as “Something or someone who … acts as an indicator and early warning of possible adverse conditions or danger.” The saying hearkens back to the “practice of taking caged canaries...

Authorities in two Chinese cities are promoting the digital yuan as a payment method in the public transportation system. Commuters on the subway of Ningbo and those taking the bus in Guangzhou will be able to purchase their tickets using the state-issued digital currency. Residents and Visitors of Another 2 Chinese Cities to Pay Transit Fares With Digital Yuan Ningbo Rail Transit, the operator of the subway system in the city of Ningbo in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, has launched payments in digital yuan , the central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) issued by the People’s Bank of China. The company announced that 125 stations will accept the coin. The city’s 9.5 million citizens and visitors can now pay their subway fares through the Ningbo Rail Transit app. To do that, they will have to link an e-CNY wallet — opened with any of the six large Chinese banks participating in efforts to popularize the digital incarnation of the national fiat — to the application. Commute...

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has warned that the crypto market may crash and small investors will lose money. He added that the central bank believes that its warnings have deterred many people from investing in cryptocurrencies. RBI Governor’s Crypto Warnings The governor of the Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shaktikanta Das, warned about investing in cryptocurrency in an interview with ET Now earlier this week. Noting that the RBI has cautioned investors on several occasions about the risks of investing in crypto, Das said: “I’m happy that we sounded those warning signals and I would like to believe that a large number of people would have taken a note of the warning signals and the concerns expressed by the Reserve Bank.” He added: I would like to believe … that many people did not invest in crypto or sort of pulled out of crypto thanks to the cautions and concerns that emanated out of the Reserve Bank. “Crypto, you know, we have said it earlier, it ca...

The central bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines discussed crypto regulation in a Senate hearing with the participation of several executives from the crypto industry, including from crypto exchange Binance. Philippine Regulators Discuss Crypto Policies Philippine regulators recently discussed cryptocurrency regulation with some executives from the crypto industry in a Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions, and Currencies hearing, chaired by Senator Mark Villar, the Inquirer reported Wednesday. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) were present. The executives from the crypto industry include Binance APAC Director Leon Foong and the exchange’s general manager for the Philippines, Kenneth Stern. Fintech Alliance’s chairperson, Lito Villanueva, also participated in the discussion. The regulators and industry participants discussed sever...

A new report by the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI) showcases the environmental sustainability of the TRON network . According to the “Energy Efficiency and Carbon Footprint of the TRON Blockchain” report, the highly popular TRON network only consumes as much electricity as just fifteen average U.S. households. The Environmental Sustainability of the TRON Network The electricity consumption and related carbon footprint of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been subject to extensive discussion in public, academia, and industry. Various estimations exist, comparing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ electricity consumption to various mid-sized countries. The problem has been known for several years, and other systems and technologies have emerged to try and solve the issue. The consensus mechanism of Proof of Stake (PoS) is deemed superior regarding the electricity requirements compared to the traditional Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanisms. While it is consens...