Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Hacking groups linked to North Korea are increasingly using exchanges in Russia to launder crypto, Chainalysis revealed. The shift in their strategy, registered by the blockchain forensics firm, coincides with a drop in the value of the stolen cryptocurrency this year in comparison with the record-breaking 2022. Chainalysis Report Alleges New Alliance Between North Korean and Russian Cybercriminals Onchain data examined by crypto analytics company Chainalysis suggests that hackers associated with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are more and more often using cryptocurrency exchanges based in the Russian Federation to launder illicit digital assets. The release of the report coincides with a summit of the leaders of the two sanctioned nations, Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, who met for suspected arms talks. It also comes as U.N. sanctions monitors are drawing attention to Pyongyang’s changing tactics in cyberattacks against crypto and financial exchanges seeking t...

Despite Kenyan Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki’s recent attempt to revive the old crypto terrorism funding narrative, evidence suggests that criminal elements primarily use conventional financial systems when transferring funds. Contrary to Kindiki’s claims, crypto transactions can be traced and this is evidenced by the arrests of hackers and seizure of stolen crypto assets. Debunked Evidence When the Kenyan interior minister Kithure Kindiki appeared before a parliamentary committee investigating Worldcoin’s activities, he used the opportunity to reiterate the government’s opposition to cryptocurrencies. Throughout his presentation, Kindiki repeatedly tried to link cryptocurrencies with money laundering and terrorism funding. Although some of the “evidence” presented by Kindiki has been disproved, the Kenyan minister’s remarks may nonetheless be included in the parliamentary committee’s final report. There is a possibility that such a report as well as Kindiki’s presentation may ...

While the gold bug and economist Peter Schiff insists the U.S. economy will experience a financial crisis of epic proportions, his son Spencer continues to espouse a diametrically opposed view of the future. Spencer Schiff is an ardent supporter of artificial intelligence (AI), and in recent times, he has been forecasting that the latter half of the 2020s will witness an “enormous hyper-deflationary economic boom.” Schiff Saga: Father and Son Differ on U.S. Economic Fate Following our report on Spencer Schiff ‘s change in perspective on bitcoin (BTC) , the younger Schiff has persisted in sharing his future predictions. Spencer’s forecast sharply contrasts with that of his father, Peter Schiff , the renowned advocate for gold and economist. Recently, his father cautioned of a “massive crisis” and predicted a rush of people exiting the U.S. dollar. Peter Schiff elaborated on the looming prospect of a significant flight from the U.S. dollar, driven by the persistent specter of colos...

Argentina faces hyperinflation, with the annual inflation rate at its highest since the early ’90s. The country’s general election is set for next month, and economist Javier Milei is projected to win by a wide margin. In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Milei attributed Argentina’s hyperinflation to the failures of socialism. ‘Frogs in a Pot of Water’ Is a Good Analogy for Argentina’s Slow Economic Decline, Says Milei On September 14, 2023, Carlson posted an interview on the social media platform X with Argentine economist, businessman, and politician Javier Milei . The La Libertad Avanza political coalition leader discussed inflation and other topics, including abortion and climate change, with the former Fox News anchor. Milei pointed to socialism and the state for the country’s economic woes. His advice to the world: Never embrace socialism … or the siren song of social justice. In the video, Carlson remarks on Argentina’s beauty but notes that diners at restaurants ...

Sony Network Communications, part of the Sony Group, entered into a joint initiative to create a blockchain project that aims to serve as the “backbone of global Web3 infrastructure.” The new company, created with Startale Labs, a Web3 development startup, aims to provide “value-added services” in different areas. Sony Network Announces Joint Blockchain Initiative Sony Network Communications, part of the Sony Group that focuses on providing communications infrastructure services, has announced that it entered a joint venture to develop a blockchain to become “the backbone of global web3 infrastructure.” This new blockchain technology will be leveraged to create “killer Web3 use cases to drive the adoption of Web3,” according to a joint press release. The joint venture, which will be created in collaboration with Startale Labs, a Web3 development company, will provide value-added services for companies of the Sony Group in several key areas, including game and network services, mus...

At the Token2049 conference in Singapore, Astar Network revealed it is joining forces with Polygon Labs to launch Astar zkEVM, a new Ethereum layer two scaling solution utilizing zero-knowledge proof technology. The collaboration aims to drive greater adoption of Web3 applications in the Japanese market and beyond. Astar and Polygon Launch zkEVM for Japan’s Web3 Rise The announcement details that the partnership combines Astar ‘s experience working with major Japanese companies like Sony and Toyota with Polygon ‘s highly scalable zk-powered infrastructure. Together, the teams plan to create an optimal platform for launching blockchain initiatives in Japan, where government leaders have voiced support for Web3 innovation. “As it stands today, Asia is one of the most forward-thinking regions in the world when it comes to Web3 adoption, and we are delighted to help Japan’s blockchain sector grow even faster via our collaboration with Astar,” said Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal ...

Nearly $4.8 million has been used to fund cryptocurrency and blockchain education efforts in Kenya, the CEO of Tools for Humanity, Alex Blania, recently revealed. Blania also denied allegations that Worldcoin plans to sell users’ biometric data obtained via its eyeball-scanning orbs. More Funding on the Way Tools for Humanity (TFH), the organization supporting the development and growth of Worldcoin’s ecosystem, has so far invested nearly $4.8 million in Kenya, the software company’s CEO Alex Blania recently revealed. Speaking before the East African country’s parliament, Blania claimed that the money was used to fund cryptocurrency and blockchain education efforts. However, according to a report in The Star, TFH did not directly engage in such education-related activities. Instead, it relied on third parties and partners such as Strathmore University, the Blockchain Association of Kenya, the American Chamber of Commerce, and the Africa Blockchain Centre. According to Blania, TFH ...

Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in Germany by total assets, is collaborating with Swiss digital asset firm Taurus to provide clients with crypto custody and tokenization services. “As the digital asset space is expected to encompass trillions of dollars of assets, it’s bound to be seen as one of the priorities for investors and corporations alike,” said Deutsche Bank’s global head of Security Services. Deutsche Bank Entering Crypto Custody and Tokenization Space Financial giant Deutsche Bank is collaborating with digital asset technology provider Taurus to offer crypto custody and tokenization services, Taurus announced on Thursday. The digital asset firm stated in a press release: Deutsche Bank has entered a global agreement with Taurus … Deutsche Bank will leverage Taurus custody and tokenization technology to manage cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets, and digital currencies. A Deutsche Bank representative explained that the partnership means Germany’s largest banking institut...

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been criticized for pledging to help victims of Morocco’s devastating earthquake by airdropping its native crypto token. According to Action on Armed Violence’s Iain Overton, people affected by the earthquake are only interested in getting immediate assistance and not crypto. Binance Accused of Using Devastation to Prop Up Its Image , one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges globally, has been criticized over its decision to donate its crypto token known as BNB to Moroccans in places most affected by the recent earthquake. Some critics accuse Binance of using the devastation caused by the earthquake to boost its image. According to the Red Cross , Morocco’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake has killed more than 2,800 people and affected more than 300,000. In some places, like the isolated Atlas Mountains, entire villages were left almost completely destroyed. In response, well-wishers including Binance have pledged financial assistance. In a statement , ...

According to more than 250 documents sent to the media, the disgraced co-founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, said he feels like “one of the most hated people in the world.” The former CEO of the now-defunct crypto exchange further noted in his statements that “there will probably never be anything I can do to make my lifetime impact net positive.” Behind the Fall of FTX: Bankman-Fried’s Private Documents Point Fingers While under house arrest, Sam Bankman-Fried shared 250 pages of documents with journalist Tiffany Fong, who then provided some of the materials to The New York Times. In one specific X thread that Bankman-Fried never published, he said, “The truth is that I did what I thought was right,” but he didn’t believe there was any way he could change the public’s perception of him. Fong explained that Bankman-Fried shared the documents with her because she is an independent reporter and doesn’t “work for anyone.” According to The Times’ report, Bankman-Fried places a great d...

Since his arrest in April 2021, Roman Sterlingov, the alleged operator of the crypto mixing service Bitcoin Fog, has been defending his claimed innocence for more than two years. Recent court filings indicate Sterlingov’s legal team is challenging the Reactor software from Chainalysis, which was presented as evidence in the case. Sterlingov’s attorney contends that the Reactor’s heuristics have “no known error rates for, no rates of false positives, no rates of false negatives, nor any peer-reviewed paper attesting to their accuracy. Attorney Labels Chainalysis Methods as ‘Junk Science’ in Bitcoin Fog Trial A recent court filing from the lawsuit against Roman Sterlingov, who is accused of operating the crypto mixing application Bitcoin Fog, reveals that his attorneys are challenging the Reactor software from Chainalysis. Attorney Tor Ekeland labeled the Reactor software’s heuristics as “junk science” in court, as reported by Bloomberg. In the court document, Sterlingov’s legal team...

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a global provider of financial payment services, has announced that its central bank digital currency (CBDC) connector has entered beta testing stages. SWIFT reported that three central banks are already testing this interlinking solution, while more than 30 financial institutions are testing its various applications in a sandbox environment. SWIFT CBDC Connector Being Tested by 3 Central Banks The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), provider of the de-facto standard for cross-border financial settlements, has announced that three central banks are already testing its central bank digital currency (CBDC) interlinking solution. The connector, developed after the experiences that SWIFT accumulated during the first CBDC sandbox, completed earlier this year, aims to provide an effective solution for interoperability between already-existent fiat currencies and these new tokens. D...

Chief Executive Officer of Binance US, Brian Shroder, has left the company amid an ongoing regulatory crackdown and more job cuts. Shroder’s departure comes two years after he joined the American subsidiary of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume. Shroder Departs Binance US as Unit Eliminates Over 100 Positions The CEO of Binance US, Brian Shroder, has quit his job and has been replaced on the post by an interim appointment, the exchange’s Chief Legal Officer, Norman Reed, Bloomberg revealed in a report quoting a company spokesperson. Shroder is leaving while the Miami-based entity is reducing its workforce by a third, or more than 100 employees, amid persisting pressure from regulators that has hurt its business. Its monthly trading volume has fallen below early 2020 levels. Binance US’s market share dropped to 1.5% in June, according to digital assets market data provider Kaiko, and currently stands at around 0.6%, down from 2.39% in April of this...

BNB Chain, the Binance-backed decentralized blockchain network, has announced the launch of Opbnb, its expansion layer built using the Optimism OP stack. The new network allows users to enjoy low-fee transactions in a high-throughput, high-speed transactional layer optimized for interactive applications such as games, with the BNB Chain chain serving as a settlement layer. Optimism-Based Opbnb L2 Launches Mainnet Opbnb, BNB Chain’s layer-two (L2) network, has recently announced the launch of its mainnet, focusing on bringing a scalable tool to developers of BNB Chain. The scalability layer, built on the Optimism OP stack, enhances two aspects of applications on the BNB Chain: finality and costs. The new L2 has short block times, allowing developers to move assets and value quickly to and from the network. Also, Opbnb theoretically can manage more than 4,000 transactions per second, with transaction fees as low as $0.005. This means it is designed with applications that handle...

Following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) charges against Stoner Cats, the NFT project backed by Mila Kunis, the digital collectibles have witnessed a staggering surge in sales, soaring by a significant 2,433% within a mere 24-hour span. On September 14, the Stoner Cats’ floor value experienced a notable uptick, surging to 0.084 ether. SEC Crackdown Boosts Stoner Cats’ Secondary Sales In the wake of the SEC’s actions against the Stoner Cats NFT project, there was a significant boost in both floor value and trade volume for the digital collection. According to data sourced from opensea.io and nftpricefloor.com , the floor value reached a high of 0.084 ETH , which translates to approximately $136. Prior to the SEC’s intervention, the Stoner Cats’ floor value was hovering around 0.0189 ether, equivalent to $30.73 based on the prevailing ETH exchange rates. Stoner Cats is an NFT collection with a cannabis theme, linked to an animated series depicting feline char...

The CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has encouraged decentralized finance (defi) protocols to fight regulators in court if they face regulatory crackdowns. He stressed that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) “should not be creating enforcement actions against decentralized (defi) protocols,” emphasizing that they are not financial service businesses. “The only thing this is accomplishing is to push an important industry offshore,” Armstrong cautioned. Brian Armstrong Wants Defi Protocols to Fight Regulators in Court The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN), Brian Armstrong, has urged decentralized finance (defi) protocols to challenge U.S. regulators in court after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) cracked down on some defi platforms. The executive wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday: “The CFTC should not be creating enforcement actions against decentralized (defi) protocols. These are not financial service business...

Remilia Corporation, a digital art and non-fungible token (NFT)-related business, has filed a lawsuit against three independent contractors whom it accuses of siphoning $1 million from the company. Founder Krishna Okhandiar denied claims the three had at any point “sought equity shares in Remilia while negotiating their contracts.” Trio ‘Failed to Perform at an Adequate Level’ Remilia Corporation, a digital art and non-fungible token (NFT)-related business, has filed a lawsuit against three individuals accused of illegally taking control of the company’s revenues. In the lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court of Nevada, Remilia and founder Krishna Okhandiar allege that John Duff, Henry Smith, and Maxwell Roux acted illegally when they allegedly took control of $1 million belonging to the business. Good morning. A developer who worked on Bonkler took steps that allowed him to divert ~$1MM USD in Remilia’s generated fees. The Bonkler reserves, main contract and NFTs are safe; ...

Yellow Card, the Africa-focused crypto exchange, recently said it had joined forces with Moonpay in an arrangement which is expected to help “enhance the crypto purchasing experience for Nigerians by leveraging local bank transfers.” According to Uzoma James, Yellow Card’s West Africa regional manager, the partnership is expected to “make crypto trading easy, intuitive, and available to all.” Transforming Nigeria’s Crypto Accessibility Landscape The Africa-focused crypto exchange Yellow Card recently said it had established a working arrangement with Moonpay whose objective is to “streamline and enhance the crypto purchasing experience for Nigerians by leveraging local bank transfers.” Yellow Card and Moonpay believe the partnership will help transform Nigeria’s cryptocurrency accessibility landscape which in turn would make it more user-friendly. After the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed financial institutions to exclude crypto entities from the banking ecosystem, Nigerian...

One of the founders of the crypto pyramid Onecoin, British and Swedish national Karl Greenwood, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States. Greenwood was the architect of the scam’s multi-level marketing structure and served as Onecoin’s global master distributor. Cryptoqueen Ruja Ignatova’s Business Partner Gets Lengthy Sentence for Onecoin Role Karl Sebastian Greenwood, one of the key figures in crypto history’s most notorious Ponzi scheme, Onecoin, is going to spend two decades in prison. The sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, was announced on Tuesday by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams. Greenwood co-founded Onecoin, which was based in Sofia, Bulgaria and started operations in 2014, together with Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian-born German national dubbed the “missing Cryptoqueen” as she is still at large. Onecoin marketed and sold a fake cryptocurrency by the same name through a global multi-level m...

Asset manager Franklin Templeton has joined the race to issue America’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests directly in bitcoin. The company applied with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), following in the footsteps of other major investment firms like Fidelity and Blackrock. Franklin Templeton Files for Spot Bitcoin ETF With U.S. SEC California-based financial services firm Franklin Templeton, which manages over $1.4 trillion in assets, has become the latest investments powerhouse to try to obtain approval for a spot bitcoin ETF from the U.S. securities regulator. The company filed its application with the SEC on Tuesday. If it gets the green light from the Commission, Franklin plans to use leading U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase as custodian for the fund’s bitcoin holdings and Bank of New York Mellon for cash, Bloomberg detailed in a report. Interest in bitcoin ETFs from leading asset managers as well as the SEC’s decision to accept for review a number o...