September 18, 2019 @ 11:33 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed civil charges against a “long-time” Florida securities lawyer accused of aiding and abetting”  an alleged $322 million USD securities fraud. Criminal charges were laid simultaneously September 17th against Attorney Jan Douglas Atlas, 74 of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The… Read More

September 18, 2019 @ 8:25 pm By Cali Haan  |  

VanEck and SolidX have withdrawn their request to the SEC for a rule change that would have allowed the Cboe BZX Exchange to list retail shares issued by the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust. The application for the rule change was first filed January 30th of this… Read More

September 18, 2019 @ 9:59 am By Cali Haan  |  

The US Army’s Contracting Command (ACC) division in New Jersey took proposals this summer from providers of cloud-based blockchain forensics services. Blockchain forensics is a relatively new field that involves creating tools for the monitoring, tracing, and scraping of data from cryptocurrency networks like Bitcoin… Read More

September 17, 2019 @ 8:16 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Officials from five government departments in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China are gearing up to crack down on crypto mining in that region, Chinese crypto media outlet ChainNews reports. Mongolia’s Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission, Public Security Department, Office of the Ministry… Read More

September 17, 2019 @ 8:12 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Former CFTC Chair  J. Christopher Giancarlo has joined the Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Board of Advisors. The Chamber of Digital Commerce (CDC) bills itself as, “the world’s first and largest trade organization for the blockchain and digital asset community.” It is headquartered in Washington, DC…. Read More

September 17, 2019 @ 3:20 am By Cali Haan  |  

David Marcus, a former PayPal executive now leading Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra, has claimed on Twitter that the company’s proposed in-app global payments network will not threaten the monetary sovereignty of nations. The tweet was met with some skepticism, however. Regulators around the world have… Read More

September 17, 2019 @ 2:16 am By Cali Haan  |  

On a tip from authorities in China, police in the Philippines have arrested 277 people they believe pervaded a cryptocurrency scam that defrauded at least 1000 Chinese nationals, Business Inquirer reports. The scheme reportedly emanated from a company called Golden Millennial Quickpay Inc. Ltd., an offshore… Read More

September 14, 2019 @ 7:34 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Some Cubans fed up with being frozen out of global commerce by decades-old US sanctions have started using cryptocurrencies to transact online, Reuters reports. Jason Sanchez, for instance, who runs a cellphone repair shop in Havana, has been using cryptocurrencies to purchase spare parts for… Read More

September 14, 2019 @ 6:33 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The unexplained recent migration of almost a billion USD-pegged tether cryptocoins to the Ethereum network has caused 100 000 transactions to get “stuck” in processing there, Trustnodes reports. (Graphic courtesy of Trustnodes) The controversial tether coins have been moving from their native OMNI network and other… Read More

September 14, 2019 @ 9:23 am By Cali Haan  |  

Police from London’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) have arrested a 19-year-old man they believe stole unreleased songs from the websites and cloud-storage accounts of “world-famous artists” and then sold the music for cryptocurrency. The release does not state where the music was sold nor… Read More

September 14, 2019 @ 9:18 am By Cali Haan  |  

Bertrand Perez, General Director of the Libra Association says Facebook has no plans to delay the launch of its global (crypto)currency network, despite outcry from global regulators. “We are firmly maintaining our launch schedule, between the end of the first half of next year and… Read More

September 13, 2019 @ 1:50 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Coinbase is considering launching an initial exchange offering (IEO) platform in Asia. This would allow it to launch and broker “a proprietary exchange token” and other tokens in the region, Coindesk reports. The crypto trading platform’s possible plans were announced this week by Kayvon Pirestani,… Read More

September 13, 2019 @ 10:30 am By Cali Haan  |  

Coinbase UK has settled a lawsuit with the CEO of Alphabit regarding Coinbase’s alleged handling of Bitcoins worth almost $1 million USD that were allegedly stolen from Alphabit by hackers in July, Law 360 reports. Alphabit is UK-based “crypto-asset investment company” that claims to manage… Read More

September 13, 2019 @ 1:55 am By Cali Haan  |  

Although payments are increasingly digital, China has little interest in creating a self-settling digital yuan system using blockchain, Abacus News reports. According to the outlet: “China is increasingly a cashless society. Even street-food sellers in small towns will prefer to use a mobile payment app… Read More

September 12, 2019 @ 10:54 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Binance, believed to be one of the world’s largest crypto trading platforms, will begin registering users wanting to trade select “crypto assets” on the company’s “Binance.US” platform next Wednesday. “Binance.US will open account registration and begin accepting deposits of BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, and USDT… Read More

September 11, 2019 @ 8:02 am By Cali Haan  |  

A representative from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) told an audience at a breakfast briefing in London Monday that cryptocurrency networks cannot outperform conventional payment systems and currencies: “They go down in value like a yoyo, they’re useless and unstable. And even if… Read More

September 11, 2019 @ 1:52 am By Cali Haan  |  

Police in Portugal have arrested five members of a criminal gang accused selling counterfeit euros for cryptocurrencies via websites on the Dark Net, Reuters reports. The group’s alleged “ringleader” has now been extradited from Colombia to Portugal to face charges. According to police, during the… Read More

September 10, 2019 @ 11:03 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Jay Clayton has told a reporter at CNBC that manipulation in crypto markets remains a concern and that there is “still work to be done” before the Commission can approve Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETFs). Clayton told Bob… Read More

September 10, 2019 @ 10:49 pm By Cali Haan  |  

America and Asia’s two largest public-facing crypto trading platforms, Coinbase and Binance, also bear the most exposure to Tethers, a synthetic form of USDs introduced into crypto trading markets to give liquidity. This is the conclusion of CoinMetrics, a blockchain data analysis firm, which recently… Read More

September 9, 2019 @ 11:02 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Investing giant Charles Schwab has no intention of adding cryptocurrencies to its platform for registered investment advisors (RIAs) “at this time,” Rob Farmer, Schwab’s managing director for corporate communications, has told RIAbiz. “Investors should view these currencies as a purely speculative instrument,” he added. Crypto-reticence… Read More