August 27, 2019 @ 6:27 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Two young men from Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver, have been charged with wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft after allegedly conning an Oregon woman out of bitcoins worth $233,220 USD at current prices. Between October 2017 and August 2018, Karanjit Singh Khatkar,… Read More

August 27, 2019 @ 10:30 am By Cali Haan  |  

A young man in Los Angeles has pleaded guilty to charges of drug dealing, unlicensed money transmitting and money laundering relating to the processing of $25 million USD in illicit money via his Bitcoin trading services. Kunal Kalra, 25, also known as “Kumar,” “shecklemayne” and… Read More

August 27, 2019 @ 7:08 am By Cali Haan  |  

A problem with Amazon Web Services caused, “some 500 error messages on APIs and affecting some withdrawal processing,” at Binance, the exchange’s CEO claimed on Twitter Friday. Amazon Web Services (AWS)  is a cloud-computing platform and subsidiary of Amazon. Individuals, companies and governments use the… Read More

August 26, 2019 @ 1:17 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has proposed the creation of a global digital currency as a way to stabilizing global financial systems being disturbed by trade and currency wars. The proposal was delivered during a speech at the US Federal Reserve sponsored Jackson Hole… Read More

August 24, 2019 @ 11:33 am By Cali Haan  |  

Dutch banks are refusing to serve not only cryptocurrency trading platforms, but also “blockchain consultancies” or any firm using the terms “crypto” or “blockchain” in business filings, Nextens reports. According to the outlet: “An inventory was made in the Cryptocast program of BNR Nieuwsradio. When a… Read More

August 24, 2019 @ 10:43 am By Cali Haan  |  

Tether traders are trading sentiment, but are they creating it? Crypto-sentiment analysis provider Augmento is claiming to have found a correlation between sentiment regarding the controversial USD-proxy cryptocoins Tethers, and sentiment expressed on Reddit, a social media platform favoured by crypto enthusiasts. According to the… Read More

August 23, 2019 @ 4:30 pm By Cali Haan  |  

At least three companies that threw their support behind Facebook’s bid to create a global cryptocurrency network within its apps are considering leaving the Libra Association as regulators level on the project, Financial Times reports. The disquieted companies are not named, but some reportedly fear… Read More

August 23, 2019 @ 12:35 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Cryptocurrency skeptics, in particular, these days are closely watching the showdown now underway between sister crypto companies Bitfinex and Tether and the New York Attorney General’s Office, which has alleged fraud at the two firms. As a bit of background, Tether makes a synthetic US… Read More

August 23, 2019 @ 9:12 am By Cali Haan  |  

Sky Justin Gornik, 39, of San Diego, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for conspiracy to deliver, distribute and dispense controlled substances through the internet and conspiracy to launder drug proceeds using digital currencies. According to the August 19th release regarding the conviction… Read More

August 23, 2019 @ 8:54 am By Cali Haan  |  

Blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis has launched a “Know Your Transaction (KYT)…real-time anti-money laundering (AML) compliance solution for monitoring cryptocurrency transactions…across 15 cryptocurrencies.” Networks covered by the software include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, stablecoins and ERC-20 tokens such as Tether, Maker, and Dai. The company… Read More

August 23, 2019 @ 6:45 am By Cali Haan  |  

A dozen engineers who work or have worked for “blockchain” consortium R3 are contributing to a group chat critical of the company, The Block reports: “(T)he aforementioned group chat documents complaints ranging from R3’s so-called ‘poor’ company culture and concerns over its core, pay-to-use DLT… Read More

August 22, 2019 @ 10:09 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Security Service of Ukraine has found unauthorized cryptomining set ups in facilities South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant facilities Internet UA reports. One system was found in “Office 104” and another in dormitory facilities housing members of the Ukrainian National Guard, who are tasked with protecting… Read More

August 22, 2019 @ 7:50 am By Cali Haan  |  

Heavy seasonal rains and flooding in Sichuan, China’s “Bitcoin mining capital” have once again damaged cryptomining facilities in the region, Chinese crypto press outlet 8BTC reports. This year’s continuous heavy rainfall began August 18th, and while the devastation so far appears to be less than last year’s,… Read More

August 22, 2019 @ 3:40 am By Cali Haan  |  

Antitrust regulators from the EU’s European Commission are currently examining possible monopoly implications of Libra, Facebook’s proposed global currency system, Bloomberg reports. Facebook announced in June that it would roll out the Libra “stablecoin” cryptocurrency through its WhatsApp and Messenger apps in 2020. They said the… Read More

August 22, 2019 @ 1:36 am By Cali Haan  |  

Tether is continuing its bid to sell synthetic versions of world currencies by issuing yet another “stablecoin,” this time in the form of CNHT, which will act as a proxy for offshore Chinese yuan (CNH). Tether, its parent company iFinex and sister company, crypto exchange… Read More

August 21, 2019 @ 10:23 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have named several Chinese nationals, “as significant foreign narcotics traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).” OFAC is also, “identifying Bitcoin addresses associated with these… Read More

August 21, 2019 @ 3:22 am By Cali Haan  |  

A cryptocurrency ATM company gave out free water and umbrellas to protestors in Hong Kong July 1st, and crypto trading platforms have been, “providing a way to off-ramp from HKD…and advocating for transactional privacy,” as resistance to recent power assertions by China enters its 11th week. According… Read More

August 21, 2019 @ 3:11 am By Cali Haan  |  

97% of Korea’s 200 cryptocurrency exchanges are at risk of bankruptcy as low volume and tightening regulations temper what was once one of the world’s busiest crypto-trading markets, Business Korea (BK) reports. Local exchange revenues are also being diminished as Korean crypto-coin projects increasingly seek to… Read More

August 21, 2019 @ 1:00 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Saudi Ministry of Finance has warned Saudi citizens that transactions involving cryptocurrencies could have “negative consequences” for traders because they occur, “outside the monitoring umbrella within Saudi Arabia,” Zawya reports. According to FX Street, the country’s “Special Governmental Committee for Awareness on Dealing with… Read More

August 20, 2019 @ 9:55 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A judge presiding over proceedings in a case of alleged fraud by crypto trading platform Bitfinex (and associated companies) has ordered the companies to provide records compelled under ex parte orders issued in New York in April. Almost immediately after the orders were issued, Bitfinex… Read More