The federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charged a former investment banker and registered broker for allegedly defrauding numerous investors by promising profits on fake cryptocurrency investments and misappropriating the funds received to finance his lifestyle. Documents with the court claim the defendant, Rashawn Russell, misused the growing interest in crypto investments to mislead investors.…
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The French government is seeking public comment on the metaverse, or what it’s calling the “virtual immersive universe,” to shape “a French strategy” for the up-and-coming sector and offer an alternative to the “international giants.” On April 11, France’s Directorate General for Enterprise issued a consultation calling upon companies, associations, citizens and researchers to answer…
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ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s biggest virtual bank by assets, is reportedly set to provide crypto account services and facilitate crypto-to-fiat exchanges. According to an April 12 Bloomberg report, the bank will act as a settlement bank to allow token deposits at licensed exchanges to be withdrawn in Hong Kong dollars, Chinese yuan and United States…
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The Australian government is being pushed to ban the payment of cyber ransoms, usually demanded in cryptocurrency, following a local business suffering a mass data breach and subsequent ransom demand. Australian financial institution Latitude Financial first announced on March 16 that it was hit by a cyber attack and provided an update on April 11…
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United States financial regulators are tightening their grip on the crypto industry and the U.S. dollar has also been under pressure with countries distancing themselves from dollar hegemony, but the chief of Stellar says stablecoin regulation may solve that. In an April 11 Bloomberg interview, Denelle Dixon, the CEO and executive director of the Stellar…
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The brother of a former Coinbase employee has agreed to pay the cryptocurrency exchange nearly $470,000 for his role in an insider trading scheme. According to a New York District Court filing signed on April 6 and made public on April 10, Nikhil Wahi — brother of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi — will…
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Executives at the stablecoin issuer Circle and the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi have been questioned by two members of Congress investigating the so-called “mutual backscratching arrangements” alleged to have taken place with the now-failed Silicon Valley Bank. On April 9, letters from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) were sent to Circle, BlockFi…
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On April 11, European cryptocurrency investment firm CoinShares published its latest “Digital Asset Fund Flows Report,” revealing that digital asset investment products experienced positive sentiment, with inflows totaling $57 million last week, bringing them back to a net positive position year-to-date. However, despite this, “volumes were low at $970 million for the week.” The global…
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The Banque de France has contributed to the discussion of European crypto asset regulation with a close examination of decentralized finance (DeFi) and potential approaches to its regulation. The discussion is timely, given the growing use of tokenization in finance and the introduction of blockchain technology in many economic sectors, the authors said. The…
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The share of global crypto developers based in the United States declined by 26% from 2018 to 2022, according to a report from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z. The report, titled “State of Crypto 2023,” cited data from Electric Capital and SimilarWeb to support its findings. Today, we’re excited to share…
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