Crypto exchange BTC-e’s alleged operator Alexander Vinnik may be a candidate for prisoner swap between the United States and Russia. That’s according to a statement by one of his lawyers for Russian media. The latest court hearing in Vinnik’s case has been postponed. Russian Accused of Laundering Billions Through Crypto May Return Home, According to
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is not the appropriate agency to regulate stablecoins, according to Circle founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire. In an interview with Bloomberg on Feb. 24, the Circle chief executive aired his views on the SEC and its recent moves to clamp down on the crypto industry, including stablecoin issuer Paxos.
The Ethereum community appears to have taken a bullish view of Coinbase’s newly announced layer-2 network, Base, which has been described as a “massive confidence vote” and a “watershed moment” for the blockchain network. Secured on Ethereum and powered by layer-2 network Optimism, Base aims to eventually become a network for building decentralized applications (DApps)
The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has announced the deployment of Base, an Ethereum layer two (L2) scaling network, after developers launched the Base testnet on Thursday. The company said it is incubating Base within Coinbase and that the L2 chain will progressively decentralize over time. Coinbase L2 Scaling Platform Aims to Help Scale the Crypto Economy
Jack Dorsey’s payment company Block Inc. reported $1.83 billion of Bitcoin (BTC) revenue from its Cash App business unit in the fourth quarter, representing a 7% fall from the same time last year. In its Q4 and full-year results announced on Feb. 23, Block attributed the fall in Bitcoin revenue to the decline in BTC price
U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer has introduced the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Anti-Surveillance State Act “to halt efforts of unelected bureaucrats” from “stripping Americans of their right to financial privacy.” The bill also prohibits the Federal Reserve “from issuing a CBDC directly to anyone.” CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act Introduced U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN) announced
Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments. Hong Kong moves bullish On Feb. 20, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong launched a consultation on its proposed regulatory requirements for digital asset trading platforms. The SFC requires the licensing of all cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Hong
The United States Federal Reserve has denied a request from cryptocurrency bank Custodia Bank to reconsider its membership application to the Federal Reserve System. The Fed announced its denial on Feb. 23 saying the Federal Reserve Board previously decided that Custodia’s application “was inconsistent with the required factors under the law.” @federalreserve announces it has
Four Russians have been charged in the U.S. with operating a crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of millions of dollars. If convicted, they would face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for their roles in the purportedly decentralized finance (defi) platform Forsage. Forsage Founders Charged With Running Cryptocurrency Pyramid A
The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assessed a paper on crypto asset policy published by the fund and expressed its agreement with its proposed policy framework. The paper, titled “Elements of Effective Policies for Crypto Assets,” developed a framework of nine policy principles that addressed macrofinancial, legal and regulatory, and international coordination
Software engineers and members of the development lab Ripplex want to create a cross-chain bridge for the XRPL network to bolster cross-chain transfers between different blockchain networks. According to a recent Github draft, the proposal outlines how the cross-chain bridge could function and suggests ways to prevent transaction replay. Ripplex Dev Proposes XRPL Cross-Chain Bridge
The original manuscript of Neil Stephenson’s Snow Crash — the book which coined the term “Metaverse,” — will be auctioned by Sotheby’s, according to a page on Sotheby’s official website. The auction is part of a Feb. 23 series called “Infocalypse” that includes six physical and six digital items related to the famous book. The original
Bitcoin’s (BTC) 16% price gain between Feb. 13 and Feb. 16 practically extinguished the bears’ expectation for a monthly options expiry below $21,500. As a result of the abrupt rally, these bearish bets are unlikely to pay off, especially since the expiry occurs on Feb. 24. However, bulls were not counting on the strong price
A former school assistant facilities director in Cohasset, Massachusetts, has been accused of operating a cryptocurrency mining operation inside a crawlspace at Cohasset High School. The Cohasset Police Department alleges that Nadeam Nahas stole nearly $18,000 in electricity to power the crypto mining scheme. Former Cohasset School Employee Faces Charges for Electricity Theft in School
The price action of Optimism (OP) and Fantom (FTM) tokens have been quite identical since the last quarter of 2022. The difference is, volatility is slightly higher for OP, which surged 240% year-to-date, compared to the 180% gains seen in FTM. The Fantom Foundation has made several improvements since Q4 2022, which have catalyzed an
In this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Brenda Gentry, or as she’s known on Twitter, Cryptomom. Gentry has over 15 years of experience in traditional banking. She started researching and investing in cryptocurrencies during the 2020 lockdowns and made substantial returns in 2021 after which she launched Gentry Media Productions. She is currently on a
According to statistics recorded this week on Tuesday and Wednesday, the layer two scaling project Arbitrum’s transaction count has surpassed Ethereum’s. On Wednesday, Arbitrum processed 1,090,510 transactions, compared to Ethereum’s 1,080,839 transfer count. L2 Scaling Solution Arbitrum’s Daily Transfers Skyrocket Layer two (L2) scaling networks have become popular over the last two years as secondary
An anonymous Ethereum investor has lost more than $2 million trading Ether (ETH) since Sep. 9, 2022, on-chain data shows. Buying Ethereum high, selling low Spotted by on-chain monitoring resource Lookonchain, the “stupid money” trader spent $12.5 million in stablecoins to buy 7,135 ETH after it rallied 10% to $1,790 in September 2022. But a
Teaching cryptocurrency to children can be a great way to introduce them to the world of finance and technology. Here are some interactive ways one can utilize to teach cryptocurrency to children: Start with the basics and use analogies Start by defining and describing the nature of money. Inform your kids about the various types of
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the disgraced co-founder of FTX, faces four more charges after a new indictment was unsealed on Wednesday. The charges include operating an unlicensed money transfer business and conspiring to commit bank fraud. SBF Gets 4 New Charges Tacked Onto His Indictment The former CEO of FTX was originally indicted 72 days ago