National Power Administration (ANDE) employees have been accused of participating directly in setting up illegal bitcoin mining farms in Paraguay. According to local sources, seven engineers of the institution would have been installing bitcoin farms across the country as the prosecutor’s office is carrying out this investigation with ANDE’s cooperation. Seven ANDE Engineers Involved in […]
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Report Says Biden Administration, Mark Cuban, and Ro Khanna Set for Critical Crypto Roundtable
Members of the Biden administration are reportedly convening for a bitcoin and blockchain roundtable with American entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban. This news comes after presidential candidate Donald Trump vowed to “end Joe Biden’s War on Crypto.” Reported Crypto Roundtable With Biden Administration Scheduled for July The former 45th U.S. President, Donald Trump, […]
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Uniswap Creator: Biden Administration Mistaken in Believing Crypto Irrelevant to 2024 Elections
Hayden Adams, the creator of the decentralized finance platform Uniswap, has warned the Biden Administration that it is gravely mistaken to believe that crypto will be irrelevant in the 2024 election. Adams also criticized the administration for allowing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Senator Elizabeth Warren to wage an all-out war against crypto, […]
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China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange Cracks Down on $2.2 Billion Crypto Exchange Ring
The Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has cracked down on an underground bank that used crypto to offer illegal exchange services. The operation, which had over 1,000 bank accounts and a presence in 17 provinces, moved over 15.8 billion yuan (.2 billion) to purchase crypto on exchanges overseas and provide yuan exchanging services.
Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange Discovers Ring Using Crypto to Circumvent Exchange Controls
The Chinese government has cracked down on an underground bank that used crypto to provide yuan exchange services to Chinese nationals. According to a post published in Wechat by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the Qingdao police managed to identify more than 1,000 accounts belonging to a Chinese national identified as Jin, that served as funneling accounts for the exchange business of 15.8 billion yuan (.2 billion).
The exchange business had a presence in 17 provinces of the country, with more than 20 million transactions related to this ring. The accounts were connected to Li, a textile worker who acted as a broker for the purchase and sale of virtual currencies. The report reinforced that managing and exchanging cryptocurrency is illegal in China.
Xu Xiao, an inspector at the Qingdao Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, described how this process was carried out. He stated:
Underground banks purchase virtual currencies and then sell the virtual currencies through overseas trading platforms to obtain the foreign currency they need. This process completes the conversion of yuan and foreign currencies, which constitutes the illegal act of buying and selling foreign exchange.
Also, this kind of exchange must be carried out at state-designated places. SAFE authorities warned against being involved in this kind of illegal trade, even when the exchange rates and “convenience” incentivize this route over conducting legal exchanges.
Huang Hui, Deputy Director of SAFE’s Management and Inspection Department, remarked that it will continue to work with other state institutions to crack down on illegal exchange businesses such as underground banks, and facilitate the usage of legal channels for these operations.
What do you think about SAFE’s recent crackdown? Tell us in the comments section below.
Biden Administration Seeks More Tools to Combat Illicit Crypto Use, Says Treasury Official
United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo says the Biden administration is seeking more tools to combat the illicit use of crypto. “We’re going to work with Congress to get more tools,” he stressed, advising the crypto industry to “make sure that you’re protecting yourselves from being in a position where people are using your assets to further their either heinous acts, like what Hamas did, or digital criminals.”
Treasury Working With Congress to Get More Tools
United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association that the Biden administration is seeking new tools from Congress to strengthen efforts against the illicit use of cryptocurrencies, the Wall Street Journal reported. He also mentioned that the Treasury has been in discussions with both Democrats and Republicans regarding potential actions they could pursue.
Citing the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Adeyemo stated that it has brought an “increased focus on the illicit financial use of digital assets.” He stressed:
There are places where we think Congress needs to act … We’re going to work with Congress to get more tools.
The Treasury official also emphasized that the Treasury Department will maintain its ongoing efforts to take action and will collaborate with legislators while encouraging the cryptocurrency industry to pursue responsible innovation. “We need to build a regulatory framework for digital assets that in many ways looks similar to [and] matches the protections that we’ve put in place when it comes to other assets,” he detailed.
Several news outlets recently reported that Hamas raised millions of dollars in crypto. However, blockchain data analytics firm Elliptic subsequently clarified that these media reports misrepresented its data, and there is actually no evidence that Hamas has received large volumes of crypto funds. Adeyemo also recently said that “the use of crypto is not the vast majority of the ways that these groups are funded.”
The top Treasury official continued:
What I’m going to continue to say to the industry is that you have the ability in lots of ways to self-regulate, and to make sure that you’re protecting yourselves from being in a position where people are using your assets to further their either heinous acts, like what Hamas did, or digital criminals.
What do you think about the Biden administration wanting more tools to combat illicit use of crypto? Let us know in the comments section below.
Latam Insights: USDT Takes Over Brazil, Bukele’s Administration Accused of Embezzlement
Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: USDT dominates the Brazilian crypto market, Bukele’s administration is accused of deviating funds for Bitcoin projects, and Venezuelan exchanges create a new association.
USDT Dominates the Brazilian Market
The Brazilian Tax Authority (RBF) has acknowledged the growth stablecoins have experienced in the national cryptocurrency market. According to data provided by exchanges, stablecoins like USDT, USDC, and BRZ, a token pegged to the value of the Brazilian peso, are present in the most transactions.
The institution declared that the rise of these stablecoins in the Brazilian market “deserves attention, as it could have significant implications for the tax and regulatory scenario for cryptocurrencies in the country.” Tether’s USDT, the largest stablecoin by market cap, is also the most traded cryptocurrency in Brazil, being present in more than 80% of all transactions in 2023 and moving more than 271 billion reals (close to billion) since the institution started receiving these reports in 2019.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated:
USDT adoption in Brazil is skyrocketing. When a product is useful for real, and solves RWP (real-world problems), it simply gets used.
Bukele’s Administration Accused of Embezzling Funds for Bitcoin Projects in El Salvador
A recently published investigation of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) found that the administration of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele allegedly embezzled funds from Covid-19 relief loans for Bitcoin projects.
The report alleges that 5 million out of a 0 million loan given to the country by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic was directed to fulfill state obligations. Furthermore, more than 0 million out of these funds were used to fund the process of making bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador.
Venezuelan Cryptocurrency Exchanges Launch New Association
A group of Venezuelan cryptocurrency exchanges has launched Acincrip, a new association to organize new policies in the face of a national seven-month crypto industry shutdown applied after the intervention of the national cryptocurrency regulator Sunacrip and the arrest of its former head, Joselit Ramirez.
The group is integrated by the four largest national exchanges in the country: Cryptobuyer, AFX, Amberes Coin, and Crixto. In an interview given to Criptonoticias, Acincrip president and Cryptobuyer CEO Eleazar Colmenares stated that the group has collaborated with Sunacrip’s investigations but failed to report on the actions that the group might take to regularize the cryptocurrency market in the country.
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What do you think about this week’s Latam Insights report? Tell us in the comment section below.
Biden Administration Issues Landmark AI Executive Order
United States president Joe Biden has issued an executive order to establish new rules and standards that artificial intelligence (AI) companies will have to follow to secure the leadership of America in the field. The executive order also ostensibly seeks to protect the privacy of citizens and examine the effects that AI tools will have on the national labor market.
Biden Administration Issues AI Executive Order
U.S. president Joe Biden has recently issued an executive order that tackles the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), seeking to establish standards that companies in the industry will have to follow to operate in the U.S. The order, one of the most comprehensive issued by any government, also seeks to avoid discrimination produced by AI algorithms and protect citizens’ privacy.
One of the features of the order is that it will require AI companies to “share their safety test results and other critical information with the U.S. government” when their activities pose “a serious risk to national security, national economic security, or national public health and safety.”
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will be in charge of creating the standards for these tests, which will be applied to critical infrastructure projects to ensure they can withstand AI-derived threats.
More Determinations
Another key issue the order touches on includes the development of methods that allow citizens to verify that communications are official and not AI-generated through “guidance for content authentication and watermarking to clearly label AI-generated content.”
With this document, the Biden administration recognizes the threat that AI-developed systems pose to the labor security of Americans. To mitigate this effect, the order states that it will “develop principles and best practices to mitigate the harms and maximize the benefits of AI for workers” while also calling for producing a report to examine the possible impact of AI on labor disruptions.
Citizen privacy is also addressed, with the order calling on Congress to “pass bipartisan data privacy legislation to protect all Americans, especially kids,” by researching privacy-preserving techniques and examining how companies collect and use information.
Reactions
The scope of the executive order and its possible effects on the future of AI in the U.S. have spurred several reactions from various organizations. Regarding the standardization initiatives for AI-related testing, Maia Hamin, an associate director with the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative under the Digital Forensic Research Lab, stated:
This one-two punch could be a path to getting something like a regime for pre-release testing for highly capable models without needing to wait on congressional action. Hopefully, the NIST standards will encompass both the cybersecurity of the model … and its usefulness for malicious cyber activity.
SAG AFTRA, the U.S. actors guild syndicate, which is currently on a nationwide strike that also has an AI-related component, congratulated President Biden, stressing that “it is imperative that workers & unions remain at the forefront of policy development. We look forward to working together for a human-centered approach.”
What do you think about the Biden Administration’s AI executive order? Tell us in the comments section below.
US Senators Press Biden Administration for Measures to Counter ‘Serious National Security Threats’ Linked to North Korea, Crypto
U.S. senators have pressed the Biden administration for measures to counter “serious national security threats” posed by North Korea’s dependence on cryptocurrency. According to the lawmakers, North Korea is using crypto “to evade harsh sanctions and support its ambitions to project geopolitical power through nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.”
US Lawmakers Concerned About ‘Serious National Security Threats’ Linked to North Korea, Crypto
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) have pressed the Biden administration for measures to counter crypto-related national security threats.
In their letter, dated Aug. 3, to Brian E. Nelson, Treasury Department’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and Jake Sullivan, the White House’s National Security Advisor, the lawmakers wrote: “We write to express concern about the national security threat posed by North Korea’s reliance on digital assets to circumvent international sanctions and embargoes and fund its illegal weapons programs.”
The letter cites several sources detailing North Korea’s illicit use of crypto, including White House Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger who stated that about half of North Korea’s missile program has been funded by “cyberattacks and cryptocurrency theft.” The senators stressed:
Given the pressing nature of this threat, we ask the Administration to provide details on its plan to stop North Korea … from using digital assets to evade harsh sanctions and support its ambitions to project geopolitical power through nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
The lawmakers concluded their letter with five questions concerning the Treasury’s “plans to address the serious national security threats posed by North Korea’s dependence on cryptocurrency.” The senators requested the answers be delivered to them no later than Aug. 16.
A United Nations report revealed in February that North Korea stole more crypto assets in 2022 than in any other year. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis similarly found that North Korea-linked hackers, such as the members of the Lazarus Group, were particularly active last year. They stole an estimated .7 billion worth of cryptocurrency across several hacks, according to the data firm.
What do you think about the U.S. senators probing the Biden administration for a plan to address the threats posed by North Korea’s crypto dependence? Let us know in the comments section below.
Report: Biden Administration ‘Crypto Tsar’ Says DOJ will Target Digital Asset Exchange Platforms
According to Eun Young Choi, the head of the crypto unit at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the United States has resolved to target digital platforms because they are making it easy for criminals and money launderers. Choi said the DOJ hopes taking action against entities such as crypto exchanges is “going to have a multiplier effect.”
DOJ to Target Mixers and Tumblers
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will target digital asset exchange platforms and entities providing mixers and tumblers which are used to obfuscate the trail of transactions, Eun Young Choi, the department’s so-called crypto tsar, has said. According to Choi, who became the director of the enforcement team in 2022 within the department, the DOJ is targeting such companies because they are making it easy for money launderers to move funds without being detected.
Besides enabling criminals to profit from their deeds, Choi said the DOJ hopes that the action taken against digital platforms will have a wider impact. Choi reportedly stated:
But on top of that, they’re allowing for all the other criminal actors to easily profit from their crimes and cash out in ways that are obviously problematic to us. And so we hope that by focusing on those types of platforms, we’re going to have a multiplier effect.
By focusing on digital platforms, Choi said her department is also sending a “deterrent message” to businesses skirting sanctions and those not following the required customer identification rules.
US Crypto Crackdown
During her time as the Biden administration’s crypto tsar, the United States government has cracked down on crypto platforms and influencers. In addition, a record fine against alleged crypto fraudsters has been issued. The U.S. government’s increasingly hardline position on crypto has, in turn, prompted crypto entities like Coinbase to mull relocating to countries with less stringent regulations.
However, despite crypto exchanges’ threats to pull out of the country, Choi suggested the crackdown is necessary in order to stop criminal elements from using crypto to achieve their objective.
“We’re seeing the scale and the scope of digital assets being used in a variety of illicit ways grow significantly over the last, say, four years,” Choi said.
In addition to targeting crypto exchanges, Choi’s crypto unit within the DOJ is also targeting investment scams. According to the report, in April alone the department seized crypto assets worth more than 2 million which it said were related to such scams.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Is The Biden Administration Behind Attack On Crypto?
The attack on crypto projects is sanctioned from the very top of the Biden administration, a source who didn’t want to be named has said.
The Biden Administration Sanctioned The Attack On Crypto
Talking to crypto podcaster Tony Edwards, host of “Thinking Crypto,” the source said the operation codename Chokepoint 2.0 expressly targets cryptocurrency projects, most of which are rooted in the United States and continue to offer citizens access to various products.
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Important
I spoke to a source who cannot be named and they gave me insight into the attack on #Crypto aka Operation Chokepoint 2.0. This person worked in Gov and now in the crypto industry.
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— Tony Edward (Thinking Crypto Podcast) (@ThinkingCrypto1) February 14, 2023
The source, who previously worked in the government before branching out to crypto, said leaders approved the crypto attack in effect in the United States.
The “negative” attitude from the Biden administration stems from, among others, Janet Yellen, the Secretary of the Treasury, who is known to be against crypto and Bitcoin, and Gary Gensler, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
For this reason, top companies, such as crypto exchange Kraken, Binance, and others, have been under pressure. The crypto market has ignored these attacks for the time being, as reflected by the price action of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Reportedly, Gary wants more power to be given to the SEC. Furthermore, talk of the Federal Reserve eventually issuing a stablecoin has come into the picture. The source said that projects issuing stablecoins, including Paxos and Circle, undermine the Fed and the broader banking industry since it makes money control challenging. Stablecoins, it is said, “won’t usurp the digital dollar.”
The vigor demonstrated by officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC), and various agencies, including the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), is because they know there “will be no consequences, at least for now,” the source claimed.
SEC Worrying Crackdown On Cryptocurrency Projects
The SEC has been cracking down on various cryptocurrency projects, claiming that they breached regulations in the United States and are actively offering unregistered securities.
Ripple Inc., whose officials, including Bradley Garlinghouse, were earlier accused of raising .3 billion from selling XRP, which the SEC claims is an unregistered security.
In recent weeks, the SEC settled with Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, for million with an agreement that they had to close down their crypto as a staking service in the United States.
The agency also won a protracted case against LBRY, a file-sharing and payment network. A District Court in New Hampshire agreed with the SEC that LBRY sold unregistered securities when they issued LBC to users. As a result, the SEC had the right to give a permanent injection against the sale of the project’s token while also asking for disgorgement for all fees received with interest.
Paxos, the firm behind the Binance branded stablecoin BUSD, also received a Wells notice from the SEC. Gary Gensler and his team are convinced BUSD is an unregistered security. The NYDFS also requested them not to issue any new tokens.