The Federal Reserve and Arkansas State Bank Department have mandated sweeping reforms at Evolve Bank & Trust following significant compliance breaches. The order highlights issues in anti-money laundering efforts and consumer protection, especially in its dealings with fintech companies and prominent crypto players like FTX. Compliance Concerns Trigger Regulatory Action Against Evolve Bank Evolve Bank […]
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Binance Confirms Mastercard and Visa Support for Crypto Purchases but No Binance Credit Card Issued
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance posted on social media platform X Thursday that users can purchase cryptocurrency using Mastercard, Visa, or SEPA for bank transfers. The announcement led to confusion among some users regarding the reintroduction of Binance-branded credit cards. Binance Customer Support clarified that the current facilities allow the use of existing payment methods to buy […]
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Bybit Affiliate Withdraws Hong Kong VASP Application Months After Regulator Issued License Warning
The Singaporean crypto exchange Bybit’s affiliate Spark Fintech Limited, has abandoned its pursuit of an operating license in Hong Kong. The affiliate withdrew its virtual asset trading platform application on May 31, exactly four months after submitting it. The decision followed the Hong Kong regulator’s classification of Bybit as an unlicensed entity, accompanied by threats […]
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CZ Says Binance Has Issued a Cease and Desist Notice Against Nigerian ‘Scammer Entity’
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, said the recently banned Binance Nigeria Limited has been issued with “a cease and desist notice.” Zhao, who has since branded the Nigeria-registered company a “scammer entity,” told his followers not to believe everything they read in the news.
Binance Disassociates Itself From Banned Nigerian Entity
The CEO of Binance, Changpeng (CZ) Zhao, recently said his firm had issued a “cease and desist” notice against Binance Nigeria Limited, the supposed affiliate of the crypto exchange platform. In a June 18 tweet, CZ also told his followers not to believe everything they read in the news. However, the tweet did not explain how Binance is going to enforce the order against the “scammer entity.”
Binance have issued cease & desist notice to the scammer entity "Binance Nigeria Limited".
Don't believe everything you read in the news.
— CZ
Binance (@cz_binance) June 18, 2023
The Binance chief’s clarification about the crypto exchange’s relationship with the Nigerian entity came just over a week after the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (NSEC) declared Binance Nigeria Limited’s operations in the country illegal. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, the Nigerian regulator also told Binance Nigeria Limited to “stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever.”
Following the NSEC’s declaration and warning to the Nigerian public, a spokesperson for Binance was quoted in a report distancing the leading crypto exchange from the Nigerian entity.
Meanwhile, in the same report, an individual known as Ahassan Ifzal Mughal is quoted confirming Binance Nigeria Limited’s non-affiliation with Binance. According to the report, Mughal had registered Binance Nigeria Limited with the hope of eventually selling the incorporated entity to CZ’s Binance.
“We are willing to hand over full control of Binance Nigeria Limited to binance.com should they choose to legally enter into the Nigerian market, and are further available to provide our legal services to them in obtaining legal regulatory compliance in Nigeria,” Mughal reportedly said.
While some have questioned CZ’s belated move to disown the “scammer entity,” a Nigeria crypto industry insider told Bitcoin.com News that it is possible that Binance was not aware that the now-banned entity had been using its name. To support this assertion, the insider pointed to 6 Nigerian organizations on the Corporate Affairs Commission portal which use the name Binance.
Senator Ihenyen, the lead partner at Infusion Lawyers, said while Binance’s move may seem surprising to some, the illegal use of well-known brands or trademarks is “a menace genuine companies or brand owners face across the world, including Nigeria.” Ihenyen stated that his firm has handled many cases wherein this practice which is known as cybersquatting has been perpetrated.
“As the Lead Partner of a law firm in the African market, we have handled similar matters involving cybersquatting in and outside the blockchain space. Here, an entity’s name, domain name, trademark, etc. is registered without due authorization in the hope of reselling them for profit. So “Binance Nigeria Limited” may just be one of many instances of this menace. This is Cybersquatting.,” Ihenyen explained.
The lawyer also stated that while this practice is illegal in Nigeria, many still see it as a legitimate practice.
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Digital Assets for 1 Billion Rubles Issued in Russia in a Month
Platforms authorized by the Russian government issued digital assets worth around a billion rubles in April, the local press reported. The spike in the volume has been attributed to Russian companies experimenting with new financial instruments amid limited access to traditional capital.
Russia’s Digital Assets Market Livens Up as Capital Markets Dry Up for Russian Businesses
Seven placements of digital financial assets (DFAs) for a total of about 1 billion rubles ( million) were made in Russia last month, the Kommersant reported. Experts quoted by the business daily note that while this market is still rather small, significant projects may be expected by the end of this year.
DFAs are relatively new instruments in Russia defined in the law “On Digital Financial Assets” that went into force in January 2021. Unlike decentralized cryptocurrencies, which are yet to be comprehensively regulated, these represent “digital rights” to securities or utility tokens and must have an issuing entity.
Most of the DFAs issued in April were sold by the majority state-owned Sberbank, Russia’s largest banking institution, followed by Alfa-Bank, the largest private bank in the country. The two are among the operators of DFA platforms authorized by the Bank of Russia, alongside Atomyze, which specializes in the tokenization of commodities, the fintech company Lighthouse, and the more recently licensed Masterchain.
In March, less than a year since the central bank-approved entities started issuing DFAs, placements had reached a total of 2 billion rubles ( million). Despite the significant increase in the following month, most analysts interviewed by Kommersant are still skeptical. Funds can be raised using existing tools such as corporate bonds, said Roman Nekrasov, co-founder of Encry Foundation which represents Russian IT companies.
The DFA segment remains occupied by select large players, added Mikhail Uspensky, member of the expert council of the working group on cryptocurrency at the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament. At the same time, he admitted that capital markets have dried up for Russian businesses. “And many companies are trying to be creative, including by experimenting with DFAs,” Uspensky elaborated while pointing out that issuing digital assets is still mostly a reputational move.
Unprecedented Western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine severely restricted Russian access to the global financial markets. As part of efforts to mitigate the negative effects of the penalties, Russian authorities have been taking steps to expand the use of digital assets including through legalizing crypto payments in cross-border trade and developing a digital ruble.
Do you think the digital assets market in Russia will continue to grow? Share your expectations in the comments section below.
Report: Do Kwon Successfully Formed a Company in Serbia Weeks After Interpol Issued Red Notice
According to a report, the recently arrested Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon was able to register a company in Serbia just a few weeks after Interpol issued a Red Notice for him. Lawyers that helped Kwon form a company in Serbia reportedly said they were not aware of Interpol’s Red Notice against their client.
Do Kwon Uses Korean Passport to Register Company
Just a few weeks after an Interpol Red Notice for arrest was issued, the former Terraform Labs CEO Kwon was still able to form and register a company in Serbia, a local publication has said. Known as Codokoj22 d.o.o. Beograd, the company which was registered on Oct. 12, 2022, lists Kwon as the owner. The former CEO along with his countryman Han Chang-Joon from Chai Corporation are also named as directors of the company.
According to a report in DL News, the duo’s Serbian company was established with capital equivalent to just under (100 din). The report added that Kwon and Chang-Joon used their Korean passports to register the new company with Serbian Business Registry.
As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News in late Sept. 2022, the global law enforcement agency Interpol kickstarted an international manhunt for Kwon after it issued a Red Notice for the Terraform Labs co-founder. Before the notice was issued, Kwon insisted that he was not on the run and that he was in fact cooperating with “any government agency that has shown interest to communicate.”
However, Bitcoin.com News reported on March 23, 2023, that Montenegro’s interior minister said Kwon was arrested at Podgorica airport. He had a forged Costa Rican passport on him when he was apprehended. Chang-Joon has now also been reported as being arrested.
Lawyers Unaware of Interpol’s Red Notice
Meanwhile, unnamed officials from the Serbian Business Registry and lawyers at Gecic Law Firm are quoted in the report professing their ignorance about the existence of an Interpol Red Notice. Ognjen Colic, a partner at Kwon’s legal representatives in Serbia, claimed that his firm took all the necessary steps before electing to represent him.
“I cannot comment on my client due to confidentiality agreements, but I can say that this client went through all the regular security checks that we conduct for every client, including the Interpol website and he is not on there – you can check it yourself now,” Colic reportedly said.
Milos Petakovic, a lawyer from the same law firm, is quoted in the report stating that he needed to consult his colleagues before commenting on Gecic Law Firm’s decision to work for Kwon.
In addition to South Korea, which issued a warrant for his arrest in Sept. 2022, Kwon was also wanted by authorities in Singapore and in the United States.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Digital Assets Worth 2 Billion Rubles Issued in Russia in Less Than a Year
Digital financial assets (DFAs) for a total exceeding million have been issued in Russia in the past year. This new market has been developing since it was regulated in 2021 and the country’s monetary authority started licensing issuers in the following year.
Volume of Digital Assets Increases in Russia as Investors Seek Alternatives to Traditional Instruments
Less than a year since Central Bank of Russia (CBR)-approved entities began issuing digital financial assets, these have issued DFAs for 2 billion rubles (over million). The data was announced by Ekaterina Frolovicheva, general director of the tokenization service Atomyze.
Speaking at a round table in the ‘Digital Financial Assets – New Tool for Attracting Liquidity’ Public Chamber, Frolovicheva explained that the first DFA issuer was added to Bank of Russia’s register on Feb. 3, 2022, but the issuing of DFAs started several months later.
Quoted by the Tass news agency, she also noted that the unique features of DFAs make them extremely attractive and that demand is on the rise. For example, hybrid digital rights combine the properties of digital financial assets and utilitarian digital rights, simultaneously certifying a monetary claim and а right to demand the transfer of an asset.
Stablecoins, when not intended for settlements, as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can be issued as hybrid digital rights in the Russian Federation. That’s possible under the law “On Digital Financial Assets” which went into force in January 2021. However, the country has yet to regulate operations with decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
Atomyze is one of the platforms authorized by the CBR to issue DFAs, alongside the fintech company Lighthouse, as well as Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, Russia’s largest state-owned and private bank, respectively. Another entity was recently licensed — Distributed Registry Systems, which operates the ‘Masterchain’ blockchain platform.
Russians will soon be able to invest in DFAs along with other instruments, such as stocks and bonds, while avoiding the risks associated with traditional instruments and bypassing financial market intermediaries, commented Maxim Trofimov, CEO of a company called Digital Assets.
Do you expect the digital assets market to continue to expand in Russia? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
Why The SEC Issued A Warning To Bitcoin Futures Investors
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued yet another cautionary bulletin for Bitcoin investors. Specifically, the Commission has warned about the dangers for BTC futures traders and has asked them to “weigh carefully the potential risks and benefits of the investment”.
The bulletin called “Funds Trading in Bitcoin Futures” is part of a long list of these articles dedicated to cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
The first one was published on July 23, 2013, and was titled “Investor Alert: Ponzi Schemes Using Virtual Currencies”. In this article, the Commission warns investors about Bitcoin and explains in detail the characteristics of a Ponzi Scheme, a type of scam where existing participants received payments from new contributors.
The SEC classified these schemes as non-legitimate investments and claimed to be concern about fraudsters utilizing Bitcoin to commit or facilitate this scam. In addition, the SEC claimed exchange platform could also be part of the illegal scheme.
Despite the date of publication, apparently not much has changed for the Commission as their latest bulleting on BTC claims the following:
investors should consider the volatility of Bitcoin and the Bitcoin futures market, as well as the lack of regulation and potential for fraud or manipulation in the underlying Bitcoin market.
Bitcoin Attack By More FUD
The SEC clarifies that BTC has been classified as a commodity in the U.S. Therefore, futures contracts must be traded with a “regulated and supervised” entity by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The regulator claims that all platforms offering this product to U.S. citizens must comply with certain legal requirements. Caitlin Long, part of the state of Wyoming Blockchain Select Committee, said:
SEC is issuing this investor warning re onshore exchanges, which offer only about 2.5x leverage–just imagine how it views offshore exchanges offering >100x leverage.
At the time of writing, BTC trades at ,872 with sideways movement in the 1-hour and 24-hour charts. In the derivatives sector, funding rates across exchange platforms have flipped from positive to negative and vice versa during the past few days.
![Bitcoin BTC BTCUSD](https://www.newsbtc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Bitcoin-BTC-BTCUSD-13-860x512.png)
Thus, the general sentiment in the market seems to be following the price action; there is no clear direction. In the short term, BTC must reclaim the higher area around current levels and make a push towards the ,000 price mark.
The SEC and other U.S. government officials and federal entities have been hitting the market with many negative announcements. From the SEC bulletin to the Department of State’s statements on a BTC ransom recovered from hackers. The market has been susceptible to this news but seems more impervious to their effects.
Accurate Crypto Sell Signal Issued For Two Top Performing Altcoins
A pair of altcoins have greatly overperformed Bitcoin in recent weeks, going on powerful rallies both on USD and BTC trading pairs. However, a devastatingly accurate sell signal has now triggered across both of these crypto assets, potentially pointing to a retracement that could wipe out most of the gains generated against the first-ever cryptocurrency.
And if these assets do pull back, where exactly are the levels of support to watch for a potential bounce to occur.
Stellar’s Sudden Recovery Rally Could Come To a Crashing End As Sell Signal Hits Altcoin XLM
The altcoin trading under the XLM ticker has recently staged a massive recovery against Bitcoin, right under the noses of crypto investors who have since written off the lagging cryptocurrency. XLM, alongside its altcoin cousin XRP, has been among the worst performers of the entire bear market.
The crypto asset designed for borderless payments has fallen by over 90% from its all-time high to as low as .025 at the bottom of the recent Black Thursday panic selloff.
Related Reading | Stellar Rally: Once Stagnant Altcoin Outperforms Bitcoin By 30%
But following that low being put in, the altcoin has bounced by over 30% against Bitcoin and has grown over 150% on the USD pair. However, these gains could soon retrace, as an accurate sell signal – the TD 9 on the TD Sequential indicator – just triggered on the XLMUSD pair.
The tool has accurately predicting may tops and bottoms in crypto, including Bitcoin’s historic ,000 peak.
TD Sequential Issues Sell Signal On Tezos On Both XTZUSD and XTZBTC Crypto Pairs
It wasn’t just XLM that got some not-so-stellar news, Tezos also had the dangerous sell signal trigger not only on the XTZUSD price chart but XTZBTC as well. This indicates that a bigger crypto crash could be coming, one that takes Tezos down a few notches in both USD and BTC values.
Unlike XLM that has exploded right out from under the noses of crypto investors who have since forgotten about the asset since it lost its spot within the top ten crypto assets by market cap, the altcoin that replaced it – Tezos – has been the talk of the crypto market alongside Chainlink for much of the year thus far.
Before the big crash, the crypto token had grown well over 200% year-to-date, peaking at nearly per XTZ token, only to fall to under . Now, after that low was set, the all-star altcoin is already up well over 175% once again. However, like XLM, the Tezos rally could soon be erased due to the accuracy of the TD 9 sell signal triggered with today’s daily open.
Typically, a new high is set with the 9 candle, perfecting the sell setup, so more upside cannot be ruled out.
Featured image from Pixabay
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