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Singapore police warn of FTX phishing scams

by Blockchain NewsNovember 19, 2022

Investors have been reminded by the Singapore Police Force to be wary of websites that falsely claim they can assist them in recovering assets from the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which has now gone out of business.

Local news source Channel News Asia stated that on November 19, the police issued a warning about a website that claimed to be operated by the United States Department of Justice and that prompted FTX users to check in using their account credentials.

Customers of the website, which has not been named, are led to believe that they “would be able to withdraw their assets after paying legal expenses.” The website is directed at local investors who have been adversely impacted by the collapse of FTX.

The authorities said that the website was a phishing scam that was meant to trick people who were naive to the scheme into divulging their personal information.

Fake online articles that offer cryptocurrency auto trading schemes in the nation seem to have flourished lately; therefore, local authorities have issued a warning to citizens to be wary of such content while browsing the internet.

These articles often include famous politicians from Singapore, such as Tan Chuan-jin, who is the speaker of the Singaporean parliament.

Even while this is not the first time that Singapore’s police have issued public warnings against crypto frauds, new advances in the market have left investors more susceptible to assaults than they were before.

It is predicted that one million creditors and investors have been negatively impacted as a result of FTX’s bankruptcy.

They might potentially lose billions of dollars as a group.

The city-state has issued several warnings to investors that digital assets are very volatile, and it has even prohibited the promotion of cryptocurrencies on social media platforms.

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Due to conflicts of interest, SBF’s attorneys drop FTX

by Blockchain NewsNovember 19, 2022

The law firm Paul Weiss, which had been providing support to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) throughout the proceedings of the company’s bankruptcy, has renounced its representation of the business owner, citing a conflict of interest as the reason for its decision. SBF had been providing support to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) throughout the proceedings of the company’s bankruptcy. Throughout the processes of the company’s bankruptcy, SBF has been giving assistance to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). SBF has been of assistance to the company throughout the whole of the process of the company filing for bankruptcy.

The legal firm’s efforts to reorganise were derailed as a direct result of the decision made by the client to terminate representation once it was discovered that SBF had tweeted. As a direct result of this, the law firm’s efforts to reorganise were unsuccessful.

On the other hand, as a result of this move, rumours began spreading that the cryptic tweets had been sent with the intention of distracting bots’ attention away from tweets that were concurrently being deleted from the site. As a consequence of the fact that the action was carried out, this rumour began to circulate.

Martin Flumenbaum, an attorney working for Paul, Weiss, was of the opinion that the “constant and disruptive tweeting” of SBF was having a negative influence on the efforts that were being made to reorganise, and he was of the opinion that this was having a negative influence on the efforts that were being made to reorganise. Additionally, he was of the opinion that this was having a negative influence on the efforts that were being made to reorganise. Martin Flumenbaum was of the view that this was having a detrimental affect on the efforts that were being made, despite the fact that there was no evidence uncovered to suggest that malevolent intent was there.

Recently, another con artist by the name of Elizabeth Homes was found guilty of criminal fraud and sentenced to time served as a direct consequence of her activities. It is only a coincidence, but Homes was handed her sentence about the same time as the law company chose to stop supporting SBF. This suggests that the two events are likely unrelated. There is a possibility that the two occurrences are associated with one another, but there is also a chance that they are not.

Source

Tagged : FTX / News / Sbf

South Korea seizes $104M from Terra’s co-founder on unjust earnings.

by Blockchain NewsNovember 19, 2022

South Korean authorities are continuing their efforts to bring closure to the victims of the year’s first crypto crash, which involved Terraform Labs. While the crypto exchange FTX has taken the spotlight away from other collapsed ecosystems, South Korean authorities are still working to help Terraform Labs’ victims.

Nearly six months after the Terra (LUNA) blockchain was formally shut down, officials in South Korea froze around $104.4 million (140 billion won) belonging to co-founder Shin Hyun-seong on the grounds that he may have made unlawful gains.

The assets of Shin, which are estimated to be worth more than 104 million dollars, have been placed under a temporary freeze after the Seoul Southern District Court gave its approval to a request made by the prosecutors.

The allegation concerned Shin’s alleged participation in the sale of pre-issued Terra tokens to unsuspecting investors.

According to reports from a local news outlet, the district court has placed a hold on the allegedly stolen monies until additional investigations can be conducted. This decision was made on the basis of the suspicion of benefitting from unauthorised LUNA sales.

Reports that Shin Hyun-seong, CEO of Luna, sold the company at a high point and realised gains or that he generated riches via other illicit techniques are not accurate, according to the company. The counsel for Shin was originally cited by Cointelegraph.

The preindictment preservation of the funds is a method for stopping criminals from getting rid of stolen money and forcing investors to suffer further financial harm or losses.

Shin is currently the subject of an investigation by the authorities in South Korea on two charges: making unfair profits from the issuance of in-house tokens LUNA and TerraUSD (UST); and leaking customer transaction information of Chai, a Korean payment app linked to Terra, to Terraform Labs. The first charge relates to the alleged making of profits from the issuance of in-house tokens LUNA and TerraUSD (UST).

As part of their investigation into the dissolution of the company, the prosecutors in South Korea issued a summons to the alleged co-founder on November 14 requesting that he appear in court.

The prosecution levelled the charge of price manipulation against Do Kwon, one of the co-founders of Terra, during the first week of November.

Source

Tagged : FTX / Korea / Luna / News / TERRAFORM LABS

Grayscale withholds on-chain reserve evidence for security reasons

by Blockchain NewsNovember 19, 2022

Grayscale Investments, a company that sells cryptocurrency investment products, has declined to provide on-chain proof of reserves or wallet addresses in order to demonstrate the digital currency products’ underlying assets, citing “security concerns.” Grayscale Investments is a cryptocurrency investment product provider. Grayscale laid out information regarding the security and storage of its cryptocurrency holdings in a Twitter thread on November 18 that was dedicated to addressing investor concerns. The company stated that all of the cryptocurrencies that underpin its investment products are stored with Coinbase’s custody service, but it refrained from disclosing the wallet addresses.

Grayscale continued by saying, “We are aware that the previous point, in particular, will be a letdown to some,” but “fear created by others is not a good enough justification to violate intricate security mechanisms that have kept our clients’ funds secure for years.”

In the aftermath of FTX’s ongoing liquidity troubles and ultimately bankruptcy, Grayscale has decided to take this step in response to the mounting pressure being placed on the crypto industry to implement proof of reserves.

Some people on Twitter disagreed with Grayscale’s view that security concerns were behind its decision to withhold its wallet addresses. One user commented that although the addresses of Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin, are widely known and are of greater value to attackers, “Satoshi’s Bitcoin remains secure.”

Grayscale distributed a letter that was co-signed by Alesia Haas, the CFO of Coinbase, and Aaron Schnarch, the CEO of Coinbase Custody. The letter detailed Grayscale’s holdings according to its investment products and reaffirmed that the assets “are secure.” Additionally, the letter stated that each product has its “own on-chain addresses,” and that the crypto always belongs “to the applicable Grayscale product.”

Grayscale further said that every one of their products is structured as its own independent legal company, and that “rules, regulations, and contracts […] forbid the digital assets underpinning the goods from being leased, borrowed, or otherwise encumbered.”

Although Grayscale is best known for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), a security that follows the price of Bitcoin, the company also offers products that follow the price of other cryptocurrencies, like Ether and Solana. Genesis Global, which serves as the liquidity provider for GBTC, announced on November 16 that it had halted withdrawals, citing “unprecedented market turmoil” as the reason. This “unprecedented market turmoil” had led to significant withdrawals from its platform, which exceeded its current liquidity. This has caused investor concerns.

Grayscale is also owned by the cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firm known as Digital Currency Group (DCG), which is also the parent company of Genesis.

Investors are speculating on GBTC’s exposure to Genesis, which may be one reason why the company’s stock is selling at a discount of over 43 percent compared to its net asset value.

Source

Tagged : DCG / GBTC / Grayscale / News

US subcommittee chairman requests FTX information.

by Blockchain NewsNovember 19, 2022

The head of a House subcommittee in the United States has put pressure on both the previous and present CEOs of the defunct FTX cryptocurrency exchange, demanding that they provide documentation pertaining to the business’s financial dealings.

Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, wrote in a letter dated November 18 that “FTX’s customers, former employees, and the public deserve answers.” The letter was addressed to both former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and the exchange’s current CEO John J. Ray III, who took over in the wake of FTX’s bankruptcy filings. Krishnamoorthi’s letter was addressed to both Bankman-Fried and Ray III.

In addition, Krishnamoorthi said that the subcommittee was “seeking specific information on the considerable liquidity challenges encountered by FTX, the company’s unexpected decision to declare bankruptcy, and the possible effect that these actions might have on consumers who utilised your exchange.”

He asked that the exchange give over a large amount of material pertaining to its finances, including explanations on its liquidity concerns, balance sheets from before its collapse in early November, its current crypto holdings, and a strategy on how it would compensate consumers.

In addition, Krishnamoorthi asked for details regarding who was responsible for managing the financial aspects of the exchange, any input that FTX had received from Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, and a description of any “backdoor” that may have been used to move funds in secret from auditors or other FTX departments.

A request was sent to Bankman-Fried on August 30 asking for information on the efforts that FTX is doing to prevent fraud and scams. A reminder was sent to the current and past leaders of FTX to provide the necessary paperwork as part of this request.

The crypto exchanges Binance US, Coinbase, Kraken, and KuCoin all received letters that were quite similar to this one.

The subcommittee gave FTX until December 1 to collect the necessary documentation in order to assist it in determining “what went wrong at FTX” and what actions Congress could take to ensure that the crypto industry “is appropriately regulated and investors are protected.” The subcommittee has set a deadline of December 1.

The deadline for the subcommittee coincides with an announcement made on November 16 by members of the United States House Financial Services Committee that they will hold a hearing in December to investigate the failure of FTX and the “broader consequences for the digital asset ecosystem.” The hearing is scheduled to take place in December.

The letter written by Krishnamoorthi follows similar demands that were laid out on November 16 by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Durbin. The senators wrote to Bankman-Fried and Ray asking for a similar mass of documents related to the collapse of FTX. Krishnamoorthi’s letter follows in their footsteps.

Source

Tagged : FTX / News

Mersinger feels crypto regulation is needed

by Blockchain NewsNovember 19, 2022

Summer Mersinger, a commissioner of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), expressed her belief that the time may have come to take action on the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

On November 18, while presenting at the Texas Blockchain Summit, Mersinger pondered the potential requirements for successful crypto legislation in the United States.

Mersinger saw that the process was moving in the right direction. ” We are getting to the point where maybe we are beyond the education stage and now it is time for action,” she added. “We are getting to the point that maybe we are past the education stage.However, due to the fact that it is not a party issue, it is an intriguing political matter. ” Mersinger proceeded by saying that the CTFC and Securities and Exchange Commission will ultimately iron out their differences about jurisdiction. She said that there is a place for both of them; the challenge now is to find out how to make it work.

In the future, regulation of digital assets could include a need for real-time evidence of reserves. We don’t make that request every day, but we have the ability to. Related: US regulator brags in new report about how “aggressively” they are policing crypto While this is going on, According to what Mersinger had to say, “unless there is some decision at the federal level, the states are the first line of defence.” “Sometimes in Washington, we forget that the states were the initial players and regulators in this arena, and that they continue to play an essential role even now.

It’s terrible, in my opinion, since a lot of the time we forget about the states while having a dialogue.

In December, Republican Mersinger was put up by President Joe Biden as a candidate for a seat on the CTFC.

She called the commission’s treatment of Ooki DAO regulation by enforcement, and she voiced her disagreement with that approach.

Source

Tagged : Cftc / Regulation / United States

Russian law legalises crypto mining, sales under ‘experimental legal system’

by Blockchain NewsNovember 19, 2022

On November 17, a measure to legalise the mining of cryptocurrencies as well as the selling of the cryptocurrencies that have been mined was presented into the Russian State Duma, which is the lower chamber of the Russian government.

At this time, it is not possible to make settlements in Russia using cryptocurrency.

Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the Duma Financial Markets Committee, said in an interview with the local press that he anticipated the measure would pass all three readings in parliament in December and that it would go into effect on February 1.

According to some other reports, the measure will officially become a law on January 1st.

The legislation that was established in 2020 regarding digital innovation is what makes the experimental sales regime a possibility.

Mining cryptocurrencies and participating in mining pools are both defined under the proposed legislation.

Additionally, it makes it illegal to advertise cryptocurrencies in Russia.

If the bill is approved, a Russian platform for the sale of cryptocurrencies will be established, and Russian miners will be allowed to utilise platforms located outside of Russia.

In the second scenario, the transactions in question wouldn’t be subject to the currency restrictions and rules that Russia has in place, but they would still need to be recorded to the Russian tax authority.

In spite of the fact that there is presently no regulation regarding the taxation of mining operations, crypto mining is quite common in Russia.

According to a study that was published by the Central Bank of Russia on November 7th, it seemed that the nation was making preparations for the entrance of digital assets into its markets.

In September, the Moscow Exchange developed a bill on behalf of the Central Bank to enable trading in digital financial assets. This law was intended to facilitate trading in digital financial assets.

In September, a policy was developed by the Russian government regarding the use of cryptocurrencies in international financial transactions.

Crypto miners and other users in Russia must manage not only national regulations but also international sanctions in addition to this.

Source

Tagged : Central Bank / News / Russia

Bitstamp acquires a Spanish crypto licence

by Blockchain NewsNovember 19, 2022

Bitstamp said that it has been granted a licence to do business in the crypto sector in Spain.

Since it was founded in 2011, the exchange has been primarily concentrating on the market in the European Union. This permission comes from yet another European jurisdiction.

The information on the company’s Spanish licence was made public on November 17th.

The authorization granted by the Bank of Spain to Bitstamp’s local subsidiary enables the company to provide digital currency exchange services for fiat money as well as electronic wallet custody services to customers located in Spain.

Following in the footsteps of companies like as Binance and Bitpanda, Bitstamp was granted a licence in Spain, making it the 46th virtual asset supplier to do so.

Recent developments in Spain have shown a moderate attitude to crypto legislation, which coincides with the rapid speed of adoption of cryptocurrencies throughout the nation.

By the autumn of this year, the nation had established what is now the third-largest network of automated teller machines that dispense Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, behind only the United States and Canada.

It presently has 215 crypto ATMs, putting it in fourth place, after El Salvador (which only has 212 ATMs) since it has surpassed the nation in terms of the number of ATMs.

Over the last several years, Bitstamp’s compliance efforts have been steadily growing.

In April, it made the request for users to modify the origin of cryptocurrencies that were being kept on the site so that it could comply with regulations.

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Tagged : #Bitstamp / European Union / News / Spain