Day: February 3, 2023

Billionaire Ray Dalio believes that fiat is in jeopardy

by Blockchain News

Although the billionaire Ray Dalio feels that fiat currency is in danger, he is also of the opinion that neither Bitcoin (BTC) nor stablecoins are the solution to the problem. As a kind of reaction, individuals of the cryptocurrency community have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter.

During a recent appearance on the show Squawk on CNBC, Dalio was asked about his thoughts on Bitcoin as a possible solution to the issues that are caused by fiat money. The billionaire claimed that it would not be useful as a means of commerce or as a place to keep riches. In addition to this point, Dalio emphasised that stablecoins are only imitations of state-backed currencies and hence would not be an efficient form of currency.

Bitcoin users were quick to reply to the interview, stating that Dalio’s definition of what money should be is already reflected in Bitcoin. Additionally, a Twitter user identified many intrinsic properties of Bitcoin and pointed out that it provides the answer Dalio is seeking for. A member of the community tweeted: One member of the community believes that Bitcoin is the solution to the monetary issue that Dalio outlined because of the cryptocurrency’s resilience to censorship, neutrality, openness, limited supply, and freedom from control.

While this was going on, a different member of the Bitcoin community said that Dalio had “orange pilled” them with his views on the history of money. The opinion of the Twitter user is that the interview demonstrates that the billionaire is getting closer and closer to “really understanding Bitcoin.”

His view on Bitcoin has traditionally shifted back and forth between bullish and bearish for Dalio. In 2021, he moved from characterising Bitcoin as “one heck of an innovation” to adopting a more pessimistic storyline, during which he discussed the possibility of a ban on Bitcoin being enacted in the United States and said that he would prefer gold over Bitcoin as a medium of exchange.

In 2022, the billionaire advocated for an allocation of between one and two percent of investor portfolios to Bitcoin. Back then, Dalio lauded Bitcoin for its resistance to hackers and said that there is no other cryptocurrency that can compete with it on the market.

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Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has acknowledged a recent spate of third party scams

by Blockchain News

FTX, a defunct cryptocurrency exchange, has admitted that its clients have recently been targeted by a series of scams and frauds perpetrated by third parties. These schemes were designed to take advantage of the consumers’ dire financial circumstances.

On February 3, FTX issued a warning to its clients about recent efforts by fraudsters about scam attempts, including asking them for money, fees, payments, or account passwords. These scam attempts were made by inquiring about recent attempts by fraudsters about scam attempts.

The firm issued a warning to its clients, saying, “We are aware of active third-party scams and frauds aiming to take advantage of FTX customers.”

FTX added that its debtors and agents will never ask customers to pay fees or provide account passwords in connection with the “return or prospective return of customer assets.” FTX also encouraged potential victims to contact the official FTX debtors email address to confirm the legitimacy of the messages. 

Since the collapse of FTX a few of months ago, con artists have been stepping up their game in an attempt to capitalise on the situation.

Late in the month of December, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation issued a warning to the public that con artists were looking for chances to “re-victimize people who have previously been injured and are attempting to discover methods to recoup their losses.”

It referenced a bogus website that claimed to be administered by the United States Department of State and was trying to restore FTX customers’ assets to them while also requesting account information from such customers.

In November, a video purporting to include FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and circulating on the internet falsely claimed that the company will increase the amount of cryptocurrency compensation given to customers. It enticed users to visit a malicious website by promising a cryptocurrency giveaway in return for tokens that were transmitted to the criminals.

In the meanwhile, as part of the most recent development in the proceedings of FTX’s bankruptcy, the states of California, Texas, and New Jersey have joined requests for an independent audit of the company’s financial accounts.

According to yet another article on Bankman-Fried, which was released by Reuters on February 2nd, it has been disclosed that the crypto entrepreneur is in discussions with federal prosecutors to settle a disagreement over the terms of his bail.

This past week, the judge who is presiding over the lawsuit placed a temporary gag order on Bankman-Fried, preventing her from communicating with workers of FTX or Alameda.

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Marathon Digital Holdings Sells Some of Its Bitcoin for the First Time

by Blockchain News

The cryptocurrency mining company Marathon Digital Holdings has sold part of its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings for the first time in the last two years, making it the second biggest publicly-listed holder of Bitcoin.

The firm reported in an update that was published on February 2 that throughout the month of January it had sold 1,500 BTC, which is equivalent to $35.3 million at the current pricing.

Charlie Schumacher, vice president of corporate communications for Marathon, said that despite the fact that some crypto miners have been compelled to sell Bitcoin owing to the current market conditions, this is not the case for Marathon.

Schumacher said that Marathon had been diamond-handling its Bitcoin up to this point because the company did not want to sell while output was down. Marathon has been positive on the long-term prospects of the most prominent cryptocurrency.

Marathon, however, plans to enter the new year with a “war chest” of liquidity that will be comprised of both cash and Bitcoin. Additionally, the company intends to continue paying down its debt and increasing its cash balances.

In addition, Schumacher said that the recent price increase of bitcoin was a factor that led to the decision to sell part of its assets.

The price of Bitcoin broke beyond the $24,000 threshold for the first time since August, when it did so in the month of January.

Even after the transaction, Marathon was able to bring its total unconstrained Bitcoin holdings to 8,090 BTC for the month, which is equivalent to $189.8 million.

Marathon said that it has greatly increased Bitcoin output over the month of January, creating 687 BTC. This figure indicates a 45% increase in production in comparison to the amount produced during the previous month. The chairman and CEO of Marathon, Fred Thiel, stated the following in the latest update: “The improvement in our bitcoin production was primarily a result of our team’s ability to work in tandem with the new hosting provider in McCamey, Texas, to address the maintenance and technical issues at the King Mountain data centre that had suppressed our bitcoin production in the fourth quarter of 2022.” This information was provided in a May 4 update from the previous year. Marathon had stated that the last time it had sold any Bitcoin was on

When questioned how it had been able to avoid selling the primary product of its business operations, Schumacher referred to the company’s minimal staff, which consisted of “32 individuals as of today,” and argued that it was the outcome of strong long-term financial plans.

According to CoinGecko, Marathon is the second-largest publicly listed holder of Bitcoin. The software analytics business MicroStrategy is the largest publicly listed holder of Bitcoin. According to MarketWatch, the company’s stock has increased by 135% so far this year to a price of $8, which has led to a huge increase in the share price that it has been reporting over the last few days.

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Australia’s Government is Bolstering Its Market Regulator’s Digital Asset

by Blockchain News

As part of its “multi-stage strategy” to cracking down on cryptocurrencies and ensuring that crypto companies provide accurate risk disclosures, the Australian government is increasing the size of the digital asset team that works under its market regulator.

The new restrictions are intended to safeguard consumers who are dealing with bitcoin, as described in a joint statement released on February 2 by the Assistant Treasurer of Australia, Stephen Jones, and the Australian Treasurer, Jim Chalmers.

The treasurers said that the multi-stage strategy would entail three components, these components being the strengthening of enforcement, the strengthening of consumer protection, and the establishment of a framework for its token mapping reform.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced that they would be “upping enforcement efforts” as well as increasing the number of their digital assets division. This is one of the most significant adjustments.

According to Chalmers and Jones, the ASIC would have a primary emphasis on ensuring that customers are adequately informed of the potential hazards posed to them by crypto product and service providers.

In the meanwhile, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the country’s competition watchdog, will soon be receiving new tools from the government to assist it in protecting consumers against frauds using cryptocurrencies. The total amount of money lost to scams using cryptocurrency payments was recorded to be $221 million in 2022.

The ACCC will use the new technology, which will be in the form of a real-time data-sharing platform, to detect and prevent frauds using cryptocurrencies.

When a framework is finalised to regulate the licencing and custody of digital assets, consumer protection will also be strengthened. This will “ensure consumers are protected from avoidable business failures or from the misuse of their assets by service providers,” according to the official description of the goal of the framework.

However, the implementation of this framework won’t begin until the middle of 2023, and it’s likely going to take a significant amount of time until it’s codified into law.

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CryptoZoo, Logan Paul Sued for $5M Over his allegations

by Blockchain News

Both CryptoZoo and Logan Paul have been listed as defendants in a recently filed class-action complaint. The claim argues that the defendants engaged in a “fraudulent business” that resulted in the theft of cryptocurrencies worth millions of dollars belonging to customers.

Plaintiff Don Holland alleged in a court filing that Paul and executives at CryptoZoo (CZ) “executed a ‘rug pull'” by promising purchasers of the nonfungible tokens (NFTs) exclusive access to crypto assets among other benefits, but ultimately abandoning the project and keeping the funds for themselves. The filing was made on February 2 in the District Court for the Western District of Texas.

“As part of Defendants’ NFT scheme, Defendants marketed CZ NFTs to purchasers by falsely claiming that, in exchange for transferring cryptocurrency to purchase the CZ NFT, purchasers would later receive benefits,” the document stated. These benefits included, among other things, rewards, exclusive access to other cryptocurrency assets, and the support of an online ecosystem to use and market CZ NFTs. 

It is alleged in the document that “in actuality, shortly after completing the sale of all of their CZ NFTs, Defendants, together with others transferred millions of dollars worth of purchasers’ cryptocurrency to, among other places, wallets controlled by Defendants,” shortly after the sale of all of the defendants’ CZ NFTs was completed.

The case was filed by lawyers from Ellzey & Associates as well as Attorney Tom and Associates, the latter of which is the name of the legal company that is owned and operated by Attorney Tom, a popular YouTube celebrity.

After “weeks of research and speaking to a number of Crypto Zoo victims,” Attorney Tom revealed to viewers on January 16 in a video uploaded to YouTube that they would be bringing a lawsuit against Paul in relation to the alleged cryptocurrency fraud.

According to Attorney Tom, the action also names as defendants Danielle Strobel, Jeff Levin, Eddie Ibanez, Jake Greenbaum (Crypto King), and Ophir Bentov (Ben Roth). All of these individuals are also being accused of wrongdoing.

This lawsuit was filed despite the fact that Paul revealed in a video posted on Twitter on January 13 a $1.5 million recovery plan for unhappy investors in the CryptoZoo business.

In addition to this, he disclosed that he will no longer be suing CoffeeZilla about the latter’s accusations that his project is a fraud. He said that suing CoffeeZilla would “not benefit Cryptozoo holders” and that instead, he would want to concentrate on “friends and supporters of him.”

Paul said that his strategy for recovery would be divided into three parts, adding that the first step will include him and Jeff Levin, the other co-founder of CryptoZoo, destroying all of their ZOO token holdings.

He emphasised that as a result of taking this action, they would “have no financial upside” in the game, and that it will “increase value to the holders’ tokens.”

Paul said that the second step would entail him making a personal contribution of 1,000 ether (ETH) to the project. This, he said, will make it possible for “disappointed” investors to burn their NFTs in order to recoup their original investment of 0.1 ether, which is the cost to mint the NFT.

In the meanwhile, he is working on the third and final stage, which should “deliver the game as detailed in the whitepaper.”

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Silvergate Bank Probed by DOJ for Ties to FTX Exchange

by Blockchain News

It has been claimed that the fraud section of the United States Department of Justice is conducting an investigation against the crypto bank Silvergate for its participation with the defunct FTX exchange and its affiliates.

According to a story published on February 3 by Bloomberg, which cited “people familiar with the subject,” the investigation is looking at Silvergate’s hosting of accounts that are tied to the companies of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

The cryptocurrency bank situated in California is not suspected of committing any crimes; nonetheless, detectives are trying to determine the extent to which the business was conducted with FTX and Alameda.

The failure of FTX in November had a significant negative effect on Silvergate, which resulted in a loss of one billion dollars in the most recent quarter. As a result of the collapse of the SBF empire, the bank was forced to lay off forty percent of its workforce and admit that it had taken out loans worth billions of dollars in order to avert a liquidity crisis and a bank run.

Investigators from the federal government are attempting to determine whether or not Silvergate and any other businesses that collaborate with FTX were aware of the issue.

According to Silvergate, Alameda signed up for a banking relationship with the institution in 2018, which was before to the release of FTX. According to the report, it asserts that it exercised appropriate due diligence and maintained continuing monitoring at the relevant period.

A spokesman from the financial institution said earlier this week that the company “has a rigorous compliance and risk management procedure.”

Josh Rager, a crypto trader, remarked on the potential effects that this most recent criminal probe may have on cryptocurrency exchanges that are connected to Silvergate.

On January 27, Silvergate announced that company will be temporarily suspending dividend payments, citing “recent volatility in the digital asset business.” At the time, it said that it had a “cash position that was in excess of their digital asset customer-related deposits.”

According to MarketWatch, Silvergate stock has dropped by 13% during the day, and it is now trading at $17.14 in after-hours trading. In addition, the price of SI is today 92% lower than it was in November 2021, when it was at its all-time high of $220.

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Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade is reportedly aiming to roll out a national crypto exchange

by Blockchain News

It has been claimed that Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade is planning to launch a national cryptocurrency exchange by June of this year. This would be six months later than the ministry’s prior goal date of December 2022.

At the beginning of Crypto Literacy Month on February 2 in Jakarta, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan announced the new target launch date and noted that the government is currently reviewing which companies meet their criteria to become a part of the exchange. According to local reports, the government is reviewing which companies meet their criteria to become a part of the exchange.

According to Zulkifli, all five of the operational cryptocurrency exchanges that are now registered with the country’s authorities might be included into the cryptocurrency exchange that the ministry plans to launch.

In spite of the fact that these exchanges are already responsible for enabling all transactions inside the country, the exchange run by the ministry would serve as a clearing house and a custodian in the local cryptocurrency market.

A clearing house is simply a third party that acts as a mediator between a buyer and a seller in order to ensure that the transaction is completed without any hiccups. At the same time, it would be responsible for managing the transfer of assets between the two parties as part of its position as a custodian.

The Minister of Trade pleaded with the general public to have patience over the establishment of a national cryptocurrency exchange, stating that “Let us not hurry because if it is not ready, things will become nasty.” Due to the fact that the general public does not have a lot of knowledge [about crypto trading], the government does not want this to have a significant impact on the population.

The Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, also known as Bappebti, is currently in charge of supervising the trading of crypto assets in the country alongside commodity contracts. However, once a national exchange has been established, the regulatory authority will be transferred to the Financial Services Authority.

This change in legislation is a direct result of new cryptocurrency rules that were enacted on December 15, 2018. These regulations recognise cryptocurrencies and other digital assets as regulated financial instruments.

Perry Warjiyo, the governor of the Bank of Indonesia, made the announcement on December 5 that a digital currency that the central bank was intending to issue would be the sole digital legal tender in the country.

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Billionaire investor Ray Dalio has described fiat currency as being in serious jeopardy

by Blockchain News

Ray Dalio, a billionaire investor, has said that fiat money is under “jeopardy” as an effective store of wealth, but he does not think that Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins will be the answer to the problem.

On February 2, the founder of the hedge fund firm Bridgewater Associates appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss his concerns regarding the “effective money” status of the United States dollar and other reserve currencies as a result of the massive amount of money that has been printed using these currencies.

“We live in a world where the form of money that we are used to is under peril. We are creating too much money, and it’s not just the United States doing it; it’s all of the reserve currencies.”

Nevertheless, Dalio was quick to add his opinion on whether Bitcoin was a viable answer to the problem, noting that despite everything it has done in “12 years,” it is still too unpredictable to function as money:

“This is not going to be a productive use of money. It does not function very well as a means of storing riches. “He claimed that it is not a viable medium of trade since it is not efficient.

Stablecoins, which are replicas of state-backed fiat currency, were another kind of cryptocurrency that he thought was ineffective as a form of money.

Instead, Dalio recommended the introduction of a “inflation-linked currency,” which would help customers preserve their purchasing power in the face of rising prices.

“The item that comes the closest to that is something called an inflation index bond,” he said. “However, if you developed a coin that says OK, this is purchasing power that I know I can save in and put my money in over a period of time and trade in everywhere, I believe that would be a terrific coin.”

“Therefore, I believe that you are going to witness the creation of currencies that you have not seen before and that most likely will end up becoming coins that are both beautiful and viable. He continued by saying, “I don’t believe Bitcoin is the answer.”

On the other hand, Dalio’s assessment of Bitcoin and the practicality of an inflation-linked currency did not get widespread support from the financial community.

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Just four men controlled 86% of stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings Limited

by Blockchain News

According to data obtained by The Wall Street Journal in connection with investigations being carried out by authorities in the United States, as of the year 2018, only four people owned 86% of the stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings Limited. These investigations are being carried out by authorities in the United States.

The previously unknown ownership structure of Tether Holdings was disclosed in 2021 as a consequence of investigations that were carried out by the office of the New York Attorney General in conjunction with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. According to CoinMarketCap, the company is the issuer of Tether (USDT), which is the largest stablecoin in circulation with 68 billion dollars’ worth of it now in circulation. This information was obtained from the website.

According to the documents, Giancarlo Devasini, a former cosmetic surgeon, and Brock Pierce, a former child actor who is now a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, worked together to create Tether. Brock Pierce is now a businessman in the cryptocurrency industry. In September of 2014, the British Virgin Islands served as the location for the formal launch of Tether Holdings as a limited liability corporation.

After another four years, Pierce had already left the company, and at that time, Devasini had around 43% of the company’s shares of Tether. Additionally, Devasini was essential in the founding of the cryptocurrency trading platform Bitfinex, where he now works as the chief financial officer. Devasini’s contributions to the construction of this platform may be seen here. According to the available evidence, both Jean-Louis van Der Velde, the Chief Executive Officer of Bitfinex, and Stuart Hoegner, the Chief Counsel of Bitfinex, held around 15% of Tether in 2018.

The dual citizen identified as Christopher Harborne in the United Kingdom and Chakrit Sakunkrit in Thailand owns 13% of Tether as of the end of 2018, making him the fourth-largest investor in the firm. Christopher Harborne is known as Chakrit Sakunkrit in Thailand.

According to the findings of the inquiry, four individuals held close to 86 percent of Tether, either via their own personal assets or through another company that was connected to them.

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The Number of Crypto-Related Enforcement Actions in the United States Grows

by Blockchain News

According to a study that was just recently released by Solidus Labs, a company that specialises in blockchain risk monitoring, the number of enforcement actions in the United States that were associated to cryptocurrencies had a significant increase in 2022. This was reported by the company in a study that was just recently published. The data shown here was collected from a poll that was carried out in the year 2022. It has been alleged that the corporation notified them of this. The findings of the investigation made this point quite clear. Both state and federal agencies are now in the process of establishing new standards and guidelines for themselves to use as points of reference for the way in which they carry out their respective law enforcement responsibilities.

In the year 2022, each of the four primary federal agencies in the United States that were active in crypto enforcement carried out 58 distinct actions. These actions were taken in response to various cryptographic crimes. These measures included things like warnings, arrests, and property confiscation. A total of 2,048 unique crypto criminals were hunted down as a result of these security measures. This number increased by a staggering 65 percent when compared to the previous record high of 38 activities, which was witnessed in 2021. In addition to this, it eclipsed the previous record high, which had been held by the number of activities recorded in the year 2020, which was 40. This new record broke the old record. In addition, this number is higher than the previous record high of 38 acts, which was accomplished in the year 2021.

The agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), all broke their previous records, with the exception of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which only took one action in 2022, compared to four actions in other years since 2013, when it was the only agency that took action. Other than that, the agencies all broke their previous records.

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Bitcoin (BTC) $ 27,751.44 1.45%
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,648.40 0.52%
Litecoin (LTC) $ 64.64 0.60%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 232.45 2.23%