- Indian Police Arrest Two Suspected of Duping 1,400 in Alleged $12M Crypto Scam
Police in the western Indian state of Maharashtra have arrested two people on suspicion of running a crypto scam thought to have conned more than 1,400 investors of between $6 million and $12 million.
The arrests were made on Aug. 10 after raids in Thane and Powai, two regions in the Mumbai area, said the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Thane Police.
The police arrested Ritesh Dilip Kumar Sikligar, alias Pancha, and Mohan Patil, an agent who lured customers from around the country into the scheme, said an EOW officer investigating the case. The Economic Offences Wing secured custody of Kumar, thought to be the mastermind, and Patil till Aug. 20th for questioning. The two have been in jail since then.
“In court, while securing custody, we stated that based on currently available information the scam is worth 6 crore ($750,000), but we estimate the amount to be upwards of 50 crore and below 100 crore,” the officer said. “Some discrepancies in the amount of money associated with each of the 1,400 or so investors have emerged.” One crore is the equivalent of 10 million.
- IMF: Crypto Assets Become More Mainstream as Hedges Against Weak Currencies, Potential Payment Instruments
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report titled “Regulating Crypto: The right rules could provide a safe space for innovation” in the September edition of its flagship Finance & Development magazine. The report is authored by IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department deputy director Aditya Narain and assistant director Marina Moretti.
“Crypto assets have been around for more than a decade, but it’s only now that efforts to regulate them have moved to the top of the policy agenda,” the report describes, elaborating:
It’s only in the past few years that crypto assets have moved from being niche products in search of a purpose to having a more mainstream presence as speculative investments, hedges against weak currencies, and potential payment instruments.
“The failures of crypto issuers, exchanges, and hedge funds — as well as a recent slide in crypto valuations — have added impetus to the push to regulate,” the authors noted.
- Cardano (ADA) Price Set to Hit $0.6 Level as Vasil Hard Fork Approaches
A popular crypto analyst and trader claim that Cardano (ADA) is expected to rally after the upcoming Vasil hard fork upgrade is completed.
The analyst, Benjamin Cowen informs his followers on YouTube that though Cardano (ADA), a smart contract platform is currently struggling for a bull run, ADA might hit $0.60.
He goes on to say that if Cardano (ADA) manages to push the price between $0.52 and $0.60, that will be a major milestone for ADA. This is because right now the world’s first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin along with other cryptocurrencies is stuck in bear control while the dollar is surging.
After such an extremely bullish prediction towards Cardano, Benjamin claims to be closely observing ADA/ETH price action.
Furthermore, the strategist asserts that if he plans to purchase any altcoin such as ADA, then he should perceive that the purchased altcoin should outperform Bitcoin and Ethereum. He also quotes that if ADA/ETH is below the said range, then he will be more positive that the altcoin will outpace the first two cryptocurrencies.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7193515
- Trezor and Wasabi Join Forces To Make Bitcoin More Private
Trezor, the company behind one of the most popular crypto wallets, has teamed up with privacy project Wasabi to bring CoinJoin mixing to Bitcoin transactions on its hardware wallets.
The two projects confirmed the partnership via Twitter Monday. The idea is that users will be able to use CoinJoin on their Trezor devices for greater transaction privacy beginning next year.
CoinJoin is a coin mixer that groups Bitcoin transactions together to obscure their origins. Wasabi Wallet is a popular Bitcoin wallet made by software firm zkSNACKs that uses CoinJoin technology.
Trezor specializes in cold storage—wallets that store cryptocurrency offline, the safest way to store digital assets.
Wasabi Wallet contributor Rafe told Decrypt that the goal is for Trezor Suite users to be able to send private coins directly from their hardware wallets.
https://decrypt.co/109019/trezor-and-wasabi-join-forces-to-make-bitcoin-more-private
- Australian Treasury consults public on Bitcoin foreign currency tax exclusion
Australia’s ministerial department of Treasury reached out to the public to seek consultation regarding draft legislation that would exclude cryptocurrencies from being taxed as a foreign currency if passed.
In a press release, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones highlighted the Australian government’s intent to exclude crypto assets from being regarded as a foreign currency for tax purposes. However, the legislation would have no impact on the collection of capital gains taxes on crypto held as investments.
The public has been provided with 25 days, from Sept. 6 to Sept. 30, to share their opinion on the proposed legislation.
If signed into law, the legislation will see the amendment of the existing definition of digital currency in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act — effectively excluding crypto assets from the definition of foreign currency. GST is a broad-based tax levied on goods, services and items sold or consumed in Australia.
- Crypto Exchange Bybit Barred From Brokering Securities in Brazil
The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) banned the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit from brokering securities.
In a declaratory act published on Monday, the CVM ordered the suspension of “the public offering of any securities intermediation services, directly or indirectly, including through the use of websites, applications or social networks” by ByBit to Brazilians.
According to the CVM, ByBit was “seeking to raise funds from investors residing in Brazil for investments in securities,” without the company having authorization to act as a securities intermediary. In Brazil, only Brazil’s stock exchange B3 can offer securities.
Bybit did not respond to a request for comment.
The CVM added that ByBit must comply with the ban immediately or else the commission will impose a daily fine of 1,000 Brazilian reals (equivalent to $194).
- Meta to Open 10 Metaverse Campuses as Part of $150 Million Immersive Learning Project
One of the biggest applications of virtual reality and metaverse technology has to do with education and the possibility of virtual reality classes coming true. Meta, the social media behemoth, is executing this idea, helping 10 universities to launch their metaverse-based campuses.
One of these is the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), which is an online university. The more than 45,000 students of the university will now be able to meet in a metaverse online to convene and share their experiences.
Daniel Mintz, chairman of the department of information technology at UMGC stated:
We’ve never had a campus before, and now we have our first. It has a duck pond.
- Ethereum Jumps 6% Ahead of Bellatrix Upgrade, Merge Event
Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surged 6 % in the last 24 hours and is now trading at $1,660.
This makes Ethereum the best performing asset in the market’s top ten, data from CoinMarketCap shows.
The latest price action comes ahead of the update to Ethereum’s consensus layer, called Bellatrix. Slated for later today, Bellatrix kicks off the merge event—the network’s eagerly-awaited transition from the power-hungry proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm to a more environmentally friendly proof-of-stake (PoS) system.
As the Ethereum Foundation explained in a blog post last month, the merge is a two-step process: it must first be activated on the Beacon Chain—the network’s PoS chain that is running in parallel with the current PoW network—with the Bellatrix upgrade on the consensus layer triggered by an epoch height.
https://decrypt.co/109039/ethereum-jumps-bellatrix-upgrade-merge-event
- Netflix Has Banned Crypto Content on Its New Ad-Supported Service
Netflix, one of the largest video streaming platforms in operation, has announced that it will ban any crypto-related content and advertorial placements on its new, ad-supported subscription tier.
The platform previously announced in July that it was then about to launch this specific subscription tier, aiming at the time to attract a wider range of audiences through a cheaper introductory price. While projected evenue details regarding this new subscription tier have not yet been disclosed given its launch date slated November this year, it appears that Netflix is about to lose some traction and support because of its most recent pronouncements against crypto-related ads on its platform.
Ahead of the new subscription tier’s launch, Netflix has let loose this decisive action. However, it’s not just crypto that Netflix is aiming at, the ban also relates to ads that contain contentious subject matter such as politics and gambling. This ban also extends to advertisements aimed at selling products to children. Some restrictions on pharmaceutical products will also be placed, according to sources familiar with the matter.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7193485
- Crypto investment product firm 21.co raises $25M to reach $2B valuation
21.co, the new parent firm of exchange-traded products (ETP) provider 21Shares, has become “Switzerland’s largest crypto unicorn,“ the firm announced on Tuesday.
It raised $25 million in a funding round led by London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace. The new funding brings the firm’s valuation to $2 billion.
21.co is designed to unite 21Shares with third-party token provider Amun and other upcoming crypto projects aiming to build bridges into the crypto world, 21.co founder Hany Rashwan told Cointelegraph.
All crypto ETP products launched by 21Shares will maintain the same nomenclature, Rashwan said. He also said that the new name won’t change much about the way 21Shares does business.
According to Rashwan, the newly raised funds will help 21.co to continue expanding its business globally. The firm is specifically focused on gaining more traction in 21.co’s core markets in Europe and prepares to begin its entrance into the Middle East, the CEO noted.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-etf-maker-21shares-announces-new-parent-firm-raises-25m
