USDT trail helps uphold prison term in Hong Kong trafficking case

A Hong Kong appeals court has upheld a 56-month prison term for Ma Zhihao after investigators linked ransom payments from a human trafficking operation to a crypto exchange account registered in his name.  Caixin reported on Aug. 20 that the Hong Kong Court of Appeal rejected Mas request for a reduced sentence, leaving intact the punishment imposed over his role in a scheme that lured victims to Southeast Asia with fake job offers before some were confined and forced into scam operations.  Blockchain transaction records became a key part of the prosecution after Hong Kong police traced a ransom paid by the family of one victim. Investigators found that roughly 9,527 Tether (USDT) had been transferred to a cryptocurrency wallet specified by the criminals.  Police then tracked 8,127 USDT from the ransom to an exchange account opened using Ma‘s real name and Hong Kong identity documents, according to Caixin. The funds were converted into roughly HK$63,000 and sent to Ma’s personal HSBC bank account.  The Court of Appeal said the transaction trail supported the finding that Ma had participated in the scheme and received proceeds from it. Judges also said his punishment would have been substantially heavier had the District Court not been restricted

3 دن پہلےانڈسٹری

Trump Crypto Profits of $1.4 Billion Draw Disapproval From 63% of Americans

Most Americans view President Donald Trumps crypto earnings as improper, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in which 63% of respondents called the profits his family drew from digital assets inappropriate.  The same survey found that 69% believe his private business interests shape his presidential decisions. Half of Republican respondents shared that view.  Sponsored  Sponsored  Poll Puts Trumps $1.4 Billion Crypto Income Under Scrutiny  The online survey covered 1,166 US adults between August 14 and August 17. It carried a margin of error of 3 percentage points for all Americans and 5 points for each party group.  About 32% of respondents defended the familys crypto earnings. Among Republicans, roughly 69% described it as appropriate, while 27% did not.  Americans View on Trumps Crypto Profit. Source: Reuters  The sums involved are large. Trump reported more than $1.4 billion last year from family crypto ventures, according to his financial filings. Those ventures included World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and his self-branded meme coin.  Richard Painter, chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, noted that the mix of business and office has no modern parallel.  “We have seen nothing like this before, even the first Trump administration did not have as many complex business interests as the second,” he said.  Follow us on X to

3 دن پہلےانڈسٹری

Justin Sun scores partial win in World Liberty lawsuit

Tron founder Justin Sun secured a partial procedural victory in his lawsuit against World Liberty Financial on Aug. 20, according to his account of a California federal court hearing.  Sun said U.S. District Judge James Donato ruled that his individual claims would remain in public court. The judge reportedly declined World Libertys request to send every company related claim to arbitration.  The court instead instructed both parties to negotiate which claims brought by Justin Suns companies should remain in court. Other claims could still move into private arbitration.  Court records confirm that World Liberty filed a motion in June seeking to compel arbitration and pause the federal case. The publicly accessible docket had not displayed a written order reflecting the Aug. 20 hearing when reviewed.  Justin Suns individual claims will remain public  “All of my individual claims will remain in open court,” Sun said in a statement following the hearing. He described the decision as a victory for public access to the dispute.  Today, my counsel appeared in California federal court to oppose World Liberty Financials @worldlibertyfi efforts to force our dispute into secret arbitration proceedings and seal documents from public view.  We argued forcefully that this case belongs in open court—and the…  — H.E. Justin Sun ????‍????

3 دن پہلےانڈسٹری

Crypto mining pool Poolin files for bankruptcy in New Jersey

Bitcoin mining pool operator Poolin Technology and two affiliated companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, with court records placing Poolins estimated liabilities between $100 million and $500 million.  Verita Global‘s case information page shows that Poolin Technology PTE. LTD., Lonestar Taproot LLC and Lonestar Dream, Inc. filed voluntary petitions on July 22 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The three cases are being jointly administered under Poolin’s lead case, 26-18325, before Judge Eamonn J. OHagan.  Poolins filing lists estimated assets of between $1 million and $10 million and liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million. The petition estimates that the company has between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors and states that funds are expected to be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.  Court records give Lonestar Taproot case number 26-18326 and Lonestar Dream case number 26-18327. All three companies remain debtors in possession while the Chapter 11 process moves forward under the jointly administered case.  Poolin bankruptcy moves toward an asset sale  The debtors told the court that they entered Chapter 11 to carry out an orderly sale process intended to preserve value for creditors and other interested parties. Michael DuFrayne, the companies‘ chief restructuring

3 دن پہلےانڈسٹری

Ripple joins Clearpool, Cicada to launch institutional RLUSD credit fund

Ripple has backed a new institutional credit fund that will issue RLUSD working-capital loans to fintech and payments companies through the XRP Ledger, with Clearpool and Cicada Partners handling the lending infrastructure and credit management.  SummaryRipple is backing a new fund that will provide RLUSD working capital loans to fintech and payments companies.Cicada Partners will source borrowers and manage credit risk, while Clearpool is building the lending infrastructure.The fund is still being tested as the XRP Ledger lending and vault features await mainnet approval.Ripple will participate as a limited partner and will not guarantee investor losses.  CoinDesk reported on Aug. 21 that the fund will provide loans denominated in Ripple USD (RLUSD), while Cicada Partners will source borrowers, set lending terms and oversee credit risk. Clearpool is developing the infrastructure needed to create and manage the credit pools, with Ripple joining other institutions as an investor.  The companies did not disclose the planned size of the fund or the amount Ripple has committed.  Under the structure, Cicada will serve as the funds general partner and credit-pool manager. The firm said it has underwritten more than $860 million in credit, while Clearpool said its lending platform has facilitated more than $930 million in institutional loans

3 دن پہلےانڈسٹری

South Korea proposes new FIU powers to investigate unregistered crypto firms

South Korean lawmakers have introduced legislation that would give the Financial Intelligence Unit direct authority to investigate suspected unregistered crypto businesses instead of relying mainly on police referrals.  Yonhap reported that People Power Party lawmaker Eom Tae-young and nine other lawmakers filed the amendment on Thursday, proposing new powers under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, commonly known as the Specific Financial Information Act.  Under the bill, any person could report a suspected violation of the law directly to the FIU. Once a report is received, the financial intelligence agency would be allowed to investigate and analyze the suspected conduct before deciding whether further action is required.  The proposal would also allow the FIU to file complaints with relevant authorities, request criminal investigations, and hand information gathered during its review to investigators. Such powers would change the current process, under which the FIU can identify suspected unregistered operators but must depend on police and other investigative agencies to pursue most cases.  The bill has only been introduced and must pass the National Assembly before the proposed changes can take effect.  FIU could directly investigate unregistered crypto businesses  Lawmakers proposed the additional powers after enforcement data raised questions over how effectively cases involving

3 دن پہلےانڈسٹری

Cybersecurity firm unveils crypto phishing campaign targeting 885,000 phone numbers

Cybersecurity firm Rapid7 unveiled a new cryptocurrency phishing campaign known as Operation Asterix, targeting roughly 885,000 phone numbers from several countries to steal cryptocurrency investors assets.  The phishing campaign led to 5,576 accounts matched to users on crypto exchange Binance, which were queued for attack, while the recovered logs also showed fake emails impersonating Crypto.com, according to a Monday report by Rapid7.  Of the 885,000 phone numbers, the largest file included 316,002 German mobile numbers, with additional directories covering Hong Kong, Bulgaria, the UK, the US, Canadian fintech companies and additional Ledger-related lists.  Phishing attacks and social engineering scams drove the majority of the crypto industrys losses in the first quarter of the year, accounting for $306 million out of the total $482 million lost, according to blockchain security company Hacken.  As part of the Asterix phishing campaign detailed by Rapid7 analysts Anna Sirokova and Jan Recinsky, attackers drove victims to fake apps impersonating Ledger, Trezor, and Exodus, seeking to steal their seed phrases. Attackers reached out to victims through fake support emails and phone inquiries.  Operation Aseterix kill chain from acquisition to exfiltration. Source: Rapid7.  Cointelegraph has contacted the analysts for further comment on what they found regarding target filtering, hardware wallet spoofing and self-custody

3 دن پہلےانڈسٹری

Strategy Bitcoin treasury returns to profit above $75,385

Strategy‘s Bitcoin treasury briefly returned to an unrealized profit on Aug. 21 after Bitcoin climbed above the company’s $75,385 average acquisition price.  SummaryStrategy holds 840,447 Bitcoin acquired for $63.36 billion at $75,385 per coin including expenses overall.Bitcoin climbed above Strategys average acquisition price during an 8.5% daily market rally on Friday.At $75,613, Strategys holdings carried approximately $192 million in unrealized gains before prices changed again.BitMine reported 5,815,164 ETH with 5,067,309 tokens staked through its validator network currently in operation.Ethereum near $2,371 leaves BitMines treasury deeply below the reported $3,366 average cost estimate currently.  Bitcoin reached approximately $75,613 during the rally, placing Strategys 840,447 BTC about $228 per coin above its disclosed cost basis. Multiplying that difference by its holdings produced an estimated unrealized gain of approximately $191.6 million.  The gain changed rapidly with Bitcoins price. Crypto.news price data later placed BTC near $75,500, reducing the estimated surplus to about $97.5 million. These figures are snapshots rather than fixed company results.  You might also like:  Strategy faces Chanos $80B Bitcoin arbitrage claim  Strategy Bitcoin holdings cross their cost basis  Strategy reported that its remaining Bitcoin was acquired for approximately $63.36 billion, including fees and expenses. The position carried an average purchase price of $75,385 per coin as of

3 دن پہلےانڈسٹری

Shinhan taps Solana for Korean won tokenized fund

South Koreas Shinhan Asset Management signed a four-party memorandum on Aug. 21 to test a Korean won tokenized fund using the Solana blockchain.  The agreement brings together Shinhan Asset Management, the Solana Foundation, tokenization platform Etherfuse and decentralized exchange Orca. The participants will conduct a proof of concept covering the funds issuance and distribution process.  The planned product would invest in short term Korean won bonds and target overseas institutional investors. However, the participants have not announced the funds size, expected yield or public launch date.  Shinhan will test the complete tokenized fund process  The proof of concept will examine the steps needed to issue and distribute a regulated tokenized fund. These include know your customer checks, anti-money laundering controls, token issuance and onchain liquidity arrangements.  BREAKING: Koreas Shinhan Asset Management is building a KRW tokenized fund on Solana, modeled on BlackRocks BUIDL  Shinhan will provide asset management and regulatory expertise. Etherfuse will supply infrastructure for creating and managing the tokenized assets. Orca will help design the liquidity system used to distribute or exchange the fund tokens on Solana.  The Solana Foundation said the model draws from BlackRocks BUIDL fund, one of the largest tokenized money market products. The comparison refers to the blockchain based distribution model.

3 دن پہلےانڈسٹری

Bitcoin ETFs Post $606 Million Inflow, Biggest Since May 1

Spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded $606.29 million in net inflows on August 20, marking a fourth consecutive day of inflows.The total is the largest single-day haul the funds have seen since May 1.  Spot Ethereum (ETH) ETFs added $221 million the same day, also extending a four-day inflow streak. The dual demand landed as bitcoin traded at $75,524, continuing a market-wide rally that has run through the week.  Sponsored  Sponsored  Bitcoin ETFs Extend a Four-Day Run  Thursdays inflow followed $517.19 million on August 19, $189.30 million on August 18, and $297.56 million on August 17. Combined, the four-day run has pushed cumulative net inflows for the category to $53.40 billion.  Inflows have been growing as BTCs price rallied. Image Source: SoSo Value  The last time Bitcoin ETFs booked a bigger single day was May 1. That day, the funds pulled in $629.73 million, and total net assets crossed $100 billion for the first time.  BlackRock‘s IBIT led the day’s inflows with $502.99 million, more than 80% of the days total. The broader crypto market rally that has lifted Bitcoin this week has coincided with a wave of short liquidations squeezing bearish positions across the market.  Ethereum Demand Builds Alongside Bitcoin  Ethereum ETFs have moved in step with their

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