Scammers have hacked the official Twitter account of the Embassy of India in Oman, replacing the profile picture with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and using the reply function to spam users with fake XRP giveaway phishing links. At the time of publication, the Twitter account OmanEmbassy_Ind showed several retweets matching those of Garlinghouse, seemingly in an attempt to make the activity look legitimate. The hacked account has been responding to tweets using the hashtag XRP, encouraging users to sign up for a fake giveaway of 100 million tokens — worth more than $42 million at an XRP price of $0.42. …

Major Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has opted to delist the USD Coin (USDC) from its platform and convert the remaining balances into Binance-backed Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin. WazirX officially announced on Monday that it has stopped deposits of USDC alongside other stablecoins like Pax Dollar (USDP) and TrueUSD (TUSD). According to the announcement, the platform will instead offer the BUSD stablecoin to enhance liquidity and capital efficiency for users. WazirX will implement BUSD auto-conversion for users' existing balances of USDC, USDP and TUSD at a 1:1 ratio on Oct. 5, the firm said. “Users will be able to view their …

Major Indian crypto exchange CoinSwitch Kuber had five of its premises searched by anti-money laundering agents on Thursday over alleged violations of forex laws. According to an Aug. 25 report from Bloomberg, India’s Enforcement Directorate searched CoinSwitch Kuber’s offices as well as the residences of its directors and CEO Ashish Singhal. A source told the publication the crypto exchange is under suspicion of acquiring shares worth more than $250 million in contravention of forex laws, as well as being non-compliant with certain know-your-customer (KYC) requirements. The Directorate of Enforcement is a federal enforcement and intelligence agency operating under the Ministry …

India is now home to an estimated 115 million cryptocurrency investors despite a historically negative attitude towards the sector from the government, according to new data. The latest gauge on the number of users in India comes from cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, which released the findings of its ‘Into The Cryptoverse India Report’ survey on Aug. 23. The estimated 115 million crypto users represent around 15% of the Indian population aged between 18 and 60. A key highlight was the 33% of survey takers concerned by ambiguous government regulations that could deter potential investors. Security concerns were also evident, with 26% …

Before the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia there was a strong division between the crypto and financial markets in general. Now, that border has got thinner and the situation demands additional regulatory measures, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes. In a blog post from Aug. 21, a group of IMF economists shared their concerns over the dynamics of Asian markets, where the integration of crypto in the larger financial system appears to be growing swiftly. This poses certain risks to financial stability, the economists stated, adding: “While the financial sector appears to have been insulated from these sharp movements, it may …

The saga of BitConnect, a major cryptocurrency scam scheme, is taking another twist as one of the BitConnect co-founders is now wanted by the Indian state police. Satish Kumbhani, an Indian national and the alleged founder of the crypto Ponzi scheme BitConnect, reportedly became subject to a new police investigation in India, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday. The Pune police, operating under the Indian state Maharashtra Police, launched a probe into Kumbhani after a Pune-based lawyer filed a complaint claiming that he lost about 220 Bitcoin (BTC), or $5.2 million, due to BitConnect. The complainant said his original investment …

The Twitter exchange between WazirX co-founder Nischal Shetty and Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao over the ownership of the Indian crypto exchange grabbed a lot of headlines in the first week of August. WazirX was reportedly acquired by Binance in 2019, and ever since then, the Indian crypto exchange has been referred to as “Binance-owned”; however, to everyone’s surprise, CZ took to Twitter to claim that the acquisition process never went through and Binance has no ownership in the Indian crypto exchange. 2/ On 21 Nov 2019, Binance published a blog post that it had “acquired” WazirX. This transaction was …

As reported by local news outlet The Economic Times on Monday, Binance is scheduled to remove off-chain fund transfers with Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX on August 11 — Though, users will still be able to deposit and withdraw balances via the standard withdrawal and deposit process between the two exchanges. Three days prior, The Directorate of Enforcement of India alleged that WazirX "actively assisted around 16 accused fintech companies in laundering the proceeds of crime using the crypto route" and subsequently froze $8.1 million in bank balances related to the exchange. Simultaneously, there is an ongoing controversy regarding whether or …

An ambitious sustainability-based blockchain project has secured $100 million in a Series A funding round to drive its development. Indian entrepreneurs Pratik Gauri and Prateek Dwivedi have spearheaded the foundation of a fifth-generation blockchain network known as 5ire, which looks to incentivize the implementation of United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) for users of its system. The project has now attracted a total of $121 million in investment. A seed round secured $21 million from notable tech investors including Alphabit, Marshland Capital, Launchpool Labs and Moonrock Capital. A subsequent Series A fundraising round secured a $100 million investment from United …

The domino effect of the 2022 bear market, which saw the downfall of numerous crypto ecosystems and tokens over several months, caught up to GARI token as it tanked over 83% in value in a matter of hours on Monday. While GARI Network brushed off the development as a “market event,” investors suspect a rug pull event. GARI token was launched by Salman Khan, an A-list celebrity from Bollywood, with an aim to help Indian creators monetize their content over a short video application Chingari and its nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and Trading View show …

Trading volume on three major Indian crypto exchanges plummeted 72.5% on average since Friday, when a 1% tax per transaction was enforced in the country. The Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) came into effect on Friday and appears to have negatively affected traders as exchange volumes dropped from 37.4% on BitBNS and 90.9% on CoinDCX by Sunday. Volumes have stabilized slightly since hitting lows but are still down 56.8% on average, according to CoinGecko. Indian YouTube channel Crypto India tweeted on Monday that exchange revenues, based on a 0.1% trading fee, are abysmal due to the low volume levels. At …

In its latest financial stability report published on Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, reiterated its skepticism of digital assets, writing: "We must be mindful of the emerging risks on the horizon. Cryptocurrencies are a clear danger. Anything that derives value based on make-believe, without any underlying, is just speculation under a sophisticated name." The report alleged that decentralized cryptocurrencies "are designed to bypass the financial system and all its controls," including Anti-Money Laundering, Combatting Financial Terrorism, and Know Your Customer mechanisms. In a tone similar to the previous report, the RBI says that private currencies often result …