Australian residents have been identified as one the primary targets of a sophisticated network of cryptocurrency call-center scammers — which are suspected to be run by Israel-based crime bosses. Evidence uncovered after a full-scale raid of four Serbian call centers and 11 residences by Serbian, German, Bulgarian and Cypriot authorities found that Australians were among the top countries being targeted. The raids saw fifteen people arrested and $1.46 million in cryptocurrencies seized, among others. Dramatic police raids in Belgrade, Bulgaria and Cyprus, following investigations in Germany, have uncovered evidence Australia is in the top tier of countries being targeted: https://t.co/zWv7I3N5Kg …

A former facilities worker who allegedly set up a secret cryptocurrency mining operation inside a Massachusetts school’s crawl space is due for arrest after missing a scheduled court hearing to answer to charges. Nadeam Nahas was scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 23 facing charges of vandalizing a school and fraudulent use of electricity, according to media reports. JUST IN: an ex-town employee is accused of running a "Cryptocurrency mining operation" out of Cohasset High School. pic.twitter.com/cdBlMIxnnH — whalechart (@WhaleChart) February 24, 2023 A default warrant is a type if warrant issued by courts when a person fails to appear …

A cryptocurrency mining rights bill with laws that would prohibit the discrimination of crypto miners is one step closer to fruition after passing the Montana Senate. The proposed laws would enshrine a “right to mine digital assets” and would prohibit “discriminatory” electricity rates being charged to crypto miners, protect mining that occurs “at home” and strip local governments of the power to use zoning laws to stop crypto mining operations. It also prohibits additional taxes on the use of crypto as a payment method and would consider “digital assets,” inclusive of cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), as “personal property” alongside …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not the appropriate regulator for stablecoins, says Circle founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire. In an interview with Bloomberg on Feb. 24, the Circle chief executive aired his views on the SEC and its recent moves to clamp down on the crypto industry, including stablecoin issuer Paxos. Allaire appears to have taken issue with the SEC's focus on stablecoins, arguing that dollar-pegged “payment stablecoins” should be under the oversight of a banking regulator, rather than the SEC. “I don’t think the SEC is the regulator for stablecoins,” said Allaire, adding: “There is …

The United States Federal Reserve has denied a request from cryptocurrency bank Custodia Bank to reconsider its membership application to the Federal Reserve System. The Fed announced its denial on Feb. 23 saying the Federal Reserve Board previously decided that Custodia’s application “was inconsistent with the required factors under the law.” @federalreserve announces it has denied the request by Custodia Bank, Inc., for reconsideration of the Board’s decision last month on its application to be supervised by the Federal Reserve: https://t.co/ZYNUEoLeN1 — Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) February 23, 2023 In January, the Fed rejected Custodia’s application to become a member. Board …

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assessed a paper on crypto asset policy published by the fund and expressed its agreement with its proposed policy framework. The paper, titled “Elements of Effective Policies for Crypto Assets,” developed framework of nine policy principles that addressed macro-financial, legal and regulatory, and international coordination issues. The proposed principles were mainly quite broad, emphasizing analysis, monitoring and guarding. The paper explicitly said the proposals should be taken up by “the Directors.” The first principle did contain a concrete injunction. It read: “Safeguard monetary sovereignty and stability by strengthening monetary policy …

In a superseding indictment filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Feb. 22, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams alleged Bankman-Fried’s actions in the matter involving FTX and Alameda warranted 12 charges. According to the indictment, these included: Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud on Customers of FTX Wire Fraud on Customers of FTX Conspiracy to Commit Fraud on Customers of FTX in Connection with Purchase and Sales of Derivatives Fraud on Customers of FTX in Connection with Purchase and Sales of Derivatives Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud on Investors in FTX Securities Fraud on …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) belonging to the bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) will be sold by its liquidators Teneo, according to a recent announcement. In a notice dated Feb. 22, Joint Liquidator Christopher Farmer announced that the liquidators are intending to begin the sales of NFTs that belong to 3AC. The announcement highlighted that the sale will be done to “realize the value of the NFTs for the purposes of the liquidation.” According to the announcement, the sales will begin 28 days after the notice. Within the announcement, the liquidators clarified that it will not include the list of …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has objected to Binance.US’ move to acquire over $1 billion of assets belonging to the defunct cryptocurrency lending firm Voyager Digital. According to a Feb. 22 filing submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, the SEC believes that certain elements of the asset restructuring plan of Binance.US’ acquisition could breach Securities Laws. The SEC is formally investigating whether Binance.US and related debtors violated anti-fraud, registration and other provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC noted particular concern around the security of assets through the planned …

Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather and other celebrities are looking to convince a judge to dismiss another revised attempt to hold them liable for allegedly promoting EthereumMax (EMAX) without proper disclosure. The celebrities asked a California federal judge to dismiss a second amended complaint from EthereumMax investors filed in December. According to the defendants, the renewed allegations pushes the “same basic theory” forward that the court had already previously dismissed. Looks like Floyd is rockin with the $eMax waveeee #EMAX #Ethereummax #Ethereum pic.twitter.com/TB9wNLwCcb — Breezy Gambinø (@BreezyGambino1) June 4, 2021 The investors' class action lawsuit runs on the premise that the …

Blockchain Association’s chief legal officer says “it would be absurd” for a United States court to rule that digital assets on private blockchains are securities, following a federal judge's decision to allow a lawsuit against Dapper Labs's NBA Top Shots NFTs to play out. U.S. attorney Jake Chervinsky made the comment after federal judge Victor Marreo denied a motion to dismiss a 2021 lawsuit that accused Dapper Labs of selling nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as unregistered securities. Chervinsky was among a host of lawyers on Twitter to reiterate that the judge’s denial of the motion does not mean a ruling has …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again been accused of overstepping its authority and unfairly labeling crypto assets as securities, this time in its insider trading case against ex-Coinbase employees. In an amicus brief filing on Feb. 22, the U.S.-based Chamber of Digital Commerce argued the case should be dismissed as it represented an expansion of the SEC’s “regulation by enforcement” campaign and seeks to characterize secondary market transactions as securities transactions. We have serious concerns about the SEC’s attempt to label these tokens as securities in the context of an enforcement action against third parties who …