Cryptocurrency exchange YoBit is going to perform a pump scheme on random coins, according to an Oct. 10 tweet. A pump and dump scheme is a form of fraud that attempts to artificially boost the price of an asset through misleading or false recommendations. YoBit Pump in 22 hrs: https://t.co/RIbW7OhKzM We will buy one random coin for 1 btc every 1-2 mins 10 times (total buy amount - 10 btc). — Yobit.Net (@YobitExchange) October 10, 2018 In addition to announcing the pump scheme in a tweet, the exchange posted a countdown clock for a ‘YoBit pump’ on its website. YoBit …

Much noise has been made about the untraceable qualities of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin "can be used to buy merchandise anonymously" said early primers on crypto, it offers users the kind of financial privacy that was previously available only from a "Swiss bank account," say more recent commentators. And given its ability to provide people with a layer of anonymity and privacy, it has been smeared by politicians, experts and mainstream journalists alike as a hiding place for almost any hacker, drug dealer, gang member, terrorist or despot you could possibly name (even if cash is still the preferred …

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged seven officers from Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) with cryptocurrency-funded global hacking and related disinformation operations. The indictment was filed by the grand jury at the Western District of Pennsylvania October 3. The defendants, all of whom are alleged to work for the GRU — a military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation — have been charged on multiple counts for alleged “computer hacking, wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering,” according to a DoJ press release published October 4. The group is said …

Russia’s largest majority state-owned bank Sberbank has signed a partnership agreement with state-owned power giant Rosseti to propagate new technologies, a press release confirms Friday, October 5. The latest step in Sberbank’s ongoing engagement with innovations such as blockchain, the institution and Rosseti will work together on a raft of projects, including accelerators, education, research trials and exchange of expertise. Sberbank will also dispatch a consultant to Rosseti with the aim of “increasing the efficiency of its current operations and performance.” The energy company will also get access to a bank of “innovative laboratory developments” and products from the Sberbank …

Russian state nuclear energy corporation (Rosatom) will develop "advanced" digital technologies, such as blockchain, according to Rosatom IT department head Evgeniy Abakumov, cited by corporate outlet Strana Rosatom Monday, October 1. As per Abakumov, Rosatom intends to focus on three areas of new technologies, namely blockchain, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT). "We are committed to integrating 4.0 technologies on a wider scale. IoT, AI, blockchain and others are to increase the efficiency of manufacturing process," Rosatom’s IT department head said. Abakumov also stated that Rosatom is looking to bring on new talent in the three aforementioned areas. …

Gone are the days when shady dealings in crypto were perceived as immune to the clutches of law enforcement. Illicit crypto proceeds can be shuttled between wallet addresses at the click of a mouse, and their obfuscation behind the multiple strings of numbers and letters of wallet addresses can create a dizzying — if not impenetrable — cryptographic maze for authorities to navigate. But the criminals themselves present a more concrete target, and as they interface with everything from crafty code to unwieldy hardware to ‘traditional’ firearms, there has been some success in 2018 in nabbing some of the year’s …

Russia has been trying to pass cryptocurrency legislation since the beginning of January 2018, with no success as of yet. The government’s main bill, “On Digital Financial Assets,” which was expected to be passed by July 1 — according to the wishes of President Vladimir Putin — will instead most likely be pushed back until an October Duma session. According to Artem Tolkachev, the self-proclaimed “first” lawyer in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to begin working with Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain startups, the reason the crypto bills didn’t make it on the July agenda was “because of the complexity …

A Russian subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank International has issued an electronic mortgage using local blockchain platform Masterchain, local business newspaper Kommersant reports Monday, September 24. The document containing data on the parties in the transaction, the credit loan and its duration, and the property purchased was published in a decentralized depositary system (DDS). The DDS is based on Masterchain — a Russian network for transferring valuable data via blockchain — which a group of major local banks led by the Central Bank of Russia has been developing since 2016. According to Andrey Popov, director of the IT department for Raiffeisen …

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Zaif Hacked Of Reported 5,966 Bitcoins As a result of a security breach on September 14, hackers have managed to steal 4.5 billion yen from Japan’s Zaif cryptocurrency exchange, as well as 2.2 billion yen from the assets of the company, with total losses amounting to 6.7 billion yen or …

Several large Russian banks have expressed their strong interest in working with the industry of cryptocurrency and blockchain during a closed-door meeting held at the Moscow Exchange, sources told Russian news site RBC September 19. As an unnamed source familiar with the matter told RBC, the demand for cryptocurrencies in Russia is very high, but the banks are not able to meet it due to the lack of clearly defined regulations. Because of that, the representatives of the Russian banks present at the meeting have talked to regulators from Japan, Luxembourg and Singapore to adapt their experience to local realities. …

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has joined Russia’s VEB Innovation Fund to share notes on crypto regulation, according to a fund’s press release published Wednesday, September 19. According to Crunchbase, the VEB Innovation Fund was created in 2011 to invest in Russian high-tech startups and to promote local innovations in the global market. The Center of Digital Transformation, where Huobi is now a resident, was created by VEB to promote blockchain and other crypto-related technologies, as its website states. One of the main goals of the partnership with world’s fourth largest crypto exchange, as reported in the statement, is to draw on …

The Texas Securities Commission (TSC) has issued an emergency cease and desist order against a Russian crypto firm, according to an official press release published September 18. The Texas regulator states that the company allegedly misappropriated both Coinbase and Cointelegraph materials to attract investors. The firm, operating as Coins Miner Investment Ltd., is said to have spoofed the email address of major U.S. crypto exchange and wallet service provider Coinbase in order to make its email solicitations to investors seem as if they were endorsed by the entity. The cease-and-desist order states that Coins Miner falsely claimed to be registered …