CoinCodeCap WeekInFocus: August 4, 2024

News

Global

HK Police Arrest Four in Connection with HK$11M Crypto Fraud, Including Teen Suspect

• Four people, including a 14-year-old, have been taken into custody by Hong Kong police as part of a massive operation against financial crime.
• The suspects were taken into custody on July 26 and accused of conspiring to commit fraud and possessing and using five thousand fake banknotes.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis’s solution to National Debt: Bitcoin Reserve 

• Senator Cynthia Lummis proposes a bill for U.S. Treasury to buy 1 million bitcoins over five years to reduce national debt.
• Bitcoins would be held for at least 20 years, stored securely across various locations.

Bank of England Explores CBDC for Banks in Latest Innovation Push

• The Bank of England will conduct experiments with CBDC and digital ledger technology. 
• BOE also aims to make stablecoins interchangeable with the pound.

Slovenia Issues EU’s First Digital Sovereign Bond

• Slovenia has issued the EU’s first digital sovereign bond, settled using wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC).
• The bond issuance is part of Slovenia’s broader strategy to become a leader in blockchain and digital finance.

India’s Web3 Alliance Bolsters Cybersecurity in Wake of WazirX Hack

• The Indian BWA is concentrating more on enhancing cybersecurity and enhancing consumer safety in the crypto sector in the wake of the $230 million attack on WazirX.
• Chief information security officers from member companies will join one group concentrating on cybersecurity.

South Korean Crypto Exchanges Hit with Surprise Supervisory Fees

• Major crypto operators like Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone will now have to pay a supervisory charge as part of the recently imposed Virtual Asset User Protection Act in South Korea.
• These changes stipulate that virtual asset operators will have to pay supervisory fees for Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) inspections as of next year.

EU Watchdog Flags Offshore Crypto Risks Under New MiCA Regulation

• The ESMA has released a new Opinion outlining the severe risks associated with international crypto companies that apply for partial authorization under the MiCA regulation.
• According to the EU markets watchdog, this method could threaten consumer protection and produce an unfair playing field that would be detrimental to execution sites in the EU.

Platform and Tokens

Crypto-Skeptic Andrew Left of Citron Faces Fraud Charges

• The founder of the financial research company Citron Research has been charged with securities fraud for allegedly generating $16M by recommending “bait and switch” stocks.
• Twenty-three companies—including Nvidia, American Airlines, Alibaba, Meta (formerly Facebook), and X (formerly Twitter)—made 26 trades.

4 Suspects Kill Bitcoiner After Forcing BTC Transfer, Police Report

• Four suspects have been taken into custody by police in connection with the suspected kidnapping and murder of a 29-year-old foreign national Bitcoin user in Kyiv, Ukraine.
• After hearing shouts and witnessing multiple individuals assaulting and shoving a man into a car, the residents called the police.

Illicit Crypto Terror Funding Spikes But Still Low: Singapore’s Threat Report 

• Singapore’s 2024 terrorism threat report reveals a continued reliance on cash transfers for terrorist funding, with minimal use of cryptocurrencies.
• Traditional methods like wire transfers and the hawala system remain the primary means for raising capital 

SEC back downs on crypto securities claims in Binance Case

• Solana, Cardano, and Polygon,  Cosmos (ATOM), The Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Axie Infinity (AXS), and COTI have been removed from the SEC’s list of alleged securities in the Binance case.
• SEC will no longer ask the court to decide whether the affected tokens are securities.

SEC Charges BitClout Founder with Fraud Over Misuse of Investor Funds

• SEC has charged BitClout founder Nader Al-Naji with fraud for allegedly misusing over $7 million of investor funds 
• Al-Naji is accused of attempting to evade regulatory oversight by falsely portraying BitClout as a decentralized entity

Manhattan DA Charges Man for Fake Crypto Recovery Scheme

• The New York County DA had seized around $14,000 in user funds transferred to CoinEx by Coin Dispute Network.
• Reportedly, the complaint states that over 175 people were misled by CDN’s false claims.

Bybit Shuts Down Operations in France

• In a press release on August 1, the well-known crypto exchange Bybit said it had stopped operations in France, and limited account features for French consumers.
• Starting on August 13, French consumers will no longer be able to use their card services, and all open positions will be immediately liquidated.

Genesis Trading begins repayment of creditors

• BTC creditors will receive 51.28% recoveries, payable on an in-kind basis in the form of BTC while ETH creditors will get 65.87% recoveries paid out in ETH.
• SOL holdings will be subject to a 29.58% recovery rate, payable on an in-kind basis.

Project Updates

Coinbase Partners with DigitalX for New Bitcoin ETF in Australia

BTXX started trading on July 12 at 10 am local time. The DigitalX Bitcoin ETF received approval from the ASX on July 9

Wemix[.]fi Halts Lending Due to Stablecoin Liquidation Problems

Wemix[.]fi declared on July 30 that its lending and borrowing operations would be discontinued. Wemix underwent a fork following Jang’s resignation, which resulted in the creation of the Wemix Pay service and a second game token, along with a reduced Wemix issuance.

Starknet-based ZKX Protocol Shuts Down Citing Low User Engagement

The founder of the ZKX Protocol has announced the closure of the platform, citing the lack of a commercially viable path for the protocol. According to Tur, ZKX terminated all positions, delisted all markets, and restored all money to each user’s trading account.

Terra Blockchain Resumes Operations After $4M Exploit

Terra temporarily suspended operations at block height 11,430,400 amid the suspected exploit. The ASTRO token price collapsed by 60%, falling from around $0.045 to as low as $0.01313. 

Podcasts and Interviews

• “Bitcoin & Trump 2024, Memecoins & Escaping the Matrix” podcast by Words of Rizdom
• “Why You Should Focus on Bitcoin’s Cycles” podcast by Mr. M Podcast
• “Bitcoin Faction Exposes the Evils of Democracy” podcast by Peter Schiff

Job Listings

2k24 Events

• Science of Blockchain Conference (New York) from August 7 to August 9
• Ethereum Uruguay hackathon & conference from August 15 to August 17
• ETHGlobal ETHOnline virtual hackathon from August 23 to September 13
• ETHTokyo hackathon & conference from August 23 to August 26
• ETHAccra hackathon from August 29 to August 31

As we wrap up another week of insights and discoveries, remember that staying informed and motivated is an ongoing journey. WeekInFocus by CoinCodeCap is here to accompany you on this path, bringing you a fresh perspective on the news, a doorway to exciting job possibilities, and a collection of thought-provoking podcasts. Let’s embrace the coming week with curiosity and determination. Until next time, keep focused and keep thriving!