tl;dr
• BitConnect CEO, Satish Kumbhani missing in action• Coinbase blocked over 25K addresses and sent the list over to US authorities• Israel seizes over 30 crypto wallets associated with Hamas• Singapore freezes digital assets as a part of a plaintiff's injunction• Netflix, American Express, KPMG and P...
• BitConnect CEO, Satish Kumbhani missing in action
• Coinbase blocked over 25K addresses and sent the list over to US authorities
• Israel seizes over 30 crypto wallets associated with Hamas
• Singapore freezes digital assets as a part of a plaintiff's injunction
• Netflix, American Express, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers join the list of companies leaving Russia
Louisiana introducing a bill to account and track political donations made with cryptocurrencies
Wow! There is a lot to churn through today, but you have to understand what is going on in the news so you can see what may help you make more educated decisions. Here is what is on my mind today.
1. A little over a week ago, I told you how the founder of BitConnect was indicted over a $2.4B alleged Ponzi scheme? Well, they still don't know where to find Satish Kumbhani. He was in India but has since left the country and no one knows where he is. The SEC had to request a 90-day extension, so they have more time to find him.
2. Coinbase has blocked over 25K Russian Addresses allegedly related to illicit activities. The values held by these addresses have not been shared as of yet. It should be noted they identified the addresses through their own internal practices. More importantly, Coinbase shared those addresses with the US government. As a part of ongoing practice, Coinbase is comparing account applications with data shared by all of the countries that have sanctions against Russia.
3. Israeli authorities have seized digital assets tied to Hamas terror group. This is yet another instance where cryptocurrencies have been identified, tracked down and seized. In total there were about 30 wallets tied to the Al’matchadun currency exchange with what was said to be dozens of thousands of shekels. This and many other exchanges are owned by the Shamlach family who are known to assist he Hamas terror organization through their many exchanges. This help comes in at the tune of tens of millions of dollars annually. The lesson should be if it happens on the blockchain, it will be found.
4. In a landmark crypto asset freeze case and injunction has been levied in Singapore. This was preceded by two other cases and were used to determine how to move forward with the plaintiff's injunctions. The important detail here is not necessarily the what, but the how. The case clearly identifies how courts can be granted the authority to freeze crypto assets and require exchanges to disclose details about any criminals. Again, the use of crypto does not necessarily mean you are anonymous.
5. Netflix, American Express, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG have all cut ties to Russia over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They join a long list of western companies that have shed connections to Russia, including Nike, Ikea, and major French luxury brands Chanel, LVMH and Hermes. In addition, many Goldman Sachs employees are vacating the country through Dubai and other 3rd party countries. All of the sanctions are going to start having a direct impact on the global economy, but especially the Russian economy. I am suspecting we will see more Russians try to move their money into crypto while they still can. Thus far I only know that South Korea has blocked Russian Ips, but I suspect there will be other restrictions imposed by other exchanges as governments increase the pressure.
6. A new Louisiana bill hopes to set some rules around political donations made with cryptocurrencies. By considering crypto donation as being "in-kind" the cryptos will have to be converted to fiat before expenditure. Should it pass, the implementation of the bill would be to amend existing laws to account for the digital assets and their expenditure with the underlying premise to create a framework around it all.