The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced sanctions against Behrouz Parsarad for running Nemesis, a darknet marketplace that sold illegal drugs. As part of these actions, OFAC has also blacklisted 49 crypto addresses, including 44 for Bitcoin and 5 for Monero, connected to the operation. Founder Accused of […]
White House crypto czar David Sacks made the announcement late on Thursday, March 6, stating, “Just a few minutes ago, President Trump signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.” He added that the reserve would be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government, which was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture […]
Michael Saylor, founder of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), has said that a Bitcoin strategic reserve will position the United States as a leader in cyberspace. In an interview with Fox News Channel, Saylor argued that Bitcoin is a secure means of savings for individuals, companies, and governments. Bitcoin Will Take The U.S. to Cyberspace Saylor, whose […]
The cryptocurrency unit of the American financial services company Robinhood is now in the clear as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has closed its investigation into the business. According to a blog post by Robinhood, the SEC revealed in a letter dated February 21 that it had wrapped up its investigation into the firm’s […]
The leading cryptocurrency market maker, Wintermute, has revealed plans to expand its business to the United States amid the emergence of a more favorable environment for digital assets in the country. Wintermute’s CEO Evgeny Gaevoy disclosed the company’s plans in an interview with Bloomberg at the ongoing Consensus crypto conference in Hong Kong. Gaevoy said […]
The U.S. Bitcoin mining industry has generated over 31,000 jobs and contributed more than $4.1 billion in gross product annually. According to a report by The Perryman Group, most of the industry is concentrated in twelve states, with Texas being the largest contributor. Economic and Social Benefits The study shows that Bitcoin mining in Texas generates […]
Two Estonian citizens pleaded guilty yesterday to running a massive cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded hundreds of thousands of investors worldwide, including in the United States. The scheme involved a fraudulent crypto-mining service called HashFlare, resulting in investor losses of over $577 million. Founders Agree to Forfeit $400M in Assets According to court documents, Sergei […]
Russian national Alexander Vinnik, previously convicted for running a multi-billion-dollar money-laundering operation through his BTC-e crypto exchange, has been released in a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States. In return, Moscow freed American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who had been detained on drug charges. Vinnik’s Role in BTC-e and Legal Troubles Vinnik operated the […]
A new legislative proposal in Michigan seeks to create a Bitcoin reserve as part of the state’s financial strategy. On February 13, Representatives Bryan Posthumus and Ron Robinson put forward HB 4087, a bill designed to update the state’s Management and Budget Act by incorporating Bitcoin investments. With this, Michigan now joins 19 other states […]
If state-level strategic Bitcoin reserve bills are enacted, “they could drive $23 billion in buying or 247,000 BTC,” said VanEck’s dead of digital assets research, Matthew Sigel, on Feb. 12. “This sum is independent of any pension fund allocations, likely to rise if legislators move forward,” he added before stating that the $23 billion was […]