The Financial Intelligence Unit of India requests blocking the URLs of Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global and Bitfinex.
India’s Financial Intelligence Unit has issued enforcement notices to nine foreign virtual digital asset service providers for allegedly operating illegally and violating anti-money laundering regulations. Specifically, for Binance, KuCoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global and Bitfinex.
According to the press release, the Unit requested the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the URLs of the companies, presumably to prevent their websites from accessing the country.
BlackRock and Van Eck Propose Innovative Amendments to Their Bitcoin ETFs
BlackRock and van Eck filed amended S-1 forms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Van Eck stated in his revised application that “Financial companies authorized to purchase or exchange shares with the Trust will deliver only cash to create shares and will receive only cash when redeeming shares.”
Commenting on BlackRock’s amendment, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said, “Looks like we have our first horse on the starting gate,” possibly referring to the chances of the asset manager being granted approval by the SEC.
Court Rules that Jump Trading Collaborated with Terraform Labs and Must Be Included in the Trial
Crypto company Terraform Labs will find itself in a civil trial next year, in the company of Jump Trading and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Specifically, a judge ruled that Terraform was involved in the sale of unregistered securities, and more information is now required regarding Jump Trading’s involvement as a market maker.
The request for an investigation into Jump Trading arose after an internal whistleblower claimed to have knowledge of Jump’s intention to back TerraUSD in May 2021. These facts would call into question Do Kwon’s claims about his algorithm’s ability to keep TerraUSD at $1. The judge said that, for the moment, the SEC’s evidence on this matter was “compelling, but circumstantial”, setting January 29, 2024 as the new date for the trial.
Cryptocurrency Miner Kidnapped in Russia: High Reward Demanded
A criminal gang kidnapped a cryptocurrency miner, and demanded a ransom of 15 million rubles (approximately $166,000). If he refused, they threatened to frame the kidnapped person with drugs and hand him over to the police authorities.
However, the authorities acted quickly and managed to arrest the kidnappers. Consequently, they face the possibility of a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.
Interestingly, the incident increasingly highlights the fragility of the actors involved in the crypto industry in the face of physical dangers, which underlines the inescapable urgency of implementing additional security measures in this constantly expanding field.
Vitalik Buterin Supports Javier Milei: Boost for the Blockchain Industry in Argentina
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has shared his impressions about the country’s economic situation and the role of the president, Javier Milei. In addition, he has taken a look at the progress of Ethereum.
Specifically, he has expressed his admiration for how Javier Milei has approached the economy in Argentina. According to him, Milei has given a prominent place to the economy, something that many current politicians do not do. Buterin sees this as a striking contrast to what is happening in the United States, where he feels politics has forgotten the economy and what really matters to people.
Likewise, Buterin talked about the impact of cryptocurrencies and Artificial Intelligence on society. According to him, these technologies are giving people the power to resist centralized control.
By Leonardo Perez
