The ED is investigating cryptocurrency Vauld, charging it with contributing to money laundering through lax controls. The firm stated that it would seek legal advice to protect the interests of its clients, saying it follows the KYC rules of each country.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Indian anti-money laundering agency, now investigates Singapore-based cryptocurrency firm Vauld.

The ED searched the Bangalore office of Vauld and froze Rs 370 crores (equivalent to around USD 46 million) worth of assets. The Indian regulator issued an order to freeze their bank and payment gateway balances.

The anti-money laundering agency has launched an investigation into several crypto asset-trading platforms. According to The Economic Times, it scrutinizes at least ten cryptocurrency exchanges for helping foreign companies launder money with crypto assets. In July, the regulator requested many cryptocurrency exchanges to submit some details and documents.

According to the agency, the accused companies laundered over Rs 1,000 crores (equivalent to around USD 130 million) with the instant loan app.

The ED said it investigated the legal entity Flipvolt-Vauld, which keeps criminal proceeds of predatory lending practices subsequently transferred overseas. The Indian regulator has charged the cryptocurrency exchange with contributing to the process through lax controls.

Vauld has stated that the ED froze its assets although it cooperated with the regulator. The agency has frozen around USD 25 million worth of crypto assets in the wallets in the group.

The cryptocurrency exchange disagreed with the freeze order, as a client had availed himself of its services. However, the ED decided to deactivate that account afterward.

The Next Step the Vauld Would Take

Vauld said it would seek legal advice to ensure protecting the interests of its clients and the firm. The cryptocurrency exchange said it followed the KYC rules of each country and stated that it would continue collaborating with the ED.

According to an ED report, the agency cannot locate those promoting the company. They found that some Chinese citizens have created cover entities and opened new bank accounts in the name of fictitious directors. The suspects seem to have left India almost two years ago.

Chinese Loan Apps Report Cases of Money-Laundering Recipients

Twenty-three predatory FinTech and non-bank organizations have reportedly used Vauld under Flipvolt Technologies to deposit millions in wallets. Likewise, WazirX had allegedly helped 16 FinTech companies use the cryptocurrency channel to launder criminal proceeds from illicit loan applications.

The ED said that the know-your-customer regulations of the Indian branch of Vauld are very lax. They also mentioned no enhanced due diligence (EDD) mechanisms, no control over the sources of funds, or mechanism to collect suspicious transaction reports.

The agency recently searched many locations of Yellow Tune Technologies Private Limited to identify their recipient wallets. However, the ED said it was impossible to trace those promoting the exchange. Chinese citizens Alex and Kaidi, whose real name is still unknown, turned out to have incorporated that fictional entity.

By Alexander Salazar

ETH rose above USD 1,880, a two-month high price occurring along with a considerable influx of around USD 100,000 in transactions. The behavior of the Ethereum whales may have triggered the recent record presale of GNOX tokens, making the team behind them happy.

Despite the ongoing bearish trend in the crypto market, many leading cryptocurrencies have posted double-digit percentage gains. After recently reaching a high of USD 2,012, the price of Ether (ETH) rose by 16% to reach USD 1,986.

The long-awaited upcoming Merger to switch Ethereum into a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain has caused a frenzy about ETH. Over the last week, the application of the third and final Goerli testnet for the network was a success.

Crypto analytics firm Santiment scrutinizes the smart-contract platform Ethereum before it moves from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus to a PoS mechanism. They highlighted that the Ether token might move ahead of the switch to ETH 2.0 thanks to the conversation on Twitter.

The Ethereum Whales Seem to Be Hoarding Coins before the Merger

After examining Ether and altcoins, Santiment noted that traders are not putting themselves at risk of a collapse despite a recent rally.

Although the focus is on the 80% increase by Ether, altcoins have done well over the last month. After looking closely at the charts, Santiment indicates that ETH is still moving in a bullish direction.

Following a recent IPC report, the price of Ether rose above USD 1,880. This two-month high price occurred along with a considerable influx of around USD 100,000 worth of ETH transactions. While that has happened, some whale addressed seem to have hoarded coins.

According to Santiment, the Ethereum network reached a yearly milestone averaging over 546,000 daily active addresses in the previous month. At the same time, the price of ETH exceeded USD 1,800 for the first time in two months.

The value of Ether recently broke above USD 1,800 for the first time in 60 days. The rally will continue along with the number of unique addresses if BTC remains stable and trader FOMO declines.

According to Ethereum developers, the long-awaited Merger event will occur on September 15^th or 16^th.

The Ethereum Whales May have Triggered Record GNOX Presale

The recent record presale of GNOX tokens may have been a consequence of the behavior of the Ethereum whales. The team behind the Gnox project had set an upper limit for the sales but raised it due to overwhelming demand. However, despite that increase, they sold all the coins within a few hours.

Many speculate that the Ethereum whales were behind the request. Although the Gnox team has not said anything about it, they must be happy with the result of the sale.

Meanwhile, Ether is trading at around USD 2,010 and has accumulated an 18.7% gain over the last week. While its daily trading volume is above USD 11.45 billion, its market capitalization is about USD 241.26 billion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

Vitalik Buterin discussed the Ethereum Meltdown, Tornado Cash, and the collapse of Terra.

The ETHLatam 2022 event was dressed up with the online presentation of the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, who addressed interesting topics about Ethereum and the crypto ecosystem in general.

On Saturday, August 13, the crypto community of the City of Buenos Aires dressed up to interact with the Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, during his online participation in ETHLatam 2022.

Vitalik Buterin Greets ETHLatam 2022

Amid the hype surrounding the Ethereum Fusion, Vitalik Buterin said he was present online at the event held in the South American country. During his presentation, he addressed issues related to the Fusion (The Merge, in English), and the controversial saga of Tornado Cash.

To shorten the physical distance, Vitalik greeted the public present at ETHLatam 2022 in Spanish, highlighting with charisma that explaining his ideas in Spanish “is very difficult.”

However, the young developer, who is followed by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, took the opportunity to share his thoughts on the current situation in the world of cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum Merger

The great hype in the crypto ecosystem in recent weeks has been the Ethereum Merger, thanks to which the second cryptocurrency by market capitalization will move from a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to a Proof-of-Stake one.

Buterin emphasized the transition from Ethereum to PoS, a statement that was highly receptive by those attending the event and highlighted: “No more Proof-of-Work”. On the other hand, Vitalik Buterin highlighted that “The Merger will serve to make Ethereum much more efficient in energy terms”

As reviewed by BeInCrypto, Vitalik Buterin predicted that the arrival of the Fusion to Ethereum could be on September 15, coinciding with the forecasts of the developer Tim Beiko.

Tornado Cash Current Saga

Another element addressed by Vitalik Buterin was the current saga revolving around the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.

On August 8, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash, alleging that the platform had laundered more than 7 billion dollars since 2019.

Since then, the popular cryptocurrency mixer has been under heavy siege from regulators and some players in the crypto ecosystem, as reported by BeInCrypto.

In this sense, Vitalik Buterin and the presenter of the event, Van Ness, discussed the matter. The co-founder of Ethereum noted that, “Without a doubt, going after a person for code writing is a pretty big escalation by governments. [Noting that it is] a smart contract on a Blockchain and a couple of java Scripts on a server.”

Collapse of Terra (LUNA)

An event that shook the crypto ecosystem in the last two months was the collapse of the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem and its stablecoin TerraUSD (UST). In this particular, Vitalik Buterin expressed:

“You have to stop following those who promoted you to buy Luna and UST. [You have to] be careful when using highly centralized Blockchains.”

Finally, he warned that, “[You have to be] cautious when accessing investments that promise exaggeratedly high returns and that are not sustainable over time. [And that there are] very negative feelings for the millionaires and the funds that sold these things on the Internet and destroyed everything.”

An important point was about the importance of education in the crypto ecosystem, especially those actors who, according to Buterin, “explain with arguments why it is a good industry that is aligned with the values ​​that matter to the community.”

By Audy Castaneda

Justin Benett thinks Bitcoin might rise above USD 26,500 after beating the bears in the USD 30,000 area. The analyst said BTC must trade above USD 23,450 and USD 24,500 to confirm the breakout.

Leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL) seem to be back in the green.

The price of Bitcoin has rebounded from USD 24,000 to USD 24,573 after rising by 2.50% within 24 hours.

Cryptocurrency analyst Justin Bennett predicted that the pioneering cryptocurrency would rise by 50% soon.

The trader stated that Bitcoin might reach USD 26,500 if it exceeds USD 24,200. Since the leading crypto asset is trading above USD 24,400, that target seems likely.

Bennett forecast an immediate resistance near USD 25,000 if Bitcoin reaches above USD 23,450 and USD 24,200. He said the resistance barrier following USD 25,400 lies at USD 26,000 and USD 26,500.

In addition, the strategist thinks Bitcoin might rise above USD 26,500 after beating the bears in the USD 30,000 area. It might only reach USD 38,000 by achieving a 46% surge from its current trading price.

A Price of USD 30,000 Is Crucial to the Bitcoin

According to Bennett, the USD 30,000 price area is relevant, as it was the consolidation range in May.

He said that Bitcoin must trade above USD 23,450 and USD 24,500 to confirm the breakout. However, the original cryptocurrency is above those price levels.

The analyst also refers to inflation, saying that the US inflation rate has always influenced the price of Bitcoin. He believes that rate hikes will see a breakout and a bullish market if the inflation rate falls.

The recent release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) confirmed that US inflation plummeted to 8.5% in July. However, it is only a matter of time before seeing how the behavior of the market influences the cryptocurrency.

The Ethereum Merge Might Be More Significant Than the Bitcoin Halving

After the final Goerli testnet, market sentiments have dissipated without significant technical complications. That has raised expectations that the Ethereum Merge scheduled for September will occur without relevant failures.

The Merger might be a more relevant event, as the upcoming rally could increase the DeFi and NFT space. A shift in sentiment from Bitcoin to Ether (ETH) traders has forced the price of BTC to consolidate within a tight range.

The introduction of the ETH staking mechanic will prevent traders from withdrawing their tokens for at least six months after the Merge. That might reduce the current supply, increasing the demand and the price.

In contrast, the Bitcoin halving reduces the income for miners by half every four years, aiming to maintain deflationary activity. Although they receive fewer coins for their cost, the post-halving rally could cover their losses.

Bitcoin is trading at around USD 24,429 and has accumulated a 5.2% gain over the last week. While its daily trading volume is above USD 27.23 billion, its market capitalization is about USD 466.90 billion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar