Krypto Blog – glen-ellyn.com

• An international operation has taken down Chipmixer, a cryptocurrency mixing service that allegedly laundered more than $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency.
• The operation involved national authorities in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Poland, and Switzerland — with Europol’s support.
• Minh Quốc Nguyễn, 49, of Hanoi, Vietnam is charged with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering and identity theft and could face 40 years in prison if convicted.

International Operation Takes Down Crypto Mixer Chipmixer

An international operation has taken down Chipmixer, a cryptocurrency mixing service that allegedly laundered more than $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency. The operation involved national authorities in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Poland and Switzerland — with Europol’s support — taking down the infrastructure of the platform for its alleged involvement in money laundering activities and seizing four servers as well as 1909.4 bitcoins in 55 transactions (approx. EUR 44.2 million) and 7 TB of data.

Chipmixer Service

Chipmixer allowed users to make bitcoin (BTC) deposits which it „then mixed with other Chipmixer users‘ bitcoin“ making it difficult to trace the transactions as it primarily operated as a Tor hidden service to conceal the location of its servers and prevent seizure by law enforcement. Additionally, the service did not register with the U.S Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) or collect any identifying information about its customers.

Minh Quốc Nguyễn Charges

Beginning in August 2017 Minh Quốc Nguyễn created and operated the online infrastructure used by Chipmixer as well as promoted their services online leading to him being charged with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering and identity theft that could result in him facing up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

U.S Federal Law Enforcement Seizure

U.S federal law enforcement seized two domains that directed users to the Chipmixer service along with one Github account while German Federal Criminal Police (the Bundeskriminalamt) seized more than $46 million worth of cryptocurrencies from Chipmixers back-end servers during this takedown process

Conclusion

This coordinated international takedown lead by various law enforcement agencies successfully managed to take down Chipmixers darknet cryptocurrency ‚Mixing‘ Service responsible for laundering over $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency ultimately leading to charges against Minch Quoc Nguyen who is facing up to 40 years imprisonment if convicted on charges related to running an unlicensed money transmitting business as well ass money laundering & identity theft .

• Kazakhstan authorities have shut down a crypto exchange, ABS Change, that processed $34 million through Binance wallets.
• The exchange was operating without a license and law enforcement confiscated over $350,000 in cash and crypto assets.
• The government has been working to regulate the crypto industry with laws restricting access to low-cost power for miners.

Kazakhstan Shuts Down Illegal Crypto Exchange

Authorities in Kazakhstan have busted an illegal crypto trading platform, seizing over $350,000. The Digital Asset Exchange (ABS Change) had been making millions in turnover since 2021 without a license and has now been closed down by the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA).

Seizure of Cash and Crypto Assets

During an operation in the country’s capital city, law enforcement officials confiscated $342,000 and 7 million tenge (almost $16,000) in cash. They also identified two wallets on Binance which had another $23,000 worth of crypto assets; these have now been blocked during the ongoing investigation. ABS Change allegedly processed almost $34 million in transactions through those wallets on Binance.

Regulation of Crypto Industry

The FMA has been focusing on preventing „gray“ business activities including those relating to cryptocurrencies and stated that Kazakhstan’s shadow economy shrank to below 20% last year. In January they took down several coin trading websites and February saw them seize almost $188,000 worth of property from a Russian national involved in illegal operations.

To regulate the increasing sector of cryptocurrency mining farms using cheap electricity from Kazakhstan, a law was introduced this February that licenses miners and obliges them to sell most of their revenue on domestic-registered exchanges.

Consequences For Operators

The three Kazakhstani citizens accused of running ABS Change are facing serious consequences for their actions as it is illegal to provide crypto trading services outside of Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) where only licensed exchanges are authorized to operate.

Conclusion

The FMA’s move signals Kazakhstan’s commitment to regulating its growing crypto economy as well as clamping down on any activities deemed „gray“ or unlawful within its borders. It remains unclear what will happen next with regards to the seized funds but further details may emerge soon as the investigation progresses further.

• A group of countries in Latam is preparing a regional agreement to address inflation, a problem common to most nations in the region.
• The initiative is being spearheaded by Mexican president Andres Lopez Obrador and will allow the exchange of products with high prices between the states.
• Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico are all participating in this agreement to counter inflation.

Latam Countries Unite Against Inflation

A group of Latin American countries are uniting to fight against one of their biggest problems: inflation. Spearheaded by Mexican President Andres Lopez Obrador, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico have agreed to sign an agreement that would help counter rising prices in each country’s economy.

The Agreement

The agreement proposed by President Obrador would create a clearing system that would allow for fast exchange of products between the countries if certain items become more expensive in one nation than another. This could involve exchanging clothes for raw materials such as soybeans if there is an unusual increase in price for certain items within a country. It also means that no dollars would need to be exchanged in order for these transactions to take place.

Inflation Levels Across Latam

Currently Argentina has the highest levels of inflation in Latam with almost 100% rise registered during 2022 and devaluation taking its fiat currency (the Argentine peso) to historic lows. Cuba and Colombia have also experienced high levels of inflation recently but this new agreement should help lessen the effects on all participating countries.

Summit Set For March 17th

Ministers from each country have already begun organizing the structure of this anti-inflation mechanism and there is set to be a summit on March 17th where they will further discuss how it will work and what role each nation will play within it.

Conclusion

This new regional agreement between several Latin American countries could prove incredibly useful when it comes combating one of their biggest economic issues – inflation – across multiple nations at once if implemented correctly. There is still much planning and discussion that needs to take place before then however so it’s important to wait until after the March 17th summit before making any final judgements on its potential success or failure.

• BUSD stablecoin has been dropped from the top 10 crypto assets by market capitalization, with a current market cap of around $11.12 billion.
• Since its announcement on Feb. 13, 2023, that it would no longer issue the dollar-pegged crypto asset BUSD, nearly $5 billion worth of BUSD stablecoins have been redeemed.
• Currently out of the global $1.1 trillion crypto economy, BUSD accounts for 1.007% of the aggregate value and is now 11th largest market valuation in terms of crypto assets.

BUSD Stablecoin Drops From Top 10 Crypto Assets

After Paxos announced that it would no longer mint the stablecoin BUSD, 4.98 billion BUSD stablecoins have been removed from circulation to date causing it to drop from the top ten crypto assets by market capitalization. It’s current market cap is around $11.12 billion compared to dogecoin’s $11.24 billion valuation which has caused it to slip below in rankings making dogecoin take its place as a top ten asset again.

BUSD Redemption: Nearly $5 Billion Worth Of Stablecoins Removed From Circulation In 12 Days

Since Paxos announced on February 13th 2023 that they would no longer be issuing their dollar-pegged cryptocurrency asset, almost 5 billion dollars worth of BUSD stablecoins have been taken out of circulation (redeemed). Before this announcement there were 16.1 billion circulating coins but now there are only 11,129,348,406 left circulating globally with a 24 hour trading volume hovering just under 7 billion dollars according to data from coingecko statistics with most trades paired with Tether (USDT). These stats also show that Binance holds 901 million dollars worth in their reserve portfolio and 2.8% of all trades occur using Turkish Lira as a currency pair for trading purposes

BUSD Accounts For 1% Of The Crypto Economy’s Net Value

As of writing this article BUSD currently accounts for 1% of the entire global cryptocurrency economy’s net value totalling at just over one trillion US Dollars ($1T). This dominance has decreased drastically throughout these past 12 days since its removal from being a top ten coin position and slipping into 11th place above lido staked ether (STETH) but below dogecoin (DOGE).

Decrease In Dominance

The decrease in dominance reflects how much influence an asset has when compared to other available options within its own field or industry as well as how appealing it may be when looking at investment potential based off metrics such as stability and liquidity amongst others which can draw investors into certain tokens or coins or push them away due to concerns about those same metrics not being up to par or meeting expectations thus resulting in what we’re seeing here with this decline in dominance for the once popular Paxos managed stable coin known as BUSD .

Conclusion

In conclusion we can see that despite remaining at parity with US Dollar since its redeeming started shortly after announcing they would no longer issue it anymore due to reasons still unknown today ,the fact remains that nearly $5 Billion dollars worth of their token got removed from circulation over these past 12 days causing its rank among cryptocurrencies go down drastically .

• The Bank of Zambia and the country’s securities regulators are currently testing technology to regulate cryptocurrencies.
• Felix Mutati, Zambian Minister of Technology and Science, believes that cryptocurrency is a revolutionary technology that embodies a future his country desires to achieve.
• Zambia is looking to become the region’s technology hub by leveraging cryptocurrencies to bring financial inclusion and drive its economy.

Zambia Testing Technology to Regulate Cryptocurrency

The Bank of Zambia and the country’s securities regulators are currently testing the technology to regulate cryptocurrencies, a Zambian government minister has said. According to Felix Mutati, cryptocurrency is a revolutionary technology that embodies a future his country desires to achieve.

Achieving an Inclusive Digital Economy

The Zambian central bank and the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission are in the process of „testing“ technology to regulate cryptocurrencies, the country’s minister of Technology and Science, Felix Mutati, has said. In his remarks published on the ministry’s website, Mutati argued that Zambia needs to regulate this „revolutionary technology“ because it encapsulates „the future the country desires to achieve.“ Mutati also revealed that the testing of the regulatory technology will soon be upscaled as part of measures to help Zambia attain an „inclusive digital economy.“

Bringing Zambia’s Financial Exclusion Gap

According to the minister, once the envisioned digital payments infrastructure is in place, he foresees a future in which cryptocurrency is the „driver for financial inclusion.“ as well as the „change-maker for Zambia’s economy.“ In addition to using cryptocurrencies to advance its financial inclusion agenda, Zambia hopes to achieve this through its yet-to-be-launched central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Establishing itself as an Investment Destination

In addition, the minister said Zambia has established itself as an investment destination of choice for many investors. “Zambia has created magnetism that attracts investments and it is one of countries in Africa that is becoming a must-be place for investment,“ Mutati said.

Conclusion

While The Bank of Zambia had discouraged use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in past times; President Hakainde Hichilema’s government seems embracing cryptos now. With plans underway such as infrastructure development needed for achieving their goal; they hope blockchain powered technologies can bridge their financial exclusion gap while bringing more investments into their nation.

• Bridgewater Associates‘ co-chief investment officer Karen Karniol-Tambour has warned of an upcoming recession that will be deeper, longer, and much more painful than what we have been accustomed to.
• This is due to the Covid pandemic which requires fiscal policymakers to get deeply involved in solving the problem.
• Monetary policy will be less important because fiscal policy will have a bigger role, and central banks may need to tighten their policies much more than they would like in order to fight inflationary pressures.

Bridgewater Executive’s Recession Warning

Karen Karniol-Tambour, Bridgewater Associates‘ co-chief investment officer, warned about recessions that are very different from previous times in an interview with Bloomberg last week. Founded by billionaire Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates is the world’s largest hedge fund, with about $130 billion in assets under management. When asked about the next big risk she sees coming over five to 10 years, Karniol-Tambour replied: The next big risk is recessions that are deeper and longer than what we’ve been accustomed to.

Role of Fiscal Policymakers

In previous economic downturns, „central banks could just hop right in and reverse it,“ she noted, adding that when central banks just eased everything, recessions were „quick and shallow,“ not „deep and long.“ She explained that the Covid pandemic was a turning point because for the first time fiscal policymakers got „deeply involved in solving the problem.“ In addition to central banks printing money, „policymakers basically come in and direct the money to people,“ she said.

Central Banks’ Role

Karniol-Tambour added that monetary policy on one hand will be less important because fiscal will be doing what it’s doing while on the other hand they’ll be in an even tougher spot because they’ll have much more entrenched inflation due to secular inflationary pressures combined with fiscal policymakers stimulating at the same time. The Bridgewater executive continued: So they’ll be forced to tighten a lot more than they would’ve otherwise wanted — or ease a lot less. Those become recessions that are much more difficult, much more painful.

Consequences of Deglobalization

Karniol-Tambour also noted that risks are exacerbated by how fast de-globalization is going which forces political forces into action instead of market forces alone. She commented: We’re in a place where to solve a lot of our most important problems you can’t only rely on market forces; you need political forces as well.“

Conclusion

In conclusion, according to Karen Karniol-Tambour from Bridgewater Associates‘ co-chief investment officer there is an upcoming recession coming; this recession may be deeper and longer than before which requires both monetary policy from central banks as well as fiscal policy from politicians for it can successfully overcome this crisis period.

• Capitual, a Brazilian fintech company that offers cryptocurrency intermediation services, has partnered with Azimut, an asset management firm, to expand its service offer to Europe.
• The deal includes an investment of €15 million (about $16.2 million) and would allow Capitual to start operating in Mexico, where Azimut has significant presence and operations.
• Customers of the firm include several exchanges like Kucoin, Huobi, and Bitget, that trust the company to route its payments and withdrawals using Brazil’s traditional banking system.

Capitual Partners With Azimut

Capitual, a Brazilian fintech company that offers cryptocurrency intermediation services, has partnered with Azimut, an asset management firm based in Italy. The deal contemplates an investment of €15 million (about $16.2 million), which would allow Capitual to start operating in Mexico, where Azimut has significant presence and operations.

Crypto Services Expansion

The partnership between the two companies aims to complement each other’s activities and expand their services into European markets. With this expansion they also plan on offering their services in Mexico as well as tokenization of assets and crypto investment management from Sygnum Bank.

Capitual’s Customers

The customers of Capitual include several exchanges like Kucoin, Huobi and Bitget who trust the company to route their payments and withdrawals using Brazil’s traditional banking system. Guilherme Nunes executive director of Capitual says “We want to replicate the product we have in Brazil in other countries serving our partners in other jurisdictions as well”.

Azimut’s Contribution

Giorgio Medda CEO of resource management at Azimut stated “We are convinced that blockchain technology is redrawing the frontier of the financial services industry as we know it” regarding their contribution towards this agreement with Capitua.

Conclusion

In conclusion this partnership between Fintech Company Capitula and Asset Management Firm Azimut will allow them both to expand their offerings into European Markets while taking advantage of each other’s expertise within legacy finance as well as blockchain technology making them more competitive within these new markets

• Quicknode has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its post-valuation to $800 million.
• The funds will be used to further fuel blockchain adoption and streamline the Web2 to Web3 movement at scale.
• Participating investors in the round included 10T Holdings, QED, Tiger Global, Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, and Protocol Labs.

Web3 infrastructure firm Quicknode has announced that it has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its post-valuation to $800 million. The capital injection was led by 10T Holdings, with QED, Tiger Global, Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, and Protocol Labs also participating.

The funds will be used to further fuel blockchain adoption and streamline the Web2 to Web3 movement at scale. This latest round follows Quicknode’s $35 million Series A back in October 2021, which was led by Tiger Global and also saw participation from Seven Seven Six, Soma Capital, Arrington XRP Capital, Crossbeam, and Anthony Pompliano.

Quicknode claims to handle „billions of blockchain calls daily with 2X faster response time than competitors,“ and the funds will be used to make new hires, develop more Web3 offerings for its marketplace, and expand the company’s global reach. Despite the crypto winter, the company has reported remarkable growth over the past year, with its revenue growing more than 300%.

“At Quicknode, we firmly believe in Web3 as the future of the Internet,” said Alex Nabutovs, Founder and CEO of Quicknode. “This new round of funding will enable us to continue to foster a more open, secure, and accessible internet. We are proud to continue building the infrastructure that will make this possible.”

Quicknode is one of many firms working to make blockchain technology more accessible and to streamline the transition from Web2 to Web3. As the company continues to grow, it aims to further its mission of creating a more open, secure, and accessible internet.

• A Washington, D.C., townhome tied to FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been listed on the market for roughly $3.28 million.
• The property was purchased by Bankman-Fried’s brother’s nonprofit, Guarding Against Pandemics, for the same price it is selling for today.
• Photos taken by Pearson Smith Realty show a four-bedroom Victorian brownstone crafted in 2017, with five bathrooms, four gas fireplaces, and all bedrooms en suite.

A luxury Washington townhome, once owned by FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his brother’s nonprofit, Guarding Against Pandemics, is now on the market for $3.28 million. The four-bedroom, 4,100-square-foot Victorian brownstone was crafted in 2017 and comes with five bathrooms, four gas fireplaces, and all bedrooms en suite.

The property was allegedly used to host two parties for bureaucrat donors just before FTX collapsed. Photos taken by Pearson Smith Realty show the luxury property, which includes a gourmet kitchen with state-of-the-art appliances, granite countertops, and a marble-topped island. The home also features a large dining room, sunroom, and a spacious living room with a marble-surround fireplace and built-in bookshelves.

The listing comes amid controversy and bankruptcy for Bankman-Fried and his inner circle of deputies. Bitcoin.com News reported on Bankman-Fried’s $40 million penthouse, which was listed for sale three days after FTX’s collapse. The penthouse was located in the Bahamas, and Guarding Against Pandemics seemed to have followed suit, purchasing the Washington townhome for the same price that it is now selling for.

Realtor.com reported that the property was leveraged „to serve as a D.C. base for the FTX crew to wine and dine the political elite.“ This has raised questions as to whether the property was used for charitable activities or if it was a front for Bankman-Fried’s own interests.

Regardless of its purpose, the property is still a luxury asset and could be a great investment for someone looking for a Washington townhome. With its five bathrooms, four gas fireplaces, and all bedrooms en suite, the property has plenty of space and amenities to offer.