CRYPTOCURRENCY
Coin Center Questions Tornado Cash Indictments in Light of FinCEN Guidance
The US Office of Foreign Asset Control accused former Tornado Cash creators Roman Storm and Roman Semenov for conspiracy to run an unauthorised money-transmitting company. The crypto community worries about the indictment's FinCEN compliance. Peter Van Valkenburgh, Coin Center's research director, said Tornado Cash's tools may not classify developers as money transmitters.
Terraform Labs Co-Founder Indicted for Terra Stablecoin Collapse
Shin Hyun-seong, co-founder of Terraform Labs, has been indicted along with nine other individuals for the collapse of the Terra stablecoin ecosystem. They are accused of fraud, breach of trust, and embezzlement, with illicit profits of nearly $350 million suspected. Prosecutors have seized assets worth a total of $180 million.
Terra co-founder indicted for forging legal documents
The Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Podgorica has indicted former Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon for allegedly forging legal documents. Kwon was arrested in March after allegedly attempting to board a flight to Dubai with fake documents. Han Chang-jun, Terraform’s former CFO, is facing similar charges.
Trump NFT Floor Price Surges on Indictment News
The official licensed Trump Digital Trading Cards NFT project's floor price rose to 0.6 ETH ($1090) after a New York Grand Jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump. The price has since fallen back to around 0.51 ETH, still higher than its initial mint price of $99. Q1 2023 saw $4.7 billion worth of NFT trading volume, more than double that of the previous quarter, with Ethereum accounting for $4.1 billion worth of the volume.
FTX Founder Faces New Charges, Including Alleged $40M Bribe
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is facing a new 13-count indictment, including an alleged $40 million bribe to a Chinese government official. The bribe was reportedly intended to unfreeze cryptocurrency accounts at FTX's affiliate firm, Alameda Research, which held over $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin of America indicted for operating unlicensed kiosks
Bitcoin of America, a Bitcoin technology firm, along with three of its executives, has been indicted for allegedly operating more than 50 unlicensed crypto kiosks in Ohio that knowingly benefited from victims of cryptocurrency scams. The firm is facing charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and other crimes connected to the operation of the kiosks, which authorities believe have been operating and evading regulatory safeguards and financial compliance requirements since 2018.
US proposes new bail conditions for former FTX CEO
The US Department of Justice has proposed new bail conditions for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, which include communication restrictions and monitoring of his online activity. The proposal also requests that temporary bail conditions recently imposed should be made permanent. Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail has been under scrutiny since he was found to have contacted potential witnesses on his case, and a superseding indictment against him was unsealed containing 12 criminal counts.
Venezuelan President Maduro Leveraged Cryptocurrency to Conceal Drug Ring Transactions According to US DOJ
Venezuelan President Maduro and 14 other high-ranking Venezuelan officials have been charged for their alleged involvement in a multibillion-dollar cocaine trafficking ring that the the DOJ claimed wreaked havoc on American communities by flooding the markets with cocaine for over 20 years. According to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Venezuelan officials had leveraged cryptocurrency in an attempt to mask their money trail on their alleged crimes