Autor Cointelegraph By Jesse Coghlan

Terrible crypto trader gets 42 months for fraud, claiming he was a total gun

Terrible crypto trader gets 42 months for fraud, claiming he was a total gun

Uverejnil používateľ | máj 12, 2022 |

A crypto trader who defrauded over 170 people was sentenced to 42 months in prison on May 11 for operating a series of cryptocurrency funds claiming to make big returns but in reality were losing money and instead operated as a Ponzi scheme.The DOJ said that 25 year old  Jeremy Spence had solicited millions through false representations, “including that Spence’s crypto trading had been extremely profitable when, in fact, Spence’s trading had been consistently unprofitable.” Spence, who operated the social media channels for a crypto investment scheme called “Coin Signals” was handed the decision by United Stated District Judge Lewis Kaplan for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Spence was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay back his victims an amount of over $2.8 million.Spence was arrested in January 2021 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and seperate civil charges were brought forward by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).Spence pleaded guilty to commodities fraud in November 2021 for soliciting over $5 million from unwitting crypto investors by creating various cryptocurrency funds from November 2017 until April 2019 which he falsely claimed were making returns but in reality were making losses.One example provided by the DOJ said Spence posted a message to an online chat group claiming one of the funds made a 148% return that month.According to Law360 U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan who presided over the case said:”The thing I was struck by was the stupidity of the people you gulled into investing with you, there are real-life consequences to these shenanigans and they are serious.”Seeking to make a profit investors would transfer crypto to Spence to invest but as his trades weren’t making gains he created fake account balances to hide the losses. Spence started operating a Ponzi scheme using funds from new investors to pay earlier investors, with estimates that around $2 million worth of cryptocurrencies were distributed in this manner.Related: ​​Making crypto conventional by improving crypto crime investigations worldwideIn a statement to the court Spence told Judge Kaplan that he is “mortified” by his own behavior, apologizing to his investors and claimed was unqualified to trade the amount he was sent adding he “entered a world that [he] was completely unprepared for”.Cointelegraph requested comment from Spence’s legal representatives but did not receive a response within the time given.

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Chile puts CBDC plans on hold until end of 2022 to undertake more analysis

Chile puts CBDC plans on hold until end of 2022 to undertake more analysis

Uverejnil používateľ | máj 12, 2022 |

The Central Bank of Chile has delayed its plans for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) saying the issuance of a digital Chilean peso requires a deeper analysis of the benefits and risks, promising a new report towards the end of the year.A report from the bank published on May 11 included a preliminary evaluation of a Chilean CBDC and explored the country’s current payment system along with the benefits, risks, and principles of issuing a digital peso.The bank stated whilst the current payment system “works adequately” and has been able to “adapt well to recent challenges”, a CBDC would enhance and mitigate any risks of digital transformation, adding:“A CBDC would contribute to achieving a competitive, innovative and integrated payment system that is inclusive, resilient and protects people’s information.”Regarding issuing a digital peso the bank considers that there isn’t enough information to make a final decision and will “carry out a series of seminars, presentations and meetings with different counterparts” to inform the new report.In September 2021 Chile’s central bank said it would create a strategy with proposals and options for a rollout of a CBDC in early 2022 and formed a working group to study the potential digital peso.The bank outlined its concern regarding crypto adoption in the country citing the potential for crypto’s use in money laundering, illicit activities and the ability to disrupt banks access to finances if used as an alternative to bank deposits.“The issuance of a CBDC is also a good alternative to face the challenges associated with the potential massification of so-called virtual currencies, which, although for now they have a very small role in the payment system, could alter the functioning of the financial market and the transmission of monetary policy if its use becomes widespread.”Chile sits 18th in the world for cryptocurrency adoption in 2021 according to figures from Statista with 14% of Chilean respondents saying they owned or used crypto that year, it also marks Chile as the fourth largest user of crypto in South America.Related: 90% of surveyed central banks are exploring CBDCs — BISChile doesn’t prohibit the use and trade of cryptocurrencies but it joins other South American countries in its concern over crypto. In early May the central bank of its neighbor Argentina stepped in to stop two banks from offering crypto services saying it needed to “mitigate the risks crypto poses”.Brazil is also eyeing regulation with a bill circulating since 2015 with the aim to create a regulatory agency to oversee the crypto market moving closer to approval as of mid-April.

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New York digital media company the latest to add Bitcoin to balance sheet

New York digital media company the latest to add Bitcoin to balance sheet

Uverejnil používateľ | máj 11, 2022 |

Townsquare Media, a New York based digital marketing and radio station company is the latest business to back the original cryptocurrency with its addition of $5 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet.A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing Townsquare’s purchase of Bitcoin was first picked up by Macroscope, a Twitter account which focuses on institutional trading who posted the find on May 10.In an SEC filing today, Townsquare Media (NYSE: TSQ), based in New York, stated:”During the first quarter of 2022, the Company invested an aggregate of $5.0 million in Bitcoin. The Company believes in the long-term potential of digital assets as an investment.”The company…— MacroScope (@MacroScope17) May 10, 2022As per the filing the company “invested an aggregate of $5 million into Bitcoin” during the first quarter of 2021 and provided an explanation for why it chose a crypto investment, stating:“The Company believes in the long-term potential of digital assets as an investment. The Company may increase or decrease its holdings of digital assets at any time based on our view of market conditions.”Whilst the price of Bitcoin at the time of purchase wasn’t disclosed Townsquare said it recorded an impairment loss of $400,000 resulting from “changes to the fair value” of its digital asset holdings over the quarter.The so-called loss appears to be due to the unusual way companies need to report on crypto holdings. Townsquare also stated it could have sold its Bitcoin for $6.2 million total on March 31, the price of Bitcoin that day closed at a price of around $45,500. The company stated it views its Bitcoin investment as liquid due to the ease of converting it to cash using a crypto exchange.Related: MicroStrategy shareholders letter: We’ll ‘vigorously pursue’ more BTC buysWhilst the purchase is small in comparison to MicroStrategy’s nearly $3 billion stash worth of Bitcoin, Townsquare Media is around the middle of the list in terms of the amount of the crypto held by publicly traded companies.According to Bitcoin Treasures, a site tha measures Bitcoin held by companies, Townsquare would sit somewhere around the Bitcoin mining companies Cleanspark Inc which holds around $4.3 million and Cathedra Bitcoin Inc. who holds just over $5 million worth of Bitcoin.With the price of Bitcoin sliding this year and recently hitting 10-month lows, other companies with big positions in the world’s first cryptocurrency have reported losses due to having the asset on their balance sheet.Earlier in May crypto investment manager Galaxy Digital Holdings reported a $111.7 million loss in the first quarter of 2022 due to unrealized losses on its cryptocurrency portfolio. MicroStrategy CEO and Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor also had to assure investors that the company could cover its debts if asked due to a Bitcoin backed $205 million loan it took out in March.

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Coinbase CEO has ‘never been more bullish’ even after $430M Q1 loss

Coinbase CEO has ‘never been more bullish’ even after $430M Q1 loss

Uverejnil používateľ | máj 11, 2022 |

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has disclosed its first net loss as a public company of $430 million in Q1, but CEO Brian Armstrong said on an earnings call that he’s “never been more bullish on where we are as a company.”In its first quarter 2022 report Coinbase disclosed that revenue had dropped 27% to $1.17 billion, down from $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2021 and a long way off its Q4 2021 revenue of $2.5 billion. Monthly transacting users also dropped by over 19% to 9.2 million, from last quarter’s 11.4 million.Shares of Coinbase had already fallen by over 16% to close at $73 over the day, and after the earnings disclosure after hours trading saw the price fall further to $61 at the time of writing. Coinbase’s shares have been on a steady fall since November 2021 where it almost reached the $380 high from its initial public offering in April last year.Despite the figures, Armstrong explained why he was still optimistic on an earnings call:“There are so many customers beating a path to our door that we have to have all hands on deck just to keep everything running, so the down periods are often sometimes kind of a welcome change from that in the sense that we get to focus on building the next layer of innovation that will benefit us in the next cycle.”Armstrong said that the company was “greedy when others are fearful”, acquiring talent and focusing on projects and infrastructure for the future. Addressing what he called the “elephant in the room” of the company earnings downturn, he said:“The broader markets are down. We’re seeing a downmarket for growth tech stocks and risk assets, Coinbase and crypto is no exception to that. The good news is as a crypto company we’ve lived through many different cycles in crypto, including major draw downs, which I think make us well suited to operate through these environments.”He reminded shareholders of a prospectus released by the company a year ago which stated it aimed to grow crypto adoption long term, operating the company at a rough break even.In its shareholder letter Coinbase mentioned its recent non-fungible token (NFT) market launch as an area it was focusing more on in a bid to become a market leader in the space and its ambition to develop its platform as an “on-ramp to the cryptoeconomy”.Related: Coinbase CEO responds to insider trading allegations with changes for token listingsArmstrong stated that 54% of the platform’s active users are doing something other than crypto trading, but didn’t clarify what activities and made no mention of the new NFT marketplace in his opening statement.When asked specifically if the company is pleased with the activity in its NFT marketplace, Armstrong said it doesn’t share “metrics on any of our new initiatives” adding that “there’s a lot to build and the opportunity in the NFT space is enormous.”The first day of the public opening of the marketplace saw only $75,000 in transaction volume taking place across 150 transactions according to on-chain metrics, a small percentage of the over 8 million email addresses which signed up for the waitlist.Finishing his opening address Armstrong said the industry was in its early days and Coinbase sees the opportunities ahead adding that “regardless of whether the market is up or down, we’re going to keep building.”

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Nigeria upgrades CBDC as crypto restrictions cripple fintech industry

Nigeria upgrades CBDC as crypto restrictions cripple fintech industry

Uverejnil používateľ | máj 10, 2022 |

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is moving ahead with plans to upgrade the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) to be used on a wider range of goods and services. It is also maintaining harsh crypto restrictions that cripple the country’s fintech sector.The CBN Branch Controller Bariboloka Koyor spoke at a campaign aiming to “sensitize” businesses to the eNaira at a market in the country’s most populous city of Lagos on May 9 according to a report from Vanguard. Koyor stated:“Starting from next week, there is going to be an upgrade on the eNaira speed wallet app that will allow you to do transactions such as paying for DSTV or electric bills or even paying for flight tickets.”Koyor said the upgrade was launched to make onboarding easier, touting its wallet that had no charges and was faster than internet banking. He added that in the future, the eNaira will be the only way to receive financial assistance from the government, stressing the advantages of early adoption.“This is a project that the CBN has rolled out to reach every Nigerian in terms of financial inclusion and in terms of efficiency, reliability, and safety of banking transactions so that we can do banking transactions very easily and safely and the people in Nigeria can enjoy the benefit of the eNaira.”The value of the naira has fallen by over 209% in the past six years which has pushed Nigerians to adopt crypto in droves. An April report from the KuCoin crypto exchange highlighted that around 33.4 million Nigerians owned or traded cryptocurrencies in the last six months.Restrictions on crypto trading in the country tightened after the launch of the eNaira in October 2021. The CBN banned banks from servicing crypto exchanges in February of the same year but real enforcement happened in November 2021 when the CBN ordered the accounts of two crypto traders to be frozen.This crackdown led to commercial banks in the country tracking their customer’s accounts looking for signs of cryptocurrency trading which could cause accounts for fintech businesses to be flagged.The restrictions on trading were cause for concern in an April report jointly published by the Secretary Generals of the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN).Related: The Central African Republic reportedly passes a bill to regulate crypto useThe report focused on the urbanization of Africa and said young Africans working in the tech sector “creating apps or trading digital currencies” were at risk from arbitrary government policies. It singled out Nigeria as an example, stating:“The restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions…in Nigeria have crippled foreign direct investment in the fintech industry and negatively impacted millions of young Nigerians who earn a living from the sector. Many have found a way, however, to lawfully bypass these restrictions and continue business, effectively denying Nigeria the taxes and transaction fees that would otherwise come into the system”There are no signs of CBDC adoption slowing down, recent research found 80% of central banks were considering a CBDC. On May 10, Tanzanian officials said that their CBDC plans are accelerating.The Bank of Tanzania Governor Florens Luoga said in a Bloomberg interview that the country sent officials to countries with CBDC experience, including Nigeria, to learn from them directly citing concerns of “cryptocurrency speculators”.

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