Značka: Florida

EmpiresX 'head trader' to face 4 years of prison over $100M crypto 'Ponzi'

One of the leading figures convicted of being behind the $100 million crypto “Ponzi” scheme, EmpiresX, has just been handed an over four-year jail sentence by a United States court.The sentencing was handed to Joshua David Nicholas, the “head trader” of purported crypto platform EmpiresX, who is nowset to serve a 51-month prison sentence along with three years of supervised release for his role in the fraudulent scheme. It follows a Sept. 8 guilty plea from Nicholas for conspiracy to commit securities fraud.According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), over a two-year period, Nicholas made claims the platform would make daily “guaranteed” returns using a trading bot that utilized “artificial and human intelligence” to maximize returns. In reality, the “bot” was fake, and Nicolas and his associates, Emerson Pires and Flavio Goncalves, operated a “Ponzi” scheme that paid earlier investors with money from later investors. The DOJ alleges blockchain analytics shows Pires and Goncalves, both Brazilian nationals, laundered investors’ funds through a “foreign-based” crypto exchange.Only around $1 million of investor funds were sent to a futures trading account for EmpiresX with the majority of funds either lost or misappropriated according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) which filed civil actions against the three in June.At the same time, fraud charges were leveled against the trio by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which said investor money was used to “lease a Lamborghini, shop at Tiffany & Co., make a payment on a second home, and more.”Related: HashFlare founders arrested in ‘astounding’ $575M crypto fraud schemeInvestors were also told EmpiresX was registered with the SEC as a hedge fund and that Nicholas was a licensed trader.The SEC said the platform was never registered with the Commission and Nicholas’ was suspended from trading by the National Futures Association for misappropriating customer funds.The scheme ran for two years, from around September 2020 until early 2022 when it fell apart as the platform refused to honor customer withdrawals who were likely wanting to leave the crypto market due to significant price drawdowns that began at the time.Pires and Goncalves, who were residing in Florida, allegedly began winding down the operations of EmpiresX in early 2022 and left the U.S., they are now believed to be in Brazil.

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Florida govt warns against auto warranty scammers asking crypto payments

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) issued a warning sharing insights into identifying robocall scam marketing auto warranties, which includes being asked to pay for the services via gift cards and cryptocurrencies. Consumer complaints against increasing robocall scams — wherein scammers use prerecorded calls to market and sell fraudulent services — led the Enforcement Bureau to order phone companies to avoid carrying robocall traffic. Regardless of the methods used by scammers to contact potential victims, the FDACS newsletter highlighted five red flags that indicate scams. Five red flags for identifying scams. Source: fdacs.govStressing on some of the go-to payment methods often being recommended by the scammers, the announcement read:“Payment Type: If you are asked to pay with a gift card or cryptocurrency, it’s a scam.”In addition to asking Florida residents to refrain from making crypto payments, the FDACS reiterated that no government officials would ask for personal information, such as their Social Security or credit card numbers, adding that “Only scammers will require one of those kinds of payment, and once you send the money, you probably won’t get it back.”Although the newsletter mentioned the impossibility of tracking down crypto funds from hackers, numerous corporations, including Velodrome and Curve Finance, have successfully recovered stolen funds — thanks to the immutable nature of blockchain technology.Related: US lawmakers call on Mark Zuckerberg to address ‘breeding ground’ for crypto scams: ReportOn Sept. 5, United States congressman Brad Sherman — a well-known crypto skeptic — acknowledged the rapid growth of the crypto ecosystem, claiming that banning cryptocurrencies was no longer an option.Sherman stated that political donations and crypto lobbying make blanket banning cryptocurrencies impossible, adding that:“We didn’t ban it at the beginning because we didn’t realize it was important, and we didn’t ban it now because there’s too much money and power behind it.”Most lawmakers, including Sherman, favor implementing strict regulatory policies on crypto.

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Propy rallies 227% as real estate NFTs become reality and PRO lists at Coinbase

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) skyrocketed in popularity over the course of 2021 as the wider public became enthralled with projects like the Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, but these one-of-a-kind digital images are only scratching the surface of what NFT technology is capable of. One project focused on expanding the functionality of NFTs beyond the digital art space is Propy, a protocol focused on the integration of blockchain technology with the real estate sector by automating the closing process of home buying to make the entire process faster, simpler and more secure. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $1.12 on Jan. 12, the price of PRO moved 227% higher to hit a daily high at $3.67 on Jan. 14 as its 24-hour trading volume spiked 452% to $29.3 million. PRO/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingViewThree reasons for the sudden surge in Propy price include the token being listed on Coinbase exchange, the successful completion of the first sale of a real estate NFT and growing potential of NFTs to be used in different use cases. The Coinbase bumpThe surge in the price of PRO on Jan. 14 was in large part due to the token listed on Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. INV, LQTY, NCT and PRO are now live on https://t.co/iQARfimGvY & in the Coinbase iOS & Android apps. Coinbase customers can log in now to buy, sell, convert, send, receive or store.https://t.co/Yhm3KRFbAr pic.twitter.com/TFzIoqhQG4— Coinbase (@coinbase) January 13, 2022Prior to the Coinbase listing, the PRO token was only available on a limited number of exchanges including Huobi Global, Bitrue and the decentralized exchange Uniswap. Coinbase is the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume globally and the main exchange serving U.S.-based investors who have historically conducted the highest volume of cryptocurrency trading. The first real estate NFT in the U.S.A second development that is helping to boost the price and trading volume of PRO is the upcoming sale of the first real estate NFT in the United States. According to Propy founder and CEO Natalia Karayaneva, the reason Propy chose Florida for its first U.S.-based real estate sales include a crypto-friendly state government, positive future price growth and demographic statistics, a growing job market and the state’s 0% individual income tax policy. While the upcoming sale in Tampa marks the first real estate NFT sale in the U.S., Propy completed the first-ever NFT sale back in 2017 when TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington sold his Kyiv apartment for 36 Ether. Related: NFT sales and blockchain games continue to grow despite the recent market slump: ReportRising popularity of NFTs and blockchain technologyAnother reason for the building momentum behind Propy is the overall growth in awareness of NFTs and blockchain technology. The promise of integrating NFTs with things like house deeds and corporate contracts has been a topic of discussion for years, and last year’s explosion in NFT interest and trading volume raised the level of public awareness to the point where the concept can gain more traction.On top of the usefulness of NFT technology, the increasingly dire state of the global financial system has investors looking for secure places to store their wealth, for which real estate has long been a preferred safe haven. Best hedge against all of the chaos in the world:1. crypto2. real estate3. investment in yourself— Natalia Karayaneva (@NataliePropy) December 29, 2021

Now, the process of buying and holding real estate is about to enter the 21st century with the integration of blockchain technology and NFTs because the influence of middlemen will be reduced, helping to lower the cost of the entire process. The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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Reelected Miami mayor to take 401k retirement savings partly in Bitcoin

The long-standing mayor of Miami Francis Suarez has now announced plans to take a part of his 401(k) payout in Bitcoin (BTC) just a month after he started receiving salary in BTC. Soon after becoming the first United States lawmaker to accept a part of his salary in Bitcoin, Suarez wants to dedicate a part of his retirement savings to Bitcoin based on “a personal choice,” he said in an interview with Real Vision:“I just think it is a good asset to be invested in. I think it’s one that’s obviously going to appreciate over time. It’s one that I believe in.”Suarez highlighted that Bitcoin’s success is tightly tied to the confidence in the system, which is inherently an “open-source, un-manipulatable system”. The mayor revealed that he has started receiving salary payments in Bitcoin through the help of a third-party payment processor Strike.The mayor also shared that the city government accepts fee payment in Bitcoin from Miami residents. While the Mayor explores the various options for enabling the Bitcoin payments for retirement savings, Suarez is certain to establish a relevant system by 2022. Thank you Governor DeSantis for following Miami’s lead and welcoming crypto innovation and companies into Florida! Now it’s your chance to take the lead as Governor and take your next paycheck in Bitcoin… @RonDeSantisFL you in? https://t.co/Zppp8DCiMe— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) December 9, 2021Related: Miami will hand out free Bitcoin to residents from profits on city coinIn an effort to further drive Miami’s Bitcoin adoption drive, Mayor Suarez announced on Nov. 12 to give Bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to every eligible Miami resident. As Cointelegraph reported, the city of Miami will divide and distribute the BTC yields to residents earned by staking its in-house cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin, which was initially launched by Citycoins to fund municipal projects by generating yield. In a bid to transform the city into a major cryptocurrency hub, Suarez said:“We’re going to create digital wallets for our residents. And we’re going to give them Bitcoin directly from the yield of MiamiCoin.”

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Florida governor's budget proposal wants to let residents pay fees in crypto

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has officially proposed the state government to allow businesses to pay state fees with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).The Republican governor announced the idea as part of his 2022–2023 budget proposal, released on Dec. 9.According to the official budget highlights, DeSantis proposed to provide $200,000 to the Department of Financial Services to offer Florida corporations the ability to “pay state fees via cryptocurrency directly to the Department of State.”“Florida encourages cryptocurrency as a means of commerce and furthering Florida’s attractiveness to businesses and economic growth,” the document reads.DeSantis additionally proposed allocating another $500,000 to explore the potential of blockchain technology to maintain motor vehicle records as well as authenticate Medicaid transactions and detect potential fraud.The overall $700,000 proposal is dedicated to enable a crypto-friendly Florida, the budget proposal reads.Florida has been steadily emerging as a major cryptocurrency-friendly jurisdiction in the United States as one of its major cities, Miami, is being actively promoted as the “world’s Bitcoin and crypto capital.”Related: ​​Navigating CityCoins: Miami citizens to earn Bitcoin despite the city not holding cryptoLast month, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced that he aimed to be the first U.S. lawmaker to accept part of his paycheck in Bitcoin. The official reportedly owns both BTC and Ether (ETH).In September, Miami’s city commissioners voted to accept funds generated by the new MiamiCoin cryptocurrency, which was launched by the smart contracts protocol CityCoins in August. Having generated more than $21 million in yields as of mid-November, MiamiCoin will be available to all Miami residents in the form of a Bitcoin dividend, according to the city mayor.

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