Tag Archives: AA News

Kim Nam-kuk – a South Korean lawyer and politician – will reportedly sell his cryptocurrency holdings amid a conflict of interest that surrounds his stash.  The Democratic party (DP), which he is part of, will also launch an investigation to determine whether he complied with local requirements when acquiring the tokens.  Inspection Could Reach Other Members of the Party According to a local media outlet, the DP urged Nam-kuk to sell his approximately 800,000 Wemix coins...

Blockchain gaming giant – Animoca Brands – revealed around $3.4 billion in assets in an interim financial update that outlined its key unaudited financial positions as of April 30, 2023. The Hong Kong-based company announced that it remains financially strong with a cash and stablecoin balance of $194 million. The financial statement also reported liquid digital assets of $566 million, including reserves of SAND, the utility token used in The Sandbox platform. Additionally,...

According to an undisclosed White House official, North Korea has funded approximately half of its missile tests through crypto theft and cyberattacks.  A recent Chainalysis report suggested that North Korean hackers embezzled $1.7 billion of digital assets in 2022. Arguably the most notorious local hacking collective – the Lazarus Group – stood behind numerous exploits last year, with the $625 million breach on Ronin Network being the most famous one.  North Korean Hackers...

A new report by global capital markets data platform PitchBook revealed that crypto-focused companies raised $2.6 billion across 353 investment rounds in the first quarter of 2023. The amount raised signaled a 12.2% and 11% decrease in the quarter-on-quarter total number of deals and deal value, respectively. It also represented the fourth consecutive quarter of decreasing investment activity, as the amount was the lowest capital invested and deals completed since Q4 2020....

Stock and crypto investing app Robinhood reported $441 million in net revenue in Q1 2023, up 16% from the previous quarter. Its increased numbers, however, did not come from its crypto business – which appears to be trending in the opposite direction. Crypto Down, Interest Up Per the company’s first-quarter results report on Wednesday, Robinhood’s transaction-based revenues increased 11% quarter over quarter to $207 million.  This included a 7% increase in options revenue to...

The Presidential elections in Turkey (May 14) could have a pivotal role in the country’s future financial condition. They could also affect the local cryptocurrency industry since the two leading candidates – Recep Erdogan (the current political leader) and Kemal Kilicdaroglu – share entirely different views.  The former declared “war” on bitcoin in 2021 and supported the central bank’s efforts to launch digital lira. Kilicdaroglu stands on the opposite corner as a proponent...

The world’s largest crypto trading platform said it will be winding down its Canadian arm two years after being greenlighted to operate in the country. Binance mentioned a recent amendment in the local legislation that affected stablecoin deposits and purchases on exchanges. Binance announced its intentions on Twitter, saying it will “be joining other prominent crypto businesses in proactively withdrawing from the Canadian marketplace.” The exchange admitted that it was a...

The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City reportedly brought to court 16 Vietnamese who might stand behind a $1.5 million crypto robbery and kidnapping. Interestingly, two of the defendants are former police officers. Vietnam is one of the global leaders in terms of cryptocurrency adoption. Despite its rising popularity, the government has not imposed a legal framework on the asset class.  The Movielike Story According to a local media outlet, the whole drama started in 2018...

On May 11, MetaMask revealed that it had added PayPal as a payment option for Ethereum purchases. However, the new payment channel is only available to U.S. users. “MetaMask is the first web3 wallet to enable users to buy ETH using PayPal, a leader in the digital payment space,” it said. The integration also supports ETH transfers from PayPal to MetaMask, creating more self-custody adoption. However, many of those responding to the tweet were more interested in when MetaMask...

The US IRS has reportedly provided advanced training to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies in an attempt to detect illegal cryptocurrency transactions carried out by Russian oligarchs and companies.  Numerous entities and experts have argued that Russia could employ digital assets to evade restrictions (imposed by the Western World after the start of the military conflict in Ukraine) or finance war-related efforts. The US Treasury Department sanctioned five crypto addresses...