Tag Archives: News

Avail, a project bringing a data availability layer network to the growing modular blockchain ecosystem, has secured $43 million through Series A funding from Cyber Fund. The project will compete with other big names in the DA niche like Celestia. Founded by Polygon co-founder Anurag Arjun, Avail looks to address the scalability issues associated with present-day blockchain builds. The project will ensure newly developed layer 2 networks move away from monolithic builds and utilize its data...

Tools for Humanity Corporation, Worldcoin’s parent company, has reached an agreement with the Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) to stop its operations until the end of 2024. The stoppage of operations comes due to growing concerns about its data storage and usage practices among regulators. Worldcoin faces rising friction from regulators due to its policies surrounding the use of personally identifiable information, like facial patterns and iris scans. It offers users the WLD token...

Keith Gill, more popularly known online as ‘Roaring Kitty’, returned to Reddit after a long-tenured absence to let users of the r/Superstonk subreddit know about their recent $115.7 million worth purchase of 5 million GameStop (GME) stocks. They are often attributed as the user that facilitated the GME short squeeze that sent GME stocks surging at a time when institutions were short-selling the stocks. This unforgettable phenomenon occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic on r/wallstreetbets and...

Polygon Labs has acquired Toposware, a Zero-Knowledge (ZK) startup, which has been working on its type 1 prover technology for some time now. The acquisition comes as Polygon Labs’ third one – it has acquired Mir Protocol and Hermez Network. It paid over $650 million in total for both those projects. With the Toposware acquisition, Polygon Labs’ investments in the ZK ecosystem go beyond the billion-dollar mark. The company has focused on delivering scalable technologies to improve the user...

Weidong Guan, who also goes by Bill Guan, was charged by the Department of Justice (DoJ) for participating in a scheme that laundered $67 million in illicitly obtained funds. The scheme depended on cryptocurrency and prepaid debit cards to funnel funds into Epoch Times’ bank accounts as well as Guan’s personal bank and crypto accounts. The Epoch Times is a global media platform catering to conservative audiences and is often known for bashing the Chinese government. However, the media outlet...

The first-ever spot bitcoin ETF starts trading today in Australia. Listed on Cboe Australia, the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) is managed by Monochrome Asset Management Pty Ltd. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) approved the exchange-traded product sometime during the first quarter of 2024. With the listing going live on June 4, 2024, IBTC becomes the first ETF on Cboe to offer investors direct exposure to bitcoin in a completely regulated setting. According to...

Michael Saylor, Founder and Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy and avid bitcoin supporter, and his company have settled with the District of Columbia for $40 million on what is being called the biggest-ever tax fraud recovery in the district. The District of Columbia brought the suit in 2022 – the first-ever lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act, which accused Saylor of evading taxes while he resided in the district. DC officials claimed he evaded paying taxes for the 10-year period he...

US President Joe Biden signed a veto to stop a resolution from overturning the Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121) of the SEC (Securities and Exchanges Commission) on Friday, riling immediate contention from the crypto industry. The resolution to rescind the SEC’s guidelines saw bipartisan support in both the Houses of Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate, with them voting 228 to 182 and 60 to 38, respectively, to repeal the bulletin. SAB 121 is an accounting...

There are too many scams in the crypto industry, some more serious than others. OneCoin is one such infamous scam that put its founder Ruja Ignatova, on the FBI’s most wanted list. However, the Bulgarian Cryptoqueen has been elusive to law enforcement authorities since 2017, leading to many speculations on whether she is still alive or not. The OneCoin Ponzi scam defrauded investors of over $4.5 billion by projecting it as the next big cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Introduced in 2014,...

CoinspeakerBinance Discontinues Cash Payment Option for P2P Crypto Trades in India Binance users in India can no longer avoid tax payments by making cash deposits for P2P trades as the exchange has suspended this option. Binance Discontinues Cash Payment Option for P2P Crypto Trades in India