Author: Stephen Nellis

Roman Sterlingov, associated with the Bitcoin Fog crypto mixer involved in a $400 million operation, was found guilty of various offenses, including money laundering in the United States. The conviction follows a detailed four-week trial. Sterlingov, a 35-year-old dual citizen of Russia and Sweden, faced charges like conspiracy to launder money, conducting sting operations related to money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and breaking the D.C. Money Transmitters Act. The U.S. Justice Department highlighted Bitcoin Fog as a major Bitcoin laundering service on the darknet, functioning from October 2011 to April 2021. It primarily assisted criminals in concealing…

CoinShares International Limited, a leading European investment firm in the digital asset sector, has successfully completed its acquisition of Valkyrie Funds LLC and the investment advisory operations of Valkyrie Investments Inc., including the rights to the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, a Bitcoin ETF backed by physical assets. The acquisition introduces roughly $530 million in assets under management (AUM) from Valkyrie into CoinShares, elevating its global AUM to an impressive $7.3 billion as of March 11, 2024. CoinShares had initially obtained the option to acquire Valkyrie in November 2023, embarking on the acquisition process after the January 2024 launch of the Valkyrie…

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has taken decisive action against Fiduserve Asset Management Ltd by imposing a significant administrative fine of €50,000. The firm, which is a licensed investment fund manager in Cyprus, faced repercussions for various infringements of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law. CySEC’s penalty is rooted in Fiduserve’s failure to adhere to key regulatory requirements. Notably, the largest portion of the fine, €20,000, was for the company’s negligence in gathering essential details about their investors’ financial conditions, investment goals, and risk tolerance from June 2018 to October 2021. This omission contravened regulations…

Nvidia Corporation, a prominent player in the field of artificial intelligence due to its powerful chips, is facing legal action from three authors who claim the company used their copyrighted works without consent to enhance its AI platform, NeMo. Brian Keene, Abdi Nazemian, and Stewart O’Nan have brought forward a lawsuit stating that their publications were included in a collection of roughly 196,640 books utilized to train NeMo in mimicking human-like written language. This dataset was removed in October following allegations of copyright infringement. The legal challenge, filed as a proposed class action in a San Francisco federal court, suggests…

Poland is taking significant steps to integrate the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation into its national framework, aiming to bolster the oversight of its cryptocurrency market. This initiative seeks to regulate and supervise crypto activities including issuance, trading, and service provision, empowering the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF) with new authorities, notably the capacity to suspend crypto accounts. Under the proposed legislation, the KNF can autonomously freeze cryptocurrency accounts for up to 96 hours if a transaction is suspected of being related to criminal activities. With judicial approval, these restrictions can extend to six months. Izabela Deryło, a tax…

eToro, an Israeli brokerage, is revisiting its plan to go public, eyeing a valuation over $3.5 billion, as disclosed by CEO Yoni Assia in a conversation with the Financial Times. This comes after a prior unsuccessful attempt, where eToro had arranged a $10.4 billion merger with a SPAC, marking a significant decrease in the proposed valuation. The brokerage, with a strong operational base in the United Kingdom, is contemplating the United States for its public listing due to the market’s profound liquidity. Nevertheless, it hasn’t dismissed London as a possible venue for going public. Assia highlighted the preference among retail…

Bahrain-based Eazy Financial Services, known as EazyPay, has embarked on a strategic partnership with talabat, a leading food delivery and quick commerce platform, aimed at bolstering the online payment landscape in the region. This alliance seeks to enhance the payment processes for talabat’s customers, making credit and debit card transactions more streamlined across the platform’s diverse services, and is anticipated to yield significant advantages for both merchants and individual users. In a bid to further its commitment to innovative payment solutions, EazyPay has also recently unveiled a Visa Direct account funding solution. This initiative, which facilitates swift and secure fund…

Stripe, a leading financial infrastructure platform for businesses, has recently entered into a strategic partnership with The Hertz Corporation, aiming to revolutionize the way car rental payments are processed for Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty brands. This significant collaboration is poised to make waves in the car rental industry’s digital transformation efforts. By leveraging Stripe’s platform, the partnership intends to consolidate a major portion of both in-person and online payments, in line with Hertz’s digital rental strategy. This move highlights Hertz’s commitment to simplifying payment processes across its corporate-owned locations spanning the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Through this…

Cryptopia, a New Zealand-based cryptocurrency exchange that went bankrupt after a catastrophic cyberattack in 2019, has unveiled its plan to return digital assets to its affected users. This decision comes after a lengthy period of legal battles and uncertainty, signaling a potential reprieve for those impacted by the breach, as detailed in a Coindesk report. In 2019, Cryptopia suffered a massive security breach that led to the loss of millions of dollars worth of tokens. This incident forced the exchange to file for liquidation and halt its operations. However, the recent announcement indicates that Cryptopia is ready to begin redistributing…

TradingView has recently welcomed IC Markets into its fold as a new global partner, a move set to expand trading possibilities for its users. This partnership introduces a wide array of Contracts for Difference (CFDs) including cryptocurrencies, futures, indices, and currency pairs, all available with fast execution times and competitive spreads. The collaboration between TradingView and IC Markets brings CFD trading directly into the familiar interface of TradingView charts, enhancing the trading experience with favorable terms and a broad spectrum of trading options. For users to start trading, they simply need to access the trading panel, select the IC Markets…