New York District Attorney Charges Two for Shadow Banking Crypto Companies

The Southern District of New York Attorney has charged an Arizona man and Israeli woman for allegedly shadow banking cryptocurrency companies, according to an official announcement published on April 30. Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the arrest of Reginald Fowler for allegedly operating an unlicensed money transferring business and bank fraud. His purported co-conspirator Ravid Yosef has also been charged with bank fraud and is still at large, according to Read more …

Crypto Community Reacts to Tether Admitting USDT Not Fully Backed

According to the company behind it, stablecoin USDT is not fully backed by fiat currency deposits. It was revealed today that the controversial crypto asset firm Tether only holds around 74 percent of the total value of USDT’s current circulating supply. Tether and the crypto exchange Bitfinex are currently defending allegations from the New York Attorney General’s office that the latter borrowed $600 million from Tether to stay afloat after the trading venue reportedly lost $850 million. The dramatic shortcomings Read more …

Former Barclays Exec Joins Fidelity Investments to Work on Digital Assets

A former executive of British investment bank Barclays, Chris Tyrer, has joined Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto platform of American financial services corporation Fidelity Investments, Finance Magnates reported on April 30. Tyrer began working on digital assets for Fidelity Investments after serving over 13 years at Barclays as Head of Digital Assets Project, Head of Commodities Trading, and Global Head of Crude Oil Trading, according to his LinkedIn profile. Tyrer and commodity trader Matthieu Jobbe Duval reportedly attempted to establish Read more …

Bitpay Partners With Tax Service Provider- Refundo, to Allow Tax Refund in Crypto

Bitpay, a global cryptocurrency payment processing firm has made it known that it has partnered with Refundo, a tax-related financial products and services provider. Through this partnership, U.S. taxpayer will be able to receive all or a portion of their federal and state tax refunds in crypto. Bitpay and Refundo Making Tax Season Less Stressful Refundo which is a leading tax service provider founded in 2011 provides taxpayers with professional financial services which entails refund transfers, advances, and refunds. The Read more …

U.S. Citizens Can Now Accept Their Federal or State Tax Refund in Bitcoin

Federal tax season just passed in the United States, but if you’re one to leave responsibility to the wayside and had to apply for an extension, that might just pay off. It’ll give you the opportunity to become one of the inaugural users of a new joint-endeavor by crypto payment processor BitPay and tax services company Refundo. The new program called CoinRT gives Refundo users the opportunity to take their federal and state income tax refunds in bitcoin. Tax filers Read more …

Only 74% Backed by Cash, How Will Bitcoin React?

By CCN.com: According to an affidavit filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York by Stuart Hoegner, the general counsel to Tether and major bitcoin exchange Bitfinex, only 74 percent of Tether’s holdings are backed by cash. “As of the date [April 30] I am signing this affidavit, Tether has cash and cash equivalents (short term securities) on hand totaling approximately $2.1 billion, representing approximately 74 percent of the current outstanding tethers,” the affidavit read. The affidavit Read more …

Dow Would Go ‘Up Like a Rocket’ with Trump’s Desired Interest Rate Cut

By CCN: If you think the Dow Jones Industrial Average has had a good run, you haven’t seen anything yet. President Trump wants to see interest rates slashed by 1%, which has the potential to unleash further gains in an already historic bull market for stocks. On a day when progress surrounding U.S. and China trade talks has shown the most promise yet, he’s looking to the rival economy as a model. He compared the Fed’s recent history of “incessantly” Read more …

US-Based Traders Dominate Crypto Trading, More Than Next 5 Countries Combined

The United States has long been one of the world’s most important economies, having a massive influence on the overall global economy and often helps to shape economic policy all over the world. It’s no surprise that the the country dominates the Bitcoin and overall crypto market similar to how it does other financial markets. A new report on the global distribution of crypto traders based on exchange traffic shows that not only the United States as the dominant country Read more …

Millennials Tell Stock Market ‘You Suck’ While Bitcoin Love Affair Persists

By CCN: Millennials bask in knowing they are far more ahead of the technology curve than older adults. This is why their demographic has been more willing to embrace bitcoin as a long-term investment. But what about the stock market? Their proclivity toward crypto has led many to abandon good old fashioned stock market investing. This may prevent them from reaping the long-term gains inherent in buying the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq. Millennials’ Love Affair with Read more …

Mixed Cryptocurrency Transactions Up 300% as Crypto Users Pursue Anonymity

Mixed cryptocurrency transactions now represent 4.09% of all bitcoin (BTC) payments, according to data published by Longhash on April 29. So-called “CoinJoins” have risen by 300% in the space of nine months. By blending multiple transactions together before they are sent to the recipient, the technique is regarded as a way of obscuring the sender’s details. The data was provided by Adam Fiscor, the CTO of the company that runs Wasabi Wallet, a product that aims to deliver greater levels of anonymity to bitcoin Read more …

Two Charged With Running ‘Shadow Banking’ Service for Crypto Exchanges

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it has hit two individuals with bank fraud charges in connection to a system for depositing funds to cryptocurrency exchanges. In a statement, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York alleged that Reginald Fowler of Arizona and Ravid Yosef, said to live in Tel Aviv, Israel, were part of a scheme that involved using bank accounts to move money into a series of unnamed cryptocurrency exchanges. Court documents released by Read more …

Only 74 Percent of Tether’s USDT is Backed By Fiat

Tether and Bitfinex’s general counsel—Stuart Hoegner, has recently made it known that 74 percent of the USDT stablecoin is backed by just 74 percent. Tether Actually Holds $2.1 Billion in Cash and Short-term Securities. Hoegner, who is also Bitfinex’s general counsel made this known wrote in a recent affidavit. There it was stated that the company holds about $2.1 billion in cash and short-term securities. This affidavit was filed in support of an Order to Show Cause to vacate or Read more …