Author: NBTC
Kansas-based now-failed Heartland Tri-State Bank’s former head has pled guilty on Thursday for embezzling $47.1 million for a series of “personal crypto purchases.” This led to the bank’s failure in July 2023, at a complete loss of equity for investors, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas noted. Shan Hanes, 52, who served as the CEO of the bank, purportedly orchestrated crypto schemes to cover the bank’s losses. He was squandering away tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, the court order noted. “Shan Hanes is a liar and a master manipulator who caused Heartland Tri-State Bank to…
In the wake of significant turbulence in the cryptocurrency market, Samson Mow, a well-known advocate of the “$1 million for Bitcoin” theory, has emerged with a clear and optimistic outlook on Bitcoin’s future. Following a sharp decline in the price of Bitcoin, triggered by geopolitical tensions, Mow’s confidence in the cryptocurrency remains unwavering. Despite recent losses, he maintains a bullish stance, expressing his conviction that Bitcoin holds strong potential for future growth. The recent market downturn saw Bitcoin losing nearly 14% of its value, reaching a low of $60,660, its lowest level in almost a month. Altcoins experienced even greater…
Interoperability protocol Omnity has announced the integration cross-chain transactions for Runes using Internet Computer (ICP) infrastructure, allowing the usage of these assets in different decentralized applications. Runes are a Bitcoin (BTC) metaprotocol facilitating the trade of fungible tokens without transaction fees that went live after the halving. Omnity is the first protocol supporting Runes interoperability, a move that aims at reducing Bitcoin network congestion by leveraging ICP to handle transactions. This integration comes at a critical time as Bitcoin’s network activity surges due to ETF inflows, Ordinals inscriptions, BRC-20 tokens, and now Runes. In less than a week, the Bitcoin…
The Worldcoin Foundation expressed disappointment with Hong Kong regulatory authorities’ recent ban, emphasizing its commitment to lawful operation and data privacy compliance. The Worldcoin Foundation has expressed its disappointment with the recent decision by Hong Kong regulatory authorities to ban its operations, asserting that the organization operates lawfully and complies fully with all relevant data privacy laws, including Hong Kong’s personal data (privacy) ordinance. In a commentary to crypto.news, a spokesperson for the Worldcoin Foundation said the company “operates lawfully and is designed to be fully compliant with all laws and regulations governing data collection and use.” “This includes the…
Mizuho Securities is a major Japanese investment banking and securities firm. It is a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, one of the largest financial services companies in Japan, which also includes Mizuho Bank and Mizuho Trust & Banking. On 12 April 2024, Dan Dolev, a senior research analyst at Mizuho Securities, joined CNBC’s “The Exchange”, where he provided a detailed and somewhat critical perspective on the cryptocurrency market, mainly focusing on Bitcoin and Coinbase. Dolev expressed significant skepticism about Bitcoin’s role and stability as an investment vehicle. He questioned whether Bitcoin behaves more like a growth stock or a store…
Despite a global crypto market downturn, Wormhole (W) surged by 7% to reach $0.6346. Introducing Native Token Transfers (NTT) for W allows seamless use across Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base. In defiance of the broader downturn in the crypto market, Wormhole’s native token (W) has surged by 7% within the last 24 hours, reaching $0.6346. This spike has propelled Wormhole’s market cap to $1.14 billion, securing its position at 73rd place in the cryptocurrency rankings. Additionally, the trading volume for W has soared by 72% in the same period, hitting $164 million. Wormhole has exhibited a price range of…
Korean regulators seem to be under pressure as U.S., Hong Kong regulators approved Bitcoin, Ethereum ETFs, sparking debate on crypto’s role in finance. South Korean financial regulators are under mounting pressure to approve exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for cryptocurrencies, following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent approval of spot Ethereum ETFs, the Korea Times reports, citing local representatives of both crypto and traditional finance markets. A spokesperson for Xangle, a Seoul-based crypto data provider, criticized Korea’s current approach as “outdated” and suggested that recent actions in the U.S. would likely put more pressure on Korean regulators. “Under the circumstances,…
Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions have gained significant traction this year but have also drawn their fair share of criticisms. Mempool founder Mononaut has strongly criticized them and pointed out several drawbacks from a technical standpoint. Interestingly, Mononaut’s stance gains support as Bitcoin Ordinals founder Casey Rodarmor. Bitcoin Layer 2 Under Fire The main objective of Bitcoin Layer-2 networks – which serve as secondary protocols built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain – is to improve scalability and transaction efficiency. This is achieved by offloading transactions from the main blockchain, leading to faster transaction processing and decreased congestion, ultimately resulting in…
Cardano (ADA) has recently surged to remarkable heights in whale activity, with a staggering average daily transaction volume of $13.84 billion over the past week, as reported by IntoTheBlock. This influx of large transactions places Cardano’s activity at one-third of Bitcoin’s current volume, surpassing Litecoin by a striking 500% and outpacing Dogecoin by an astonishing 1,600%. Delving deeper into the on-chain data reveals a dynamic landscape of fluctuating volumes. Despite a slight decline from its peak of 27.67 billion ADA (equivalent to $14.08 billion), the volume of large transactions remains formidable at 23.22 billion ADA (equivalent to $10.87 billion). Cardano…
Police in the U.K. seized over 1.7 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) worth of bitcoin related to the alleged fraud in a 2018 operation. Wen accused of laundering the proceeds of the fraud, converting the bitcoin into cash and purchasing property, jewelery and other luxury items. Wen admitted to being control of a bitcoin wallet on behalf of her boss but claimed that she was unaware where the contents had come from. A British-Chinese woman guilty of laundering bitcoin in a $6 billion fraud in China has been sentenced to six year and eight months in prison, the Financial Times (FT)…