Dutch investigators said Wednesday they have busted one of the biggest online money laundering services for cryptocurrencies worth hundreds of millions of euros a year.
Tax and federal prosecution officers have confiscated six servers in the Netherlands and Luxembourg, taking the Bestmixer.io virtual currency mixing service offline, the Dutch tax office's criminal branch (FIOD) said.
Bestmixer.io is one of the three largest online mixing services dealing in bitcoins, bitcoin cash and Litecoins, the FIOD said. It was started a year ago and has so far generated sales of at least 200 million dollars (25,000 Bitcoin).
So-called "crypto-mixing services" are used by criminals on the Darknet to mask the origin of virtual currency," the FOID said in a statement.
Services like Bestmixer.io are paid to "launder" online currency such as Bitcoins for a commission, erasing traces of the money's origin, it said.
"People use the mixing service apparently to increase their anonymity. Our ...

Dutch bust major cryptocurrency launderer

PTI Automatic

Bitcoin

Bad news has seemed to not affect Bitcoin which saw a huge collapse in 2018 forcing investors out of the cryptocurrency market

Bitcoin frenzy reaches heyday-levels, generates renewed investor interest

Bloomberg

Southeast Asia is in the grip of a fresh surge of paedophile activity with predators orchestrating and watching abuse on live-streaming sites and via webcams, and paying for it with near-untraceable cryptocurrency, victims and children's charities warn.
With widespread poverty, lax laws, and creaking judicial systems, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines have long been seen as soft spots by foreign and local paedophiles seeking out underage sex in person.
Tougher policing and greater awareness has deterred some offenders, but technology has shifted the patterns of abuse in a region with growing access to broadband internet and encrypted technology.
Paedophiles can now use an array of mobile and online tools -- including social networks, video-sharing sites, and the dark web -- to direct and watch child rape and sexual abuse with anonymity, experts warn.
"Predators watch the rapes on large platforms that are not likely to close," said Francois Xavier Souchet, of ...

Keyboard predators: SE Asia's kids targeted by online paedophiles

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bitcoin, cryptocurrency

Some cryptocurrency fraudsters appeal to people's greed, promising big returns

Cryptocurrency scams: Fraudsters are using ponzi schemes to fool investors

The Conversation

Singapore, May 13 (ANI): One of India's top software technology and services company, Wipro, has been engaged to build a settlements protocol for blockchain, which gave birth to cryptocurrency bitcoin, for eight banks in Thailand."Developed as part of the first phase of Project Inthanon, the solution will enable de-centralised interbank real-time gross settlement (RTGS) using wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency to prove that the technology can perform key functionalities of payment and enhance efficiency," the company said in a statement recently.Blockchain was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. His identity is unknown and almost certainly a pseudonym for a person or a group of people. At that time, "Nakamoto" was trying to come up with a means of validating digital currency transactions via distributed, decentralised peer-to-peer network in the wake of the global financial crisis.This eventually served as the technology which gave birth to the cryptocurrency bitcoin.Blockchain 

Indian tech firm helping Thai banks implement blockchain technology

ANI Automatic

The price of Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, has more than doubled since its Dec. 14 trough and is now rising for a sixth-straight day on Bitstamp

Bitcoin jumps to nine-month high as cryptocurrencies extend rebound

Business Standard

India will be first nation to test FB’s digital currency: Report

According to Facebook insiders, the blockchain group is developing a stablecoin, a type of digital currency pegged to the US dollar or a basket of currencies, making it less prone to swings in price

India will be first nation to test FB's digital currency: Report

Agencies

As part of its updated advertising policies, social networking giant Facebook has decided to lift some restrictions that it imposed on the circulation of cryptocurrency products and services on its platform.


Facebook eases ad policies for Blockchain products


IANS Automatic

One of the biggest Bitcoin exchanges, Binance, announced that hackers carried out a large scale security breach to steal USD 40 million.The official release notes that the hackers were able to withdraw 7,000 Bitcoins in the transaction, impacting about 2 per cent of the company's total Bitcoin holdings.The hackers carried out the attack through multiple independent accounts in a way that passed Binance's existing security checks. Binance said that a thorough security review will be conducted which will take about a week, during which all deposits and withdrawals will remain suspended.

Hackers steal USD 40 million from major Bitcoin exchange

Hackers stole over more than $40 million in cryptocurrency from Binance, which provides a platform for trading more than 100 cryptocurrencies.


Hackers steal over $40mn in bitcoin from Binance


Hackers stole over 7,000 bitcoin from global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which provides a platform for trading more than 100 cryptocurrencies.


Hackers steal 7,000 bitcoin from Binance


The 7,000 bitcoin were withdrawn by hackers using a variety of techniques 'including phishing, viruses and other attacks'

Hackers steal bitcoins worth $41 mn from Binance cryptocurrency exchange

Reuters

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is testing new "Smart Wallet" technology, which would enable future drivers of the luxury cars earn cryptocurrency and make driving related payments on the move.
The UK's largest car manufacturer said the "earn-as-you-drive" tests would mean future owners of its models earn credits by enabling their cars to automatically report useful road condition data, such as traffic congestion or potholes to navigation providers or local authorities.
Drivers could then redeem their rewards, such as free coffee, or use them to automatically pay tolls, parking fees and for smart charging electric vehicles.
"Smart Wallet removes the need for drivers to hunt for loose change or sign up to multiple accounts to pay for a variety of everyday services," JLR said in a statement.
Unlike other similar systems, due to its structure, Smart Wallet would require no transaction fee to operate and over time transactions will get faster across the entire network, forecast .

Tata Motors JLR tests earn-as-you-drive smart cars

Joining the Blockchain bandwagon, Microsoft has unveiled fully-managed Azure Blockchain Service that would simplify the formation, management and governance so that businesses can focus on workflow logic and application development.


Microsoft unveils its own Blockchain-based service


election, facebook

The system would use a digital coin similar to bitcoin, but different in that Facebook would aim to keep the coin's value stable

Facebook considering cryptocurrency-based payment system: Reports

Press Trust of India

The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook plans a cryptocurrency-based payment system that it could launch for billions of users worldwide.
The system would use a digital coin similar to bitcoin, but different in that Facebook would aim to keep the coin's value stable.
Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies have been susceptible to wild fluctuations in value.
It could reportedly undermine credit cards by sidestepping the processing fees that generate much of their revenue.
The Journal report cited unidentified people familiar with the matter.
It said Facebook is recruiting dozens of financial firms and online merchants to launch the network.
Facebook's plans may include ways to financially reward users who interact with ads or other features.
Facebook says only that it is exploring many different applications for cryptocurrency technology.

Report: Facebook considering its own bitcoin for payments

Crypto currency is a "ponzi scheme" and should be banned to protect the interest of investors, a government official said Friday.
Amid continuing debates about crypto currencies such as Bitcoins, the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) Authority, which comes under the corporate affairs ministry, is in favour of banning trade in such currencies.
Crypto currencies are based on blockchain technology and there are concerns about its viability in the long-term and risk to investors, especially considering steep fluctuations in the prices.
These are digital units in which encryption techniques are used for trading and these currencies operate independently of a central bank.
"When it comes to investor protection, the IEPFA has to take a stand against certain things. Against ponzi schemes, we are taking a stand.
"We think that crypto currency is a ponzi scheme and it should be banned," IEPFA CEO Anurag Agarwal said.
Emphasising that it is the view of the IEPFA, Agarwal, also a ...

Crypto currency is 'ponzi scheme', should be banned in India: Govt official

/ --  - Wholesale Platform also known as OTC desk will be operating on zero-fee model and will turn out to be a game changer for big traders in India  - Even after the poor regulatory environment, company has optimistic opinion for the industry future and hence launching innovative products to cater the masses  - BuyUcoin is currently the second oldest cryptocurrency exchange in India with more than 245k users in India
BuyUcoin, which is the second oldest Cryptocurrency Exchange in India, announces the launch of a new and unique platform for wholesale cryptocurrency trading which allows its users to trade on a large scale with low price fluctuations. The platform currently works on free trading model i.e. charges zero fee on any trade.
This new feature introduced by BuyUcoin will help to improve the liquidity of cryptocurrency in Indian market and lead to quicker transaction, better prices and market stability.
The platform is aptly described and known as OTC (Over-the-counter) desk. .

BuyUcoin Introduces First Indian Platform for Wholesale Cryptocurrency Trading

Other major cryptocurrencies that tend be correlated to bitcoin such as ethereum and Ripple's XRP also gained

Bitcoin jumps to a six-month high, tops $5,600 as 2019 rally extends

Mozilla's Firefox has introduced nifty new features that will prevent sites from 'fingerprint tracking.'The method allows sites to track you, even after you have cleared your cookies, through numerous tiny details about your system configuration.The browser will also explicitly block cryptocurrency mining scripts that attempt to hijack your computer's resources to mine digital currency, The Verge reports.The anti-tracking feature and blocking of mining scripts will be available in Firefox's Nightly builds in version 68 and its Beta builds in version 67.Although these will be disabled by default, Mozilla plans to make them opt-out for Nightly builds.To enable the features, head to Privacy tab, select Custom within Content Blocking, and tick boxes next to Cryptominers and Fingerprinters option.

Firefox rolls out new features to prevent browser fingerprinting, cryptomining

bitcoins

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Crypto diehards see Bitcoin's 70 per cent rebound from its 2018 low (and even bigger gains for so-called alt coins) as the start of a new bull market

Has Bitcoin bottomed? Here's how it compares with past bubbles

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