In the present day in crypto, Paraguay’s president denied claims that Bitcoin will change into authorized tender, hinting at a attainable hack on official accounts. In Australia, authorities uncovered a suspected $123M crypto laundering scheme tied to a safety firm. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong mentioned unfreezing person accounts is now a prime precedence.
Paraguay warns of ‘irregular exercise’ after submit claiming BTC is authorized tender
The workplace of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña appeared to disclaim a submit on the social media platform X that introduced the nation would start recognizing Bitcoin as authorized tender.
In a Monday submit on X, the official account of the workplace of Paraguay’s president requested followers to “dismiss any just lately printed content material” with out official affirmation from his workplace.
The submit was made minutes after Peña’s private account on X introduced (in English) that Paraguay had made Bitcoin (BTC) authorized tender, and established a BTC reserve value $5 million, additionally offering a pockets handle for buyers to “safe [their] stake.”
On the time of publication, Peña’s private submit had been eliminated, whereas the federal government submit was nonetheless dwell on the platform. The president’s workplace mentioned it was working with the social media platform to “make clear the state of affairs” and for the general public to solely think about data issued by means of official channels.
The X submit got here as some international locations in Central and South America had been reportedly contemplating following El Salvador’s instance by adopting Bitcoin as a reserve asset.
Australia unmasks $123 million crypto laundering ring behind safety agency
Australian authorities have charged 4 people following an 18-month investigation right into a $190 million Australian greenback ($123 million) crypto laundering operation allegedly run by means of a cash-in-transit safety firm.
The Australian Federal Police mentioned that they had frozen about $13.6 million value of suspected legal belongings throughout the states of Queensland and New South Wales.
The Queensland Joint Organized Crime Taskforce (QJOCT), comprising 70 officers from federal and state businesses, started the investigation in December 2023. It reportedly uncovered an operation that used an armored car unit of a safety enterprise as a entrance to launder legal proceeds into cryptocurrency.
Transaction trails from one suspect, who allegedly laundered $9.5 million over 15 months, led investigators to uncover a fancy laundering scheme masked as reputable enterprise exercise.
The safety firm is accused of mixing clear enterprise earnings with illicit money deposited by suspected criminals, then funneling the funds by means of a gross sales promotion firm, a traditional automobile dealership and cryptocurrency exchanges.
The laundered funds had been then allegedly distributed to beneficiaries both in cryptocurrency or through these entrance companies.
Coinbase says it’s tackling frozen accounts in “main difficulty”
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong mentioned the crypto change has decreased pointless person account freezing by 82%, after figuring out it as a “main difficulty.”
In a June 6 X submit, Armstrong acknowledged that account freezing has been an issue “for longer than is suitable,” and that it has change into a prime precedence for his agency to enhance.
“The difficulty has been decreased by 82% to date, with extra enhancements coming. We’ll hold you up to date as additional enhancements roll out,” Armstrong mentioned, asking all prospects with frozen accounts to contact Coinbase Assist.
Coinbase customers have expressed frustration over account restrictions for years, reporting sudden freezes lasting a number of months or longer, prompting some to desert the platform.
Buyer confidence in Coinbase was additionally just lately shaken by a mass knowledge breach that uncovered the main points of greater than 70,000 buyer accounts.
