Iran Shuts Down Over 8,000 Illegal Crypto Mining Farms in 3 Years

Authorities in Iran have closed down more than 8,000 underground facilities for cryptocurrency mining in the past three years, local media reported. Despite the government’s crackdown, illegal crypto mining continues to account for a serious amount of energy consumption, official figures…

Bitcoin Community Divided: Scaling Challenges Trigger Intense Debate as Mempool Overflows

This week, the Bitcoin community has been abuzz with discussions about the network’s scaling challenges. As the blockchain’s transfer fees continue to surge, the backlog of transactions stuck in the mempool has hit an unprecedented high. Crypto enthusiasts have been sharing…

Binance Increases USDC Holdings as BUSD’s Market Cap Slides Lower

Eight days ago, Paxos announced that the company would no longer mint the stablecoin BUSD. Since then, the coin’s market capitalization has been sliding lower as redemptions have become more prominent. Meanwhile, a data researcher from Nansen has discovered that Binance,…

House Republicans Demand Answers From SEC Over FTX Co-Founder’s Arrest

On Feb. 10, 2023, Republicans Patrick McHenry of North Carolina and Bill Huizenga of Michigan, both members of the U.S. House of Representatives, sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler seeking answers about the arrest of…

US Senator Focused on Crypto Money Laundering Crackdown — Urges Congress, Regulators to Take Action

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on Congress to ensure regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), have the tools to regulate the crypto industry effectively and crack down on crypto money laundering activities. “The current legal structure essentially…

New York Attorney General Sues Celsius Co-Founder Alex Mashinsky for Crypto Fraud

On Jan. 5, 2023, the state of New York and attorney general Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Alex Mashinsky, the co-founder and former CEO of Celsius. The lawsuit claims that Mashinsky and Celsius defrauded “hundreds of thousands of investors, including…

Iran Returns Seized Crypto Mining Equipment to Miners

A government body responsible for state property in Iran has released some of the hardware seized from illegal crypto mining farms. Its top executive explained the agency was obliged to do that by courts in the Islamic Republic, where unlicensed miners…

New Naira Banknotes to Make Monetary Policy More Effective — Nigerian Central Bank Governor

The Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, has said the newly designed naira banknotes are set to enhance the effectiveness of the organization’s monetary policy and bolster the financial inclusion cause. Forcing Currency Hoarders to Return to the Banking System…

Report: State Securities Regulators Probe Crypto Lender Genesis

State securities regulators are reportedly investigating Genesis Global Capital in a broad range probe into the “interconnectedness of crypto firms,” Barron’s reported on Friday. The report notes that the Alabama Securities Commission is looking into whether or not cryptocurrency firms have…

Kazakhstan Investigates Crypto Mining Hotel Allegedly Operating as Ponzi Scheme

Authorities in Kazakhstan have launched an investigation into a mining hotel business suspected of being a crypto pyramid as part of an ongoing crackdown on illegal activities linked to cryptocurrencies. The platform, called Bincloud, lured investors through popular messaging apps. Bincloud…