Brazilian President Lula to Act as BRICS Liaison to Help Argentina, Discusses Credit Line in Brazilian Reals

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated Brazil will serve as a facilitator to try and arrange BRICS bloc assistance for Argentina. Lula stated that the New Development Bank — the BRICS bank — could modify some of its rules…

Crypto Exchange Coinbase Faces Legal Action Over Biometric Data Collection

The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been accused of “wrongfully” profiting from its users’ facial and fingerprint scans. “Coinbase collects, stores, possesses, otherwise obtains, uses, and disseminates its users’ biometric data to, amongst other things, further enhance Coinbase and its online…

Crypto Exchange Bitrue Suffers $23 Million Hack

Singapore-based crypto exchange Bitrue has lost millions of U.S. dollars’ worth of ether and other coins in a hack. The trading platform suspended withdrawals until early next week to conduct additional security checks and promised to compensate the affected users. Bitrue…

Crypto Exchange Bitzlato Restores User Access to Half of Bitcoin Balances, Report

Bitzlato users can now partially withdraw their bitcoin funds from the dismantled cryptocurrency exchange, according to a media report. The Russia-linked trading platform was targeted by Western law enforcement and had its France-based server infrastructure seized in January. Bitzlato Customers Allowed…

NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce Charged by SEC for Touting EMAX Tokens

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Basketball Hall of Famer Paul Pierce for touting EMAX tokens and making misleading comments about unregistered crypto securities. The former Boston Celtics small forward agreed to settle the charges and pay the…

Report: FTX Promised High Earnings to African Students That Successfully Recruited Fellow Learners

The collapsed crypto exchange FTX reportedly used the lure of high earnings to convince African university students to become its ambassadors. In addition to encouraging new FTX investors to use the platform, student ambassadors were also required to teach them about…

Report: Egyptian Pound Reaches New Low Against US Dollar Despite Flexible Exchange Rate Regime

The exchange rate of the Egyptian pound versus the U.S. dollar fell to a new low on Jan. 11 after it tapped 32.14 per greenback. The currency’s latest significant depreciation came just a few months after it adopted a flexible exchange…

Hacker Sent to Prison for Robbing Vietnamese Crypto Exchange

Authorities in Vietnam have caught and sentenced a hacker who stole money and data from a local cryptocurrency exchange. The man, who was arrested and charged for extorting the trading platform’s owner, has been ordered to return the money he misappropriated….

SEC Charges Team Behind Coindeal Crypto Fraud That Promised 500,000 Times Investment Returns

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the team behind Coindeal, a $45 million fraudulent crypto investment scheme. The regulator explained that the defendants falsely claimed that Coindeal “would generate investment returns of more than 500,000 times for investors.”…

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…