• A new bill has been introduced to the Australian parliament to implement a licensing framework for cryptocurrency exchanges.
• If passed, the Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2023 would require crypto exchanges in Australia to obtain a license in order to operate legally.
• The proposed framework also includes provisions for regulating stablecoins and custody obligations.

Australian Parliament Introduces Crypto Exchange Licensing Bill

On Wednesday, Australian opposition senator Andrew Bragg introduced a new bill to the country’s parliament to implement a licensing regime for crypto exchanges.

Purpose Of The Bill

If passed, the bill would require Australian crypto exchanges to obtain a license to operate legally, bringing them in line with other financial service providers in the country who are also subject to licensing requirements. The bill also includes provisions for regulating stablecoins and custody obligations.

Private Member’s Bill

Senator Bragg introduced the Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2023 as a private senator’s bill, which aims to protect consumers and encourage investment in digital assets by introducing regulatory measures. While Australian ministers typically introduce new regulatory changes, the Parliamentary Education Office notes that individual members of parliament can also introduce private members’ or private senators’ bills.

Criticism Of Government Action

Senator Bragg also criticized the current Labor government for failing to implement multiple recommendations related to crypto regulations. The Senate Select Committee in Australia introduced these regulations as a Technology and Financial Centre in October 2021.

Regulation In Focus

Regulation is the center stage for the crypto industry across multiple jurisdictions. Senator Bragg argued that the Australian government’s inability to ensure regulatory clarity surrounding the industry makes it vulnerable to industry-wide events, for instance,

• US Prosecutors are cracking down on fraudulent crypto schemes and charged Irina Dilkinska, the former head of legal and compliance at OneCoin, with one count of conspiracy in committing money laundering and one count of wire fraud.
• The maximum sentence for each count is 20 years imprisonment due to her involvement in laundering more than $400 million of proceeds from the fraudulent crypto scheme.
• Ruja Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood founded OneCoin in 2014 as a project that was later discovered to be a fraudulent pyramid scheme.

Tightening Crypto Regulations in the US

Cryptocurrency regulation is becoming increasingly stringent in the United States following several cases of fraud and crashes of crypto-related firms. In an effort to prevent similar occurrences, US prosecutors are on the scene to handle cases related to unlawful activities involving cryptocurrencies.

OneCoin’s Head Of Compliance Facing 40 Year Imprisonment

The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has recently charged Irina Dilkinska, the former head of legal and compliance at OneCoin, on March 21 with one count of conspiracy in committing money laundering and one count of wire fraud. Each charge carries a maximum 20 year prison sentence due to her involvement with laundering over $400 million worth of proceeds from the fraudulent OneCoin crypto scheme.

Founders Of OneCoin Scheme On The Run

Ruja Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood founded OneCoin back in 2014 as a project that claimed to offer a cryptocurrency token but was later discovered by authorities to be nothing more than a fraudulent pyramid scheme. To avoid prosecution, both founders have gone into hiding while Dilkinska had fled Bulgaria before being deported back on March 20th after attempting to destroy incriminating evidence related to her involvement with Onecoin’s illegal activities.

US Prosecutors Crack Down On Crypto Frauds

With stiffer regulations been put into place by authorities regarding cryptocurrencies, it is clear that any form of criminal activity involving digital assets will not go unpunished. With this recent case against Irina Dilkinska being an example, US prosecutors are taking all necessary steps required in order prevent further scams from occurring within its borders or abroad via its citizens involved with such illicit activities.

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• Crypto.ro, Romania’s leading crypto and blockchain media platform, is hosting the much-awaited “The Alliance” conference in Timișoara on September 21st, 2023.
• The conference will bring together top creative thinkers, industry game changers, investors and passionate blockchain fans to discuss the newest trends and opportunities in crypto.
• Crypto.ro delivers current and precise details on the evolving landscape of cryptocurrencies, providing extensive insights into the crypto sphere and offering a free cryptocurrency course for investors.

Crypto.ro Hosts “The Alliance” Conference in Timișoara

Crypto.ro, Romania’s leading cryptocurrency and blockchain media platform, just announced it is hosting the much-awaited “The Alliance” conference in Timișoara. This prestigious conference is scheduled for September 21st, 2023 at the renowned Galla Events venue.

What Is The Alliance?

“The Alliance” is a must-attend crypto conference for community members looking to meet like-minded investors, share tips and discover the hottest trends in the crypto market. Anticipating over 500 global attendees this one-day crypto event offers participants a chance to connect, gain knowledge and discuss recent crypto news while working alongside some of the most prominent figures in cryptocurrency and blockchain tech arena.

About Crypto.ro

Crypto.ro stands as a top crypto media hub delivering current and precise details on the evolving landscape of cryptocurrencies. Boasting a knowledgeable team it provides extensive insights into the crypto sphere encompassing market movements legislative changes as well as a free cryptocurrency course designed to assist investors in choosing promising cryptos to invest in. It also offers comprehensive reviews that equip investors with necessary information to make informed decisions when entrusting their funds to reliable platforms such as exchanges or wallets etc..

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• The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is taking legal action against unregulated crypto ATMs in the city of London.
• The FCA believes these unregistered crypto ATMs are “high risk” and could be used for illicit activities such as money laundering.
• The FCA is working with the National Economic Crime Centre and the Metropolitan Police to inspect sites suspected of hosting illegal crypto ATMs.

UK Financial Watchdog Takes Legal Action Against Unregulated Crypto ATMs

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has taken legal action against unregulated crypto ATMs in the city of London. According to Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, “Crypto ATMs operating without FCA registration is illegal” and “we [FCA] will take action to stop this.”

High Risk Of Illicit Activities

The FCA believes unregistered crypto ATMs are “high risk” and could be used for illicit activities such as money laundering. Last month, the regulatory body issued warnings to unregistered crypto ATM providers in the UK region, ordering them to cease all operations immediately. In addition, it is also in a “joint operation with the Metropolitan Police” to inspect several sites, using its “enforcement powers.”

Coordination With Law Enforcement Partners

The FCA noted it will only continue to use its “powers to inspect several sites in East London suspected of hosting illegally operating crypto ATMs”. It is also working with the National Economic Crime Centre to plan and coordinate action with law enforcement partners against operators of illegal crypto ATMs.

Growing Adoption Of Crypto Assets

As the cryptocurrency industry continues to gain more traction over the past years, regulators have continued clamping down on different sectors within this space. This includes regulating firms offering services related to digital assets including exchanges and custodial wallets as well as other developing technologies such as crypto ATMs.

Conclusion

It’s important for regulators like the FCA take steps towards ensuring that all digital asset services providers adhere strictly by existing laws so that users can trust their investments are safe from any form of fraud or manipulation.

• Exodus Wallet hints at potential integration with Shibarium, Shiba Inu’s layer 2 network.
• MetaMask launches SDK in Unity Asset Store, which could benefit Shiba Inu ecosystem.
• Both wallet providers have caused a stir within the SHIB army ahead of beta launch of Shibarium.

Exodus Wallet Checks Shibarium Integration

One of the oldest non-custodial crypto wallets, Exodus, has announced via Twitter that it has “logged” Shiba Inu’s upcoming layer 2 network with its asset team. A SHIB community member requested the wallet provider via Twitter to integrate Shibarium, and in response, the Exodus team did not explicitly confirm its willingness to support the network but noted that the request had been forwarded to the relevant department and suggested an alternative way for SHIB army to add Shibarium’s ERC20-based tokens to their Exodus wallets themselves.

MetaMask Launches SDK

Shiba Inu Lead Dev, Shytoshi Kusama drew attention to the launch of the MetaMask SDK, which was launched in the Unity Asset Store. The SDK will allow developers to use MetaMask as a bridge between traditional web apps and blockchain technology, allowing users to interact with decentralized applications more easily.

Growing List Of Platforms Supporting Shibarium

Should Exodus declare support for Shibarium, it would join Atomic Wallet and Ledger as platforms who have already announced their support for Shiba Inu’s layer 2 network.

Benefits Of Integration With Existing Wallets

Allowing users to access their funds through mainstream wallets like Exodus or MetaMask is likely to further increase adoption of SHIB tokens by providing a familiar user experience while being able to take advantage of all benefits offered by blockchain technology such as security and transparency.

What Does The Future Hold?

Only time will tell what kind of delightful surprises are waiting for SHIB army members in terms of wallet integrations or other new features related to Shiba Inu’s layer 2 network but one thing is certain – there is plenty of excitement ahead!

• CertiK recently released a report which revealed that an Arbitrum-based DeFi project, Hope Finance, lost $2 million to scammers.
• The culprits had secretly removed this amount from the project’s users’ funds.
• The decentralized finance sector witnessed about 155 theft incidents and lost over $3.1 billion in 2022.

Hope Finance Robbed of $2 Million

CertiK, a web3 security company, reported that a decentralized finance (DeFi) project based on Arbitrum, Hope Finance, was robbed of $2 million by scammers. The culprits were able to clandestinely remove the money from the platform’s users’ funds.

Vulnerability in Smart Contract

A member of CertiK stated that the scammer modified smart contract details to hastily extract funds from the genesis protocol of Hope Finance. On February 13th, Cognitos did an audit and discovered two vulnerabilities in its central contracts: reentrancy attack possibility and incorrect modifier; however, it still concluded that the code was secure enough.

Increase in Theft Incidents

It has been noted that there has been an increase in fraud cases compared to 2021 with total losses amounting up to $3.1 billion in 2022 alone. This is a 56.2% rise when compared to last year’s figure at $2036015 896 worth of losses resulting from 155 different theft incidents across the crypto ecosystem.

Emergency Withdrawal Function

In light of the situation, Hope Finance created an emergency withdrawal function for its users so they could take out their staked liquidity before any further damage occurred due to potential scams or other malicious activities on their platform.

Conclusion

The recent incident is one example out of many which shows why additional security measures must be taken within the cryptocurrency industry moving forward if it is going to become as safe as traditional finance systems are today or even more so than them in terms of protection against cybercrimes such as these ones mentioned here today.

• Elon Musk announced in December 2020 that he would step down as Twitter CEO once a replacement was found.
• In March 2021, Musk said it would be “good timing” to find someone else to run the company by the end of 2023.
• The takeover of Twitter last October was marred by controversy due to employee layoffs and a failed paid verification program.

Elon Musk Intends To Step Down As Twitter CEO

Elon Musk announced in December of last year that he will step down as CEO of Twitter once a replacement is found, but will continue to operate some important divisions of the popular social media network. He tweeted at the time that he would quit as chief exec as soon as he found “someone foolish enough” to assume the post.

Survey Results Support Resignation

After conducting a survey of his followers in December, Elon Musk announced his intention to relinquish control of Twitter. In that poll, over 60% of those questioned supported his resignation. Concerns about the Tesla CEO being distracted from the electric vehicle maker, in which he is actively involved in production and engineering, as well as operations from his other firms, fueled the unanimity.

Twitter Takeover Marred By Controversies

Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last October was marred by turmoil and debate. Since purchasing the social media site, he has fired around 50% of its employees and tried to implement Twitter’s paid verification component before suspending it.

Finding Replacement Could Be Difficult

Musk stated last year that finding someone to take over Twitter could be difficult. He reportedly told remaining employees that the company might suffer “net negative cash flow of several billion dollars” in 2023 and that “bankruptcy is not out of the question” after letting go of personnel last year.

Good Timing To Hire New CEO By End-2023

On Wednesday, Musk again made public his intention to stand down, saying it would be “good timing” to find someone else to run Twitter by the end of 2023 when he believes the social media network will be stable.

• A firm called Webaverse suffered a ~$4M social engineering exploit recently.
• The hack involved sophisticated ‘long game’ of social engineering backed by fake KYC info, fraudulent websites and an in-person meeting.
• This story comes shortly after a similar exploit resulted in the theft of over a dozen Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs with losses estimated at $1M.

Webaverse Suffers ~$4M Social Engineering Exploit

A firm building a game engine and MMO (massive multiplayer online game) inspired by metaverse characteristics, Webaverse recently took a brutal hit after suffering a ~$4M social engineering exploit. This wasn’t your ‘run of the mill’ hack – or at least, it hasn’t been presented as such. While the executional details of the hack are still very much in question, one thing is for sure: this was the result of a sophisticated ‘long game’ of social engineering backed by fake KYC info, fraudulent websites, and topped off with an in-person meeting.

Exploits Reach New Levels

These days, curious minds can’t be inquisitive enough – and due diligence just can’t be diligent enough. We covered an exploit that resulted in the theft of over a dozen Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs just two months ago, and another recent story with similar strokes tell us that one thing is for sure: with the dollar amounts in today’s crypto landscape, hackers and exploiters are willing to go to unbelievably great lengths to scam digital assets. December’s NFT heist featured an elaborate fake casting director who utilized a fake website, fake email domains, fake pitch decks, and more – all to build a façade of trust, and combat efforts of due diligence. The result was over $1M in immediate losses for the owner.

Webaverse Hack Details

This ‘similar but different’ story came to light this week via DefiLlama coder 0xngmi’s tweet which linked to an official statement from the Webaverse team drafted by their co-founder CEO Ahad Shams detailing that in November 2022 they had weeks dialogue with what turned out to be scammers posing as potential investors who eventually stole keys leading to their wallet containing approximately $4M USDT stablecoins (though some users have moved away from USDT).

Raising Capital Challenges In Crypto Environment

Raising capital in the crypto environment can bring unique challenges which means curious minds must remain inquisitive while also taking extra caution when conducting due diligence on prospective investments or partners otherwise they risk becoming victims like those mentioned above who have suffered significant financial losses as result of sophisticated scams.

Conclusion

In conclusion it’s important to remember that when dealing with large amounts that there will always be parties looking take advantage so its best practice take extra precautions when conducting business deals involving digital assets or cryptocurrencies otherwise you may find yourself victim as seen countless times before .

• According to data shared by Solidus Labs, the U.S. regulatory agencies SEC, CFTC, and FinCEN have taken a total of 58 enforcement actions against crypto projects in the last year; a 65% increase from 2021.
• The SEC has been crypto’s biggest opposer and has announced 30 actions against projects and companies in the sector, including LBRY and Ripple.
• The CFTC has also recorded 19 cases against crypto projects, making it the second most active U.S. regulator in the sector.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have been growing in popularity at an astonishing rate over the past decade, with investors, entrepreneurs, and hobbyists alike all taking part in the industry. But despite its meteoric rise, the crypto space isn’t without its share of critics and opponents, particularly from regulators in the United States.

Recent data from Solidus Labs shows that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have taken a total of 58 enforcement actions against crypto projects in the last year. This figure is a 65% increase from 2021 and around 60% from the year before, highlighting a growing trend of regulation and oversight in the industry.

The SEC has been the biggest opponent to the crypto sector, with the agency announcing 30 enforcement actions against projects and companies in the space over the past year. Most notably, the Commission has taken legal action against peer-to-peer digital marketplace LBRY, as well as payment company Ripple, where the case is still ongoing as the Commission attempts to gain more control over the industry.

The CFTC is the second most active U.S. regulator in the space, having taken 19 enforcement actions against crypto projects in the last year. The Commission has opened cases against high-profile companies such as ErisX, LedgerX, and Circle, as well as issuing fines to projects such as Coinbase and Kraken for failing to meet certain regulations.

The data shows that U.S. regulators are increasingly targeting the crypto space, and that the legal actions taken have been the highest for almost a decade. This is perhaps indicative of the growing acceptance of the industry, as well as the fact that more and more companies are entering the space and requiring greater oversight and regulation.

Overall, it’s clear that the crypto space is under greater scrutiny from U.S. regulators, and that companies in the sector should be aware of all the relevant regulations and laws to ensure that they remain compliant. Although the space is still relatively new and largely unregulated, it is likely that regulation will become more stringent as the industry continues to grow.

• The XRP Ledger has proposed a new amendment to its system with the code XLS-34d.
• The amendment will make it possible to use Trustline balances on Escrows and PayChannels and improve the capabilities of non-XRP native XRPL assets.
• It will also allow token issuers to retain authorization control of their assets.

The XRP Ledger, an open-source, decentralized, and permissionless network, facilitates several payments-related applications such as DeFi, micropayments, and even NFTs. Over the years, its native token XRP has grown to be among the top in the crypto space. As a result, the XRP Ledger has recently proposed a new amendment for implementation on the ledger. Denis Angeli is the contributor and proposer of the recent amendment tagged with the code XLS-34d.

The proposal’s details suggest several changes to the structural facilities of the XRPL ecosystem. These changes are supposed to improve the capabilities and functionalities of non-XRP native XRPL assets. Specifically, the amendment will change the XRP ledger transactions, objects, and even RPC methods to make it possible to use Trustline balances on Escrows and PayChannels.

At present, the network supports different on-ledger negotiable instruments such as Checks, Escrows, and PayChannels. However, the Escrows and PayChannels are only used for the native XRP assets. It is only the Check that allows the use of Trustline balances. With the changes included in the XLS-34d proposal, the escrow accounts would include all assets developed on the XRP ecosystem. This will make it possible for a project team to lock some tokens in a Trustline balance and monitor the token supply.

Moreover, the amendment will allow token issuers to retain authorization control of their assets. This is extremely important because it ensures that the assets remain under the control of the original issuer rather than third-party entities. Furthermore, the changes will make it easier to trace and audit the transactions associated with a particular asset. Additionally, it will enable token issuers to set transfer restrictions on their assets, thus ensuring that only authorized users are able to make transfers.

Overall, the XLS-34d proposal is expected to significantly improve the capabilities of the XRP Ledger and its native XRP token. It will enable the use of Trustline balances on Escrows and PayChannels and also allow token issuers to retain authorization control of their assets. Ultimately, these changes are expected to make the XRP Ledger and its native XRP token more attractive to users and investors.