US Gov’t Extradites Alleged Fraudster for Selling Fake Securities for $11M in BTC

The United States has extradited a Swedish national from Thailand for allegedly selling fraudulent securities to investors online, garnering over $11 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC). Per a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) published on Nov. 18, Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson is on his way to the U.S. to stand trial on behalf of himself and his company, Eastern Metal Securities. The indictment According to the DoJ, Karlsson was arrested on June 17. On July 25, a U.S. federal grand jury indicted Karlsson on charges of alleged…

Chinese State Media Says Most ‘Blockchain’ Firms in China Are All Hype, No Code

Chinese news program Focus Report has said that there are around 32,000 companies in China that claim to use blockchain technology. Reportedly, the real number is not even 10% of that. On Nov. 18, the predominant state television broadcaster in Mainland China, CCTV, aired an episode by Focus Report, titled “Blockchain is not a Cashchain.” The episode takes a closer look at companies who reportedly misuse the concept of blockchain technology to create business momentum and financial gains.  Cracking down on illegal activity  The Focus Report talked to Wu Zhen,…

U.S. Gov’t Extradites Alleged Fraudster for Selling Fake Securities for $11 M in BTC

The United States has extradited a Swedish national from Thailand for allegedly selling fraudulent securities to investors online, garnering over $11 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC). Per a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) published on Nov. 18, Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson is on his way to the U.S. to stand trial on behalf of himself and his company, Eastern Metal Securities. The indictment According to the DoJ, Karlsson was arrested on June 17. On July 25, a U.S. federal grand jury indicted Karlsson on charges of alleged…

Libra Testnet Surpasses 50,000 Transactions Since September Launch

The Libra testnet has logged over 51,000 transactions since it was reset in September, with 34 projects having been developed on the network according to an update released by The Libra Association last week. In a blog post titled “Five months and growing strong: the Libra project,” the project’s lead developer, Michael Engle, said, “It’s been just five months since we announced the Libra project on June 18, 2019, and nearly a month since the Association charter was signed by its members in Geneva. We’ve been working diligently to build the…

Crypto Markets Continue to Drop, Bitcoin Briefly Slips Below $8,200

After another sell-off earlier today, crypto markets have continued to fall, with Bitcoin (BTC) briefly dropping below the $8,200 threshold. At the time of writing, 19 out of the top 20 coins by market cap are seeing significant losses. Texos (XTZ), the 17th altcoin by market cap, is resisting the bearish movement, still trading up around 1% over the past 24 hours at press time, according to Coin360. Market visualization. Source: Coin360 After Bitcoin failed to reclaim $8,500 earlier today, its price has only continued to fall, dropping to as…

Spanish Financial Watchdog Warns Against Unregulated ICO Scheme

A Spanish financial watchdog has issued a warning against Ethereum (ETH)-based token dubbed AlyCoin. As Financial Magnates reported on Nov. 18, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores warned the public against AlyCoin as it the coin is registered neither in Spain nor in the corresponding registry and thus promotes unregulated initial coin offerings (ICOs). Specifically, AlyCoin purportedly provides its customers with financial services in violation of the second paragraph of Article 17 of the Securities Markets Law. 82 million of independent tokens AlyCoin describes itself as an independent token…

Chinese Military Eyes Blockchain Technology for Rewards Programme – Boosting Training and Gamifying System

About Richard Kastelein Founder and publisher of industry publication Blockchain News (EST 2015), a partner at ICO services collective Token.Agency ($750m+ and 90+ ICOs and STOs), director of education company Blockchain Partners (Oracle Partner) – Vancouver native Richard Kastelein is an award-winning publisher, innovation executive and entrepreneur. He sits on the advisory boards of some two dozen Blockchain startups and has written over 1500 articles on Blockchain technology and startups at Blockchain News and has also published pioneering articles on ICOs in Harvard Business Review and Venturebeat. Irish Tech News…