Law Firm’s White Paper Claims US Bank Regulators Are Waging a ‘Clandestine Financial War’ Against Crypto Businesses – Bitcoin News

According to a recent white paper published by four members of the law firm Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, U.S. bank regulators are attempting to “drive crypto businesses out of the financial system.” The paper, titled “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” claims that after laying the groundwork by labeling lawful businesses as “reputationally risky,” federal bank regulators, with the help of state officials, “turned to the task of purging their accounts from each of the banks subject to their supervision.” Constitutional Issues Raised by Operation Chokepoint 2.0: Depriving Businesses of Due Process and…

Canada to Ask Pension Funds to Disclose Crypto Exposure

“To help protect Canadians’ retirements, Budget 2023 announces that the government will require federally regulated pension funds to disclose their crypto-asset exposures to OSFI,” the government said in the new 2023 budget plan. The federal government will also work with provinces and territories to discuss crypto-asset or related activities disclosures by the country’s largest pension plans, which would ensure Canadians are aware of their pension plan’s potential exposure to crypto assets, the budget plan added. Source

North Korean hackers using stolen crypto to mine more crypto via cloud services: Report

The North Korean cybercrime operator APT43 is using cloud computing to launder cryptocurrency, a report from cybersecurity service Mandiant has found. According to the researchers, the North Korean group uses “stolen crypto to mine for clean crypto.” Mandiant, a Google subsidiary, has been tracking the North Korean Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group since 2018 but has only now “graduated” the group to an independent identity. Mandiant characterized the group as a “major player” that often cooperated with other groups. Although its main activity was spying on South Korea, Mandiant found…

Bitcoin price holds its ground in the wake of CFTC case against Binance

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell 3.6% to $26,900 after Binance and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao were sued by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on March 27. To date, Binance has been investigated by the CFTC, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Internal Revenue Service and federal prosecutors. The Bitcoin price correction may have been limited due to Silicon Valley bank’s successful asset sale to First Citizens BancShares at a $16.5 billion discount, which received an extraordinary credit line from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation…

Crypto’s Unfulfilled Dreams Get a Tailwind From U.S. Crackdown on Binance, Coinbase

“If we learned anything from 2022, particularly with FTX, it’s the fact that custodial relationships, especially in the face of lack of regulation, are very bad,” said Ozdogan. “Too many users have lost assets to bad actors and in turn, the custodial nature of centralized exchanges.In the world of digital assets, one rule reigns supreme: Not your keys, not your crypto.” CryptoX Portal

Do Kwon’s Extradition Likely to Take Time, Montenegrin Prosecutor Says – Bitcoin News

A prosecutor investigating Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon for alleged passport forgery in Montenegro has indicated that he will not be extradited soon. The law enforcement official told South Korean media that Montenegrin authorities intend to indict Kwon within a month, ruling out the possibility of him being handed over to other countries within the detention period. Passport Forgery Investigation Takes Precedence Over Extradition Requests in Do Kwon’s Case It may take some time before an extradition process begins for Do Kwon, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, quoting…

Ethereum Staking Provider Lido to Incorporate NFTs Into Unstaking Process

Ether withdrawals on Lido, where users can unstake their stETH and receive ETH at a 1:1 ratio, will have two steps: request and claim, according to Mariya Muzyko, product manager at Lido, during the call Tuesday afternoon. Once a user requests a withdrawal, they will receive a Lido-issued NFT representing their withdrawal request. The user can then use the NFT to claim their ETH rewards. The NFT is burned after the user redeems and claims their ETH. Source