Category: ICO

Crypto Friendly Customers Bank Said to Debank Some Digital Asset Hedge Funds

The West Reading, Pennsylvania-based company, which is owned by Customers Bancorp (CUBI), deals only in U.S. dollars and does not accept cryptocurrency or make loans to support crypto activities. It offers its clients, estimated at well over a hundred digital asset firms, a real-time blockchain-based payments platform called Customer Bank Instant Token (CBIT) that allows crypto clients to make U.S. dollar payments 24/7. Source

Robinhood’s (HOOD) Bitstamp Deal is Strategic And Brings Added Institutional Exposure: Bernstein

Exchanges offer a wide range of services such as staking, stablecoins, trading, custody and prime broking, the note said. The acquisition of Bitstamp potentially allows Robinhood to offer a wider range of crypto products to a more institutional client base. Bernstein has an outperform rating on Robinhood stock with a $30 price target. The shares were little changed in early trading on Friday at around $23. Source

Former Federal Prosecutors, Agents Ask U.S. Sec. Blinken to ‘Step Up’ Efforts to Secure Detained Binance Exec’s Release

Despite a court order to move him to a hospital from Kuje prison – known to hold violent criminals and terrorists, including members of the Islamist jihadist group Boko Haram – Nigerian officials have reportedly refused to transfer him. In their letter to Sec. Blinken, Haun and the other signers call Gambaryan’s captivity “not only unjust but inhumane,” adding that, in addition to not receiving adequate medical care, he has not been allowed to speak with his lawyers or family. Source

Saudi Arabia Joins BIS’ CBDC Project mBridge as a Full Participant

In addition to mBridge’s six full participants, 27 other official entities – including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the central banks of countries including Norway, South Korea and Turkey – have signed on as observers to the project, giving them access to a “sandbox” for experimentation with the technology. Source

GameStop-Inspired Solana Memecoin Soars Over 80% as Roaring Kitty Flashes $586M Worth of GME Position

The action rippled through the digital asset market, too. Solana-based meme token GME, which was inspired by GameStop but has no affiliation with the company, surged more than 80% over the past 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows, despite the broader crypto market pulling back. The micro-cap AMC token, which shares the name of the troubled movie theater chain but similarly has no affiliation, also jumped 83%. Source

U.S. Charges Three in Connection With Evolved Apes NFT Scam

“The defendants ran a scam to drive up the price of digital artwork through false promises about developing a videogame,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “They allegedly took investor funds, never developed the game, and pocketed the proceeds. Digital art may be new, but old rules still apply: making false promises for money is illegal.” Source

NYAG Sues 2 Crypto Pyramid Schemes, Promoters Targeting Haitian-Americans in $1B Scam

The Petions were two of AWS Mining’s top promoters – each recruiting at least 200,000 investors to their “downline” – earning them both the ceremonial title of “President,” the suit alleged. After AWS Mining went bust in April 2019, the couple decided to start a new company together, NovaTechFX, with Cynthia serving as CEO and Eddy as COO. NovaTech claimed to be a crypto and foreign exchange trading platform that advertised up to 4% returns per week. Source