Durov was arrested in connection with a cybercrime investigation into the "Cryptology" service and will be detained until August 28
According to The Block, according to a statement released by the Paris Judicial Court, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been arrested as part of a large-scale cybercrime investigation, facing charges including providing unauthorized "cryptography" services and tools. The statement said: "Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the instant messaging platform Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget Airport in the suburbs of Paris on Saturday, August 24, 2024, and was detained by the police at 8 pm. This move was implemented in the context of a judicial investigation that began on July 8, 2024, after a preliminary investigation was launched by the Anti-Cybercrime Unit of the Paris Prosecutor's Office. The charge of the judicial investigation is the provision of cryptography services and tools". Several other charges are listed in the document, including conspiracy to "possess pornographic images of minors" and "laundering illegal proceeds for criminal organizations". As part of the cybercrime investigation, Durov is being questioned and he may be detained until August 28. According to previous news, many important figures in the crypto industry have expressed their support for Durov, including Musk, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, TRON founder Justin Sun and Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko.
Indian government launches investigation into Telegram, alleging abuse of app for extortion, gambling and other criminal activities
According to Moneycontrol, the Indian government is investigating the potential abuse of Telegram in criminal activities, especially extortion and gambling. If the investigation results are unfavorable, the app may face the risk of being banned. The news came at the time when Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris on August 24 for content review issues. It is reported that India's investigation is led by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, focusing on criminal activities in Telegram's peer-to-peer communication function.
French President Macron: The arrest of Telegram founder is not politically motivated, but based on judicial investigation
French President Emmanuel Macron responded to reports on the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov on social media, clarifying that the arrest was not politically motivated but based on an ongoing judicial investigation. Macron stressed that France attaches great importance to freedom of speech and communication, as well as innovation and entrepreneurship, and will continue to uphold these freedoms within the legal framework. Ultimately, it is up to the independent judicial system to decide how to enforce the law. At the same time, according to Jinshi, a police spokesman pointed out that Durov was accused of failing to cooperate in the investigation of cyber and financial crimes on his platform.
Russia to start trials of crypto payments and exchanges
According to foreign media reports, Russia is about to start trials of cryptocurrency exchanges and use digital tokens in cross-border transactions to help ease payment difficulties for Russian companies hit by international sanctions. Two people familiar with the matter said the trials will begin on September 1. They said that when testing payment and trading platforms, Russia will use the national payment card system to exchange between rubles and cryptocurrencies. In July, the Russian parliament passed bills legalizing cryptocurrency mining and a framework allowing the testing of digital tokens for cross-border payments under the supervision of the central bank. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the bills into law on August 8. At a time when cryptocurrency trials are underway, Russian companies are facing increasing obstacles in paying overseas suppliers and getting paid for exported goods.
Abra settles with SEC over unregistered sale of crypto securities
According to The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached a settlement with Plutus Lending LLC, which does business under the name of Abra. The SEC said, "Without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, Abra has agreed to an injunction prohibiting it from violating the registration provisions of the Securities Act and the Investment Company Act and requiring it to pay a civil penalty in an amount determined by the court." The SEC accused Abra of failing to register the offer and sale of its retail crypto asset lending product Abra Earn and operating as an unregistered investment company. According to the SEC's lawsuit, Abra used customers' digital assets to "generate income for itself and fund interest payments." Abra Earn has created nearly $600 million in crypto assets for Abra, of which $500 million came from U.S. customers. According to previous news, in June 2023, the Texas Securities Commission also filed an enforcement action against Abra and its CEO for suspected securities fraud at Abra Earn.
Economic Daily: Prevent virtual assets from becoming a tool for money laundering
The Economic Daily published an article today titled "Preventing Virtual Assets from Becoming Money Laundering Tools". The article states that at present, new technologies and new formats such as virtual assets are constantly being updated and iterated, showing a state of superposition with traditional upstream crimes such as telecommunications network fraud, online gambling, and underground banks. In order to cover up and conceal money laundering, criminals are constantly renovating their methods and hiding money laundering activities in online transactions. Among them, virtual currency, game currency, "running point platform", live broadcast rewards, etc. have become new money laundering carriers and methods, with characteristics such as networking and chaining, and are highly concealed and confusing. After the legal network is tight, it must be strictly enforced. To punish money laundering crimes in accordance with the law, all parties need to strengthen cooperation and coordination to form a joint force to combat. Public security, procuratorial, judicial and financial regulatory departments should strengthen coordination and cooperation, and continuously improve the law enforcement and judicial cooperation mechanism. The general public should be vigilant, recognize the nature of new money laundering crimes, and never fall into the money laundering trap for petty gains.
Earlier on August 19, it was reported that the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Cases of Money Laundering", which listed "virtual asset" transactions as one of the methods of money laundering.
Aave Labs Unveils Plan to Use Shares of BlackRock’s Tokenized Fund BUIDL to Stabilize GHO
According to Cryptoslate, Aave Labs proposed to update its GHO Stable Module (GSM), which involves using shares of BlackRock's tokenized fund BUIDL to help maintain its stablecoin GHO pegged to the US dollar. According to the proposal, the new GSM will allow Aave to exchange BUIDL shares with USD Coin (USDC) provided by users to mint its ecosystem's native dollar-backed stablecoin GHO. These tokens will be kept in smart contracts until users redeem their GHO for USDC. The value of BUIDL shares is stabilized at $1 per token, and daily returns are paid to investors every month. The fund allocates its assets into cash, U.S. Treasuries, and repurchase agreements.
According to RWA.xyz, BUIDL has over $502 million in assets under management (AUM). The proposal states that the new GSM will expand Aave DAO's revenue stream into the real-world asset (RWA) space and increase partnership opportunities with BlackRock. According to the proposal, swap fees will accrue in GHO and interest will be paid monthly in BUIDL. Additionally, the GSM may or may not integrate a USDC buffer to compensate for gas redemption costs for BUIDL for small swaps, which will be further evaluated later. The proposal is currently still in the "interim review" stage.
Fractal Bitcoin, the Bitcoin extension network, plans to launch its mainnet on September 9
Fractal Bitcoin, a Bitcoin expansion network, tweeted that it plans to officially launch the mainnet on September 9. 80% of all tokens will be allocated to the community, and 20% of the tokens with a lock-up period will be allocated to the team and contributors. The brc-20 on Fractal will be activated at the Fractal mainnet block height of 21,000. PizzaSwap (formerly known as Fractal Swap) on Fractal will be launched on the testnet this week. Once PizzaSwap goes live, officials will begin testing the embedded mini-asset cross-chain bridge, allowing users to transfer Bitcoin and other assets between the Bitcoin and Fractal networks. Bool Bridge, powered by Bool Network, will also run on the testnet before the Fractal mainnet goes live.
Binance Finance, one-click coin purchase, flash exchange, leverage listing of Dogs (DOGS)
The new Dogs (DOGS) asset has been launched on Binance, and users can trade it through Binance Finance, One-Click Coin Buying, and Flash Exchange. Binance’s Principal Guarantee Coin Earning Platform already supports DOGS Principal Guarantee Coin Earning Current Product, and users can purchase DOGS through the Fixed Investment Platform starting from 18:00 on August 27. In addition, Binance’s Margin Platform will add DOGS/USDT and DOGS/FDUSD full-position and single-position leveraged trading pairs at 22:00 on August 26. Users can also purchase DOGS using a variety of payment methods through the “One-Click Coin Buying” page, and exchange it for other supported tokens on the Flash Exchange Platform without handling fees.
US listed company Semler Scientific buys 83 Bitcoins for $5 million
According to PRNewswire, Semler Scientific, a US medical technology listed company, announced that it purchased an additional 83 bitcoins for $5 million in cash. As of August 26, 2024, the company held a total of 1,012 bitcoins with a total investment of $68 million. Eric Semler, chairman of Semler Scientific, said that the company used operating cash and stock market financing to purchase bitcoins, and was encouraged by the growing acceptance of bitcoin by institutional investors, believing that this trend would increase bitcoin prices and shareholder value. Semler Scientific has made bitcoin its main financial reserve asset.
WazirX has launched the first phase of INR withdrawals and reduced the withdrawal fee by 60%
According to official news from WazirX, the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has launched the first phase of INR withdrawals. Eligible users can now withdraw half of the 66% limit of their INR balance. At the same time, to facilitate user operations, WazirX has reduced the withdrawal fee from 25 Indian rupees to 10 Indian rupees, a reduction of 60%.
Ethereum research firm Chainbound completes $4.6 million seed round led by Cyber Fund
According to The Block, Ethereum research company Chainbound has completed a $4.6 million seed round of financing, led by Cyber Fund, with participation from Maven 11, Robot Ventures and Bankless Ventures. Angel investors include Flashbot's Hasu, Titan Builder co-founder Kubi Mensah and Ethereum Foundation researcher Mike Neuder. Chainbound is developing a protocol called Bolt, which will enable "pre-confirmation" of Ethereum transactions, shortening the transaction confirmation time to less than one second, significantly improving the current average confirmation speed of seven seconds. Bolt is expected to be launched first on the Helder test network and is scheduled to be launched on the Ethereum main network before the end of the year.
Bitcoin mining company Rhodium files for bankruptcy in Texas court
According to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin mining company Rhodium Enterprises has filed for voluntary bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, with liabilities of up to $100 million. The document, filed on August 24, includes six subsidiaries - Rhodium Encore, Jordan HPC, Rhodium JV, Rhodium 2.0, Rhodium 10MW and Rhodium 30MW. According to the document, the company's debts range from $50 million to $100 million, while its total assets are estimated to be between $100 million and $500 million. It has been reported that Rhodium's companies have been in financial trouble, and Rhodium's bankruptcy is one of them. Rhodium Enterprises, which owns Rhodium Encore and Rhodium 2.0, reportedly failed to repay a $54 million loan owed to lenders in July. In 2021, Rhodium raised $78 million in loans for its subsidiaries. The company reportedly proposed two debt restructuring plans before the deadline, but disagreements between shareholders led to a default. Under voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company will be able to restructure its debt while continuing to operate, allowing it to negotiate a repayment plan under revised terms.
PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD market cap exceeds $1 billion
DeFillama data shows that the market value of PayPal's stablecoin PYUSD has exceeded $1 billion, currently about $1.013 billion. Among them, PYUSD on Solana accounts for 63.96%, and PYUSD on Ethereum accounts for 36.04%.
Investment advisors increased their holdings of spot Bitcoin ETFs by $1.1 billion in Q2
According to Bitcoin Magazine, investment advisors bought a net $1.1 billion in spot Bitcoin ETFs in the second quarter of this year, consolidating their position as significant holders. Despite the decline in Bitcoin prices in the second quarter, the absolute value of Bitcoin ETFs owned by investment advisors increased to $4.3 billion at the end of the second quarter, indicating the increasing acceptance and adoption of Bitcoin ETFs.
FTX cold wallet transfers 240,200 mSOL to Coinbase Prime, equivalent to approximately $46.3 million
According to Paidun’s monitoring, the FTX cold wallet address marked as Cold Storag#2has transferred 240,200 mSOL (worth approximately US$46.3 million) to Coinbase Prime.
A whale transferred 8,825 ETH to Binance in the early morning, realizing a loss of $3.96 million
According to on-chain analyst Ember, a whale transferred 8,825 ETH (US$24 million) to Binance 8 hours ago, realizing a loss of US$3.96 million (-14%). He bought these 8,825 ETH at an average price of US$3,168 between July 28 and August 4, and now sells them at a loss of US$2,719, with a loss of US$3.96 million (-14%). He bought them in batches before the market crash on August 5, and missed the crash on August 5. Otherwise, he would not have lost money and might even have made a profit.
A dormant address containing 25 Bitcoins was activated after 11.5 years
Whale Alert monitoring shows that at 22:18 Beijing time, a dormant address containing 25 bitcoins (currently worth about $1.5849 million) was activated after 11.5 years. These bitcoins were worth only $686 in 2013.
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