12 Russian Intelligence Officers Mines Bitcoin To Fund Attacks Against US Democracy

It has been reported that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for conspiring to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

These officers are from the Main intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU) which has been accused of conducting large-scale hacking that sought to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections.

The accusation includes “conspiracy to commit an Offense Against the United States” and “Conspiracy to Launder Money.”

Although the conspirators used dollars and other fiat money they also made used of Bitcoin which they thought will enable them to avoid detection.

However Bitcoin was also used by the U.S. investigators to identify the perpetuators and bring them to Justice since it enabled them to identify money trail.

Bithumb Expanding into Thailand and Japan

As part of the strategy in expanding worldwide, Bithumb is looking into expanding its operation in Thailand and Japan.

The 2nd largest exchange in South Korea expressed that the decision to expand to Thailand due to its seemingly active e-commerce and fintech industry couple with the governments very receptive stance on cryptocurrencies, having finalized regulatory framework for crypto and ICOs.

It has already established a Thai subsidiary, Bithumb (Thailand) Company Limited with a registered capital of 3 million Baht ($90,000 USD).

They also planned to expand in Japan given its advance position in regulating and accepting cryptocurrencies usage in the country.

They are already coordinating with the necessary governing body in the country to ensure that they comply with all requirements for them to operate in Japan.

Bithumb hopes that they will be able to operate in Japan by February of 2019.

Steven Cohen Joins Crypto Hedge Fund

Steven Cohen is the latest billionaire hedge fund manager who has joined the many financial heavy weights to go into cryptocurrency investments.

Cohen is currently managing Point72 Asset Management, $12 billion hedge fund firm.

He made investment in the crypto ecosystem via Cohen Private Ventures which is said to be backing Autonomous Partner’s Financial exploration of the blockchain industry which has the backing of Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase as well as Union Square Ventures.

Autonomous Ventures was founded by Arianna Simpson which has launched last December 2017 that is focused primarily on blockchain platforms that aim to optimize transaction speed and scalability, cryptocurrency infrastructure and privacy coins.

Pundits are saying that cryptocurrencies are now entering the mainstream of financial services industry out from being just a niche segment which a relatively small part of the trading market.

UK Mosque Raises 14,000 GBP Worth of Crypto Donations

After announcing that it would be accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of donation earlier this year, the Shacklewell Lane Mosque have collected almost 14,000 GBP worth of Sadaqah in digital currency during Ramadan.

The Mosque is located Hackney, East London which is said to be the only and the first Mosque to accept cryptocurrencies as a form of donation.

It has been revealed that for the past 30 days it has receive 24 donations worldwide amounting to about 14K GBP which is about 3.5 times more that its cash donations of 3,460 GBP.

There has been debate among Islamic organizations if this form of donations is permissible or not.

However the Turkish-ran Mosque have stated that other Mosque should consider this alternative in accepting donations.

More than Half of Money Raised in ICO Have Gone to Successful Projects: Research Report

Bloomberg has release a research report conducted partially by Satis Group, a premier ICO advisory firm, stating in general that more than half, about 54% of all money raised through ICO have gone to successful projects.

The report reveals that despite the lingering bearish sentiments ICO are still doing well, it has already raised more than $7 billion which is about 50% of the amount raised in 2017.

It also reveals that there are about 78% identified scams in which 11% of funds raised in all ICO going into such projects, 14% went to failed projects and 5% went to presumed dead projects.

However, the key takeaway is that the majority of Money went to successful ICOs has gone as far as reaching exchanges and releasing their decentralized applications.

Headlines for the world of Cryptocurrencies - July 16, 2018 South African Wishful Thinking On Crypto Investing Early On / Canada Has Reached 85% Level Of Bitcoin Awareness, Survey Says / US Ranks Most Favorable Country For ICO / Unicef To Use Bitcoin As Bitcoin / Malta’s Has Its First Two-Way Bitcoin ATM
Headlines for the world of Cryptocurrencies - July 15, 2018 US SEC To Decide On Aug 10th On BTC ETF Filing / Possible Coinbase Listing Helped 5 Crypto Prices Surged / Cardano Launches Symphony of Blockchain / “Bitcoin Signal” Appears On Slovakia’s Central Bank / Can Ledger Be Europe’s Next Unicorn?
Headlines for the world of Cryptocurrencies - July 14, 2018 Binance CEO's Response To Ethereum Founder's Statement About Centralized Exchanges / President Trump Forms Task Force For Cryptocurrency Investigations / India May Avoid Crypto Ban / India May Avoid Crypto Ban / Law Makers Will Discuss If Crypto Is The Future of Money