Author: Bloomberg
Last Friday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published a request for proposal (RFP) that requires state-of-the-art tracing and analytical software and software licenses to detect the illicit use of crypto by criminals. The Criminal Investigative Division (CID) Money Laundering, Forfeiture and Bank Fraud Unit (MLFBU) explains the reason for the RFP as due to “…changes in the usage of virtual currency by illicit actors has created the need for the FBI to acquire a tool that can trace a significant number of virtual currencies.” The proposal says the FBI, “…needs state-of-the-art tracing and analytical tools capable of keeping pace…
Cryptocurrencies extended declines as Russia’s attacks on targets across Ukraine sent risk assets reeling, with Bitcoin slumping to a one-month low. The largest token fell as much as 8.5% to $34,337 after Vladimir Putin’s push to demilitarize Ukraine started with a barrage of missile attacks on Thursday. Second-ranked Ether declined as much as 12% to $2,301.84. Other coins like XRP, Cardano and Solana were down as well. Bitcoin’s swings during the past weeks of escalating geopolitical tensions have undermined the argument that cryptocurrencies offer a hedge in times of trouble. That’s in large part a result of its deepening integration…
Gold hit its highest level in more than a year after Russia ordered troops into Ukraine, intensifying the crisis in Eastern Europe and letting bullion play its traditional role as a harbor amid geopolitical upheaval. “Big flight to safety happening in markets right now and the only true safe haven appears to be gold, with crypto markets tumbling,” said John Feeney, business development manager at Sydney-based bullion dealer Guardian Gold Australia. Vladimir Putin said he’s ordered a special military operation to protect the people of the Donbas region, and that Russia will “aim for demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine”. Ukraine’s Foreign…
A group of engineers and traders at crypto prime brokerage SFOX are working on a way to expand access to Bitcoin for banks and big investors through a bespoke derivative. SFOX’s co-founder, George Melika, said his firm is in talks with large banks and market makers including Jane Street to open a market that facilitates the trading of Bitcoin derivatives. The idea is to use NDFs — non-deliverable forward contracts that are typically used for currency markets — to give banks the wherewithal to expose clients to Bitcoin at a greater scale through a contract, at an agreed upon price,…
Coinbase Global Inc. shareholders are bracing again for quarterly results that may show the lull in cryptocurrency markets continues to dampen the enthusiasm of individual investors. The largest U.S. crypto exchange is set to report fourth-quarter results on Thursday. In recent months, it had scored an impressive Super Bowl ad, drummed up interest in its upcoming NFT marketplace, and avoided a potential hack of its new trading function. Yet its shares are trading at about 40% below November’s record high, and even below the first-day opening price when it went public last April. “The number one concern is still on the Bitcoin price,” said Owen Lau,…
No person on the planet has a fortune of more than $200 billion — at least for now. Elon Musk, the only billionaire who still exceeded that threshold heading into this week, saw his wealth tumble by $13.3 billion on Wednesday to $198.6 billion. Tesla Inc. shares fell for the fourth-straight day to the lowest level since September amid a broad decline in stock markets around the globe. Tesla’s 50-year-old chief executive officer remains the richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Still, Musk has seen $71.7 billion wiped out from his fortune so far this year, more…
Cryptocurrencies dropped as Vladimir Putin decided to conduct military operations in eastern Ukraine, with Bitcoin slumping to a one-month low. The largest token fell as much as 7.4% to $34,783 after an initial Tass report on Russia’s decision. Second-ranked Ether declined as much as 8.7% to $2,390.61. Other coins like XRP, Cardano and Solana were down as well. Bitcoin’s swings during the past weeks of escalating geopolitical tensions have served to undermine the argument that cryptocurrencies offer a hedge in times of trouble. The traditional safe haven gold, meanwhile, surged to the highest level since early 2021 on Thursday. …
People are increasingly moving between jobs in crypto and the government agencies that police the industry, raising potential conflicts of interest that could undermine efforts to rein in the sector, according to a watchdog group. There have been nearly 240 instances of crypto’s so-called revolving door, where employees leave the government for the private sector and vice versa, according to a new report by the Tech Transparency Project. Dozens of former top officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the White House are now employed by or are working on behalf of companies such as Coinbase Global Inc., Binance…
Look no further than bullion to get a sense of how an historically unusual constellation of global risks is rippling through markets. Prices have surged to the highest since the start of June on escalating tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine, and a spike in U.S. inflation to the strongest in decades. At the same time, real interest rates — a key driver of gold — have jumped this year, countering the typically inverse correlation between the two. And in the battle over whether Bitcoin is a better modern-day store of value than bullion, the cryptocurrency is losing out, at…
Tether — the issuer of the world’s most used stablecoin — reduced its investments in commercial paper and certificates of deposit during the last quarter of 2021, accounting to an accounting firm’s report. British Virgin Islands-based Tether had assets of at least $78.7 billion, the accounting firm said. Of that, the company invested $24.2 billion into certificates of deposit and commercial paper, down from about $30.6 billion at the end of September, according to accounting reports. The bulk of the commercial paper and certificates of deposits were rated A-1 and A-2, according to accounting firm MHA Cayman. MHA Cayman said…