A Nigerian Wallet Suspected in USD 1M Exit Scam + 8 More Crypto News

Tim Alper
Last updated: | 3 min read

Crypto Briefs is your daily bite-sized digest of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news – keeping you up-to-date with under the radar crypto news from around the world.

Source: iStock/natasaadzic

Cryptocurrency wallet news

  • Satowallet, a Nigerian crypto wallet, allegedly pulled off an exit scam, disappearing with users’ funds that are estimated at over USD 1 million worth of crypto deposits, Finance Magnates reported. Yet, the firm’s CEO claims some technical issues with their data center provider OVH.com led to the loss of clients’ coins, according to the report.

Mining news

  • Cryptocurrency mining hardware giant Bitmain said it will launch a platform to connect mining hardware owners with mining farm owners via the World Digital Mining Map (WDMM) in October. To remain price-efficient, owners of mining hardware are regularly on the lookout for locations with the right conditions and power resources for cryptocurrency mining. The WDMM will be the first global resource to connect them with mining farms who have the available power resources to host them for a fee, the company claims.

Blockchain News

  • Two of South Korea’s fastest-growing blockchain platforms, Klaytn and Looniverse, are continuing to gather pace, but their operators say there is no conflict of interests between the parties. The former is the brainchild of the Kakao Group’s Ground X subsidiary, while Looniverse is operated by Dunamu’s Lambda 256. Kakao is a notable Dunamu investor, and many of its senior staff members are former Kakao employees. However, per eToday, a Dunamu employee stated, “The basic platform concepts behind Lambda 256 and Ground X are different.” Looniverse this week welcomed travel platform Yanolja and game developer Dalcomsoft to its platform, while Kakao’s Klay tokens are set to be listed on Indonesian and Singaporean crypto exchanges.
  • South Korea’s blockchain free zone in the port city of Busan is looking to expand its activities with new legal support and promotional teams. Per Aju News, the city wants to become a “global blockchain hub,” and has recruited specialists from around the country in an effort to promote its deregulated zone status.

Cryptocurrency exchange news

  • Chat app giant Line’s Bitmax exchange has launched an iOS version of its app, per the company’s Twitter account. Line launched an Android version of the app in Japan earlier this month after winning permission from the regulatory Financial Services Agency.
  • A Brazilian regulator says it has suspended a crypto brokerage for forex trading. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM) says the brokerage, named XM Global, has been actively targeting Brazilian customers with its forex offerings. Forex trading is illegal in Brazil. The brokerage has made a name for itself in the world of bitcoin trading. The CVM has already launched investigations into “at least eight” cryptocurrency-related companies this year, with one resulting in a police raid.
  • Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance said that they will launch their Staking Platform as a value-added service to their users. With Staking, they will be able to grow their funds by receiving monthly rewards & distributions simply by depositing and holding funds on Binance, the exchange claims.
  • Also, Samuel Lim, Chief Compliance Officer of Binance, revealed that the company worked with the Cyber Crime Unit of the UK’s Metropolitan Police Service to assist with their investigation into a Bulgarian suspect responsible for creating and selling phishing scripts that targeted customers of at least 53 different services. This criminal was recently extradited from Bulgaria to the UK, standing trial for the case just last week at the Southwark Crown Court in London. He pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud and was sentenced to nine years in custody, according to Lim.

Investment news

  • Overstock subsidiary Medici Ventures has made a USD 2 million investment in blockchain-powered ID solutions developer Evernym. Per a press release, the investment was concluded earlier this month, and Evernym wants to use the money to fund a blockchain-powered network of digital credentials and self-sovereign identity solutions.
  • StrongSalt, a U.S.-based developer of blockchain-powered encryption platform-as-a-service, said it has completed its seed round of financing, raising a total of USD 3 million from Valley Capital Partners. With three encryption-related patents secured from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, StrongSalt will be deploying the new capital injection to further develop its encryption platform-as-a-service for developers and enterprises, it said. StrongSalt is an encrypted search and share protocol that offers an API platform for developers to ‘bake’ privacy into existing applications and workflows.