Crypto News Summary: Nuri Shuts Down, UK’s Pablo Escobar Banned from Crypto, Do Kwon Denies Seeing Arrest Warrant, Interpol’s New Team

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Sead Fadilpašić

Journalist

Sead Fadilpašić

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Sead specializes in writing factual and informative articles to help the public navigate the ever-changing world of crypto. He has extensive experience in the blockchain industry, where he has served...

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Last updated: 

January 8, 2024

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Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Investment news

• Nuri, a Germany-based neobank that offers crypto investment tools, has shut down. Per a statement by CEO Kristina Walcker-Mayer, “we have not been able to find investors to continue our mission and have asked our customers to withdraw their funds by 18/12/2022 the latest, so the business can be terminated and liquidated.” Trading will be available until November 11.
• Blockchain research and development studio ChainSafe has raised $18.8 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round, led by Round13 with participation from new investors NGC Ventures, HashKey Capital, Sfermion, Jsquare, and returning investors Digital Finance Group and Fenbushi Capital. It will use this investment to enhance its support for the adoption and sustainable growth of the Web3 ecosystem, said the press release. Khaled Verjee, Managing Partner of Round13’s Digital Asset Fund, is joining ChainSafe’s board of directors.

Legal news

• Curtis ‘Cocky’ Warren, known as ‘Britain’s Pablo Escobar’, is due to be released next month, and he will be banned from holding cryptocurrency such as bitcoin, among other restrictions, The Times, reported. He is also banned from possessing more than £1,000 ($1,130) in cash, while his ability to borrow money, make transfers, or hold trusts or shares will also be monitored and restricted.
• Terra founder Do Kwon claimed on crypto podcast Unchained that he has not seen a copy of the arrest warrant and that all the information about the charges that he is aware of had come from the media. He reiterated that the charges brought against him by South Korean prosecutors are “politically motivated” and that he is not on the run.

Regulation news

• The International Criminal Police Organization, aka Interpol, has set up a special team in Singapore to help governments fight crimes involving virtual assets, Business Standard reported. Interpol Secretary-General Jürgen Stock was cited as saying at a press conference in Delhi on Monday that cryptoassets like bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) pose challenges to law enforcement agencies in the absence of a legal framework.

Payments news

• Mastercard introduced its Crypto Source, a new program to enable financial institutions to bring crypto trading capabilities and services to their customers, said the press release. As previously reported, Mastercard is working with the blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos Trust Company.

Blockchain news

• Blockchain development firm Peersyst Technologies announced the launch of a test phase of US fintech firm Ripple’s new XRP Ledger sidechain, which is compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). They added that they would publish today a user guide for the community to use and test the sidechain and create their XRP accounts on MetaMask.

Exchange news

• Bitfinex announced that it is supporting victims of Hurricane Julia in El Salvador through food distribution and emergency aid. Donations were delivered in person on behalf of Bitfinex to some of the victims’ families by Milena Mayorga, the current Salvadoran ambassador to the US, as well as congressmen William Soriano and Christian Guevara. The majority of the emergency aid has been distributed in La Union, set to become the Bitcoin City.

Metaverse news

• Ethereum-based open-world virtual reality (VR) game Decentraland announced the second annual Metaverse Music Festival (MMF), which will be presented by crypto exchange Kraken and will host 15 stages with more than 100 artists. Decentralized infrastructure for an open, augmented reality (AR)-enabled metaverse OVER is partnering with Decentraland to host this festival taking place November 10^th-13^th.

DeFi news

• Non-custodial decentralized exchange (DEX) THORChain (RUNE) has logged over 5 million cross-chain transactions since the launch of its mainnet in June, it said in a press release shared with Cryptonews.com. Total value locked (TVL) on the network follows a similar trajectory, with over $100 million locked on the network to date, it added.

Career news

• Mark Steward is stepping down as the UK Financial Conduct Authority‘s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, the regulator announced on Tuesday. The FCA is the supervisory body for anti-money laundering (AML) compliance for crypto firms in the country.