Today in Crypto: UK Crypto Fraud Up 32% in Year, Line to Shut Down Bitfront Exchange, Nigeria Won’t Include Crypto in Plans to Improve Digital Asset Trading

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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:

June 26, 2023 06:53 EDT

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Security news

• Cryptocurrency fraud in the UK increased by 32% to £226 million ($273 million) in one year, according to data from the UK police unit Action Fraud, as reported by the Financial Times. “Whenever times are tough, fraudsters always seek to prey on less experienced investors by promising huge returns,” Hinesh Shah, a forensic accountant at Pinsent Masons, was quoted as saying.

Exchange news

• Japanese messaging giant Line will shut down its crypto exchange Bitfront, citing the ongoing bear market and other crypto industry issues, as well as the decision to focus on the Line blockchain ecosystem and Link (LN) token economy. The exchange announced a plan to completely close down by March 2023.
• Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance, claimed that the company’s proof of reserves (PoR) have “absolutely no negative balances involved.” The exchange provided PoR earlier this month in response to the FTX collapse. As part of the PoR, as Zhao claimed, Binance moved BTC 127,351 ($2 billion) to verify to an auditor it has control over the claimed address. He added that the funds were rotated to a new address.
• Ben Caselin, the vice president for global marketing and communications at AAX, announced that he resigned. “I did fight for the community but none of the initiatives we came up with were accepted. Any role I had left for communication became hollow,” he said in a tweet. This came after the exchange began halting withdrawals.
• Coinbase is reinforcing its senior positions in Europe with new hires and promotions, Bloomberg reported. Crypto.com’s former general manager is now Coinbase’s country director for Ireland, Bittrex’ former chief compliance and risk officer Michael Schroeder is the new director of controls in Germany, and Elke Karskens is moving from senior director of marketing to regional director in the UK. This follows significant layoffs seen this year.
• Tiantian Kullander, the co-founder of the Hong Kong digital asset company Amber Group, passed away unexpectedly in his sleep at the age of 30 on November 23, The Daily Mail reported, citing a company spokesman. No further details were provided surrounding the cause of death.

Regulation news

• Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission does not plan to include cryptocurrencies in a plan to improve trading in digital assets until regulators agree on standards that protect investors, Bloomberg reported. “We are looking at digital assets that really protect investors,” not necessarily crypto, said Director-General Lamido Yuguda. The commission is avoiding digital currency as crypto exchanges don’t have access to the banking platform that is needed to drive their trades in Nigeria yet.

Investment news

• Staking technology provider Kiln announced the close of a €17 million ($17.8 million) financing round to expand their staking infrastructure product range. Per the press release, it received funding from Illuminate Financial with participation by Consensys, GSR, Kraken Ventures, Leadblock Partners, Sparkle Ventures, XBTO, 3KVC, Blue Yard Capital, SV Angel, and Alven among others.

Blockchain news

• Router Protocol, an infrastructure layer enabling communication between blockchains, announced that it would test new cross-chain capabilities to spotlight interoperability at an Ethereum (ETH) hackathon, ETHIndia. Router is a sponsor of the event, and it will be hosting a hackathon to “drive technological advancements in cross-chain solutions, specifically ‘true blue’ cross-chain dapps,” it added.
• Most Valuable Builder (MVB), the accelerator program designed to support builders on BNB Chain, is now accepting applications from projects for its sixth cohort, Fit for Flight, said an announcement. The application window will be open until January 2023, and the top projects building Web3 infrastructure and dapps will be selected to join the official program in February 2023. MVB is co-led by BNB Chain and Binance Labs.