Cryptocurrency

Tether is a reliable company: USDT issuer refuses to block Tornado Cash-linked addresses without requests from authorities

Published

1 month ago

August 25, 2022

Tether is a reliable company. The USDT issuer refused to freeze addresses associated with the Tornado Cash transaction-mixing service without proper requests from law enforcement.

“So far, OFAC has not indicated that the issuer should freeze secondary market addresses published on the SDN list or operated by individuals and entities subject to OFAC sanctions. In addition, no U.S. law enforcement agency or regulator has made such a request, despite our close contacts,” the statement said.

According to the press release, the company considers the unilateral blocking of addresses as a “reckless and destructive” measure. According to experts, such actions could negatively impact law enforcement investigations.

Tether criticized Circle, the company behind USDC, which has blacklisted addresses associated with the mixing service:

“We believe Circle’s actions taken without guidance from authorities are premature. They could jeopardize the work of regulators and law enforcement.”

Note that Tether is backed by all major cryptocurrency exchanges. Unstoppable Finance development manager Patrick Hansen stressed that despite its position, Tether is actively blocking addresses on the Ethereum network. The company is almost ten times ahead of the USDC issuer on this measure.

Infura and Alchemy infrastructure platforms have blocked RPC requests to Tornado Cash. Non-custodial exchange Uniswap also shut down access to its platform for a number of relevant addresses. DEX dYdX took a similar action.

On August 8, 2022, OFAC put the Tornado Cash site, as well as 39 Ethereum- and 6 USDC-affiliated addresses, on a sanctions list.

On August 12, Dutch authorities arrested an unnamed man on suspicion of involvement in money laundering and concealing criminal financial flows through a cryptocurrency mixer. Later it became known that it was Alexey Pertsev, the developer of the service.

On August 22, a rally in support of him was held in Amsterdam. The participants stated that open source is not a crime, and the authorities should prosecute the real attackers.

The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, Jess Powell, called the sanctions against Tornado Cash unconstitutional, and TRM Labs analysts called it a compliance challenge. Pertsev was also supported by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson.

Earlier we reported that the head of Coinbase urged us to prepare for a long “crypto winter”.

Cryptocurrency

Korea begins blocking bitcoin holdings of Terra founder

Published

2 days ago

September 28, 2022

letizo News

The South Korean prosecutor’s office appealed to local cryptocurrency exchanges to block the assets belonging to Terra founder Do Kwon. Bloomberg writes about it citing law enforcement officials.

The prosecutor’s office sent demands to cryptocurrency exchanges KuCoin and OKX to freeze a total of 3,313 BTC worth about $67 million, which are owned by Kwon through Luna Foundation Guard. Representatives of KuCoinand OKX at the time of writing had not officially commented on the reports about the blocking of Kwon’s assets.

According to Bloomberg, citing research firm CryptoQuant, the LFG wallet address was created on September 15. After its creation, a total of 3,310 BTC were moved to KuCoin and OKX. Meanwhile, back on September 14, the South Korean prosecutor’s office announced an arrest warrant for Terra coin.

Meanwhile, Do Kwon continues to assure the cryptocurrency community via Twitter that he is not hiding from law enforcement. Moreover, the founder of Terra even questioned whether he was wanted by Interpol. He noted that he still can’t find himself on the Interpol wanted list.

Earlier we reported that the head of Celsius Network, Alex Mashinsky, had resigned.

Cryptocurrency

Revolut and cryptocurrency news: Revolut received a license from the UK regulator for cryptocurrency services

Published

2 days ago

September 28, 2022

letizo News

Fintech broker Revolut can now provide cryptocurrency services in the UK thanks to a license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This is reported on the website of the regulator. Revolut and cryptocurrency were not previously linked.

In fact, the broker received approval from the regulator back on Monday, September 26, but it has become known only now. Before the license, Revolut provided cryptocurrency services through a temporary permit from the FCA. In addition to Revolut, CEX.IO, Copper Technologies, GlobalBlock and Moneybrain also provided crypto services on a temporary basis.

Revolut has long been exploring the expansion of cryptocurrency-related services. According to Revolut CEO Nikolai Storonsky, the company has been exploring options to introduce new services like Revolut cryptocurrency wallet. Revolut was also looking at integrating cryptocurrency stacking. However, it remains unclear whether the broker still plans to provide such services.

Earlier we reported that the head of FTX wants to buy the assets of the bankrupt Celsius Network.

Cryptocurrency

U.S. exchange regulator fines Tether auditor company $1.5 million

Published

2 days ago

September 28, 2022

letizo News

Tether auditor company, Friedman LLP, was fined $1.5 million for improper services from 2017 to 2020. This was reported in a press release from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to the exchange regulator, the Tether auditing company didn’t properly develop audit procedures in its work for the iFresh product network. The company also didn’t exercise the necessary due diligence in auditing another unnamed company. Although the press release does not explicitly identify Tether, the issuer of the USDTstablecoin, as Tether, Friedman’s firm was Tether’s auditor from just 2017 to 2018.

Tether full audit

Earlier, a New York County court required Tether to disclose the USDT Stablecoin’s collateral and prove the assets linkage to the U.S. dollar. According to the court order, Tether is required to provide the company’s financials, income statements, cash flow statements, and so on. However, the time frame in which Tether must provide the statements is not specified.

The lawsuit is part of a legal battle between investors and Tether’s parent company, iFinex. The plaintiffs believe that Tether manipulated the cryptocurrency market by issuing unsecured USDT with the intention of artificially inflating cryptocurrency prices.

Earlier we reported that Vitalik Buterin announced the release of his book.