The Money Update

Exciting news for the bitcoin Rakuten owners is waiting to be revealed! Are you curious to know about it? Thinking what’s a new surprise for the Rakuten bitcoin owners? No doubt, it’s a big surprise that’ll make you dance. Rakuten, one of the biggest giants in the retail sector in Japan has combined the wallet available for cryptocurrency with the payment application. With this integration, consumers can enjoy greater ease in using bitcoins. It benefits customers with the ease of loading bitcoins and easily converting them for everyday usage. So, it can be beneficial for consumers to shop every day using bitcoins.

Rakuten (a retailer in Japan) friendly to crypto usage is providing Rakuten wallet users a benefit of using a subsidiary cryptocurrency network for exchange for spending crypto holdings easily in daily life dealings and transactions.

As per the latest announcement released regarding the news, all the users get to enjoy the ease in using the Rakuten account for payment purposes with the wallets of BTC (Bitcoin), ETH (Ether), and BCH (Bitcoin Cash) holdings. If you’re not aware of Rakuten or a new user, you can learn from here. Rakuten payment is an application available for payment using mobile version connected nationwide and available at multiple medium or large-scale retailers. So, most of the retailers are aware of the app and are using it for payment purposes.

In the past 2019, the news was out related to Rakuten showing a confirmation on consumers able to use the points collected as a loyalty feature at the Rakuten group to transfer it in cryptos. There are not many restrictions about the transfer and it is easy to do it with the app itself. And in the current time, another news came out as a grand surprise for its users. Another integration is shown by the group that is not like the past but connected to it and it much deeper. In this step, a lot of efforts are focused on the Rakuten cash (e-money), Rakuten pay, and Rakuten wallet to start considering cryptocurrency as a payment option. With such an integration, it gives a chance to users to use cryptos in the spending transactions at stores like FamilyMart, McDonald, or Seiyu conveniently.

Also, one major eye-catching thing revealed in the middle of the integration is no charges on conversion or any additional fee will be levied by Rakuten. The no-charge action is applicable in the conversion of cryptocurrency, fiat, and e-money. Though a limit exists regarding the minimum amount that a user can spend, and that remains up to 1,000 yen or $9.40. Apart from the minimum limit, it holds a monthly limit to an upper amount of up to 100,000 yen or $940.

If you’re a Rakuten user and you want to avail the benefit of using it, it’s not a tough thing and one can do it easily. It’s a must for you to have a Rakuten wallet account available in a trading position. Also, a new bonus is introduced by the company for new integration service incentivization. In the bonus feature, users get hands over Rakuten points.

There have been headlines about a business company based in Lagos, Nigeria, and has branches in the United States, Ghana, and the United Kingdom. It basically started as an eCommerce startup that is now globally famous due to its services. It claims that an approximate number of 300,000 plus people use their services to meet their everyday needs and requirements.

The company utilizes the aspects and the power of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to create further solutions for their existing financial properties. This will enable the customers to basically buy and sell BTC at the best rates in Africa and, most importantly, with no hidden charges!

The digital assets can be stored in Patricia’s “safe, secure, and flexible wallet.” Users have the facility to convert their Bitcoin and fiat currencies as per their needs and requirements.

The founder, Fejiro Hanu Agbodje, was basically inspired by a childhood situation. He was given an iTunes gift card but had no iPhone to use that. So he basically went on searching for companies that could exchange those gift cards for real money but could end up finding none. And eventually, he ended up getting scammed, but that was the turning point in his life, and Patricia has evolved and is clearly thriving right now!

People usually see bitcoin just as a simple asset, but there is surely more to that. Patricia emphasizes on the fact that you can use your cryptocurrencies for essential bill payments, purchases, and many more.

The customizable debit card is one of the company’s flagship products that basically help people withdraw cash anytime from an ATM machine like regular money. Furthermore, purchases can be easily made without any hassle by countless merchants worldwide. Fascinating, right?

And the cherry on the top includes that your bank account can be opened at an instant just within minutes. It is that easy! Patricia even claims that they charge pretty low as their transfer fees in comparison to the others in the market. This is because many of the times, it is often seen that the transfer rates are so massive that this might count as a significant loss for the people. Their main focus is to protect the cash of the people and maintain better cash flow.

There are e a few other benefits of having an account in Patricia as well, like the ability to sell and buy gift cards. The top brand includes Amazon, Google Pay, and iTunes. Isn’t it great? Now you don’t need to think about that one gift card that you got long ago but have nowhere to spend them. This is the perfect place to sell those and exchange cash for them.

Thus, this company is taking all the necessary actions to make everything digital and make cryptocurrencies a fundamental option of spending. It is undoubtedly changing the future, which can impact the use of cryptocurrencies by expanding its uses. This is because the traditional people usually just considered this as an asset, but now it is more than that. This is pretty important considering the digitalization happening all around the world.

For decades, North Korea’s Kim dynasty is making billions of money through counterfeiting cash, drug trafficking, and more. But, in the past few years, North Korea is using far more sophisticated methods to make money. They have turned into cybercrimes to raise money for their country. It has been reported that they have thousands of hackers who conduct heists against cryptocurrency exchanges and even banks that result in billions of dollars from being stolen. One such attack was reported in 2018, which results in a $250 million worth of money being stolen in one swoop.  According to the United Nations, the regime uses a large amount of money received through it to develop its nuclear power further to ensure its long-term survival.

However, there is a huge difference between just hacking the cryptocurrency exchanges and getting the actual cash to do whatever they plan to do. Getting their hands on real money means that they have to launder the cryptocurrency somewhere without a trace and then exchange them for real currency to buy weapons, luxurious items, and anything else that is not possible with bitcoins.

According to a cryptocurrency case agent at the IRS, Christopher Janczewski, laundering cryptocurrency, is far more sophisticated than the actual hack. With the increase in these hacks, Janczewski has quite busy lately. He was the lead investigating officer in the recent hack involving two Twitter users and the largest darknet website funded through Bitcoin used for child sexual abuse. In the most recent cases, he also led the investigation on the $250 million in cryptocurrency that was carried out by a North Korean hacker team called Lazarus Group. He added that Lazarus Group is evolving quite fast.

Lazarus uses different tactics to hide their wrongdoing and to throw off any investigation. They transfer the cryptocurrencies to different accounts and wallets and may switch from ether to Bitcoin with ease. But, in the past few years, the gang has evolved immensely and are using a tactic called ‘peel chain.’ It involves money movement in quick and automated transactions from one Bitcoin wallet to new addresses using thousands of transactions. It allows them to minimize the risk of setting off any red flags and also hides the real source of money. Another approach called ‘chain hopping’ is used to move the money from one cryptocurrency to another to take it away from Bitcoin. It leads the trails to go cold and sometimes even raise false alarms for the investigation agents.

Janczewski revealed that the Lazarus runs a huge operation that involves the creation and maintenance of thousands of fake identities and accounts. The amount of effort and technology being spent on them is so huge that it shows just how important these operations are for the North Korean regime. While it is difficult to give it a real number, experts say that about 15% of the North Korean economy depends on criminal activity, with cyberattacks on the top.

Cryptocurrency hacking is far from the perfect crime, but investigators and the police have been clueless about how to track them for a while. But today, they have years of experience, and increased cooperation from exchanges and pressure from the government is making it easier for the investigators to track them. With improved technology, blockchain surveillance tools are becoming more advanced, leading to cryptocurrency from being less anonymous than before.

The hackers may use different hops and peels to cover their tracks; they need to use Bitcoins to exchange them for US dollars eventually. It is being possible using the over-the-counter markets that are more traceable. The US government is also taking proactive steps to take action against illegal accounts and exchanges, responding to their requests to freeze funds more easily.

Gemini, the crypto exchange, has started accepting deposits in PAX Gold, AMP, and Compound with trading effective 15th September 2020.

Gemini offers US dollars trading pairs for PAX Gold, AMP, and Compound via its active trader platform and API connections. The exchange is also offering trading and custody support for 12 cryptos (BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, ZEC, BAT, DAI, LINK, OXT, PAXG, AMP, and COMP) and custody for 13 cryptos (ZRX, BRD, MANA, ENJ, GUSD, GNT, KNC, LOOM, MKR, NMR, OMG STORJ, and CSP).

Tyler Winklevos, the co-founder of Gemini Crypto exchange in his tweet, had announced the addition of PAXG, AMP, and COMP, through their ActiveTrader platform, API connections as well as trading pairs with all supported fiats (USD, AUD, CAD, and HKD) via the desktop and mobile platforms, reflecting the exchange’s commitment to DeFi.

In its statement, Gemini said that the addition of three assets, PAX Gold, AMP, and Compound expand the range of their platform and would help to continue with their mission of empowering individuals through crypto. In its statement, the exchange also said that it is working closely with the New York State Department of Financial Services to gain approval to offer services for new assets. The addition of the assets will provide a new way to interact with the crypto ecosystem.

Although Gemini lists DeFi tokens, Tyler Winklevos is still bullish on Bitcoin. He predicted that Bitcoin would reach $ 500,000.

Many major exchanges have started listing popular DeFi tokens; Poloniex, Houbi, Coinbase, OKEx, and Binance have all listed different DeFi projects.

What are PAX Gold (PAXG), AMP, and Compound (COMP)?

PAX Gold is a digital asset, where every token corresponds at a 1:1 ratio to one ounce of physical gold held in reserve. With PAXG, it now becomes easier to purchase gold. Each token supports one troy ounce (t oz.) of a 400 oz. London Good Delivery gold bar, stored in Brink’s vault. PAXG gives you the benefit of actual physical ownership with the mobility and speed of digital ownership. You can also have fractional ownership of the physical bars—both liquid and digital.

AMP is a digital collateral for Flexa Network, a payment system that allows you to spend some cryptocurrencies supported on the Gemini platform with select retailers at their physical locations. When you purchase from a retailer with a Gemini pay app through Flexa, that app pays Flexa from your account in cryptocurrency of your choice, and Flexa, in turn, pays the retailer in the currency of their choice. Flexa uses AMP as collateral from the time of purchase to the time of settlement with the merchant.

Compound (COMP) is an open-source platform that allows you to borrow and pay interest or lend and earn interest against your crypto. You either lend or borrow crypto on the platform, and receive a cToken in exchange, correlating to your lent or borrowed asset. The compound protocol algorithm determines the interest that you pay or earn, and it changes every day with the market. 

As said earlier, with the expansion of assets on the Gemini platform, the exchange intents to empower individuals through crypto.

The world has been seeing tough times with the coronavirus outbreak rocking every aspect of society. Many industries have suffered much, and so has the common man. But one avenue had emerged better than before due to innate qualities that favored its progress. This avenue was the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Many brands, including the industry leader Bitcoin, have seen yearly highs in their trading performances, and high returns have been keeping the investors happy. With such a bright future ahead of its horizon, cryptocurrency has entered the right kind of environment, which could determine its ascension to head the financial world altogether.

Effects of the Pandemic

The main consequence of the global outbreak of this deadly virus in the economic picture is that it has made many nations adopt digital practices when it comes to transactions and investing. This was necessary to develop because of concerns about community spreading of the virus and to conduct social distancing effectively. This has dramatically boosted the virtual economy and the role cryptocurrencies play in it. It has even opened the vital debate of whether Bitcoin is finally allowed to be treated as a legitimate currency instead of denounced by government authorities.

The Government Discussion over the matter

The discussions covered a variety of matters and asked for more cautious regulatory practices. The authorities’ main concern included putting all faith onto big private conglomerates and making the decisions that would affect the transaction of the masses. The authorities also showed definite plans for digital currency with putting forward a prospective policy that would empower altcoins to be brought into mainstream transactions as well as take into account the challenges they might produce to prevent consumer disservice and discomfort.

Aside from the United States, the biggest country paving the path for cryptocurrency through its inclusion in significant government policies in China. The eastern giant had buoyed the hopes and dreams of all altcoins considerably when it included. This is reflected in the fact that the Chinese authorities have included Bitcoin and other virtual financial accessories in inheritance laws, and now Chinese citizens can leave their crypto assets to the next of kin upon an untimely death.

But virtual finance is still riddled by problems such as fluctuation of value and lack of regularity. Cryptocurrency still has a long way to go.

Ignacio Ibarra and Oscar Brito Ibara, two promoters of OneCoin, a cryptocurrency exit scam, were found dead in Mexico. Industry news source, Cointelegraph en Espanol, while reporting their deaths, disclosed that the two men were kidnapped.

Local news source, La Tercera, reported that law enforcement authorities found the bodies inside suitcases abandoned in an empty lot. Preliminary examination of the bodies revealed that both the deaths were due to suffocation.

According to La Tercera, Oscar Brito Ibarra, a Chilean, joined the OneCoin scheme as an affiliate in 2017. At that time, OneCoin, which was founded in 2014, was already labeled as a Ponzi scheme by many global authorities. These men jointly owned a local car company named Latin American Marketing Company. They promoted OneCoin as a means of making payments at their company. Sources reveal that the kidnapping and killing may be a result of the $4 billion OneCoin scam.

It is not yet known whether the kidnappers were aggrieved OneCoin victims or if it was a casual crime. It is a fact that the crime rate in Mexico is the highest in the world. As per Washington Post, around 5,000 people were kidnapped in the year 2019 and none of them have returned to date. But it cannot be ignored that the number of victims of OneCoin scam is quite large.

After the OneCoin scam revealed itself, many of the promoters were brought to justice by the victims. At the beginning of this month, a 52 year old Singaporean, Fok Fook, was found guilty of operating a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) scam with OneCoin. Channel News Asia, a local television channel, reported that Fok Fook used his MLM scheme to promote OneCoin from January 2016 to June 2017. He attracted buyers through several avenues, including online seminars, social media, and many large scale events. Later, he was charged under Singapore’s MLM and Pyramid Selling Prohibition Act. Fok Fook was later acquitted with a financial penalty of a hundred thousand Singaporean dollars (approximately $72,000), but one of his accomplices is still under trial.

The law enforcement agencies have failed to take strict action against OneCoin’s top brass. In April this year, Judge Ramos of the NY Southern District Court rescheduled the hearing in the case of Mark Scott. Mark Scott was charged with money laundering for OneCoin in November. He had laundered $400 million for the company. His rebuttal in the case is on the grounds due to a lack of proper evidence. He is claiming that till 2018 that he was unaware that OneCoin is a scam.

The U. S. government has filed an opposition against Scott’s rebuttal. The government is trying to prove that Scott, a lawyer affiliated with OneCoin, received a kickback of $50 million from the scam. He used this money to buy a yacht, luxury cars, and many waterfront houses. The legal proceedings are still going on, and his sentence is awaited. It is also reported that Ruja Ignatova, OneCoin founder, has fled to Bulgaria. Also, the sentencing of her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, was adjourned by the Court.