Nearly 20 per cent of Indian ultra high-net worth-individuals (UHNWIs) invested in crypto assets last year amid rising popularity of cryptocurrencies and NFTs, according to a Knight Frank report. UHNWIs are those who have net worth of USD 30 million (about Rs 226 crore) or more. In its Wealth Report released on Tuesday, Knight Frank…
BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani, charged criminally in the U.S. last week with a $2.4 billion Ponzi scheme, has vanished from his native India, officials said. Last September, the Securities and Exchange Commission separately sued Kumbhani, claiming he fraudulently raised more than $2 billion from investors in his cryptocurrency exchange platform. But the SEC didn’t know…
Crypto exchange Binance is blocking the accounts of any Russian clients targeted by sanctions, it told Reuters on Monday, but will not freeze the accounts of others after Ukraine called for a block on Russian users at major digital currency platforms. “We’re blocking accounts of those on the sanctions list (if they have Binance accounts)…
The prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies somewhat stabilised on Saturday amid possible Russia-Ukraine talks. Bitcoin, which nosedived below $34,000 when the war began on Thursday, was flat on Saturday at nearly $39,000 per coin, compared with a 5 per cent gain in XRP digital asset and a 10 per cent rise in Terra’s LUNA…
Crypto technology could play a unique role in how Russia’s intensifying invasion of Ukraine gets recorded into history. Videos of Russian troops occupying Chernobyl and explosions rocking Kyiv make up some of the millions of digital records documenting the conflict being held on Arweave, a decentralized data storage network. It’s the decentralization that’s key to…
The increased adoption of cryptocurrencies is helping Russian President Vladimir Putin evade the first wave of financial sanctions from the West and the country may legalise cryptocurrencies in order to sustain and virtually avoid all the sanctions as it invades Ukraine, the media reported. US President Joe Biden has announced new sanctions and limitations on…
As Russia invaded Ukraine, people started donating the Ukrainian army in cryptocurrencies to support them and in the past 24 hours, more than $400,000 worth Bitcoins have been donated to just one group. Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO that raises crypto funds for the Ukrainian army, received more than $400,000 worth of digital tokens…
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to make its stand clear on Bitcoins. Currently, there is no regulation or any ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant told the additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, “You have to make your stand clear.”…
When the United States barred Americans from doing business with Russian banks, oil and gas developers and other companies in 2014, after the country’s invasion of Crimea, the hit to Russia’s economy was swift and immense. Economists estimated that sanctions imposed by Western nations cost Russia $50 billion a year. Since then, the global market…
Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael Patra on Wednesday said the central bank’s views about cryptocurrencies might have delayed the government’s proposed legislation on crypto assets. Emphasising that the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will be introduced in FY23 as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget speech, Patra said India will proceed very…
