1,100 Arrested in China for Involvement in Crypto-Related Laundering
The Chinese authorities have arrested more than 1,100 people allegedly involved in money laundering using cryptocurrencies. The announcement was made on Wednesday by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security on the agency’s WeChat official account.
The “Card Broken” operation was carried out in line with the country’s effort to combat criminal activities related to cryptocurrencies. 23 various provinces which include Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning among others were covered by the operation. 170 criminal gangs were reportedly busted during the crackdown.
As further stated in the announcement, these gangs set up personnel or a “coin farmer” to register on crypto trading platforms with their personal bank cards and information. These accounts will then be used to purchase and exchange cryptocurrencies following commands from these criminal groups. Coin farmers help these gangs to launder money using their accounts.
In return for their services, coin farmers receive 1.5% to 5% commission for every successful conversion they made for the gangs. The crime is carried out by transferring the stolen money to the coin farmer’s account. He will then purchase digital assets from trading platforms using the funds and exchange them with several virtual currencies. Once completed, the money is then transferred to a designated wallet that belonged to these gangs.
In 2017, China has imposed a ban on crypto trading in the country mainly because of the financial risks associated with cryptocurrencies. The country has also launched a crackdown on crypto mining and has currently imposed a ban. Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia are three of China’s provinces that have ordered the total shut down of crypto minings including BTC (bitcoin).
In recent reports, the government has even censored sites for top crypto exchanges making them unavailable with Chinese search engines Baidu and Sogou.
The hostility of the Chinese government towards crypto has even resulted in a recent crypto market crash. On May 21, BTC (bitcoin) tremendously dropped to $30,000 after an announcement from the authorities on its crackdown on crypto mining bringing the price of major digital assets into a dip.
BitMEX Supports BTC Against Elon Musk and DOGE in the Crypto Space Race
After waging a war against major BTC (bitcoin) proponents, Elon Musk is now up against major crypto exchange BitMEX on its mission to send the first crypto literally to the moon.
On Friday, BitMEX has announced its partnership with robotics space firm Astrobotic Technology to send its first commercial lander to the moon at the end of 2021.
“We’re immensely proud to be supporting leading space robotics company Astrobotic Technology, Inc. as it sends its first commercial lander to the Moon in Q4 this year. It’s another giant leap in space travel which will see, for the first time, a private company leading a coalition of government, academia, industry, and international partners reach the lunar surface.”
But Bitmex has also stated that it has nothing against the dog-meme token DOGE (dogecoin).
“We’ve nothing against Dog Money, we felt it was only right to help bitcoin get there first.”
BitMEX CEO Alex Höptner also commented on the partnership:
“My day job is to help explore the potential of crypto beyond fiat currencies, so it’s hugely exciting to be a part of a project to explore human space presence beyond earth. For all the talk of bitcoin going to the Moon, we’re actually going to do it. We couldn’t be more happy to be supporting Astrobotic’s attempt to put its commercial lander on the Moon.”
Elon Musk, the biggest DOGE (dogecoin) supporter has been very vocal on this plans to bring the altcoin to the moon. On June 7, Musk made a tweet in response to BitMEX’s seeming challenge.
A new space race has begun!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2021
His tweet received responses from other DOGE (dogecoin) major supporters like David Gokhshtein.
I’m here to say DOGE first.
— David Gokhshtein (@davidgokhshtein) June 8, 2021
The space race has been a long-standing challenge among strong and rich countries like America and Russia. Both countries have achieved a milestone in space explorations and became part of world history. In the crypto space race, between Musk and Bitmex, who do you think will win? Which of the two major cryptocurrencies will reach the literal moon first? Will it be BTC (bitcoin) or DOGE (dogecoin)? This is definitely an exciting race and the whole crypto world will all be watching.
Bitcoin 2021 Became a Breeding Ground for COVID 19
The Bitcoin 2021 3-day event held in Miami on June 4-5 has been a huge success according to reports. It was attended by major BTC (bitcoin) proponents like Jack Dorsey, Nick Szabo, Michael Saylor, Cynthia Lummis, and Tony Hawk. Other celebrities like Paris Hilton were also among the attendees.
The event pushed through amid the COVID 19 pandemic despite concern from the public. But a report is going viral that some of the attendees were tested positive with COVID 19 after returning home from the said event.
Eric Wall Arcane Research chief investment officer was among those who contracted the virus. On Thursday, Wall tweeted that he underwent a CT scan after suffering from a high fever, chest pains with a suspected blood clot in his lungs according to the medical staff who attended to him. But he was later discharged from the hospital and no blood clot was found.
Another attendee, Luke Martin of automated trading software developer Coinist admitted being COVID positive.
Sadly, the 12,000 attendees were not required to use a face mask or show their proof of vaccination. Social distancing was not also enforced during the event making it a perfect breeding ground for the virus with so many hosts available.
Elon Musk: No Role in Bitcoin Mining Council
On May 25, the Bitcoin Mining Council was created with the initiative of Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor and major North American bitcoin mining companies which include Argo Blockchain, Galaxy Digital, and Marathon Digital Holdings. Elon Musk was reportedly present during the said meeting but he will have no role in the council as he also clarified earlier. This was clearly stated on the Bitcoin Mining Council site as well.
“Elon Musk has no role at the BMC. The extent of his involvement was joining an educational call with a group of North American companies to discuss Bitcoin mining.”
The involvement of Saylor in creating the council was also emphasized.
“Michael Saylor convened the first meeting attended by a number of large North American miners in late May 2021. He is a key member of the BMC, both as a facilitator and Bitcoin supporter.”
BMC Meetings will be held quarterly to tackle mining trends, partnership with industry researchers, collate data for educational purposes, and strengthen growth in the North American BTC mining industry.
With China’s recent crackdown on bitcoin mining, America may become the new bitcoin mining hub given its cheap renewable energy resources in states like Texas. The use of dirty energy like coals in bitcoin mining has sparked a new debate after Musk raise concerns about its environmental impact.
With the newly formed BMC, bitcoin miners around the world can now share information that will greatly benefit the members. Though the number may be limited, it will serve as an initial step for all bitcoin miners around the globe. There have been concerns that the formation of the council may disrupt bitcoin’s decentralization. But the site further states:
“We don’t seek to change the decentralized nature of Bitcoin or its core principles, but rather are working to raise awareness about Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining.”
Will joint effort from bitcoin miners all over the world provide solutions on the issue of bitcoin mining’s effect on the environment?
