From hacking attack to Kraken’s shutting down of operations in Japan, here are some latest developments in the crypto world.
Cybercriminals decamped around $3 million worth of digital assets after hacking into BTC.com, considered one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency mining pools. According to its mining pool tracker, BTC.com is the seventh cryptocurrency mining pool, with 2.66 per cent of the network's total hashrate.
In a press release, BTC.com said the company lost $2.3 million worth of digital assets and some $700,000 worth of assets owned by customers.
Kraken Will Cease Japan Operations
The US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken on Wednesday announced it would stop operating in Japan by the end of December, citing uncertain market conditions globally.
Kraken will no longer be registered with the Financial Services Agency (JFSA) by January 31. So, before that, customers will need to withdraw their fiat and crypto holdings, it said in a statement. Kraken said it is fully financed and clients can withdraw their money.
Last month, Kraken said it will downsize its staff by 30 per cent, or roughly 1,100 employees due to weak demand for digital assets.
Venezuelan Banks Freeze Accounts
Venezuelan private banks blocked more than 75 accounts for facilitating crypto-to-fiat and fiat-to-crypto transactions since the end of 2021, Bitcoin.com reported, citing Legalrocks, a crypto-focused law firm. The accounts were reportedly involved in “peer-to-peer” (P2P) transaction activities.
Philippines Warns Against Unregistered Crypto Exchanges
The Philippine government has advised investors to avoid using unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges.
According to Cointelegraph, the Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned the public not to use unregistered crypto exchanges. The SEC also warned about "the recent collapse of a large international cryptocurrency exchange", perhaps FTX , but without naming it.
Cointelegraph report added that some exchanges are "illegally permitting" Filipinos to use their platforms and promising online account openings. These exchanges "provide diverse products and schemes which are high-risk and occasionally fraudulent," it quoted SEC as saying.