KuCoin Accused of $9 Billion Money Laundering Scheme, Spot Bitcoin ETFs Get Renewed Interest, $140 Million in Decade-Old Bitcoin Consolidated Into One Wallet

KuCoin Accused of $9 Billion Money Laundering Scheme and Violating U.S. Financial Laws

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and its founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang, with violating anti-money laundering (AML) laws, including operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and breaching the Bank Secrecy Act. The indictment highlights KuCoin’s failure to implement a robust AML program, verify customer identities adequately, and report suspicious activities. It accuses KuCoin of sidestepping U.S. AML and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations by falsely claiming it had no U.S. customers, despite having a significant user base in the country. This misuse of its platform allegedly facilitated the laundering of over $9 billion.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, emphasized KuCoin’s exploitation of its substantial U.S. customer base to become one of the largest global cryptocurrency exchanges, with billions in daily trades and trillions in annual volume. He criticized KuCoin for deliberately choosing not to comply with U.S. laws designed to combat crime and corruption in financing. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also initiated a parallel civil action against KuCoin.

In response, KuCoin reassured users that the platform is functioning normally and their assets are secure, stating they are investigating the charges with legal counsel. CEO Johnny Lyu confirmed awareness of the charges but assured that operations remain unaffected.

Source: The Block

Spot Bitcoin ETFs Experience Renewed Interest

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in America have witnessed a significant resurgence, attracting $418 million in net inflows on March 26, after a period of five consecutive days of net outflows.

This influx of fresh capital marks a turnaround for these investment vehicles, with Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF experiencing the most substantial gain in the last two weeks, boasting $279 million in daily inflows alone.

This revival in investor interest is largely attributed to robust inflows into the funds managed by BlackRock and Fidelity, highlighting the renewed confidence among investors in the spot Bitcoin ETF market. According to data from Farside Investors, the ten recently approved spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively contributed to this notable increase in net inflows, indicating a positive shift in the market sentiment towards these financial products.

Source: Cointelegraph

$140 Million in Decade-Old Bitcoin Consolidated Into One Wallet by Mysterious Entity

An unidentified individual or entity, who amassed 2,000 bitcoins as mining rewards in 2010, has consolidated these assets into a single wallet. This significant movement of funds, comprising 40 sets of 50 bitcoin mining rewards each, was executed on March 26. The consolidation was highlighted by developer mononautical on the social media platform X, marking a notable instance of long-term hodling.

Mining rewards are incentives given to miners for their role in verifying and adding transactions to the Bitcoin blockchain. In the early days of Bitcoin, miners were rewarded with 50 bitcoins per block. This reward amount undergoes a halving approximately every four years, a process designed to reduce the rate of new bitcoin creation over time as part of Bitcoin’s deflationary monetary policy. The forthcoming halving event, expected around April 20, will decrease the block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, although the exact date may vary.

Source: The Block