SBF wants FTX to pay his legal fees, USDT linked to Russian sanction-dodging

USDT linked to Russian sanction-dodging

Russians use Tether’s USDT stablecoin to circumvent sanctions, according to Transparency International.

The global anti-corruption organisation found eight over-the-counter brokers operating out of Moscow that allow Russians to sidestep sanctions by selling tens of thousands of dollars in stablecoin for British pounds sterling.

Many western nations placed unprecedented economic sanctions on Russia following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions included cutting off Russian banks from using the international SWIFT payment system.

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SBF wants FTX to pay for his legal battle

Sam Bankman-Fried is seeking for FTX to foot his legal bills by tapping into the collapsed crypto exchange’s director and officer insurance plan, a Wednesday court filing shows.

The former FTX CEO faces a host of charges for his alleged role in the actions leading to the firm’s collapse in November.

Experts predict the case could cost Bankman-Fried millions in legal fees. He is awaiting a trial in October.

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Uniswap launches on BNB Chain

Decentralised exchange Uniswap has officially launched on BNB Chain, a Binance-founded and Ethereum-compatible blockchain.

The expansion of Uniswap – the dominant DEX on Ethereum network – to BNB Chain means Uniswap users can take advantage of BNB Chain’s relatively cheaper fees, setting the stage for potential growth of both entities.

The decision to expand into BNB chain was made by the protocol’s governance forum, following a contentious vote involving major UNI tokenholders a16z and Jump Crypto.

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Steve Bannon’s ‘new sugar daddy’ arrested for $1bn fraud

US authorities arrested exiled Chinese Tycoon Guo Wengui on Wednesday, charging him for his role in an alleged $1 billion fraud.

Notable among the accusations are links to a $500 million crypto scheme for H-coin, or Himalaya Coin, of which Guo was the founder and lead promoter.

Within five months of launching the token, H-coin was bankrupt and investors lost everything, resulting in an Securities and Exchange Commission suit that is ongoing.

Guo is closely linked to Steve Bannon, former advisor to defenestrated US President Donald Trump.

After Bannon was pushed out the White House, the two co-founded Chinese media company GTV Media Group.

A Trump White House source referred to Guo as Bannon’s “new sugar daddy” in a New Yorker profile.

Euler Finance announces $1m bounty to catch hacker

Euler Finance is offering a $1 million bounty to catch the hacker that stole almost $200 million on Monday by using a flash loan exploit.

The public announcement came after the DeFi protocol attempted to negotiate with hacker by sending an on-chain message.

Euler told the perpetrator that the investigation to find them would stop and no legal actions would be taken if 90% of the stolen funds were returned.

Euler has contacted US and UK authorities in regards to the hack, which is the largest to-date in 2023.

Ethereum’s Shapella upgrade is a go after successful final test

Ethereum’s Shapella upgrade is now imminent after a final test on Tuesday was successful.

Shapella will be the largest upgrade to the Ethereum network since the Merge upgrade in September, which saw the blockchain move over to a proof-of-stake model.

The upgrade will allow ETH stakers to withdraw funds for the first time, following a lock period built to keep the network stable as it transitioned away from the energy-intensive proof-of-work model used by Bitcoin and other chains.

More web3 news from around the web...

UK to add crypto declaration in tax forms – CoinDesk

Fidelity Crypto quietly went live, giving millions of retail customers access to bitcoin, ether – The Block

Stablecoin operator moves $1 billion in reserves to Bahamas –Bloomberg