It’s All About Crypto Blog
Paxos Fined $26.5M Over AML Failures Related to BUSD
Paxos has reached a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services and agreed to pay a $26.5 million fine. The fine was issued due to alleged weaknesses in its anti-money laundering controls while managing Binance USD (BUSD), a stablecoin issued by Paxos. This is yet another case where a crypto-related AML investigation ends without going to trial...
China Targets Worldcoin Over Iris Scans
China’s Ministry of State Security has issued a warning about the dangers of iris data collection, citing a foreign project that distributes tokens in exchange for eye scans. It’s pretty clear they’re talking about Worldcoin and its WLD tokens. The ministry makes three key points: * The iris is a unique biometric identifier (like a fingerprint). * If leaked, this data can’t be...
The Hardest Floor in Stablecoins - Backed by BTC
The public testnet of the Alpen network has launched. Its flagship product will be the Bitcoin Dollar (BTD) – a stablecoin fully backed by Bitcoin. This isn’t just another crypto‑backed stablecoin. Its design is inspired by the original DAI model, but with key flaws fixed: 1. No governance whatsoever – In DAI, everything has always been controlled by MKR token holders: they set interest...
What Bitcoin Still Can’t Fix?
The team behind one of the most impressive projects in the Bitcoin ecosystem - RGB - is planning to launch a new L1 blockchain called Prime. This was revealed in a research paper by RGB lead developer Maxim Orlovsky. It’s an unexpected move from people who have spent years working to improve Bitcoin itself. RGB is a major breakthrough: it brings client-side...
What If USDT Loses Its Peg? Part II: DeFi and Self-Custody
Not long ago, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a report warning that a major stablecoin might not survive a wave of redemption requests. The name of the stablecoin and its issuer weren’t disclosed. The warning itself was also phrased carefully — the BIS wasn’t predicting the collapse of a stablecoin outright, but rather the risks of a sharp sell-off in the...
The Blockchain Never Forgets
A UK police officer has just been sentenced for stealing 50 bitcoins - a crime he committed eight years ago. I came across the story in Coinfomania, and what surprised me most was the author's conclusion. They wrote: “This story shows how tough it can be to catch crypto criminals.” But to me, it says the exact opposite: even if someone thought they covered their...
0.91x is the best we’ve got
CryptoRank has launched an interesting tool that lets you compare how newly listed tokens have performed across different exchanges. The performance metric shows how the current price compares to the token’s listing price. You can select any date range - a week, a month, or more - and see how many tokens listed during that period are currently up or down. The tool also shows the median result...
Crypto in Thailand: What’s Actually Allowed Now?
Thailand has been making headlines in the crypto world lately. Most of them say the same thing: “Tourists are now allowed to use digital assets in the country.” But what does “allowed” really mean? I remember seeing a “Bitcoin accepted here” map back in 2017, and Thailand already stood out. It still does today compared to neighboring countries - just take a...
Tether Freezing and Reissuing USDT Tokens
I came across a story from a week ago that didn’t get the attention it deserves. Tether reported that it helped U.S. authorities combat terrorism financing by freezing and reissuing $1.6 million worth of USDT. At first glance, nothing unusual - Tether freezes USDT all the time. I’ve written about this before, even pointing out which blockchain doesn’t allow Tether to freeze...
Qubic: A 51% Attack on Monero?
A few days ago, I asked if there were any examples where miners contribute compute power to something useful - like neural networks. It turns out such a project exists. And more than that - it’s about to launch what could be described as a revolution in Proof-of-Work security. I’m talking about Qubic - a project that has suddenly climbed to the...
