In a Tuesday filing, the company said it had reached a loan agreement with crypto exchange Coinbase allowing it to borrow money — using its bitcoin stockpile as collateral — to pay the settlement.
Today in crypto, Ethena Labs has exited the German market after regulators flagged “deficiencies” in its USDe stablecoin. In El Salvador, new data from the central bank shows that only 11% of registered Bitcoin service providers are currently active. Meanwhile, Emblem Vault CEO Jake Gallen claims he lost thousands in digital assets following a suspicious Zoom meeting.Ethena Labs exits German market following agreement with BaFinSynthetic stablecoin developer Ethena Labs is winding down its German operations less than a month after regulators identified “deficiencies” in its dollar-pegged USDe (USDE) stablecoin, signaling heightened scrutiny around crypto assets in Europe’s largest economy.Ethena Labs reached an agreement with Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, also known as BaFin, to cease all operations of its local subsidiary, Ethena GmbH, according to an April 15 announcement.As such, Ethena Labs “will no longer be pursuing MiCAR authorization in Germany,” the company said, referring to the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation.The company reiterated that Ethena’s German subsidiary has not conducted any mint or redeem activity for USDe since March 21, the day BaFin halted the stablecoin’s activities.As Cointelegraph reported at the time, the German regulator identified compliance failures and potential securities law violations tied to USDe.Source: Ethena LabsOnly 11% of El Salvador’s registered Bitcoin firms operational Only 20 of the 181 Bitcoin service providers registered with El Salvador’s central bank are operational, with the rest failing to meet the country’s requirements under its Bitcoin Law. Local media outlet El Mundo cited data from the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, showing that 11% of the service providers are operational. According to the central bank’s database, the rest of the providers are classified as non-operational. The data showed that at least 22 non-operational providers have failed to meet most of the country’s Bitcoin Law requirements, which mandate that providers implement stringent supervision of their financial systems. El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law requires providers to maintain an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program, keep records that accurately reflect the company’s assets, liabilities and equity and have a tailored cybersecurity program depending on the nature of its services. The data showed that 89% of the registered providers have failed to meet some of these obligations to be classified as operational. Still, a few firms have satisfied the legal criteria, including the state-backed Chivo Wallet and companies including Crypto Trading & Investment and Fintech Américas.Crypto exec issues warning on Zoom after losing $100,000 in cryptoJake Gallen, the CEO of the non-fungible token (NFT) platform Emblem Vault, has warned crypto users to be wary of the meeting app Zoom, saying a threat actor known as “ELUSIVE COMET” stole over $100,000 worth of crypto assets from him.Gallen said he had a “complete computer compromise” that ended up with a loss of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) assets from different wallets in a scam that took place over Zoom.“We were able to retrieve a malware file that was installed on my computer during a Zoom call with a YouTube personality of over 90k subs,” said Gallen, who said he set up a call after being contacted by a verified X account with 26,000 followers that claims to be the founder and CEO of a crypto mining platform. Source: Jake GallenDuring the call, Gallen said he was tricked into giving permission for Zoom to allow the host of the call to have remote access to his computer. The host, supposedly ELUSIVE COMET, then installed malware that stole credentials and accessed Gallen’s crypto wallets. SEAL security researcher Samczsun told Cointelegraph that Zoom, by default, allows meeting participants to request remote control access. “At this point in time we believe the victim still needs to be social engineered into granting access,” they said. Other X users recommended those using Zoom change the app’s settings to block other users from being able to remotely control their device.
Fresh from successfully convincing game retailer GameStop to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet, Strive Asset Management CEO Matt Cole has now set his sights on fintech firm Intuit to do the same.Cole said in an April 14 open letter to Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi that Intuit’s growth is admirable, but Bitcoin (BTC) is the best way to ensure the company’s long-term success and hedge against any potential disruption caused by artificial intelligence.Intuit’s flagship products are its tax preparation app TurboTax and the small business accounting software Quickbooks. The company laid off 10% of its staff in July to pursue its AI endeavors, but Cole said the firm needs an additional hedge because TurboTax is at risk of being automated away by AI. “While we appreciate Intuit’s own investments and internal implementation of AI, we believe an additional hedge is warranted, and that a Bitcoin war chest is the best option available,” Cole said. An excerpt from Matt Cole’s letter urging Intuit to consider adding Bitcoin to its balance sheets, among other suggestions. Source: Strive Asset Management That Bitcoin war chest, he added, will ensure Intuit has “enough strategic capital to weather the AI storm and act from a position of strength through the turbulence of the AI revolution.” Cole sent a similar letter to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen in February to advise the gaming retailer to use its $4.6 billion in cash to buy Bitcoin. GameStop’s Cohen acknowledged the letter in an April 1 regulatory filing and revealed his company had finished a convertible debt offering that raised $1.5 billion, with some proceeds earmarked for buying Bitcoin.Strive urges Intuit change crypto policyIn his letter to Intuit, Cole said the firm should reconsider the acceptable use policy for its marketing platform Mailchimp, which he claims has continued to suspend crypto-related accounts over policy violations.Source: Strive Asset ManagementCole said he “remains concerned that Intuit’s censorship and de-platforming policies discriminate against Bitcoin enthusiasts, which may harm long-term shareholder value.”Mailchimp has said that crypto-related content isn’t necessarily banned under its policy, and crypto content can be sent provided the sender isn’t involved in the sale, exchange, or marketing of crypto. Related: Saylor signals Strategy is buying the dip amid macroeconomic turmoilIts current acceptable use policy states that the platform might not allow accounts that offer “cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies, and any digital assets related to an initial coin offering.” According to Cole, Mailchimp likely adopted its policies when the legal status of crypto and related businesses was uncertain, but said with the crypto-friendly Trump administration, it’s time to “amend the acceptable use policy to end the blanket ban on crypto-related businesses.”Intuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Magazine: Bitcoin eyes $100K by June, Shaq to settle NFT lawsuit, and more: Hodler’s Digest, April 6–12
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