Moonday Mornings: Russia’s security agency reportedly linked to $450M cryptocurrency loss

Welcome to another week of cryptocurrency and blockchain news. Before we get on with the week, let’s take a look at what happened over the weekend.

Here’s what went down.

1. According to a BBC Russia investigation, the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) could be behind the disappearance of $450 million worth of cryptocurrency from Russia-based asset exchange WEX, The Moscow Times reports. The exchange’s CEO was allegedly forced by the FSB to hand over customer data. The report says this data was then used to steal cryptocurrency that was worth over $450 million at the time.

2. Despite continually butting heads with law makers and regulators, Facebook’s ‘cryptocurrency’ project Libra is still moving forward. According to a blog post on the Libra developers page, community devs have deployed 34 projects to the Libra testnet including 10 wallets, 11 blockchain explorers, and one API. Whether this will come to anything, though, remains to be seen as Libra is still yet to appease global financial regulators.

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3. At some point over the past week or so, the number of Bitcoin ATMs operating around the globe surpassed 6,000. There are now 6,003 Bitcoin ATMs, according to CoinATMRadar. Back in June, the number of cryptocurrency ATMs passed the 5,000 barrier. If this trend continues, the number of crypto ATMs in the world will pass the 10,000 mark in the next couple of years.

4. Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has vowed to better regulate cryptocurrency if he is elected, this is according to a blog post on his campaign website. Yang says that the US is lagging behind the rest of the world in regulating the digital assets, and will have to play catch up to the rules dictated by other nations. As president, Yang vows to promote legislation to provide clarity on the cryptocurrency market, define what a token is and when it is a security, and provide consumer protections.

5. Germany’s financial regulator (BaFin) has flagged a Bulgarian cryptocurrency firm for operating without a license, Finance Magnates reports. According to a statement issued on the BaFin website last week, the company — 5 Capital — is now barred from operating in Germany. The company had been offering “illegal” cryptocurrency-based contracts for difference (CFDs) without a license.

Well there you go, now go get on with your week of cryptocurrency-based…. stuff.