Moonday Mornings: Teen allegedly stole unreleased A-list music to sell for Bitcoin

Gather round forkers, it’s time for Moonday Mornings, Hard Fork’s wrap-up of the weekend’s top cryptocurrency and blockchain headlines.

1. Police in the Philippines have arrested 277 Chinese nationals following a tip-off from the Chinese authorities. The suspects are thought to be connected to a cryptocurrency scam primarily targeting investors based in China, a local news outlet reports.

2. A 19-year-old hacker suspected of stealing music from award-winning artists to sell on for cryptocurrency has been apprehended. The teenager has been arrested on suspicion of copyright  and computer misuse offenses, according to a City of London Police statement. The affected artists have not been named.

3. Deutsche Bank, one of the world’s top 20 banks by total assets, is set to join the JP Morgan-led blockchain network, the Financial Times reports. The German banking Goliath is the latest in a growing list, which now sits at some 320 banks from all over the world, vowing to use blockchain in an attempt to speed up cross border payments.

4. Despite continually being dragged across the coals, Facebook is still intent on launching its “cryptocurrency” Libra. The chief of the supposedly decentralized consortium of companies that will oversee the administration of the digital asset, the Libra Association, has said the Libra stablecoin will launch by the end of 2020, The Block reports.

The <3 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

5. Speaking of Libra, Central Bank officials are due to meet with Libra’s founders in Basel today, according to the FT. Don’t hold out much hope, though. Earlier this year, a US Congressional committee met with regulators in Switzerland to learn more about the “cryptocurrency” but the meeting did little to curtail the committee’s concerns.

What’s next in blockchain? Join Hard Fork Summit on October 15-17 to find out. With experts like Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, on the lineup, it’s not one to miss.