Crypto News | TechCrunch

Terraform Labs co-founder and crypto fugitive Do Kwon set for extradition to South Korea

Kate Park — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 08:54:43 +0000

The ruling confirmed an earlier decision in April from the High Court of Podgorica which rejected a request to extradite the crypto fugitive to the United States.

SEC charges BitClout founder Nader Al-Naji with fraud; says proceeds paid for L.A. mansion, gifts

Margaux MacColl — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:56:10 +0000

The founder of once-hyped crypto startup BitClout is facing trouble. On Tuesday, the SEC charged him with fraud and other offenses.

WazirX to ‘socialize’ $230M security breach loss among customers

Manish Singh — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 17:03:51 +0000

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX announced on Saturday a controversial plan to “socialize” the $230 million loss from its recent security breach among all its customers, a move that has sent shock waves through the local crypto community. The Mumbai-based firm, which suspended all trading activities on its platform last week following the cyberattack that compromised […]

Ledger launches Ledger Flex, a mid-range hardware crypto wallet

Romain Dillet — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:15:00 +0000

Ledger, a French startup mostly known for its secure crypto hardware wallets, has launched a new mid-range device, the Ledger Flex. Available now, priced at $249, the dinky hardware wallet features an E-Ink display to navigate the interface and approve transactions with a tap. Like all of Ledger’s wallets, the Ledger Flex is built around […]

Proton releases a self-custody bitcoin wallet

Romain Dillet — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Proton's first cryptocurrency product is a wallet called Proton Wallet that's designed to make it easier to get started with bitcoin.

WazirX halts trading after $230 million ‘force majeure’ loss

Manish Singh — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 16:14:48 +0000

WazirX, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has “temporarily” suspended all trading activities on its platform days after losing about $230 million, nearly half of its reserves, in a security breach. The Mumbai-based exchange said in a tweet Sunday evening that the cyberattack had substantially impaired its ability to maintain the critical 1:1 collateral ratio […]

WazirX halts withdrawals after losing $230 million, nearly half its reserves

Manish Singh — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 17:38:00 +0000

The Mumbai-based firm said one of its multisig wallets had suffered a security breach, and it was temporarily pausing all withdrawals from the platform.

Ethereum co-founder’s warning against ‘pro-crypto’ candidates: ‘Are they in it for the right reasons?’

Maxwell Zeff — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 20:04:42 +0000

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, issued a warning on Wednesday against choosing a candidate purely based on whether they claim to be “pro-crypto.” In a blog post, Buterin said it’s more important to scrutinize a candidate’s broader policies to ensure they support cryptocurrency’s underlying goals, including internationalism and protection for private communications. “If a […]

Caliza lands $8.5 million to bring real-time money transfers to Latin America using USDC

Anna Heim — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Real-time payments are becoming commonplace for individuals and businesses, but not yet for cross-border transactions. That’s what Caliza is hoping to change, starting with Latin America. Founded in 2021 by American entrepreneur Ezra Kebrab, who now lives in São Paulo, Brazil, Caliza offers an alternative to transfers made via SWIFT, which are the norm in […]

Jesse Pollak will tell us why Coinbase is launching its own Base blockchain at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

Romain Dillet — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 15:00:00 +0000

We’re excited to invite Jesse Pollak to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 to talk about the future of decentralization.

CoinDCX acquires BitOasis in international expansion push

Manish Singh — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 10:31:35 +0000

CoinDCX, India’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, is expanding internationally through the acquisition of BitOasis, a digital asset platform in the Middle East and North Africa, the companies said Wednesday. The Bengaluru-based startup said BitOasis’s team is joining CoinDCX, with the original leadership continuing to manage the exchange, which offers trading in more than 60 tokens. BitOasis […]

IRS finalizes new regulations for crypto tax reporting

Anthony Ha — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 17:45:03 +0000

Crypto platforms will need to report transactions to the Internal Revenue Service, starting in 2026. However, decentralized platforms that don’t hold assets themselves will be exempt. Those are the main takeaways from new regulations that the IRS and U.S. Department of Treasury finalized Friday — essentially implementing a provision of the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and […]

Kenya closes its probe of Worldcoin, opening the door to a relaunch of its orbs after a year-long suspension

Annie Njanja, Natasha Lomas — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:00:55 +0000

Worldcoin — the crypto “proof of personhood” startup co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman — has been given the green light to resume iris-scanning and other operations in Kenya after a year-long government probe over privacy concerns was dropped. Kenya was one of Worldcoin’s launch countries for its iris-scanning scheme — which the startup was building […]

How Urvashi Barooah broke into venture after everyone told her she couldn’t

Rebecca Szkutak — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 21:27:19 +0000

When Urvashi Barooah applied to MBA programs in 2015, she focused her applications around her dream of becoming a venture capitalist. She got rejected from every school, and was told she was being unrealistic about her prospects in the venture industry — but she didn’t let that deter her. Now, nine years later, Barooah, 33, […]

Robinhood acquires global crypto exchange Bitstamp for $200M

Paul Sawers — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 12:46:24 +0000

Stock-trading app Robinhood is diving deeper into the cryptocurrency realm with the acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp.

Worldcoin faces pivotal EU privacy decision within weeks

Natasha Lomas — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 16:24:32 +0000

The next few weeks could be pivotal for Worldcoin, the controversial eyeball-scanning crypto venture co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, whose operations remain almost entirely shuttered in the European Union following a series of privacy complaints — including in France, Germany, Portugal and Spain. The only EU market where Worldcoin is still scanning eyeballs according to […]

President Biden vetoes crypto custody bill

Anthony Ha — Sat, 01 Jun 2024 19:13:11 +0000

President Joe Biden has vetoed H.J.Res. 109, a congressional resolution that would have overturned the Securities and Exchange Commission’s current approach to banks and crypto. Specifically, the resolution targeted the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which presents guidance around how banks can handle customers’ crypto assets — in effect, they must treat those assets as […]

Hackers steal $305M from DMM Bitcoin crypto exchange

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai — Fri, 31 May 2024 16:38:53 +0000

Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin confirmed on Friday that it had been the victim of a hack resulting in the theft of 4,502.9 bitcoin, or about $305 million. According to crypto security firm Elliptic, this is the eighth largest crypto theft in history. DMM Bitcoin said it detected “an unauthorized leak of Bitcoin (BTC) from […]

TechCrunch Minute: Is meme tech the next big startup category?

Anthony Ha — Fri, 31 May 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Meme Depot, which launched earlier this week, is a startup aiming to create a new category called “meme tech.” More specifically, founder Alex Taub said Meme Depot’s goal is to create a comprehensive archive of every meme there is. According to Taub, Meme Depot is different from Cheezburger and Know Your Meme, which he describes […]

Ledger starts shipping its high-end hardware crypto wallet

Romain Dillet — Tue, 28 May 2024 04:45:00 +0000

Ledger, a French startup mostly known for its secure crypto hardware wallets, has started shipping new wallets nearly 18 months after announcing the latest Ledger Stax devices. The updated wallet features an E Ink display and has been designed in partnership with Tony Fadell, one of the main designers behind the iPod. E Ink technology […]