Weekly News

German Abraham has been jailed for 50 years for leading a kidnap operation in February 2018. The 25 years old Youtuber and six others were convicted for kidnapping 33 years old woman in exchange for $100,000 worth of Bitcoin.

Even though Acosta was able to communicate anonymously throughout the operation, authorities were able to locate him by tracking the Bitcoins transactions.

The culprits were arrested by the Chihuahua state cyber crime department. The $100,000 ransom was recovered alongside vehicles, phones, and a gun during the arrest.

Evaluation: Good

Source: Cointelegraph

2. The Naira becomes the first African fiat currency to be accepted on Binance peer-to-peer exchange.

In an effort to expand fiat to crypto support, Binance announced that it would be adding Nigerian Naira support on its peer-to-peer exchange.

In the report, Binance P2P Nigerian members will be able to trade major coins like BTC and ETH with Naira starting from March 4. This will allow Nigerian traders to trade cryptocurrencies with other users using the peer-to-peer platform at zero cost directly.

The exchange plans to expand the P2P services to other African nations before the month runs out. Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao stated that cryptocurrency would finally be available to Africans to perform basic transactions.

Evaluation: Good

Source: Cointelegraph

3. India Supreme Court lifts the central bank ban on crypto in India

The Supreme Court of India nullified the central bank's ban prohibiting banks from dealing with cryptocurrency firms on Wednesday.

RBI imposed a ban that prevented banks from dealing with crypto-related businesses in 2018. After numerous petitions, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) called the central bank to court.

The presiding judges ruled the RBI's action as "disproportionate." The major arguments of the hearing included RBI's debate that it is empowered by the law to intervene in digital means of payments, which included cryptocurrencies.

Evaluation: Good

Source: Cointelegraph

4. Crypto Is Now Legal In South Korea: Parliament Passes Landmark Cryptocurrency Bill

According to a local report, the South Korean government has legalized cryptocurrency trading in the country after the National Assembly reviewed the Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Information Act.

The enactment process of the amendment will start after President Jae-in Moon signs it into law. Implementation of the law will take 1year and 6months from the date of signing.

Upon implementation, cryptocurrency businesses, including exchanges, token sales, wallet providers, and trusts will have to comply with the new rules. One of which includes having a name verification partnership with an approved bank.

Crypto businesses would also have to apply for the information management system (ISMS) certification, which is issued by the Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA). The certificate will be issued based on an examination by KISA, confirming that the business can protect the information of the user and itself.

Failure to comply with the rules will lead to shutting down of the defaulting businesses in the country.

Evaluation: Good

Source: Cryptopotato

5. HTC launches 5G router that can run a full bitcoin node

HTC has announced the release of a new portable 5G router that allows users to run a Bitcoin node. Expected to arrive by the middle of this year, Exodus 5G router imitates the Taiwanese Exodus 1 smartphones that also run bitcoin nodes.

Apart from providing 5G network, the router uses Zion vault software to allow users to store Bitcoin, Ethereum, ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens, Litecoin, Binance Coin and stellar. The device is also packed with some security features that make it stand out.

Evaluation: Good

Source: Cointelegraph