Amid a major economic downturn, countries in Latin America (LATAM) are increasingly suffering from money laundering through cryptocurrencies, a new report says. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) have become a major tool of organized crime groups and hackers in LATAM countries, according to a Feb. 27 report issued by threat intelligence firm IntSights. Titled “The Dark Side of Latin America,” the report claims that LATAM countries top the list of the world’s worst money laundering nations, while local crypto-related firms apparently lack Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. To issue the report, IntSights partnered with major global blockchain …

Popular Bitcoin (BTC) exchange platform LocalBitcoins is allegedly suspending user accounts with little fanfare, citing an “enhanced due diligence process.” Finland-based LocalBitcoins, one of major global peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchanges, has reportedly suspended user accounts in some countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia without warning, with some users being unable to withdraw their Bitcoin, Forbes reports Jan. 25. LocalBitcoins gave no public statement on the matter when the first reports came about a week ago According to the report, the first complaints started coming in last week, with LocalBitcoins users in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria, and …

China’s Bitcoin (BTC) trading volumes have continued to drop, hitting a two-year low on peer-to-peer exchange LocalBitcoins. According to Bitcoin statistics website Coin Dance, China’s BTC trading volumes have been gradually dropping from late 2019 to the present, touching to their lowest weekly volume in more than two years. During the week ending on Jan. 25, China traded just about 4.5 million yuan ($648,000) on LocalBitcoins, down over 90% from the intra-year weekly high of more than 45 million yuan ($6.4 million). The all-time high of China’s weekly Bitcoin trading on LocalBitcoins was hit in January 2018, and accounts for …

Hong Kong and Thailand’s central banks have stepped closer to implementing a joint central bank digital currency (CBDC) for cross-border payments. On Jan. 22, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) officially announced the outcomes of a joint CBDC research project called Project Inthanon-LionRock. Alongside publishing a joint press release, the banks have issued a detailed 90-page report providing an exhaustive analysis of the potential risks and benefits of CBDCs for real-time money transfers, liquidity management, regulatory compliance, and other aspects of finance. Inthanon-LionRock project was initiated in May 2019 After the HKMA and the …

Earlier today, Binance announced the launch of its Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Merchant Program, a user-oriented fiat currency trading platform. How the program works In the Jan. 21 press release, the crypto exchange cites increasing demand of global users and a need for higher liquidity as prods for the P2P creation. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said: “In the past quarter, there has been increasing growth in trading volumes on Binance P2P platform, and we have constantly received requests for more fiat-to-crypto access from our global community. To meet the growing users demand, we are seeking credible merchants for Binance P2P trading platform …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has launched peer-to-peer (P2P) trading for the Vietnamese dong (VND). Vietnam-based Binance users can now directly purchase and sell major cryptocurrencies using VND through the latest versions of the Binance P2P mobile app on iOS and Android. The four supported cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), major stablecoin Tether (USDT) as well as Binance’s native cryptocurrency Binance Coin (BNB), the firm said in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Jan. 20. Vietnamese dong is the second fiat currency on Binance’s P2P While Binance has been actively rolling out multiple global fiat onramps for currencies like …

Following the session that took place last August, a three-judge panel from India’s Supreme Court reconvened once again this week to discuss the much-hyped Crypto v. RBI case. During the last hearing, the Supreme Court had asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to clarify its position as to why exactly it enforced a nationwide banking ban on the country’s crypto market, as well as to discuss the seemingly unconstitutional nature of its aforementioned move. Ever since the RBI decided to go ahead and issue its controversial prohibition order, a number of public and industry-led petitions have been filed by …

Earlier this week, the world’s flagship crypto asset saw its value surge from around the $8,000 mark to just over $8,430 within an hour’s time. This latest price action came after the Iranian government decided to launch a missile attack on an Iraqi military base housing American troops. However, it bears mentioning that Iran’s actions were prompted by United States President Donald Trump’s decision to eliminate Iranian general Qassem Soleimani — a controversial figure in the West but loved by the masses in his home country. The overall value of Bitcoin (BTC) is now up by around 15% this year, …

New York lawmakers proposed a bill on a peer-to-peer (P2P) savings and payment platform called the “New York Inclusive Value Ledger.” Introduced by New York State Assembly legislator Ron Kim and Senator Julia Salazar, the bill proposes to set up the “empire state inclusive value ledger establishment and administration act” that would create a system of wallets for payments by state entities and residents. According to public records, the bill was proposed in the State Assembly and the State Senate on Oct. 23, 2019, but New York State’s legislative session only reopened on Wednesday Jan. 8. Kim says that implementing …

Bitcoin (BTC) weekly trading volumes on peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform LocalBitcoins in Venezuela and Argentina have hit new all-time highs in their respective national currencies. Cryptocurrency data website CoinDance shows that LocalBitcoins trading volume in local fiat currency in Argentina and Venezuela have hit new record highs. According to the website’s data, the week ending on Dec. 21 saw over 32.6 million Argentine pesos (equivalent to about $544,905) traded on the platform, or 34% more than the record registered two weeks before. LocalBitcoins weekly trading volume in Argentina in Argentine pesos | Coindance In Venezuela, on the other hand, over …

The developers of multi-chain architecture project Komodo claim that it has created an implementation of its AtomicDEX that runs a full peer-to-peer (P2P) node in the user’s web browser. Komodo developers wrote in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Dec. 5 that the platform allows for non-custodial cryptocurrency trading through atomic swaps. The company has expanded its AtomicDEX mobile decentralized exchange (DEX) to work in web browsers on all major platforms. Atomic swaps, according to the release, are a smart contract-based technology that enables users to trade digital assets without any third-party involvement. The firm announced: “Users who wish …

Peer-to-peer (P2P) Bitcoin (BTC) marketplace Paxful recently hit an all-time-high in weekly traded volume. As of Dec. 2, CoinDance data reveals that for the week of Nov. 23, Paxful saw close to $30 million in P2P Bitcoin trades continuing a consistent upward trend since the platform’s inception. Weekly Paxful Volume (Global), 2015-present. Source: CoinDance Paxful trumps LocalBitcoins’ trend Paxful is a P2P over-the-counter platform that connects users offering to buy and sell Bitcoin using gift cards, Paypal, domestic bank transfers and other payment methods. As a decentralized and non-custodial service, Paxful reportedly sees Bitcoin trades denominated in 70 different national …