Today, in crypto, US crypto stocks and Bitcoin surged as more companies added Bitcoin to their treasuries. Paraguay’s president denied claims that Bitcoin will become legal tender, and in Australia, authorities uncovered a suspected $123 million crypto laundering scheme tied to a security company.
Bitcoin, US crypto stocks rise as more firms plan BTC buys
US crypto-linked stocks rose alongside Bitcoin to close the Monday trading day at a gain as more publicly traded firms added the asset to their treasuries.
The country’s four biggest crypto miners and some major crypto firms closed at slight gains on June 10, extending gains after-hours.
It comes as Bitcoin (BTC) climbed 4% over the last day to $110,150, heading back toward its May 22 peak of $112,000 as market jitters mostly subsided amid the US and China holding trade talks in the UK.
Crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD) was the rare exception to the broad uptrend, sinking by nearly 2% to $73.40 after S&P Dow Jones Indices didn’t change the S&P 500’s membership on Friday.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin mining equipment rental firm BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc. (BMNR), said on Monday that it bought 100 BTC for the first time to hold in reserve and energy-management firm KULR Technology Group, Inc. (KULR) said on Monday that it bought another $13 million worth of Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 920 Bitcoin.
Paraguay warns of ‘irregular activity’ after post claiming BTC is legal tender
The office of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña appeared to deny a post on the social media platform X that announced the country would begin recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender.
In a Monday post on X, the official account of the office of Paraguay’s president asked followers to “dismiss any recently published content” without official confirmation from his office.
The post was made minutes after Peña’s personal account on X announced (in English) that Paraguay had made Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender, and established a BTC reserve worth $5 million, also providing a wallet address for investors to “secure [their] stake.”
At the time of publication, Peña’s personal post had been removed, while the government post was still live on the platform. The president’s office said it was working with the social media platform to “clarify the situation” and for the public to only consider information issued through official channels.
The X post came as some countries in Central and South America were reportedly considering following El Salvador’s example by adopting Bitcoin as a reserve asset.
Australia unmasks $123 million crypto laundering ring behind security firm
Australian authorities have charged four individuals following an 18-month investigation into a $190 million Australian dollar ($123 million) crypto laundering operation allegedly run through a cash-in-transit security company.
The Australian Federal Police said they had frozen about $13.6 million worth of suspected criminal assets across the states of Queensland and New South Wales.
The Queensland Joint Organized Crime Taskforce (QJOCT), comprising 70 officers from federal and state agencies, began the investigation in December 2023. It reportedly uncovered an operation that used an armored vehicle unit of a security business as a front to launder criminal proceeds into cryptocurrency.
Transaction trails from one suspect, who allegedly laundered $9.5 million over 15 months, led investigators to uncover a complex laundering scheme masked as legitimate business activity.
The security company is accused of blending clean business earnings with illicit cash deposited by suspected criminals, then funneling the funds through a sales promotion company, a classic car dealership and cryptocurrency exchanges.
The laundered funds were then allegedly distributed to beneficiaries either in cryptocurrency or via those front businesses.