Category: Cryptocurrency News

Officials with India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) announced the arrest of Lithuanian national Aleksej Bešciokov, who was alleged to have operated the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex. In a March 12 notice, the CBI said police in the Indian state of Kerala had coordinated with national authorities to arrest Bešciokov. The Lithuanian national was reportedly vacationing in India with his family and planning to leave the country. The arrest of the alleged Garantex founder was based on US charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.Aleksej Bešciokov’s “most wanted” page. Source: US Secret ServiceAccording to an indictment filed on Feb. 27 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Bešciokov, Aleksandr Mira Serda and others operated Garantex to “launder the proceeds of criminal activity, including ransomware, computer hacking, narcotics transactions, and sanctions violations, and profited from the laundering” between 2019 to the present. Bešciokov is expected to be transferred to US custody in accordance with India’s Extradition Act of 1962.The alleged Garantex founder’s arrest followed Tether’s freezing of $27 million worth of USDt (USDT) on the platform. The crypto exchange announced on March 6 that it had temporarily suspended all services, including withdrawals. US authorities also seized three website domain names “used to support Garantex’s operations” as part of a judge’s order in the criminal case.Related: US sanctions crypto addresses linked to Nemesis darknet marketplaceThe US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Garantex to its list of sanctioned entities in April 2022 for “willfully disregard[ing] Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations and allow[ing] their systems to be abused by illicit actors.” The European Union also imposed sanctions against the platform in February as part of sanctions on “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”Serda, a Russian national and Garantex’s co-founder and chief commercial officer, was seemingly still at large at the time of Bešciokov’s arrest. A Garantex spokesperson declined to comment. Delays returning to the United States?It’s unclear what legal recourse Bešciokov could have in fighting US extradition from India should he choose to do so. Lawyers for Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon, who was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 on unrelated charges, repeatedly appealed court decisions regarding US extradition before he was finally handed over to officials in December 2024. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was in the Bahamas when crypto exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022, was extradited from the island nation to the US to face charges. He was later convicted of seven felony counts and sentenced to 25 years in prison but filed an appeal. Magazine: Meet lawyer Max Burwick — ‘The ambulance chaser of crypto’

Officials with India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) announced the arrest of Lithuanian national Aleksej Bešciokov, who was alleged to have operated the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex. In a March 12 notice, the CBI said police in the Indian state of Kerala had coordinated with national authorities to arrest Bešciokov. The Lithuanian national was reportedly vacationing in India with his family and planning to leave the country. The arrest of the alleged Garantex founder was based on US charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.Aleksej Bešciokov’s “most wanted” page. Source: US Secret ServiceAccording to an indictment filed on Feb. 27 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Bešciokov, Aleksandr Mira Serda and others operated Garantex to “launder the proceeds of criminal activity, including ransomware, computer hacking, narcotics transactions, and sanctions violations, and profited from the laundering” between 2019 to the present. Bešciokov is expected to be transferred to US custody in accordance with India’s Extradition Act of 1962.The alleged Garantex founder’s arrest followed Tether’s freezing of $27 million worth of USDt (USDT) on the platform. The crypto exchange announced on March 6 that it had temporarily suspended all services, including withdrawals. US authorities also seized three website domain names “used to support Garantex’s operations” as part of a judge’s order in the criminal case.Related: US sanctions crypto addresses linked to Nemesis darknet marketplaceThe US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Garantex to its list of sanctioned entities in April 2022 for “willfully disregard[ing] Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations and allow[ing] their systems to be abused by illicit actors.” The European Union also imposed sanctions against the platform in February as part of sanctions on “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”Serda, a Russian national and Garantex’s co-founder and chief commercial officer, was seemingly still at large at the time of Bešciokov’s arrest. A Garantex spokesperson declined to comment. Delays returning to the United States?It’s unclear what legal recourse Bešciokov could have in fighting US extradition from India should he choose to do so. Lawyers for Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon, who was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 on unrelated charges, repeatedly appealed court decisions regarding US extradition before he was finally handed over to officials in December 2024. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was in the Bahamas when crypto exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022, was extradited from the island nation to the US to face charges. He was later convicted of seven felony counts and sentenced to 25 years in prison but filed an appeal. Magazine: Meet lawyer Max Burwick — ‘The ambulance chaser of crypto’

Officials with India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) announced the arrest of Lithuanian national Aleksej Bešciokov, who was alleged to have operated the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex. In a March 12 notice, the CBI said police in the Indian state of Kerala had coordinated with national authorities to arrest Bešciokov. The Lithuanian national was reportedly vacationing in India with his family and planning to leave the country. The arrest of the alleged Garantex founder was based on US charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.Aleksej Bešciokov’s “most wanted” page. Source: US Secret ServiceAccording to an indictment filed on Feb. 27 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Bešciokov, Aleksandr Mira Serda and others operated Garantex to “launder the proceeds of criminal activity, including ransomware, computer hacking, narcotics transactions, and sanctions violations, and profited from the laundering” between 2019 to the present. Bešciokov is expected to be transferred to US custody in accordance with India’s Extradition Act of 1962.The arrest followed Tether’s freezing of $27 million worth of USDt (USDT) on the platform. The crypto exchange announced on March 6 that it had temporarily suspended all services, including withdrawals. US authorities also seized three website domain names “used to support Garantex’s operations” as part of a judge’s order in the criminal case.Related: US sanctions crypto addresses linked to Nemesis darknet marketplaceThe US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Garantex to its list of sanctioned entities in April 2022 for “willfully disregard[ing] Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations and allow[ing] their systems to be abused by illicit actors.” The European Union also imposed sanctions against the platform in February as part of sanctions on “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”Serda, a Russian national and Garantex’s co-founder and chief commercial officer, was seemingly still at large at the time of Bešciokov’s arrest. A Garantex spokesperson declined to comment. Delays returning to the United States?It’s unclear what legal recourse Bešciokov could have in fighting US extradition from India should he choose to do so. Lawyers for Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon, who was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 on unrelated charges, repeatedly appealed court decisions regarding US extradition before he was finally handed over to officials in December 2024. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was in the Bahamas when crypto exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022, was extradited from the island nation to the US to face charges. He was later convicted of seven felony counts and sentenced to 25 years in prison but filed an appeal. Magazine: Meet lawyer Max Burwick — ‘The ambulance chaser of crypto’

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Franklin Templeton has filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch the Franklin Solana ETF, a new exchange-traded fund designed to track the price of the cryptocurrency Solana (SOL). Franklin Templeton Seeks SEC Approval for Solana ETF The filing, submitted on March 12, 2025, marks the latest effort by a […]

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Hello, In a recent post I made in r/digitalnomad I outlined the issues I was facing receiving my salary as a software developer working remotely for a US-based startup from Iraq. Most of the comments suggested that I use crypto, and I already had that plan and it was the one which reasonated the most…
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With a 19/100 score on the Fear and Greed Index, the crypto market is in extreme fear territory as a selling frenzy saw the leading five cryptocurrencies lose 7-37% over the past 30 days. Although Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.70% over the past 24 hours, it is still down 8.15% over the week, and most leading…
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Currently, MIND of Pepe (MIND) is thriving in its presale phase with $7.2 million raised as it prepares to launch a token that’s positioned at the intersection of the meme coin and AI agent markets.  After a month-long downturn in the crypto market left most currencies in the red, investors are now focusing on presales…
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Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), dropped below $2,000 on March 10, and the altcoin has struggled to regain a position above the psychological level. While Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP) exhibited minor recoveries over the past 24 hours, Ether prices failed to display bullish momentum in the charts. The altcoin plummeted to a multi-year low of $1,752 on March 11. However, onchain data and technical analysis indicate that the price could drop an additional 15% in the coming weeks. Ethereum dips below realized price after 2 yearsThe current price deviation below $2,000 carried onchain implications for the altcoin. According to Glassnode, a data analytics platform, ETH dropped below its realized price of $2,054 for the first time since February 2023. Ethereum realized price and MVRV. Source: X.comETH realized price calculates the average price of each ETH last moved, representing the average cost basis of the total circulating supply. The current drop below the realized price indicates widespread unrealized loss for all ETH holders. The market value to realized value (MVRV) ratio also dropped to 0.93, indicating a 7% average loss for all ETH holders across the network. However, it is important to note that the realized price reflects the weighted average of all historical transactions. Hence, it encompasses the cost basis of every ETH holder, not a specific timeframe like 2023 to 2025.Ethereum’s TVL chart. Source: DefiLlamaMeanwhile, Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL) dropped to a six-month low of $45.6 billion on March 12, down 41% from its peak of $77 billion on Dec. 17, 2024.Additionally, the total fees users paid to use Ethereum fell to $46.28 million—the lowest level since July 2020—further signaling weakening network engagement.Related: Starknet to settle on Bitcoin and Ethereum to unify the chainsEther price between $1.6K-$1.9K is “attractive”In a recent X post, Glassnode explained how Ethereum’s cost-basis distribution could be useful in identifying potential support levels for ETH. Based on a weekly outlook, Ether’s recent drop below $1,880 led to an accumulation of 600,000-700,000 ETH around $1,900. The post states, “This suggests $1.9K could establish itself as a support if $ETH consolidates at current levels. Above spot, $2.2K (465K $ETH) is the potential next resistance. The supply gap between $1.9K and $2.2K remains thin, making a short-term move towards resistance plausible.”Ethereum weekly analysis by Ninja. Source: X.comAt the same time, anonymous analyst Ninja believes that the floor price for Ethereum remains between $1,600 and $1,900. The trader added that the above range is an “attractive region for commercial money” and set a high swing target at $2,500. Related: Bitcoin whales hint at $80K ‘market rebound’ as Binance inflows coolThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.