The owner of the Bithumb exchange was arrested in South Korea; Fed announces February 2023 interest rate decision; US Treasury will impose sanctions on Russian-linked BTC and ETH addresses
The owner of the Bithumb exchange was arrested in South Korea
The owner of Bithumb, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been arrested for alleged embezzlement.
As it is known, Seoul Southern District Court issued an arrest warrant for Jong-hyun on January 25, on multiple charges including neglect of duty, market manipulation and fraudulent transactions. As of February 2, according to the news in the South Korean press, the owner of the stock exchange, Kang Jong-hyun, was arrested by the authorities for alleged embezzlement.
Jong-hyun’s older brother Kang Ji-yeon, 41, is also the chairman of Bithumb’s subsidiary Inbiogen. The company, on the other hand, has the largest assets in Vidente Vidente, which is Bithumb’s largest shareholder with a 34.2 percent stake.
According to prosecutors, the two brothers collaborated to embezzle company funds and manipulate the stock prices of Inbiogen and video production firm Bucket Studio through the issuance of convertible bonds.
In a statement on the Bucket Studio website, CEO Kang Ji-yeon apologized to investors, stating that the allegations against his brother have yet to be confirmed. In addition, Ji-yeon also stated that she will cooperate with the authorities in the investigation.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bithumb-owner-arrested-in-south-korea-over-alleged-embezzlement
Fed announces February 2023 interest rate decision
The Federal Reserve announced its February 2023 interest rate decision. The Federal Reserve has announced its much-anticipated interest rate decision. The interest rate was increased by 25 basis points and the interest rate rose to the range of 4.50%-4.75%.
In the statement, it was noted that the decision was taken unanimously. The Federal Reserve said continued rate hikes would be appropriate.
The following statements were included in the written statement released by the Fed:
“According to the latest indicators, there is a moderate growth in production and expenditure. The increase in employment rates was false and unemployment rates were at low levels. Inflation is still at a high level, although it has decreased. The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia brings along humanitarian and economic problems and strengthens global uncertainty. The committee aims to reach the 2% inflation target in the long term. For this reason, continuing interest rate hikes seem appropriate for the tightening policy that will reduce inflation up to 2%.”
Bitcoin slumped slightly after the Fed announced it was raising interest rates by 25 basis points. Later, Bitcoin climbed above $24,000.
https://decrypt.co/120373/bitcoin-crypto-market-steady-fed-hikes-interest-rates-again
US Treasury will impose sanctions on Russian-linked BTC and ETH addresses
The U.S. Treasury said it will impose blocking sanctions on Jonatan Zimenkov and crypto addresses due to their connection to the sanction avoidance network.
The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added two crypto wallets allegedly associated with the Russia-linked sanction avoidance network as part of its “Specially Designated Citizens” list.
OFAC said in a statement today that it will impose “full blocking sanctions” on 22 people, including Russian citizen Jonatan Zimenkov, who has access to at least one Bitcoin wallet and one Ethereum wallet.
According to the US Treasury Department, Jonatan is the son of famous arms dealer Igor Vladimirovich Zimenkov, who runs the sanction avoidance network. The group allegedly supported Russian state-owned defense organizations Rosoboroneksport and Rostec, which were sanctioned after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Igor Zimenkov was punished by Law No. 14024 for operating in the defense and related materials sector of the Russian economy.