Bitcoin Mining Difficulty (Again) Hits Record, NFT May Be Property in Singapore, Ed Sheeran’s Hacker Jailed

Get your daily, bite-sized summary of cryptoassets and blockchain-related news – examine the stories that fly under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Mining news

• Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty, or the measure of how difficult it is to compete for mining rewards, rose 3.44% today to 36.84T, hitting another all-time high. This follows a big jump seen during the previous adjustment: two weeks ago, the difficulty increased by 13.55% to 35.61T, surpassing the high of 32.05T recorded in mid-September.

Regulatory news

• The Singapore High Court has ruled that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can be considered property, given that they meet four legal requirements, including being distinguishable from other similar assets. According to the judgment, NFTs have “in recent times emerged as a highly sought-after collector’s item. They are, to draw an analogy, the equivalent of a Rolex Daytona, or an FP Journe, for a watch enthusiast.” The ruling was issued as an explanation for the injunction the judge issued in May preventing a potential sale of one Boring monkey NFT.
• South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has announced new rules that will see crypto holders holding more than ₩100 million ($70,000) in crypto to prevent money laundering and other illegal activity, news1 reported. “Customers with large virtual assets are at higher risk of money laundering,” it said in a press release. It added that stablecoins in particular are likely to be used for criminal purposes.
• Hong Kong’s government is reportedly working on a crypto bill that would set clear guidelines to support the market’s expansion, which is expected to be passed by the Legislative Council in the first quarter of 2023, according to China Fund News, citing Liang Hanjing, director of financial technology at InvestHK, the city’s government foreign direct investment department. According to the director, the government aims to “establish a licensing system for virtual asset providers (VASPs).”

Legal news

• Adrian Kwiatkowski, a hacker from England who stole two unreleased songs by Ed Sheeran and sold them on the dark web in exchange for BTC, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to the BBC. The 23-year-old managed to obtain the songs after hacking the artists’ digital accounts, and had made £131,000 ($148,170), it said.
• A judge has rejected a motion to dismiss wire fraud and money laundering charges against Nate Chastain, former chief product officer at Open sea NFT marketplace. Therefore, his trial will continue.

Career news

• Broker app Robin Hood is hiring sanctions investigators for its financial crimes compliance unit. The position requires two plus years of experience working in financial crime investigations, and one plus year investigating cryptocurrency transactions, while “Chain analysis experience” is preferred but not a requirement.

Payment news

• Platform for digital asset security and asset transfer Fire blocks today announced the public launch of Payments Engine, which, according to the press release, is a new suite of tools that will enable payment service providers (PSPs) to offer a blockchain-agnostic, end-to-end solution for merchants, entrepreneurs and creators. to accept, manage and settle digital asset payment transactions across all geographies. Early pilot partner Checkout.com has facilitated more than $1 billion in digital asset settlements through their solution this year, and Fireblocks also welcomed a merchant FIS into the network of partners who use the payment engine.

Investment news

• Spanish cryptocurrency exchange Bit2Me has acquired blockchain and crypto-focused software development company Decalabs for an undisclosed amount. According to the press release, Dekalabs will maintain its autonomy and continue to develop projects for other companies.

Blockchain News

• The world’s largest bank Santander has reportedly launched testing of a blockchain-based tokenization platform for the transfer of ownership of used cars in Brazil, Cointelegraph reported. The platform is designed to automate the process of transferring property registration by implementing smart contracts based on delivery for payment (DVP).

Stablecoin news

• Blockchain development house Laguna Labs has announced the launch of its test network for Nuon: a decentralized and secure “flatcoin”, whose value is linked to the cost of living, based on daily inflation data in the chain, the press release states. Users can now test the Nuon embossing mechanism on the protocol’s first test network.