Joint Operation Dismantles $16M Crypto Scam, Kraken Pro and Kraken NFT Go Live, OpenSea Blocks 30 Cuban Creators

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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Crime news

• The European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) announced that the authorities of Italy and Albania, with their support, dismantled an online investment scam involving crypto. According to the press release, assets worth 3 million euros ($3.2 million) were seized during the operation. The total damage is estimated at €15 million ($15.9 million).

Exchange news

• Kraken announced the public launch of Kraken Pro, with a full suite of trading tools and access to spot trading, margin trading, staking and portfolio management. Kraken Pro is specially designed for advanced traders, and it comes with the Kraken Pro app, the press release states.
• Kraken also announced the public beta launch of Kraken NFT, the marketplace built from the ground up for collectors to explore, discover and trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the press release said. At launch, Kraken NFT will feature over 110 of the highest traded volume NFT pools, they added. The marketplace includes zero fees, creator income, rarity rankings, and 200+ funding options.
• OKX published its second Proof of Reserves (PoR), saying it would publish PoRs monthly on approximately the 22nd day of each month. According to the press release, users can now view and self-verify the results of two PoRs on the website using open source tools. New features also allow users to view OKX reserve ratios for new and historical data and download files containing that data.
• Crypto exchange Bullish and special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Far Peak Acquisition Corporation have agreed to cancel their planned merger. Per a statement, the firms would not be able to satisfy US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements for listing by the end of this year.

NFT news

• The accounts of more than 30 Cuban creators have reportedly been removed from the list Open sea marketplace. “We comply with US sanctions law,” Artnet News reported, citing an OpenSea spokesperson who added: “Our terms of service explicitly prohibit sanctioned individuals, individuals in sanctioned jurisdictions or services from using OpenSea.”

Regulatory news

• The US Securities and Exchange Commissionits acting chief financial officer, Paul Munter, warned investors to take proof-of-reserve adults with a grain of salt. “We caution investors to be very cautious about some of the claims made by crypto companies,” Munter told The Wall Street Journal, adding: “Investors should not rely too much on the fact that a company says it has a proof with reservations from an auditing firm.” The SEC warned investors and auditing firms that if it finds troubling “fact patterns,” it will consider a referral to enforcement division.

Blockchain News

• BNB chain announced that its decentralized applications (dapps) attracted over one million daily unique Web3 wallets by 2022, and said it surpassed Ethereum (ETH) in the number of unique addresses. According to a press release, BNB Chain currently has 232 million unique addresses.

DeFi news

• Robodexa company working to improve the fundamentals of automated market makers (AMMs), joined Chain link BUILD program, where it will receive benefits including access to and integration of automation nodes through Chainlink Automation, on-chain data security through Chainlink Data Feeds, and access to new Chainlink product alpha and beta releases, the announcement said. In exchange for these services, Robodex will make 3% of its total token supply at launch available to Chainlink service providers, including stakers, over a period of time.