Today in Crypto: Terra Co-Founder’s Home Raided

South Korean prosecutors have raided the home of Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, as authorities there continue to investigate illegal activity behind the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin.

There were several raids on crypto exchanges and offices on Wednesday (July 20), Bloomberg reported Thursday, including Shin’s payment app Chai Corp., according to prosecutors in Seoul’s southern district.

In other crypto news, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is preparing to stop credit cards from being used for crypto purchases, Coindesk wrote.

The FSC said on Friday (July 22) that it had sent a letter to the local banking association asking credit card agencies to stop using crypto platforms as merchants.

Meanwhile, retail traders are returning to depressed crypto stocks, Bloomberg reported, after scooping up nearly $1 billion in shares of such companies.

The burst of buying has seen stocks like Marathon, Coinbase and Riot Blockchain become some of the most bought assets on Fidelity’s platform, the report said.

Elsewhere, Nexo, a crypto lender that has positioned itself as a buyer of distressed crypto firms, has endured withdrawals on a scale comparable to some of its troubled rivals, according to an analysis by Coindesk.

Data posted on a website of an accounting firm contracted with Nexo shows the firm’s customer liabilities, or the value of digital assets deposited on the platform by users, stood at $3.9 billion on Thursday (21 July) – down from 6, 9 billion dollars from May 12.

In more crypto news, crypto-focused bank Silvergate believes the bear market could continue for a few more quarters, Coindesk wrote.

CEO Alan Lane said the crypto sector could still see more pain, but “at some point this will all be done and then we’ll just wait for what’s the next catalyst.”

Meanwhile, some investors, tired after months of bear market, believe that bitcoin’s July rally could mean that the largest cryptocurrency finally found a bottom, Bloomberg wrote.

There is some caution, however, due to how volatile boom-and-bust cycles can be. Many times before, the coin has given a rise that did not end up being a full recovery.

In more news, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) set new rules limiting currency withdrawals, payment card withdrawals, peer-to-peer transfers and other transactions, while devaluing the hryvnia by 25% against the dollar.

All these changes are expected to increase interest in cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin.com wrote citing Mikhail Chobanyan, founder of the Ukrainian crypto exchange Kuna.

Finally, crypto exchange Zipmex, which operates in Singapore and Thailand among other markets, says it is looking at a potential offering, Bloomberg reported.

The company has run into financial difficulties recently, having halted withdrawals that other exchanges have had to do due to a downturn in the sector.

The company did not elaborate on the negotiations.

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