North Korean hackers allegedly have stolen an estimated 1.5 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets over the past five years, more than half of them this year alone, South Korea's spy agency said Thursday. Experts and officials say North Korea has turned to crypto-hacking and other illicit cyber activities to raise much-needed foreign currency to shore up its weak economy and fund its nuclear program in the wake of strict U.N. sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic.
European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili, a key figure in ongoing efforts to regulate cryptocurrencies in Europe, has been suspended by her party. It comes in response to reports that she and others are allegedly involved in a wide-ranging corruption scandal involving illegal lobbying for Qatar.
At a time when cash is being used less and less, and large banknotes, in particular, are increasingly being phased out, the Swiss National Bank is standing firm. SNB Vice President Martin Schlegel sees an essential function for this "traditional form" of transaction and store of value.
The Irish Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance, Seán Fleming (@SeanFlemingTD), held the inaugural meeting of the...
In March, the Ukrainian government under Volodymyr Selenskyj proudly presented a new way of increasing donations: The crypto exchange FTX was supposed to make more out of 100 million - now FTX is bankrupt. The suspicion: vast sums of aid money are gone.
Vladimir Putin will definitely not like it. Revolut CEO Nikolay Storonsky and Tinkoff founder Oleg Tinkov are two prominent financial entrepreneurs who have renounced their Russian citizenship. They criticize Putin's war course in no uncertain terms.
Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a conference this week that approved publicizing the "healthy" development of the payment and fintech sectors. The meeting of the central commission for deepening overall reform also backed improving regulation of significant payment platforms, adding that companies would be encouraged to return to their roots while the authorities improve the regulation.
Cashless societies are quickly becoming a reality. As sales generated with cash in the retail sector have declined significantly, the German Retail Association (Handelsverband Deutschland or HDE) is calling for more active political support for the shift toward mobile payments and cashless payment methods. HDE calls for national and European strategies to master the cashless society paradigm.
