DOJ takedown

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October 16, 2019 BITCOIN BUST: A U.S. federal grand jury indicted a South Korean citizen for operating the largest child porn site by volume, where visitors freely spent bitcoin to pay for content. Jong Woo Son, 23, the owner of the Welcome to Video (WTV) site, is currently in custody serving his sentence in South Korea, the Department of Justice said. The DOJ said 337 site users from 22 U.S. states and 11 countries were also arrested. Chainalysis said their software helped analyze the blockchain transactions that led to the bust. Full story TAX FIRST: In what looks to be the first for a sovereign nation, Bermuda will allow its 60,000 residents to use cryptocurrency for tax payments. The government of the island nation will accept payments in USD Coin (USDC) “for taxes, fees and other government services,” according to a press release from crypto finance startup Circle. USDC is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar that was launched a year ago by Circle and crypto exchange Coinbase. Full story LIBRA LOVE: Terry Gou, Taiwan’s richest man and the founder of manufacturing giant Foxconn, wants the island to welcome Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project. In a recent speech, the billionaire and one-time presidential candidate, said Taiwan could boost its status as an international financial hub by embracing Libra, rather than approaching the project with skepticism as other governments have done. Gou also suggested the island could connect Libra, if and when it launches, with the digital currency being developed by the People’s Bank of China. Full story TWITTER BASKET: Crypto traders can now invest according to the number of mentions a project receives on Twitter. The new financial instrument, from eToro, is called TheTIE-LongOnly CopyPortfolio and is now live with a minimum $2,000 buy-in. It’s a partnership between eToro exchange and The TIE data analysis firm, which sources about 850,000,000 daily tweets from Social Markets Analytics to judge market sentiment. Full story SOLDIERING ON: The Libra Association wants new financial and banking partners ahead of launch. “We can confirm that the plan is to have up to 100 members,” a Libra Association representative told CoinDesk Monday, at the formal charter signing in Geneva. Bertrand Perez, chief operating officer and interim manager of the Libra Association, reiterated the position on CNBC, saying he remains “confident” that the recent departure of Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal, among others, will not hold up the network’s eventual rollout. Full story SLOW SLIDE: Bitcoin dropped below $8,000, as expected. Today's trading may extend the decline to recent lows near $7,750, with a key indicator reporting the most bearish conditions since February. To turn things around, the bulls need to push prices above the 200-day average, currently placed above $8,700. That’s looking a tall order right now, however. Full story BLOCKCHAIN ON BROADWAY: Beginning next year, the Shubert Organization, the biggest theater operator on Broadway, will pilot IBM’s blockchain to prevent ticketing fraud, reports Fast Company. Teaming up with Boston-based blockchain startup True Tickets, Shubert will integrate blockchain into portions of its ticketing service, including its listings on Telecharge.com.  WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER   Copyright © 2019 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  Our mailing address is:  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY, 10003, US  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list