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Crypto Briefs is your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.

Crime news

Police in Tokyo have released further details about the two men it arrested yesterday in connection with the January 2018 hack of the Coincheck crypto exchange. Per Jiji and NHK, the police investigation that led up to the arrest saw officers question some 100 people. The two men have been named as a 39-year-old office worker and a 30-year-old doctor. One of the men is said to have made a partial or full confession, stating that he had “seen an opportunity to make money.”

crypto exchange. Per Jiji and NHK, the police investigation that led up to the arrest saw officers question some 100 people. The two men have been named as a 39-year-old office worker and a 30-year-old doctor. One of the men is said to have made a partial or full confession, stating that he had “seen an opportunity to make money.” Kenneth Warren Rhule from Washington, USA, has been charged with laundering over USD 140,000 in bitcoin (BTC). According to the Department of Justice , Rhule is charged with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business, five counts of laundering of monetary instruments, and one count of conspiracy to produce and distribute marijuana.

, Rhule is charged with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business, five counts of laundering of monetary instruments, and one count of conspiracy to produce and distribute marijuana. A judge of the District Court for the Central District of California, USA, has granted by default Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s bid against token start-up ICOBox and its CEO Nikolay Evdomikov, as they have not responded to SEC’s accusation last September claiming that the company acted as an unregistered broker, reports Law 360. Thereby, the company has to pay a USD 16 million penalty to the SEC for violating U.S. securities law.

Exchanges news

OKCoin has announced today that traders can now deposit and withdraw SGD (Singapore dollars) for bitcoin and ethereum, in addition to USD and EUR, with additional cryptocurrency spot pairs coming soon, says the emailed press release. The company will also open an office in Singapore and plans on hiring local professionals.

Blockchain news

Chinese financial providers are using blockchain technology to help the country get back to work in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, reports the Global Times. The media outlet states that the China Everbright Bank has teamed up with Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial to release a blockchain-powered financial solution that reportedly enabled “a wine producer in the Southwestern region of Chongqing to solicit funding online that effectively resolved” its financial difficulties.

has teamed up with affiliate to release a blockchain-powered financial solution that reportedly enabled “a wine producer in the Southwestern region of Chongqing to solicit funding online that effectively resolved” its financial difficulties. Seoul authorities say they will launch a blockchain-powered user car platform that will allow prospective buyers to access tamper-proof, verified records on vehicles. Per Gyotong Shinmun, buyers will be able to use the platform to check on details such as mileage, accident records, ownership, servicing and tuning. The platform operators also say parts suppliers will be able to make use of the new network, which will help eliminate registration and servicing-related forgeries.

Blockchain Game Partners is building a blockchain-based gaming infrastructure named Gala, while one of the first games for the upcoming gaming platform is called Townstar, reports VentureBeat. Gala is a platform made by Eric Schiermeyer’s team, the founder and CEO of Blockchain Game Partners, a co-founder of games company Zynga, and the creator of the popular Facebook game FarmVille. Gala network will enable games to take advantage of cryptocurrency and blockchain features, and it is also part owner of Sandbox Games, which is making titles such as the mentioned Townstar.

Stablecoins news

The Celo blockchain platform says it has launched a “decentralized, autonomous collective” with over 50 members, including Andreessen Horowitz and a host of crypto and blockchain-related companies, such as South Korea’s Coinplug, Latin American firm Cryptobuyer and Coinbase’s Coinbase Ventures. Celo has been touted as a rival for Facebook’s Libra project, and will allow users to send Celo Dollar stablecoin holdings to mobile phone contacts using only their phone numbers.

Regulation news

A French financial regulator wants European nations to create a joint regulatory sandbox to support the security tokens sector. Per a report from the AMF, a markets regulator, it wants to create a three-year pilot project whereby projects would be allowed to operate without the need to adhere to financial regulations that could otherwise impede security token offering (STO)-related projects’ growth.

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