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New Jersey State Considering New Bill to Set New Requirements for Cryptocurrency Businesses

The New Jersey state legislature received a new bill, the Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act by Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez. This new billwould require cryptocurrency and virtual currency to obtain a license to operate, allowing for more consumer-friendly protections.

Cryptocurrency businesses would be required to disclose their legally registered names, follow anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (ATF) policies, and legal records to New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance.

The bill additionally requires digital currency companies to disclose their terms and conditions for consumer accounts, which are protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Cooperation (FDIC), alike traditional bank account holders.

Unlicensed Bitcoin exchange faced charges

William Green, a 46-year-old American citizen of New Jersey has been indicted on one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business through his website, Destination Bitcoin in July last year.

Green was involved in the business of selling over $2 million worth of Bitcoin through his unlicensed money transmitting business. He received money from his customers, which he then deposited into bank accounts under his name. Green later converted the money he received into Bitcoin and charged his customers for a fee.

According to US federal law, any individual who owns or controls money transmitting business must register with the Secretary of Treasury including when Bitcoin is sold for cash. This applies to all involved businesses whether or not the business is licensed as a money transmitting business in any state in the US.

The charges for Green’s alleged crimes of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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Bitclub Crypto Ponzi Scheme Suspects Petition Court For Release Citing Coronavirus Fears

Two men accused of operating a crypto Ponzi scheme, the BitClub Network, which defrauded thousands of investors out of $722 million, have requested a New Jersey federal court to grant them a temporary release. The two prisoners have petitioned a New Jersey federal judge as they fear they could contract the coronavirus if they are not freed from the enclosed county jail environment.

New Jersey Jail Facing Safety and Health Concerns

Jobadiah Weeks and Matthew Goettsche filed separate motions on March 20 and 23, asking the court to consider releasing them from the Essex county correctional facility in Newark, New Jersey.

In their submissions, Weeks and Goettsche claim that they are in a poor health environment. They argue that they are not able to follow medical advice in the prison as hand sanitizers are inadequate, and inmates are mostly in close contact with each other in jail.

Weeks’ lawyer mention that the county jail had an extremely poor record of maintaining inmates’ health, and its measure to prevent the novel coronavirus outbreak does little to protect the health of innates. He referred to findings publicly announced last year by the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, which highlighted concerns at the jail that showed major threats to the safety and health of its inmates.

The Inspector-General recognized roof leaks causing mildew and mold growth in all prison housing units where detainees are being held and food safety issues such as expired, spoiled, or raw meat, moldy and expired bread, foul-smelling and unrecognizable hamburgers, and raw chicken.

Weeks’ attorney argued: “Given the noted risk of illness through inadequate food service and environmental safety at the Essex County correctional facility, a swift outbreak of COVID-19 at the facility is virtually inevitable.”

The lawyers also claimed that such confinement within the facility would place greater restrictions on contact with their legal counsel that could severely interfere with the ability of Weeks and Goettsche to prepare their defense cases ahead of their fraud trials.

Weeks and Goettsche are accused of operating $722 million cryptocurrency fraud, which amounted to a high-tech Ponzi scheme. From 2014 to December 2019, the two men operated BitClub network that used promises of a huge return if investors joined the crypto investing club. The prosecution accused the men behind BitClub network of distributing misleading and false information to investors, a scheme that purported to demonstrate profit generated by the mining pool. U.S authorities charged them with committing wire fraud and conspiracy to sell unregistered securities.

PlusToken Ponzi Dumping BTC

Bitcoin’s recent price decline may have been prompted by another set of crypto scammers seeking to liquidate over 2 billion worth of cryptocurrency, which they acquired through the PlusToken Ponzi scheme.

The PlusToken scheme swindled thousands of investors out of their cryptocurrency in the promise of high returns. Liquidations of huge amounts of illicitly obtained funds are likely to cause crypto prices to fall in this nascent market. Huge amounts of Bitcoins sold by such scammers could have caused Bitcoin price drops as well as increased volatility in Bitcoin’s value. PlusToken dumps appear to coincide with whatever is affecting Bitcoin’s prices as the cryptocurrency falls soon after such occurrences.

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3 Website Operators Lured Romance-Seeking Victims Into Their Fraud

The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has issued a cease and desist order to the owners of three websites, instructing them to stop attempting to con people who are looking for love into investing in their fraudulent cryptocurrency scams. The order was issued in response to the New Jersey Bureau of Securities’ discovery that the owners of these websites were targeting people who were looking for love. The New Jersey Bureau of Securities made the finding that the websites were specifically targeting persons who were interested in romantic relationships, which led to the issuance of the order. The New Jersey Bureau of Securities conducted an investigation into the websites in question, and based on the results of that investigation, the agency made the decision to issue the order.

The orders to cease and desist were reportedly sent to the firms Meta Capitals Limited, Cresttrademining Limited, and Forex Market Trade, as stated in a press release that New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin released on February 3rd. The office of the state’s Attorney General made the statement that was issued by Platkin available to the general public for viewing.

The three companies all pretended to be platforms for trading cryptocurrencies, and they convinced their customers that they would be able to significantly increase the amount of money that they had in their accounts if they simply replicated the actions taken by the “expert traders” employed by the companies. However, the customers lost all of their money because the companies were only pretending to be platforms for trading cryptocurrencies.

By contacting individuals who are using dating apps like Tinder to hunt for love connections, these organisations recruit fresh victims for a scam that is frequently referred to as “pig slaughtering.”

Con artists will contact prospective victims on social media, attempt to build a romantic relationship with them, and when they have gained the confidence of their victims, they will try to trick them into investing in a fake bitcoin investment plan. This kind of fraudulent behaviour that takes place online is referred to as “pig butchering,” and it has its own moniker.