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Today we uncover the unfolding events leading up to the arrest of Do Kwon, a major suspect in the Terra Luna collapse that wiped out $45 billion.

But before that:

🙏🏾 Thanks to today’s Sponsor Tendies Research

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Here is a breakdown of what has recently hit the industry

• Magic Eden Now Supports Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs (nft lately)

• Arbitrum overtakes Ethereum in transaction numbers as airdrop approaches (cryptonews)

• Sony to Introduce NFTs into PlayStation Games (nft lately)

• Luxury hotel Le Bristol dives into the NFT world (nft news)

• El Salvador President To Eliminate All Taxes on Technology Innovations (watcher guru)

• Elon Musk rates the visit to Twitter HQ at 3 DOGE (cryptonews)

• U.S. Launches Investigation into Credit Suisse, UBS for Violating Russian Sanctions (watcher guru)

• Upland and EOS Network Foundation partner to launch second Metaverse Hackathon (nftnews)

• Yuga Labs Unveils Revolutionary HV-MTL NFT Collection (nft lately)

• Justin Sun and crypto Twitter react to SEC’s recent crusade (cryptonews)

• SEC Issues Investor Alert Urging Caution Around Crypto (watcher guru)

• NounsDAO Greenlights Proposal For An Exciting Animated Film (nft lately)

• Polygon and Nexon partner up to release a MapleStory NFT game (nft news)

• Binance hints at Arbitrum listing right after its airdrop (cryptonews)

• IRS Seeks Public Input on Taxing NFTs as Collectibles (nft lately)

• Trump NFTs gain traction after Donald Trump’s alleged criminal charges (nftnews)

• Coinbase receives SEC Wells notice over possible violation of securities laws (cryptonews)

• Altcoin ‘Whale Activity’ Rises As Bitcoin Holds $28,000 (watcher guru)

• Metaverse explosion: NFT trading volumes reach unprecedented $311 million (nftnews)

  here is what else we dug

Do Kwon faces fraud charges from US prosecutors hours after arrest

Montenegrin police have detained “the most wanted fugitive in the world” — Do Kwon, a South Korean national, co-founder, and CEO of Terraform Labs based in Singapore. US prosecutors quickly swam into action by opening legal charges against Kwon on several counts of fraud just hours after his confirmed arrest.

Here is what we know about the story

• Do Kwon was arrested on 23rd March 2023 by Montenegrin police with fake documents including a passport and a forged driving license.

• He was detained in Podgorica Airport with fellow business partner Hon Chang Joon while trying to fly to Dubai.

• Kwon is wanted for fraud after his involvement in the TerraLuna collapse, a catastrophe that wiped out $45 billion worth of investors’ funds.

• He has been missing for months until his arrest was announced by Filip Adzic, the Minister of Interior of Montenegro.

• The TerraLuna collapse happened in May 2022 bringing firms like Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and Voyager Digital to bankruptcy.

• After the collapse, Do Kwon was reported missing and for the longest time, authorities from Singapore, South Korea, and the United States have been looking for him.

• Just hours after his arrest, US prosecutors swum into action, opening charges on 8 counts of fraud against the alleged fugitive.

• The court filing was signed by a United States a 31-year-old entrepreneur and Attorney named Damian Williams.

Coinbase receives SEC Wells notice over possible violation of securities laws

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is living up to its word after declaring war on crypto at the beginning of this year. Lately, centralized crypto-oriented entities such as exchanges have seen increased regulatory pressure from the SEC over crypto offerings and services. Recently, Kraken was instructed to halt its staking services.

The same issue occurred when the SEC urged Paxos to cease minting new Binance USD (BUSD) tokens over allegations that BUSD was issued as a security.

Coinbase has become the latest victim to fall under the compressing scrutiny of the SEC. Earlier this week, the SEC issued a Wells Notice to the exchange over allegations of breaching securities laws.

Here is what we know about the story

• The SEC issued a Wells Notice to Coinbase for its staking services and digital asset listings.

• The news was broken by Brian Armstrong on Twitter who is the Co-Founder and CEO of the crypto exchange.

• According to Brian, the SEC has been investigating Coinbase for two years now with the intent of reviewing the exchange’s business approval when Coinbase went public.

• Brian insists that Coinbase’s operations in no way counteract the law and the matter will escalate in front of the jury.

• Brian also stated that Coinbase is willing to work with regulators to ensure clear rules are laid upfront to streamline the crypto industry.

Graph of the Day: XRP/USDT Chart

XRP is trading above a 140-day resistance level after a sudden price surge last week🤩. There is lots of upside space towards its all time high.

Could this be an early indication of Ripple winning against the SEC in the ongoing legal battle? 👀

NFT Spotlight: Kaan Asici

Kaan Asici is a self-taught artist born in 2001 in Turkey. He has been making art since he was a kid. Apart from making art, Kaan Asici is a music producer. He is also a former professional skier. He started his NFT career by making unique characters in March 2021 during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Kaan Asici is one of the youngest artists prevailing the NFT space.

Essential Links: Twitter, Instagram, Website

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Read our previous newsletters:

• Is The Banking Industry on the Verge of Collapsing? 📉

• 🗞️Vitalik Buterin’s endorsed NFT collection pumps on OpenSea

• Vitalik Buterin hosted in Accra, Ghana by Afropolitan

• Binance delists AION, MIR, and ANC tokens

Follow the team: Olumide Gbenro, Chris Hauser, Sandro IEVA

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