The Ethereum Foundation, the main group behind the Ethereum network, is currently under investigation by an unspecified state authority. The details and focus of this research are currently unknown. The situation raises questions about the legal status and regulation of the Ethereum blockchain and its native token, Ether. The authority reports this on their GitHub.
Ether’s legal classification is a central point in the discussion, especially after Ethereum moved to a proof-of-stake mechanism. This means that you can make the tokens ‘work’ for you on the network. Currently, around 25% of tokens are ‘active’ in the form of staking.
The big BlackRock is sending $100 million to the Ethereum blockchain to start a new digital fund. BlackRock is launching the fund in partnership with Securitize and the goal is to tokenize “real-word assets” and make them more accessible to the market.
We speak of Real World Assets when it comes to, for example, art objects, real estate or other things that are in the physical world. The tokens must then represent ownership of those assets. In theory, this should improve marketability.
But of course this also brings dangers. If you can take ownership of a house or art object by owning a token, what about theft?
Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev is accused by Dutch authorities of laundering $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency. This is reported by Coindesk, which has been able to view the indictment from the Public Prosecution Service prior to the trial scheduled for March 26.
The indictment states that between July 9, 2019 and August 10, 2022, Pertsev, alone or jointly, “made a habit of money laundering” in the Netherlands and/or in Russia and/or the United States and/or in Dubai.
Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov have also been charged with money laundering and violating sanctions in the US. The allegations in the Dutch indictment against Pertsev are consistent with the allegations that Storm and Semenov have faced in the US. Storm says he is innocent, while Semenov is still on the run.
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.nl/nieuws/koers-maakte-diepe-duik-richting-60000
