Terra’s Do Kwon is back in jail

This week, the former founder of the defunct Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, faced another setback in his unending bid for freedom. According to a Bloomberg report, a high court in Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica, has reversed the lower court’s decision and denied bail to Do Kwon and Han Chong-Joon, Kwon’s former chief financial officer (CFO).

Notably, Kwon and his former CFO face various charges ranging from passport fraud to allegations of much more severe financial misdeeds.

Also, the world’s largest exchange Binance has declared its involvement in the US Department of Treasury’s recent investigation into alleged North Korean cybercrime. 

Here are major crypto stories from around the world this week.

France to lessen crypto restriction bill 

French lawmakers have agreed to tone down the restrictions on a bill first proposed in March that would have severely restricted locally-registered cryptocurrency companies from using influencer marketing.

An earlier draft of the bill allowed only licensed crypto companies to engage in influencer marketing. According to French lawmakers Arthur Delaporte and Stéphane Vojetta in a statement on Thursday, the revised bill only requires crypto firms registered with the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), France’s financial regulator to use influencers for their marketing efforts.

Do Kwon will remain in jail 

A Bloomberg report on Wednesday said Do Kwon and Han Chong-Joon would not be released on bail in Montenegro after prosecutors appealed the decision. Recall that both were arrested earlier in March after trying to leave the country using falsified documents. 

Subsequently, on May 12,  Do Kwon and his CFO was released to house arrest on 400,000 euros ($435,000) bail each by the Basic Court in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica. But now, prosecutors have appealed the ruling to the High Court, and the Basic Court will reconsider Kwon and Chong-joon’s bail. 

Related post:

Terraform’s Do Kwon pleads not guilty to fake travel documents charges

Both South Korean and United States authorities have sought Do Kwon’s extradition. United States prosecutors have filed eight charges against Kwon, which include commodities fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud and engage in market manipulation. 

Elon Musk issues warning on Dogecoin 

On Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned about Dogecoin at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit. He cautioned investors not to stake everything on the meme cryptocurrency but openly expressed that Dogecoin holds a special place for him. 

Recall that the “Dogefather” was pivotal in boosting the memecoin value in 2021, with incessant tweets endorsing the coin. Recently, he briefly changed Twitter’s iconic bird logo to the Doge meme. 

Read also:

Elon Musk’s newest dance is replacing the Twitter logo with Dogecoin 

That decision was fleeting, and the bird logo was soon reinstated, but the fact remains that Musk’s influence on Dogecoin remains substantial.

Binance helped the US in tracking North Korean syndicate

In a Twitter thread on Thursday, Binance said that through its Binance Investigations team, it worked with law enforcement in the United States to hamper the “illicit revenue generation activities” of four now-sanctioned entities in North Korea. The crypto firm stated:

“We proactively took action against accounts connected to these individuals over a year ago, in compliance with lawfully served warrants and in collaboration with law enforcement,” 

In April, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao revealed that the firm had recovered $5.8 million from the Lazarus Group after it spotted some ill-gotten gains moving across the exchange. A Binance spokesperson also told CoinTelegraph that the company continuously monitors their platform for nefarious nation-state actors and collaborates with law enforcement.

South Korean officials will now disclose crypto holdings 

The South Korean National Assembly passed a bill requiring lawmakers and government officials to declare their crypto holdings, the news agency News1 reported on Thursday.

Government officials in the Korean company previously had to declare their holdings of traditional assets, and there was no such rule for digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs. However, from December, officials must now disclose their digital assets after the National Assembly unanimously passed two bills. 

Also, some lawmakers responsible for drafting rules around cryptocurrency, or other laws that can influence the price of digital assets, will be prohibited from owning them.

That is all from us this week, see you same time next week!