US Government Blacklists Slew of Bitcoin and Monero Addresses Linked to Man Accused of Running Darknet Marketplace

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is blacklisting a handful of crypto addresses linked to a man known for allegedly running Nemesis, a now-defunct darknet marketplace. In a new press release, the OFAC says that it is sanctioning Iranian national Behrouz Parasad and his Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR) addresses because…

Read More

Trump Crypto Reserve | Crypto CEOs Say Hell No to XRP

President Donald Trump dominated world headlines on March 3, with his $100 billion Taiwanese “investment announcement,” his offer of “fully expedited approvals and permits” for those investing $1 billion into the United States, pausing aid to Ukraine, and implementing 25% tariffs effective immediately upon Mexican and Canadian imports. While Trump is shaking world markets with…

Read More

Tether Takes ‘Historic’ Step Towards Transparency With Full Audit and New CFO Appointee

The stablecoin issuer Tether has hired a new chief financial officer (CFO) and committed to completing a full audit. The veteran finance executive Simon McWilliams will now serve as CFO for Tether, which issues the dollar-pegged USDT, the top stablecoin by market cap. McWilliams will lead the stablecoin issuer toward a full audit and “spearhead…

Read More

US State Department Kills Global Air Monitoring Program Researchers Say Paid for Itself

The State Department’s air quality program eventually became an example of a smart, efficient diplomacy that boosted American soft power while bringing about real-world changes. “I’ve never seen an initiative of the US government have such an immediate, dramatic impact in a country,” Gary Locke, a former US ambassador to China, told the Washington Post…

Read More

Bitcoin Advocate Lummis Skeptical of Near-Term Approval for Trump’s Crypto Reserve Plan

Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a leading bitcoin proponent, cast doubt on the immediate feasibility of former President Donald Trump’s proposed cryptocurrency strategic reserve, citing insufficient Congressional backing as a critical barrier. Political Resistance Slows Trump’s Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, Lummis Says Trump’s plan, unveiled March 2, 2025, via Truth Social, calls for a “Crypto Strategic Reserve”…

Read More