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The attempt by the Bitcoin scam mastermind to prevent his extradition to South Africa was dismissed by a Brazilian judge.

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Because South African authorities have already provided their Brazilian counterparts with the documentation required for extradition purposes, a Brazilian judge has ruled that the CEO of Mirror Trading International should remain in precautionary detention. Johann Steynberg’s attempt to have his precautionary detention lifted based on his Brazilian family was also rejected by the judge.

Johann Steynberg, the mastermind behind Mirror Trading International (MTI), one of South Africa’s biggest cryptocurrency scams, recently had his precautionary detention revoked by a Brazilian judge. According to reports, the MTI CEO argued in his application that because no formal extradition request had been made, the court should at the very least place him under house arrest.

Steynberg also claimed that there was no outstanding warrant for his arrest when he left South Africa in December 2020, and that the case itself failed to meet certain requirements that would allow extradition. Steynberg had also stated in the document released by the Brazilian judiciary that he had since started a family in Brazil, putting him under house arrest.

However, in his ruling, Brazilian supreme court judge Andre Mendonça rejected arguments brought forward by Steynberg. The judge revealed that South African authorities had in fact “presented documentation aimed at formalizing the extradition request [on April 14, 2022.]”

In addition, the judge noted that a warrant for Steynberg’s arrest was also “issued on 03/01/2022 by the Justice of South Africa, as evidenced by Interpol’s Red Diffusion documents.” A document reportedly sent by the South African Public Ministry suggested that the MTI CEO was being probed for his role in the bitcoin scam when he left the country.

As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, before disappearing in late 2020, Steynberg had handed control of MTI funds to his wife Nerina. Yet by the time he was arrested by Brazilian law enforcement in December 2021, the former MTI mastermind was reportedly in a relationship with a Brazilian woman.

Addressing Steynberg’s attempt to use his intimate relationship with the unnamed woman as justification for blocking his extradition, Mendonça said:

The fact that the person being extradited has taken up residence in Brazil and constituted a family does not, in itself, prevent the precautionary arrest and the future extradition. As well noted by the Attorney General’s Office, the ‘rule in extraditions is the precautionary arrest, due to the respect reciprocal between jurisdictions.’ The person being extradited, it must be repeated, is with the imprisonment in your country of origin.

The judge added that the fact that Steynberg had fake identity documents at the time of his arrest means he likely has an “intention to evade possible criminal liability.” The judge’s ruling also hints that Steynberg might still violate the conditions of a house arrest should the court accede to his request for one.

Colombia Takes First Steps Towards Cryptocurrency Exchange Regulation

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In its first meeting, Colombia’s Congress approved a bill that regulates the behavior of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, taking the first steps toward bringing clarity to this issue. Mauricio Toro, a Green Party representative and one of the bill’s creators, stated that the bill is needed to protect users from Ponzi schemes and provide them with security in the crypto world.

More and more countries in Latin America are recognizing the growth and influence of cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency-related businesses in their countries. Colombia is one of them, prompting the government to speed up the regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges in order to clarify the companies’ responsibilities and obligations.

In this regard, the Colombian Congress has taken a step in the right direction by passing a bill that aims to improve the clarity and security of cryptocurrency exchange operations in the country. Representative Mauricio Toro of the Green Party, one of the bill’s proponents, expressed his thoughts on the development of social media. According to Toro:

Colombia has to move forward in regulating this business, which is legal and multi-million dollar, so that jobs and opportunities are created, but also so that it provides peace of mind to Colombians who can buy their assets safely.

Furthermore, Toro stated that this bill is also directed to safeguard users and customers of these platforms from falling into Ponzi schemes.

While Toro was very optimistic about the impact this bill might have, the project is still in its early stages and will need to be discussed three more times to be approved and presented as law. This might take more time than usual, due to the political circumstances that Colombia is facing today, in the middle of its election cycle, with its second election round coming soon.

If approved in its present state, cryptocurrency exchanges in Colombia will have to register to offer their services, disclosing the benefits, risks, and possible profits of crypto trading to their users. Also, banks will allow the connection between cryptocurrency exchanges and accounts in fiat currency directly, helping to avoid the development of Ponzi schemes and other pyramid scams.

Other institutions in Colombia are also moving to regulate and control customer-exchange interactions. In April, the money-laundering watchdog, the UIAF, announced that users would have to report their cryptocurrency movements to the organization via an online system. However, the organization backpedaled later and postponed the sanction of the mentioned resolution.

In collaboration with Binance, Dubai’s retail Gaint Majid Al Futtaim accepts cryptocurrency at 29 shopping malls and 13 hotels.

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Majid Al Futtaim, the world’s largest shopping mall operator, has partnered with Binance to accept cryptocurrencies at its malls and other properties. “Majid Al Futtaim is one of the most prestigious companies in the Middle East, with millions of customers each year,” Binance’s CEO said.

Last week, Majid Al Futtaim, a leading operator of shopping malls, hotels, cinemas, hypermarkets, and retail stores in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, announced a strategic partnership with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. A number of crypto and blockchain projects will be collaborated on by the two companies.

First, according to the announcement, Binance Pay will be integrated to allow millions of customers to pay with cryptocurrencies “at Majid Al Futtaim’s various destinations in accordance with appropriate laws and regulations.” According to Binance’s website, Binance Pay currently supports more than 40 cryptocurrencies.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO and co-founder of Binance, tweeted last week:

29 shopping malls, 13 hotels, and four mixed-use communities now accepts crypto through Binance Pay. Adoption continues.

According to the company’s investor presentation published in February, Majid Al Futtaim operates in 17 countries.

The group’s properties include 29 shopping malls in five countries across the Middle East and North Africa, including Mall of the Emirates, Mall of Egypt, Mall of Oman, and Mall of Saudi. In 2021, its malls had 175 million visitors.

The company also operates 423 Carrefour stores in 16 countries across the Middle East and has exclusive franchise rights in over 30 countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regions.

Furthermore, the group also operates 13 hotels (11 in the UAE and two in Bahrain) and 607 cinema screens.

“Majid Al Futtaim is one of the most prestigious businesses in the Middle East and has millions of customers every year,” Zhao continued. “Integrating Web3 technologies will give its customers access to innovative new ways to engage with its brands and provide new ways to pay.”

Other projects the two companies will collaborate on include listing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Binance’s marketplace and creating a digital wallet infrastructure to hold cryptocurrencies from multiple platforms.

A Code of Conduct for VASPs has been introduced by the Nigerian Blockchain and Crypto Association.

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The Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association in Nigeria (SIBAN), a Nigerian blockchain and crypto advocacy group, recently announced the introduction of a code of conduct for Nigerian virtual asset service providers. All Nigerian VASPs are subject to the code of conduct, which was initiated by the office of the President of Nigeria.

The Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association in Nigeria (SIBAN), a Nigerian blockchain group, has released a code of conduct for virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The code’s goal is to “help Nigeria become the world’s safest and largest blockchain space, with the largest blockchain solutions, investments, and adoption.”

SIBAN had considered the principles and codes that are usually applicable to VASPs, such as the Cayman Islands’ Statement of Principles: Conduct of Virtual Asset Services, when preparing the code, according to a press statement released by the lobby group. The Global Digital Asset & Cryptocurrency Association’s (Global DCA) Code of Conduct, as well as the recently announced guidelines for Nigerian VASPs, were also taken into consideration.

In his remarks to stakeholders, the SIBAN president Senator Ihenyen said:

As a pro-innovation and pro-regulation association, we must ensure that the market is not only rid of bad actors but also conducive for innovation to thrive and regulation to work. In the SiBAN community, we are more than ever before committed to collaborating with both innovators and regulators, thus ensuring that Nigeria maximizes the immense opportunities this emerging sector has in store for us all.

The code of conduct, which was initiated by the office of the President of Nigeria, will be applicable to all VASPs both members and non-members of SIBAN, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the head of SIBAN’s membership registration unit, Mosun Omotunde, said the introduction of the code of conduct demonstrated that the lobby group is “for an industry that balances innovation with consumer protection and investor safety.”

Bank of America CEO: Regulation Will Prevent Us From Engaging in Crypto; Kiyosaki Discusses Depression, Civil Unrest, and More — Bitcoin.com News Week in Review

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Bank of America’s CEO claims that his company has hundreds of blockchain patents, but that regulations will prevent it from participating in the cryptocurrency market. He stated, “The reality is that we can’t do it by regulation.”

In an interview with Yahoo Finance Live from the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Bank of America (BOA) CEO Brian Moynihan discussed cryptocurrency.

He was questioned about his bank’s cryptocurrency plans. “The truth is that we operate a payments business on our platform.” “Trillions of dollars a day,” the executive responded, adding, “and almost all of it is digital.”

“If you think about the blockchain, we have hundreds of patents on blockchain as a process and as a tool and as a technology.”

However, with regard to cryptocurrency, he revealed: “We’re not engaging in accounts for people in cryptocurrency … we’re not allowed to, frankly.”

The Bank of America chief explained: “Because we’re regulated and they [regulators] have said you can’t. They’ve said, ‘you have to ask us before you do it and, by the way, don’t ask’ — was basically the tone.” He emphasized:

The reality is that we can’t do it by regulation. We’re not really allowed to engage.

However, Moynihan clarified: “On the trading side, we could do it. Our research team writes on it.”

Bank of America’s research team has been actively publishing reports on cryptocurrencies. The bank formally established a cryptocurrency research team in July last year. In October, the research team debuted a lengthy report stating that digital assets are “too large to ignore.” The bank also sees a massive opportunity in the metaverse for the entire crypto ecosystem.

The Bank of America CEO was also asked if he feels like he is missing out on the next big thing. “No,” Moynihan simply replied.

The UAE Charitable Foundation has been granted permission to accept cryptocurrency donations.

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The Al Jalila Foundation, a charitable organization based in the United Arab Emirates, recently announced that it has been granted permission to accept cryptocurrency donations. Accepting cryptocurrencies allows the foundation to receive funds through one of the fastest-growing donation methods, according to its website.

Al Jalila Foundation, a healthcare organization in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced that it has been granted permission to accept digital money and that well-wishers can now donate using cryptocurrencies. Al Jalila Foundation has become one of the first nonprofit organizations in the UAE to accept cryptocurrencies.

Al Jalila Foundation also announced a partnership with an unnamed “leading cryptocurrency platform” in a recent statement. Abdulkareem Sultan Al Olama, the foundation’s CEO, said of the move, which expands the organization’s donation channels:

“As a philanthropic organisation we rely on charitable donations and we are always seeking innovative ways to expand our donation channels for ease of convenience for donors from all around the world to support our programmes. Therefore, as an emerging source of fundraising, providing the opportunity to the growing number of crypto users around the world to donate to Al Jalila Foundation to causes that interest them is a win-win for us as a foundation and the donor community.”

Olama also lauded a decision which he said makes Al Jalila Foundation the “first” healthcare charity in the country to accept donations in cryptocurrencies and one that bridges the gap between physical and digital currency. With the decision to accept cryptocurrencies, Al Jalila Foundation joins other prominent charitable organizations like Save the Children, which chose the Cardano Foundation as its partner.

Accepting cryptocurrency donations gives the Al Jalila Foundation, which has reportedly raised millions since its inception in 2013, an opportunity to get funding via what the statement calls a fast-growing donation method favored by Millennial and Gen-Z donors.

An official from the Reserve Bank of India: Central Bank Digital Currencies Could Destroy Cryptocurrencies

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T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), believes that central bank digital currencies could “kill whatever little case there might be” for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether.

RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar talked about the potential impact of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and ether, at a webinar organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), local media reported Friday.

He was quoted as saying:

We (RBI) believe that CBDCs would actually be able to kill whatever little case there could be for private cryptocurrencies.

By “private cryptocurrencies,” the Indian government and the central bank refer to all non-government-issued cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether.

Sankar explained the central bank’s stance that cryptocurrencies should not be permitted “just because they are backed by hi-tech.” He added:

Any tool that can be used for good can also be put to undesirable uses. Technology, at the end of the day, is a tool.

Meanwhile, the Indian government is still working on the country’s crypto policy. This week the economic affairs secretary revealed that the government is finalizing a consultation paper on cryptocurrencies.

The RBI has long warned about cryptocurrencies being a threat to India’s financial system and should never be recognized as legal tender like some countries, including El Salvador, have done. The bank also warned that crypto could lead to the dollarization of the Indian economy.

Sankar detailed: “A currency needs an issuer or it needs intrinsic value. Many cryptocurrencies which have neither are still being accepted at face value – not just by gullible investors but also by expert policymakers and academicians.” The official elaborated:

Most cryptocurrencies have an equilibrium value of exactly zero, but they are still priced sometimes at fantastical levels.

“But even where cryptocurrencies do have value, for example, some stablecoins that are pegged to a particular currency, their unquestioned acceptance seems puzzling to me,” he opined.

The Indian central bank is currently developing its own CBDC. The bank said this week that it will take a “graded approach” to launching the digital rupee.

Japan Passes Landmark Stablecoin Bill To Protect Investors

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According to a Bloomberg report, Japan’s parliament passed a legal framework around stablecoins on Friday, providing a safety net for investors following last month’s TerraUSD collapse, which resulted in multibillion-dollar losses.

  • The report added that Japan is one of the first major economies to pass a law specific to stablecoins even if the legislation comes into effect in a year.
  • The bill clarifies the definition of stablecoins which will now be considered digital money and must be linked to the yen or another legal tender, guaranteeing holders the right to redeem them at face value.
  • Stablecoins can now only be issued by licensed banks, registered money transfer agents, and trust companies. The bill does not address existing asset-backed or algorithmic stablecoins. However, exchanges in Japan do not list stablecoins.
  • Prepared by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), the bill was planned in late 2021, accepted by the House in mid-March this year, and has now been passed by a majority in the House of Councilors plenary session.
  • In the wake of the TerraUSD (UST) collapse, this swift action by Japan could help against the crisis of confidence in crypto.
  • A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is tied to an outside asset, such as the U.S. dollar or gold, to stabilize the price.

The New York Senate has passed a moratorium on bitcoin mining.

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In an effort to address some of the environmental concerns surrounding cryptocurrencies, the New York State Senate passed a bill targeting proof-of-work (PoW) mining early Friday morning.
The bill, which was passed by the state Assembly last month, would put a two-year moratorium on any new carbon-based fuel-powered PoW mining projects in the Empire State, though existing mining companies or those in the process of renewing their permits would be allowed to continue operating. The bill passed the Senate with a 36-27 vote.

During the moratorium, the state will conduct a study on the potential environmental impacts of proof-of-work mining.

Many expected the bill to die in committee – the fate met by last year’s version of the bill – after the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee declined to consider the bill during its last meeting of the session. The committee’s chair, Sen. Todd Kaminsky, told CoinDesk in May that he was worried the bill could lead to “deleterious economic consequences for New York if people perceive it as being hostile to crypto.”

However, an eleventh hour referral of the bill from the Environmental Conservation Committee to the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee (which is chaired by the bill’s sponsor, Senator Parker) on Thursday evening meant that the bill was able to reach the full Senate floor for a vote mere hours before the close of the legislative session at midnight.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul still needs to sign the bill before it can become law.

New York has long been seen as a place for crypto mining firms to set up due to cheap hydroelectric energy sources. In more recent years, mining firms have also repurposed defunct coal power generation facilities. Greenidge Generation, for example, huhrefurbished one such facility to operate using natural gas.

The crypto industry rallied against the bill after its Assembly counterpart was introduced last May, with many industry advocates calling the proposal a “ban” on mining outright.

John Olsen, a lobbyist with the Bitcoin Association, told CoinDesk last month that he feared the moratorium could be extended or turned into a ban over the course of the next two years, which could drive away companies seeking to set up shop near New York’s cheap energy sources.

Mining companies based in New York have threatened to leave the state if the moratorium is passed, pointing to the comparative ease of doing business in more mining-friendly states like Texas.

Clark Vaccaro, the acting president and chief strategy officer at industry trade organization BaSIC, told CoinDesk the passage of the bill “is a grim day for blockchain technology, effectively shutting the door on a nascent industry.”

Separately, the Senate passed a bill that would create a “cryptocurrency and blockchain study task force” early Friday.

Singapore’s Central Bank, DBS, and JPMorgan Work Together to Explore Digital Assets’ Applications, Defi

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The Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS) has teamed up with major banks and financial services firms to investigate asset tokenization and decentralized finance (defi). The first project will be piloted by DBS Bank and JPMorgan.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, announced Tuesday that it has launched Project Guardian in collaboration with the financial services industry. Project Guardian is a “collaborative initiative with the financial industry that seeks to explore the economic potential and value-adding use cases of asset tokenization” and decentralized finance, according to the central bank (defi).

At the Asia Tech x Singapore Summit on Tuesday, Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s deputy prime minister and coordinating minister for economic policies, announced the start of Project Guardian.

The first industry pilot under Project Guardian will look into potential defi applications in wholesale funding markets, according to the MAS,

The pilot, led by DBS Bank Ltd., JP Morgan, and Marketnode, involves the creation of a permissioned liquidity pool comprising tokenized bonds and deposits.

“The pilot aims to carry out secured borrowing and lending on a public blockchain-based network through execution of smart contracts,” the MAS continued.

Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at the central bank, explained that the MAS is “closely monitoring innovations and growth in the digital asset ecosystem and working through the potential opportunities and risks that come with new technologies — to consumers, investors, and the financial system at large.”

He noted: “The learnings from Project Guardian will serve to inform policy markets on the regulatory guardrails that are needed to harness the benefits of defi while mitigating its risks.”

Han Kwee Juan, head of group planning and strategy at DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, commented:

DBS is pleased to lead the charge to explore potential digital assets and use of defi concepts that will enhance efficiency and scalability in trading, clearing, and settlement; while managing risks to financial stability and integrity.

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