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Miami Launches ‘MiamiCoin’ to Fund the Police

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Miami FL, the City of Miami has launched its own cryptocurrency called MiamiCoin. Revenue from the coin will be diverted to the city treasury. Mining the coin is less energy-intensive and less difficult than mining Bitcoin or Ethereum.iami Mayor Francis Suarez recently announced that the city of Miami will launch its own cryptocurrency called MiamiCoin (MIA). Starting this week, MiamiCoin mining is ready to be activated. Traders can trade, buy or sell the coin on California-based crypto exchange Okcoin, according to CityCoins.  The Miami government will have its own wallet and a portion of the coins mined will end up in that wallet to be used to improve the city. Speculators can purchase the coin on exchanges, which will ideally raise the value of the coin. The project aims to incentivize stakeholders to participate in the city’s success. The Village of Ridgewood should give this a thought to fund the Hudson Garage .

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SEC Chair Says,” he’s mulling robust oversight centered on strong safeguards for the millions of investors who’ve filled their portfolios with tokens (crypto)”

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC,  Wall Street and Silicon Valley all want to know: where does Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler stand on cryptocurrency?

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Cryptocurrency Fraudster Sentenced for Money Laundering and Securities Fraud in $16 million Investment Scam

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, a Swedish man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges that defrauded thousands of victims of more than $16 million.

Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson, 47, pleaded guilty on March 4. According to court documents, Karlsson ran an investment fraud scheme from 2011 until his arrest in Thailand in June 2019. Karlsson induced victims to purchase shares in the scheme called “Eastern Metal Securities” using cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and other online payment platforms. Karlsson promised victims astronomical returns tied to the price of gold. Instead, the funds provided by victims were transferred to Karlsson’s personal bank accounts, and he then used proceeds to purchase expensive homes, a racehorse and a resort in Thailand. Karlsson’s fraud targeted financially insecure investors, causing severe financial hardship for many of them. Meanwhile, Karlsson went to great lengths to prolong his scheme, including rebranding, offering updates and account statements that provided assurances to the victims of the states of their assets, and offering explanations for the payout delays – including falsely claiming to be working with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Not to lose your money, you should be patient as well as wisely approach trading. We recommend scalping signals crypto that indicate the best time and settings for trading. Being aware of advanced tools you won’t lose your money or give it to fraudsters.

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Bitcoin Pizza Day

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, May 22, 2021, marked the eleven-year anniversary of the first Bitcoin transaction, in which a Florida man paid for two pizzas with the cryptocurrency. The day has become part of folklore, not because of the transaction, but more the price: the man in question paid 10,000 Bitcoins, which today is worth over $80 million, for the two pizzas.

On May 22, 2010, now known as Bitcoin Pizza Day, Laszlo Hanyecz agreed to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for two delivered Papa John’s pizzas. Organized on bitcointalk forum, the Florida man reached out for help. “I’ll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas… like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day,” Hanyecz wrote.

The man who took up Hanyecz’s offer and bought the two pizzas for him in exchange for the 10,000 Bitcoins. Even then the recipient of the Bitcoins got himself a bargain, paying $25 for the pizzas, while 10,000 Bitcoins were worth around $41 at the time.

We know the 22nd was Saturday but we are trying to make this a “Monday Holiday” .

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The IRS is looking for Help Hacking Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallets

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Cryptocurrency can be stored on small physical drives securely, unconnected to the internet. The IRS is looking for help to break into cryptocurrency hardware wallets, according to a document posted on the agency website in March of this year. The tax collection agency is now looking for contractors to come up with solutions to hack into wallets that would be of interest to investigations. While the agency may be in possession of a hardware wallet as part of a case, they may not be able to access it without the suspect’s cooperation. The IRS is looking for tools it can reliably use in multiple cases.

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Sex Offender Indicted For Attempting To Hire A Hitman to Bump off A 14-Year Old

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Haddonfield NJ, a New Jersey, man under investigation by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office for child pornography-related offenses was indicted today for allegedly paying $20,000 in bitcoin to have the 14-year old child victim murdered, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.

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India is planning to introduce legislation banning cryptocurrency

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, in a new study comparing searches to gage interest in Crypto currencies India ranked second with 804,000 annual online searches about cryptocurrency.

According to Reuters the government of India is planning to introduce legislation banning cryptocurrency, Reuters reports. The law would impose fines on anyone who trades, mines, or even holds cryptocurrency. The government has a comfortable majority in parliament, giving the proposal a good shot at becoming law.

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Romance Scammers Hit Dating Apps in Time for Valentine’s Day

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by  Jim Kreidler
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

You’ve heard of romance scams. But do you know how they happen? They start when scammers create fake profiles on dating apps or social media. Then, those scammers strike up a relationship with their targets and work to build trust. Sometime later, they make up a story and ask for money.

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Tesla Inc. Buys $1.5 billion in Bitcoin

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  Laszlo Hanyecz said he wouldn’t spend his Bitcoins on a Tesla. Laszlo Hanyecz knows what he’s talking about, in 2010, Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoins, worth about $446 million at current prices, for two pizzas.

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What You Should Know About Cryptocurrency Trading

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It comes as no surprise that investors have started to show interest in the digital financial world. This is because of their skepticism towards traditional banks and the future of paper money. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin caught the attention of several traders owing to their promising future profits. Even though it is easy to own and trade digital assets, you need to be aware of a couple of points. Since jumping headfirst in business guarantees failure, we are going to provide you with some information to help you make your first purchase and trade. 

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Romanian Programmer Admits that He Helped Create Bitclub Network, Cryptocurrency Mining Fraud Scheme

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

NEWARK NJ,  A Romanian man arrested in Germany admitted today to conspiring to engage in wire fraud and offering and selling unregistered securities in connection with his role in the BitClub Network, a cryptocurrency mining scheme worth at least $722 million, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

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The IRS Has Cryptocurrency on Its Radar

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by James Brown CPA [email protected]

Ridgewood NJ, If you own cryptocurrency, you need to know that the IRS has owners of cryptocurrency in its sights because many cryptocurrency owners are not reporting or paying taxes on their cryptocurrency transactions. In fact, the IRS is so focused on this issue that it recently issued warning letters to over 10,000 taxpayers it suspects might have an under-reporting problem.

About Cryptocurrency – If you are unfamiliar with the term cryptocurrency, the short definition is a form of digital money that is not controlled by any central authority. The first cryptocurrency created was Bitcoin, back in 2009. Since then, over 4,000 other cryptocurrencies have been created. Cryptocurrency can be digitally traded between users and can be purchased for, or exchanged into, U.S. dollars, euros, and other real or virtual currencies.

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“Operation Cryptosweep,” Shuts Down Two Cryptocurrency Promoters Offering Unregistered Securities

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced that the Bureau of Securities (“the Bureau”) today issued two emergency orders to stop online cryptocurrency-related investment entities from fraudulently offering unregistered securities in New Jersey.

The Cease and Desist Orders against Zoptax LLC a/k/a Zoptax and Unocall were announced today as part of “Operation Cryptosweep,” an international crackdown on fraudulent Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) and crypto currency-related investment schemes.

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the fly asks was someone in the Village Hall was using the website to mine Cryptocurrency earlier in the year?

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the fly asks ,”Is it true that someone in the Village Hall was using the Village website to mine Cryptocurrency earlier in the year?” ,we all remember the story of “coin boy” ,who pilfered the meter money , but the fly has heard and even more salacious tale of  “crypto mining”  on the tax payers dime with Village computing power .

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New Jersey Bureau of Securities Orders Three Online Cryptocurrency Promoters to Stop Offering Unregistered Securities in the State

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May 22,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

NEWARK NJ, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced that the Bureau of Securities (“the Bureau”) today issued three emergency orders to stop online cryptocurrency-related investment entities from fraudulently offering unregistered securities in New Jersey.

The Cease and Desist Orders against Bullcoin Foundation a/k/a Bullcoin Gold (“Bullcoin”,) Trident d/b/a Trident Crypto Index Fund (“Trident”,) and Springcryptoinvest were announced today as part of “Operation Cryptosweep,” an international crackdown on fraudulent Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) and crypto currency-related investment products.
More than 40 other state and provincial securities regulators in the United States and Canada are participating in the sweep, which is being coordinated by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), of which the Bureau is a member.

“New Jersey’s Bureau of Securities has been a national leader in proactively protecting investors against the significant threat of fraudulent activity involving initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency-related investment products,” said Attorney General Grewal. “Today the Bureau joins securities regulators across the nation and beyond in sending a message that we will vigilantly safeguard our financial industry from schemes and scams involving cryptocurrencies.”
Operation Cryptosweep has resulted in nearly 70 investigations and 35 completed or pending enforcement actions since the beginning of May. NASAA members are conducting additional investigations into potentially fraudulent conduct that may result in additional enforcement actions. These actions are in addition to more than a dozen enforcement actions previously undertaken by NASAA members regarding these types of products.
“New Jersey is proud to announce enforcement actions under Operation Cryptosweep to help raise public awareness of the risks associated with initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency-related investment products,” said Kevin Jespersen, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “The Cease and Desist Orders we issued today successfully shut down three online entities seeking to prey on New Jersey investors.”
The Bureau found that Bullcoin is offering investors an unregistered security in the form of an ICO of its Bullcoin Gold cryptocurrency (the “BCG token”) through its website and through various social media websites. The Bullcoin securities were not registered with the Bureau to be sold in New Jersey. Bullcoin further violated the law by failing to disclose key material facts to prospective investors, including its assets and liabilities, or financial information about the business; the risks associated with the BCG tokens; and the cryptocurrencies that the Bullcoin fund would invest. The Bureau also found that Bullcoin made untrue statements of material facts on its website, including that it is “the leading crypto-hedge fund,” an assertion that is either untrue or unsupported.

The Bureau found that Trident is offering investors an unregistered security in the form of an ICO of its Trident coins (“TDC Coin”) through its website and through various social media websites. The TDC Coins were not registered with the Bureau to be sold in New Jersey. Trident further violated the law by failing to disclose key material facts to prospective investors, including the identity of its principals; its physical address and principal place of business; its assets and liabilities, or financial information about the business; the persons or entities that developed the TDC coins; and the persons or entities that are buying and selling the cryptocurrency in the Trident Crypto Index Fund. The Bureau also found that Trident made untrue statements of material facts, including a statement on its website that in 2017 the Trident Crypto Index Fund had a return of more than 1400 percent but there is no evidence provided of these returns; and a statement on its WhitePaper that since the beginning of 2016 TDC coin has “gained by a factor of 154” but the Trident Website indicates that Trident was not founded until 2017.

The Bureau found that Springcryptoinvest is offering investors an unregistered security in the form of various investment packages through its website and through various social media websites. In order to invest with Springcryptoinvest, investors must open an online account through its website. After opening an account, investors are urged to fund the account by purchasing a plan using the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Litcoin, or payment websites PerfectMoney or Payeer. The Springcryptoinvest investment packages were not registered with the Bureau to be sold in New Jersey. Springcryptoinvest further violated the law by failing to disclose key material facts to prospective investors, including the identity of its principals; Springcryptoinvest’s assets and liabilities, and other financial information; and how investor funds are invested. The Bureau also found that Springcryptoinvest made untrue statements of material facts on its website by claiming it was incorporated in the United Kingdom in November 2002 with 04588340 as its registration number. However, United Kingdom registration number 04588340 is not assigned to Springcryptoinvest, and there is no United Kingdom registration number for the name Springcryptoinvest.

“Not every initial coin offering or cryptocurrency-related investment is fraudulent, but the risk of fraud is significant,” said Christopher W. Gerold, Chief of the New Jersey Bureau of Securities and Chair of NASAA’s Enforcement Section. “Since cryptocurrencies began attracting headlines last year, we have been warning investors to approach crypto-related investments with extreme caution and stay away from any investment that requires them to transmit funds to an unidentified online entity that fails to disclose who is behind its investment products, the financial status of its business, and the physical location of its operations.”
In April 2018, NASAA organized a task force of its member state and provincial securities regulators to begin a coordinated series of investigations into ICOs and cryptocurrency-related investment products. Regulators identified many cryptocurrency-related products and as part of its work, the task force identified hundreds of ICOs in the final stages of preparation before being launched to the public. These pending ICOs were advertised and listed on ICO aggregation sites to attract investor interest. Many have been examined and some were determined to warrant further investigation. A number of these investigations are ongoing and others resulted in enforcement actions announced today.
NASAA’s task force also found approximately 30,000 crypto-related domain name registrations, the vast majority of which appeared in 2017 and 2018.