Alleged POGO & Crypto Scam Hub Busted in Parañaque | Key Points | Aug. 30, 2024
GM. Welcome back to BitPinas Key Points: easily digestible news in concise formats for easy reading. In today’s daily recap, we look at the action of the Philippine National Police against an alleged crypto scam hub.
Here are the latest crypto news stories in the last 24 hours.
Table of Contents
Market Analysis and Updates 📈
Here are the crypto highlights of the day:
Crypto Price Update
- Bitcoin (BTC): $59,089.20, down 0.1% over the last 24 hours.
- Ethereum (ETH): $2,509.73, down 0/7% over the last 24 hours.
- Solana (SOL): $138.63, down 3.6% vs the previous day.
Trending Coins Update
- Kerosene: $0.2753, up 30,2% vs the previous day.
- Muncat: $0.0338, up 42.6% over the last 24 hours.
- Dogs: $0.0012, down 15.6% vs the previous day.
For the daily price update, check out our post on Facebook.
📺 Watch the Replay: Celo Webcast
We had an incredible time talking to Rene Reinsberg, the President of Celo Foundation, together with Luis Buenaventura of GCrypto and Vincent Tio of PDAX. We discussed:
- How Rene co-founded Celo and the problems they intend to solve.
- We zoomed into Celo’s key messaging “Prosperity For All”. During the webcast, everyone including the audience chimed in on the best translation of that message into Filipino.
- We discussed the efforts of Celo in the country specially during the pandemic (which we covered here and here before).
- Of course, the latest developments in Celo:
- The transition to layer 2. (I got to be honest, I am most interested with this.)
- Stablecoins in Celo.
- Celo in GCash and PDAX.
- Finally, we talked about the Celo Philippines DAO and the grants that Celo provides to builders.
- As a bonus, we also caught up with Luis as he is now almost one year in Gcrypto, and the recent recognition that PDAX received from the regulators.
Again, this webcast is worth your time, please do check it out above on YouTube or on Facebook.
Feature News: Crypto Scam Hub Busted in Parañaque
Philippine police raided a suspected cryptocurrency scam hub in Parañaque City early Thursday, arresting over 400 workers involved in fraudulent online activities.
Key details:
- The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) carried out the raid at 2 a.m. on the 9th floor of Centrium Tower 1 in Barangay Baclaran, as reported by PhilStar and Philippine News Agency.
- A total of 414 individuals, including both Filipinos and foreigners, were taken into custody. Among those arrested were 48 Chinese nationals, as well as citizens from Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
- The raid targeted AIA Company, which posed as a licensed Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) but was not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Scam operations:
- The company allegedly engaged in cryptocurrency investment and love scams, with employees posing as wealthy models to lure victims into investing in a manipulated cryptocurrency platform.
- NCRPO officers found rooms within the premises where indecent shows were allegedly filmed as part of the scam operation.
Legal actions:
- Charges for violations of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and the Securities Regulations Code are being prepared against the arrested suspects.
- NCRPO Chief Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. stated that some Filipino workers claimed they were forced to participate in the scams, while others were coerced into performing lewd acts.
Philippine Crypto News 🇵🇭
- BitPinas Article: Coins.ph partnered with Stables Money to leverage PHPC for Australia-Philippines remittances.
- Gabby Dizon, co-founder of YGG, announced that GAP Season 6 is concluding, with Season 7 set to begin on September 18th.
- Dizon expressed support for OpenSea after it received a Wells notice from the US SEC.
Educational Corner 🎓
As the crypto industry further expands its investor base, schemes to exploit the space are also increasing. Check out what address poisoning is and how to avoid it.
Regulation Watch 📜
Stay informed about the latest regulatory updates and what they mean for you:
- SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce admitted to partial responsibility for the agency’s unclear crypto regulation.
- The SEC’s lawsuit against Kraken is set to proceed to trial after a California judge ruled in favor of the case continuing.
- The SEC has frozen the assets of Jonathan and Tanner Adam, accusing them of running a $60 million Ponzi scheme under the guise of a crypto trading bot.
- South Korean central bank executives and regulators are urging the government to swiftly regulate tokenized securities.
- Japan‘s upcoming tax reforms aim to attract Web3 startups and international developers.
Community Spotlight 🔦
Meet Luis Buenaventura: He is involved in various crypto-related projects and startups, playing a key role in the Philippine cryptocurrency industry.
- He is the current head of Gcash crypto platform GCrypto.
- He joined YGG as its country manager in 2021 until last year.
- He is also a frequent BitPinas webcast guest speaker and was a contributor for the website.
Check more articles about him here.
More Web3 and AI News 💡
Discover the latest in web3 and AI innovation.
- Forbes Web3 launched the “INSPIRE” collectible as part of Base’s Onchain Summer event.
- TaskOn and Nakapad partnered to streamline and enhance web3 project launches.
- Matchain launched its mainnet, aiming to revolutionize web3 by enhancing data ownership, privacy, and decentralized AI.
Web3 Gaming Section 🎮
The future of web3 is gaming, and here are the latest news.
- SnakeLite secured multimillion-dollar funding to transition from a mobile game to a web3 project.
- Stratton Studios, in collaboration with the PGA Tour and Chain Games, is developing “PGA Tour Rise,” a Web3 golf game set to launch in 2026.
- BitPinas article: Forgotten Ruiniverse launched its Open Beta Test, New Foundations, along with a new point system for XP farming.
Event Announcements 📅
Don’t Miss Out: Upcoming events, webinars, and meetups in the crypto space!
- Solana Radar Global Hackathon: September 2, 2024
- Bicol Traders Meet 2024: September 7, 2024
- Blockchain Campus Conference 2024: October 10, 2024
Noteworthy 🌟
Key updates and announcements from around the crypto and blockchain world:
- The TON blockchain experienced its second outage in two days due to a heavy load of transactions from the DOGS memecoin minting.
- Crypto-friendly Brave Software laid off 15% of its workforce.
- Over the past three years, UK crypto registration applications have fallen by 51%, with slow approval times and increased familiarity with FCA rules.
- Crypto advocates criticized the SEC and its chair, Gary Gensler, for issuing a Wells notice to OpenSea.
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This article is published on BitPinas: Alleged POGO & Crypto Scam Hub Busted in Parañaque | Key Points | Aug. 30, 2024
