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Three Russians Face Money Laundering Charges Over Mixing Services: DOJ

Three Russian nationals tied to operating sanctioned crypto mixing services Blender.io and Sinbad.io have been charged with money laundering by a federal grand jury in Georgia, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement on Friday.
Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko and Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik had been arrested last month, and they face money laundering charges. A third person tied to the services’ operations, Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov, is at-large, the DOJ said.
Authorities from multiple jurisdictions had already seized and dismantled the computer equipment behind the services. Blender.io had previously been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for aiding in the concealment of the crypto proceeds of cyber thefts conducted by North Korean hackers. That move marked the Treasury’s first sanctions against a crypto mixer, which is a service that aims to anonymize transactions and erase the public trail of digital assets.
«According to the indictment, the defendants operated cryptocurrency ‘mixers’ that served as safe havens for laundering criminally derived funds, including the proceeds of ransomware and wire fraud,» said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent S. Wible, the DOJ’s criminal division chief, in a statement. «By allegedly operating these mixers, the defendants made it easier for state-sponsored hacking groups and other cybercriminals to profit from offenses that jeopardized both public safety and national security.»
The prosecution of crypto mixing services – the controversial businesses that represent both the sector’s vulnerability to criminal use and its championing of financial privacy – has been a point of contention for U.S. policymakers and members of Congress.
In the most famous case, the pursuit of Tornado Cash, the Treasury’s sanctions were overturned in November by a federal appeals court, ruling that the technology underpinning such services can’t be targeted this way. However, the government is still pursuing criminal prosecutions of Tornado Cash’s founders.
Blender.io operated from 2018 to 2022 before it was taken down by authorities, to be quickly replaced by Sinbad.io, which drew similar sanctions from the Treasury Department.
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UK’s FCA Seeks Views on Stablecoins, Crypto Custody to Prevent Firm Failures

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking additional views on its upcoming stablecoins regime, it said on Wednesday.
«In support of the opportunities stablecoins present to financial services and the broader economy, the FCA will explore adding a specific focus on stablecoins to its innovation services in the coming months,» the FCA’s statement said.
The FCA’s proposed rules are meant to ensure stablecoins maintain their value and seek to reduce the likelihood of stablecoin and crypto custody companies failing.
Stablecoins have been something regulators have been watching carefully following the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD in 2022 that resulted in investors losing out on their life savings.
The FCA has been establishing its new crypto regime since 2023. In 2023 it published a discussion paper with proposals for a stablecoins regime. The regulator has since upped its efforts to regulate the sector by releasing a series of discussion papers for the industry and the U.K. government is working on establishing new legislation to ensure the country’s regulators have all the powers they need to launch their new regimes for the digital asset sector.
The FCA will be working with the Bank of England to regulate stablecoins.
«For those stablecoins that expect to operate at systemic scale, the Bank of England will publish a complementary consultation paper later this year, including responding to industry feedback around allowing some return on backing assets,» Sarah Breeden, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank of England said.
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Bitcoin and Web3 Wallet Firm Ledger Brings ‘Crypto Life’ Visa Card to U.S. Users

Cryptocurrency hardware wallet firm Ledger has launched its Crypto Life (CL) Visa card in the U.S., offering users 1% cashback in bitcoin (BTC) or USDC on purchases and the ability to directly deposit paychecks into the on-chain card account via bank transfer.
Ledger’s CL Visa card is facilitated by fiat-to-on-chain card enabler Baanx, which also provides self-custody crypto cards for the likes of MetaMask, Tools for Humanity and most recently wallet firm Exodus.
Big card networks Mastercard and Visa are aligning themselves with the self-custodial crypto world and the rapid growth in areas like stablecoin payments. Data on CL card usage shows household purchases dominated crypto card usage at 63% of total transactions, with entertainment and fashion categories showing the strongest growth.
Jean-Francois Rochet, EVP of Consumer Services at Ledger, said the collaboration brings the CL card to millions of users in the U.S. with attractive cashback features for bitcoin holders. “Living the crypto life means having ownership, access and real world utility over your digital assets,” he said in a statement.
“The CL Card, designed for Ledger, is a step toward mainstream, non-custodial crypto payments—right in your pocket”, said Simon Jones, Chief Commercial Officer of Baanx.
The CL Card will be available in the U.S. (excluding New York and Vermont) on June 30, 2025.
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VivoPower Raises $121M to Launch XRP Treasury Strategy With Saudi Royal Backing

VivoPower International (VVPR), a Nasdaq-listed energy company, said on Wednesday it has secured $121 million in a private share placement to fund its pivot to digital asset treasury focusing on XRP XRP, the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
The raise was led by Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Abdulaziz Al Saud, investing $100 million, a spokesperson to the company told CoinDesk. The company sold 20 million ordinary shares priced at $6.05 per share.
Adam Traidman, a former Ripple executive who led the SBI Ripple Asia, is joining the company as chairman of the board of advisors, according to the press release. Ripple is an enterprise-focused blockchain service provider closely related to the XRP Ledger.
VivoPower shares surged as much as 26% on the news before giving back some of the gains. Recently, they were up over 11%, trading around $6.75.
The move is the latest example of public firms raising money to purchase and add digital assets to their treasuries, a playbook popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) that has become the largest corporate holder of bitcoin BTC. While BTC has been the most sought-after asset among these firms, recent newcomers like DeFi Development and SharpLink Gaming directed their focus to Solana’s SOL SOL and Ethereum’s ether ETH, respectively.
VivoPower, founded in 2014, aims to be the first publicly traded company with a crypto treasury strategy centered around XRP. It also plans to spin off its legacy business.
«After reviewing a number of listed vehicles seeking to embrace a digital asset treasury model, we selected VivoPower given its strategic focus on XRP and its objective to contribute to building out of the XRPL ecosystem,» Prince Abdulaziz said in a statement. «We have been investors in the digital asset sector for a decade and have been long-term holders of XRP.»
Read more: Dubai Unveils Real Estate Tokenization Platform on XRP Ledger Amid $16B Initiative
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