Silk Road
The Ongoing Effort to Free Ross — Ulbricht’s Clemency Petition Closes in on Half a Million Signatures
As the end of 2021 nears, Ross Ulbricht remains in prison as he continues to serve his draconian double-life prison sentence for creating a website called the Silk Road. Ever since he was arrested, there’s been an ongoing effort to free Ulbricht, as a great majority of individuals and a large swathe of eminent organizations […]Binance hires former IRS-CI special agent to head intelligence division
Regulatory scrutiny from around the world has forced the cryptocurrency exchange to up its compliance and auditing measures.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has hired a former United States Internal Revenue Service agent to head its new intelligence division, a strong indication that the company is looking to bolster its compliance resources.
Tigran Gambaryan joins Binance as vice president of global intelligence and investigations, the company announced Thursday. Binance is Gambaryan’s first private-sector employer since he joined the IRS as a special agent in September 2011.
During his time at the IRS, Gambaryan investigated cases involving national security, terrorism financing, tax evasion and identity theft. He was also involved in the investigation of Silk Road, a dark web marketplace that facilitated some of the earliest cryptocurrency transactions. Silk Road was shut down by the FBI in October 2013, with founder Ross Ulbricht arrested and eventually sentenced to a double life sentence plus 40 years with no possibility of parole.
At Binance, Gambaryan will be tasked with conducting internal and external investigations “to prevent threats and financial losses.” The audit and investigations team will also work closely with law enforcement agencies and regulators.
Binance appears to be stepping up its compliance measures in response to regulatory upheaval from around the globe. The exchange has been forced to suspend operations and trading services in several markets, including Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Canadian province of Ontario, for allegedly failing to comply with local licensing laws.
Related: Binance pushes back against warning from South Africa regulator
More recently, Binance moved to block fiat deposits and spot crypto trading services in Singapore amid regulatory pressures. The exchange also ceased crypto futures and options in Australia.
Venture Capitalist Tim Draper Doubles Down on His $250K by 2022 Bitcoin Price Prediction
American venture capital investor Tim Draper still believes in a bitcoin price prediction he made in mid-April 2018, at the Draper University blockchain party. At the time, Draper said that he thinks bitcoin could reach $250K by 2022, and during an interview with CNBC’s Jade Scipioni this week, Draper reiterated his six-digit bitcoin price forecast. […]Tony Hawk Purchased Bitcoin in 2012 After Reading About the Silk Road Marketplace
Tony Hawk, the American professional skateboarder often referred to as ‘Birdman,’ discussed bitcoin at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami and told the crowd he got into the crypto economy in 2012. Hawk said he heard about the crypto asset after reading about the Silk Road marketplace and at the time, he said to himself […]‘Castle’ production company’s new TV crypto comedy to drop an ep as an NFT
A crypto-funded TV comedy series intends on releasing a full episode as an NFT.
A scripted TV series that's about crypto — and funded by it — is in development at Beacon Pictures, the independent production company behind “Bring It On”, and popular ABC drama “Castle.”
According to Deadline Hollywood, the 10 part TV crypto-comedy series “Hold on for Dear Life” — a reference of sort to the slang term 'Hodl' — aims for principal photography to shoot in Puerto Rico from August.
The show, which was created by anonymous crypto insider calling themselves ‘Suhh Toshee’, will look to reflect the lives of crypto entrepreneurs, and hopefully be funded by them. Beacon CEO Mark Pennell, told Deadline that:
“Crypto is about community. The show is an extension of that community. So, we embraced the innovation by creating an opportunity for crypto entrepreneurs to participate in a show that reflects many of their own stories.”
The project is raising funds via crypto by tokenizing the profits on Ethereum, enabling investors to receive their share of the proceeds directly to their wallets.
The producers also hope to cash in on the gold rush around NFT collectibles, with plans to mint a series of non-fungible tokens, as well as release the first-ever tokenized full episode of a TV show.
The storyline is focused on Mel, a young tech founder who launches a token named after her missing best friend Aveer and sets off with her band of “misfit” friends to make the Aveer token a success.
“To do so, they must overcome enemies, centralized powers and FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt)”
The series is set to feature cameos from figures in the crypto-world such as billionaire Bitcoin investor Tim Draper, and Crystal Rose, the CEO, and Founder of Sense.
As blockchain technology and cryptocurrency continue to creep their way into mainstream society, the appetite for crypto-based TV shows and movies is gaining momentum.
Cointelegraph reported on the development of the first-ever K-drama crypto-series “Romantic Hacker” in July 2020, which entails a fictional story of a Korean trading exchange being attacked by hackers.
In October, acclaimed actress Kate Winslet signed on to star in an MGM production portraying the founder of the $4 billion OneCoin Ponzi scheme and in February 'Silk Road' was released depicting the lead up to the arrest darknet Silk Road founderRoss Ulbricht.
The story of how the Winklevoss twins became Bitcoin billionaires was also snapped up by Stampede Ventures earlier that year, and the same author that penned it, Ben Mezrich is working on a book and movie for MGM and book that details the GameStop saga.