Saylor denies Bitcoin sale rumors, DOJ convicts North Korean scheme helpers, BitMine names new CEO | Weekly Recap

In this week’s edition of the weekly recap, Strategy’s Michael Saylor rejected speculation about Bitcoin sales while affirming continued accumulation despite price declines.

In other developments, the Justice Department secured multiple convictions for assisting North Korean cryptocurrency operations, and Ethereum treasury company BitMine Immersion Technologies appointed a new chief executive.

Saylor dismisses Bitcoin liquidation speculation

• Strategy’s co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor refuted Friday rumors suggesting the company is selling Bitcoin (BTC) holdings.
• The Bitcoin treasury company will continue expanding its BTC stockpile, Saylor stated during a CNBC interview.

Justice Department targets North Korean cryptocurrency schemes

• The DOJ announced Friday multiple guilty pleas connected to individuals who assisted North Korean fraudulent information technology workers in obtaining U.S. employment and stolen identities.
• Five convictions involve domestic helpers who masked workers’ geographic origins as they collected paychecks from dozens of American businesses.

BitMine appoints veteran banker as CEO

• The leading Ethereum (ETH) treasury company holding more than $11 billion worth of the cryptocurrency announced Friday that Chi Tsang will serve as CEO and board member.
• Tsang succeeds Jonathan Bates and brings experience as founder and managing partner of venture fund m1720.

BlackRock expands tokenized Treasury fund to BNB Chain

• BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) is extending onto BNB Chain (BNB) through a partnership between the world’s largest asset manager and largest crypto exchange.
• The expansion establishes BUIDL as “a foundational building block of on-chain finance” by enabling Binance’s institutional and advanced traders to optimize capital deployment.

Cash App introduces cryptocurrency payment features

• The popular payments platform rolled out Thursday eleven product updates including Bitcoin and stablecoin payment capabilities among more than 150 platform improvements.
• The bundled release includes flexible banking benefits, AI-powered navigation, stablecoin sending and receiving functionality, and strong safety features according to company statements.

Singapore plans tokenized bill CBDC settlement

• The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced trials for tokenized bills settled with wholesale central bank digital currency as the next integration phase for blockchain-based finance.
• MAS managing director Chia Der Jiun revealed Thursday at Singapore Fintech Festival that the central bank is also preparing draft stablecoin regulatory regime legislation.

Czech National Bank creates crypto test portfolio

• The central bank announced Thursday creation of a $1 million experimental portfolio containing Bitcoin, USD stablecoin, and tokenized deposit following October 30 board approval.

Dubai court upholds TrueUSD freezing order

• Dubai’s Digital Economy Court maintained a worldwide freezing order addressing the $456 million reserve shortfall that required Justin Sun’s intervention to support TrueUSD stablecoin holders.
• The dispute examines whether TrueUSD reserve funds were improperly transferred to Aria Commodities DMCC.

Circle reports tripled quarterly profit

• The world’s second-largest stablecoin issuer disclosed third-quarter net income rose to $214 million ($0.64 per share) as USDC demand growth boosted interest revenue on backing assets.
• Total revenue and reserve income more than doubled to $740 million, with earnings per share beating expectations of $0.22 per share.

Kraken co-CEO criticizes UK crypto warnings

• Arjun Sethi told the Financial Times Wednesday that mandatory website warnings comparing cryptocurrency to cigarette box health alerts hinder retail investors and expose them to potential losses.
• The exchange executive stated UK regulations requiring “use this and you’re going to die” equivalent warnings create unnecessary barriers to informed investment decisions.

Coinbase abandons BVNK acquisition

• The American cryptocurrency exchange terminated negotiations Tuesday to acquire UK-based stablecoin infrastructure startup BVNK in a proposed $2 billion transaction.
• Both Coinbase and Mastercard had pursued advanced acquisition discussions before Coinbase and BVNK entered exclusive negotiations that ultimately collapsed.

Bank of England proposes stablecoin holding limits

• The UK central bank announced on Monday its proposed regulatory framework, which includes “temporary” caps of 10 million pounds for enterprises and 20,000 pounds ($26,300) per coin for individuals.