India orders Binance to pay $2.25 million fine for AML violations

  • Binance faces a $2.25 million penalty reportedly imposed by India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
  • The penalty relates to the crypto exchange’s violation of India’s anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

India’s financial watchdog, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), has imposed a 188.2 million rupees ($2.25 million) fine on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

FIU has ordered the crypto behemoth to pay the hefty fine after its operations violated India’s anti-money laundering (AML) rules.

The fine comes less than two months after Binance and KuCoin gained registration with the FIU as the exchanges looked to resume operations in India, a country with a huge and rapidly expanding crypto community.

Binance approved to operate in India

In December last year, the regulator issued notices against Binance and other crypto exchanges, over what the FIU termed as violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

In January, India removed the nine offshore exchanges from the marketplace, prohibiting their operations in the country without first getting proper regulatory approval.

While Binance and KuCoin subsequently sought approval and became the first offshore exchanges to win it, the FIU imposed penalties.

As reported, KuCoin paid a fine of $41,000 as it resumed operations, while Binance had to wait for the FIU to determine its fine during scheduled hearings. Earlier reports suggested Binance faced up to $2 million in penalties for non-compliance.

The exchange agreed a $4.3 billion penalty from US authorities in 2023 and is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Nigerian authorities.

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Bitcoin stays above $65k as Bitbot unveils its Mini App UI

Key takeaways

  • Bitcoin has been trading above the $65k level as the broader market stagnates.
  • Bitbot has unveiled its Mini App UI to simplify DeFi trading for users

Bitcoin stays above $65k as market stagnates

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, has been underperforming over the last seven days. It has lost more than 3% of its value in the last seven days and is currently trading above $65k per coin. 

The poor performance comes as whales sold over $1 billion worth of Bitcoins over the last few days. Altcoins have also been underperforming in recent days, with the total crypto market cap now below $2.4 trillion.

What is Bitbot?

The crypto market is still consolidating but new projects continue to roll out excellent products to their users. Bitbot is one of the new projects that has been unveiling exciting products and services. 

Bitbot raised more than $4 million from investors and is using the funds to launch products for traders on Telegram. This Web3 project seeks to bring unique value propositions to traders in the cryptocurrency space. 

It is a self-custodial Telegram trading bot that allows users to trade via their cold wallets on the app. Bitbot users will enjoy certain features available only to institutional investors, making it easier for traders to grow their trading portfolios.

Bitbot unveils its Mini App UI

With its presale now over, Bitbot is focusing on launching its products and listing its token on crypto exchanges. 

In their recent X post, the Bitbot team unveiled their Mini App UI as one of the features available at launch and is crafted with user-friendliness at its core. This intuitive interface simplifies DeFi trading, making it accessible for newcomers.

Bitbot added that with a clean, responsive, and easy-to-navigate design, all users can fully leverage Bitbot’s capabilities without facing a steep learning curve.

The launch of the Mini App UI comes roughly two weeks after Bitbot unveiled its staking feature. With the staking feature, users who claim their tokens through the bot can stake them and earn a competitive Anual Percentage Yield.

Bitbot is also working on other security features such as Knightsafe, a solution that would help mitigate the typical risks associated with Telegram trading. The integration of anti-MEV and anti-rug solutions will further help users protect their assets. 

The team also revealed some of the funds raised in the presale are already being directed towards integrating Ultra-flexible wallet management fuelled by non-custodial API technology. 

Bitbot raised over $4m in presale

The Bitbot presale was successful, with the team raising over $4 million.  In addition to developing its products, Bitbot is also currently working on the formation of its team, smart contract development, community formation, marketing drive, and alpha testing.

The team will proceed to get $BITBOT listed on crypto exchanges once these steps are concluded, with top influencer partnerships, and its Telegram Bot launch to come afterwards. 

Per the whitepaper, the Bitbot development team will hold 20% of the total token supply and use it to fund ongoing development. An additional 14% is allocated to marketing & CEX listings while 3% is allocated to exchange liquidity provision.

Why buy the Bitbot token?

The presale is over and purchasing $BITBOT will only be possible once the token launches on crypto exchanges. It is tough to determine the listing price as token prices are usually volatile once they launch on crypto exchanges.

However, Bitbot could gain massive adoption if the team rolls out its products and services. The unique trading features Bitbot seeks to offer could make the project and it’s token a big winner in this current bullish cycle.

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Fetch.ai rallies as AI-related tokens mirror Nvidia sentiment

  • Fetch.ai rose more than 23% to lead AI tokens higher after recent Nvidia news and performance.
  • Other tokens, including SingularityNET and Ocean Protocol also surged more than 20%

Fetch.ai (FET) has jumped more than 23% in the past 24 hours as leading AI-related tokens continue to bask in the limelight that Nvidia has illuminated in recent weeks.

This week saw Nvidia overtake Microsoft as the world’s most valuable company, and the exuberance around the leading AI stock has cascaded to AI tokens.

Fetch.ai leads this pack, with major gainers in the past 24 hours also including SingularityNET (AGIX) and Ocean Protocol (OCEAN). Both tokens, which together with Fetch.ai are set to merge into a single token dubbed ASI, are up more than 20% in 24 hours.

Other AI tokens soar

Akash Network (AKT), Bittensor (TAO) and The Graph (GRT) have also climbed double digits – AKT is up 21%, TAO 11% and GRT 11%.

Render (RNDR), NEAR Protocol (NEAR) and Internet Computer (ICP) have recorded slightly lower gains in this period, but are still significantly higher compared to most other altcoins across the crypto market.

Artificial Superintelligence Alliance tokens

FET, AGIX and OCEAN’s price gains come after these tokens dumped in the wake of an announcement that the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (ASI) merger would be delayed – pushed from June 13 to July 15.

But as NVIDIA soared to an all-time high to see Nvidia dethrone Microsoft as the most valuable company, these tokens have exploded in tandem. 

Fetch.ai, SingularityNET and Ocean Protocol say the merger will help accelerate industry investment into artificial general intelligence (AGI). In this case, the projects see a further commercialization of AI technologies and allowing for broader access.

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ZettaBlock Integrates with Stellar to Simplify Blockchain Development

Empowering Developers with Efficient, Cost-Effective Tools for Building Data-Powered applications on Stellar

ZettaBlock, an industry-leading, institutional-grade Web3 data infrastructure platform, is proud to announce a new collaboration with the Stellar Development Foundation, the organization that supports the development and growth of the Stellar network, known for facilitating open and accessible financial transactions. This integration is set to redefine the landscape of blockchain development, offering a streamlined path for developers to create not just any Web3 application, but powerful data-driven applications on Stellar, with ease and efficiency.

ZettaBlock and the Stellar Development Foundation are joining forces with a shared goal: to make the blockchain space more accessible and powerful for developers and to open up new possibilities for how financial systems can operate globally. This is about providing the tools and support needed to create applications that are not just scalable and secure, but also truly efficient.

“SDF is excited to work with ZettaBlock in giving our community more intelligence tools to build best-in-class dapps,” said Justin Rice, VP of Ecosystem of the Stellar Development Foundation. “We’re committed to making Stellar the highest quality network for developers to build on, and this integration with ZettaBlock furthers this initiative.”

By leveraging ZettaBlock’s advanced indexing, real-time data, and analytics capabilities alongside Stellar’s robust network for financial transactions, this integration promises to revolutionize the way developers build and deploy dapps.

Developers now have access to a fully managed backend, with rich, actionable on-chain data –  both historical and real-time – but also the ability to seamlessly integrate with private data sources. ZettaBlock empowers developers to swiftly create custom APIs tailored to their specific business needs or dapp logic. With the ability to generate GraphQL endpoints from SQL queries in one click, without the burden of infrastructure overhead, developers can now bring their innovative dapps to the Stellar ecosystem more than 90% faster. 

“We’re thrilled to join forces with Stellar,” said Chi Zhang, CEO and Co-Founder of ZettaBlock. “This collaboration mirrors our mutual dedication to unlocking the full potential of blockchain data for everyone. We’re excited to see the innovative applications that developers on Stellar will create using our comprehensive data platform.”

Get Started with ZettaBlock and Stellar: Build powerful, data-driven applications on Stellar using ZettaBlock’s advanced tools, or discover how our integration can revolutionize your business. Visit app.zettablock.com to get started, or zettablock.com to learn more.

About ZettaBlock

ZettaBlock is an institutional-grade, full-stack Web3 data platform for indexing, querying, and analyzing across 12+ blockchains and 500+ datasets. Our platform makes Web3 data accessible and accelerates the development of scalable Web3 applications with real-time data. Swiftly generate custom GraphQL or REST APIs from SQL queries and incorporate your private off-chain data, empowering your applications with unparalleled scalability and flexibility.

Follow ZettaBlock on Twitter and LinkedIn

About Stellar Development Foundation

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure. Founded in 2014, the Foundation helps maintain the Stellar codebase, supports the technical and business communities building on the network, and serves as a voice to regulators and institutions. The Foundation seeks to create equitable access to the global financial system, using the Stellar network to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology. For more information, visit stellar.org/foundation.

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