Japanese prosecutors from 10 prefectures have arrested 16 individuals suspected of involvement in an ongoing criminal case of cryptojacking, local news outlet The Asahi Shimbun reports June 15.

Cryptojacking is the practice of using unsuspecting users’ processing power in order to mine cryptocurrency for the attacker.

According to the report by Asahi Shimbun, the arrested individuals are suspected of installing malware on victims’ computers in order to mine cryptocurrency in an unauthorized manner. The suspects were allegedly running their own websites to spread the crypto mining malware, including the Coinhive program, that mines Monero (XMR).

The case against 16 men aged between 18 and 48 was first announced on June 14, with the first arrests taking place as early as March, the report claims.

The largest sum of money obtained via cryptojacking by the alleged suspects amounted to 120,000 yen ($1,084). The report emphasizes that the suspects only got 70 percent of the cryptocurrency mined, with the remaining 30 going to Coinhive.

Hisashi Sonoda, a professor at Konan Law School who specializes on cybercrimes, commented that immediate arrests might have been an excessive measure since there are no legal precedents on handling similar case.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-16-arrested-in-monero-cryptojacking-case-local-media-report/amp

David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s messaging app Messenger, announced that the social media site is exploring possible applications for blockchain technology, CNBC reported May 8.

“I'm setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch,” Marcus shared in a post Tuesday afternoon on his personal page.

Marcus has been leading Messenger for almost four years. In December, he joined cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase as a board member. Facebook, however, hasn’t revealed how interested it is in applying blockchain.

The move comes as Facebook implements a broader shake-up of their product team. From now on, the company will operate under three divisions: a “family of apps” group, "central product services" and “new platforma and infra,” Recode reported Tuesday.

In January, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he would be looking into digital currencies in order to explore their potential for empowering individuals. He stated that the power of decentralized systems like cryptocurrency could help take power away from the centralized system and place it back in the hands of individuals.

In January of this year, Facebook initiated a blanket ban on ads for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs). The ban came as a surprise to some, as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had previously expressed interest in cryptocurrencies. Zuckerberg reportedly wanted to study how the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency could empower individuals and “how best to use them in our services.”

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/facebook-forms-exploratory-blockchain-team-led-by-coinbase-board-member

Major Cryptocurrency price tracking site CoinMarketCap (CMC) has removed the website Bitcoin.com from its Bitcoin (BTC) page as of today, May 6. Though there was no official announcement from CMC, the price tracker removed Bitcoin.com as BTC’s secondary website evidently in the wake of recent allegations that Bitcoin.com was misleading customers into buying Bitcoin Cash (BCH) instead of Bitcoin.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinmarketcap-quietly-removes-bch-promoting-bitcoincom-from-its-btc-page

Controversy is not difficult to come by in the world of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin Cash is a very successful fork of Bitcoin. Even so, some people are trying to trick the masses into thinking it is the real Bitcoin. Michael Novogratz is one of the many people opposing this train of thought.

Source: https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/05/06/billionaire-investor-bitcoin-cash-not-bitcoin-market-justifies/

MasterCard has filed a patent for a system to speed up the activation of new nodes in a blockchain, in an application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) April 26.

The application, which was first filed on October 24, 2016, outlines that the current difficulty facing new nodes –  a computer connected to the blockchain network that stores a copy of the blockchain – is that they are required to individually verify a massive amount of data in order to activate. The patent states that new nodes must verify “thousands, millions, or even billions of transaction records […] in a vast number of different blocks” that may have accumulated over time in a given blockchain, generating a significant delay before each new node can begin to participate in the network.

The patent proposes a technical solution for faster navigation, in which “fast track flags” would be included in block headers, so that new nodes could scan and verify the blockchain at greater speed.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/mastercard-publishes-patent-to-speed-up-blockchain-node-activation

The "unprecedented" Decree on the Development of Digital Economy, signed by President Alexander Lukashenko in December, officially came into force on March 28 in the Republic of Belarus. The document signals a new dawn for the country, facilitating any form of cryptocurrency-related activity, and according to the leader should make Belarus “a tech country".

The Cointelegraph editorial visited the post-Soviet country to conduct their own investigation and find out if everything is as it seems to be at first glance and dig into the real benefits of "free crypto-economics".

Belarusian version of "Silicon Valley"

While global competition for qualified IT professionals grows evermore fierce, Belarus offers a number of benefits to attract professionals from around the world, in particular a major incentive stemming from tax breaks until January 1, 2023. This helps to ensure foreign capital flow and ultimately a better relationship with the West.

For the purpose of creating and supporting innovative startups in the country, the government created the High-Tech Park (HTP), which becomes the mecca of the first national cryptocurrency operators.

In the global community, the new economic zone has already been nicknamed the Belarusian version of Silicon Valley. The thing is that its residents, registered IT companies, can take advantage of unique opportunities and privileges for business development at an early stage.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/belarus-style-silicon-valley-why-nobody-rushes-up-into-tax-free-icos

WikiLeaks Shop, the merchandise arm of international anonymous publishing non profit WikiLeaks, reported on Twitter Friday, April 20, that their account with crypto wallet and exchange Coinbase has been blocked.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/wikileaks-shop-reports-suspension-of-coinbase-account-due-to-terms-of-service-violation