03/04/2023. Surprising Noweon Scam and Weekly CryptoNews Digest

Hello guys. I wish I had better news to start with this sunny April day which I’m spending on the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula overlooking the adriatic waters of Croatia. However the harsh reality has put an end to my plans and instead I have to report of the untimely demise of the once highly promising newcomer Noweon which suddenly went under over the last weekend.

Of course, that will put an end to my (and many of my readers’) hopes of a possible HYIP industry revival which simply seems out of reach at the time of writing. However, if you were smarter and didn’t put all the eggs in one basket you may still enjoy a much more profitable journey with the always amazing ShuttleRent. The program has been doing just fine and you can join it following this link.

I had to change the MNO TalkBack question as well today, plus analyze the possible reasons for the awful departure of Noweon. And of course, as is usually done every Monday I will give you a glimpse at what I thought were the most interesting news stories from the world of cryptocurrencies in my traditional Weekly CryptoNews Digest.

I would like to thank all of my blog subscribers and urge others only looking at the option to give it a go and join hundreds of satisfied customers who already receive the entire articles to their email addresses you may submit here. The best way to stay informed though is to follow MNO on Telegram, Facebook, or Twitter where all the up-to-date notifications on new additions and status changes for listed programs are featured first.

Finally, if you have any questions or concerns it’s very easy to reach me on Telegram @mnoblog Alternatively, email me directly at abramsonp@gmail.com or simply submit your query via this contact form. I will be happy to assist you in any way possible!

Let’s now get to the elephant in the room which is Noweon that stopped paying last Saturday after which the admin has deleted all his social media accounts thus clearly stating that the program was done and over with.

NOWEON – SUDDENLY SCAMMED AFTER TEN DAYS ONLINE

The collapse of Noweon after just eight days from its official launch has been staggering and devastating for me personally and for the majority of investors who also thought that the program had spectacular prospectives for future growth eventually becoming the next big thing. Alas, it wasn’t destined to happen! The admin preferred to run away possibly with tens of thousands of dollars in his pocket, following an initial week of strong growth and confidence alongside the first investors and fellow bloggers like myself.

Now, we can only speculate as to what might have been the reason for the Noweon‘s untimely demise. The most probable reason is the admin’s greediness. We all know that every HYIP admin has a financial goal in mind – a certain number by reaching which he thought that he had done enough to profit for himself and could close up shop for good. In the case with Noweon the response among prospective investors had been overwhelmingly positive.

Many savvy investors jumped on the Noweon bandwagon without thinking and simply relying on the fact that the admin was an experienced player who might have run some great projects of the past and was capable of repeating the successes of the golden era of HYIPs as witnessed a few years ago. However, such trust will inevitably make some people invest what they cannot afford to lose – the thing I have always been warning my readers about but which many others simply prefer to ignore when trying to be the first to grab huge profits. That is actually the main cause of fast scams, like we all witnessed in case of Noweon. The admin has simply made sure he had lots of investors coming during the first week online and once he had reached his magic number he just pulled the plug and left everyone empty-handed.

Another thing that might have contributed to an early fall is the campaign that has been unleashed just days before the program went under by some jealous competitors. They had nothing else to do but badmouth the program which they had no stakes in just to give themselves a pat in the back after its untimely collapse. They are simply low-life stalkers that have no life for themselves while feeding off investors’ misery and should be totally ignored and forgotten as if they were food waste. Let some bad things that might have went wrong with Noweon be on their conscience too, just as surely as the admin’s!

Having said that, we will possibly never know whether the Noweon fast scam was intentional or well-planned in advance. The lesson for investors will be learned though and hopefully the next big thing that eventually appears on the horizon will be better and bring decent profits. MNO will certainly be on the lookout for that!

US GOVERNMENT CASHING-IN ON SILK ROAD BITCOIN

I’m sure a lot of readers will remember the infamous Silk Road case that came before the courts several years back. Well, just in case, it was a notorious dark web business website where “traders” sold all manner of illicit goods anonymously including weapons, narcotics, stolen credit card information, and pretty much anything you can think of that would land anyone connected with the deal some hefty prison sentences. That’s exactly what happened to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road now serving two life terms without the possibility of parole in a US federal penitentiary. And anyone who’s ever watched the old HBO drama series “Oz” knows, that isn’t a place you want to be!

And so the time has come for the authorities to dispose of the seized Ulbricht/Silk Road assets. That was 2013, so if you don’t really understand why this has taken ten years to organize, it’s because they only came into possession of these assets a lot more recently. A March 31 filing with U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding the sentencing of James Zhong stated U.S. government authorities had begun liquidating roughly 51,352 BTC seized in the Ulbricht case. According to the filing, officials sold roughly 9,861 BTC for more than $215 million on March 14, leaving roughly 41,491 BTC. “The Government understands [the seized Bitcoin] is expected to be liquidated in four more batches over the course of this calendar year,” said the court filing. The Government understands from IRS Criminal Investigation – Asset Recovery & Investigative Services that the second round of liquidation will not be sold prior to Zhong’s sentencing date. In November, Zhong pled guilty to wire fraud charges related to executing a scheme to steal BitCoin from Silk Road in 2012. U.S. authorities seized more than 50,000 BTC — worth more than $3 billion at the time — from his Georgia home in November 2021. It was one of the largest crypto seizures by the government until the February 2022 recovery of roughly $3.6 billion connected to the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

BITCOIN ATM CASH DISPENSING MACHINES IN SHARP DECLINE

Contradicting the growing global Bitcoin BTC tickers down $28,197 adoption rate, physical ATMs dedicated to fiat-crypto conversions are on the decline. In March alone, 3,627 crypto ATMs were removed from the network, bringing down the total ATMs to 33,727. I honestly had no idea there was even that many in the first place, I think in the ten years they’ve been around I can only recall seeing just one, and I have travelled extensively during that time. In the decade since the first Bitcoin ATM was launched on October 29, 2013, the net change of cryptocurrency machines installed and removed monthly remained positive most times — implying that total crypto ATMs worldwide were steadily increasing. However, the trend is reversing, according to data from Coin ATM Radar.

On the bright side, April broke the three-month-long downtrend by recording 37 crypto ATM installations on April 1. Current market leaders in manufacturing crypto ATMs are General Bytes, BitAccess and Genesis Coin. After losing customer funds in a “security incident” in March that saw its customers’ hot wallets accessed, General Bytes promised to reimburse the losses. General Bytes has shuttered its cloud services after discovering a “security vulnerability” that allowed an attacker to access users’ hot wallets and gain sensitive information, such as passwords and private keys. The company is based in Prague and according to its own website has sold over 15,000 BitCoin ATMs to purchasers in over 149 countries all over the world.

EU TO LIMIT ANONYMOUS CRYPTO WALLETS

European Union lawmakers have voted in favor of imposing limits on payments by unverified crypto wallet users, as part of a larger overhaul of money laundering laws. The new limits prohibit traders from making or receiving anonymous crypto transfers exceeding a 1,000 euro. The measures would not prevent crypto payments entirely, as the cap would not apply to regulated wallet providers.

Lawmakers on two key committees in the European Parliament have voted in favor of the move. The plans, considered alongside measures to forbid businesses from accepting large cash payments and create a new European Union Anti-Money Laundering Agency, AMLA, were approved by the parliament’s Economics and Civil Liberties committees on Tuesday, with six abstentions. 99 lawmakers voted in favor, while eight voted against the limits. Damien Carême, the French lawmaker who leads the parliament’s negotiations on the overhaul, earlier told reporters that the plans wouldn’t prevent crypto payments, because the cap of 1,000 euros won’t apply if a regulated wallet provider is involved or the identity of the payer is known. The measures were proposed following a string of dirty money scandals within the bloc, including the “Pandora Papers” leaks and concerning the processing of Russian funds by Danske Bank. The vote allows negotiations to begin with the Council, representing European Union member states, which has sought to outlaw cryptocurrencies that permit anonymity, such as Monero and Dash. In April the parliament is also set to provide final signing off to rules ensuring payers are identified when funds are transferred.

BINANCE ACCUSED OF BREAKING US FINANCIAL LAWS

The U.S. regulator, CTFC, brought a lawsuit accusing Binance of building its US business without registering properly with authorities, alleging that the firm has been operating illegally in the country. Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, has reacted predictably to the case, describing it as “unexpected” and “disappointing”.The lawsuit from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said the firm cultivated US business while failing to register properly with authorities. It accused Binance of breaking numerous US financial laws, including rules intended to thwart money laundering.

Binance defended its practices. It said it had made significant investments to ensure that US users were not active on the platform, including blocking users identified as American citizens or residents, or who had a US mobile number.

Founded in 2017, Binance is now the world’s largest centralised exchange for digital assets, claiming more than 100 million users globally. It is led by Chinese-born Canadian billionaire Changpeng Zhao, usually referred to simply as CZ, who was also named in the complaint. The CFTC said Binance had been active in the US since 2019, but never properly registered with the government or complied with relevant US laws, using an “intentionally opaque” global corporate structure in a bid to escape oversight.

For much of that time, Binance did not not require its customers to provide any identity-verifying information before trading on the platform, the CFTC alleged in the civil lawsuit, filed in federal court in Illinois. In 2021, the firm announced it was tightening its rules. But at the same time, the CFTC said it advised US-based customers on how to evade those controls using virtual private networks (VPNs) and shell companies.

The firm evaded the rules “to maximize corporate profits,” the CFTC said. It asked the US court for restitution and fines, as well as permanent trading and registration bans. CFTC chairman Rostin Behnam said the government filed the case to protect American investors and it should serve as a wider warning to those working in the crypto sector.

“For years, Binance knew they were violating CFTC rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance. This should be a warning that the CFTC will not tolerate wilful avoidance of US law,” he said.

After several years of explosive growth, the crypto industry has been struggling with a sharp decline in prices, as well as increased scrutiny from regulators. Last year, US officials warned the industry that they planned to use existing laws to more rigorously enforce against issues such as conflicts of interest and lack of transparency.

CRYPTO EXCHANGER BITTREX TO WITHDRAW FROM US MARKET

Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex has announced it will be winding down its operations in the United States due to a challenging regulatory and economic environment. The announcement was made on the platform’s ninth anniversary, marking a bittersweet moment for the company.

Co-founder and CEO Richie Lai said that as the crypto ecosystem evolved, regulatory requirements have become increasingly unclear and enforced, without appropriate discussion or input, leading to an uneven competitive landscape. This environment has made it economically unviable for Bittrex to continue its operations in the United States. The company’s founders have decided to focus on helping Bittrex Global succeed outside the United States. Bittrex clarified that U.S. customers don’t have to worry about the safety of their funds, as all of their capital is safe and available for withdrawal. The platform shared that it will permit trading until April 14, 2023, but advised customers to withdraw all funds by April 30, 2023. Founded in 2014 by three cybersecurity engineers, Bittrex offered features like full-service API, near-instant atomic transactions, wallet infrastructure and offline cold wallet solutions. The winding down of Bittrex’s U.S. operations is a reminder of the challenges faced by cryptocurrency businesses navigating an uncertain regulatory environment.

US LOSSES WILL BE HONG KONG’S GAIN

The United States government’s frosty approach to cryptocurrency regulation could ultimately see the industry’s “center of gravity” shift to Hong Kong, says Ambre Soubiran, the CEO of Paris-based institutional crypto market data provider Kaiko. The U.S. has been at the forefront of the crypto sector for quite some time. However, with the government seemingly adopting a regulation-by-enforcement approach, there is a growing feeling by some that a significant amount of companies, developers and investors will soon flock elsewhere to work in friendlier environments.

The U.S. government has become increasingly aggressive toward crypto since the collapse of FTX in November 2022, with Senator Elizabeth Warren even recently stating that they are building an “anti-crypto army.” She may yet live to regret those words if she wakes up to the fact that up to a million US tech jobs could be lost overseas if she gets her wish.

Hong Kong, however, has been moving in the other direction. In January, the Hong Kong government initially outlined plans to become a crypto hub by rolling out progressive regulation to support high-quality crypto and fintech firms in 2023. While the regulation is yet to be fully ironed out, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) proposed a crypto licensing regime on Feb. 20, which aims to provide consumer protections without stifling innovation. Chinese banks, such as Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the Bank of Communications and the Bank of China, have reportedly started offering banking services to crypto firms in Hong Kong or made inquiries with crypto firms.

That’s all the news I have for you in today’s MNO Weekly CryptoNews Digest. Come back next Monday for more relevant updates on cryptocurrencies, guys!

MNO TALKBACK – NEW QUESTION POSTED

As Noweon is now officially part of history (and it will be an ugly part!) there is not really any need to take a look at the results of the survey I asked last week. Instead I would like to concentrate on a new question I have posted on the MNO TalkBack and which I ask you vote in on this page.

Now that we know for sure that Noweon would not be any kind of a leader we were all hoping it would I think it’s time to ask the following question.

Do you think the HYIP industry will improve for the remainder of 2023?

And the possible answers will be:

-Yes, we’ll see more promising projects
-No, it will still be all as quiet as usual

As usual I would like to encourage you to submit your votes here and we will hopefully draw the final results of the poll in a few weeks time.

GET PAID REPORT FOR 03/04/2023

Here is the list of the programs from my monitor that paid me for the last 168 hours:
From MNO Sticky list: –
From MNO Premium list: –
From MNO Standard list: –
From MNO Basic list: ShuttleRent.

That’s all for today, guys. Of course, we are all bitterly disappointed by the sudden collapse of Noweon, but let’s hope for the best and that some great programs will find their way to the monitor. Stay tuned and talk to you soon again on MNO – For Money Lovers!