China-Backed Spies Caught in Taiwan, Funded by Crypto

• Among eight people, including an active military personnel and a retired, have been jailed in Taiwan over the charges of sending information to China. 
• The court filing notes that a regional party in China recruited the spies. 

In the early days, the anonymity feature of blockchain-based currency lured millions of new users. But now bad actors and others primarily use it to fund illicit activities without being tracked. 

According to recent information from Bloomberg, the Taiwan Court has jailed eight people involved in leaking the region’s crucial information to China. Additionally, the identified spies were funded by China using cryptocurrencies. 

Among eight convicted people, one was an active military personnel and a retired. As per the allegation, these spies collected crucial details about the states and transferred the information to China. 

However, the cryptocurrency and service provider that initiated the payments are still undetermined. The final verdict sentences the individuals to imprisonment ranging from one and a half to 13 years. 

Taiwan’s Justice Ministry of Investigation Bureau stated that the Communist Party of China hired spies to gather secret information about the state’s army.

It is important to note that China has restricted the usage of cryptocurrencies and related products in the region. Before imposing the ban, the country was one of the most preferred locations for crypto miners. 

In March 2024, the Ministry of the Interior of Taiwan gave the green signal to the local crypto industry working group. 

Earlier in 2023, some primary crypto firms formed a preparatory group to apply for approval and do some groundwork in anticipation of the government’s proposed crypto law.   

Other Market News 

A recently published report notes that $119 Million has been collectively donated by crypto-based firms in the US Presidential Election 2024. The report asserts that the Fossil Fuel category has donated the most for this election.  

In a recent statement, Tether, the issuer of stablecoin USDT, noted that it plans to launch a stablecoin pegged to the traditional currency of the UAE. In the past few years, the region has lured hundreds of crypto-based companies to establish workplaces in the United Emirates.

Crypto Market Price Update 

The fear and greed index powered by CoinMarketCap is at 50, reflecting neutrality. At the same time, the crypto market capitalization was $2.15 Trillion, with a surge of 2.82% intraday.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin, the key market player, was trading at $60,851 with an addition of 3.01% in the past 24 hours. TradingView said BTC’s market capitalization surged 136.86% in the past 52 weeks, reaching $1.2 Trillion. 

Till publishing, the market dominance of Bitcoin was 57.08%. Its dominance over the market was 10.60% YTD.