India’s central financial institution, the Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI), is launching its first retail digital rupee pilot on Dec. 1 with the participation of eight banks. The pilot will begin in 4 cities after which broaden to cowl 9 extra cities throughout India.
The Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI) introduced Tuesday that “the primary pilot for retail digital rupee (e₹-R)” will launch on Dec. 1. This announcement adopted the RBI’s wholesale central financial institution digital forex (CBDC) pilot which started on Nov. 1.
Eight banks will take part within the retail digital forex pilot in two phases. State Financial institution of India, ICICI Financial institution, Sure Financial institution, and IDFC First Financial institution in 4 cities throughout India will take part within the first section. Financial institution of Baroda, Union Financial institution of India, HDFC Financial institution, and Kotak Mahindra Financial institution will take part within the second section.
The Indian central financial institution detailed:
The pilot would initially cowl 4 cities, viz., Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar, and later lengthen to Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna, and Shimla.
“The scope of [the] pilot could also be expanded steadily to incorporate extra banks, customers, and places as wanted,” the RBI clarified.
The Indian central financial institution defined:
The e₹-R can be within the type of a digital token that represents authorized tender.
The digital rupee will probably be issued in the identical denominations that paper forex and cash are at the moment issued, the central financial institution famous, including that it will be distributed by way of intermediaries, equivalent to banks.
“Customers will be capable to transact with e₹-R by way of a digital pockets supplied by the taking part banks and saved on cell phones / gadgets,” the central financial institution detailed, noting that transactions might be person-to-person (P2P) or person-to-merchant (P2M). Retailers will show QR codes that can be utilized to make funds.
“The e₹-R would provide options of bodily money like belief, security, and settlement finality. As within the case of money, it is not going to earn any curiosity and might be transformed to different types of cash, like deposits with banks,” the central financial institution continued, elaborating:
The pilot will take a look at the robustness of the whole strategy of digital rupee creation, distribution, and retail utilization in actual time. Totally different options and purposes of the e₹-R token and structure will probably be examined in future pilots, based mostly on the learnings from this pilot.
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BlackRock‘s iShares Bitcoin Trust IBIT has seen its record-breaking streak of inflows come to an end on Wednesday.
What Happened: According to data from SoSoValue, IBIT recorded no net inflows for the day, snapping a 71-day stretch of continuous investment.
On Wednesday, spot Bitcoin ETF flows saw net outflows totaling $121 million, signaling a turbulent day for cryptocurrency investments.
Notably, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) registered the most substantial single-day outflow, withdrawing $130 million.
Contrasting this, Fidelity Wise’s Origin Bitcoin Fund 
FBTC emerged as the frontrunner for inflows, attracting $5.61 million in a single day, followed closely by the collaborative ETF from Ark Invest and 21Shares 
ARKB, which saw an influx of $4.17 million.
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Hong Kong Steps Into The Crypto ETF Arena
The news of BlackRock’s pause coincides with a significant development in the Asian market.
HashKey Exchange announced the completion of the first-ever cryptocurrency subscription for Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs offered by Hong Kong-based Bosera International and HashKey Capital.
This subscription model allows for redemption without immediate sale of the underlying assets, potentially offering cost and liquidity benefits to investors.
Hong Kong’s foray into cryptocurrency ETFs marks a potential turning point for the Asian market.
These ETFs are expected to begin trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 30, providing investors in the region with a new avenue for cryptocurrency exposure.
What’s Next: The Benzinga Future of Digital Assets event, scheduled for Nov. 19, will convene industry leaders, analysts, and investors to discuss these critical developments.
This conference presents a unique opportunity to gain insights into the future of Bitcoin ETFs, cryptocurrency subscriptions, and the broader digital asset ecosystem.
Don’t miss out on this chance to stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly changing market.
Read Next: Why Is MOG Crypto Coin Going Up? Trader Sees ‘Billions’ As Price Target
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Scammers are exploiting the rising popularity of Telegram and its associated cryptocurrency, Toncoin (TON), to execute a highly scalable scheme design to pilfer the digital tokens from unsuspecting users. Kaspersky researchers have discovered the operation, which has been active since November 2023, and warns that it is a growing threat.
Victims are being lured into the scheme via an invitation to join an “exclusive earning program” received from a contact in their list. The invitation leads them to an unofficial Telegram bot, falsely touted as a cryptocurrency storage solution. The victims are then instructed to link it to a legitimate wallet and to buy Toncoins through official channels such as the official Telegram bot or through cryptocurrency exchanges.
After duping victims into purchasing the coins, scammers push them to buy so-called ‘boosters’ using a separate bot, stating that this is the step needed to commence earning. The ‘boosters’, likened to those seen in online games, are misleadingly marketed as tools that allow users to capitalise on their coins further. “This scheme resembles boosters in online games – by purchasing one, the user gains additional advantages,” explains Olga Svistunova, Senior Web Content Analyst at Kaspersky. Once bought these ‘boosters’ cost victims their cryptocurrency, and the money lost is irreversible.
Following the purchase of the scam ‘boosters’, users are manipulated into propagating the scheme. They are encouraged to create a private Telegram group with their friends and acquaintances, share a specially generated referral link and a video with instructions on earnings. The scammers claim that at least five people should join the private group via the referral link before a victim can start earning. They are also told that they will receive payment for each friend invited and will make a commission from each of the fraudulent ‘boosters’ purchased by those they have referred.
Alluding to the potential scale of the scam, the Telegram Open Network (TON) was developed by the Durov brothers and is now backed by an independent community. Telegram itself has reached 900 million monthly users and ranks globally as the 6th most used and 6th most downloaded app. This expansive user base increases both the potential pool of victims and the likely impacts of the scheme.
Kaspersky experts have urged all users to exercise caution when encountering offers of quick riches, even if they are received from friends or acquaintances. Avoid transferring cryptocurrency to unknown or suspicious wallets, and consider comprehensive protection for your digital assets, such as Kaspersky Premium which alerts you to suspicious websites and guards your wallet against scammers, miners and other threats. Staying updated and informed about the latest fraudulent schemes is another effective protective measure.
Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill have been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for laundering more than $100 million from various criminal enterprises through Samourai, a cryptocurrency mixer service they ran for nearly a decade.
As detailed in a superseding indictment, criminals also used Samourai’s Whirlpool crypto mixer to process over $2 billion in illicit funds between 2015 and February 2024.
In addition to crypto mixing services, Samourai also offered a service called “Ricochet,” which allowed users to send cryptocurrency using additional and unnecessary intermediate transactions to thwart law enforcement and crypto exchange efforts to track funds sourced from criminal activity.
This money laundering activity allegedly earned the two founders around $4.5 million in fees for Whirlpool and Ricochet transactions.
“Since the start of the Whirlpool service in or about 2019, and of the Ricochet service in or about 2017, over 80,000 BTC (worth over $2 billion applying the BTC-USD conversion rates at the time of each transaction) has passed through these two services operated by Samourai,” the indictment alleges.
Samourai’s Wallet mobile application was also downloaded over 100,000 times, allowing users to store private keys for BTC addresses they controlled and exchange funds with other Samourai users in anonymous financial transactions.
Icelandic law enforcement has seized Samourai’s domains (samourai[.]io and samouraiwallet[.]com) and web servers, and the Google Play Store removed the Android mobile app after being served a seizure warrant.
Rodriguez was taken into custody this morning and will appear before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania in the following days.
Hill was also arrested this morning in Portugal on U.S. criminal charges, with the U.S. government planning to request his extradition to the United States so that he can stand trial.
They’re both charged with two counts of conspiracy: money laundering (20-year maximum sentence) and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business (5-year maximum sentence).
“While offering Samourai as a ‘privacy’ service, the defendants knew that it was a haven for criminals to engage in large-scale money laundering and sanctions evasion,” the DOJ said.
“Samourai laundered over $100 million of crime proceeds originating from, among other criminal sources, illegal dark web markets, such as Silk Road and Hydra Market; various wire fraud and computer fraud schemes, including a web-server intrusion, a spearphishing scheme, and schemes to defraud multiple decentralized finance protocols; and other illegal
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