The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that it seized around $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin tied to the 2016 hack of the popular cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. A New York couple was also arrested for allegedly conspiring to launder the stolen cryptocurrency.

Brazilian asset manager QR Capital has launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focusing on cryptoassets associated with the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The ETF started trading on the Brazil stock exchange B3 on Tuesday.

Russian authorities are set to recognize cryptoassets as a form of currency after the government and the Bank of Russia reportedly reached an agreement on how to regulate the nascent asset class.

CryptoCompare's Digital Asset Summit is returning on 30th March at Old Billingsgate, London. As Europe's flagship institutional summit for digital assets, this is the perfect opportunity to connect with key industry decision-makers and leading names in finance who are adopting and embracing the digital asset revolution.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• DOJ Seizes of $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin Tied to Bitfinex Hack
• Brazilian Asset Manager QR Launches DeFi ETF
• Russia to Recognize Crypto as a Form of Currency
• The First Bitcoin Transactions: From a Test to the Famous Pizza Purchase
• CCDAS Summit - Early Bird Tickets Ending Soon!

DOJ Seizes $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin Tied to Bitfinex Hack

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that it seized around $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin tied to the 2016 hack of the popular cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. A New York couple was also arrested for allegedly conspiring to launder the stolen cryptocurrency.

Officials revealed they arrested Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, and that the couple was scheduled to make their initial appearances in federal court later on Tuesday. Their legal representation wasn’t immediately clear.

The pair is being accused of trying to launder the proceeds of 119,754 BTC stolen from Bitfinex in 2016 in more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions. Prosecutors say these transactions sent the funds to Lichtenstein’s wallet.

In total, the DOJ says it seized more than 94,000 BTC from the couple after accessing “files within an online account controlled by Lichtenstein.” The files, officials said, contained the keys required to “access the digital wallet that directly received the funds stolen from Bitfinex.”

This access allowed “special agents to lawfully seize and recover more than 94,000 bitcoin that had been stolen from Bitfinex.” The seizure is the agency’s largest one ever, while the announcement came shortly after blockchain sleuths found $2.5 billion in BTC from the hack were moved on-chain.

Brazilian Asset Manager QR Launches DeFi ETF

Brazilian asset manager QR Capital has launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focusing on cryptoassets associated with the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The ETF started trading on the Brazil stock exchange B3 on Tuesday.

The ETF trades under the ticker QDFI11 and follows the Bloomberg Galaxy DeFi index, a modified market cap-weighted benchmark tracking the largest DeFi protocols. The index includes Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE), Compound (COMP), Curve (CRV), and 0x (ZRX), among other blue-chip DeFi assets.

QDFI11 is the first DeFi ETF to be listed on B3 and is available to the public. It has a management fee of 0.9% per year. QR Capital also has a bitcoin ETF and an ether ETF listed on B3.

Russia to Recognize Crypto as a Form of Currency

Russian authorities are set to recognize cryptoassets as a form of currency after the government and the Bank of Russia reportedly reached an agreement on how to regulate the nascent asset class.

Both the government and the country’s central bank are now working on a draft law that is expected by February 19. It’s set to define crypto as an “analogue of currencies” rather than as digital financial assets.

According to local newspaper Kommersant, it will only be possible to use crypto “in the legal sector” with full identification, through the banking system or licensed intermediaries.

The First Bitcoin Transactions: From a Test to the Famous Pizza Purchase

The first Bitcoin transaction occurred days after the cryptocurrency was created to test how the blockchain worked. From that point on, BTC evolved to see its first commercial transaction months later: a now-famous pizza purchase.

The first Bitcoin block – called the genesis block – was mined on January 3, 2009, by the cryptocurrency’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. On January 12, the first Bitcoin transaction was made, involving Nakamoto and Hal Finney, a cypherpunk that worked with the PGP Corporation developing a leading encryption product.

Learn more about both the first-ever BTC transaction and the first commercial transaction made using cryptocurrency via CryptoCompare’s guide.

CCDAS Summit - Early Bird Tickets Ending Soon!

CryptoCompare's Digital Asset Summit is returning on 30th March at Old Billingsgate, London. As Europe's flagship institutional summit for digital assets, this is the perfect opportunity to connect with key industry decision-makers and leading names in finance who are adopting and embracing the digital asset revolution.

There is now less than 1 week left to secure your Early Bird tickets for the summit! Check out the Summit website now to save over 20% with an Early Bird ticket. 

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