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Crypto scams were always popular, even in the last bull cycle, which happened in 2017. But have you ever heard of a crypto scam that of billions in value? It’s impossible to hear because there are none. Recently the government of Manchester claims to spot a fraudster named Benjamin Reynolds.
He is currently residing in the UK, accused of a billion-dollar scam. Where he allegedly lured customers and collected around 20,000 bitcoins in total. And this total to approximately $1.2 Billion as per current rates. The government is publishing a notice where the criminal will have to pay a penalty of $571 Million.
When was this order released?
The said order from 2nd March, had the accused deposit a fine of $429 Million. Along with that, 
he is also charged $143 Million as restitution cost. All this money needs depositing in the court of Manhattan. Reynolds, who is residing in Manchester, England, is yet to be behind bars.
he is also charged $143 Million as restitution cost. All this money needs depositing in the court of Manhattan. Reynolds, who is residing in Manchester, England, is yet to be behind bars.When was this crime done?
This scam of fooling people and stealing 20,000 bitcoins started in May 2017. He kept doing this till Oct 2017 where he promised customers a return of 1% each passing day. Investors thought their money is in virtual tokens as they earned substantial profits.
But the truth was that no such trades happened on a virtual network. The bitcoin which he stole was around $143 Million in value at that time. In total, this conman conned around 170 US citizens. All these details were in a statement by CFTC. A company called the “Control-Finance did all these activities.
The company ran an advert campaign on Facebook where he targeted interested investors. The promised return was around 1.4% daily which made people more lucrative. He paid the investors for 6 months, but he shut the company in September and ran away. The payments halted, and all the posts were also removed from social media.
CFTC commented on that, saying he was not willing to continue and always planned to run away. The exact number of bitcoins he received was around 22,190 in total. Reynolds defrauded about 1000 people around the world in total. The officials also said that he laundered around $150 Million. He pulled this by 
using multiple blockchain accounts.
using multiple blockchain accounts.Was the criminal caught?
The official came to know about this fraudster through his YouTube videos. Where he was promoting his activities. They noticed that he was also responding to inquiries through emails and comments.
The whereabouts of Benjamin Reynolds are still unknown to the government. He was almost in the grasp of officials, but suddenly the guy vanished in thin air. He is not yet caught by any of the officials.
Bitcoin is unconditionally rallying up to reaching its new ATH. But, amidst this bull run, HSBC refrained its customers from investing due to high risks. They blocked them from buying an asset of Micro Strategy due to their heavy BTC holdings. The bank is directly saying its customers that they will not risk more into investing in such stocks. We are constantly seeing MicroStrategy making headlines again and again in recent weeks.
HSBC has no more appetite for risks.
In a statement dated March 29ththat floated on a social media handle. The bank sent out alerts to the customers of their InvestDirect product. The message was for stockholders of MicroStrategy, the 
largest bitcoin holder. The bank said that they would halt additional buying or transferring of stocks. On the contrary, the holders can sell their stocks.
largest bitcoin holder. The bank said that they would halt additional buying or transferring of stocks. On the contrary, the holders can sell their stocks.One of the spokespeople from HSBC said that the bank has no more appetite for more exposure. He said that HSBC not much desire to risk investments into virtual currencies. Due to which they will limit their holdings on securities and products.
One of the clients said that the bank is clear to withdraw most of their holdings in virtual currencies. And will no longer facilitate any extra buying of such products. He also mentions that bitcoin is the most popular and valued virtual currency.
Were there any comments from MicroStrategy?
MicroStrategy has not yet given any open statements with regards to the decision of HSBC. It seems that they are declining to comment to most of the reporters. The company surged in values with its massive holdings in the crypto market.
In March, Goldman Sachs decided to jump their guns by investing in bitcoin and other such assets. Currently, only the clients of their wealth management product have access to this. Similarly, Morgan Stanley is offering its high-valued clients access to high-risk assets.
More About MicroStrategy
MicroStrategy is one of the many big companies to invest in cryptocurrencies. In August 2020, it became the 
first-ever publicly listed company to buy bitcoins. Since then, the company bought billions of worth of bitcoins on different lows and highs. It is currently rumored to hold around $ 5.5 Billion worth of bitcoins. This was also mentioned in their regulatory filings.
first-ever publicly listed company to buy bitcoins. Since then, the company bought billions of worth of bitcoins on different lows and highs. It is currently rumored to hold around $ 5.5 Billion worth of bitcoins. This was also mentioned in their regulatory filings.On Monday, Michael Saylor revealed something exciting. He said that he would be paying board members who are not employed through bitcoins.
The company last week also highlighted that it has around 91,579 Bitcoins in holdings. The current market capitalization of MicroStrategy is $ 6.8 Billion. Out of which, 80% is bitcoin.
It is in line with big companies like Tesla, Square, PayPal. All these have massive investments into cryptocurrencies for its treasury.
The price of multiple cryptocurrencies is growing each passing day. Due to which the world is accepting crypto-based payment solutions with open hands. Recently, a Romanian University of Transylvania gave an unconventional statement. The University said they will now accept admissions fees made via cryptocurrencies. Lucian Blaga University is the name of this university. It gave the statement on Wednesday.
As per that announcement, this decision passed with consent from the students. More than 
11000 students in the university will be able to pay their fees via cryptocurrency. The university will implement this in July. All these payments will occur in Elrond (EGLD), which they will later exchange with Leu.
11000 students in the university will be able to pay their fees via cryptocurrency. The university will implement this in July. All these payments will occur in Elrond (EGLD), which they will later exchange with Leu.The LBU university becomes the first educational institution to accept admissions via cryptocurrencies.
Comments Made by the University
The director of the University said that the decision will support local businesses. Through this, a student will also be able to pay fees digitally. He added that the university has always supported the locals. This decision is also a part of their strategy included in their partnership with Elrond.
How will this Benefit Elrond
Elrond is a local start-up owned by a team of researchers living in Transylvania. Many of its partners are programmers and entrepreneurs that work with blockchain technology. The company is also trying to increase the quality of its services. It uses the existing blockchain network of BTC and ETH. The coin is EGLD.
They are providing free of cost crypto solutions to Students. Therefore, there will be no additional costs for processing their fees via Elrond. They are using this strategy to make students aware of digital payment solutions. This proves to be very lucrative for students because the cost is less and backed by blockchain.
Elrond’s 
CEO mentioned that their employees have graduated from the same university. Therefore, they are well aware of the potential of students from ULBS. Some of the workers are also teaching in ULBS. The CEO, Beniamin Micu, also says that they are excited about this new venture. Through this, we are looking to cater to the necessities of our next generations.
CEO mentioned that their employees have graduated from the same university. Therefore, they are well aware of the potential of students from ULBS. Some of the workers are also teaching in ULBS. The CEO, Beniamin Micu, also says that they are excited about this new venture. Through this, we are looking to cater to the necessities of our next generations.Elrond is yet to disclosed information about supported cryptocurrencies. However, as per rumors, bitcoin and Ethereum will be the first few accepted crypto coins.
More about the Elrond Network
The Elrond Initial coin offering happened in 2019. The company offered this through the launchpad platform of Binance. In addition, the coin has a high scalability level and is interoperable. The network targets the upcoming developers, businesses, validators. They claim to provide 1000x improvement in the user experience. They do this by improving blockchain’s speed, decrease costs and provide scalability.
The company’s allure comes with adaptive state sharding. It also offers proof of stake and a contract execution engine. All of its operations happen in Transylvania, which employs many of the locals.
Cryptocurrencies are becoming popular and therefore, are coming under the eyes of professional criminals. As they are launching new scams almost every day to de-fraud your holdings. How do you avoid getting framed or scammed? By using these tips, you can safeguard your holdings from such scams.
Bogus Platforms
Most scams that are out there happen through fake cryptocurrency platforms. They deliberately set up by scammers to steal your money. What the scammers generally do is impersonate a famous 
website. Then they manipulate the backend code to phish your credentials and steal your money.
website. Then they manipulate the backend code to phish your credentials and steal your money.To avoid this, watch for the “lock symbol” on the top left corner of your web browser’s search bar. Another thing to watch out for is the “HTTPS” keyword before the URL of the website.
They can even change the URL’s name by changing the “o” with “0”, making it very difficult to get spotted. One way to avoid this is to search for the website name on Google and opening it right from there. You can also check whether the website’s connection is secure or not.
Cheap Coins
Another common scam that people fall for in the crypto world is those cheap coins. Coins you can buy in bulk without spending much money in hopes of making a considerable profit.
Scammers see this and try their best to exploit this inclination towards cheap coins. The scammers make their fake altcoins and put them on the market at a very reasonable price to steal your money. A lot of people fall for its low prices and invest a lot of money into it. The money is utilized by the scammers who disappear with the fake coin and the money.
To avoid these scams, make sure to research before investing. Run a background check of the basics of the altcoin and its circulation and maximum supply.
Email Frauds
Another common way scammer frauds you are by sending lucrative emails. They make the email look as if it 
has come from a very legitimate cryptocurrency company. To steal your funds, they offer you fake initial coin offerings. Therefore, a background check through their details is a must. Run a review on the web. Validate the company. Do you notice any irregularity in the email?
has come from a very legitimate cryptocurrency company. To steal your funds, they offer you fake initial coin offerings. Therefore, a background check through their details is a must. Run a review on the web. Validate the company. Do you notice any irregularity in the email?A standard Google search can give you a lot of information about such frauds. Scan through everything you get before replying. Most of the legit companies never send you such emails in the first place.
Malware
Malware affects all branches of computer technology, and cryptocurrencies are no exception. There is much malware specifically designed to use with cryptocurrencies. Most investors aren’t much familiar with them and fall quickly.
To keep malware at bay, ensure that your system firewall and antivirus are always active. They can provide you with a decent amount of spyware protection.