The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has planned to test the viability of a digital yen, Nikkei reported on November 23, 2022.
Bank of Japan, which is the island nation’s central bank, will begin working with three of the country’s largest banks and other organisations in the spring of 2023 on a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
It will also study whether such a CBDC can function during natural catastrophes and in places without any Internet connection.
The “three megabanks” of Japan are typically understood to be Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., and Mizuho Financial Group Inc., although the banks’ names were omitted from the study.
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Last year, BoJ added its name to the increasing list of central banks investigating CBDCs by creating a test environment for a digital yen and investigating fundamental operations, including issuance, distribution, and redemption.
Estonian Duo Accused of $575m Crypto Scam
The Estonian Police have detained two Estonian nationals on suspicion of orchestrating a $575 million (£485 million) cryptocurrency fraud that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin, both 37, are being sought for extradition by the US government. The two were arrested following a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Estonian Police.
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The two are accused of convincing investors to fund a phoney virtual bank named Polybius and a Bitcoin mining business called HashFlare.
According to a statement from the US Department of Justice (DoJ), the two are charged with conspiring to commit money laundering and wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
According to the announcement, the defendants have appeared in court in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and are being detained pending extradition to the US.
The two allegedly misled victims by giving them the opportunity to invest in HashFlare’s Bitcoin mining operations, according to the DoJ.
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