The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) released a warning emphasizing the involvement of cryptocurrencies in laundering profits from synthetic fentanyl and opioid trafficking.
Here are the latest updates from the crypto world
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) released a warning emphasizing the involvement of cryptocurrencies in laundering profits from synthetic fentanyl and opioid trafficking.
On January 23, FINTRAC, Canada's national financial intelligence agency, released new client risk factors and indicators related to synthetic opioid trafficking and production to help combat the money laundering of illicit funds associated with the country's drug issues.
FINTRAC’s alert is titled “Laundering the Proceeds of illicit synthetic opioids.” It is an update to a 2018 version that includes new risk factors derived from analyses of financial intelligence, transactions, publications and law enforcement reports.
FINTRAC pointed out numerous warning signs to assist law enforcement agencies in enhancing their surveillance within the cryptocurrency sector, emphasizing its growing involvement in laundering profits from synthetic opioid sales.
A crypto-based prediction platform, Polymarket is under fire from its users following the resolution of a prediction market regarding banning TikTok in the United States.
The market named 'TikTok banned in the US before May 2025?' was concluded with a 'Yes' on January 20, following the US Supreme Court's decision to uphold a law prohibiting the Chinese-owned app over national security issues.
This decision led to controversy among bettors, with numerous individuals accusing Polymarket of influencing the outcome.
In the ongoing legal dispute with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Ripple Labs has formally requested an April 16 deadline for its cross-appeal brief The move is considered standard procedure.
On Jan 23, Michael Kellogg, a member of Ripple’s legal team while requesting for deadline cited the crypto company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder, Chris Larsen, as joining “in this request.”
A brief deadline is the date by which a party must file a written legal argument with the court.
The progress comes after a January 15 filing by the SEC, where the commission contended that the New York District Court erred in its decision that XRP sold to retail investors were not securities. The SEC also claimed in the filing that XRP provided as employee compensation and in business transactions was incorrectly excluded from being classified as a security. The 2023 ruling by the New York District Court was seen as a partial win for Ripple at that time.
Judge Torres subsequently mandated the company to pay over $125 million to the SEC for breaching securities regulations, noting that Ripple also included XRP in institutional sales.