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NEXO to Take Legal Action Against Bulgaria After Law Enforcement Raids Company: Report

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NEXO, a crypto lending platform, plans to take legal action against Bulgaria over the actions of law enforcement against the company, according to a statement from the company’s management sent to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA).

According to the company’s statement:

The compensations that Bulgaria will pay after the claims filed and won by Nexo will be another record breaking amount of hundreds of millions, but, unfortunately, they will be at the expense of the Bulgarian taxpayer. 

NEXO claims that the “shameful action” taken against the company by local authorities in Bulgaria is illegal and displays the incompetence of those involved. 

The company also characterizes the actions as local Bulgarian arbitrariness and claims that these actions aim to harm and exploit a successful business.

Nexo Raid In The Presence Of Prosecutors

An international operation against a large-scale scheme for financial crimes, money laundering, and violations of international sanctions against Russia was conducted on January 12th in Sofia, Bulgaria, according to a report.

The company targeted in operation was NEXO, suspected of being involved in a pyramid scheme led by Ruja Ignatova, also known as the “Queen of Cryptocurrencies,” currently on the FBI’s most wanted list. 

The January 12th report stated that the company, which trades in cryptocurrencies, was believed to have been run by Bulgarians and promised high returns to investors through interest rates that were many times higher than those offered by traditional banks and brokerage houses.

The investigation into NEXO activities began after suspicious transactions were detected by foreign services, which were believed to be aimed at circumventing sanctions imposed by the European Union, Great Britain, and the United States against Russia.

Nevertheless, according to the latest BTA report:

At the briefing of the prosecutor‘s office, it was reported that evidence was collected that a client of the platform who transferred cryptocurrencies was officially declared a person who finances terrorist acts.

Nexo asserts that it adheres to the highest international standards for verifying the origin and destination of cryptocurrency assets entering and leaving its platform. 

Additionally, the company has implemented strict policies regarding sanctioned territories and individuals in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. 

They also note that over 600 people work in Nexo in Bulgaria, and the company has paid tens of millions of BGN in the form of taxes and insurance.

Related Reading | Polygon Plans To Commence Its Hard Fork On Jan. 17

Luxury Jewellery Brand Tiffany & Co. Acquires Okapi NFTs For 115 ETH

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American Luxury Jewellery Brand Tiffany & Co. announced its foray into the NFT space via a tweet shared on 26 March. There, the New York-based retailer mentioned that it has acquired Okapi NFT from Rocket Factory, an NFT series, marking its entry into the digital collectibles world.

Data from OpenSea revealed Okapi NFTs were sold for 115 ETH which is around $358807 on March 21. At present, Tiffany has replaced the Twitter avatar with this NFT.

As per sources, American artist Tom Sachs launched the rocket Factory in August last year. The rocket consists of three components NFTs: head, trunk, and tail. These can be combined together to make a complete rocket. The upper limit of complete rockets is 1,000 and the floor price of the pieces stands out at 2.33 ETH.

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After the NFT is purchased, the team first builds a physical version of the rocket and launches it into the sky. Documenting the launch moment with video footage, the team delivers the physical rocket along with the video content to the person who bought the NFT after the launch. 

Artist Tom Sachs has come forward with the space-themed exhibitions he held in different regions under the name of “Space Program”. 

In a statement released by Tiffany and co, it stated that they were excited to continue their long-standing partnership with Tom Sachs. In the post, Tom Sachs’ longtime partner also emphasized that he produced art around his brand and the future of fine art collectors is here. 

How Luxury brands are embracing the Virtual trend

NFTs are undoubtedly the newest means to flaunt the social status of many luxury shoppers. In the realm of high-end brands, exclusivity is much sought after, and NFTs precisely provide that.

A few days ago Polygon Studios, the gaming arm of the Polygon blockchain, Italian luxury pioneer Bulgari has launched its NFT collection on the blockchain. Inspired by the world’s thinnest mechanical watch-Octo Finissimo Ultra watch, is the Octo Finissimo Ultra NFT.

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That being said, the discussion and utilization of NFTs are inevitable these days, and these ongoing digital projects prove that fashion NFT is certainly not going anywhere anytime soon.

Bulgaria’s Seized 200K Bitcoins Now Valued at $7.4B Goes Missing

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The mystery surrounding the fate of Bulgaria’s 200k bitcoins that were captured as part of a cybercrime investigation continued to baffle the global crypto community. For the record in May 2017, the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center [SELEC] revealed that the Bulgarian authorities had seized a total of 213,519 bitcoins in a crackdown on an alleged customs fraud scam.

The operation which was codenamed ‘Pratka/Virus’ targeted a scheme that compromise the customs’ computer systems for tax evasion purposes. Authorities also alleged that those involved developed a virus that was designed to hack into Bulgarian Customs computers, allowing the criminals to avoid paying fees when transporting goods into the country.

According to the press release, the virus was uploaded to government machines by inside agents who were bribed. However, the fate of the confiscated stash of bitcoins which is now worth a whopping $7.4 billion is still uncertain.

Club Z, local media news and analysis group, and a member of the parliament have recently asked three Bulgarian ministries with regards to its missing crypto fortune. But the ministry continued to maintain ignorance on the information sparking numerous debates and rumors.

Bulgaria’s authorites in denial mode

The information about the seized crypto funds was categorically denied by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office chief, Ivan Geshev, currently working as Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General, who attributed SELEC’s claim as false. His statement was further corroborated by Ivailo Spiridonov, then director of the country’s organized crime combating agency, GDBOP.

Similar sentiments were echoed by the ministries when asked about the whereabouts of the nabbed assets. The Finance department in its response stated that it’s Minister Asen Vasilev had ordered the National Revenue Agency and the National Customs Agency to conduct an investigation.

Acting in accordance with inputs received by the department last August, a deputy prosecutor-general went on to declare that the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office had not seized any crypto assets and did not hold the said amount of cryptocurrency.

Having said that, last week, Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister for EU Funds and minister of Finance, Assen Vassilev, said the EU member nation is mulling plans to roll out a crypto payment mechanism.

As per a Bloomberg report, Vassilev said the government was in talks with the Bulgarian National Bank as well as industry players to explore crypto payments “in the short to medium term.”