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A woman and her accomplice kidnapped a member of the Saudi royal family and forced him to transfer 40,000 dollars in Bitcoin

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, 24-year-old Catherine Colivas kidnapped a member of the Saudi royal family with the help of three accomplices and threatened to cut off his fingers to force him to pay $40,000 in Bitcoin. Despite the perpetrator's guilty plea, she was not imprisoned.Catherine Colivas faces a maximum sentence of 25 years at a hearing in Victoria, Australia. She pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, extortion, reckless injury, theft, and firearm offenses. However, she only received a community correction order—equivalent to community service in Australia.Colivas matched with the Saudi royal family member on a dating app and went out for drinks and dinner. Then, the royal family member escorted Colivas home. As the royal family member walked Colivas to the door, he was ambushed by three men, including Colivas's boyfriend.The victim was subsequently bound with cables, unable to leave, and was intimidated. As he was a cryptocurrency trader, the victim provided Bitcoin and had to call a friend to complete the $40,000 transfer. Afterwards, his keys were stolen, and the criminals also raided his home. Court documents show they stole clothing, a PlayStation 5, and several iPhones.The victim was later released and immediately went to the police to report the incident, and then spent the night in the hospital due to injuries to his head and wrist.

QCP Capital: Bitcoin remains firmly driven by market sentiment, with little impact from this week's Federal Reserve meeting

ChainCatcher news, Singaporean crypto investment firm QCP Capital stated today that earlier in the Asian session, Bitcoin surged past $106,500, reaching another milestone. In the past 12 hours, the total amount of short liquidations reached approximately $151 million, driving this rally, as the weekend market lacked liquidity and traders became overly complacent (the funding rate on Deribit briefly turned negative), leading to a squeeze on short positions in the market. The Bitcoin-to-gold ratio reached an all-time high during this wave, further highlighting Bitcoin's status as "digital gold" and solidifying its position as a more popular store of value than traditional gold.The inclusion of MicroStrategy in the Nasdaq 100 index further boosted market sentiment. Michael Saylor hinted that even if the spot price exceeds $100,000, the company may continue to purchase Bitcoin. This inclusion could attract passive capital into MicroStrategy's stock, thereby indirectly making it easier for the company to raise funds to buy Bitcoin. This week's Federal Reserve meeting seems to be merely background noise for Bitcoin, as its movements remain firmly driven by market sentiment. Although the likelihood is low, if the Federal Reserve and Powell take an extremely dovish stance, it could still provide support for further increases in Bitcoin.

CoinShares: The inflow of digital asset investment products this year to date is $44.5 billion, more than four times that of other years

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinShares' latest weekly report, digital asset investment products continued to attract inflows last week, totaling $3.2 billion, marking the tenth consecutive week of inflows. Year-to-date, the total inflow has reached $44.5 billion, more than four times that of any other year. The average weekly trading volume of ETPs reached $21 billion, accounting for 30% of the total Bitcoin traded on trusted exchanges. In trusted exchanges, Bitcoin trading volume is highly liquid, with an average daily trading volume of $8.3 billion this year, which is twice that of the FTSE 100 index. In terms of regional capital flows, all regions experienced inflows, with overall sentiment generally positive, particularly in the U.S., Switzerland, Germany, and Brazil, which saw inflows of $3.1 billion, $36 million, $33 million, and $25 million, respectively.Bitcoin investment products attracted $2 billion in inflows, bringing the total inflow since the U.S. elections to $11.5 billion. Although the total assets under management (AuM) remain at a low level of $130 million, recent price increases have attracted $14.6 million in inflows for Bitcoin short products. Ethereum attracted inflows for the seventh consecutive week, totaling $1 billion, with total inflows over these seven weeks reaching $3.7 billion, indicating a significant improvement in market sentiment. With hopes for U.S.-listed ETFs rising, altcoin XRP attracted $145 million in inflows, while Polkadot and Litecoin attracted $3.7 million and $2.2 million in inflows, respectively.
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