ChainCatcher news, according to local Thai media Bangkok Post, 23-year-old Viacheslav Leibov was invited into a hotel room by his 18-year-old Ukrainian friend Alfred Chernyshuk on Friday. Upon entering the room, Leibov encountered an Armenian man, Arman Grigoryan, who took him to the balcony to talk.It is reported that when Leibov was preparing to go to the bathroom, he discovered two masked men waiting for him. They bound Leibov's hands and feet with ropes and zip ties, threatening him to transfer $500,000 in USDT to a designated wallet, or they would break his fingers. Grigoryan was holding a hammer, while one of the masked men had a long knife.Leibov recalled that he requested the amount to be halved and transferred $250,000 in USDT to the wallet controlled by the suspects. He was then tied to the bed and warned not to call the police. It is reported that after the suspects packed their belongings, they left the room.

According to ChainCatcher news, the head of a Ukrainian charity organization, Rev Miller, stated that the 400 ETH obtained from Vitalik's previous sale of meme coins (such as MOODENG, EBULL, and DOG) has been donated to Ukrainian charities. Vitalik has confirmed this.Previous report indicates that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin transferred 100 ETH to 4 addresses (a total of approximately 1.02 million USD).

ChainCatcher news, a man in Russia has been arrested for sending cryptocurrency to the Ukrainian armed forces and is facing charges of treason. A video of the arrest released by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) shows agents pinning the man to the ground and detaining him. According to Russian media outlet "Novaya Gazeta," the cryptocurrency is alleged to have been used for "purchasing weapons, ammunition, and military uniforms."It is currently unclear what penalties the unidentified men would face if convicted.

ChainCatcher news, Ukrainian police arrested a criminal gang on Monday that is suspected of impersonating law enforcement officials and threatening a young entrepreneur with fictitious criminal charges, extorting $250,000 in USDT. According to a statement, four suspects detained by the cyber police and the National Police's Internal Security Department face up to 12 years in prison.The gang allegedly intimidated the entrepreneur, accusing him of collaborating with Russia and threatening him with long-term imprisonment for treason. They offered to "solve the problem" for $250,000 and demanded the payment be made in cryptocurrency.Concerned about the legal consequences, the entrepreneur agreed to the demands and transferred 250,000 USDT to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by the gang. According to the statement, the criminals then quickly moved the stolen funds through a cryptocurrency exchange.

ChainCatcher news, the Ukrainian National Police announced that a 29-year-old foreign Bitcoin holder was kidnapped and killed in Kyiv, Ukraine. Four men aged between 24 and 29 have been detained on suspicion of "carefully" planning the kidnapping of the victim and stealing three Bitcoins worth approximately $207,000 from him."Information about the man's kidnapping reached the capital police department around midnight. Residents of a house in the Solomyanskyi district heard screams and saw several unidentified individuals beating and forcibly pulling a man into a car," the police department stated. The police investigation revealed that the attack was premeditated. During the investigation, the police seized money, a car, and other physical evidence from the detainees.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, a 29-year-old Bitcoin holder was kidnapped and killed in Kyiv, Ukraine, a few hours ago. Four men aged between 24 and 29 have been detained on suspicion of "meticulously" planning the kidnapping of the victim and stealing three Bitcoins worth approximately $207,000."Information about the man's kidnapping reached the capital police department around midnight. Residents of a house in the Solomyanskyi district heard screams and saw several unidentified individuals beating and forcibly pulling a man into a car," the police department wrote in a statement. Police investigations revealed that the attack was premeditated.

ChainCatcher news, according to official sources, Binance Charity has partnered with Ukraine's Children of Heroes to provide certified psychological rehabilitation programs for Ukrainian children who have lost relatives in the war, and has donated 50,000 USDT (equivalent to 2,000,000 UAH) to the program.

ChainCatcher news, Ukrainian authorities have dismantled a criminal gang that deceived citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the EU through a fraudulent call center, promising profitable cryptocurrency investments.The Ukrainian National Police detained 14 suspects, including the alleged organizers, and confiscated 12 luxury cars, 136 computer devices, 951 SIM cards, 455 starter packs, and a large amount of cash. Two Georgian nationals, aged 49 and 51, have been accused of orchestrating the scheme and recruiting 12 others to operate the fraudulent call center.These call centers impersonated stock exchange experts, using psychological tactics to persuade victims to invest in cryptocurrency, ultimately transferring their funds to the criminals' electronic wallets and bank cards. Each accomplice had a specific role, from designing the fraud scheme to recruiting staff and distributing profits.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official announcement, Tether has frozen 32 addresses worth $873,118.34, which have been found to be associated with illegal activities in Israel and Ukraine.So far, Tether has assisted 31 institutions worldwide in 19 jurisdictions with investigations, freezing a total of $835 million in assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division is collaborating with blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis and Ukrainian investigators to track Russian individuals who may have used cryptocurrency to hide their assets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.It is reported that the U.S. is providing licenses for donation investigation tools and conducting training to improve information sharing between the U.S. and Ukraine. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, after the European Parliament passed the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, Ukrainian regulators have publicly stated that they will also adopt this legislative framework in their country.Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Tax Committee, stated in his Telegram channel, "Together with our colleagues from the NKCPFR 'National Securities and Stock Market Commission' and other regulatory bodies, we have been working to implement some provisions of MiCA to legalize crypto assets in Ukraine." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by Chainalysis on February 24, since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine has received $70 million in cryptocurrency donations, with ETH leading the way at $28.9 million, followed by BTC and USDT donors contributing $22.8 million and $11.59 million, respectively.In addition, the forms of donations also include NFT assets, such as UkraineDAO auctioning an NFT of the Ukrainian flag for $6.1 million. (Cointelegraph)

ChainCatcher news, one of Ukraine's largest pharmaceutical companies, ANC, officially announced that starting from January 3, Ukrainian citizens can enjoy instant payments when purchasing medicines at ANC using Binance Pay. However, Binance Pay is currently only available in pharmacies in Kyiv and is not supported in other cities. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to NFT Evening, Ukrainian mobile operator Lifecell has launched an NFT marketplace called NFT Talkers based on the Avalanche blockchain, and Lifecell will also establish its own token. On NFT Talkers, artists creating their own NFT collections can allow projects to allocate a portion of the revenue to charity.In addition, Lifecell will transfer all funds collected from their sales to the national fund to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia. (Source link)

According to ChainCatcher news, local cryptocurrency news media Forklog reported that Binance has integrated its Know Your Customer (KYC) process into Ukraine's Diia mobile application in late October. Diia allows Ukrainian users to create digital copies of state-issued documents and government services online, developed by government agencies.Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Alex Bornyakov stated that the integration could potentially go further, including enabling cryptocurrency payments through Binance in Diia. However, the related integration has faced strong opposition from the local Ukrainian crypto community, with local exchanges Kuna, WhiteBit, and crypto lending service Trustee Plus even submitting a petition to the president, requesting him to stop this move and freezing BNB trading on their platforms. Currently, the integration plan has been temporarily put on hold. (Coindesk)

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, a spokesperson from Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation stated that she has not received the ETH donated by Celsius, and it is currently unclear whether Celsius made cash donations through other means (such as wire transfers) or if the cryptocurrency was transmitted through untraceable crypto routes or other channels.According to the Nansen wallet analyzer tool, all ETH sent to that wallet has been transferred to other wallets controlled by Celsius. A representative from the on-chain tool Chainalysis stated that the Bitcoin wallet provided by Celsius is a service wallet and cannot be effectively tracked.It is reported that mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and FTX provide guidance to their users on how to donate to the official Ukrainian wallet, while Celsius posted the wallet addresses it controls on Twitter and directed users to raise donations through these addresses. Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky's Ukrainian heritage may lead users to believe that the donation intentions are sincere. (Coindesk)

According to Chain Catcher news and reported by CryptoDaily, the Ukrainian supermarket chain Varus has partnered with Binance to allow customers to pay their bills with cryptocurrency through the Binance Pay wallet. Customers in 9 Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Dnipro, and Kamianske, can enjoy this crypto payment feature. Before using it, customers must download and install the Binance app on their iOS or Android devices. (Source link)

Chain Catcher News, Ethereum founder Vitalik attended the Kyiv Tech Summit and spoke on the 9th local time in Ukraine, expressing that his interest and admiration for the Kyiv Tech Summit prompted him to visit the event, as it is taking place in the capital of a country at war, uniting a powerful Web3 community from around the world. "I wanted to see for myself what kind of projects and applications based on Ethereum technology are being created here and to understand the people behind them," he said."I believe Ukraine is likely to become the next Web3 hub. The Ethereum Foundation has centers in Singapore, Berlin, and Boulder because the community has organically developed there. If the people of a country are interested in this technology and decide to make significant contributions to its development, then a country can become a Web3 center. Ukraine has both the capability and the determination," Vitalik emphasized.It is reported that the Kyiv Tech Summit is a three-day Web3 hackathon held from September 6 to 9 in Kyiv, aimed at promoting the development of software solutions that can help Ukraine during the war and after victory, with over 500 projects registered to participate. Binance Ukraine General Manager Kiril Khomiakov and NEAR Protocol co-founder Illia Polosukhin also participated in the summit's discussions. (Source link)