Here’s what happened in crypto today

Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.

A Chinese man has reportedly been arrested for buying and transferring stablecoins. Payments giant PayPal is set to roll out a Cryptocurrencies Hub for some users, allowing for the sale and purchase of cryptocurrencies, among other functionalities. Meanwhile, yield platform Zunami Protocol has suffered a flash loan exploit, with over $2.1 million in funds stolen, according to blockchain security firms.

China enforcing crypto ban with latest arrest

China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency transactions remains in full swing, as evidenced by the latest enforcement actions in Fujian province.

According to local media, a man described only as Mr. Chen was convicted by the Fuzhou Mawei People’s Procuratorate on charges of “concealmant and concealment of crime” for purchasing $13,067 worth of Tether’s USDT stablecoin. Mr. Chen reportedly received a request from his acquaintance, Mr. Lin, to purchase the USDT on his behalf. Prosecutors seemed to imply that the transaction was used for money laundering.

“Con artists use virtual currency to transfer and launder stolen money,” the Fuzhou Mawei People’s Procuratorate said, according to a Google translation. “This kind of online money laundering in the name of purchasing virtual currency, knowing that others use the information network to commit crimes and providing assistance to them, has violated the law.”

Mr. Chen was sentenced to nine months in prison and fined 5,000 yuan, or $689.

China has been cracking down on cryptocurrencies since at least 2017 and has expanded its enforcement actions recently. Multichain was shut down in July after Chinese police arrested the protocol’s CEO.

PayPal to roll out Cryptocurrencies Hub for select users

Payments giant PayPal, which recently launched the dollar-backed stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD), updated its terms and conditions to introduce Cryptocurrencies Hub — a feature that allows users to hold and interact with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in their PayPal account.

The latest PayPal terms and conditions detail the prerequisites for crypto users interested in using the platform for cryptocurrencies. According to the company, the Cryptocurrencies Hub service will allow for the sale and purchase of crypto. In addition, it will facilitate the payment for purchases via PayPal using the money stored after the sale of cryptocurrencies.

The Cryptocurrencies Hub will also be crucial to convert between PYUSD and other crypto assets. PayPal further clarified:

“Any balance in your Cryptocurrencies Hub represents your ownership of the amount of each Crypto Asset shown. You will not hold the digital Crypto Assets themselves in your Crypto Asset balance.”

However, not all PayPal users will get to explore the new feature as the company will decide its access from person to person. For starters, to be eligible for Cryptocurrencies Hub, a PayPal user must have “a personal PayPal account and a Balance Account in good standing.”

In addition, PayPal will also verify the required identifying information, which includes name, physical address, date of birth and taxpayer identification number provided by the users:

“You can only use your Cryptocurrencies Hub as part of your Balance Account by accessing it through your personal PayPal account. If you are a Hawaii resident, we will not allow you to establish a Cryptocurrencies Hub at this time.”

Upon rollout of the feature, Cryptocurrencies Hub will be directly linked to the user’s PayPal account and can be accessed using the existing credentials.

Zunami Protocol suffers estimated $2.1 million flash loan exploit

Decentralized finance protocol Zunami Protocol has confirmed on Aug. 13 it has suffered an exploit on its “zStables” pools on Curve Finance.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield estimates over $2.1 million was stolen from Zumani’s Curve Pool via a flash loan, which has affected both its Zumani ETH (zETH) and Zumani USD (UZD).

CertiK, another blockchain security firm, said the attacker was able to manipulate prices on the pairs that its UZD balance depends, with the profits swapped for 1178 ETH, which has already been sent to crypto mixer Tornado Cash.

Zunami is a decentralized revenue aggregator protocol that allows users to stake stablecoins for yield, with its largest stable pools on Curve.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.