Weekly Crypto Roundup: Indian search parties, stolen NFTs, and courtroom battles

Despite Ethereum Merge-related euphoria in recent days, this week saw the crypto market’s largest assets, Bitcoin and Ether, fall in price. Bitcoin was trading slightly above $20,000 and Ether just below $1,500 on Saturday.

Project founders and executives experienced greater turbulence than crypto traders.

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Indian regulators are worried that crypto exchanges are not complying with the country’s foreign exchange laws.

According to some reports, an Indian crypto exchange CoinSwitch Kuber, which was valued for around $1.9 billion last year, was searched by the Enforcement Directorate [ED], as the exchange allegedly violated forex laws by acquiring shares to the tune of over ₹ 20 billion. There was also an allegation that the company did not comply with some Know-Your-Customer [KYC] protocols. 

A company spokesperson said that CoinSwitch Kuber stressed on transparency and engagement. Some of CoinSwitch Kuber’s notable investors include Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures.

Technology research company Elliptic confirmed that a formidable amount of financial crime had indeed taken place worldwide. The company’s newly released 2022 NFT report revealed that more than $100 million in NFTs was stolen by scammers between July 2021 and July 2022. Last month alone more than 4,600 NFTs were stolen, breaking a new record.

 However, those behind NFT thefts are not just lone wolf hackers or civilian tricksters.