📌 TOPINDIATOURS Update crypto: How Europe’s Right Wing Weaponized Crypto After Tru

Since US President Donald Trump positioned crypto as a central pillar of his campaign, political leaders across Europe have begun adopting a similar approach, seeking to attract crypto-aligned voters as the digital assets industry continues to expand.

Right-wing parties, in particular, have leaned into this strategy. Bitcoin’s non-sovereign nature and its emphasis on limited state intervention have made crypto especially appealing to conservative and libertarian leaders.

However, its potential to obscure financial flows has also made opposition leaders wary.

Trump’s Crypto Playbook Goes Global

During his 2024 campaign, Trump set a precedent by making crypto an indispensable part of his presidential agenda. The move was strategic. 

Digital asset ownership has steadily increased across the United States, though its growth has been largely constrained by regulations that many in the industry viewed as stifling innovation.

At the same time, the sector proved highly lucrative, with crypto companies willing to channel millions of dollars into presidential candidates who openly supported digital assets.

Then, Trump won. Soon enough, political leaders from other regions – particularly Europe – raised their gaze and embraced a similar playbook. 

The United Kingdom’s Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, has been the most explicit example of this pivot. 

Reform UK Opens Doors to Crypto

In May 2025, Reform became the first political party in the UK to accept crypto donations. Farage announced it during an appearance at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, where he was introduced as a presidential candidate. 

During his speech, Farage mentioned that Reform planned on introducing a cryptoassets and digital finance bill. The legislation would seek to limit capital gains taxes on crypto to 10%.

Soon, donations from crypto investors began to flow.

In December, reports emerged that cryptocurrency investor and aviation entrepreneur Christopher Harborne had donated £9 million to the party. Harborne, a major investor in stablecoin issuer Tether, made the contribution in cash rather than in crypto.

Strong links between Farage and Trump’s inner circle also began to emerge. 

Byline Times recently reported that, last October, Farage disclosed a £30,000 payment for a speaking engagement from Blockworks Inc., a leading crypto data and information platform with links to pro-Trump crypto investment circles.

The media outlet also reported that Farage had received payments long before announcing his presidential candidacy. 

According to journalist Nafeez Ahmed, David Bailey, chief executive of BTC Inc. and a senior cryptocurrency advisor to Trump, paid Farage a speaking fee through BTC Inc. Months later, the Reform leader unveiled his pro-crypto policy platform.

Though less emphatically, several of the UK’s neighboring countries have also begun to adjust their positions on the digital assets industry.

France’s Far Right Rewrites Stance on Bitcoin

Since the mid-2010s, France’s far-right has consistently ranked among the leading contenders in presidential elections, though it has yet to translate that momentum into presidential control. 

Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally party, has been the most prominent figure on France’s far right. Her stance on Bitcoin and the broader crypto sector has shifted over time. 

In 2016, she pledged to ban virtual currencies, including Bitcoin. She argued they were the product of an alliance between what she described as the “ruling elite” and the powerful Wall Street investment banking lobby.

In 2022, Le Pen shifted her position, supporting plans to regulate digital assets. By 2025, she proposed that France should create them. 

Last March, Le Pen visited the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant, where she backed using surplus reactor electricity to mine Bitcoin.

Members of Reconquête, another far-right party in France, also surfaced the idea of creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve before the European Parliament.

According to Le Monde, the legislation was almost a carbon copy of the executive order Trump signed in March of last year. 

The growing political attention to digital assets in France is not incidental. According to a 2024 …

Konten dipersingkat otomatis.

🔗 Sumber: www.beincrypto.com

📌 TOPINDIATOURS Eksklusif crypto: US Court Sentences Chinese National to Nearly 4

A Chinese national received a 46-month (Nearly 4 years) federal prison sentence for his role in laundering over $36.9 million stolen from American victims through a sophisticated crypto investment scam operated from Cambodia.

According to a DOJ release, Jingliang Su, 45, was also ordered to pay $26,867,242 in restitution following his guilty plea to conspiracy to operate an illegal money transmitting business.

United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner handed down the sentence, marking another victory in the Justice Department’s escalating campaign against international scam center operations.

Romance Scams and Fake Trading Platforms Trap Victims

The fraud began with overseas co-conspirators contacting U.S. victims through unsolicited social media interactions, telephone calls, text messages, and online dating services.

After gaining their targets’ trust, the scammers promoted fraudulent digital asset investments that appeared legitimate.

Co-conspirators created fake websites that resembled legitimate cryptocurrency trading platforms and convinced victims to send funds to these counterfeit sites.

The scammers would then falsely inform victims that their investments were appreciating in value, when in fact the money had already been stolen.

“This defendant and his co-conspirators scammed 174 Americans out of their hard-earned money,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

“In the digital age, criminals have found new ways to weaponize the internet for fraud.”

$37M Laundered Through Bahamas to Cambodia

The stolen funds followed a carefully orchestrated path designed to obscure their criminal origins.

More than $36.9 million in victim funds were transferred from U.S. bank accounts controlled by co-conspirators to a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas.

Su and other co-conspirators then directed Deltec Bank to convert the victim funds into the stablecoin Tether (USDT) and transfer the converted cryptocurrency to a digital asset wallet controlled in Cambodia.

From there, Cambodian-based co-conspirators distributed the USDT to leaders of scam centers throughout the region.

“New investment opportunities may sound intriguing, but they have a dark side: attracting criminals who, in this case, stole and then laundered tens of millions of dollars from their victims,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli.

“I encourage the investing public to be cautious. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Eight Defendants Sentenced as Crackdown Intensifies

Su has been in federal custody since December 2024 and is one of eight co-conspirators who have pleaded guilty so far.

Jose Somarriba and ShengSheng He each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, receiving sentences of 36 months and 51 months in prison, respectively.

The sentencing is the latest outcome of the Criminal Division’s ongoing work to investigate, disrupt, and bring to justice individuals who facilitate scam center operations worldwide.

DOJ’s Broader War on Crypto Crime

Su’s case arrives amid intensifying federal enforcement against cryptocurrency-related fraud.

Just one day earlier, the US Department of Justice completed the forfeiture of more than $400 million in assets tied to Helix, a darknet cryptocurrency mixer used to launder proceeds from illegal online marketplaces between 2014 and 2017.

According to the DOJ Criminal Division Fraud Section 2025 Year in Review, published on January 23, prosecutors accused 265 defendants of a cumulative alleged loss in fraud cases exceeding $16 billion, nearly twice the amount reported the previous year.

The DOJ noted that cryptocurrency is increasingly becoming a preferred payment rail, laundering mechanism, and asset category for illicit funds.

The Criminal Division plans to leverage its network of International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property prosecutors strategically posted worldwide to coordinate with foreign law enforcement partners.

Since 2020, the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section has secured convictions of more than 180 cybercriminals and court orders for the return of over $350 million in victim funds.

The post US Court Sentences Chinese National to Nearly 4 Years for $37M Crypto Fraud appeared first on Cryptonews.

🔗 Sumber: cryptonews.com