Chinese media reports $3bn in losses. Is this the biggest Ponzi scheme in crypto history?

PlusToken, a supposedly South Korean-based crypto wallet, is accused of scamming users out of an estimated $3 billion, according to Chinese media. That would make it the biggest crypto Ponzi scheme to date. 

However,  according to news site 86btc, the wallet is actually developed by a Chinese company based in the northern city of Jiaxing. 

PlusToken launched in 2018 as an international crypto project, claiming to be supported by a South Korean team, with ex-Samsung and Google employees. It’s marketed predominantly in Asia, and promises users monthly returns of 10-30% and a generous referral programme. By May 2019, it had apparently gained three million users. 

The scheme was allegedly blown wide open with the arrest of six Chinese nationals on the Pacific island of Vanuatu, on June 27.

Chinese police later claimed that those arrested, the so-called “PlusToken Six,” were responsible for the scam.

An illness has forced Tron CEO Justin Sun to postpone his much ballyhooed lunch date with Warren Buffett. 

A meeting of crypto minds with one of the world’s foremost business investors in Warren Buffett is not to be—at least not yet.

The Tron Foundation, the nonprofit behind the Tron blockchain network, announced today that its frontman Justin Sun has been forced to call off his lunch date with Buffett—a meeting for which Sun famously paid $4.6 million at a charity auction—due to illness.

The news comes as a surprise to crypto observers, as Sun had only recently finalized his power team of Crypto Avengers set to join him on his date with Warren Buffett—a group handpicked to help convert one of the business world’s most notorious crypto haters. Just yesterday, Sun announced that eToro CEO Yoni Assia would join a group that already included Circle’s Jeremy Allaire, Huobi’s Chris Lee, and Litecoin creator Charlie Lee.

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Proposed $3 million Ethereum funding idea sparks controversy

What you need to know

A new proposal to fund Ethereum development by temporarily increasing its inflation rate has met strong resistance from developers in the community.

The notion, put forward in EIP-2025 last month, was discussed in the Ethereum core devs meeting on July 18. The idea proposes more ether being created per block for a period of 18 months, with the increase designed to flow to a funding organization. This would, in turn, fuel development of the Ethereum ecosystem. But it was widely criticised from high-profile members of the community.

Why it's important

It all sounds like much ado about nothing. Looking at the notes from the Ethereum core devs meeting, the proposal wasn’t discussed with a view to it going forward. The dev call was just to remove projects that didn’t have a reference client (which helps with it being implemented)—or a good reason otherwise—in order to narrow down the list of proposals.

“There’s nothing in the notes to suggest this is seriously considered. The only reference to it at all is neutral, and made by the proposal author,” developer Udi Wertheimer pointed out, adding, “Even I know that this proposal has no chance of being accepted.”

Peer to peer bitcoin trading booming

Bitcoin exchange Paxful says its average monthly trading volume has nearly doubled in 2019, led by its expansion into Africa. And a little help from Facebook.

It’s been a good year so far for Bitcointrading, according to a new report from peer-to-peer exchange Paxful.

The average monthly trading volume for Bitcoin on Paxful in the first half of 2019 broke $65 million, the company claims in its latest report, which is nearly double the trading volume that the company reported during the same time period in 2018.

And that boost, it appears, can be largely attributed to the company’s expansion into “emerging markets”—specifically, countries within Africa. Apart from the United States, which still makes up the majority of P2P bitcoin trading volume on the U.S.-based exchange, countries such as Nigeria and Ghana are leading the latest surge.

Read the whole thing here.