Saudi competition authority approves 23% more M&A requests in Q2

RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded lower on Tuesday, falling by 2.29 percent to $22,866.72 as of 8:00 a.m. Riyadh time.

Ethereum, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $1,576.43 falling by 7.06 percent, according to data from Coindesk.

US SEC charges individuals in a $300 million crypto pyramid scheme

A fraudulent crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme raised over SR1.1 billion ($300 million) from retail investors worldwide, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday, Reuters reported.

SEC charged the 11 individuals involved. The four founders of the scheme, named Forsage, were charged.

According to the SEC, they were last known to be living in Russia, the Republic of Georgia, and Indonesia.

Millions of retail investors were able to transact via smart contracts on the scheme’s website launched in January 2020, according to the SEC’s complaint. Over more than two years, investors allegedly earned profits by recruiting others into the scheme, the SEC said.

Forsage allegedly paid earlier investors using the assets of new investors, according to the SEC complaint.

Two defendants agreed to settle charges without admitting or denying the allegations, and another agreed to pay penalties, the SEC said.

Market momentum persists amid US technical recession

HAVYN, a digital asset-focused financial institution, reported that after the market rose last week due to diminished recession fears, the rationale behind this week’s moves makes little sense without further analysis.

Despite the Federal Reserve System’s commitment to further hikes, HAVYN said this was a positive development since the market had priced in a possibility of a 100 basis point hike.

In response to the US recording its second consecutive quarter of negative gross domestic product growth, longer-term bond yields have fallen this week, according to HAVYN.

Despite strong consumer demand and employment, high inventories, supply constraints, and rising energy prices contributed to the slowdown.

With input from Reuters.