An Australian woman was arrested by police at a Sydney shopping center on May 1 after allegedly selling Bitcoin (BTC) for 60,000 Australian dollars ($38,800) in cash. According to a report from Daily Mail Australia, the woman is accused of having run a money laundering syndicate in the country since 2017. Caught red-handed During the arrest of the 52-year-old, police seized AU$60,000 in cash, 3.8 BTC (worth $37,000 at current prices) and a mobile phone. Later, officers searched a nearby apartment, finding more mobile phones, computers and electronic storage devices, along with a further $11,700 worth of Bitcoin. The woman …

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Rupert Colchester, the head of blockchain at IBM Australia and New Zealand, discussed how distributed ledger technology is transforming supply chain systems worldwide. Colchester also provided insight into some of IBM’s current blockchain initiatives and the state of the industry in Australia, and he shared his excitement for the emerging era of digitization that DLT is driving. Cointelegraph: What is the state of blockchain adoption within Australia at present? Is Australia behind or ahead of the curve regarding DLT? Rupert Colchester: I think Australia's progress on DLT as a technology over the past two years …

Australian livestock tracking platform Aglive has completed a pilot that monitored shipments of beef to China. Aglive’s trial was launched during late-January and was conducted in partnership with global shipping logistics company DB Schenker and industry body Meat and Livestock Australia. The pilot saw cattle tracked from Macka’s cattle farm in regional New South Wales to an abattoir located in the same state. From there, frozen beef products were tracked across the supply chain as the meat was transported by land freight interstate to Queensland, and then shipped to Shanghai — ensuring that the products were stored under safe conditions …

COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, with United States meat producers being the latest victims of the pandemic in a “cascading series of events,” including shutting down of the food service sector, universities and school lunch programs, all likely to impact millions of Americans. Meat processing plants around the U.S., which emerged as the world’s epicenter of the pandemic, have seen huge outbreaks of COVID-19, as the virus has spread quickly among workers crammed in close quarters, often without recommended protective gear. “After the outbreak was announced in the U.S., we never stopped working,” a meatpacking employee said. He continued: “I …

Europe has been running a legislative framework for electronic signatures and digital identities since 1999. In 2014, the European Parliament introduced a significant upgrade by presenting electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market, or eIDAS, regulation. In light of recent initiatives in Australia to improve legislation for doing business remotely, this experience is valuable because the European community was among the first in the world to introduce electronic signatures, and it developed a unique legal and technological framework that many other countries borrowed. Though the experience is full of pitfalls and drawbacks, which are also …

Many Bitcoiners believe that 'unlimited money printing' will cause hyperinflation and a major BTC price spike this year — but experts in the U.S. and Australia predict deflation is more likely to be on the cards. The Reserve Bank of Australia, ING Bank, The New York Times and UBS are just a handful of organisations who think deflation could be a consequence of falling oil prices and a glut of products due to the plunge in demand caused by lockdowns That's in stark contrast to the “Money printer goes brrrr” crowd who believe that “unlimited quantitative easing” this year will …

As the benchmark oil futures contract in the United States fell into negative territory this week for the first time in history, blockchain devs have been focusing on greener, sustainable energy projects. Australian blockchain firm Power Ledger has just signed a deal with the largest medium-density residential developer in Perth to roll out its blockchain-based solar energy trading platform for local residents over the next three years. On April 22, Power Ledger and developer Nicheliving revealed that the platform will initially roll out in 62 apartments in Nicheliving’s flagship SkyHomes development in Inglewood, followed by 10 further developments in the …

Cybercriminals are taking full advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced life into a digital realm, by leveraging increased fear and uncertainty to steal money and launder it through the complex cryptocurrency ecosystem. Accordingly, the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, known as the J5, has ramped up its efforts by arresting cybercriminals suspected of laundering millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, according to a J5 joint statement. The J5 also has been updating its Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism laws for cryptocurrencies in accordance with Financial Action Task Force standards, with Australian researchers having linked half …

Australian fintech unicorn and RippleNet member, Airwallex, raised $160 million in a fundraising round led by the investment arms of Australian ‘big four’ bank, ANZ, and San Francisco-based cloud software company, Salesforce. Existing investors Tencent, Sequoia Capital China, DST Global, and Horizons Ventures also participated in the round — bringing the total raised to-date by the cross-border payments platform to $362 million as of April 16. Aussie fintech unicorn raises $160 million Airwallex will direct the funds into expanding its global footprint, with Europe and the United States among its next target markets. Airwallex also launched offices in Tokyo, Bangalore, …

Following its delisting from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) last month, blockchain gaming startup Animoca Brands has engaged an online marketplace to continue private trades of shares in the company. Animoca Brands — the parent company of TSB Gaming — has made its mark on the blockchain gaming space in recent years by collaborating with big-name firms such as Tetris creator Atari and signing a global licensing agreement with Formula 1. On April 9, Animoca released details of its engagement with PrimaryMarkets, an Australia-based online marketplace for the trading of unlisted securities and investments. By Q2 2020, existing shareholders and …

A top executive from a prominent Australian taxpayer group has publicly endorsed the world’s biggest cryptocurrency by announcing her first ever Bitcoin purchase. Emilie Dye, director of policy at the Australian Taxpayers' Alliance, or ATA, tweeted on April 1 that she had bought her first Bitcoin: “Today, I made my first Bitcoin purchase. Wahoo!” This triggered excitement in the crypto community, with the tweet amassing about 5,900 likes as of press time. Dye clearly didn’t expect the excitement and later elaborated: “I couldn’t have asked for a warmer welcome to the Bitcoin fold. If anything, the number of comments and …

Australian blockchain firm Power Ledger and French green energy retailer ekWateur are betting that consumer choice can help spur the transition to sustainable energy usage. In an announcement on April 1, the two firms revealed that they will be offering almost a quarter of a million French residents the opportunity to customize their energy mix, using blockchain technology to securely certify its source. Green choices The new partnership will involve connecting ekWakteur’s network of over 220,000 electricity meters across France to a new blockchain-enabled tool from Power Ledger, dubbed Vision. EkWakteur — a green energy retailer and aggregator which supplies …