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Tigran Gambaryan is an American hero. He served his country as an IRS special agent for a decade, using his cutting-edge cyber skills to help bring down online criminal gangs. In private practice at Binance he continued to work with law enforcement and other crypto firms to track and report terrorists. Since February, he has been languishing in prison in Nigeria, where he arrived as an emissary for Binance, but then was snatched on spurious grounds by government officials.

The situation has been an ordeal for Gambaryan, who has contracted malaria and pneumonia, and for his wife and small children at home in Georgia. The outrageous situation has flown largely below the radar, but that began to change last week as U.S. lawmakers French Hill (R-Ark.) and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) visited Gambaryan in Nigerias Kuje prison, which also houses members of the notorious Boko Haram terrorist group.

The visit came after a bipartisan group of 16 U.S. lawmakers this month sent a letter urging for Gambaryans release to President Joe Biden, which led over 100 U.S. prosecutors and special agents to send a similar missive to the State Department. Meanwhile, the Nigerian government offered a concession of sorts by dropping tax evasion charges against Gambaryan following a rare visit to the country by FBI Director Christopher Wray. The purpose of the visit was to address broader regional concerns, and Wray did not publicly speak about Gambaryans plight, but the timing of the concession suggests the issue came up.

Meanwhile, Nigerian media has recently criticized the government for continuing to detain Gambaryan on separate money laundering charges. On the podcast Nigeria Politics Weekly, commentators described Gambaryan as a scapegoat for the countrys economic mismanagement, and said there is evidence other corporate officials have begun to avoid Nigeria out of fear of state-sanctioned kidnapping.

Its a good bet that all of this had led Nigerias government to regret its unjustified decision to snatch Gambaryan. The thing to watch now is whether the Biden administration chooses to keep the heat on Nigerian authoritiesa choice it previously avoided, presumably because Gambaryans current employer, Binance, has a history of playing it fast and loose with U.S. laws. Thats a fair concern but, in the case of Gambaryan, he is a former U.S. law enforcement agent. The country he served should not forsake him in his time of need.

Speaking of Americans wrongfully detained abroad, Russia is set to try Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich behind closed doors on trumped-up espionage charges. Please give both Gambaryan and Gershkovich a thought as you enjoy your freedom today.

Jeff John Roberts jeff.roberts@fortune.com @jeffjohnroberts

Ethereum gas fees hit their lowest level since 2020, likely the result of recent network upgrades and layer-2s gaining traction. (The Block)

A profile of Binances general counsel reveals she oversees 80 lawyers and has set up a special team to work with the monitors imposed by the U.S. government. (Bloomberg)

In a recent X exchange, tech billionaire Michael Dell appeared to boost MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylors Bitcoin cheerleading. (CoinDesk)

Bitcoins latest dip appears to have been fueled in part by Germany selling off $3 billion worth of the currency it had seized from a movie piracy site. (Decrypt)

A new Spanish-language ad features a young man sending money to his grandmother in Mexico, part of a $2 million campaign by Coinbase targeting Latino voters. (Reuters)

Come for the fun, stay for the paranoia:

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U.S. lawmakers turn up the heat over Nigeria's unlawful detention of Binance exec - Fortune

A rare Satoshi era Bitcoin miner address woke up after being dormant for 14 years, sending over $3 million worth of BTC to Binance.

An early Bitcoin miner moved 50 BTC, equivalent to $3.05 million, marking a rare transaction from the Satoshi era. According to data from Lookonchain, the address 1PDTDm3Jcm sent the funds to Binance on Jun. 27.

Blockchain transaction history indicates that the miner obtained 50 BTC in July 2010, a few months after the Bitcoin network launched.

A miner wallet woke up after being dormant for 14 years and deposited 50 $BTC($3.05M) to #Binance 7 hours ago.

The miner earned 50 $BTC from mining on July 14, 2010.

Address: 1PDTDwpgRPdQaCcp3Th6zaMASgcCcm3Jcm pic.twitter.com/toKmBfbUne

The Satoshi era address refers to addresses that were active during the early days of the Bitcoin network, specifically from the time when the first cryptocurrency was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009 until around 2011, which is when Satoshi Nakamoto mysteriously disappeared.

This is not the first instance of old Bitcoin wallets reactivating. Several addresses from the Satoshi era have shown activity since early 2023. In July of last year, a wallet dormant for 11 years transferred $30 million worth of Bitcoin to other wallets. In August, another wallet moved 1,005 BTC to a new address.

In March 2024, another long-inactive miner transferred funds after 14 years, with part of the transaction ending up at the crypto exchange Coinbase.

Excerpt from:

Dormant Bitcoin miner sends $3m to Binance after 14 years of inactivity - crypto.news

Lucie, the Shiba Inu ecosystem marketing lead, addresses widespread misconceptions about the recent decision from Binance to remove a SHIB trading pair.

For context, yesterday, Binance announced plans to delist seven spot crypto trading pairs, including SHIB/TUSD, on June 28 at 03:00 AM (UTC).

The exchange claimed its latest review shows that the affected trading pairs have low liquidity and trading volume. As a result, it decided to remove them to protect users.

Notably, some crypto media outlets reported the news as though Binance was delisting Shiba Inu from its platform.

Reacting, Lucie characterized these reports as click-bait, clarifying that Binance is not entirely delisting Shiba Inu. She emphasized that the decision indicates that the top exchange is only removing the SHIB/TUSD trading pair.

Furthermore, the marketing lead encouraged Shiba Inu community members to always verify information from reliable sources before forming conclusions.

The notice aligns with further statements issued by Binance. According to Binance, the removal of the SHIB/TUSD trading pair does not affect the tokens availability on the exchange.

It added that users can continue trading the quote and base assets of the delisted pairs via other supported pairs.

With Binance declaring plans to remove SHIB/TUSD tomorrow at 03:00 (UTC), the exchange will be left with eight Shiba Inu spot trading pairs. They include SHIB/USDT, SHIB/FDUSD, SHIB/USDC, SHIB/EUR, SHIB/TRY, SHIB/DOGE, SHIB/BRL, and SHIB/JPY.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time that Lucie has debunked rumors of Shiba Inus delisting from Binance. Recall that shortly after Binance announced the removal of SHIB/BUSD and 22 other cross-margin pairs, some media platforms claimed that Binance was delisting Shiba Inu.

This malicious claim stirred reactions from Shiba Inu enthusiasts, including Lucie, who clarified that Binance is not delisting SHIB.

In the meantime, Shiba Inus price is still on massive decline due to the ongoing bloodbath across the broader crypto market. The dog-themed token has witnessed a daily loss of 3.96%, with a unit priced at $0.00001691.

Disclaimer: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basics opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

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Shiba Inu Issues Important Notice Regarding SHIB Listing on Binance - The Crypto Basic

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered both Google and Apple to remove the Binance app from their respective app stores for users in the Philippines.

According to a press release from the SEC on April 23, it is working with the Big Tech companies on the removal of applications operated by cryptocurrency giant Binance. It said the companies received separate letters on April 19 regarding removing the apps in the local marketplaces.

Emilio B. Aquino, chair of the SEC, said that selling or offering unregistered securities to locals and operating as an unregistered broker is in violation of the countrys securities regulations.

He said that by removing Binance applications from digital app marketplaces, these companies would help prevent the further proliferation of its illegal activities in the country, saying that otherwise, this could have detrimental effects on the local economy.

This move comes shortly after the SEC and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) blocked access to Binance websites on March 25.

Related: Binances $1B emergency SAFU fund now makes up 3% of UDSC supply

The SEC has been actively warning the public against using Binance for investing since November 2023. It says the crypto exchange, which is one of the worlds largest, has yet to secure a license to solicit investments from the public nor to operate an exchange to buy and sell securities.

On April 8, following the enforcement of its official ban on Binance, an SEC official reiterated that they had already provided users with a three-month period, along with an extension, to facilitate the withdrawal of their funds from the exchange. After this period, the SEC said they cannot endorse any methods for retrieving funds.

The move to block Binance follows a crackdown from the SEC and the NTC on Feb. 21, through whichthey moved to block and ban unlicensed crypto trading platforms in the country. At that time Binance was unaffected.

Binance has been involved in other regulatory-related debacles around the world, most recently in a new class-action lawsuit in Canada on April 23, following allegations that it violated local securities laws.

However, on the flip side, the cryptocurrency exchange announced on April 18 that it would return to India after payinga $2 million fine for previous non-compliance with local regulations.

On the same day, it was reported that Binance received its crypto licence in Dubai, also known as the coveted Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), after its co-founder Changpeng Zhao gave up his voting power in the exchanges local entity.

Magazine: Lazarus Groups favorite exploit revealed Crypto hacks analysis

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Philippines SEC orders Apple and Google to remove Binance from app stores - Cointelegraph

Cryptocurrency giantBinancecould soon find it harder to do business in the Philippines.

The countrysSecurities and Exchange Commission(SEC) on Tuesday (April 23) called on Apple and Google toremove Binances appfrom their app stores, a move that followed months of the regulator warning residents not to do business with the company.

Commission ChairpersonEmilio Aquinosaid in a news release that it had concluded that the publics continued access to these websites/apps poses a threat to the security of the funds of investing Filipinos.

He added that the sale or offer of unregistered securities to Filipinos and operating as an unregistered broker violates the countrys securities code and that blocking Binances apps will prevent thefurther proliferation of its illegal activities in the country, and to protect the investing public from its detrimental effects on our economy.

PYMNTS has contacted Binance for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

The SEC first targeted Binance last year, with the regulator announcing in November that it was blocking access to Binance, saying the company was not a registered corporation in the Philippines authorized to sell or offer securities. As noted here at the time, it was part of a broaderseries of pressuresfacing the company in Asia.

Tuesdays SEC news release notes that the agency had also asked the countrys NationalTelecommunications Commission to restrict access to websites used by Binance in thePhilippines to stop its unauthorized investment solicitation activities in the country.

The requests follow similar moves by regulators in India, who earlier this year asked Google and Apple toremove Binanceand other crypto companies from the app stores in that country.

And in December of last year, Indias Financial Intelligence Unit moved to block the URLs of nine offshore virtual digital asset service providers Binance among them saying these companies were not adhering to thecountrys Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Binance is also facingmoney laundering and tax evasionallegations in Nigeria, where two of its executives are being held after their arrest in February. Binance CEO Richard Teng said last week that the company is working with Nigerian authorities toresolve the matter, according to a Reuters report.

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Philippines Wants Binance Yanked From Apple and Google App Stores - PYMNTS.com