Ex-hockey winger Igor Musatov gets arrested for crypto fraud

Maria Nikolova

A Moscow court has ordered that Musatov stays detained for a month over $800,000 crypto fraud.

Russian authorities continue to target virtual currency scams with the latest person to become a target in an enforcement action related to such activities being ice hockey player Igor Musatov. According to a report by Russian information agency TASS, a Moscow Court on Monday ordered that Musatov stays detained for a month over $800,000 cryptocurrency fraud.

Igor Musatov

In the courtroom, Musatov said the criminal proceedings against him were the result of a misunderstanding. He claimed he was ready to show evidence that he is innocent.

Igor Musatov (born September 23, 1987) is a former professional ice hockey winger. He last played for Slovakian club, HC Slovan Bratislava of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

The legal status of cryptocurrencies in Russia remains undefined. The Russian lawmakers have been working on the relevant piece of legislation for several years but nothing firm has been implemented yet. In the meantime, the Russian authorities are trying to prosecute fraudsters in the area of virtual currencies. For instance, in April 2018, two Russian men, born in 1993, have been charged with fraud and sentenced over stealing BTC-e codes from online forum users. Each of the men got a suspended prison sentence of 2 years and 6 months, the police said in its announcement.

Earlier in 2019, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) released the results of a survey dedicated to cryptocurrencies. The survey, conducted among 1,600 respondents above 18 years of age, indicated that the hype around cryptos in Russia is subsiding.

The actual knowledge about Bitcoin is relatively poor. For example, among those who have heard of Bitcoin, 37% are confident that anyone can get Bitcoins, whereas 12% believe Bitcoins are banned in Russia. Another controversial finding is that 28% of the respondents believe it is harder to steal digital currencies when compared to typical currencies, whereas 29% insist that it is easier to steal digital currencies than “normal” currencies.

Read this next

Digital Assets

Cathie Wood’s sponsored Bitcoin ETF sees historic $200 million inflows

The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), co-sponsored by Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, registered historic inflows exceeding $200 million on Wednesday, signaling a robust appetite among investors for Bitcoin-centric investments.

Digital Assets

Sam Bankman-Fried might see his 25-year sentence halved

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison by a Manhattan court on Thursday. This comes after he was convicted of defrauding customers and investors, with Judge Lewis Kaplan highlighting the potential future risks posed by Bankman-Fried.

Technical Analysis

EURJPY Technical Analysis Report 28 March, 2024

EURJPY currency pair under the bearish pressure after the pair reversed down from the major resistance level 164.25, which also stopped the sharp weekly uptrend at the end of last year,

Digital Assets

BlockDAG’s Presale Hits $9.9M, MultiversX & MINA Price Predictions Show Green

Read about BlockDAG’s promising $10 prediction and insights on MultiversX Price Prediction as MINA’s potential unfolds.

Digital Assets

Rockstar Co-Founder and All-star Line Up Join Advisory Board to Take Metacade into Post Beta Orbit

Metacade, the revolutionary Web3 gaming platform, prepares to streak out of beta with a slew of ground-breaking initiatives that will redefine the way blockchain games are developed.

Retail FX

Prop firm The Funded Trader shuts down, claims relaunch in April

Prop trading firm The Funded Trader has ceased all operations, with claims for a relaunch in the near future.

Digital Assets

Ethereum-Based Tokenized Real Estate Platform USP Launches On Republic

How This Californian Startup Is Revolutionizing Real Estate Investment through Ethereum-Based Tokenization.

Digital Assets

Sui Spikes in Weekly DEX Volume, Joins Top 10 of All Blockchains

March DEX volume on Sui stands at over $2.88B – up more than 49% from February – with decentralized exchange Cetus and wholesale liquidity layer DeepBook leading.

Digital Assets

Prisma Finance suffers $10 million crypto exploit, attack ongoing

Liquid staking protocol Prisma Finance fell victim to a security exploit on March 28, resulting in nearly $10 million in Prisma mkUSD and wrapped stETH being stolen by hackers.

<