Bitcoin Daily: Bank Hackers Demand $1M in XRP, South Korea Confiscates $1.4M Bitcoins

Investors who thought they would get stock in a blockchain project were bilked out of approximately 300 million yuan – or nearly $47 million – through an alleged pyramid scheme in China, Cryptovest reported. The suspects, which were arrested in the city of Jinan, allegedly told investors that they could get shares and dividends in their project if they bought membership packages.

And cybercriminals who stole data on bank customers in Canada are demanding $1 million in XRP in exchange for not releasing the information, CoinDesk reported. The hackers say they have social insurance numbers, account balances and even security questions and answers.  To prove that they had such information, hackers provided one customer’s data, reportedly obtained from two Canadian banks.

In other news, Tradeshift is planning to expand its blockchain efforts after notching $250 million in Series E funding, CoinDesk reported. The round was led by PSP Investments and Goldman Sachs, with others participating. With the funds, the company plans to make investments in blockchain as well as artificial intelligence (AI). The news comes after the company rolled out Tradeshift Pay, a B2B payments service, last week.

And the government of South Korea has moved to confiscate 191 bitcoins – valued at more than $1.4 million – taken in a cybercrime case, CoinDesk reported. The news comes as the country’s Supreme Court ruled that digital currencies can be forfeited in criminal cases.

In other news, Monster wants to launch one of the largest initial coin offerings (ICOs) in history, CoinDesk reported. Through a $300-million ICO, the electronics company wants to offer “monster money tokens.” Those coins would be used to create a “Monster Money Network,” a marketplace for its products. Although holders of the tokens will not have voting rights or equity, they will be able to use tokens as a payment method on the Monster Money Network.