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Former White House official Lauren Belive will lead Ripple’s policy and government arm, while a Cointelegraph investigation has found that Bitspay, a crypto exchange claiming $1.7 billion in daily trades on its website and $1.4 billion in daily trading volume on CoinMarketCap, reportedly displayed false information claiming it was licensed in Estonia. Meanwhile, crypto influencer Ben ”Bitboy“ Armstrong was arrested while livestreaming himself outside the residence of a former business associate.
Former White House official will lead Ripple’s policy and government arm
Former White House official Lauren Belive, who previously worked with the Office of Legislative Affairs and as the policy director with the United States House Committee on Rules, has agreed to become Ripple’s head of U.S. public policy and government.
In a Sept. 26 announcement on LinkedIn, Belive said she had accepted the policy position at Ripple to lead engagement in Washington, DC and across the United States.
Per Belive’s LinkedIn post:
“With regulatory landscapes evolving, it’s paramount that we advocate for policies that not only support the crypto industry but also the countless individuals and businesses that could benefit from these advancements.”
Crypto exchange claiming $1.4 billion in trading volume uses reportedly fake license data
A number of cryptocurrency platforms reporting billions of dollars in daily trades on CoinMarketCap appear to have been misleading their customers about holding certain crypto licenses, an investigation by Cointelegraph has found.
Bitspay, a crypto exchange that reports a $1.4 billion daily trading volume on CoinMarketCap, claimed it held a license in Estonia and was regulated under Estonian law. However, after Cointelegraph reached out with questions about the license, the company swiftly erased its reportedly fake license data.
At the time of writing, Bitspay is the fourth-largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume on CoinMarketCap, following Binance, BitForex and Topcredit International.
According to Bitspay’s page on CoinMarketCap, it is a centralized exchange based in Estonia. The exchange was launched in 2020 and claims to be regulated under the Estonian “Anti Money Laundering Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2019,” which appears to be referring to the country’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act.
Bitspay also claimed it was licensed and regulated by Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). “Bitspay Limited registered with the registration number FVR000796, under the Laws of the Republic of Estonia,” the firm stated on one of its domains, Bitspay.io, until it erased the information immediately following Cointelegraph’s inquiries.
Contacted by Cointelegraph, Estonia’s FIU reported that Bitspay didn’t hold any valid license in Estonia. “We took a look into it, and it seems that the license number which they have previously announced refers to an Estonian company, Globe Assets OÜ,” a spokesperson for the FIU said in a statement on Sept. 21. The license was also valid for less than a year, from March 2019 until January 2020, the representative noted.
The FIU didn’t respond to additional questions about Bitspay’s legal status in Estonia.
Bitspay was showing its website visitors information on the license mentioned above until at least Sept. 18, 2023. The firm subsequently rebranded its website from the briefly unavailable Bitspay.io to Bitspay.global on Sept. 21, removing all data about being registered or regulated in Estonia.
At the time of writing, Bitspay has not provided any information about its registration or license status on its new website. The exchange also claims on its website that its daily trading volume amounts to 65,249 Bitcoin (BTC), or $1.7 billion. However, the exchange appears only to have around 400 followers on X (formerly Twitter) and some 16,000 members on its Telegram channel.
Kelly Nova, who is said to be the founder and CEO of Bitspay, told Cointelegraph that the exchange is working on licenses in both Estonia and the United Kingdom. “We have some copyright issues, and that’s why we closed the Bitspay.io domain,” he said. The exec didn’t respond to Cointelegraph’s request for further information about Bitspay’s founders or why the firm previously claimed to have a license in Estonia on its website.
Bitspay appears to be far from the only platform reporting massive trading volumes on CoinMarketCap despite little being known about its licenses, founders or background. Exchanges like Topcredit, which reports $1.8 billion in daily trading volume on CoinMarketCap, and Bika, which reports $1.2 billion, have been unwilling to talk to Cointelegraph about their background and founders.
“We have long been aware that self-reported data can be problematic, but APIs are the only viable source for data collection,” a spokesperson for CoinMarketCap told Cointelegraph.
The representative also referred to the website’s scoring system, pointing out that platforms like Bitspay, Topcredit or Bika have a significantly lower score than major exchanges like Binance, which has owned CoinMarketCap since April 2020. “We always encourage our users to perform their own due diligence, especially with low-scoring exchanges,” the spokesperson said, adding:
“We know our data isn’t infallible. Our role is as an objective and comprehensive information aggregator, not a regulator. […] In short, CMC numbers are as credible as they can be, using our industry-leading experience, technology, verification methodology and feedback loops.”
The spokesperson cited the crypto adage “don’t trust, verify” and said it embodies a foundational principle of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
Crypto influencer Ben Armstrong arrested during livestream
Crypto influencer Ben Armstrong, previously known as BitBoy, has been arrested while livestreaming outside the house of Carlos Diaz, a former business associate, who he alleged was in possession of his Lamborghini.
During the livestream, Armstrong went into a tirade claiming that Diaz “wanted to kill him,” alleging his links with the Houston mafia.
“I’m not scared of you, Carlos,” he hollered.
At almost 19 minutes into the stream, Armstrong was met with local police, who turned up and asked if Armstrong had a weapon on him, which he denied.
⚠️ BITBOY ARREST FOOTAGE pic.twitter.com/mohJERARe4
— Alex Cobb (@AlexCobb_) September 26, 2023
He was then ordered to put down the phone, and the stream went blank for the remaining 17 minutes. Armstrong was presumably arrested sometime after.
According to a listing on the Gwinnett County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office, Armstrong was booked on Sept. 25 at 9:11 pm local time and remains incarcerated.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
