Bitcoin Daily: FBI Searches For BitConnect Victims; Commerzbank Completes Blockchain Test

Japanese internet giant Recruit Holdings launched a $25 million blockchain fund, which closed in November and only became public after the company revealed an investment in Beam.

Recruit has made prior investments in blockchain companies through its central corporate fund, Recruit Strategic Partners (RSP). With the launch of this new fund, the company can now complete deals in both tokens and equity.

“When we had an equity fund we weren’t as flexible as we wanted to be,” SVP Youngrok Kim told reporters. “We weren’t in a position to buy tokens and assets. We will continue to have two vehicles; we will use the crypto fund and the RSP fund in tandem as needed.”

Banking Tech has revealed that Commerzbank completed a money market transaction during a blockchain pilot with Continental and Siemens. The transaction had a volume of €100,000 and a term of three days.

Commerzbank completed the transaction with R3’s Corda-based blockchain platform, while Main Incubator acted as a service partner, Continental was the issuer and Siemens subscribed to the security as an investor. The transaction was completed in “a matter of minutes.”

In other news, Thailand’s National Legislative Assembly has approved an amendment to the Securities and Exchange Act that will legalize the issuance of tokenized securities, according to CoinDesk. Once the change goes into effect later this year, businesses can obtain a license to operate as depositories for the tokens.

The FBI is looking to speak with anyone who invested in the proprietary token offered by BitConnect.

“The entire market for BCC crashed in late January 2018, after two U.S. state-level securities regulators issued public letters warning investors of the Ponzi-type nature of BitConnect. This led to BitConnect completely shutting down its exchange for BCC, eliminating the market for the cryptocurrency and stranding investors with near-worthless cryptocurrency,” according to a statement on the FBI’s website.

The agency is asking any investors to voluntarily fill out a questionnaire, and there is a chance respondents will be contacted, depending on their answers.

And bitcoin hit above $4,000 over the weekend — for the first time in over two months. CoinDesk reported that other well-known cryptos — including NEO, QTUM, and NEM — have all appreciated more than 9 percent since bitcoin’s rise, while lesser-known cryptocurrencies, including NEXO and S4FE, were up 24 and 78 percent.