Solana has turned its focus towards decentralized finance in Southeast Asia with a new $5 million development fund.

The Solana Foundation created the fund in partnership with Vietnam-based investment firm Coin98 Ventures, enabling regional startups building on Solana to receive technical, marketing, and community support, as well as up to $100,000 in funding. The fund will run for the next three years with a specific focus on projects within the DeFi and Web3 spaces, including marketplaces, exchanges, and other DApps or tooling.

This is one of the first grants specifying a core region of interest, with a particular focus on Vietnam. Solana Foundation Executive Director Eric Williams:

“Our goal is to create the optimal conditions for developers in Southeast Asia to build amazing things on Solana.”

According to the announcement, “project teams may be distributed, but must have a physical presence in Southeast Asia.” The announcement makes it clear that if they do not have a presence there, they will not qualify for the fund.

Williams explained that the foundation partnered with Coin98 Ventures because of the technical and community support they can provide, adding that the key to this fund being successful is the combination of financial and technical support:

“Sometimes hurdles can be solved with extra money, other times they cannot.”

DeFi is gaining traction within the Solana ecosystem, driving trading volume to all-time highs earlier this month.

Using treasuries and fund campaigns to boost developer ecosystems within blockchains is common with programs already available for a range of blockchain networks including Bitcoin, Ethereum, OkCoin, and Polkadot.

In September last year, Polkadot received one of the largest fund boosts to date with Digital asset development company RockX investing $20 million to support the Polkadot ecosystem over the next five years.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-targets-growth-in-southeast-asia-with-a-5m-grants-scheme

United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a cryptocurrency trader for allegedly being involved in a ponzi scheme defrauding more than $5 million from over 170 investors. The accused, Jeremy Spence, who goes by the name “Coin Signals,” was charged in Manhattan Federal Court for “soliciting funds” for various crypto funds that he operated. 

Federal authorities claimed that Spence operated a Ponzi scheme and that his offenses include “commodities fraud and wire fraud.” According to SEC, investors transferred Bitcoin and Ethereum to Spence, so that he could invest the assets on their behalf.  

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney Jr claimed that Spence enticed investors by giving them false information about the “success of his investment platform.” The trader allegedly used money from new investors to pay off others in order “to keep his plan moving” which the FBI Director said was “a  typical marker of a Ponzi scheme.”

The official complaint read:

Spence solicited investments for several Funds, the largest and most active of which were the Coin Signals Bitmex Fund, a/k/a the “CS Mex Fund,” the Coin Signals Alternative Fund, a/k/a the “CS Alt Fund,” and the Coin Signals Long Term Fund. 

Manhattan US Attorney Audrey Strauss alleged that Jeremy Spence lured investors to his crypto “investment scam” by promising returns of up to 148%.  The Attorney further said:  

Spence’s investments not only failed to reach his audacious claims, they consistently lost money, leaving a $5 million void in his clients’ crypto accounts.

According to the Commission, Spence was arrested this morning in Rhode Island. He could face nearly 30 years in prison if authorities convict him on all charges. 

Source: https://ambcrypto.com/us-sec-charges-crypto-trader-coin-signals-in-5-million-fraud-case

American Cancer Society (ACS) along with The Giving Block, a crypto donations company, launched “Crypto Cancer Fund,” which will be exclusively funded using cryptocurrency.

According to a release emailed to AMBCrypto, American Cancer Society is seeking to raise at least $1,000,000 by early 2021. The crypto community’s contributions are said to go directly to funding ACS’ cancer research program and will help support “crucial research funding for new discoveries and better cancer treatments.”

The fund will accept contributions in Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Zcash (ZEC), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Basic Attention Token (BAT) and Chainlink (Link).

Pat Duffy, co-founder of The Giving Block said in a statement: 

I believe cryptocurrency will play a pivotal role in curing cancer…With Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high, the creation of this new fund opens the door for the booming crypto market to save lives.

Additionally, the first crypto donor who contributes $250,000 or more will apparently have the opportunity to name the fund, “in their name or that of a loved one.”

Furthermore, a Crypto Cancer Fund Wall of Honor will feature donations of $10,000.

ACS will announce the renaming of the fund when the major gift occurs.

American Cancer Society’s interim chief digital officer, Jeff Klass wanted “as many people” to join the cause, for which he wanted to ensure that “people can give to the fight against cancer when, where and how they choose.”

So far, the initiative has generated about $175,000 in crypto donations, among which, the largest contribution of 5.6 BTC ($186,000) was sent anonymously.

Source: https://eng.ambcrypto.com/american-cancer-society-accepts-donations-in-bitcoin-ether-and-other-alts-for-cancer-research-fund