Police in Singapore arrested three men after a teen reported an attempted robbery involving $24,000. The 19-year old ZK was looking to exchange the cash for USDT when two men attacked him. Strait Times has reported that police have charged 29-year old Benedict Yee Hong Fai with the attack and attempted robbery. 

Singapore police have charged a man over an attack against a 19-year old during a meeting arranged to facilitate face-to-face crypto for cash exchange. According to the Straits Times, police arrested three men in connection with the attempted robbery of a 19-year-old crypto trader. The teen, identified as ‘ZK’, was trying to buy USDT from a seller he contacted on Telegram when two men ambushed and punched him while he waited to meet the alleged seller. Crypto trader tried to exchange $24k for USDT Per official police accounts, the attack on the teen happened as the trader tried to exchange 32,000 Singapore dollars ($24,000) for the USDT stablecoin. ZK agreed to an offline peer-to-peer exchange, settling to meeting with Benedict Yee Hong Fai, 29. Yee allegedly contacted ZK via Telegram, offering to transfer the USDT in exchange for the $24k in cash. But while the original venue for the face-to-face exchange was inside a public shopping mall, Yee changed it at the last minute. The new location was a parking lot near the mall. Two men – 19 and 20 years old – were arrested in connection with punching ZK and attempting to rob him. Reportedly, ZK escaped with his money by fleeing to the shopping mall. According to police records, the incident happened on Aug. 29. Investigations led to the arrest of the three suspects between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3. Yee is accused of being the mastermind of the attempted robbery and will remain in custody until the hearing of his case on Sept. 12. The Strait Times says the other two suspects have not been charged officially yet and are helping with police investigations.

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Siemens issued a €300 million digital bond on SWIAT’s blockchain platform. The bond settled in minutes, a significant improvement from Siemens’ previous bond. Major German banks participated, showcasing growing interest in blockchain assets.

Germany’s tech giant Siemens has issued a €300 million digital bond, its second blockchain-based bond. The bond, issued under Germany’s Electronic Securities Act (eWpG), is part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) trials exploring blockchain’s potential in capital markets. Siemens makes a breakthrough in bond tokenization Siemens’ digital bond issuance marks a notable advancement in bond tokenization. The €300 million bond, with a one-year maturity, was issued on the SWIAT private blockchain platform and settled in minutes. This rapid transaction time highlights a significant improvement in speed and efficiency compared to traditional methods. In 2023, Siemens issued a €60 million blockchain-based bond on the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain that took two days to settle, making the new bond’s settlement within minutes a considerable leap forward. The bond’s issuance process leveraged Bundesbank’s automated Trigger Solution, demonstrating how blockchain technology can streamline financial transactions. Major German financial institutions, including BayernLB, DekaBank, DZ BANK, and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, participated in this issuance, signalling a growing interest in blockchain-based assets among traditional financial players. Siemens’ initiative not only supports the ECB’s trials of distributed ledger technology (DLT) but also sets a precedent for future digital securities. Future prospects and industry impact Siemens’ move aligns with the European Central Bank’s broader efforts to assess blockchain technology’s integration into traditional financial systems. By issuing the bond according to the eWpG, Siemens is pioneering the use of electronic securities and reinforcing the feasibility of blockchain for capital markets. The bond’s swift settlement time, achieved through the private blockchain platform, suggests potential benefits in terms of lower costs, enhanced transparency, and greater security. In the recent past, blockchain-based bond issuances have seen incremental adoption, with notable examples including the World Bank’s 2018 issuance and Japan’s Nomura Research Institute’s 2020 issuance. Siemens’ latest digital bond reflects an ongoing trend toward bond tokenization, driven by blockchain technology’s promise of faster, more secure transactions. As the industry continues to evolve, the integration of smart contracts and blockchain technology is expected to accelerate, transforming how securities are issued and traded.

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