Brazilian federal police have uncovered around $27.6 million in bitcoin after a series of reported Ponzi schemes from one company, The Daily Hodl reported.
The company, based in Rio de Janeiro, allegedly operated the Ponzi schemes and stole from victims using bitcoin, the report stated. The authorities carried out 15 search warrants and seized 591 bitcoin.
The police also arrested five individuals involved in the scheme, according to the report, in a plan called “Operation Kryptos.” They recovered around $2.6 million in cash, 21 luxury vehicles and watches, jewelry, electronics and documents in connection with the schemes.
In other news, luxury hotel Chedi Andermatt, which is controlled by billionaire Samih Sawiris, will allow cryptocurrency payments for stays in the Swiss Alps, Bloomberg reported.
The hotel plans to accept bitcoin and ethereum as payment. It said it also plans to possibly take other cryptocurrencies as payment in the future, according to the report.
The resort said it had been wanting to accept cryptocurrencies as payment several years ago, but the company wanted to wait and see how the newer form of currency would work in terms of making sure transactions would be secure and price fluctuations wouldn’t be as big of an issue, the report stated.
The hotel will partner with payment service provider Worldline along with crypto service provider Bitcoin Suisse for the service, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has gotten a patent to help software developers get more into blockchain by streamlining the process of making crypto tokens for various distributed ledgers, CoinDesk reported.
The patent makes reference to the difficulties many creators face, with the common issue being the lack of standardization across various blockchains, according to the report.
The Microsoft patent describes letting users create tokens and manage them across different networks, and the system will offer templates with various attributes and control functions to help users make tokens, the report stated.
About: In spite of their price volatility and regulatory uncertainty, new PYMNTS research shows that 58 percent of multinational firms are already using at least one form of cryptocurrency — especially when moving funds across borders. The new Cryptocurrency, Blockchain and Global Business survey, a PYMNTS and Circle collaboration, polls 500 executives looks at the potential and the pitfalls facing crypto as it moves into the financial mainstream.