Former bank employees have received bonuses worth millions of euros in an illegal trading scheme that also involved a tax lawyer, prosecutors in Frankfurt revealed this week. The case is part of multiple investigations carried out across Germany, the hardest hit country in a notorious tax fraud scandal known as the Cum-ex Files.

https://news.bitcoin.com/6-bankers-accused-of-earning-e30m-in-bonuses-from-german-fraud-tax-lawyer-out-on-e4m-bail/

Venezuelans including public sector workers, retirees and the military are set to receive a petro token handout this Christmas, so long as they register for the state's crypto payments platform.

https://www.coindesk.com/venezuelas-maduro-says-he-will-airdrop-half-a-petro-each-to-nations-civilians

Alibaba and OneConnect scored the highest in China’s recent Blockchain Patents list after they both filed IPO prospectuses at the same time.

https://bitcoinist.com/alibaba-oneconnect-leads-chinas-blockchain-patent-race/

Bitcoin critics say that the cryptocurrency should never be regarded as a means of exchange because it’s mostly used for speculation. Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee disagrees with this statement, saying that most of the US dollars are used for speculation as well.

https://bitcoinist.com/fundstrats-tom-lee-99-of-usd-is-speculative-why-discredit-bitcoin/

Free Bitcoin payouts could become reality under a US presidency if 2020 candidate Andrew Yang is elected, he has hinted in fresh comments.

https://bitcoinist.com/andrew-yang-usd-1000-bitcoin-payouts-for-us-residents/