Andrew Yang, the 2020 presidential candidate calling for nationwide cryptocurrency regulations in the U.S. who claimed “onerous regulations” had a “chilling effect” on the cryptocurrency space in the country, has ended his presidential bid.

Google searches for bitcoin rose 33% after the price of the cryptocurrency surpassed the $10,000 mark earlier this month. Related search queries reveal users are looking to double their BTC using less than reputable schemes.

Those behind the alleged crypto Ponzi scheme PlusToken have started moving $120 million worth of bitcoin to various addresses, in a move believed to be preceding a large-scale selloff.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Crypto Supporter Andrew Yang Ends Presidential Campaign
• Google Searches for Bitcoin Jump 33% As Price Gains Momentum
• $120 Million Worth of Bitcoin Associated With Alleged Scam Move to New Addresses

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $10,295.40 (5.26%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $3.06 billion. As for ether (ETH), it is trading at $252.53 (14.13%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $1.48 billion. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index is currently tracking at 3,807.73 (0.60%)

Crypto Supporter Andrew Yang Ends Presidential Campaign

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, known for his open support for cryptocurrency regulations, has ended his 2020 campaign after failing to gain traction.

Speaking to reporters in New Hampshire, Yang said:

“I am the math guy, and it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race. I am announcing that I am suspending my campaign for president.”

Yang’s presidential campaign started back in November 2017 and saw him promise universal income of $1,000 to American adults, and openly support nationwide cryptocurrency regulations.

On the website of his presidential campaign, he noted different departments of the federal government see digital assets in a different way, with some looking at them as property, others as commodities, or as securities. He added “some states have onerous regulations in the space, such as NY’s BitLicense. Navigating this has had a chilling effect on the US digital asset market.”

Google Searches for Bitcoin Jump 33% As Price Gains Momentum

Google searches for the flagship cryptocurrency bitcoin went up 33% over the last seven days as the price managed to break through the $10,000 barrier. While BTC first surpassed $10,000 on February 9, its price suffered a minor correction soon after.

The cryptocurrency’s rise saw interest for it grow on search engines, as Google Trends data showed searches for cryptocurrency rose along with its price. Some of the related search queries were related to schemes promising to double users’ BTC, with one query being for “bitcoin price x2 double your btc.”

Google search interest is often seen as a lagging indicator for the price of bitcoin. A study conducted in 2017 by search engine marketing firm SEMrush found that BTC’s price had a 91% correlation with the volume of Google searches associated with it.

Bitcoin is now trading at $10,300 as its market cap is now at $187.8 billion. Some analysts believe its price has been rising over concerns surrounding the coronavirus outbreak’s impact on businesses throughout the world, while others point to the upcoming block reward halving and fear of missing out.

$120 Million Worth of Bitcoin Associated With Alleged Scam Move to New Addresses

Over 12,000 bitcoin associated with the alleged cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme PlusToken have been moved to what are believed to be cold wallets. The movements were first spotted by Twitter transaction bot Whale Alert, and then traced by the VP of Chinese blockchain security firm PeckShield, Chiachih Wu, who identified the two addresses the funds were sent to.

The $120 million worth of bitcoin were then split into around 600 addresses with 5 to 40 BTC in them each. Some speculate those behind the alleged scheme may be looking to hide their tracks on the blockchain to be able to cash out easily.

PlusToken is suspected to be one of the largest scams in the cryptocurrency space to date, having allegedly taken nearly $3 billion from cryptocurrency users looking to earn on their investments. The group claimed to have had around 4 million users, and so far six suspects associated with it have been arrested.

The alleged scam was presented to investors as a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange offering high-yield investment opportunities to its users. Other bitcoin and ether movements tied to PlusToken in the past were associated with price crashes as those behind it cashed out millions worth of cryptocurrency.

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