Crypto News, March 23: YouTuber's Criminal Past, Volcano Bonds Delayed, Huge Sponsorship Deal

Accept Dogecoin initially caused controversy after Dogecoin's creator Billy Markus accused the token of stealing its trademarks. Then, Twitter users began claiming that the altcoin project's lead organizer was a convict who had kidnapped and robbed a woman at gunpoint in 2011. Speaking to CoinMarketCap, Myles Watkins — known as "Myles G Investments" — confirmed that the speculation about his criminal past was true. Admitting he "made a mistake that hurt many people," he said: "I was young, immature, on drugs, and had no direction in life." Accept Dogecoin's site has now shut down and its Twitter account has been deleted. It plans to relaunch as a project designed to encourage businesses to accept all cryptocurrencies as payment methods.

El Salvador has suffered a big setback in its ambitious plans to build Bitcoin City after it was confirmed that the release of so-called "volcano bonds" has been delayed. Nayib Bukele wants to raise $1 billion by selling the bonds — with half invested into BTC, and the other half spent on infrastructure so crypto can be mined using geothermal energy. In an interview with a local television station, finance minister Alejandro Zelaya blamed the uncertainty that has arisen from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and said Salvadoran officials want to wait until market conditions are more favorable. It's hoped the volcano bonds will hit the market by September at the latest. In front of a raucous crowd last November, President Bukele said Bitcoin City would be the shape of a large coin — and everything from residential areas to shops, bars and railways would be devoted to BTC.

Crypto.com has been unveiled as a sponsor for this year's FIFA World Cup in Qatar — in one of the highest-profile deals to date. The exchange "will benefit from significant branding exposure both within and outside the tournament's stadiums," the sporting body said. Crypto.com is set to give its users the chance to attend matches when the World Cup begins in November and win "exclusive merchandise" — a sign that non-fungible tokens are going to be thrown into the mix. In other developments, the National Football League has announced that it's relaxing the rules for teams seeking sponsorship from firms in the digital assets space. They'll now be allowed to enter into partnerships with blockchain companies, but will still be prohibited from directly promoting crypto.

Amitabh Bachchan has paid a tax bill worth more than $131,000 that's linked to the NFT collection he launched last year. The Bollywood star was handed an evasion notice by Indian tax officials, and it's believed their investigation will continue. The 79-year-old was the first Indian actor to embrace NFTs — and his collection broke sales records. Bachchan's range of NFTs included the actor reciting Madhushala, a famous series of poems that were written by his father. India is preparing to introduce a tougher tax regime for NFTs and cryptocurrencies within months.