India’s Enforcement Directorate searched the offices of Paytm, Razorpay, and Cashfree on Friday as part of an investigation into fraudulent Chinese loan apps (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

Reuters:
Sources: SoftBank sells 29.35M Paytm shares, or a 4.5% stake, for $200M, causing Paytm stock to drop 9%+; Vision Fund was Paytm’s second-largest shareholder  —  SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) on Thursday sold a 4.5% stake in Indian digital payments giant Paytm (PAYT.NS) through block deals for $200 million …

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Shares of Paytm closed at an all-time low on Tuesday, a week after the post-IPO lockup period for early investors expired, amid competition risk from Reliance  —  Shares of Paytm ended Tuesday at an all-time low of 477 Indian rupees ($5.8), a week after the lock-up period for early backers …

Amitoj Singh / CoinDesk:
Binance-linked crypto exchange WazirX says India’s Enforcement Directorate has “unfrozen” or restarted its bank account; the ED raided its office on August 5  —  The account was frozen in relation to the “illegal loan apps” scam investigation, which has come under the national spotlight.

Financial Times:
An in-depth look at North Korea’s crypto cyber crime, used to support the regime: hacking Axie Infinity and Bangladesh Bank, running a fraudulent ICO, and more  —  Created by a Vietnamese gaming studio, Axie Infinity offers players the chance to breed, trade and fight Pokémon …

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Taktile, which allows fintech companies to test and deploy decision-making models, has raised a $20M Series A co-led by Index Ventures and Tiger Global  —  The logic behind many fintech companies’ automated decisions — decisions that determine whether a customer is approved for a credit line …

Tony Romm / Washington Post:
US House committee report details how fintech companies, like Blueacorn, allegedly disbursed billions in fraudulent PPP loans, while collecting billions in fees  —  Little-known firms such as Blueacorn and Womply allegedly collected taxpayer-funded fees as they overlooked signs of grift …