Cryptocurrency is a new technology that has entered the common discourse, setting the stage for a complete upheaval of our long-established financial systems. Of course, some skepticism is unavoidable. Crypto’s association with criminality adds to this shared sense of skepticism. There is no denying that cryptocurrency has and continues to be used for illicit activities across the globe. Having said this, with the use and applicability of crypto becoming increasingly commonplace, the narrative that its creation has facilitated mass criminality needs to be addressed. First impressions count Bitcoin (BTC) was introduced as a bartering tool on Silk Road, a notorious …

A Cayman Islands-based company and two individuals may be the first subjects in decentralized finance, or DeFi, to face enforcement action from the United States Securities and Exchange. According to a Friday announcement, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, said that this is the first case involving securities using DeFi technology which resulted in an enforcement action. The agency said it charged the company Blockchain Credit Partners as well as Florida residents Gregory Keough and Derek Acree, alleging they were involved in offering and selling more than $30 million in unregistered securities from February 2020 to February 2021. DeFi …

The importance of storage and passwords is best known by crypto enthusiasts who know how easy it is to lose access to their digital assets. A recent survey conducted by Cryptovantage named “Coin Storage Security: A closer look at crypto storage and passwords” aimed to identify investors’ sentiment toward the safekeeping of their crypto investments. Based on 1,021 United States-based cryptocurrency owners’ responses, most choose to store their digital investments on crypto exchanges, with Coinbase sitting in first place at 34.7%. Wallets from Binance and Robinhood also hold a large user base for storing crypto at approximately 25% and 26%, …

Investigations into the South African company Mirror Trading International (MTI) — widely seen as last year’s most ruinous Bitcoin (BTC) Ponzi scheme — are now engaging the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. MTI, which went into provisional liquidation in December 2020, claimed to have over 260,000 members across 170 countries at its height. It had first caught regulators’ attention in Texas back in July of last year, where its operations were quickly shut down. South Africa’s Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) issued its own statement in August 2020, warning that the company lacked a mandatory license and was offering …

A new report from Chainalysis has found that while China’s share of global criminal crypto flows has been falling since the third quarter of 2019, the country still represents a disproportionate amount of money laundering and scam activity. In its Aug. 3 “Cryptocurrency and China” report, Chainalysis stated that more than $2.2 billion worth of crypto had been sent from Chinese wallets to addresses associated with illicit activity between April 2019 and June 2021. Chinese addresses also received more than $2 billion worth of digital assets tied to nefarious activity such as scams and darknet marketplaces. Despite this, the report …

Crypto custody bank Anchorage Digital will be providing digital asset services for the c for seized funds related to federal crimes. In a Wednesday announcement from Anchorage, the digital asset platform said the U.S. Marshals Service, or USMS, “seized some amount of digital assets in recent years” which required a partner in the space to provide certain financial services. Anchorage will be responsible for custodying, liquidating and other actions as part of the forfeiture process. Anchorage co-founders Diogo Mónica and Nathan McCauley cited the platform's "stringent processes and procedures" as likely factors in the USMS decision. According to a 2019 …

The owner of the crypto exchange Bitmart has filed a bid for pre-arbitration injunctive relief to prevent Chinese hackers from making illicit transfers using fraudulent Bitcoin SV (BSV) on its platform. According to a Monday report, GBM Global Holdings, Bitmart’s owner, filed its bid with a New York federal judge, despite the fraudulent activities taking place largely out of state. The company has argued that the Southern District Court of New York nonetheless has jurisdiction over "fraudulent or manipulative acts with foreseeable effects in New York'' and is therefore requesting that the judge intervene before the hackers are able to …

Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has violated the terms of his bail and has been taken into custody after he allegedly accessed his cryptocurrency account. The remand order came from United States District Judge P. Kevin Castel after Griffith reportedly sought to access Ether (ETH) assets held by Coinbase in May. The Ethereum Foundation researcher will likely spend the next two months behind bars. He is scheduled to be tried on Sept. 21 on charges of conspiracy to violate sanctions with North Korea and faces up to 20 years in prison. According to Law360, Judge Castel’s main concern was flight risk …

Last week, Cointelegraph reported on the seizure of 3,800 PlayStation consoles allegedly being used to mine cryptocurrency. The confiscated gaming units were among a stash of hardware discovered by Ukrainian authorities during a raid on a farmhouse accused of tampering with electric meters to steal power from the local grid. Based on the initial reports at the time, the PS4 consoles, graphics cards, processing units and other hardware found at the scene was being used for illegal crypto mining operations. However, according to an investigation by Ukrainian business publication Delo, the seized PlayStation consoles were being used to generate content …

Authorities in Malaysia destroyed more than $1.2 million worth of Bitcoin mining rigs after they were confiscated for operating illegally. In a video posted today from local news outlet DayakDaily, police in the city of Miri on the island of Borneo and the Sarawak Energy company arranged for a steamroller to run over 1,069 Bitcoin (BTC) miners. The rigs were reportedly confiscated from residents of Malaysia attempting to illegally mine the cryptocurrency using stolen electricity between February and April. According to a Friday report from Malaysian newspaper The Star, the disposal of the mining machines — worth roughly $1.26 million …

Four men have reportedly been arrested in Japan's Aichi Prefecture for running an allegedly fraudulent crypto investment scheme that persuaded investors they could reap returns on the basis of an artificial intelligence (AI)-led trading system. Roughly 20,000 Japanese investors nationwide are thought to have been drawn into the scheme, which raised an estimated total of 6 billion yen ($55 million). The four suspects: Shoji Ishida, Yukihiro Yamashita, Takuya Hashiyada, and Masamichi Toshima, were arrested on July 12, according to Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. The alleged scam, dubbed the "Oz Project" promised that the automated, AI-based system would result in investors …

Ukrainian authorities have raided an allegedly illicit crypto farm in the country. According to an official announcement from the Security Service of Ukraine, the facility was located on the former premises of JSC Vinnytsiaoblenergo, an electricity supply company. The illegal crypto miners concealed their activities by manipulating electricity meters to steal electricity from JSC Vinnytsiaoblenergo. Described as the largest underground mining operation discovered by the Ukrainian police, the farm housed nearly 5,000 computer equipment units, including 3,800 PlayStation 4 consoles, over 500 graphics cards, 50 processing units, notebooks, phones and flash drives. The SBU estimated the state’s monthly losses due …