The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against three people accused of insider trading with the Long Blockchain Company related to changing its name from the Long Island Iced Tea Company. In a Friday announcement, the SEC said Eric Watson, Oliver Barret-Lindsay, and Gannon Giguiere were facing charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for their role in trades connected to rebranding a beverage business to a blockchain firm, which caused the company’s stock price to rise significantly. Giguiere purchased 35,000 shares of Long Blockchain after having been allegedly tipped off to …

Self-described “Bitcoin King” Claudio Oliveira has been arrested and charged by Brazilian federal police for allegedly masterminding a 1.5-billion reals (roughly $300 million) fraud scheme involving crypto. Oliveira served as the president of Bitcoin Banco Group, a Brazilian crypto brokerage firm that has been under investigation since 2019 claiming to have lost 7,000 Bitcoin (BTC) in investor funds. According to a rough translation of a Monday press release, federal police from the Curitiba Metropolitan Region served Oliveira and other members of Bitcoin Banco Group with one preventive arrest warrant, four temporary arrest warrants, and 22 search-and-seizure warrants. Bitcoin Banco Group …

A former employee of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia has pleaded guilty to the theft of roughly $172,000 in cryptocurrency he obtained by making a copy of users’ private keys. According to a Monday report from New Zealand news outlet Stuff, the unnamed Cryptopia employee pleaded guilty in Christchurch District Court to the theft of more than $1,000 and theft “by a person in a special relationship” — referring to cases when a person takes funds held in trust from someone else. The court convicted the employee, and he will be sentenced on Oct. 20. The worker had reportedly raised …

The United States’ Financial Crimes Enforcement Network will continue to closely follow the cryptocurrency industry as one of its top priorities for combating crimes like money laundering. FinCEN officially announced Thursday that “virtual currency considerations,” or operations involving cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), will be among its top national priorities for countering terrorism financing and ensuring proper Anti-Money Laundering policies. “The establishment of these priorities is intended to assist all covered institutions in their efforts to meet their obligations” under related laws and regulations, the regulator said. FinCEN elaborated that it will soon issue regulations to specify how financial institutions should …

Bill Foster, Democratic Representative and co-chair of the Congressional blockchain caucus, has called for a regulatory framework that would enable third parties to reverse fraudulent or criminal transactions. Foster is a physicist and a Democratic Rep for Illinois. The blockchain caucus is co-chaired by Democratic Rep Darren Soto, and Republican Reps Tom Emmer and David Schweikert. Speaking during an online event for news outlet Axios, Foster asserted that unless the Congress or the public can come up with a different solution to ransomware, U.S. regulators need to introduce a legal framework that can “unmask” crypto wallet holders’ identities and reverse …

Numerous governments are attempting to ban cryptocurrencies, with recent examples from China, India, Turkey and Nigeria. The reason for doing so is simple: The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies poses a threat to the legacy financial system, and as the technology itself is still in its infancy, it seems to attract hackers. Even so, banning crypto will not dissuade hackers or scammers in the slightest. Hackers remain drawn to cryptocurrency Ever since the inception of cryptocurrency, hackers have shown an appetite for this form of money. The perceived appeal of being anonymous when receiving payments has created an aura of invincibility …

According to a report from Spanish international news agency EFE, John McAfee was found dead in his prison cell at the Brians 2 Penitentiary Center on Wednesday. Born in 1945, McAfee founded the software company McAfee Associates in his early forties. His company was responsible for one of the most well-known antivirus software programs at the time. He resigned from the company in 1994 and went on to found software firm Tribal Voice — which was behind one of the internet’s first instant message and chat programs — as well as technology company QuorumEx and security and privacy company Future …

John McAfee, founder of the antivirus software company of the same name, is one step closer to facing prosecution in the United States for tax evasion. In a ruling released on Wednesday, the Spanish National Court approved the extradition of McAfee to the United States. His legal team will have the opportunity to appeal the court’s decision. In addition, Spain’s Council of Ministers will need to approve the extradition before it is final. The U.S. government had been seeking McAfee’s extradition for charges including failing to submit tax returns from 2014 to 2018 and allegedly not reporting income from “promoting …

Brian Nelson, President Joe Biden’s nominee for under secretary of the Treasury Department’s division on terrorism and financial crimes, said he would prioritize implementing new regulations around cryptocurrency. In a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Nelson said he would be focusing on Anti-Money laundering (AML) regulations if he were to be confirmed for the position in the Treasury Department’s terrorism and financial intelligence arm, adding that cryptocurrency would be a particular priority. Responding to a question from Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto regarding “the damage done by crypto heists,” Nelson said the Anti-Money …

Officials with a United States government task force have seized more than $2 million in crypto used to pay for ransom following an attack on the Colonial Pipeline system. In a Monday press conference, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that the task force “found and recaptured” millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin (BTC) connected to Russia-based DarkSide hackers — the majority of the $4.4 million funds originally paid. A warrant filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California shows that authorities recovered 63.7 BTC, worth roughly $2.3 million at the time. Monaco said this action …

United States President Joe Biden will speak directly about cryptocurrency and its role in the attack on the Colonial Pipeline and other ransomware breaches, according to Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. In a White House press briefing on Monday, Sullivan said U.S. officials, seemingly including Biden, would like to see an action plan regarding ransomware attacks during the president’s visit to the G-7 summit this weekend. The national security adviser said this plan should address the resilience of such attacks, how to share information with other democracies and “how to deal with the cryptocurrency challenge.” Sullivan said crypto “lies …

Iranian Cyber Police have reportedly arrested Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi, according to a tweet pinned to Estavi’s Twitter account. A rough translation of the tweet reads: “The owner of this account was arrested on charges of disrupting the economic system by order of Special Court for Economic Crimes. Official judicial authorities will provide additional information.” The same tweet is also pinned to the official account of Bridge Oracle, a Tron Network-based public oracle system. At the time of writing, the price of Bridge Oracle’s native token, BRG, has taken a sharp dive, crashing by more than 65%, according to …