The Golden City is losing its shine as one of the largest United States-based cryptocurrency exchanges closes its San Francisco-based headquarters. Kraken CEO, Jesse Powell retweeted that Kraken will close its global headquarters on 548 Market Street, in the center of San Francisco. In the retweet shared by a San Francisco-based political commentator, Richie Greenberg, the decision cites that: “We shut down Kraken’s global headquarters on Market Street in San Francisco after numerous employees were attacked, harassed and robbed on their way to and from the office.” Cointelegraph reached out to the Kraken team for comment and will update if …

Ever since its inception and throughout its turbulent journey toward mainstream acceptance, crypto has elicited both enthusiasm and trepidation in equal measure. After the unfair battering it has received over the years, the time has come to defend digital currencies. Unfortunately for crypto, first impressions count. Bitcoin (BTC) initially gained a tawdry reputation in its early years as the currency of choice for illicit activities — favored by dark web users, ransomware hackers, drug traffickers and money launderers worldwide. But, the world has changed since the first Bitcoin was mined in January 2009. There are now more than 18 million …

Crypto is going mainstream, and the world’s younger generation, in particular, is taking note. Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com recently predicted that crypto users worldwide could reach 1 billion by the end of 2022. Further findings show that Millennials — those between the ages of 26 and 41 — are turning to digital asset investment to build wealth. For example, a study conducted in 2021 by personal loan company Stilt found that, according to its user data, more than 94% of people who own crypto were between 18 and 40. Keeping children safe While the increased interest in cryptocurrency is notable, some …

The seizure by the U.S. Department of Justice of $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) lost during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex’s cryptocurrency exchange has all the ingredients of a Hollywood film — eye-popping sums, colorful protagonists and crypto cloak-and-dagger — so much so that Netflix has already commissioned a docuseries. But, who are the unsung heroes in this action-packed thriller? Federal investigators from multiple agencies including the new National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team have painstakingly followed the money trail to assemble the case. The Feds also seized the Colonial Pipeline ransoms paid in crypto, making headlines last year. The Internal …

Chainalysis data shows that 4068 criminal whales (roughly 4% of all whales) are hodling more than $25 billion worth of cryptocurrency between them. The blockchain analytics firm defines criminal whales as any private wallet that holds more than $1 million worth of crypto with over 10% of the funds received from illicit addresses tied to activity such as scams, fraud and malware. The data is from the “Criminal Balances” section of the Crypto Crime Report that explores criminal activity on the blockchain over 2021 and early 2022. The wide-ranging report also covers topics such as Ransomware, Malware, Darknet markets and …

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning against the rise in romance scams in the San Francisco Bay Area, with the latest trend involving cryptocurrencies. Just a few days ahead of Valentine’s day, the FBI San Francisco field office alerted the public about the rise in romance scams based on the complaints filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). A romance scam involves creating fake accounts and convincing unwary investors — both men and women — to transfer funds under the pretext of getting romantic. According to the information shared by the FBI: …

Unus Sed Leo (LEO) surged by almost 70% on Feb. 9 to reach its record highs as traders assessed the potential of an incoming supply crunch in its market. The token was issued in 2016 to refinance crypto exchange Bitfinex after it lost about $70 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) in a hacking incident. In its original whitepaper explaining LEO, Bitfinex had promised that if they could recover the lost funds, they would use 80% of the proceeds to buy back and burn LEO. Around 80% of stolen Bitcoin recovered On Feb. 8, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced …

Nonfungible tokens (NFT) have taken the world by storm, resulting in mainstream interest and greater adoption of cryptocurrency. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, NFT popularity skyrocketed in 2021. Chainalysis’ “NFT Market Report” shows a minimum of $44.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency sent to Ethereum smart contracts associated with NFT marketplaces and collections last year. The report notes that this number was $106 million in 2020. While impressive, increasing scams and fraudulent activities have infiltrated the NFT space. For instance, major NFT marketplace OpenSea recently announced that its free minting tool was prone to misuse. As a result, OpenSea shared …

A father and son’s disagreement over crypto trading led to a near-death experience and some jail time. Because of a shift in crypto market prices, a son reportedly drugged his father to gain access to his Bitcoins. The dad, who didn’t want to be identified, made his son, Liam Ghershony, a partner in his crypto investing account worth $100,000 back in 2018. After some time, the fund grew and reaped $350,000 in profits, according to the duo. However, things changed when crypto prices fell, and the son’s drug use became more concerning. As the market conditions changed, the father and …

Normally, the only way to access one's crypto funds is through their private key, which, thanks to advances in cryptography, would take nothing less than an advanced futuristic quantum computer to decipher. That said, mafias and gangs have managed to think outside the box. Instead of wasting their efforts on breaking the underlying cryptography, they've turned their attention to targeting crypto owners themselves. A $5 wrench attack is when someone finds out you have a lot of crypto and physically attacks or threatens you for your private keys. On Wednesday, at least eight men including a police officer were arrested …

The National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA), an American non-profit, onboarded its first crypto firm Binance to aid their ongoing battle against cybercrimes. Founded in 2002, the NCFTA partners with law enforcement and various business and academic entities to source threat intelligence to identify and mitigate cybercrime threats. By partnering with Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume, the NCFTA aims to tackle international cybersecurity investigations. According to Binance’s VP of Global Intelligence and Investigations, Tigran Gambaryan, the exchange aims to be the leading contributor in the fight against cybercrime, ransomware, and terrorism financing: “Joining the …

The coming year is likely to see crypto related crime reduce to an ever smaller share of the overall industry as law enforcement takes greater advantage of the transparency provided by blockchain technology, says Kim Grauer, Director of Research at Chainalysis. According to a January 6 report from Chainalysis, the growth of legitimate cryptocurrency usage is “far outpacing the growth of criminal usage.” The share of cryptocurrency transaction volume associated with illicit activity has never been lower, representing just 0.15% of transaction volume in 2021. She told Cointelegraph that barring any “outlier criminal events,” she expected that the growth of …