Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee, the Australian cybersecurity advisor, highlights various crypto-related opportunities for the government to undertake as it prepares for the global mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies. The study released by Australia’s Department of Home Affairs, titled ‘Exploring Cryptocurrencies’, cites the rise in crypto adoption as the country undergoes a rapid transformation to an advanced digital economy: “There is a need for regulatory settings that provide greater clarity and confidence about how the cryptocurrency market can operate in Australia.” The Federal advisory recommends exploration of four key areas that can “help ensure the safe adoption of cryptocurrencies in Australia” — …

The tide is turning on the way in which law enforcers discuss cryptocurrencies and treat crypto users. The United States Secret Service has launched a cryptocurrency awareness hub featuring a cheesy public service announcement video. The educational tool seeks to combat the “illicit use of digital assets as well as provide public awareness information on digital asset security and how to ensure it remains secure.” Watch the video here: "Secret Service: Safeguarding the next generation currency", Source: U.S. Secret Service Youtube U.S. Secret Service Office of Investigations Assistant Director Jeremy Sheridan said that the hub focuses on "investigating financial crimes." …

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be increasing efforts to address enforcement in the digital asset space with the formation of a new team. Speaking at the Munich Cyber Security Conference on Thursday, Monaco said the FBI was creating a “specialized team dedicated to cryptocurrency” called the Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit. The unit will include crypto experts and as well have the means for blockchain analysis that may eventually be used to track and seize illicit funds. The formation of the FBI team comes more than four months after Monaco announced …

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 …

On February 1, there were movements of around $2.5 billion from the 2016 Bitfinex hack wallets. After reviewing the transactions, Cointelegraph reported that around 90,000 Bitcoin (BTC), worth $3.6 billion, consolidated into one wallet address. More than a week later, the hackers were caught. The United States Department of Justice seized $3.6 billion in crypto and arrested two suspects connected to the 2016 hack. Alleged hackers Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan were apprehended after federal authorities exercised their ability to “follow the money through the blockchain” according to the DoJ. While some of the funds were partially recovered in 2019, …

Authorities in the United States have made arrests and announced the seizure of $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency more than five years after hackers stole 119,756 Bitcoin from the Bitfinex exchange. In a Tuesday announcement, the U.S. Department of Justice said it had ordered the arrest of Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan for allegedly conspiring to launder crypto connected to the 2016 Bitfinex hack. The 119,756 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth $72 million at the time hackers breached security at the exchange in August 2016 — is now valued at more than $5.1 billion. Since the 2016 hack, individuals connected …

High-profile hacks have become more prevalent throughout the cryptocurrency market, and Qubit Finance is one of the latest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to be exploited by hackers. Hackers were able to access and steal over $80 million from Qubit Finance which is based on Binance Smart Chain the protocol confirmed via a tweet Friday. The addresses linked to the assault stole 206,809 Binance Coin (BNB) from Qubit's QBridge protocol. The assets are valued at more than $80 million at the time of writing. Did @QubitFin just get hacked for $80M? Check out this address: https://t.co/1Oao54Ndnb — claudeshannon.eth ⛽️ (@0xclaudeshannon) January …

A new Chainalysis report has revealed that $8.6 billion in value was laundered through cryptocurrency in 2021. It marks a 25% increase from 2020, but still remains well below the high watermark hit in 2019. That year $10.9 billion in value was laundered via cryptocurrency. Since 2017, Chainalysis estimates that a total of $33.4 billion in crypto has been laundered. Chainalysis points out the $33.4 billion in crypto laundered since 2017 pales in comparison to the estimated $2 trillion in fiat is laundered yearly from offline crimes such as drug trafficking. However, a reliable assessment of the amount of fiat …

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 …