On September 17, a group of officials led by U.S. attorney Tracy Wilkinson have filed a civil complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California claiming that they have identified four digital wallets holding more than 9.8 million Tether (USDT) that was involved in wire fraud, computer fraud and money laundering. According to court documents, the legitimate owner of the funds is a California resident who in April 2021 got swindled out of more than 200 Bitcoin (BTC) by someone impersonating a Coinbase employee. Customer support goes awry As described in the claim, the unidentified …

Zabu Finance, a DeFi application on the Avalanche blockchain, has reportedly been exploited for crypto tokens worth $3.2 million. The removal of a large number of tokens eventually reduced the value of Zabu tokens to zero. Zabu Finance announced the exploit by asking for help from Avalanche and popular Avalanche-hosted decentralized exchanges such as Pangolin and Trader Joe: “Zabu Team Wallet has not sold a single Zabu. We're under an exploit, possibly from Spore Pool. We're investigating the exploit. Need help Pangolin, Trader Joe, Avalanche.” Based on further investigation, Zabu found the attacker stole the assets from a pool of …

While the value of cryptocurrencies has varied wildly in the last year, this has not diminished crypto’s attractiveness to criminals. Many of them are moving their illegal activities underground and outside the view of law enforcement. Because of the public nature of most blockchains, however, this rapid movement shouldn’t be a major concern to law enforcement agencies. With the right tools and training, following the proceeds of crypto-enabled crime is actually not as difficult as it may seem. However, intelligence agencies must have a cryptocurrency investigation plan that includes the right tools to lawfully collect digital evidence and the properly …

Crypto criminals are getting more adaptive and smarter than ever before. But how can industry service providers keep up with them? If I say that the crypto industry is highly targeted by cybercriminals and, in particular, organized criminals, I’m sure that no one who has spent a few months within the space would be surprised. And for a valid reason. Due to the new technology and the nascent nature of the sector, criminals and fraudsters have long identified the excellent opportunity that crypto offers to profit via illicit methods. Indeed, any “new” approach to the financial sector is welcomed by …

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 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 U.S. Department of State has announced it will be taking a seemingly more active role in the pursuit of keeping some crypto users accountable. According to a Thursday Bloomberg report, the Biden administration intends to ramp up efforts to trace cryptocurrency payments, particularly when it comes to ransomware attacks. The government plans to address cybersecurity and crypto’s role as payment in such attacks. The report comes as the State Department recently announced its Rewards for Justice program would be offering bounties of up to $10 million for assistance in identifying actors responsible for cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in the …

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 …

Coinbase chief security officer Philip Martin has refuted suggestions the American crypto exchange was involved in any seizure of crypto assets related to the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. Martin took to Twitter on Tuesday to explain the firm’s involvement, or lack of it, with the Department of Justice’s warrant for the seizure of Bitcoin. “Coinbase was not the target of the warrant and did not receive the ransom or any part of the ransom at any point. We also have no evidence that the funds went through a Coinbase account/wallet.” 1/ I've seen a bunch of incorrect claims that …

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 …