Investigation news-Page 4
South Korean authorities reportedly probe staff behind Terra
The South Korean government continues to investigate Terraform Labs, the firm behind the Terra Network as well as Luna Classic (LUNC), previously known as Terra (LUNA), and TerraUSD (UST) tokens, by reportedly summoning subpoenas to employees. South Korean authorities have reportedly summoned all employees at Terraform Labs as part of a full-scale investigation of the collapse of UST and LUNC, the local news agency JTBC reported on Saturday. According to the report, the probe is conducted by the joint financial and securities crime investigation team of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office. The authorities are looking into the case to …
Regulation / May 30, 2022
Grim Reapers financial crimes unit revived to investigate Terra collapse
Legal troubles are mounting for the co-founder of failed Terra crypto project, Do Kwon, as the South Korean government revives the dormant Grim Reapers of Yeoui-do to investigate Terra’s fall. The special investigative and prosecutorial team consists of members from various financial regulators and is designed to prosecute securities fraud and unfair trading schemes. Potentially at risk are co-founders Do Kwon and Shin Hyun-seong, along with core members of the Terra team. Yeoui-do is the financial center of Seoul. Today: Korea’s “Grim Reapers of Yeouido” - Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team - are back after 2.5 years. And …
Regulation / May 19, 2022
Crypto giants co-launch Chainabuse platform to water down rising scams
Seven major crypto companies — Binance.US, Circle, Solana Foundation, The Aave Companies, Hedera, TRM Labs and Civic — joined hands to launch a community-driven scam reporting tool. Named Chainabuse, the tool aims to enable crypto users to issue warnings and discuss ongoing fraudulent activity such as scams and hacks in real-time. Launched on Wednesday, the Chainabuse platform aims to counter the ongoing scams plaguing the crypto ecosystem. On May 4, Cointelegraph warned the community about the rise in Ape-themed airdrop phishing scams. Chainabuse serves as a one-stop-shop platform for crypto users, victims of financial crimes and crypto businesses to actively …
Adoption / May 18, 2022
Binance takes legal action against fake billboard ads in Turkey
Binance TR, the Turkish arm of crypto exchange Binance, has warned investors in the region of an ongoing scam attempt that targets crypto investors via fake Binance-branded billboards and hoardings. Turkey is home to a large number of crypto investors that account for over 7% of the total traffic to Binance’s primary platform through a desktop browser, as evidenced by data from Similarweb. Trying to cash in on Binance’s popularity in the country, scammers in Turkey have been found to rent numerous billboards to advertise fake Binance-themed opportunities. Bir süredir Türkiye’nin farklı bölgelerinde aşağıdaki görsele benzer reklam panoları göze çarpmaktadır. …
Adoption / May 9, 2022
BlockFi confirms unauthorized access to client data hosted on Hubspot
New Jersey-based crypto financial institution BlockFi confirmed a data breach incident via one of its third-party vendors, Hubspot. BlockFi’s proactive warning about the breach aims to deter the intentions of bad actors in repurposing the user data for fraudulent activities. According to the announcement, the hackers gained access to BlockFi’s client data on Friday, Mar. 18, that were stored on Hubspot, a client relationship management platform: “Hubspot has confirmed that an unauthorized third-party gained access to certain BlockFi client data housed on their platform.” As a third-party vendor for BlockFi, Hubspot stored user data such as names, email addresses and …
Blockchain / March 19, 2022
SEC investigating NFT market over potential securities violations: Reports
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), led by crypto-skeptical Chairman Gary Gensler, is reportedly investigating NFT creators and marketplaces for securities violations, according to a report from Bloomberg. Anonymous sources in the report claim that the SEC is investigating whether: “certain nonfungible tokens… are being utilized to raise money like traditional securities.” Throughout the last few months, attorneys from the SEC’s enforcement unit have reportedly sent subpoenas demanding information on specific NFTs and other token offerings. While crypto lending products have been the subject of great regulatory scrutiny over the past year, this report marks a major move into …
Nft / March 3, 2022
Blockchain forensics is the trusted informant in crypto crime scene investigation
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 …
Technology / Feb. 26, 2022
Reuters: Binance was withholding information from regulators, repeatedly shunned own compliance department
In a report published on Friday, Reuters laid out the findings of its investigation into the regulatory compliance practices of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. The authors suggest the existence of a recurring pattern whereby the company’s CEO Changpeng Zhao, while proclaiming its openness to government oversight, ran an organization that systematically denied regulators’ requests for financial and corporate structure information and shirked proper client background checks. The reported findings are based on the accounts of Binance’s former senior employees and advisers, as well as the review of documents such as internal correspondence and confidential messages …
Regulation / Jan. 21, 2022
NCFTA onboards crypto exchange Binance to fight against cybercrime
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 …
Blockchain / Jan. 18, 2022
Bent Finance confirms pool exploit, advises investors to withdraw funds
Staking and farming platform Bent Finance joins the list to become the sixth crypto establishment to get hacked in December. The acknowledgment of the attack was followed by requesting investors to withdraw their pool funds and disabling the reward claims on the compromised platform. Bent Finance first realized the exploit on Monday at roughly 8:55 PM EST, a timeline when the company reported no loss of funds. However, the community suspected a rug-pull event when blockchain investigator PeckShield allegedly located the source of the hack transactions. We have located the hack tx, which interestingly is sent from the Bent Finance: …
Blockchain / Dec. 21, 2021
Korean crypto investment firm Hashed reportedly under tax investigation
Crypto investment firm Hashed is currently under investigation by the National Tax Service (NTS) in South Korea according to local media. The 4th Bureau of Investigation from the Seoul Regional Tax Office, which is handling the investigation, is best known for conducting investigations into tax evasion and slush fundraising. A slush fund is a pool of funds raised through undisclosed means and set aside for undisclosed purposes. On Dec. 7, local media reported that the exact nature of the investigation is not clear. An official from the regional tax office told reporters that although they could not confirm the exact …
Business / Dec. 7, 2021
Huobi and Shiba Inu community to help BitMart overcome $200M hack
Following a near $200 million hack on the BitMart exchange, the Shiba Inu (SHIB) community and crypto exchange Huobi Global aim to help the exchange strengthen security and track inflows of stolen assets. On Dec. 5, crypto exchange BitMart became victim to a hot wallet compromise hosted over the Ethereum (ETH) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchains. As a result, the hackers were able to steal over $196 million, roughly $100 million over the Ethernet network and around $96 million over the BSC blockchain. 1/3 We have identified a large-scale security breach related to one of our ETH hot wallets …
Blockchain / Dec. 6, 2021