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 …

ourtesy of Kat Taylor Cattytay, digital fashion appeared in 2017. However, we began to talk loudly about it only in 2020. It all began five years ago when Kat first made an Instagram post with the caption “Virtual Clothing!!!” Then, there was a collaboration with Adidas, Off-White, Vetements and Balenciaga. These brands were interested in introducing fashion digitalization even before it blew up in the mass media discourse. Note that the COVID-19 pandemic had yet to happen and people were not stuck at home. Thus, there was no need for digital clothing at all. Nevertheless, it happened and fashion digitalization …

According to recent filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Monster Energy has four pending trademark applications related to the nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and metaverse realms. The first trademark application consists of downloadable virtual goods comprised of, but not limited to, beverages, food, supplements, sports, gaming, music, and apparel. According to the filing, such downloadable multimedia assets will be "authenticated by NFTs." Also included in the application are computer programs facilitating blockchain data interactions. The second filing consists of retail store and online retail store services authenticated by NFTs, as well as an "online marketplace for buyers …

On Wednesday, decentralized finance, or DeFi, detective @zachxbt published a long thread about TreasureDAO's frontend engineer Just Cheese, or JC, and his alleged past involvement in several nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, projects. According to its whitepaper, TreasureDAO is a "decentralized NFT ecosystem on Arbitrum that is built specifically for metaverse projects." Listed projects use the ecosystem's native token MAGIC for transactions, with TreasureDAO governing the emission of MAGIC. As told by zachxbt, the story began when JC shared his wallet address in the TreasureDAO discord last November. The DeFi detective then claimed to have backtraced a key series of inflows, …

The rise of community-oriented blockchain security companies may be making it more difficult for alleged bad actors to get away without a trace. Early Wednesday, CertiK issued a community alert regarding Flurry Finance, where its smart contracts were allegedly breached by hackers, leading to $293,000 worth of funds being stolen. Shortly after the incident, CertiK published the wallet addresses of the alleged perpetrator, the address of the malicious token contract, and a PancakeSwap pair address allegedly involved in the attack, leading to a warning issued on BscScan. While the firm audited the project's smart contracts, it appears that the exploit …

On Tuesday, London Stock Exchange Group, or LSEG, announced the acquisition of U.S.-based cloud technology provider Tora for $325 million; the deal is expected to close in the second half of the year. Tora offers software trading solutions for customers exposed to stocks, forex, fixed income securities, derivatives, and cryptocurrencies. In justifying the acquisition, LSEG specifically outlined the importance of the latter: "The addition of digital assets to LSEG's trading capabilities strengthens its presence in this rapidly expanding asset class at a time when institutional market participants are increasing exposure to crypto and other digital assets." Tora's crypto trading solution …

“The Market Report” with Cointelegraph is live right now. On this week’s show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss which memecoins can get you the most return on investment in 2022. But first, market expert Marcel Pechman carefully examines the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) markets. Are the current market conditions bullish or bearish? What is the outlook for the next few months? Pechman is here to break it down. Next up: the main event. Join Cointelegraph analysts Benton Yaun, Jordan Finneseth and Sam Bourgi as they debate which popular memecoin can get you the most bang for your buck. First up …

Grayscale Investments’ latest report “Reimagining the Future of Finance” defines the digital economy as “the intersection of technology and finance that’s increasingly defined by digital spaces, experiences, and transactions.” With this in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many financial institutions have begun to offer services that allow clients access to Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets. Last year, in particular, saw an influx of financial institutions incorporating support for crypto-asset custody. For example, Bank of New York Mellon, or BNY Mellon, announced in February 2021 plans to hold, transfer and issue Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as an …

Unlike some of my peers in the technology space, I don’t see the Metaverse as a virtual world in which we work, socialize and shop. Rather, I see it as a point in time, reached in 2020 and into this year because of the global pandemic, when the digital world became as important as the physical world. It’s a shift away from the idea that physical reality is superior and preferred over digital reality. Work for many has turned into a series of Zoom meetings, people are buying virtual real estate, and children are spending time with their friends in …

One of the main themes among the crypto community in 2021 was China’s aggressive policy toward mining, which led to a complete ban on such activities in September. While mining as a type of financial activity has not gone away and is unlikely to disappear, Chinese cryptocurrency miners had to look for a new place to set up shop. Many of them moved to the United States — the world’s new mining mecca — while some left to Scandinavia and others to nearby Kazakhstan, with its cheap electricity. Mining activities can’t stay under the radar forever, and governments around the …

As the first month of 2022 drew to a close, the internet was abuzz with trend predictions for the year ahead. Bloggers, Twitter influencers and established business moguls alike were, and still are, incredibly excited about the new opportunities afforded by an explosion of innovation in Web3. However, something you may have missed in scrolling pages of celebrity-backed NFT drops or speculations about the metaverse was the launch of a new company called Altos Labs, reportedly backed by Amazon’s former CEO Jeffrey Bezos. The language that followed the launch was largely typical of how many mainstream journalists talk about the …

In a tweet published early Friday, Do Kwon, founder of Terraform Labs, the entity developing the Terra Luna (LUNA) and Terra USD (UST) stablecoin ecosystem, announced the injection of 450 million UST ($450 million) into the Anchor protocol's reserves. The proposal passed a vote by the Luna Foundation Guard on Feb.10. Anchor serves as the flagship savings protocol of the Terra ecosystem, offering users of up to 20% interest per annum on their UST deposits, paid for by borrowers. Funded. pic.twitter.com/NLvnSa0bBu — Do Kwon (@stablekwon) February 18, 2022 The protocol's reserves had recently dwindled to as low as $6.56 million …