Cali Haan

Spain: Finance Regulator Blacklists Unauthorized Crypto Exchange

Spain’s finance regulator, The Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), has blacklisted a purported crypto and Forex brokerage called FX Trading corporation after the CNMV determined the company was facilitating “asset” trades for Spanish investors without being licensed to do so in the country,… Read More

“Airdrop” Awry: Korean Crypto Exchange Accidentally Sends $5.3 Million in Crypto to Users

A Korean exchange called Coinzest accidentally sent users $5.3 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum last week, Cryptonews reports. Coinzest was in the midst of conducting a promotional “airdrop” of a crypto token called WeGameTokens (WGT), but thanks to a “computer error,” the exchange sent users… Read More

Execs from Komid Crypto Exchange Convicted of Wash Trading in Korea. One Blames Finance Authorities for Not Stopping Him

Two executives from the Korean cryptocurrency Komid have been imprisoned for creating fake volume on the exchange in order to deceive investors, Korean media outlet Blockinpress reports. Komid Choi has reportedly been sentenced in Seoul to three year’s imprisonment for fraud and embezzlement, and an accomplice, Park… Read More

Analysts Claim Cryptopia Exchange Watched Powerless for Days as Hackers “Drained” $16 Million from Crypto Hot Wallets

Blockchain data analysis firm Elementus has published stunning claims regarding last week’s hack on the New Zealand Cryptopia cryptocurrency exchange. Little information regarding the scope or nature of the attack has so far been issued by Cryptopia itself or New Zealand police. Two days ago,… Read More

Two Arrested for Kidnapping and Attempted Kidnapping of Two Children in South Africa, Bitcoin Ransom Demanded

Police in South Africa have arrested suspects believed to be behind the kidnapping of a 13-year-old boy from Witbank and the attempted kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl from Middelburg, Times Live reports. The boy was reportedly kidnapped “in broad daylight” close to his home on… Read More

Six Alleged Bitcoin Mining Equipment Thieves Convicted in Iceland

Seven men police believe conspired to rob multiple Bitcoin “mines” in Iceland have been convicted, and their leader sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, Icelandic news outlet DV reports. Starting in December 2017, and for several weeks thereafter, six men led by Sindri Thor Steffanson allegedly robbed… Read More

Cryptocurrency Gains Officially Taxable in Chile

“Due to the boom that the commercialization of these assets,” profits from the sale and trading of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies are now taxable in Chile, Diario Bitcoin reports. Chilean tax authorities have added a special provision to tax form 22, a deliberately vague, catch-all… Read More

Use of Bitcoin on Dark Net Doubled in 2018 Despite 80% Price Drop

An average of $2 million USD in Bitcoins per day is still flowing into Dark Net markets, despite an 80% price slump and the mid-2017 shuttering of Alpha Bay and Hansa, two popular Dark marketplaces, Reuters reports. Reuters says that flow represents a doubling of… Read More

Seven Charged in Taiwan Crypto Investment Case

Seven individuals have been arrested in Taiwan and charged with operating a crypto investment scheme police believe defrauded 1000 investors out of $51 million USD, Focus Taiwan reports. The seven are charged with “violating multiple banking and business…laws” covered by Taiwan’s Banking and Multi-Level Marketing Supervision acts. Among… Read More

New Monero CryptoMining Malware Targeting Alibaba and Tencent Clouds

Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 “global threat intelligence team” has identified a new exploit illegally mining Monero cryptocurrency on Chinese public cloud networks: “Palo Alto networks recently captured and investigated new samples of the Linux coin mining malware used by the Rocke group…. Read More

Transparency Report: Shapeshift Crypto Wallet Company Received 60 Subpoenas (or Equivalent) Last Year

Crypto wallet and trading app provider Shapeshift has disclosed that it received 60 requests for information from law enforcement agencies across the globe last year. The company says it is providing the data on law enforcement inquiries in the interest of transparency and to distinguish… Read More

Bitcoin Payments Processor Bitpay Announces Record 2018 Revenues

Bitcoin payments processor Bitpay says it processed over one billion dollars of Bitcoin payments in 2018 for retail and government clients, and has, “set a new record for transaction fee revenue by adding new customers like Dish Networks, HackerOne, and the State of Ohio.” The… Read More

Fortnite In-Game Currency Allegedly Being Used to Launder Criminal Proceeds

Criminals are using stolen credit cards to buy Fortnite “V-bucks” then sell it “in-bulk” on the dark net to wash the proceeds- and the company doesn’t seem to be doing much about it, say cybersecurity experts cited in The Independent. According to Benjamin Preminger, a senior… Read More

Survey: American Investors Lost $1.7 Billion on Bitcoin, Many Don’t Know Rules or Value of Tax Reporting

A survey conducted by the credit score provider Credit Karma of 1009 US adult Bitcoin investors has determined Americans investors may have incurred $1.7 billion in collective realized losses from Bitcoin speculation- about $718 USD each. The survey also determined an additional $5.7 billion in… Read More

Fingers Crossed: Thai Crypto Exchange Denied License, Will Reapply

Coin Asset, a Thai cryptocurrency exchange is “seeking a way to remain open” after being denied a license by the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bangkok Post reports: “Coin Asset chief executive Sivanus Yamdee said the company will meet the SEC on Friday to discuss continuing its… Read More

South African Authorities Urge Regulation of Crypto Sector, Aim to Do So By End of Q1 2019

Authorities responsible for regulating finance, banking and taxation in South Africa have issued a consultation paper stating that regulation of the cryptocurrency/digital token sector should be enacted forthwith and adjusted to accommodate innovation later: “The IFWG and Crypto Assets Regulatory Working Group is of the… Read More

Russian Malware-Infected Movie File Used to Steal Cryptocurrencies, Rip Off Wikipedia

Russian-sourced malware targeting PC users that download movie files from Pirate Bay is being used to steal cryptocurrencies, “poison” people’s browsers with compromised pop-ups and even divert Wikipedia donations to attackers, Bleeping Computer reports. The malicious file was discovered by security researcher 0xffff0800 in a copy of the… Read More

Belarus Selling “Tokenized Stocks” for Crypto- Buyer Beware

Two Belarusian investment companies, VP Capital and Larnabel Ventures, have launched a platform called Currency.com to sell Ethereum-based digital tokens they say represent stocks and commodities like Apple, oil and gold, Yahoo Finance reports. The site will reportedly buy the tokens using other cryptocurrencies. PR… Read More

Anonymous Investigator Claims Ripple Overstating Banking Partnerships

An anonymous investigator called “Crypto Reckoning” has published a video containing allegations that three banking partnerships claimed by Ripple, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency project by market cap, are thin at best. Ripple’s creators came from banking, and, according to Cryptocurrencyfacts.com, determined to create Ripple… Read More

Police Confirm Amount Hacked from New Zealand Cryptocurrency Exchange Cryptopia “Significant,” Investigation Continues

New Zealand cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia went dark this week after “suffer(ing) a security breach which resulted in significant losses,” on Monday: The exchange is still offline this morning and all trading suspended pending “maintenance.” New Zealand Police issued a press release today regarding the hack stating… Read More

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