December 6, 2018 @ 2:49 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Security researchers from the Imperial College of London say cryptocurrency pump-and-dump schemes are creating at least $7 million a month in fake volume, money presumably scalped from crypto traders not in the loop, Technology Review reports. On November 14th, for example, researchers Jiahua Xu and Benjamin… Read More

December 5, 2018 @ 7:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

US Department of the Treasury Under Secretary, Sigal Mandelker, told attendees of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference this week that she expects to cooperate with financial institutions to enhance their illicit finance countermeasures: “We encourage the private sector…to stay proactive and to innovate with new… Read More

December 5, 2018 @ 1:15 am By Cali Haan  |  

A South African Bitcoin trader is recovering in intensive care following his abduction and torture by bandits who allegedly robbed him of almost $66 000 USD in Bitcoin and cash. According to Soweto Urban, the man agreed to do a talk on cryptocurrency for a… Read More

December 4, 2018 @ 2:15 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Department is seeking proposals from contractors skilled in blockchain forensics, data analysis, and information sharing. More specifically, the DHS/SBIR is satisfied with its ability to investigate transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain but seeks to be able… Read More

December 4, 2018 @ 11:55 am By Cali Haan  |  

ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin announced in a company-wide letter last week that his company, Ethereum’s largest private offshoot, will be regrouping for greater efficiency under the moniker “ConsenSys 2.0,” Breakermag reports. In the letter sent to employees at the end of the workday Friday, Lubin wrote:… Read More

December 4, 2018 @ 3:23 am By Cali Haan  |  

BC Hydro, the semi-privatised crown corporation that manages most of the power infrastructure and supply in the Canadian province of British Columbia, says in the last year, cryptocurrency mining farms have requested to add up to 5000 megawatts of load to the province’s electrical systems,… Read More

December 4, 2018 @ 2:18 am By Cali Haan  |  

“One of the most formidable hacking armies in the world,” is now believed to be targeting the crypto holdings of individuals, particularly wealthy ones, The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. North Korean hackers have been identified by Group IB and others as the likely culprits behind… Read More

December 3, 2018 @ 9:17 pm By Cali Haan  |  

At the end of a long speech about cultivating an honest and effective wealth management industry in China’s political and financial capital, Beijing, Huo Xuewen, nixed the idea ICOs (initial coin offerings) will be allowed to quickly morph into security tokens (STOs) anytime soon. According… Read More

December 3, 2018 @ 11:16 am By Cali Haan  |  

A former blockchain division head at Ernst & Young (EY) has gone public about his misgivings regarding the much-hyped potential of corporate blockchain. Angus Champion de Crespigny, who graduated as an engineer and who has worked in cybersecurity, data analytics, regulatory compliance, and technology worked at… Read More

December 3, 2018 @ 9:48 am By Cali Haan  |  

Three researchers at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) say that of none of 43 “blockchain for charity” projects they studied were willing or able to prove claims the new tech is revolutionizing the sector as claimed: “We found a proliferation of press releases, white… Read More

December 1, 2018 @ 7:11 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A purported environmentally-friendly project for the mining of cryptocurrencies in Switzerland has been dissolved by a Swiss court as a result of bitter infighting by founders, Michael Luckow and Matthias Woestmann, Swiss news outlet Handelsblatt reports. A reported 30 000 investors may now have a… Read More

December 1, 2018 @ 11:00 am By Cali Haan  |  

Jared Rice Sr, the man behind AriseBank and the associated cryptocurrency/token, AriseCoin, has been indicted in the Northern District of Texas and, if convicted, faces a possible prison sentence of 120 years. Rice Sr was arrested by the FBI Wednesday and is charged with 3… Read More

December 1, 2018 @ 8:30 am By Cali Haan  |  

A Vancouver-based firm mining Bitcoin and Bitcoin cash has reported a Q3 loss of $1.5 million, thanks mainly to very high levels of mining “difficulty” (competition) in relevant networks coinciding with a “significant decline in the price of Bitcoin.” The report offers a rare glimpse… Read More

November 30, 2018 @ 4:49 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A raid initiated yesterday at Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt has continued into today as 170 police, prosecutors and tax officials look for evidence of money laundering described in the Panama papers, Reuters reports. The raid has involved a comprehensive search of the offices of… Read More

November 30, 2018 @ 1:10 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A 27-year-old woman in New York has pleaded guilty to financing the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or Daesh). According to a release from the US Department of Justice, between March and July 31st, 2017, Zoobia Shahnaz of Brentwood, New York, committed multiple acts… Read More

November 30, 2018 @ 12:37 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned the Bitcoin addresses of two Iranians the office says processed Bitcoin ransoms on behalf of Iranian hackers who targeted government and business sites in the US and Canada. Anyone who does… Read More

November 30, 2018 @ 9:25 am By Cali Haan  |  

Increased competition in the “DDos-attack-for-sale” market and sometimes attractive cryptocurrency prices are inclining botnet commanders to switch their priorities towards the dissemination of crypto mining malware, cybersecurity researchers at Kaspersky Lab (KL) claim. In a DDos attack, an infected network of computers called a botnet sends… Read More

November 30, 2018 @ 8:10 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Chairperson of the SEC, Jay Clayton, spoke about the regulation of cryptocurrencies Thursday evening with reporter and author Andrew Ross Sorkin at a “Times Talk” hosted by The New York Times. Sorkin began by stating that Clayton may have “the swing vote” regarding the… Read More

November 29, 2018 @ 7:15 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Yesterday, the American Justice Department indicted Iranian citizens Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27, for executing remote cyber attacks against 200 American government agencies, municipalities and health care businesses, the Daily Mail reports. The charges were announced by US Deputy Attorney… Read More

November 29, 2018 @ 2:27 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Plaintiffs who pressed criminal fraud charges in Cyprus against accused former BTC-e crypto exchange administrator Alexander Vinnick have withdrawn the charges, TASS reports. “A court session of the Limassol District Court was held on November 27, 2018, where the plaintiffs withdrew the action to accuse… Read More