Tagged: crypto crime

August 12, 2025 @ 3:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The cryptocurrency sector in 2025 has matured significantly, offering opportunities for growth while serving as a breeding ground for sophisticated financial crimes. As scams and money laundering tactics evolve, compliance professionals face mounting challenges in safeguarding platforms and users. A recent report from Elliptic, a… Read More

August 3, 2025 @ 9:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Telegram’s May 2025 ban on two major illicit cryptocurrency marketplaces, Huione Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee, has disrupted Southeast Asia’s guarantee services ecosystem, though it has not eradicated it. According to a July 29, 2025, report by TRM Labs, these platforms, which facilitated over $35 billion… Read More

July 27, 2025 @ 5:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Earlier this year, the cryptocurrency space was negatively impacted by the collapse of CBEX, a supposed trading platform that defrauded investors of nearly $1 billion. As detailed in Elliptic’s blog post, part of their 2025 State of Cross-Chain Crime report, CBEX’s downfall exposed the sophisticated… Read More

June 10, 2025 @ 4:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In an international operation codenamed Operation RapTor, U.S. and Taiwanese law enforcement reportedly dismantled Incognito Market – a notorious darknet marketplace “that facilitated over $100 million in illegal drug sales.” Binance‘s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) played “a pivotal role in helping bring the platform’s operators… Read More

June 1, 2025 @ 5:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In 2024, the cryptocurrency industry witnessed an unprecedented surge in scams, with revenues potentially reaching a record-breaking $12.4 billion, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the proliferation of “pig butchering” scams have significantly contributed to this alarming trend,… Read More

May 27, 2025 @ 7:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

In a report titled All Roads Lead to China, TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm, has unveiled the intricate web of Chinese underground banking networks that have emerged as the financial linchpin of global illicit activities. These networks, leveraging both traditional and modern financial mechanisms,… Read More

May 21, 2025 @ 10:05 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged New York City-based Unicoin, Inc. and three of its top executives—CEO and Board Chairman Alex Konanykhin; Silvina Moschini, former president, former board chairwoman, and current board member; and former Chief Investment Officer Alex Dominguez—for “false and misleading statements… Read More

May 20, 2025 @ 2:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The cryptocurrency boom has minted a new class of ultra-wealthy investors and executives, but their digital fortunes are increasingly attracting dangerous attention. As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies surge in value, criminals are increasingly targeting crypto elites with violent tactics, prompting a surge in demand for… Read More

May 14, 2025 @ 10:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has exposed Xinbi Guarantee, a Colorado-registered company operating a Telegram-based black market that has facilitated $8.4 billion in illicit cryptocurrency transactions since 2022. This Chinese-language platform, masquerading as an “investment and capital guarantee group,” has become a hub for Southeast Asian… Read More

May 9, 2025 @ 7:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius Network, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on May 8, 2025, for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that defrauded investors of billions. The sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl in Manhattan’s Southern District,… Read More

May 1, 2025 @ 8:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to face relentless challenges from hacks, scams, and sophisticated laundering operations, with 2025 already marking a grim milestone in crypto crime. According to detailed research reports from Immunefi, Elliptic, and Chainalysis, the scale of financial losses and illicit activity in the… Read More

January 25, 2025 @ 12:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, a French cryptocurrency hardware wallet company, was recently the victim of a kidnapping incident in central France. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that Balland was abducted on January 21 and held captive until his release on January 22, following a… Read More

November 19, 2024 @ 1:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ilya Lichtenstein was sentenced to 60 months for his alleged role in laundering more than 120,000 Bitcoin, which was reportedly stolen from the crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016. This was the sentence recommended by Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney Jessica Peck. Lichtenstein’s wife, Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, is… Read More

November 18, 2024 @ 8:50 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Gurvais Grigg, a former Special Agent and senior executive for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with 30+ years of public and private sector experience, is now serving as the Global Public Sector CTO at Chainalysis, where his work assists law enforcement (LE) and other… Read More

April 21, 2024 @ 8:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The United States Justice Department is reporting its first cryptocurrency open-market manipulation case. A federal jury in New York has now “convicted a man residing in Puerto Rico of commodities fraud, commodities market manipulation, and wire fraud in connection with the manipulation on the Mango… Read More

January 21, 2024 @ 6:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

2023 was a year of “recovery” for cryptocurrency, as the industry “rebounded from the scandals, blowups, and price declines of 2022,” according to an extensive update shared by Chainalysis. With crypto assets rebounding and market activity growing over the course of 2023, many believe that… Read More

September 9, 2023 @ 3:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Faruk Fatih Özer, the former Chief Executive of collapsed Turkey-based cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, has reportedly been sentenced to 11,196 years in prison on Thursday (September 7, 2023). Stealing around $2 billion from his clients led to the CEO of one of Turkey’s biggest virtual currency… Read More

July 13, 2023 @ 7:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

2023 so far has been a year of “recovery” for cryptocurrency after a chaotic 2022, with prices of digital assets like Bitcoin up over 80% on the year as of June 30, the team at Chainalysis noted. And that’s not the only “good news” for… Read More

July 1, 2023 @ 7:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

TRM Labs, which claims to be the leader in blockchain intelligence solutions, released the Illicit Crypto Ecosystem Report, a detailed guide to the complex dynamics of crypto crime. The new report “identifies over 40 types of criminal activity, and reveals that a seismic shift in… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 9:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The dramatic rise of cryptocurrency theft during the last couple years has become a serious concern for US authorities, who are increasing their efforts to crackdown on bad actors and illicit crypto-related activities. This past year, crypto-focused hackers have reportedly been able to steal around… Read More