Report: Biden Administration ‘Crypto Tsar’ Says DOJ will Target Digital Asset Exchange Platforms

According to Eun Young Choi, the head of the crypto unit at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the United States has resolved to target digital platforms because they are making it easy for criminals and money launderers. Choi said the DOJ hopes taking action against entities such as crypto exchanges is “going to have … Read more

Feds Seize $34 Million in Crypto From Unidentified Florida Man

On April 4, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of South Florida revealed that law enforcement seized $34 million in crypto assets from an unidentified man living in Florida. According to the DOJ, the man allegedly conducted more than 100,000 sales on darknet markets, selling online account information tied to … Read more

$3.6 Billion Crypto Heist: South African Bank Denies Business Relationship With Fraud Accused Africrypt

According to local media, leading South African financial institution FNB is denying allegations of a banking relationship with the recently collapsed crypto investment company, Africrypt. FNB also insists it did not enable the investment company’s transactions which helped Africrypt’s two directors disappear with billions of dollars in investor funds. Disappearance of Investor Funds The financial … Read more

Report Claims the FBI Uses Bitcoin Mixers During BTC Forfeiture Processing

Over the last eight years, U.S. law enforcement has seized a great number of bitcoins and at one time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) held one of the largest bitcoin wallets after the Silk Road takedown. A recently published report shows the FBI has started using cryptocurrency mixing applications in recent times in order … Read more

Mirror Trading International Named Biggest Crypto Scam of the Year After Raking in $589 Million

Blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis’ latest crime report has named Mirror Trading International (MTI) as the biggest cryptocurrency scam of 2020. Chainalysis arrived at this conclusion after an investigation found that MTI had taken in $589 million from more than 471,000 deposits. According to the report, MTI’s haul is significantly higher than that of Forsage and … Read more

MTI Bitcoins Sent to Privacy Mixers as New Data Breach Exposes the Ponzi Scheme’s Top Earners

In another twist to the Mirror Trading International (MTI) bitcoin Ponzi scam, the blockchain intelligence firm Whitestream says bitcoins from wallets associated with the company are being sent to Wasabi privacy mixers. According to Whitestream’s update, this pivot to mixers suggests that operators of the Ponzi are trying to obfuscate the movement of the bitcoins. … Read more

Study: Over 13% of All Proceeds of Crimes in Bitcoin Passed Through Privacy Wallets in 2020

According to a study published by the blockchain analysis firm Elliptic, over 13% of all proceeds of crime in bitcoin (BTC) were laundered via privacy wallets in 2020, up from 2% from the figures posted in 2019. 13% of All Proceeds of Crimes Leveraging BTC Were Laundered Via Privacy Wallets Dr. Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s co-founder … Read more

Bitcoin Use on Darknet Markets Jumps 65% in First Quarter

Bitcoin transactions on darknet markets jumped 65% in value during the first quarter, according to research by a blockchain analytics firm. The amount of bitcoin sent from darknet entities to mixers also grew rapidly as exchanges with verification requirements became less popular among darknet users. Growing Bitcoin Use on Darknet Markets Crystal Blockchain’s analytics team … Read more