Your Taxes Paid for a Lot of Blockchain Surveillance Last Year

Governments worldwide have been ramping up regulations for cryptocurrencies and hiring research and blockchain surveillance teams. One firm that tracks transactions on the Bitcoin Core blockchain is called Chainalysis, and this year the company has gathered over a half a million USD on record from various government and law enforcement entities. Also read: South Korean Exchange … Read more

New Research: Laundering of Illicit Funds Less than 1% of Bitcoin Transactions

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center of Sanctions and Illicit Finance in conjunction with blockchain analytics company, Elliptic, has published a study seeking to track the circulations of illicit funds within the bitcoin economy from 2013 to 2016. The research concludes that the share of funds of illicit origin comprises less than one percent … Read more

US Sheriffs Welcome $1.7 Million Windfall After Students Plead Guilty to Stealing 5,400 BTC

Two Jacksonville students are facing up to two decades behind bars after pleading guilty to stealing $4 million worth of bitcoin. The pair hacked darknet site Sheep Marketplace in 2013 and made off with 5,400 BTC. Under forfeiture laws, Nassau County Sheriff’s Office will share in a $1.7 million windfall. Also read: US Marshals Plan to … Read more

US Marshals Plan to Auction $52M Worth of Seized Bitcoins

The U.S. Marshals announced on January 11 that the agency has plans to have another online bitcoin auction on January 22. The six-hour auction will see the sale of 3,813 bitcoins ($50Mn USD) seized from various criminal cases. Also read: Miami Bitcoin Conference Stops Accepting Bitcoin Due to Fees and Congestion A Six-Hour Online Bitcoin Auction … Read more

Ross Ulbricht’s Fate in the Hands of the US Supreme Court

Ross Ulbricht formally submitted a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), seeking a hearing for the overturn of a decision upheld this year by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Ulbricht’s double-life sentence without the possibility of parole is at stake. Also read: Bundesbank Board Member: No Plans … Read more

Bitcoiners Increasingly Targeted by Police as Prices Yield Large Asset Forfeiture Gains   

The Department of Justice has announced another potential auction of seized bitcoin, totalling over 8 million USD. There’s a noticeable uptick in bitcoin-related prosecutions since at least 2014 and the Ross Ulbricht, Silk Road affair. With the price of bitcoin rising to stratospheric heights, the phenomenon has made bitcoiners relatively wealthy; it might have also … Read more