Fraud
CFTC Sues Gemini Over 2017 BTC Futures Contract Evaluation
- One of the main points of the complaint is that Gemini provided misleading information on how susceptible to manipulation the BTC futures contract could be.
- The CFTC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, injunctions relating to registration and trading, and an injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act.
June 2, 2022, 6:59 PM
Founders of Gemini Tyler Winklevoss (L) and Cameron Winklevoss speak onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2015 on day 3 at The Manhattan Center on May 6, 2015 in New York City. Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Deus Finance Exploited for $13.4M in Flash Loan Attack
- Blockchain security firm PeckShield noted the attacker used a $143 million flash loan to inflate the price of DEI, allowing him to steal $13.4 million from Deus Finance.
- This is the second time in two months that a malicious entity had used a flash loan exploit to manipulate the price of digital assets on the DeFi platform.
April 28, 2022, 11:21 AM
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Gibraltar to Combat Crypto Market Manipulation With New Rules
- The legislation will implement new standards for crypto market integrity in Gibraltar, designed to combat insider trading and market manipulation in the sector.
- DLT providers will now be required to seek out and prevent insider trading, and the publication of misleading information aimed at manipulating the crypto market.
April 27, 2022, 4:41 PM
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Beanstalk Farms Loses $182M Following Exploit
- A flash loan allowed the attacker to obtain enough Beanstalk governance tokens to pass two proposals, enabling him to drain the protocol’s funds.
- The malicious entity was able to steal 24,830 ETH and 36 million BEAN tokens, which were then laundered through TornadoCash.
April 18, 2022, 4:17 PM
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Apr 15, 2022
Tornado Cash to Use Chainalysis to Block OFAC Sanctioned Addresses
- Roman Semenov, co-founder of Tornado Cash, explained that the blockade only applies to the platform’s frontend, and not the underlying smart contract.
- The news came only a day after the Treasury Department alleged that North Korean hacker group Lazarus was connected to the $625 million Ronin bridge hack.
Apr 6, 2022
U.S. Imposes Sanctions Against Russia’s Largest Darknet Marketplace
- Russian darknet marketplace Hydra and crypto exchange Garantex have been connected to Russian cybercrime, and have become the new targets for OFAC sanctions.
- In its investigation, OFAC found more than $8 million connected to ransomware attacks had moved through Hydra, while Garantex had facilitated over $100 million in illicit transactions.
Apr 4, 2022
Trezor Warns Users of Newsletter Phishing Attack
- Trezor users reported on Saturday they had received phishing e-mails from individuals that tried to lure them into downloading malicious code.
- On Sunday Trezor confirmed that Mailchimp had its services compromised by an “insider targeting crypto companies”, and that the phishing domain had been taken down.
Apr 1, 2022
Bored Ape Yacht Club Discord Channel Compromised
- Bored Ape Yacht Club, Doodles, Shamanzs, and Nyoki Discord channels have all been compromised by a hacker, who attempted to use phishing links to steal NFTs.
- Security researchers have noted that the attacker most likely used a Discord ticket tool to gain access to the NFT-focused channels.
Mar 25, 2022
DoJ Cracks Down on $1.1M NFT Rug Pull
- The founders of NFT project “Frosties”, Ethan Nguyen and Andre Llacuna, were arrested on Thursday and charged for fraud and money laundering.
- The two individuals, who took off with $1.1 million in January, were preparing to hold another alleged NFT rug pull later this year.
Mar 3, 2022
50 Crypto Businesses Currently Under FCA Investigation
- Between April and September 2021 the FCA has investigated more than 300 cases connected to unregulated crypto businesses.
- While the FCA has received hundreds of registration applications, it has so far approved of only 33 crypto-related businesses.