Nearly a month after a massive hack led to the loss of $234 million from WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet, the Indian crypto exchange has restored investor balances. However, the timeline for when users can withdraw their funds remains unclear, causing frustration and anxiety among investors. On August 16, WazirX provided an update stating that they are focusing on resolving two main issues: defining the proper approach when dealing with the balances in the Indian Rupee (INR) and the issues...
Read More »Sterlingov Challenges Against Lengthy Sentence in Bitcoin Fog Case
Roman Sterlingov, the founder of the crypto mixer Bitcoin Fog, is challenging a potential 30-year prison sentence after being convicted on multiple money laundering charges. Sterlingov’s defense team argues that the recommended sentences of 30 years by the prosecution and 20 years by the Probation Office are excessive and unfair compared to similar cases. The defense insists that such severe recommendations stem from the “cumulative effect” of various legal enhancements that address...
Read More »US Government Transferred 10,000 Bitcoin Seized from Silk Road to Coinbase Prime Account
The US Government transferred close to $600 million in bitcoin to a Coinbase Prime deposit wallet. Contrary to popular belief in the crypto circles, this transaction to an exchange may not imply selling activity. The US Government moved 10,000 bitcoins, worth $593.91 million, to a Coinbase Prime deposit wallet on August 14. These assets were seized from the darknet marketplace Silk Road. The wallet transferring these funds, ‘bc1qlap8hkt9genaljz5nt2zlehhudx63zlahr2zek,’ received the bitcoin...
Read More »This Canadian Crypto Exchange Gambled Away $9.5 Million of Users’ Bitcoin and Ether
The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has determined that the cryptocurrency trading platform ezBtc and its founder, David Smillie, defrauded investors of approximately $9.5 million, equivalent to 13 million Canadian dollars, in crypto assets. The BCSC’s investigation uncovered that ezBtc and Smillie engaged in misleading and deceptive practices, misappropriating funds intended for customer accounts. Crypto Funds Diverted for Gambling According to the official...
Read More »WazirX Schedules Maintenance To Restore Balances Post $234M Hack
WazirX, the Indian cryptocurrency exchange, had scheduled a maintenance period to restore account balances and reverse specific trades following a major security breach. WazirX made this announcement on its social media platform, X. The maintenance occured from 6 p.m. on August 15 to 2 a.m. IST on August 16, during which all services on the platform were temporarily unavailable. The attack happened on July 18 and led to the theft of $234.9m worth of cryptocurrency assets. This hack was...
Read More »US SEC Brings Fraud Charges Against Crypto Pyramid Scheme NovaTech
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against NovaTech for operating a fraudulent enterprise, resulting in $650 million in losses for unsuspecting investors. Its founders and promoters are also defendants in the suit, looking at the possibility of facing jail time along with fines and disgorgements. NovaTech, started by Cynthia and Eddy Petion, targeted religious groups, mainly Haitian churchgoers in the US and elsewhere. It amassed $650 million from over 200,000...
Read More »Australian Federal Police Investigating Phishing Scams That Targeted 2,000 Wallets
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has opened investigations into approval phishing scams that have stolen funds from about 2,000 wallets linked to Australian users. The information was revealed by a Chainalysis probe called ‘Operation Spincaster’ that studied scams of this nature across six countries spanning from May 2021. Scammers have stolen over $4 billion from users globally over the period the blockchain analysis firm investigated. In a blog published by Chainalysis last month, the...
Read More »Hackers Converted Stolen Funds to Ether as The Asset’s Price Tanked
A hacker who grabbed hundreds of millions from 2022’s Nomad bridge hack capitalized on ETH’s price drop to buy large amounts of the asset at a low price. They exchanged 39.75 million DAI for 16,892 ETH on August 5. ETH had dropped by over 20% in 12 hours, going from $2,760 to $2,172, which the hackers took advantage of. Lookonchain, an analytics firm analyzing on-chain activity, posted about the incident on X, “The #Nomad Bridge Exploiter spent 39.75M $DAI to buy 16,892 $ETH an hour ago and...
Read More »FBI Warns Crypto Users of Exchange Impersonation Scams
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has warned crypto users in the US of impersonation scams in which scammers mimic employees from crypto exchanges. By pretending to be official personnel representing the exchanges, they gain access to user accounts by creating fake urgency among users to act immediately to protect their funds. Thus, their funds get stolen. In an X post, the FBI mentioned, “The FBI is warning of scammers impersonating cryptocurrency exchange employees to steal your...
Read More »Bitcoin Holder Forced to Transfer Their Assets Before Being Killed
Four men in Ukraine were arrested for murdering a 29-year-old foreign national after stealing their bitcoin on midnight, July 29. The Ukrainian Police stated that the men, ranging in age between 24 and 29, walked away with around 2.55 bitcoin worth 7 million Ukrainian hryvnias, around $170,000, after launching their assault. A translated version of the statement about the arrests read, “Four men aged 24 to 29 carefully prepared a plan to kidnap the victim. Having seized the latter’s money,...
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