CRYPTOLOGY

2023-12-07 13:09:36 Open / Comment

2023-12-05 20:03:57 Spanish Man Wanted by FBI for North Korean Crypto Scheme Arrested

A Spanish fugitive wanted by the FBI for his role in providing blockchain services to North Korea has been arrested, according to a statement from the National Police of Spain.

Spanish police alleged Alejandro Cao de Benós, founder of the Korean Friendship Association, has been hiding out in Catalonia and potentially using fake documentation as he had been designated an international flight risk. He was detained upon arrival in Madrid following a journey by train from Barcelona, according to a press release from the Spanish National Police dated December 1st, 2023.

According to the FBI, Cao de Benós organized the “Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference” alongside co-conspirator Christopher Emms for North Korea’s benefit in 2018. The following year, Cao de Benós recruited cryptocurrency expert Virgil Griffith “to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services” to North Korea.

The U.S. Department of Justice claims both Emms and Cao de Benós taught top North Korean officials how they “could use blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to launder money and evade sanctions” as part of the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference. Moreover, the duo proposed specialized “smart contracts” tailored to North Korea’s “unique interests” and “mapped out cryptocurrency transactions designed to evade and avoid U.S. sanctions,” the Justice Department stated.

Griffith, who previously worked as a developer for Ethereum, was arrested in November 2019 and pleaded guilty to violating the International Economic Powers Act by helping North Korea evade sanctions in April 2022. He was sentenced to serve 63 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. As part of his plea agreement, Griffith must also pay $100,000. Open / Comment

2023-12-04 21:14:43 Open / Comment

2023-12-02 21:10:49 NFT Prices Are Still Lagging Behind Ether's Gains

Crypto is inching toward bull-market territory, but non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have failed to benefit from the market euphoria. While ether (ETH) is up approximately 70% year-to-date, NFT valuations aren't following. Nansen's NFT-500 index, which measures the valuation of the top 500 NFTs, has dropped 50% year-to-date when denominated in ether and 16% in dollar terms. The Blue-Chip 10 index, which measures the valuations of the most prominent NFTs.

OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, hasn't fared much better. At the height of NFT mania in January 2022, the platform was clearing $387.48 million in fees every month and $120.45 million in revenue, according to data from DeFiLlama. "NFTs have survived their first market cycle and have yet to take on a new jumping point in technology to usher in more user interest, like DeFi had with Uniswap's AMM," Nick Ruck, the COO of ContentFi, a decentralized IP-focused content financial ecosystem, said in an email interview. "Many new innovations are still being built to increase the use cases of NFTs, but it's also partly due to the fact that NFT prices are generally negatively correlated with the USD price of ether." Open / Comment

2023-11-29 22:47:30 AI News is already in action!

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More information on the website. Open / Comment

2023-11-29 18:27:20 Cristiano Ronaldo, MLB, and Mercedes F1 Hit with Litigation Relating to Binance

Four recent class action lawsuits were filed against high-profile organizations and individuals for promoting the crypto exchanges, according to court documents filed in Miami on Monday.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Major League Baseball, F1, and Mercedes-Benz and global advertising agency, Dentsu, are among the defendants listed.

The litigations come less than a month after FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty on seven different fraud-related charges in Manhattan federal court and less than a week after Binance founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao pleaded guilty to violating numerous federal statutes, including the Bank Secrecy Act.

Three of the lawsuits involve numerous organizations accused of “aiding and abetting and/or actively participating in the massive, multi-billion dollar fraud” committed by FTX through advertising the company as a safe and reputable exchange. The remaining lawsuit alleges Ronaldo, who partnered with Binance, “engaged in mass solicitation of investments in unregistered securities on behalf of Binance.” Open / Comment

2023-11-27 20:31:26 Open / Comment

2023-11-26 16:34:45 CoinFLEX Crypto Exchange Creditors Accuse Other Exchange OPNX of Wrongful Use of Assets

Creditors of the crypto derivatives exchange CoinFLEX are alleging that the newly established creditor claims marketplace OPNX, founded by bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) co-founders Kyle Davies and Su Zhu, wrongfully used CoinFLEX assets without their consent.

The accusations are detailed in a writ of summons filed in the High Court of Hong Kong and was first reported on by Cointelegraph on Thursday.

The plaintiffs, Liquidity Technologies and Liquidity Technologies Software, entities associated with CoinFLEX’s original operations, claim that OPNX co-founder and former CoinFLEX CEO Mark Lamb misappropriated assets, intellectual properties, and trade secrets of CoinFLEX during his tenure. The filing alleged that Lamb diverted clients and business opportunities to OPNX, solicited employees and contractors, and engaged in actions detrimental to CoinFLEX creditors.

Critics argue that Lamb’s actions have included forging a fake non-disclosure agreement and falsely representing OPNX’s association with CoinFLEX creditors. The accusations also highlight Lamb’s simultaneous involvement in setting up OPNX while serving as CoinFLEX’s CEO.

The legal action is a response to dissatisfaction with the restructuring of CoinFLEX, which halted withdrawals, leading creditors to form an ad hoc committee for deliberations. After the restructuring’s approval on March 7, creditors claim to have discovered Lamb’s actions against their interests, leading to the filing of the writ of summons. Open / Comment

2023-11-23 20:40:45 Blockchain Association Releases 2023 Annual Report

Founded in 2018, the Blockchain Association is a crypto advocacy group spearheaded by CEO Kristin Smith. According to their website, the organization’s goal is to advance “a future-forward, pro-innovation national policy and regulatory framework for the crypto economy.”

In particular, the report details the Blockchain Association’s launch of 14 “issue-based and sector-specific working groups” covering significant conversations happening across Web3.

Moreover, the advocacy group engaged in 175 House and Senate meetings and joined nearly 30 calls with White House officials.

“Besides legislative efforts in Congress, our team has filed many comment letters with regulatory agencies to ensure the rulemaking process is fair, narrowly tailored, and does not negatively impact digital asset innovation in the U.S.,” said the Blockchain Association’s Senior Counsel, Marisa Copel and Senior Policy Director, Sarah Milby.

“The trials of 2023 have only reaffirmed our commitment to our mission, and as we look to the future, we do so with optimism, resilience, and a drive to further our shared vision,” stated Dan Spuller, Senior Director of Industry Affairs for the Blockchain Association. Open / Comment

2023-11-22 15:21:43 Open / Comment