Interpol issues warning that Bitcoin ransomware cyberattacks targeting hospitals could lead directly to deaths in covid-19

Tweet Interpol has released a warning that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, ransomware cybersecurity attacks against hospitals and other institutions and research departments, are expected to increase. The way ransomware attacks work is that hackers infiltrate and take exclusive control over computer systems, locking out the administrators, and promise to relinquish control of the computer systems […]

SEC files injunction against digital currency executives who allegedly obtained investments on the basis of false representations

Tweet The US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) filed a complaint in Texas on March 16, 2020, against Robert Dunlap, Nicole Bowdler, the girlfriend of Dunlap, and a former Washington State Senator, David Schmidt, in connection with a digital currency they launched called Meta 1 coin (the “MetaCoin“) which raised US$4 million from the […]

US unseals money laundering indictment against owner of Bitcoin mixing service that was used by Canadian darknet site

Tweet Indictment for mixing service On February 13, 2020, the US government unsealed an indictment against Larry Dean Harmon, the alleged founder of a Bitcoin mixing Bitcoin service, and of a darknet search engine that hooked up with the now-defunct illegal Canadian darknet site called AlphaBay, operated by Alexandre Cazes. The mixing service was called […]

American ICO lawyer and director of Vancouver Blockchain company, hit with more extortion charges

Tweet Grand jury indictment for Canadian director Steven Nerayoff, a US lawyer who advised a number of digital currency companies and initial coin offerings (“ICOs“) was indicted by a Grand Jury on January 10, 2020, in New York. Nerayoff is, or was, the Chairman of a British Columbia public company called Global Blockchain Technologies Corp. […]

UK Bitcoin drug dealer who imported illegal drugs from Canada on the darknet, sentenced to 8 years in jail

Tweet A UK man, Paul Johnson, was sentenced to eight years in jail in the UK for operating a darknet drug trafficking business from the attic of his home. In order to obfuscate what he was doing, he set up a company called “Labrador Tea Company” and used it to buy illegal drugs from Canadians […]

US releases national strategy for anti-money laundering threats to US financial system

Tweet The US Department of the Treasury has released a “2020 National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing“, which provides a roadmap to identify current money laundering and terrorist financing threats and provides strategies to mitigate the identified threats and risks. In the Strategy, some of the key money laundering risks are identified […]

Two crypto dudes who allegedly blew through US$4.5 million on a $22k salary, used customer funds to live in a mansion together, take a private jet, gamble at casinos and drive around in exotic fast cars, charged with money laundering

Tweet Two Bitcoin guys, one who called himself the “Krypto King”, were charged in Arizona with money laundering and wire fraud after an investigation by the US Secret Service. According to material filed in the case, they are alleged to have used US$4.5 million of money that belonged to customers to live a lavish lifestyle […]

Canadian CEO of Silk Road drug market who bragged that US law enforcement “don’t have sh*t on me”, nabbed and pleads guilty in the US

Tweet One of the kingpins of Silk Road, the online darknet drug market that operated with Bitcoin, and its alleged CEO, Roger Clark, a Canadian, pled guilty on Thursday in New York to conspiracy to distribute narcotics. He faces a term of incarceration of 20 years. Clark was extradited from Thailand in 2018, and was […]

Canada’s securities commissions issue guidance to regulate Bitcoin exchanges and other digital currency or crypto assets

Tweet The CSA guidance The Canadian securities commissions, through the Canadian Securities Administrators (the “CSA“), issued guidance on digital currencies and digital currency exchanges in Canada, the impact of which fundamentally changes the legal landscape for digital currency exchanges and puts the vast majority of them under the supervision of provincial securities commissions. The securities […]