Day: December 6, 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried hires defense attorney as US authorities probe FTX: Report

boss

Former FTX chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly hired Mark Cohen, a former federal prosecutor, to act as his defense attorney. According to a Dec. 6 report from Reuters, Bankman-Fried’s spokesperson Mark Botnick said the former FTX CEO has retained Cohen amid a flurry of civil litigation from investors in the crypto exchange and investigations by lawmakers and regulators in the United States. Cohen, a co-founder of law firm Cohen & Gresser, was a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York who also on the…

North Korean Lazarus Group is targeting crypto funds with a new spin on an old trick

boss

Microsoft reports that a threat actor has been identified targeting cryptocurrency investment startups. A party Microsoft has dubbed DEV-0139 posed as a cryptocurrency investment company on Telegram and used an Excel file weaponized with “well-crafted” malware to infect systems that it then remotely accessed. The threat is part of a trend in attacks showing a high level of sophistication. In this case, the threat actor, falsely identifying itself with fake profiles of OKX employees, joined Telegram groups “used to facilitate communication between VIP clients and cryptocurrency exchange platforms,” Microsoft wrote…

Cryptocurrency has become a playground for fraudsters

boss

News involving crypto and fraud is ubiquitous in the white-collar crime sphere and, perhaps more worryingly, these fraudulent activities in the crypto sector are not limited to a single type of crime. Diverse and distinct yet with one common thread, these crimes involve real money and crypto investors are the victims. Many people have placed their life savings into crypto and, on a larger scale, private equities, pension schemes and even nation-states are principal investors and losers. There are con artists who will try and entice their targets to invest…

Texas Bitcoin Miners Are Offered to Cut Electricity Usage to Help the Grid

The move will help the state’s grid operator, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), ease worries that the mining will put extra stress during periods of high system demand. “Due to the anticipated interconnection of an increasing number of large flexible Loads in the ERCOT Region, ERCOT is establishing an interim, voluntary curtailment program that would allow these Loads to assist ERCOT in ensuring reliability during periods of high system demand,” ERCOT said in a statement. Original Source BitcoincutElectricityGridMinersOfferedTexasusage CryptoX Portal

3 reasons why Ethereum price keeps rejecting at the $1,300 level

boss

Ether (ETH) rallied 11.3% between Nov. 28 and Dec. 5, peaking at $1,300 before facing a 4.6% rejection. The $1,300 resistance level has been holding ground for twenty-six days and is the most likely explanation for the correction to $1,240 on Dec. 6.  Ether/USD price index, 12-hour. Source: TradingView So from one side, traders are relieved that Ether is trading 16% above the $1,070 low reached on Nov. 22, but it must be frustrating to fail at the same level the entire week. In addition to the price rejection, investors’…

Bitcoin Holders Realized 14x More Losses Than Profits Recently

boss

Data from Glassnode reveals Bitcoin holders realized 14 times more losses than profits in recent weeks. Bitcoin 7-Day MA Realized Profit/Loss Ratio Sets New All-Time Low As per the latest weekly report from Glassnode, the realized profit/loss ratio has assumed its lowest value ever recently. Whenever a coin sits idle on the chain and the price of Bitcoin changes, it accumulates some amount of profit or loss, depending upon the direction of the price fluctuation. This profit or loss is called “unrealized” so as long as the coin holds still…

Sam Bankman-Fried Hires Mark Cohen as His Attorney: Reuters

Since the collapse of FTX, Bankman-Fried – against what might be typical legal advice to keep one’s mouth shut – has submitted to extensive questioning in numerous forums, describing his actions as leader of the exchange as possibly stupid but not criminal. The stakes, though, have been upped somewhat of late, with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) strongly suggesting that SBF appear next week before the House Committee on Financial Services, which she chairs, where he would presumably be under oath. Source

US House Investigators Say Rep. Cawthorn Improperly Promoted Crypto Token

The investigators, noting Cawthorn’s waning time as a member of Congress, said they couldn’t agree on a sanction and suggested the admonishment of the report would be sufficient. The committee directed Cawthorn to give $14,237 to a charity, because that’s how much more expensive his token purchase should have been if he’d paid market value at the time, so it amounted to an improper gift. Source

Paraguay’s legislature fails to reverse presidential veto on crypto regulation law

boss

The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Paraguay’s bicameral legislature, failed to move forward on a bill aimed at promoting crypto mining through the use of surplus electricity following a veto from President Mario Abdo Benítez. In a Dec. 5 session, members of Paraguay’s legislature discussed the pros and cons of incentivizing crypto miners to operate in the country with a cap on the electricity rates, but ultimately voted against amendments that would have effectively reversed a presidential veto. Lawmakers suggested a lack of regulation around crypto-related activities had…