In the months preceding FTX’s spectacular demise, reports revealed that the crypto exchange secretly diverted some $4 billion in company funds to prop up its struggling sister trading firm, Alameda Research. Now, a clearer—and stranger—picture is starting to form of where that money may have gone. On Tuesday, the Financial Times detailed some $5.4 billion worth of Alameda’s investment portfolio—-over…
Cryptocurrencies tied to national soccer teams have failed to keep the attention of 2022 FIFA World Cup fans, with many soccer-linked fan token prices plummeting since the tournament began. Between Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Argentina, the associated digital fan tokens have fallen between 60% to 88% percent in price since the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, according to CoinGecko.…
Ex-FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried today said he has hired prominent attorney Mark S. Cohen—who recently defended socialite sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell—to represent him. He also said he didn’t know how he would pay the legal fees. After Reuters first reported the news, the disgraced founder and former CEO of the collapsed exchange confirmed that he had hired Cohen in a…
In brief ApeCoin holders have staked nearly $32 million worth of the token since Monday. The price of APE is up 6% over the last day, and 32% in two weeks. ApeCoin’s staking rewards are just around the corner, set to begin emitting on December 12, and the official staking contract has already taken in nearly $32 million worth of…
A court in the Chinese city of Hangzhou has determined that non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, represent virtual property protected by the laws in the People’s Republic. The ruling comes from a case over a dispute between a customer and a platform hired to sell a collection of tokens. Hangzhou Internet Court Hears Case Involving Property Rights Over NFTs A court…
A pair of popular electronic musicians who are also prominent NFT backers are teaming up—and drawing inspiration from their respective CryptoPunks profile pictures (PFPs). Steve Aoki and Justin “3LAU” Blau announced today that they have formed a supergroup via their Ethereum NFTs and will release new music under the name Punx. Though both are seasoned producers with their own respective…
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…
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…
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…
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…
