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Academics at the University of Texas claim to have traced over $75 billion of crypto flows linked to social engineering scams known as ‘pig butchering.’ However, blockchain forensics expert Taylor Monahan suspects that this figure is inflated by “a few orders of magnitude.” Metamask’s Monahan, a longstanding figure in the crypto community known for her recent painstaking on-chain tracing of the Lazarus Group, has specifically raised concerns over the study’s methodology. I keep getting sent this paper on Pig Butchering and, yes, I've read it numerous times now. The finer details and some of the tracing methodology within are…okay. But the big takeaways—and especially the $75.3 billion dollar number—are fully fucking absurd. pic.twitter.com/8klgC3B8bc — Tay (@tayvano_) March 11, 2024 Read more: North Korean group Lazarus behind $70M crypto exchange attacks, report Monahan s US pects that the authors have double-counted funds and misinterpreted some of the addres...

OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange , is under scrutiny as report s suggest it might be accepting fake IDs for its Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification process. Journalists from 404 Media have uncovered that OKX appears to be potentially failing to detect false information during user registration, allowing accounts with fabricated IDs to pass KYC checks. The investigation indicates that a web service, claiming to use “neural networks” to create realistic fake IDs for $15, helped successfully complete the identity verification process on OKX. According to the report , journalists tested OKX’s verification process using a fake British passport generated by the web service, revealing vulnerabilities in OKX’s KYC/AML (Anti-Money Laundering) systems. While OKX’s verification partner, Jumio, highlighted its robust verification process to identify fake profiles, it refrained from commenting on OKX’s specific procedures when confronted with allegations of acc...

In an op-ed on Bloomberg Law, Steven Merriman and Jim Vivenzio of Perkins Coie raised concerns over FinCEN’s latest move to crack down on crypto mixers. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is pushing for financial institutions to impose new compliance measures in its latest reporting plan, focusing on crypto transactions involving” convertible virtual currency (CVC) mixing.” According to fintech compliance lawyers Steven Merriman and Jim Vivenzio, FinCEN’s latest proposal broadens the definition of “mixing” and “mixers,” potentially targeting not only transactions involving traditional mixing services — e.g. sanctioned Tornado Cash — but also “innocuous blockchain transactions,” like converting one form of crypto to another. “The amount of monitoring and reporting contemplated by FinCEN’s proposal could be disruptive.” Steven Merriman and Jim Vivenzio While FinCEN’s primary focus is on th...

New research supported by Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation says the lack of regulation forces web3 startups to incorporate in foreign jurisdictions. A new research report conducted by the Ukrainian Web3 Institute, titled “Web3 for Ukraine: Talk to Founders,” has outlined the key issues that have hindered the adoption of web3 technologies in war-torn Ukraine. According to the document, the lack of clear guidelines on how to interact with government institutions has made it difficult for web3 startups to collaborate with government agencies. “Projects are ready to cooperate with government institutions and even provide them with their products free of charge, but the employees of the institutions themselves refuse to do so due to the lack of clear official rules for working with web3 technologies.” Ukrainian Web3 Institute You might also like: Ukraine seizes $1.5m in crypto from former official The Ukrainian Web3 Institute has c...

Crypto flips red, with Bitcoin falling below $37k and BNB tanking 7% to $240 amid reports Binance CEO may resign’ A report by Forbes suggest the DOJ will make an announcement to that effect today. The cryptocurrency market was retracing sharply on Tuesday afternoon as report s surfaced that Changpeng Zhao, the founder and CEO of Binance , may step down as part of a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ). CZ’s resignation could be part of DOJ’s anticipated announcement later on Tuesday, according a report by Forbes. Richard Teng  is allegedly poised to take over. Richard Teng A Top Contender For New Binance CEO As CZ Steps Down: by @DavidJeans2 https://t.co/4iZfIsb37c — Forbes Crypto (@ForbesCrypto) November 21, 2023 Amid the rumours and allegations, Bitcoin price fell below $37k and altcoins took a dive as Ethereum lost the $2k mark.  BTC fell 3% to $36,797 and ETH 4% to $1,968, while Binance ’s nativ...

New research by Coinbase shows only a tiny percent of U.S. citizens still believe the American Dream is achievable in the current financial environment. Less than 10% of Americans are happy with the nation’s financial system as younger generations become “more pressured financially and more disillusioned by the system,” Coinbase says. In a new Q3 State of Crypto report co-created with Bovitz and Morning Consult, the U.S.-based crypto exchange surveyed thousands of Americans about their experiences dealing with traditional finance. Most Americans are unsatisfied with the existing financial system , as only 7% of respondents said the system “works very well for people like them.” Percentage of generations satisfied with the financial system | Source: Coinbase You might also like: Coinbase optimistic about US approval of Bitcoin ETF While Coinbase surveyed all generations, it was Millennials who demonstrated their anger, calling the sy...

Sectors like virtual reality and augmented reality soared 704% in year-to-date (YTD) growth while artificial intelligence and big data showed YTD expansion of 323%. Crypto data aggregator CoinMarketCap has released its Crypto Market Analysis report for the first half of the year. Within the report , the coin information website described the second quarter of 2023 as a “lost quarter ” as a result of several factors, including the lack of a strong market narrative compared to the first quarter of the year. A few areas, however, experienced strong growth and resilience, the report notes. According to the report , Q1 showed more positive developments such as Bitcoin (BTC) doubling in price and the rise of layer-2 solutions such as Arbitrum and ZK. In addition, the first quarter of 2023 also showed a strong nonfungible token (NFT) market that was driven by product updates and the issuance of NFT marketplace Blur’s token. Top 5 active sectors in the first half of 2023. Source: Coin...

The lion’s share of the fintech’s held cryptocurrency assets lie in BTC and ETH with $499 and $362 million respectively — up more than 56% since Q4 2022. Financial technology company PayPal recently disclosed its cryptocurrency holdings in a quarterly report filing to the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC).  Claiming a combined total of $943 million in crypto currency assets as of March 31, 2023, the filing shows a 56% increase over the company’s previous quarter where PayPal disclosed $604 million. PayPal's reported total financial liabilities for this quarter were $1.2 billion, with crypto assets making up 77.9% — up more than 10% from 2022’s reported fourth quarter liabilities. Related: PayPal crypto partner Paxos raises $300M According to the report, PayPal considers its crypto assets a “safeguarding liability” due to the the “unique risks associated with crypto currencies.” The disclosure also indicates that the specific crypto currencies held by the company remain ...