Coinbase CEO says crypto industry can "turn the page" and enter an era of trust and legitimacy after the convictions of SBF and CZ. Yeah, whatever. Coinbase CEO says crypto industry can turn the page after historic Binance settlement https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/27/coi...y-can-turn-page-after-binance-settlement.html
With Sam Bankman-Fried in the slammer, now the fugitive crypto 'Lunatic' behind 2022's $40B crash is being extradited from his Montenegrin getaway The question is whether he goes to South Korea or the US. https://www.pcgamer.com/with-sam-ba...eing-extradited-from-his-montenegrin-getaway/ Do Kwon, former crypto darling and now fugitive, was arrested in Montenegro this March while attempting to flee to Dubai. The High Court in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, has now given approval for Do Kwon's extradition, though whether he'll be off to South Korea or the US, both of which have open arrest warrants for him, remains to be decided. Do Kwon was the main player and public face of the TerraUSD stablecoin and the self-described "Lunatic" driving the Luna cryptocurrency. You can probably tell where this is going. The more-or-less overnight collapse of both caused a loss of around $40 billion on crypto markets and was the major factor behind the 2022 catastrophe-slash-contagion that saw FTX go under, with its founder Sam Bankman-Fried now facing a lengthy jail sentence, and a multitude of other crypto firms go bust. The one-time crypto baron did what all innocent people do in such a situation, and fled to a country that has no extradition treaty with the US or South Korea, while publicly declaring he wasn't on the run. Sadly for Do Kwon, the High Court has "determined that the legal requirements for the extradition of the accused KDH have been met, at the request of South Korea and the United States of America." Even now he's trying to angle it. Do Kwon has consented to being extradited to South Korea (he is originally from Seoul) under a shortened process rather than face being sent to the US. The decision on his destination rests with Montenegro's minister of justice Marko Kovač, who has not commented on the current ruling but said on Do Kwon's arrest that "determining which state they will be extradited to will be based on several factors." Do Kwon had entered Montenegro using a faked passport, after fleeing Singapore in September 2022. He said multiple times he wasn't on the run, which didn't stop South Korea issuing an arrest warrant and shortly thereafter Interpol issuing a Red Notice. The US authorities have filed an indictment against him, saying he orchestrated "a multi-billion-dollar crypto asset securities fraud", with charges including conspiracy to defraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, and wire fraud. That's a lotta (alleged) fraud. Not to be deterred, Do Kwon's former company Terraform Labs attempted to have the US case dismissed, but this was denied in August 2023. The collapse of TerraUSD and Luna saw the value of both plunge to near-zero in May 2022, and triggered a huge wave of crypto selling. This got so big it affected the crypto sector's poster boys including Bitcoin and Ethereum, and ever since we've seen one crypto disaster after another: FTX just happens to be the biggest. The one upside is that this seems to have served as a serious wake up call for regulators, who since 2022's so-called crypto winter have been pursuing the figureheads behind these institutions with a renewed zeal. In his last interview to date, Do Kwon got a little philosophical about the prospect of jail: "Life is long." In some cases yes but, when you're behind something like this, the sentence probably will be too.
Crypto scheme Coscoin collapses, leaving thousands of investors in the lurch https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/crypto-scheme-coscoin-collapses-leaving-31560698 Distraught investors in a supposed cryptocurrency trading site have found that the platform has shut down and it is impossible to withdraw money. Coscoin, also known as Cosetek or Cos, claimed to combine blockchain technology with artificial intelligence to provide investors “with more opportunities to make money and return on investment”. The idea was that bots would automatically buy and sell cryptocurrencies on your behalf - all you had to do was click an app button a few times a day. Affiliates now say that income was generated by persuading other people to join the scheme. A Cosetek video shows that you got 21% of the income generated by people you brought on board, 7% of the income generated by people they recruited, and 3% of the income of people they in turn roped in. Which sounds ominously like a pyramid scheme. Coscoin also claimed to be a cryptocurrency, though I cannot find any evidence of it trading on any of the main currency trading platforms. Promised rates of returns were enormous, one “affiliate” saying they were up to 2.8% per trade - if you did just one of those a day that would amount to almost 3,000% compound interest a year. On November 23, Coscoin offered to match the deposits of anyone who further invested as an apparent Thanksgiving Day promotion which now some investors say looks like a final push to get more money before the shutters came down. Shortly afterwards it claimed to have been attacked by hackers and withdrawals were halted. Lisa Auckland, a nurse from Middlesbrough, says she was recruited by a member who regularly sent screenshots apparently showing how much money he was making. “He invested a tiny amount but recruited people who invested thousands, so he made a lot,” she said. “He withdrew regularly so made about £3,000 altogether. “I initially invested £100, then they had deals where they doubled what you invested and I put in my savings of £2,500 and £500 from my wages. “It literally went down the following day, I hadn’t withdrawn a single penny. “This is the first and last time I’ll ever get involved in crypto.” Liam Allinson, a 34-year-old offshore worker from Teesside, said he heard about Coscoin through a friend working at Nissan in Sunderland. “He said he was doubling his money every 32 days,” Liam said. “It all seemed legit and we were all added to WhatsApp groups run by a team of admins who answered any questions and constantly reassured us everything was great and it was here to stay, anyone who suggested different was deleted. “I invested a total of £4,000 and had banked £10,000 in the app when it went down.” Many victims are concentrated around the North East, one man from Stockton-on-Tees saying how a workmate tried to recruit him. “One lad, an apprentice on £22,000 a year, put in the £3,000 he’d been saving for a car," he said. “I’ve had people in tears on the phone to me, people have re-mortgaged their houses and put in the money being saved for their wedding. “Some people are still making deposits and I want word about its collapse to get out there, because not everyone will hear through the WhatsApp groups that have been set up.” In September the The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions called Coscoins “A fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform”. “The Coscoin entity is a limited liability company registered in Washington with a purported principal place of business located in Fife, Washington,” it said. “However, the Securities Division could not confirm that the business is actually located there, or engaged in lawful business activities. “Jackson Blaze is listed as Coscoin’s Governor on the Washington Secretary of State’s corporate filings. The phone number provided does not appear to be a valid phone number listing for the United States.” Last week the investment scam-busting website BehindMLM.com reported that 22% of victims are in the UK, more than in any other country. A Coscoin “Global Tour” promotional video is still up on Cosetek.com featuring supposed chief technology officer Charles William Harrington promising: “We are committed to delivering an outstanding user experience.”
Fraudsters steal more than $25 million in "AI-powered" crypto ponzi https://web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=ai-powered-crypto-ponzi Two fraudsters capitalized on the hype around both cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, advertising an "artificial intelligence automated trading bot" that they promised would earn large returns for their investors. Instead, however, the fraudsters spent the money on themselves, paying for private chartered jet flights, luxury hotel accommodations, private mansion rentals, a personal chef, and private security guards. In addition to pulling off the original scam, the fraudsters also came up with a fake investigative agency called the "Federal Crypto Reserve", where they directed victims who were seeking to recover their losses. The scammers were charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice, which carry hefty maximum prison terms. "Two Men Charged for Operating $25M Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme", Department of Justice press release [archive]
And it's gone... Ledger Exploit Endangers DeFi; Sushi Says 'Do Not Interact With ANY dApps' The exploit reportedly prompts users to connect their wallets via a pop-up, triggering a token drainer. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/12/14/defi-protocol-sushis-cto-warns-of-possible-exploit/ Sushi's Chief Technology Officer warned of an industry-wide exploit related to a Ledger's Connect Kit as the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol was hit by a front-end exploit. Ledger, a maker of hardware wallets, provides Connect Kit software that decentralized finance protocols such as Lido, Metamask and Coinbase, along with Sushi, use to connect decentralized applications (dapps) to its products. By compromising the front end of a website or application, hackers can alter functions users see and con them into inadvertently sending cash to the exploiters rather than their own wallets. “Do not interact with ANY dApps until further notice,” Sushi CTO Matthew Lilley wrote on X. “It appears that a commonly used web3 connector has been compromised, which allows for injection of malicious code affecting numerous dApps.” The exploit reportedly prompts users to connect their wallets via a pop-up, which then triggers the token drainer. Issues have also been reported across other DeFi websites, including Zapper and RevokeCash. Five hours after the hack, Ledger published a post-mortem on X. It confirmed that a former Ledger employee fell victim to a phishing attack, which allowed a hacker to insert malicious code into Ledger's Connect Kit. It adds that the code has now been removed and stablecoin issuer Tether has frozen the hacker's wallet. "We've identified a critical issue the ledger connector has been compromised, potentially allowing the injection of malicious code affecting various dApps," Sushi wrote in a statement. "If you have the Sushi page open and see an unexpected 'Connect Wallet' pop-up, DO NOT interact or connect your wallet." One X user pointed out that Ledger’s library had been compromised and replaced with a token drainer. Ledger said it had "identified and removed a malicious version of the Ledger Connect Kit." "A genuine version is being pushed to replace the malicious file now," Ledger said. "Do not interact with any dApps for the moment. We will keep you informed as the situation evolves. Your Ledger device and Ledger Live were not compromised."
Another day, another crypto scam story... Queens man sounds alarm after parents lost over $1 million in crypto scam https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/text-messages-crypto-scam-hong-kong/
Another crypto company folds after fraud. As usual customers lose everything. Crypto Company SafeMoon Files for Bankruptcy Following Founder and Executives’ Indictment on Fraud Charges Last Month https://dailyhodl.com/2023/12/16/cr...tives-indictment-on-fraud-charges-last-month/