Cryptocurrency Criminality

Bitcoin's fast price appreciation has made it an attractive asset to investors but also criminals. Recently, the police arrested a man after the kidnapping of a schoolboy he knew had made significant money trading cryptocurrency. The case highlights the importance of keeping one's earnings to himself, especially one's digital assets. What Happened? As The Guardian reports, a gang of criminals in Bradford, UK, kidnapped the boy. Next, they demanded a $10,000 ransom payment from the boy's parents for his safe…

Tether Holdings – the issuer of the most popular stablecoin, "Tether"– just responded to a Bloomberg article casting doubt on their operations. While Bloomberg claims that Tether's $69B reserves are nowhere to be found, Tether calls their accusations fake news. Tether's Response to Bloomberg Tether published their response to Bloomberg yesterday, on the same day Bloomberg's accusatory article was released. Tether calls the piece a "one-act play" that cherry-picks old news from "dubious sources" to fit a defamatory narrative. This…

The crypto industry could face renewed regulatory scrutiny over the next four years if Janet Yellen, selected by Joe Biden to head the Treasury Department, takes over management. During Tuesday's confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) asked Yellen about crypto use in criminal activity. Yellen stated that cryptocurrencies are of particular concern, and she thinks they are often used for illegal financing, at least in terms of transactions. He said he wanted to investigate how…

Two men were apprehended by Dutch tax enforcers with the Netherlands’ Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Services (FIOD). Their arrest was due to alleged laundering involving cryptocurrencies worth millions of Euros. The development was revealed in a joint statement by the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5). FIOD arrested them on the basis of separate cryptocurrency tax evasion investigations, and the agency was able to recover almost 260k in unmentioned cryptocurrencies as well as over 6.6 pounds of gold. Some…