Here’s what happened in crypto today

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Today in crypto, Emblem Vault CEO Jake Gallen says he lost thousands worth of digital assets after a suspicious Zoom meeting, Anchorage Digital Bank is reportedly under investigation by the US Department of Homeland Security and Mantra CEO John Mullin rebuffed onchain data suggesting insider token sales ahead of OM’s 90% price crash.

Crypto exec issues warning on Zoom after losing $100,000 in crypto

Jake Gallen, the CEO of the non-fungible token (NFT) platform Emblem Vault, has warned crypto users to be wary of the meeting app Zoom, saying a threat actor known as “ELUSIVE COMET” stole over $100,000 worth of crypto assets from him.

Gallen said he had a “complete computer compromise” that ended up with a loss of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) assets from different wallets in a scam that took place over Zoom.

“We were able to retrieve a malware file that was installed on my computer during a Zoom call with a YouTube personality of over 90k subs,” said Gallen, who said he set up a call after being contacted by a verified X account with 26,000 followers that claims to be the founder and CEO of a crypto mining platform. 

During the call, Gallen said he was tricked into giving permission for Zoom to allow the host of the call to have remote access to his computer. The host, supposedly ELUSIVE COMET, then installed malware that stole credentials and accessed Gallen’s crypto wallets. 

SEAL security researcher Samczsun told Cointelegraph that Zoom, by default, allows meeting participants to request remote control access. “At this point in time we believe the victim still needs to be social engineered into granting access,” they said. 

Other X users recommended those using Zoom change the app’s settings to block other users from being able to remotely control their device.

Anchorage Digital faces scrutiny from US Homeland Security — Report

The US Department of Homeland Security's El Dorado Task Force has reportedly launched an investigation into Anchorage Digital Bank, a Wall Street-backed cryptocurrency firm. 

According to an April 14 Barron's report, members of the task force have contacted former employees of the company over the past weeks to examine its practices and policies. The report cites unidentified sources. 

The reported Homeland task force probe hints at cross-national financial activities. Established in 1992, the El Dorado Task Force focuses on “transnational money laundering” activities and financial crimes carried out by organizations. 

Anchorage is co-founded by Portuguese-American entrepreneur Diogo Mónica and Nathan McCauley, according to its website. Along with its US businesses, Anchorage has operations in Singapore and Portugal. Its investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs and Visa, among others. 

Mantra CEO denies insider OM token dump, says Arkham “mislabeled” wallets

Mantra CEO John Mullin denied reports suggesting large-scale token transfers by major Mantra investors in the days leading up to the sharp collapse of the OM token, while speaking in an AMA hosted by Cointelegraph on April 14.

“The Mantra association, our key investors, our advisers — no one has sold, and we are going to categorically deny and also provide verifiable proof onchain proof that this is the case,” Mullin stated in the AMA.

Previous reports suggested that Laser Digital, a strategic Mantra investor, cashed out large portions of Mantra (OM) tokens before the cryptocurrency collapsed on April 13.

At least two wallets linked to Laser Digital were among 17 wallets that moved a combined 43.6 million OM tokens — worth about $227 million at the time — to exchanges before the crash, the blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported on April 13, citing Arkham Intelligence data.

Laser Digital is a digital asset business backed by Nomura. The firm announced a strategic investment in Mantra in May 2024.

According to Arkham data, one Laser Digital-linked wallet had moved about 6.5 million OM tokens ($41.6 million at the time) to OKX in seven transactions since April 11.

The last recorded transaction from the wallet occurred on April 11 at around 10:00 pm UTC, days before the Mantra crash, which took place on April 13 at roughly 7:00 pm UTC, according to data from CoinGecko.

Another wallet sent about 2.2 million OM (worth $13 million) to Binance in a series of transfers starting April 3.

The data also indicated that Laser Digital may have started reducing its OM holdings as early as February. The wallets linked to the firm reportedly received a large portion of their OM from crypto trading firm GSR in 2023.

Laser Digital subsequently denied reports alleging its involvement in the OM volatility, claiming that the referenced wallets did not belong to it.