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Mirror Trading International Named Biggest Crypto Scam of the Year After Raking in $589 Million
14.2.2021
Blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis’ latest crime report has named Mirror Trading International (MTI) as the biggest cryptocurrency scam of 2020. Chainalysis arrived at this conclusion after an investigation found that MTI had taken in $589 million from more than 471,000 deposits. According...
MTI Bitcoins Sent to Privacy Mixers as New Data Breach Exposes the Ponzi Scheme’s Top Earners
10.1.2021
In another twist to the Mirror Trading International (MTI) bitcoin Ponzi scam, the blockchain intelligence firm Whitestream says bitcoins from wallets associated with the company are being sent to Wasabi privacy mixers. According to Whitestream’s update, this pivot to mixers suggests that...
Study: Over 13% of All Proceeds of Crimes in Bitcoin Passed Through Privacy Wallets in 2020
10.12.2020
According to a study published by the blockchain analysis firm Elliptic, over 13% of all proceeds of crime in bitcoin (BTC) were laundered via privacy wallets in 2020, up from 2% from the figures posted in 2019. 13% of All Proceeds of Crimes Leveraging BTC Were Laundered Via Privacy Wallets Dr....
Former Microsoft Engineer to Serve 9 Years in Prison in a Case That Involves Use of Bitcoin Mixers
10.11.2020
A U.S. court in Seattle has sentenced a former Microsoft engineer to 9 years in prison after finding him guilty of 18 federal felonies relating to his elaborate scheme to defraud the tech giant $10 million. In passing the judgment, the court blasts Volodymyr Kvashuk, a software engineer and citizen...
FinCEN Fines Bitcoin-Mixing CEO $60M in Landmark Crackdown on Helix, Coin Ninja
19.10.2020
Larry Dean Harmon ran the first bitcoin mixing services targeted with criminal allegations by U.S. authorities
Bitcoin Users Leery of Tor: 23% of the Network’s Exit Capacity Compromised
13.8.2020
Hackers are stealing bitcoin through the large-scale use of malicious relays on the Tor network according to a newly published research report on the subject. The researcher dubbed “nusenu” said he warned people about the growing problem in December 2019 but instead of improving...
Crypto Scammers Steal $381 Million in 2020, While Twitter Hackers Direct Funds to Mixers
24.7.2020
Cryptocurrency related scams have taken a total of $381 million from victims so far this year. This figure makes crypto scams the largest category of cryptocurrency-related crimes so far in 2020. Chainalysis data still shows current figures are well below those seen in 2019. In 2019, scams...
Darknet Markets Are Mixing Bitcoins at Blistering Pace: Report
15.7.2020
Darknet markets mixed $67 million in bitcoin in Q1 2020, a staggering jump from 2019's Q1 total of $3 million
Skeptics Concerned Plustoken Scammers Plan to Dump $187M Worth of Ethereum
28.6.2020
Crypto market skeptics and speculators are concerned about 789,000 ETH that started moving four days ago last Wednesday. The transaction was recorded by Whale Alert, and the $187 million worth of ether stems from the Plustoken scammers. On Wednesday, June 24, 2020, at approximately 9:46 a.m. (ET)...
Bitcoin Use on Darknet Markets Jumps 65% to Over $400 Million in First Quarter
21.5.2020
Bitcoin transactions on darknet markets jumped 65% in value during the first quarter to $411 million, according to research by a blockchain analytics firm. The amount of bitcoin sent from darknet entities to mixers also grew rapidly as exchanges with verification requirements became less popular...
Darknet Turns To Bitcoin Mixers As Exchanges Get Stricter
20.5.2020
The first three months of 2020 saw more bitcoin (BTC) sent by darknet entities to mixers, and less to verification-required exchanges, found Crystal Blockchain, a research arm of blockchain technology group Bitfury, indicating shady or criminal characters' preference for anonymous services.
Due...
Developers of Ethereum Privacy Tool Tornado Cash Smash Their Keys
19.5.2020
Developers of ether mixer Tornado Cash have destroyed their admin keys, turning the privacy tool into permissionless code
Coin Mixer’s Record-Breaking Month Proves Bitcoin Users Want Anonymity
12.4.2020
The surge in popularity for Bitcoin mixing services appears to coincide with tightening regulations as governments respond to FATF regulations
How to Mix Your Bitcoins Using Coinjoin for Greater Privacy
4.3.2020
Mixing bitcoins using a noncustodial service increases fungibility without having to relinquish control of your coins. Bitcoin mixing services let you keep your coins and retain your privacy, for nothing more than a modest fee and the time it takes to mix them. The most popular noncustodial mixers...
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Used Bitcoin to Help Embezzle Millions From Tech Giant
27.2.2020
The software engineer used bitcoin mixers to help obfuscate the source of the stolen funds
Regulatory Roundup: Trump’s Cryptocurrency Proposals, IRS Changes Rule, China Quarantines Cash
18.2.2020
In this roundup, we cover numerous cryptocurrency regulatory developments in the U.S., including President Trump’s crypto proposals, testimonies by the Federal Reserve chairman and the Treasury secretary, a crypto-friendly SEC proposal, and the IRS changing a crypto tax rule. We also cover...
What a CEO’s Arrest Tells Us of Coin Mixers' Present and Future
14.2.2020
The arrest of a Cryptoverse resident has brought to the surface yet again the questions of both the legality and the future of coin mixers, as well as the responsibilities of their developers.
As reported yesterday, Larry Harmon of Akron Ohio, the CEO of Bitcoin media site Coin Ninja and founder...
US Department of Justice Is Criminalizing Onchain Privacy, Starting With Mixers
14.2.2020
The American government’s long-running war on privacy escalated this week following the arrest of Coin Ninja’s Larry Harmon on money laundering charges. A Department of Justice statement that “seeking to obscure virtual currency transactions in this way [using mixers] is...
How Often Are Top Privacy Coins and Mixers Actually Used? – A Look at XMR, DASH, and ZEC
10.2.2020
As Bitcoin and crypto help everyday individuals to regain control over their money, and make trusting third parties unnecessary, it’s not surprising that privacy advocates have flocked to the space. While bitcoin’s ledger is openly viewable, privacy coins and privacy enhancing protocols...
Another Crypto Exchange Discourages the Use of Bitcoin Mixing Services
30.1.2020
The cryptocurrency exchange Binance was recently scrutinized for flagging a customer’s funds because the individual had used a bitcoin mixing application. Now the platform Paxos Global is discouraging the use of crypto mixers after a customer allegedly sent coins to a mixing service. Also...