Australia’s federal law enforcement agency has highlighted the criminal use of cryptocurrency as an “emerging threat” in the country but says it’s a continuous challenge to keep up the pace with criminals. A spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) told Cointelegraph that there has been an “increase in the number of offenders using cryptocurrencies to facilitate illicit business and attempting to conceal the ownership of assets,” noting: “The criminal use of cryptocurrency is an emerging threat for law enforcement.” However, they admitted the biggest challenge for law enforcement is to “continually evolve” their “tools, techniques and legal frameworks” to …

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) is putting on its virtual reality headsets as it prepares to crack down on an expanding list of “possible crimes” in the Metaverse. According to an Oct. 20 announcement, Interpol has launched the “first ever Metaverse specifically designed for law enforcement worldwide” — introducing it at the 90th Interpol General Assembly in New Delhi — already fully operational. Interpol outlined that a key driver behind its jump into the metaverse is due to bad actors already leveraging the tech to conduct crimes, while public adoption rates are likely to significantly increase over the next …

United States prosecutors have opposed a motion by a former employee of nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea to remove “insider trading” references from his charges. Prosecutors said the phrase accurately describes the crimes the former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain is accused of in a memo filed on Oct. 14. It was responding to a motion by Chastain to stop referring to the phrase on Oct. 3, according to Law360. Chastain was charged in June for allegedly buying 45 NFTs from June to September 2021 through anonymous wallets and selling them for a profit. He allegedly used his position at …

The International Criminal Police Organization is reportedly planning to strengthen its crackdown on cryptocurrency-related crimes by forming a dedicated division. Interpol, the world’s largest global police organization, has set up a special team in Singapore to help governments fight crimes involving virtual assets, the Indian news agency Business Standard reported on Oct. 17. Interpol made the announcement at a press conference ahead of its 90th general assembly in Delhi, which is to be attended by high-profile police officials from its 195 members from Oct. 18 until Oct. 21. According to Interpol secretary general Jürgen Stock, the absence of a legal …

The Melbourne couple mistakenly sent 10.5 million Australian dollars by Crypto.com in 2021 is arguing in court that they thought the funds were won via a competition. Thevamanogari Manivel and her husband Jatinder Singh are currently facing a trial in the Victoria Supreme Court over theft charges, among others after the duo allegedly went on a spending spree with Crypto.com’s funds last year. Appearing via video link in Melbourne magistrates court on Oct. 11, Manivel and Singh pleaded not guilty to their respective charges, with defense being that Singh had thought he had won a contest from Crypto.com, and had …

For the last two weeks, unknown hackers have been airdropping nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to Solana cryptocurrency users masquerading as a new Phantom wallet security update, however, instead of an update, it's malware designed to steal their crypto. According to BleepingComputer, the hackers are claiming to be from the Phantom team and using NFTS titled "PHANTOMUPDATE.COM" or "UPDATEPHANTOM.COM." After opening the NFT, users are told a new security update has been issued for the Phantom wallet and can be downloaded by using the enclosed link or the listed website. To add urgency, the message claims that failing to download the fake …

In her Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting digital assets and blockchain. It’s fair to say that the United States is one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world. It ranks No. 1 in the quantity of Bitcoin and Ethereum nodes, and regulators have taken a particular interest in the subject. In September, the administration of President Joe Biden released a series of federal reports addressing how crypto might be regulated in the …

The warrant for Yoo Mo, the head of the business team of Terraform Labs, has reportedly been dismissed less than 48 hours after it had been issued. According to an Oct. 6 report from South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, Judge Hong Jin-Pyo of the Seoul Southern District Court said it was difficult to see the “necessity and significance” of arresting Yoo. The prosecutors’ office in the same jurisdiction reportedly issued a bench warrant for the Terraform Labs exec on Oct. 5 for charges including violating the Capital Markets Act and fraud by manipulating the price of TerraUSD (UST) — now …

A proposal out of Stanford University to make crypto transactions reversible is adding a wrinkle to discussions of crime and fraud prevention. Researchers suggested that mutability — the ability to reverse blockchain transactions — would help prevent crime. One of the advantages of cryptocurrency is that it is possible for the market — individuals, traders and banks — to decide if reversibility is wanted. Not only would a new (reversible) cryptocurrency be able to test the acceptance or desire for reversible transactions, it would help to test the idea that reversibility reduces crime. Although cryptocurrency is not a tool of …

Non fungible token (NFT) artist Mike "Beeple" Winkelmann has found himself the target of phishing scammers yet again, warning users that the URL link to his official Discord server was “hacked” — sending unaware new members to a wallet draining Discord channel if they follow the link. In an Oct. 3 post UTC, the NFT artist called out Discord for “being garbage,” warning users not to go into the Discord and verify as it will “drain your wallet.” it appears our discord URLs were hacked to point to a fraudulent discord. DO NOT go into that discord and do not …

American socialite Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million in penalties for her involvement in the promotion of a cryptocurrency scheme called EthereumMax (EMAX). The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced the charges against Kardashian on October 3 for ‘touting on social media a crypto asset security offered and sold by EthereumMax’ without disclosing the payment received for her promotional involvement. Kardashian has agreed to settle the charges and pay $1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement and interest and is set to cooperate with further investigations by the SEC into the EthereumMax project. The announcement noted that Kardashian had failed to …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has announced charges against Hydrogen Technology Corporation and its market marker Moonwalkers Trading Limited related to allegedly perpetrating a scheme to manipulate the trading volume and price of Hydro tokens. In a Sept. 28 announcement, the SEC said former Hydrogen CEO Michael Ross Kane hired Moonwalkers and its CEO Tyler Ostern “to create the false appearance of robust market activity” following the distribution of Hydro tokens through an airdrop, bounty programs, and direct sales in 2018. Kane then had Moonwalkers sell the tokens in the “artificially inflated market” for more than …