Kristin Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association has dismissed fears that the United States Department of the Treasury was close to cracking down on Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies. Indeed, rumors of the Treasury bringing money laundering charges against some financial institutions using cryptocurrencies began circulating on social media over the weekend. The report emerged during a period of massive selloffs in the crypto space, with the market capitalization dropping over $240 million as Bitcoin slid to $52,000. In an interview with CNBC, Smith debunked the reports, stating that it was the Department of Justice’s remit to charge companies with …

A U.S. federal court has granted authorization to the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, to serve a John Doe summons to fintech firm Circle seeking all information on U.S. taxpayers who traded at least $20,000 worth of crypto assets on its platforms between 2016 and 2020. The summons will apply to Circle Internet Financial Inc. including all “predecessors, subsidiaries, divisions, and affiliates, including Poloniex LLC.” According to the Department of Justice’s announcement, Judge Richard Stearns concluded there is “reasonable basis for believing that cryptocurrency users may have failed to comply with federal tax laws.” The document also notes the IRS …

Earlier this month, antivirus pioneer John McAfee was officially charged by the United States Department of Justice on seven counts of fraud and money laundering. These charges have been filed with respect to his activities in the crypto space from 2017 to 2020. It could be some time before McAfee actually has to face these charges in court, as he is currently being detained in Spain under a different warrant issued by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. While extradition from Spain to the United States should be easy, over the past few years the European Union has taken a much …

Troubled antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee has claimed that Dogecoin (DOGE) was part of new charges brought against him by the United States Department of Justice. In a Sunday tweet, McAfee pinpointed that DOGE was one of several cryptocurrencies that he endorsed as part of his “coin of the day” tweets about four years ago. “For a few days in 2017 I chose coins I believed had value,” McAfee stated regarding his choice of cryptocurrencies. The famous entrepreneur noted that Dogecoin price has increased 1,000% since he “chose it,” hinting that thus his DOGE tweets should not be included in …

Crypto advocate and internet security pioneer John McAfee faces a number of different criminal charges, based on a new statement from the United States Department of Justice, or DoJ. The department accused McAfee of “conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities and touting fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and substantive wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy offenses stemming from two schemes relating to the fraudulent promotion to investors of cryptocurrencies qualifying under federal law as commodities or securities,” the DoJ’s statement from the Southern District of New York said on Friday. Jimmy Watson Jr. is also listed …

On Wednesday, the United States Department of Justice announced charges against three North Korean hacker. Making the announcement, Assistant Attorney General John Demers condemned the North Korean program, the most famous branch of which is Lazarus Group. Demers said: "North Korea’s operatives, using keyboards rather than guns, stealing digital wallets of cryptocurrency instead of sacks of cash, are the world’s leading bank robbers." With a country largely sequestered from the international economy, North Korea's hacking program has been a critical source of revenue. Many have linked hacking income from sources like the WannaCry malware and crypto exchange Coincheck with the …

The Department of Justice is reportedly the latest to turn up the heat on last month's crazed markets. Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the DoJ's fraud division and the San Francisco district attorney's office had launched probes into the brokers (read: Robinhood) and social-media platforms (read: Reddit) who were at the center of wild bull markets on stocks like GameStop and AMC weeks ago. A number of agencies have announced that they are looking into market manipulation concerns. The Securities and Exchange Commission released a cryptic statement to that effect as GME stocks were …

The administrator of dark.fail, a website providing verified links to darknet markets, claims that exchanges are unfairly closing accounts donating Bitcoin to the service after implementing a Chainalysis transaction flagging system. The admin alleged in a tweet that two donors of Bitcoin to the website had their accounts blocked by exchanges that recently implemented Chainalysis’ new KYT — or Know Your Transaction — blockchain monitoring service. WARNING: Two of my donors report that their exchanges blocked their accounts after they donated Bitcoin to me. I am a journalist! I do not commit crimes. Last year I voiced strong opposition to …

United States authorities have hit a major malware operator, with help from leading blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced the seizure of $454,530.19 in cryptocurrency from NetWalker, a ransomware operator the Federal Bureau of Investigation alleges to have targeted hospitals globally amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Piggybacking on the DoJ's announcement was Chainalysis, which took the opportunity to advertise the firm's involvement in tracking down NetWalker hardware in Bulgaria as well as Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins. The DoJ arrested Vachon-Desjardins, a Canadian national who it alleges to be an affiliate of the NetWalker network who garnered $27.6 million …

United States authorities have brought criminal charges against a crypto trader whom they say defrauded investors out of over $5 million. The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it had arrested Jeremy Spence. Between 2017 and 2019, 24-year-old Spence operated a crypto investment scheme under the name "Coin Signals," primarily via Twitter and Discord. The announcement quoted Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney as saying: “As alleged, Jeremy Spence misrepresented the success of his investment platform in order to entice people to send money his way. Because his trading was less than profitable and significantly less successful …

Competition authorities are hitting the books when it comes to emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced that it would be participating in a new initiative at Stanford University to onboard more advanced technological tools into its fight against monopolies. The DoJ is merely the most vocal addition to Stanford’s Computational Antitrust project. It joins the competition watchdogs of 46 other countries and the U.S.’s Federal Trade Commission. The announcement is part of a broad surge in interest in cutting-edge tech and antitrust law, the culmination of a lot of motion at both academia …

Still facing a courtroom assault in the U.S. for allegedly facilitating money laundering, BitMex is trying to show regulators that it's trying. On Jan. 12, the legally besieged crypto exchange released a blog post advertising further work with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. BitMex said its aim was "to identify, investigate, and stop illicit transactions." Chainalysis is known as a go-to solution for government entities looking to track crypto transactions. The firm has been instrumental to the Department of Justice's seizures of cryptocurrency, including over $1 billion in Bitcoin and its offshoots from an unnamed Silk Road hacker, as well as …