FBI agent Kyle Armstrong said the Bureau has 130 ongoing crypto-related cases, with dark web drug sales a particular concern, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, June 27. Speaking at the Crypto Evolved conference in New York on Wednesday, the supervisory special agent said the number represented “a small sliver,” of the FBI’s activities, which number “thousands of cases.” The agency has nonetheless noticed an increase in illegal activity facilitated by cryptocurrency payments, he said. The 130 “threat tagged” files related to crypto span a gamut of crimes, including human trafficking, kidnapping, ransomware attacks and illicit drug sales. This latter has become a …

Update: the charges against Mohamed Yousseff, Artur Shaback, and Ivan Suhharev were dismissed and their cases were closed on Nov. 14, 2016, according to court documents from the Miami-Dade County criminal justice system. The greater Bitcoin community has been besieged by various levels of criminal activity, particularly over the last three years, as Bitcoin has become much more noticed by the mainstream. From the Silk Road’s dominance of the deep webs’ drug trade, to various ransomware and money laundering schemes, Bitcoin has attracted more than just your 21st century early adopting tech geek to its skill set. This weekend, Bitcoin’s …

The early 20th century was a hard time to be an alcohol drinker (read: prohibition). And 15th century New England was a hard place to be a female atheist (read: Salem Witch Trials). Similarly, most of the world in the 21st century is a hard place to be a drug user (if you buy from someone other than the government-supported drug dealers known as “pharmaceutical companies”). Over the past few years, Internet websites like the Silk Road alleviated the egregious burden placed on drug users, allowing them to step off the filthy streets and cleanly place an order for their …