The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has revealed the details of how it took down crypto “pump and dump” Telegram groups back in October. A pump and dump scheme typically involves using social media to coordinate users to buy large amounts of a thinly traded token to artificially inflate its price. They then cash out with massive gains after other investors, who aren’t in on the scheme, FOMO in on a momentum trade. The new documents reveal that ASIC has been taking counsel from finance academic and crypto researcher, Talis Putnins since early Oct. A 38-slide presentation by Putnins …

Sian Berry, former co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales and current member of the London Assembly, is looking to crack down on crypto advertisements on public transport. According to a Nov. 14 Twitter post, Berry said she would be recommending the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, ban all crypto advertising in the city’s transport network, including many rail and bus services. The assembly member’s call to action comes following token project Floki Inu announcing it would conduct an “full-out assault on the London public transportation system” with posters on Underground trains and buses. Like gambling ads, which …

A cryptocurrency inspired by Netflix's internationally hit TV show "Squid Game" scammed investors in what appears to be a $3.38 million "rug pull" scheme. Dubbed "SQUID," the cryptocurrency plunged to almost a fraction of a cent minutes after crossing over $2,850 at 09:35 UTC, Nov. 1. The deadly drop surfaced following a 75,000% bull run, showcasing a greater demand for SQUID among traders after its debut on Oct. 26. At the core of the retail craze lay the popularity of Squid Game. The scammers promoted SQUID as a play-to-earn cryptocurrency inspired by the South Korean TV fictional show in which …

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is going after pump-and-dump groups on Telegram. On Monday, an account under the name “ASIC” posted a message in the “ASX Pump Organization” on Telegram to warn around 300 members of the group that “we’re monitoring this platform and we may be investigating you.” “Coordinated pumping of shares for profits can be illegal. We can see all trades and have access to trader identities. [...] You run the risk of a criminal record, including fines of more than $1 million and prison time.” Many of the group’s members assumed the account to be …

An ex-Google tech lead and YouTuber with more than 1.1 million subscribers has been accused of engineering a multi-million-dollar “pump-and-dump” scheme. Patrick Shyu, known pseudonymously as TechLead on YouTube, launched the Million token (MM) via an initial DEX offering on leading decentralized exchange Uniswap on Thursday. The project’s website describes Million as a pre-mined cryptocurrency with a fixed supply of 1 million tokens that are backed by one USD Coin (USDC) each per token. The website emphasizes that despite only being backed by $1 million worth of stablecoins, MM has “no maximum value.” After being priced at $1.00 on launch, …

Internet Computer (ICP) rose to spotlight among day-traders after rising 41.69% on Sunday. The ICP/USD exchange rate closed the session at $42.98 after correcting lower from its intraday high of $45.01. At its quarter-to-date low, the pair was trading at $28.31. Meanwhile, on Monday, it surged to a new intraday high of $47.63. Therefore, its latest rebound returned as much as 68.27% in paper profits. The major price retracement in the Internet Computer market also followed a steeper 95% decline since ICP's debut more than a month ago across leading cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase. Therefore, the cryptocurrency's revenge …

Software antivirus pioneer John McAfee has told his 1 million Twitter followers that his entire crypto fortune is gone — although he concedes not everyone will believe he’s telling the truth. The McAfee antivirus founder has been behind bars in Spain since October 2020 — when he was arrested for tax evasion — but that hasn’t stopped him from posting on Twitter on a near-daily basis. The 75-year-old tweeted earlier today that “I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing,” and noted that: “The US believes I have hidden crypto. I wish I did but it has dissolved through the many …

Magda Wierzycka, one of the richest women in South Africa and CEO of financial services company Sygnia, said Tesla CEO Elon Musk would likely have been investigated by authorities regarding recent allegations over his manipulation of crypto prices — if his target had been almost anything other than Bitcoin. In an interview with Bruce Whitfield at the Money Show this week, Wierzycka said Musk’s recent social media activity on the price of Bitcoin (BTC) should have made him the subject of investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, if Bitcoin were more of a traditional company. The …

Since the start of 2021, Dogecoin (DOGE) has sat in the spotlight as its growing community of retail and business-class level supporters have orchestrated a coordinated push to send the popular meme-coin to the $1 level. Most recently, DOGE pulled off a 10x gain as it rallied to $0.74 in the past week. The breakout was fueled mainly by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his constant mentions of the token on social networks and interviews. Surprisingly, as Musk debuted on Saturday Night Live on May 8, Dogecoin price corrected by 42% even as Musk, his mother, and SNL actors mentioned …

Lots of cons, no artistry It’s grifter season: Scams and opportunists run amok, and it’s harder than ever to tell who to trust. Case and point: Over the weekend, an influencer by the pseudonym Crypto Spider was found to have pumped and dumped a meme coin, SELON — while publicly claiming that he had joined his followers in taking a loss. step 1: @linkpadvc make a Doge fork called Shibe-Elon step 2: give themselves a ton of it step 3: burn 1 of their top address to induce FOMO step 4: rug I knew it from instinct, but thanks for …

Loyal Finance Redefined readers: Hi, I’m Andrew. My inestimable colleague Andrey, the previous compiler of this newsletter, is stepping away from Cointelegraph in order to build [REDACTED], leaving me to take over lettering the news. While I’m thrilled he’ll be keeping around the DeFi ecosystem, I’m also infuriated that there’ll be yet another gigabrain trading against me. Also: journalists quitting their jobs to do DeFi stuff. Talk about top signals. While DeFi tokens and ETH prices in particular have largely rebounded from dispepsia-inducing lows, I remain antsy. Nonetheless, the highlights of the week: 4/20 Haze It In the 4/21 hangover …

Insider activity reports for Coinbase’s COIN stock indicate that multiple early investors and executives sold billions in equity shortly after COIN’s direct listing. While the filings initially indicated that multiple executives sold a high percentage of their stake in the company, a representative for Coinbase told Cointelegraph that the sellers maintain strong ownership positions. Data from Capital Market Laboratories and confirmed by filings on Coinbase’s Investor Relations website shows a total of 12,965,079 shares were sold by insiders, worth over $4.6 billion at COIN’s $344.38 per share Friday close. Notable transactions include Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas selling some 255,500 shares …