Bill Foster, Democratic Representative and co-chair of the Congressional blockchain caucus, has called for a regulatory framework that would enable third parties to reverse fraudulent or criminal transactions. Foster is a physicist and a Democratic Rep for Illinois. The blockchain caucus is co-chaired by Democratic Rep Darren Soto, and Republican Reps Tom Emmer and David Schweikert. Speaking during an online event for news outlet Axios, Foster asserted that unless the Congress or the public can come up with a different solution to ransomware, U.S. regulators need to introduce a legal framework that can “unmask” crypto wallet holders’ identities and reverse …

Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s Mad Money, announced he has liquidated nearly all of his Bitcoin (BTC) holdings. Speaking on June 21 during an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on the Street, Cramer asserted that BTC is ”not going up because of structural reasons,” highlighting China’s renewed regulatory clampdown. Cramer stated that China’s central government understands Bitcoin to be a “direct threat” to the regime and its capacity to control monetary flows within the country, describing the cryptocurrency as “as a system that’s outside of their control.” The escalating Chinese crypto mining ban has sent Bitcoin’s hash rate tumbling …

United States President Joe Biden implied he made some progress in addressing ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Following a Wednesday summit in Geneva, Biden said he had spoken with Putin on the issue of cybersecurity, the U.S. president making it clear his opinion was certain areas of critical infrastructure were off limits for attacks — whether the targets were in Russia or the United States. Biden said the meeting had a positive tone, but he had told Putin “the United States will respond to actions that impair our vital interests or those of …

JBS USA Holdings Inc. has paid an $11-million ransom in Bitcoin (BTC) to cybercriminals as new details emerge over the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation’s recovery of assets from a previous heist. The payment, estimated to be more than 300 BTC at current prices, was made to shield JBS factories from further disruption. The firm is the world’s largest meat company by sales, processing beef, poultry and pork from Australia to South America and Europe. Andre Nogueira, CEO of the Brazilian meat company’s U.S. division, said that the payment was painful and made after the majority of JBS plants …

Coinbase chief security officer Philip Martin has refuted suggestions the American crypto exchange was involved in any seizure of crypto assets related to the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. Martin took to Twitter on Tuesday to explain the firm’s involvement, or lack of it, with the Department of Justice’s warrant for the seizure of Bitcoin. “Coinbase was not the target of the warrant and did not receive the ransom or any part of the ransom at any point. We also have no evidence that the funds went through a Coinbase account/wallet.” 1/ I've seen a bunch of incorrect claims that …

Officials with a United States government task force have seized more than $2 million in crypto used to pay for ransom following an attack on the Colonial Pipeline system. In a Monday press conference, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that the task force “found and recaptured” millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin (BTC) connected to Russia-based DarkSide hackers — the majority of the $4.4 million funds originally paid. A warrant filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California shows that authorities recovered 63.7 BTC, worth roughly $2.3 million at the time. Monaco said this action …

United States lawmakers have deliberated on the prospect of banning cryptocurrencies as a solution to the ransomware attacks that have befallen U.S. institutions in the past month, and opinions appear to be mixed. The largest fuel pipeline in America was brought to a halt in early May when hackers infected the computer networks of Colonial Pipeline. Food packing company JBS was hit with a similar attack. Colonial Pipeline has since paid a reported $4.4 million in ransom. Senator Mark Warner addressed the matter during NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday, where it was put to him by reporter Chuck …

Recently, gas has been a hot topic in the news. In the crypto media, it’s been about Ethereum miner’s fees. In the mainstream media, it’s been about good old-fashioned gasoline, including a short-term lack thereof along the East Coast, thanks to an alleged DarkSide ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline system, which provides 45% of the East Coast’s supply of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. In cases of ransomware, we generally see a typical cycle repeat: Initially, the focus is on the attack, the root cause, the fallout and steps organizations can take to avoid attacks in the future. Then, …

Government and industry have teamed up to fight a major increase in ransomware, with a newly formed ransomware task force calling for new measures to more aggressively trace Bitcoin and crypto capital flows. The task force includes law enforcement including FBI and U.S. Secret Service agents working alongside representatives of leading security and tech firms. According to an April 29 report from Reuters citing anonymous sources from the Department of Justice’s task force, the group is calling for new guidelines designed to cut through the anonymity of digital asset transfers that will soon be reviewed by Congress. The proposed measures …

Former Department of Homeland Security official Christopher Krebs called for greater governmental oversight of cryptocurrency in an interview yesterday, saying that anonymous payments are a threat “the average American is concerned about.” In an interview on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher asked the former U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency director about his thoughts on Bitcoin. “What’s gonna happen with Bitcoin? Where do you see that going? That’s in sort of your area, I see it bringing down civilization, but maybe I’m being anti-intellectual,” said Maher. “Cryptocurrency is, as I see it, is one of the single enabling factors …

Revenue from crypto-related crime dropped by more than half in 2020 according to Chainalysis’ annual report on the subject. Cybercriminals netted around $5 billion less than the $10 billion plus they got away with in 2019, representing a 53% fall. Transactions involving illicit funds have decreased even more rapidly than the total volume of those funds, falling from 2.1% of all transactions analyzed in 2019 down to just 0.34% last year. Among the eight categories of transactions deemed “illicit” by Chainalysis, the dollar amount of crypto taken in by scams decreased the most, by 71% to $2.6B, largely due 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 …