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Ohio man charged for laundering $300 million through Bitcoin 'mixer'
American law enforcement just illustrated how important cryptocurrency has become in the criminal world. Federal agents have charged Ohio resident Larry Harmon for allegedly running a darknet-based Bitcoin "mixer" that laundered the equivalent of roughly $300 million for drug dealers and other crooks. Helix, as it was called while it ran between 2014 and 2017, reportedly let customers pay to send Bitcoin in a way that hid the true source. It operated with "brazenness," the IRS' Don Fort said. Helix supposedly partnered with AlphaBay to serve the darknet black market's customers, and advertised Helix on the Grams search engine (which Harmon apparently ran) as a way to hide deals from police.
HTC's Exodus 1s can run a full Bitcoin node for under $250
After first teasing the device earlier this year, HTC has detailed its new, more affordable Exodus 1s blockchain smartphone. The highlight feature of the device is that it can function as a full node. This means the phone is able to validate and transmit Bitcoin transactions independent of a centralized third-party. In this way, you don't need to go through an exchange to buy and sell Bitcoin. Likewise, the phone can also be used to trade, lend and borrow the cryptocurrency. The way HTC puts it, what separates the 1s from other smartphones is that you can operate your own decentralized bank out of your pocket.
Law enforcement shuts down largest known child porn site on the dark web
The US just scored a significant coup against crime on the dark web. Federal agents and international partners have taken down Welcome To Video, believed to be the largest child pornography darknet site to date based on its sheer volume of content. Law enforcement has seized a South Korea server for WTV that held over 8TB of disturbing content, including more than 250,000 videos. It appeared to be a source for exploitative media rather than just a distributor, as 45 percent of the videos studied so far included images that were new to investigators.
UNICEF now takes bitcoin and ether donations
UNICEF, the United Nations' charity that helps underserved children around the world, now accepts donations in bitcoin and ether. As the first UN organization to embrace cryptocurrencies, UNICEF and the recipients of its funding will benefit from the lack of fees that result from money being transferred overseas. Plus, donors will presumably be able to see how their contributions are disbursed to various initiatives.
Venezuela reportedly wants its central bank to hold bitcoin
Venezuela may not just be using its own cryptocurrency to dodge the consequences of international sanctions. Bloomberg tipsters say the country's central bank is testing the possibility of holding on to cryptocurrencies in order to help the state-controlled oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA. The firm reportedly has troves of bitcoin and ethereum, and moving that money to the central bank might let it pay suppliers and avoid "potential blocks" from conventional channels that would come with either direct crypto payments or regular money.
HTC will preload a Bitcoin Cash wallet on its blockchain phone
If a second blockchain phone didn't make things clear, HTC is still as serious as ever about its crypto-phones On Monday, the company announced a new partnership with Bitcoin.com that will see all new Exodus 1 phones come with the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) wallet app pre-installed. On existing devices, meanwhile, HTC will push an update that adds the app to the phone. As part of the partnership, the Bitcoin.com online store has also started selling Exodus 1 devices. In the future, if you don't plan on hoarding on your Bitcoin Cash, you'll be able to get a discount on select HTC smartphones when you pay for a device with Bitcoin Cash.
Telegram hasn’t given up on its ‘Gram’ cryptocurrency
As Facebook's cryptocurrency Libra faces challenges from legislators, another social platform is getting ready to launch its own digital currency. According to a report in the New York Times, Telegram is aiming to launch its own coin, the Gram, within the next two months.
Judge recommends bitcoin ‘creator’ turn over earnings in lawsuit
The self-proclaimed creator of bitcoin, Craig Wright, has been ordered to hand over half of his bitcoin earnings and intellectual property (IP) -- earned before 2014. They'll go to the estate of David Kleiman, who may or may not have co-created the cryptocurrency. The ruling, reported by CoinDesk, is the latest development in a $10 billion lawsuit. In 2018, Kleiman's brother accused Wright of fraudulently claiming that Kleiman signed over ownership and control of W&K, a company Kleiman ran. Wright was allegedly after Kleiman's Bitcoin earnings.
YouTube sues user who extorted others through fake takedown requests
A lawsuit filed by YouTube yesterday claims that a user abused its copyright infringement reporting system to extort fellow YouTubers and carry out a swatting attack. YouTube alleges that Christopher Brady, of Omaha, Nebraska, filed dozens of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices, which falsely claimed that materials posted by other users infringed his copyrights. Not only were the takedown notices bogus, they were allegedly part of Brady's plan to extort money from those users.
Binance cryptocurrency exchange blackmailed over customer data 'hack'
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is being blackmailed by hackers that claim to have access to customer passport and identity documents. In a statement, Binance said that "an unidentified individual has threatened and harassed us, demanding 300 BTC in exchange for withholding 10,000 photos that bear similarity to Binance KYC data."
Apple Card customer agreement: use two-factor, no jailbreaking
As the debut of Apple's "new kind of credit card" draws closer, partner Goldman Sachs has published the official customer agreement (PDF) on its website. The Apple Card terms are pretty standard -- similar to some other cards, purchasing any kind of "cash equivalent" like cryptocurrency is prohibited -- but there are some specific items.
IRS reminds 10,000 taxpayers that cryptocurrency is subject to taxes
By the end of August, an estimated 10,000 taxpayers will receive letters from the IRS warning them that they may owe back taxes on unreported cryptocurrency earnings. While it might not be immediately obvious, you must include cryptocurrency earnings when you file federal taxes. As with tax evasion for traditional currency, anyone convicted of evading crypto taxes could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Local governments are still woefully unprepared to fight ransomware
Our state and local governments found themselves under siege in 2019 from William Plunketts for the internet age. But rather than pistols and roadblocks, this new generation of bandits come armed with encryption algorithms and demands for bitcoin. Can today's American cities and counties, long hamstrung by both a lack of interest and funding for cybersecurity efforts ever hope to withstand these digital muggings? Just ask Lake City, Florida.
Japan reportedly pushes 'international network for cryptocurrency payments'
As governments around the world try to figure out how to deal with everything from Bitcoin to Facebook's Libra, Japan has usually been a step or two ahead in dealing with cryptocurrency. Bitcoin has been a legal form of payment there since 2017 and it's begun issuing licenses for exchanges. Now Reuters reports, based on anonymous sources, that the country's government is at the lead of an effort to create a SWIFT-style system to manage cryptocurrency payments and supposedly battle money laundering. There's very little detail about what this means or how it would potentially work, but SWIFT is the network that banks use to securely send money around the world. Cryptocurrency users aren't necessarily looking for more government oversight -- and interference -- so the question of how regulators would insert such a system also needs to be answered. Even with the regulation Japan has now, just last week the Remixpoint exchange reported it lost $32 million worth of currency after being hacked. According to the report, the network is supposed to be implemented in the next few years" with cooperation from other countries.
Florida city gives in to $600,000 bitcoin ransomware demand
Riviera Beach, a city in Florida, is set to pay hackers $600,000 in bitcoin with the hope of having its systems restored. Hackers took over the systems several weeks ago, when a police department employee opened a malicious email that allowed them to inject the city's network with malware. Now the council has voted to pay the ransom in the hopes of getting Riviera Beach's encrypted records back -- even though there's no actual guarantee the hackers will restore them.
SEC sues Kik for running an unregistered Initial Coin Offering
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing messaging service Kik Interactive, stating that its 2017 digital token sale, which raised $100 million, was essentially an illegal, unregistered securities offering. According to Bloomberg, this is one the highest profile cases yet where the SEC has targeted a company for not registering an offering with the regulator.
The FBI wants help from victims of QuadrigaCX's cryptocurrency collapse
Remember that wild cryptocurrency story from earlier this year? The one where a Canadian exchange shut down shortly after co-founder and CEO Gerald Cotten died, claiming he was the only one who could access its wallets. Wallets that should've stored assets for 76,000 customers with a value of around $200 million (CAD). If any of that was your digital money then yeah, you probably do remember. Investigations into the company, QuadrigaCX, have suggested it did not have the money to satisfy its deposits, and naturally, law enforcement is sniffing around. Its customers were located around the world, and the FBI is circulating a form for customers to get in touch with it, the IRS, the Washington D.C. AG's office and the DoJ's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.
AT&T just made it possible to pay your phone bill with bitcoin
Have some spare bitcoin kicking around? You can put it toward your phone service. AT&T says it has become the first big US wireless carrier to accept cryptocurrency for online phone bill payments. Choose the BitPay option at MyAT&T and you can cover your bill with bitcoin instead of conventional funds. You can't use this in-store, alas, but it could make sense if you'd rather save old-school money for other purposes.
Pay with crypto at Whole Foods, Gamestop and other retailers
It's been difficult to spend cryptocurrencies at retail due to the technical and regulatory headaches associated with it, but that might not be an issue at some stores in the near future. Flexa has launched a payment network and a companion iOS app, Spedn, that should let you spend digital currency at major retailers like Baskin Robbins, Gamestop and Whole Foods. You just bring up a barcode at the register and the merchant scans it in -- if they don't directly accept crypto, the payment network converts your funds into conventional money in real time.
HTC will release a cheaper blockchain phone later this year
HTC is dead serious about its foray into crypto-phones. Today, the Taiwanese company announced the Exodus 1s, a cheaper version of the Exodus flagship that was launched last year. We don't know much about the mid-range device beyond its price -- somewhere in the $250 to $300 region, according to a spokesperson -- and its release date, which is currently slated for "the end of Q3." The basic specs, including its processor, display and camera setup, are all a mystery for now.
