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Tether is used by criminals far more than you think

BlockChainBulletin Staff

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Tether is used by criminals far more than you think

It has been repeatedly suggested that billions of dollars worth of Tether have been laundered through pig slaughter and sextortion scams, and it’s a problem that’s getting worse, not better.

A new in-depth report has revealed how USDT stable currency It is widely used as a payment method in a criminal market, with illicit activities wallets receiving more than $11 billion in the last three years.

Source: Elliptical

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic He says Bind It is the primary payment method of a platform called Huione Guarantee, which facilitates transactions on behalf of cybercriminals and their clients.

Some merchants claim they can help with money laundrymostly with illicit profits from pig slaughter incidents. Others say they are willing to help manage the proceeds of sextortion scams.

For the uninitiated, pig slaughter scams involve scammers gradually gaining the trust of unsuspecting individuals, often by pretending to be romantically interested, and encouraging them to gradually invest their entire life savings in too-good-to-be-true cryptocurrency investments.

Thanks to the Huione Guarantee, you can even hire people to create websites for these fake investment opportunities and acquire “Artificial intelligence software that changes your face so scammers can communicate convincingly with their prey.

Tether is used by criminals much more than you think - 2

Source: Elliptical

Countless billions of dollars have been lost due to pig slaughter scamsBut it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that, more often than not, the people charged with carrying out these crimes are also victims. They often travel to Southeast Asian nations like Cambodia and Myanmar in the hope of a well-paid job, only to be imprisoned and have their passports confiscated.

Horrifyingly, items to torture these workers are also sold on Huione Guarantee, including chains that inflict electric shocks and truncheons to beat them.

“Some of these forced laborers resort to suicide or die in suspicious circumstances,” the Elliptic inquiry warned.

Tether is used by criminals much more than you think - 3

Source: Elliptical

The authors highlighted “overwhelming evidence” that Huione Guarantee’s “predominant role is to act as an illicit marketplace.” And in another surreal development, the platform appears to have ties to a large Cambodian company that deals in everything from airlines to real estate, with an executive who is closely related to the country’s prime minister.

While the report sheds a new light on the scale of pig slaughter scams, Elliptic said one of the benefits of cryptocurrency payments is “blockchain transparency,” as USDT flows can be monitored and frozen to deprive scammers of revenue.

“Following our investigation, hundreds of cryptocurrency addresses controlled by Huione companies and used by merchants operating on Huione Guarantee have been tagged in Elliptic’s tools,” he added.

Repressive measures continue

There is also growing evidence that Tether is being used to orchestrate criminal activity in China, where the use of cryptocurrencies is banned.

In May, a large clandestine ring that allowed individuals to circumvent strict foreign exchange rules and send funds abroad was busted by police, with local media reporting that $1.9 billion was transferred abroad.

The United Nations also shed light on the issue in January, when it said that USDT on By Justin Sun Trunk Blockchain has “become the preferred choice for regional cyber fraud operations and money launderers, due to its stability and the ease, anonymity and low fees of its transactions.”

Over a 12-month period, estimates suggested that more than $17 billion in Tether was “linked to underground currency exchanges, illegal commodity trading, illicit collection and payment processes, and various criminal activities.”

Evidence has also mounted that the kidnappers demanded USDT as a ransom. Two unemployed women brazenly kidnapped a three-year-old boy from a Hong Kong shopping mall and later left a note instructing the mother to pay $640,000 worth of Tether to a wallet. The perpetrators were later arrested and the boy was fortunately unharmed.

A recent report from TRM Labs went on to state that Tether was by far the stablecoin with the highest illicit volume, with estimates suggesting that 1.63% of transactions were linked to criminal activity. In comparison, this figure dropped to just 0.05% of transactions involving USDC.

This has also had implications for terrorist financing, and while cryptocurrency exchanges and payment processors have begun to crack down in recent years, TRON remains popular.

“Among terrorist financing campaigns that continued to accept cryptocurrency, the number of unique TRON addresses receiving Tether (USDT) increased by 125%,” the report noted.

Responding to these allegations, a Tether spokesperson told Bloomberg:

“Historical evidence repeatedly shows that transaction figures have often been exaggerated due to a misinterpretation of the data that assumes that if a service receives a small portion of illicit funds, then all the funds in the service are illicit, significantly inflating the actual values.”

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Cryptocurrency Price August 1: Bitcoin Dips Below $65K; Solana, XRP Down Up To 8%

BlockChainBulletin Staff

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Major cryptocurrencies fell in Thursday trading following the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep its key interest rate unchanged. Overnight, the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate at 5.25-5.5% for the eighth consecutive time, as expected, while also signaling the possibility of a rate cut at its next meeting in September. The unanimous decision by the Federal Open Market Committee reflects a continued wait-and-see approach as it monitors inflation trends.

CoinSwitch Markets Desk said: “Bitcoin has fallen below $65,000 after the US Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates unchanged. However, with markets now anticipating rate cuts at the next Federal Reserve meeting in September, the outlook for a Bitcoin rally by the end of the year has strengthened.”

Meanwhile, CoinDCX research team said: “The crypto market has plunged after the Fed decision. Tomorrow’s US unemployment rate announcement is expected to induce more volatility, with the ‘actual’ figure coming in higher than the ‘expected’ one, which is positive for cryptocurrencies.”

At 12:21 pm IST, Bitcoin (BTC) was down 3.2% at $64,285, while Ethereum was down nearly 4.5% at $3,313. Meanwhile, the global market cryptocurrency The market capitalization fell 3.6% to around $2.3 trillion in the last 24 hours.

“Bitcoin needs to clear its 200-day EMA at $64,510 to consolidate further. Otherwise, a retest of $62,000 could be in the cards,” said Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus.

Altcoins and meme coins, such as BNB (3%), Solana (8%), XRP (5.7%), Dogecoin (5%), Cardano (4.6%), Avalanche (4.3%), Shiba Inu (3.8%), Polkadot (3.4%), and Chainlink (4%) also saw declines.

The volume of all stablecoins is now $71.64 billion, which is 92.19% of the total cryptocurrency market volume in 24 hours, according to data available on CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 54.99%. BTC volume in the last 24 hours increased by 23.3% to $35.7 billion.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, opinions and views provided by experts are personal. They do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

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Altcoins WIF, BONK, RUNE, JUP Down 10% While Bitcoin Drops 4%

BlockChainBulletin Staff

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Altcoins WIF, BONK, RUNE and JUP drop 10% as Bitcoin recedes 4%

Altcoins dogwifhat, Bonk, THORChain, and Jupiter have suffered losses of more than 10%, while Bitcoin is down 4% in the last 24 hours.

After a period of relative calm yesterday, July 31, Bitcoin (BTC) price action has seen a drastic change as the cryptocurrency dropped by more than $3,500, bringing its value to $63,300. At the same time, altcoins mirrored this trend, with the total value of liquidated positions rising to nearly $225 million over the course of the day.

Initially, the week started on a positive note for Bitcoin, which reached its highest point since early June, hitting $70,000. However, this peak was short-lived, as it was quickly rejected, leading to a substantial decline, with Bitcoin falling below $65,500.

The cryptocurrency managed to regain some stability, trading comfortably at around $66,800. However, following a Press conference According to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the value of Bitcoin has fallen again to $64,300, down more than 3% in 24 hours.

BTC Price Chart 24 Hours | Source: crypto.news

The recession coincided with a relationship from the New York Times stating that Iran had called for retaliatory measures against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, increasing the risk of further conflict in the region.

Meanwhile, on the economic front, the Federal Reserve decided to keep its benchmark interest rates in place, offering little information on a planned September rate cut. Powell also hinted that while no concrete decisions have been made on the September adjustment, there is growing consensus that a rate cut is likely.

Amid Bitcoin’s decline, altcoins have suffered even more significant losses. For example, dogwifhat (Wife) saw a 12.4% drop and (DISGUST) has suffered a 10% drop. Other altcoins such as THORChain (RUNE) also fell by 10%, while Jupiter (JUPITER) and the Ethereum naming service (ENS) decreased by 8% and 9% respectively.

Among the largest-cap cryptocurrencies, the biggest losers are Solana (SOL) with a decrease of 8%, (Exchange rate risk) down 6%, Cardano (ADA) down 4%, and both Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE) recording a decrease of 4.4%.

Data from CoinGlass indicates that approximately 67,000 traders have been negatively impacted by this increased volatility. BTC positions have seen $61.85 million in liquidations, while ETH positions have faced $61 million. In total, the value of liquidated positions stands at $225.4 million at the time of writing.

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Riot Platforms Sees 52% Drop in Bitcoin Production in Q2

BlockChainBulletin Staff

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Riot Platforms posts 52% decrease in Bitcoin production for Q2

Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms has released its second-quarter financial results, highlighting a decline in cryptocurrency mined due to the recent halving.

Colorado-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Riot platforms revealed its second quarter financial results, highlighting a significant reduction in mined cryptocurrencies attributed to the recent halving event that took place in early April.

The company reported total revenue of $70 million for the quarter ended July 31, a decline of 8.7% compared to the same period in 2023. Riot Platforms attributed the revenue decline primarily to a $9.7 million decrease in engineering revenue, which was partially mitigated by a $6 million increase in Bitcoin extraction income.

During the quarter, the company mined 844 BTC, representing a decline of over 50% from Q2 2023, citing the halving event and increasing network difficulty as major factors behind the decline. Riot Platforms reported a net loss of $84.4 million, or $0.32 per share, missing Zacks Research forecast a loss of $0.16 per share.

Halving increases competitive pressure

The Colorado-based firm said the average cost of mining one BTC in the second quarter, including energy credits, rose to $25,327, a remarkable 341% increase from $5,734 per BTC in the same quarter of 2023. Despite this significant increase in production costs, the firm remains optimistic about maintaining competitiveness through recent deals.

For example, following the Recent acquisition Cryptocurrency firm Block Mining, Riot has increased its distributed hash rate forecast from 31 EH/s to 36 EH/s by the end of 2024, while also increasing its 2025 forecast from 40 EH/s to 56 EH/s.

Riot Platforms Hashrate Growth Projections by 2027 | Source: Riot Platforms

Commenting on the company’s financials, Riot CEO Jason Les said that despite the halving, the mining company still managed to achieve “significant operational growth and execution of our long-term strategy.”

“Despite this reduction in production available to all Bitcoin miners, Riot reported $70 million in revenue for the quarter and maintained strong gross margins in our core Bitcoin mining business.”

Jason Les

Following its Q2 financial report, Riot Platforms shares fell 1.74% to $10.19, according to Google Finance data. Meanwhile, the American miner continues to chase Canadian rival Bitfarms, recently acquiring an additional 10.2 million BITF shares, increasing its stake in Bitfarms to 15.9%.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Riot was the first announced a $950 million takeover bid for Bitfarms in late May, arguing that Bitfarms’ founders were not acting in the best interests of all shareholders. They said their proposal was rejected by Bitfarms’ board without substantive engagement.

In response, Bitfarms She said that Riot’s offer “significantly understates” its growth prospects. Bitfarms subsequently implemented a shareholder rights plan, also known as a “poison pill,” to protect its strategic review process from hostile takeover attempts.

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Aave Price Increases Following Whales Accumulation and V3.1 Launch

BlockChainBulletin Staff

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Aave price surges amid whale accumulation and V3.1 launch

Decentralized finance protocol Aave is seeing a significant spike in whale activity as the market looks to recover from the recent crash that pushed most altcoins into key support areas earlier this week.

July 31, Lookonchain shared details indicating that the whales had aggressively accumulated Aave (AAVE) over the past two days. According to the data, whales have withdrawn over 58,848 AAVE worth $6.47 million from exchanges during this period.

In one instance, whale address 0x9af4 withdrew 11,185 AAVE worth $1.23 million from Binance. Meanwhile, another address moved 21,619 AAVE worth over $2.38 million from the exchange and deposited the tokens into Aave.

These withdrawals follow a previous transfer of 26,044 AAVE from whale address 0xd7c5, amounting to over $2.83 million withdrawn from Binance.

AAVE price has surged over 7% in the past 24 hours amid buy-side pressure from these whales. The DeFi token is currently trading around $111 after jumping over 18% in the past week.

Recently, the price of AAVE increased by over 8% after Aave founder Marc Zeller announced a proposed fee change aimed at adopting a buyback program for AAVE tokens.

Aave v3.1 is available

The total value locked in the Aave protocol currently stands at around $22 billion. According to DeFiLlamaApproximately $19.9 billion is on Aave V3, while the V2 chain still holds approximately $1.9 billion in TVL and V1 approximately $14.6 million.

Aave Labs announced Previously, Aave V3.1 was made available on all networks with active Aave V3 instances.

V3.1 features improvements that are intended to improve the overall security of the DeFi protocol. The Aave DAO governance has approved the v3.1 improvements, which also include operational efficiency and usability for the network.

Meanwhile, Aave Labs recently outlined a ambitious roadmap for the projectwith a 2030 vision for Aave V4, among other developments.

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