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Indian Nation Pleads Guilty in $37 Million Cryptocurrency Theft Scheme

Published

6 months ago

28 May, 2024

An Indian national has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of stealing more than $37 million by creating a website impersonating cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase.

Chirag Tomar, 30, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He was arrested on December 20, 2023, as soon as he entered the country.

“Tomar and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to steal millions in cryptocurrency from hundreds of victims around the world and in the United States, including in the Western District of North Carolina,” the Department of Justice (DoJ) said. She said last week.

The website, created around June 2021, was called “CoinbasePro[.]com” in an attempt to masquerade as Coinbase Pro and trick unsuspecting users into thinking they were accessing the legitimate version of the virtual currency exchange.

It is worth noting that Coinbase interrupted the offering to Advanced Trade in June 2022. The phased migration of Coinbase Pro customers to Coinbase Advanced was completed on November 20, 2023.

Victims who entered credentials on the counterfeit site had their login information stolen by scammers and in some cases were tricked into granting remote desktop access which allowed the criminal perpetrators to access their Coinbase accounts legitimate.

“The scammers also impersonated Coinbase customer service representatives and tricked users into providing their two-factor authentication codes to the scammers over the phone,” the DoJ said.

“Once the scammers gained access to the victims’ Coinbase accounts, they quickly transferred the victims’ Coinbase cryptocurrency holdings to cryptocurrency wallets under the scammers’ control.”

In one case highlighted by prosecutors, an unnamed victim located in the Western District of North Carolina had more than $240,000 worth of cryptocurrency stolen this way after being tricked into calling a fake Coinbase representative under the guise of blocking the own trading account.

Tomar is believed to have been in possession of several cryptocurrency wallets that received stolen funds totaling tens of millions of dollars, which were later converted into other forms of cryptocurrency or moved to other wallets and ultimately cashed out to fund a style of sumptuous life.

This included expensive watches from brands such as Rolex, the purchase of luxury vehicles such as Lamborghini and Porsche, and several trips to Dubai and Thailand.

The development comes with the arrest of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) associated with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the Indian state of Karnataka Srikrishna Ramesh (aka Sriki) and his alleged co-conspirator Robin Khandelwal for stealing 60.6 bitcoins from a cryptocurrency exchange company called Unocoin in 2017.

US takes action against North Korea’s freelance IT army

It also follows a new wave of arrests in the United States in connection with an essay multi-year regime designed to help North Korea-linked IT workers obtain remote jobs at more than 300 U.S. companies and advance the country’s weapons of mass destruction program in violation of international sanctions.

Among those arrested is Oleksandr Didenko, a 27-year-old Ukrainian citizen, accused of creating fake accounts on US IT job search platforms and selling them to foreign IT workers to get jobs.

He is also said to have operated a now dismantled service called UpWorkSell which advertised “the ability for remote IT workers to purchase or rent accounts in the names of identities other than their own on various online freelance IT job search platforms.”

According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, Didenko operated approximately 871 “proxy” identities, provided proxy accounts for three U.S. freelance IT rental platforms, and provided proxy accounts for three different U.S.-based money services transmitters.

Didenko’s accomplice, Christina Marie Chapman, 49, was also arrested for operating what is called a “laptop farm” by hosting multiple laptops at her residence to allow North Korean IT workers to give the impression they were in the U.S. and apply. for remote work positions in the country.

“The conspiracy […] resulted in the generation of at least $6.8 million in revenue for IT workers overseas,” Chapman’s indictment reads, adding that the workers found jobs at numerous blue-chip American companies and exfiltrated data from at least two of them, including a multinational restaurant chain and a classic American clothing brand.

Charges were also filed against Minh Phuong Vong of Maryland, a Vietnamese citizen and naturalized U.S. citizen, for conspiring with an unknown party to commit wire fraud by obtaining employment with U.S.-based companies when, in reality, remote IT workers based in China they posed as Vong to work on the government’s software development project.

There are indications that the second individual, referred to as “John Doe”, is North Korean and works as a software developer in Shenyang, China.

“Vong […] did not engage in software development activities,” the DoJ She said. “Instead, Vong worked at a nail salon in Bowie, Maryland, while one or more individuals residing in China used Vong’s login credentials to connect to a secure government website, perform software development work, and participate in regular online company meetings.”

At the same time, the DoJ said it took control of as many as 12 websites used by IT workers to secure remote work contracts by masquerading as US-based IT services companies offering artificial intelligence, blockchain and cloud computing solutions.

AS previously disclosed in court documents from late last year, these IT workers – part of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Munitions Industry Department – are known to be sent to countries such as China and Russia, from where they are hired as freelancers with l The ultimate goal is to generate income for the Hermit Kingdom.

“North Korea is evading US and UN sanctions by targeting private companies to illicitly generate substantial revenue for the regime,” the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said. She said in a consultation.

“North Korean IT workers use a variety of techniques to obfuscate their identities, including exploiting US-based individuals, both knowing and unknowing, to gain fraudulent employment and access to US corporate networks to generate this revenue.”

A recent Reuters report revealed that North Korean threat actors have been linked to 97 suspected cyberattacks cryptocurrency company between 2017 and 2024, netting them $3.6 billion in illicit profits.

Adversaries are estimated to have laundered the $147.5 million stolen last year from the hack of cryptocurrency exchange HTX through the virtual currency platform Tornado Cash in March 2024.

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

Published

4 months ago

1 August, 2024

BlockChainBulletin Staff

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%

Published

4 months ago

1 August, 2024

BlockChainBulletin Staff

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

Published

4 months ago

1 August, 2024

BlockChainBulletin Staff

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

Published

4 months ago

1 August, 2024

BlockChainBulletin Staff

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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