Chainalysis data shows that 4068 criminal whales (roughly 4% of all whales) are hodling more than $25 billion worth of cryptocurrency between them. The blockchain analytics firm defines criminal whales as any private wallet that holds more than $1 million worth of crypto with over 10% of the funds received from illicit addresses tied to activity such as scams, fraud and malware. The data is from the “Criminal Balances” section of the Crypto Crime Report that explores criminal activity on the blockchain over 2021 and early 2022. The wide-ranging report also covers topics such as Ransomware, Malware, Darknet markets and …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has announced charges against California resident James Roland Jones in the first-ever enforcement action from the commission to target securities fraud on the darknet. According to the March 18 complaint, Jones is accused of accessing a darknet-based insider trading forum in late 2016 to seek material non-public information, or MNPI, on which to trade securities. He was unsuccessful in obtaining any useful MNPI from the forum, but in the spring of 2017, Jones allegedly began selling insider stock tips himself under the false pretext he was privy to MNPI obtained both from the forum …

A recently released U.S. Department of Justice audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) practices in regards to darknet criminal investigations concluded that the law enforcement agency is in disarray — and an overarching "cryptocurrency support strategy" might be among the solutions. According to an unclassified version of the audit released on Thursday, the FBI’s current darknet investigation efforts are — perhaps ironically — hampered by a “decentralized” set of practices, policies, and training programs, as well as compartmentalized intelligence leading to “redundant” efforts. Notably, the audit found that there are two separate Virtual Currency Teams that assist with …

According to The Daily Beast, outgoing United States President Donald Trump is considering granting clemency to Ross Ulbricht — the founder and operator of the pioneering darknet market, Silk Road. Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and received two life sentences without parole for non-violent offenses in 2015. The anonymous sources relied on in the report claim that the White House counsel’s office has been reviewing documents related to Ulbricht’s case, and that the president has been made aware of the situation. Two sources claim that Trump has privately expressed sympathy for Ulbricht and has considered his name for the next …

One of the men responsible for moderating content on the now defunct AlphaBay darknet market will be in jail until 2031. According to a Sept. 1 statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, 26-year-old Bryan Connor Herrell was sentenced to 11 years in prison for conspiring to engage in a racketeer-influenced corrupt organization, for his role as a moderator on AlphaBay. The platform was one of the largest online marketplaces for drugs as well as guns, credit card data, and other illegal items, paid for with cryptocurrency. “This sentence serves as further proof that criminals cannot hide behind technology to …

Empire Market, a major darknet marketplace for buying and selling illicit goods, has been offline for over 48 hours as of press time. Customers have begun to raise concerns about whether a distributed denial-of-service attack is causing the site to stay offline — or if something bigger is afoot. Twitter user Dark.fail, an anonymous journalist specializing in the Tor Project, suggested that the blackout “feels more stressful than [Empire market’s] frequent” downtime in 2019 when DDoS attacks kept the site offline for extended periods of time. Someone claiming to be one of Empire’s head moderators, named “Se7en”, issued an ambiguous …

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conducted a training course on combating darkweb-facilitated crime. Law enforcement representatives from Central Asian countries were taught how the darkweb and cryptocurrencies function, in order to better combat drug-related crime. The training was held in the span of five days that ended on Feb. 21, an official announcement reveals. The course focused specifically on “new psychoactive substances,” synthetic replacements of common drugs that are designed to mimic their effect. They are often considered more dangerous due to their unknown history and particularly shady production practices. Law enforcement representatives from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, …

A couple operating out of Merced, California have pleaded guilty to selling drugs on the dark web in exchange for cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The United States Department of Justice announced the charges in a press release on Aug. 6. According to the announcement, Jabari Monson has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances, while Saudia Monson plead guilty to violating the Travel Act. Saudia allegedly used both mail and the internet to distribute controlled substances. According to the press release, the Monsons distributed cocaine, cocaine base, methamphetamine and marijuana through multiple vendor accounts on …

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey S. Berman announced the arrest of alleged dark web drug dealer Hugh Brian Haney in a press release published on July 18. Per the release, Haney has been charged with money laundering. He allegedly used cryptocurrency to launder more than $19 million of profits earned selling illegal drugs on the now-defunct darknet market Silk Road. Berman commented to the development: “Today’s arrest should be a warning to dealers peddling their drugs on the dark web that they cannot remain anonymous forever, especially when attempting to legitimize their illicit proceeds.” …

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance announced on April 23 that two men plead guilty for illicitly selling steroids and controlled substances and laundering millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies and Western Union payments. Callaway Crain, 35, and Mark Sanchez, also 35, were allegedly behind the darknet website “NextDayGear,” and also manufactured some of the substances they sold. Among their products were reportedly injectable and oral steroids, as well as medication to counteract the adverse effects of their use, including Xanax, Valium and Viagra. Per the announcement, the defendants shipped over 10,000 packages across the United States, generating over $2.3 million …