The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) launched action against a reportedly fraudulent $147 million bitcoin (BTC) scheme, the regulator announced on June 18. On June 17, the CFTC filed a complaint with the New York Southern District Court against now-defunct United Kingdom-based entity Control-Finance Ltd, which defrauded more than 1,000 investors to launder at least 22,858 bitcoin. The CFTC also brings actions against the entity’s head, Benjamin Reynolds, stating that Control-Finance and Reynolds “exploited public enthusiasm for Bitcoin” from May 1, 2017, to October 31, 2017. The action seeks civil monetary penalties, including “permanent trading and registration bans, …

Insurance tech firm BlockClaim has recently received £500,000 ($627,000) in funding for its blockchain-based claims solution, according to an official blog post on June 17. The firm raised the funds from venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners and software firm Pragmatica, in addition to other angel investors. According to the announcement, BlockClaim uses blockchain technology to automate its claims process. Furthermore, the company says the product reduces claim costs by 20% and results in faster settlements. As per its website, BlockClaim uses a private blockchain to streamline the claims process: “Leveraging the power of a private blockchain helps to keep …

Nonprofit organization The Zcash Foundation has partnered with blockchain company Parity Technologies to release a new, open source software client for the cryptocurrency Zcash, according to a press release on June 17. The new software client, Zebra, purportedly exists to provide redundancy in the case of its first client — Zcashd — failing. Zcash hopes this will provide better security for its crypto network as a whole. Additionally, the client is designed to improve Zcash performance in other ways, such as having a means to “detect implementation-specific bugs” and avert problems related to its consensus mechanism. Parity Technologies has built …

The British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned investors of a fraudulent company posing as the Swiss Investment Corporation, an FCA-authorized firm offering crypto investments, and another company that is a clone of Goldman Sachs, the regulator announced on June 14. The financial regulator has blacklisted a firm operating under the domain swissinvest.biz. According to the announcement, the fraudulent clone firm offers services on its website swiss-investissement.com and is involved in scam activity. On the website, the alleged clone firm divides its proposed investments into the safest — assets such as precious metals, and the most successful — major cryptocurrencies …

This article has been updated to correct that GreatPoint Ventures, not General Motors, led the funding round. United States-based blockchain startup Spring Labs has raised $23 million in a Seed A funding round, according to a press release on June 12. Among the investors for this seed A funding round — led by GreatPoint Ventures — were Galaxy Digital, the cryptocurrency investment bank founded by crypto enthusiast Michael Novogratz, and automotive giant General Motors (GM). Spring Labs will purportedly use the funds to improve its blockchain-based platform Spring Protocol and develop three new fraud protection products that are designed to …

Twitter user and malware researcher Fumik0_ has discovered a new website that spreads cryptocurrency malware, according to a report by Bleeping Computer on June 5. According to the report, the host for transmitting these viruses is a website that imitates the website for Cryptohopper, a website where users can program tools to perform automatic cryptocurrency trading. When the scam site is visited, it reportedly automatically downloads a setup.exe installer, which will infect the computer once it runs. The setup panel will also display the logo of Cryptohopper in another attempt to trick the user. Running the installer is said to …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed fraud charges against supposed cryptocurrency firm Longfin Corp. and its CEO Venkata S. Meenavalli, according to a press release on June 5. Longfin saw a massive jump in its share price in 2017 when it claimed that it had redirected its business model toward blockchain technology. The associate director of the Division of Enforcement, Anita B. Bandy, summarized the allegations as such: “In our complaint against Longfin and Meenavalli and our amended complaint against Altahawi, we allege a multi-pronged fraud involving fake revenue, misrepresentations to the SEC, and false statements …

John De Mol, a Dutch billionaire responsible for the local Big Brother and The Voice shows, filed a lawsuit against Facebook over crypto ads using his image without permission, Reuters reports on June 5. Per the report, the ads promoted cryptocurrency scams using Mol’s image, which allegedly damaged his reputation. The ads in question reportedly advertised fake cryptocurrency-related businesses or encouraged users to send money to buy bitcoin (BTC), all while claiming that the projects have Mol’s baking or involvement. According to Reuters, Mol’s lawyers claim that consumers have lost €1.7 million (over $1.9 million) as a consequence of such …

The European Union has told Malta it needs to improve the resources it has to fight potential financial crime as a result of cryptocurrency popularity, local daily news outlet Malta Today reported on June 5. In a letter to member states advising how to spend EU funds, the European Commission flagged Malta’s burgeoning cryptocurrency sector as a potential weak link in the fight against financial crime. “The Commission, in its recommendations to member states for the use of EU funds, said that the size of Malta’s financial and gaming sector, and the efforts to attract crypto-currency operators required an effective …

A Sao Paulo court has blocked funds in bank accounts linked to Grupo Bitcoin Banco — with 726,630 reals (about $188,000 at press time) frozen, Cointelegraph Brazil reported on June 5. Two people, along with one company, have accused GBB of engaging in abusive practices after they were unable to make conversions back into reals or withdraw funds to their bank accounts because of a temporary suspension on transactions. The trio claimed they have a total 726,630 reals on GBB’s platform and urged a judge at the Court of Justice of the State of Sao Paulo to take urgent guardianship …

The National Bank of Rwanda, the country’s central bank, has issued a public service announcement on alleged cryptocurrency scams, according to an official Twitter post on May 30. The central bank specifically warns the public about initial coin offering (ICO) scams and crypto-based Ponzi schemes, which purport to offer a quick and significant return on investment for early adopters. These sorts of scams have reportedly been active in Rwanda, through firms like Supermarketings Global Ltd, 3 Friends System (3FS) Group Ltd, OneCoin, and Kwakoo (OnyxCoin). The National Bank of Rwanda cautions investors to vet their potential projects, and reminds the …

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has expressed concern over the lack of regulation for dealing with fraud in the crypto space, local news agency The Standard reports May 30. SFC enforcement chief Thomas Atkinson has recently pointed out problems associated with the existing regulatory uncertainty over initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrency trading. Atkinson, who resigned from Canada’s largest securities enforcement authority, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), back in 2016, emphasized that the structure of certain crypto exchanges is “beyond the scope of the SFC,” the report notes. The official urged local lawmakers and authorities to …