CoinMarketCap, a price-tracking website for cryptocurrencies, has reportedly fallen victim to a hack that leaked 3.1 million (3,117,548) user email addresses. The information came into light after the hacked email addresses were found to be traded and sold online on various hacking forums, and revealed by Have I Been Pwned, a website dedicated to tracking hacks and compromised online accounts. CoinMarketCap, a subsidiary of Binance cryptocurrency exchange, confirmed that the list of leaked user accounts matched its userbase: “CoinMarketCap has become aware that batches of data have shown up online purporting to be a list of user accounts. While the …

Two South African brothers are facing mounting pressure to come forward to authorities as investigators delve into one of the biggest cryptocurrency thefts in the country. Raees and Ameer Cajee are central figures in the now infamous Africrypt cryptocurrency investment scheme saga. Local investors have been left in the dark and out of pocket following what the Cajee brothers claimed was a hacking incident that saw the company’s cryptocurrency holdings stolen. The brothers headed up the purported investment firm which promised lucrative returns on investments, as per its 2020 investment presentation. Clients could either make South African rand or Bitcoin …

Victims of an alleged $3.6 billion crypto Ponzi scheme in South Korea are reportedly hampering the progress of a police investigation and a joint lawsuit — as they still believe in the project and hold out hopes of getting a return on their investments. On June 4, Korean law firm Daegon reportedly filed a joint complaint against V Global, its CEO, and three executives on behalf of 130 investors and the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency. The Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency is reportedly investigating V Global for an alleged crypto Ponzi scheme that reportedly defrauded around 69,000 people out of 4 …

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev will reportedly testify before the United States House Financial Services Committee over the firm’s role in the volatile trading of GameStop and other volatile stocks. According to a report by the American political publication Politico, Tenev is expected to participate in a virtual hearing headed by Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) on Feb. 18. Politico’s report cited anonymous people familiar with the matter. Waters officially announced the Financial Services Committee’s plans to hold a GameStop-related hearing on Feb. 18. Entitled “Game Stopped? Who Wins and Loses When Short Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Investors Collide,” the hearing …

Cred, a United States-based cryptocurrency lending service, has officially announced the temporary suspension of operations due to an ongoing investigation. On Oct. 29, Cred executives tweeted that the company is now cooperating with law enforcement authorities to investigate a “recent fraudulent incident.” As part of the ongoing investigation, Cred suspended “all inflows and outflows of funds.” The company expects to provide an update regarding the issue within the next two weeks. Unfortunately, we are unable to comment further at this time but we will undertake to provide an update within the next 2 weeks. During this period all inflows and …

The U.S. Department of Justice, or DoJ, recently publicized an investigation into Visa's ongoing acquisition of fintech company Plaid. "Today, the Department of Justice filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to enforce Bain & Company’s compliance with the department’s Civil Investigative Demand (CID)," the DoJ said in a public statement on Tuesday. Essentially, U.S. authorities have taken legal action to obtain information from Boston-based consulting giant Bain & Company on Visa's acquisition of Plaid. "On June 11, 2020, the division issued Bain a CID requiring the company to answer interrogatories and produce documentary …

A line from immortal comic strip Calvin & Hobbes goes “a good compromise leaves everybody mad.” When it comes to laws governing crypto, authorities are usually asking for pretty major compromises because they are, at their very best-intentioned, trying to work things out. While it’s a fast-developing area of law — honestly a treat to cover — that means it’s fast-developing relative to law, not tech. There is an innate conservatism to anything having to do with how people handle their money. That extends to laws governing how money and investments function. Consequently, everything regulators touch in crypto develops slower …

Large Bitcoin (BTC) transactions from Huobi cryptocurrency exchange are moving to OKEx despite the latter having temporarily suspended crypto withdrawals. According to data from crypto tracking service Whale Alert, a total of 1,995 BTC ($22.5 million) was sent from Huobi to OKEx shortly after OKEx officially announced it was suspending withdrawals on Oct. 16. The funds were transferred in two separate BTC transactions worth 998 BTC ($11.3 million) and 997 BTC ($11.3 million) at 3:51 a.m. EST and 06:22 a.m. EST, respectively. The transfers raise some questions as 1,995 BTC is now locked on the platform due to the platform …

Chainalysis, a major global cryptocurrency analytics firm, is expanding its presence worldwide to embrace more jurisdictions for its crypto investigations. Providing services to federal agencies like the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI, Chainalysis is launching new offices in Singapore and Tokyo to better service customers in the Asia-Pacific region, the company announced on Sept. 27. By establishing the two new offices, Chainalysis is doubling down on its commitment to fully support local crypto businesses, government agencies and financial institutions. The new offices will serve as hubs for sales, professional investigative services, and training, the company’s representative said. Ulisse Dell’Orto, …

On Sept. 8, the IRS’s criminal investigation department signed a $249,900 contract with a blockchain analytics firm to expand its crypto tracing tools. The contract provides limited information, but it follows an overarching trend of the IRS stepping up its game when it comes to crypto. The firm behind the contract, Blockchain Analytics and Tax Software, is a relative unknown compared to familiar faces in analytics like Chainalysis. The firm’s only prior government contract was for only $9,800 with the U.S. Treasury for serving as an expert witness. Just last week the IRS put out a request for submissions for …

The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening to plunge the world into the deepest crisis since the Great Depression and could deprive global economies of $5.5 trillion over the next two years. China’s economy shrank for the first time in 44 years, and their gross domestic product fell by 6.8% in the first quarter compared with last year. The pandemic was, naturally, to blame. More worryingly, year-on-year retail sales fell drastically in March. Shops, offices and factories are now starting to reopen, but people remain anxious and movement is restricted. However, businesses in Asia are currently recovering from the horrible financial hangover …

KuCoin.com, the primary web domain of cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, has been locked since the end of March by order of the High Court of Singapore. The court issued a temporary injunction on March 24 barring KuCoin from moving its assets, including its website, from the country. A March 30 email from domain registrar GoDaddy provided to Cointelegraph shows that GoDaddy is complying with the court order. How the exchange will cope with its primary web address locked down is one of many unanswered questions about KuCoin as the company undergoes a major corporate restructuring and faces legal challenges around the …