Tag Archives: cryptocurrency

Crypto Scammer Sam Bankman-Fried Gets 25 Years

The New York Times reports: Sam Bankman-Fried, the former cryptocurrency mogul who was convicted of fraud, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday, capping an extraordinary saga that upended the multi-trillion-dollar crypto industry and became a cautionary tale of greed and hubris. Mr. Bankman-Fried’s sentence was shorter than the 40 to 50 years that federal prosecutors had recommended, …

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Feds Seek 40-50 Years For Convicted Crypto Scammer

Law & Crime reports: Prosecutors said they want fallen ‘crypto king’ Sam Bankman-Fried sent to prison for up to half a century, less than the probation department’s recommended 110 years and a lot more than what his defense attorney wants — 6 1/2 years max. In the government’s 116-page sentencing memo, prosecutors said a sentence of between 40 and 50 …

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WaPo: Tech Companies Are Straining US Power Grid

The Washington Post reports: Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation’s creaking power grid. A major factor behind the skyrocketing demand is the rapid innovation in artificial intelligence, which is …

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FL Bill Creates 60-Day “Virtual Currency” Tax Holiday

Florida Politics reports: A plan to grant a two-month sales tax holiday on select items purchased with “virtual currency” would save consumers boatloads of cash, but it’s not because Floridians would flock to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. State economists analyzing SB 352, sponsored by Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Sanford Republican, determined the measure would cost state coffers nearly $1.4 billion. …

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Feds: Crypto Mining Consumes 2.3% Of US Electricity

From the Energy Department: Electricity demand associated with U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations in the United States has grown very rapidly over the last several years. Our preliminary estimates suggest that annual electricity use from cryptocurrency mining probably represents from 0.6% to 2.3% of U.S. electricity consumption. This additional electricity use has drawn the attention of policymakers and grid planners concerned …

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Pastor Accused Of Selling $3.4M In “Valueless” Crypto

The Denver Post reports: Speaking to online followers Aug. 22, 2022, Rev. Eli Regalado had a divine message. “It was last October that the Lord brought this cryptocurrency to me. He said, ‘Take this to my people for a wealth transfer.’ It has been confirmed a hundred times since,” the pastor said, according to a lawsuit filed in Denver this …

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CEO In $1.3 Billion Crypto Scam Exposed As Paid Actor

Ars Technica reports: An actor who was hired to pretend to be the highly qualified CEO of a shady, collapsed cryptocurrency hedge fund called HyperVerse has apologized after a YouTuber unmasked his real identity last week. An Englishman currently living in Thailand, Stephen Harrison confirmed that HyperVerse hired him to pose as CEO Steven Reece Lewis. Harrison told The Guardian …

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Crypto Moguls Raise $78M To Influence 2024 Election

Politico reports: A trio of super PACs backed by cryptocurrency executives and investors said Monday that they’ve raised $78 million as part of a major new push to influence the 2024 elections. The campaign, which has support from venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, marks of a revival of the digital asset …

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Hamas Funneled Money Through Crypto Company

Bloomberg News reports: In February 2019, Binance Holdings Ltd.’s then-Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim acknowledged that the cryptocurrency exchange was being used to funnel money to Hamas, explaining to a colleague that terrorists normally sent “small sums.” That apparently nonchalant attitude caught up with Binance and its chief executive officer, Changpeng Zhao [photo], on Tuesday. In announcing $4.3 billion in …

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Crypto CEO To Plead Guilty, Company To Pay $4.3B Fine

Bloomberg News reports: Binance Holdings Ltd.’s Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao arrived in Seattle federal court Tuesday to plead guilty to anti-money laundering charges under a sweeping deal worked out with the Justice Department designed to keep the company operating. Zhao agreed to step down as part of the settlement, which included the Treasury Department and the Commodity Futures Trading …

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Senate Hears Testimony About Scammer Who Used AI To Clone The Voice Of Man’s “Arrested” Son [VIDEO]

The Hill reports: Tech scholars and scam victims told lawmakers artificial intelligence (AI) is driving more sophisticated scams during a Senate hearing Thursday morning. Witness Gary Schildhorn testified about his experience being scammed. The scammer used AI to mimic his son’s voice. The scammer, posing as an attorney, told Schildhorn his son had been driving while drunk, caused a car …

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Crypto Mogul Found Guilty In $8 Billion Fraud Scheme

Reuters reports: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Thursday of stealing from customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, a verdict that cemented the 31-year-old former billionaire’s fall from grace. A 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts he faced after a monthlong trial in …

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NY Sues Crypto CEOs For Alleged $1.1 Billion Scam

Via press release from New York AG Letitia James: New York Attorney General Letitia James today filed a sweeping lawsuit against cryptocurrency companies Gemini Trust Company (Gemini), Genesis Global Capital, LLC and its affiliates (Genesis), and Digital Currency Group, Inc. (DCG) for defrauding more than 230,000 investors, including at least 29,000 New Yorkers, of more than $1 billion. An investigation …

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Lawsuit: Crypto Lobbyist Wanted To Buy Pacific Island Nation To Build Apocalypse Bunker For Tech Billionaires

CNBC reports: Sam Bankman-Fried’s younger brother, who was a top lobbyist for failed crypto exchange FTX, considered purchasing the island nation of Nauru in the Pacific to create a fortified apocalypse bunker state, a lawsuit filed in Delaware bankruptcy court shows. Gabe Bankman-Fried was looking at buying Nauru in the “event where 50%-99.99% of people die” to protect his philanthropic …

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Feds Arrest Crypto CEO For Alleged Fraud Scheme

Politico reports: U.S. authorities on Thursday arrested Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of failed crypto lending platform Celsius Network, on fraud charges while regulators levied a host of allegations of their own against him and other executives. In the latest sign that the federal crackdown on crypto is still unfolding, prosecutors alleged in a criminal complaint filed in the Southern …

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Musk Swaps Twitter Logo For Logo Of Crypto “Meme Coin” Whose Investors Are Suing Him For $258 Billion

Tech Crunch reports: Today Twitter users are noticing that an image of a dog has been added to a place of prominence. You can see it for yourself on Twitter.com, where you will be greeted with a pup. The particular dog image — a Shiba Inu — corresponds with the logo of the dogecoin blockchain and cryptocurrency. Normally the swapping …

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Feds: FTX Crypto Mogul Paid $40M Bribe To Chinese

Reuters reports: U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday unveiled a new indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried, accusing the founder of now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange of conspiring to pay a $40 million bribe to Chinese government officials. The new bribery conspiracy charge adds the pressure on the 31-year-old former billionaire, who now faces a 13-count indictment over the November collapse of FTX. Prosecutors had …

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Barney Frank Blames Bank Failures On Cryptocurrencies

Bloomberg News reports: Barney Frank — the former congressman known for the Dodd-Frank Act, which overhauled US banking regulation to prevent another global financial crisis — said there was one thing lawmakers and regulators didn’t reckon with back in 2008: cryptocurrencies. “Digital currency was the new element entered into our system,” the 82-year-old Frank said in an interview Sunday. “A …

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DOJ Charges Crypto CEO In Alleged $700M Scheme

USA Today reports: The founder of the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato was arrested early Wednesday in Miami in connection with a vast money laundering operation, accused of transmitting more than $700 million in illicit funds in the past four years. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, a Russian national, oversaw a major “high-tech financial hub that catered to …

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Bankrupt Crypto Firm Claims Hackers Stole $415 Million

NBC News reports: Bankrupt crypto firm FTX said on Tuesday that $415 million worth of crypto was hacked from the exchange’s accounts, representing a sizeable portion of the identified assets the company is trying to recover. In a presentation titled “Maximizing FTX Recoveries,” lawyers and advisors for FTX debtors updated the total liquid assets identified for recovery, and said they’re valued at …

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