PonziCoin(PONZI)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued 17 individuals tied to an alleged Ponzi scheme that took in $300 million from over 40,000 victims.

U.S. authorities indicted the operators of HyperVerse, allegedly an $1.8 billion “Ponzi scheme.” There’s a fine line between a “fraudulent investment scheme” and many crypto projects, it seems.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged HyperVerse founders with crypto fraud after their alleged Ponzi Scheme stole nearly $2 billion from investors.

HyperVerse was a nearly $2 billion fraudulent crypto investment scheme with a fake CEO at its helm, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a grand jury allege in a lawsuit and criminal indictments against two of its leaders.

Saffron was previously charged in September 2019 by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with engaging in a fraudulent scheme.

“The return comes from hashrate, not from pixie dust, ponzi schemes, or rehypothecation,” a Luxor Technology executive stressed.

The J5 generates significant leads through events, which, in the past, has helped uncover multi-million-dollar crypto Ponzi schemes such as the BitClub Network.

Charles Hoskinson likened SBF to Bernie Madoff the mastermind behind the largest Ponzi scheme in history, and says the media is giving him a 'free pass'.

AirBit Club co-founder Dos Santos is now the last AirBit defendant not yet sentenced but is scheduled to learn his fate on Oct. 4, 2023.

Six AirBit executives had previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the Ponzi scheme.

Crypto industry concerns after Chinese dev fined 3 year’s salary for using a VPN, largest Ponzi in Hong Kong history, JPEX saga, and more.

Former IcomTech head Marco Ochoa is the latest crypto fraudster to face charges, while the CFTC charged another company and its head.

Convicted fraudster Pablo Renato Rodriguez will also need to serve three years of supervised release after he finishes his 12 year imprisonment sentence.

While Cryptoqueen's whereabouts remain unknown, more OneCoin former executives are serving prison sentences.

Ponzi schemes promise returns generated from the money of future investors, while in pyramid schemes, income flows up through recruitment.

Amidst rising illicit crypto-related activities in South Korea, the authorities have launched an interagency investigation team that can help manage crypto regulation in the country. Crypto Crimes in South Korea Are on the Rise In a report of July 26, South Korea announced the launch of a multi-agency investigation unit as part of the effort to handle crimes related to digital assets in the country. The Joint Investigation Center for Crypto Crimes will begin operations at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office, equipped with 30 investigators from seven government agencies and bodies, including the prosecution, the Financial Supervisory Service, the National Tax Service, and the Korea Customs Service. The establishment of the investigation team has to do with a huge spike of crypto related-crimes in South Korea. According to the recent reports, the financial damages of illegal crypto activities grew by 118% in the last five years and summed up to about 5.3 trillion won (~ 4 billion USD). The crimes included illegal cross-border transactions, price manipulations, and ponzi schemes. Moreover, the Prosecutors' Office highlighted that the number of suspicious transactions across local digital currency exchanges surged by 1,263% only in the past 18 months (66 in 2021, 900 in 2022, and 943 in the first half of 2023). The new investigation unit is expected to focus primarily on highly volatile digital assets as well as the cryptos that are being delisted due to illegal trading practices, tax evasions, unauthorized foreign exchange transfers, concealment of criminal profits, and money laundering. The Prosecutor's Office commented on the launch: “Virtual assets, which are traded over 3 trillion won (~$2.35 million) every day, with more than 6 million participants, are already investment products comparable to stocks, but the laws and systems are not complete, so market participants are practically left out from the protection of the law.” Crypto Regulation in South Korea The launch of the interagency probe team is just one of the steps South Korea has taken towards strengthening crypto regulation in the country. The news comes shortly after the National Assembly passed pioneering legislation aimed at safeguarding crypto investors that is set to take effect in July of next year. Earlier this month, South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced it would mandate all companies that own or issue digital assets to disclose their holdings in financial statements from 2024. Besides, the South Korean Prime Minister, Han Deok-soo, also asked high-ranking public officials to disclose their crypto holdings back in May of this year. Last year, the South-Korean crypto market experienced a 66% reduction in market capitalization due to various domestic and global events. One of the incidents that must have had a major influence on the South-Korean crypto industry was the crash of Terra Luna in 2022. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

An expert on crypto has recently postulated that criminals are leaving Bitcoin in order to use stablecoins, which are considered to be an easier go-to for illegal financial activities. From Bitcoin to Stablecoins It has often been suggested, especially in the mainstream media, that Bitcoin was one of the main currencies in which to transact illicit activities. However, recent insights suggest a shift in this trend. Originally reported by CoinTelegraph, Tara Annison, the former head of technical crypto advisory at Elliptic, stated that the criminal underbelly of the crypto world is now leaning more towards stablecoins, particularly USD Coin (USDC), over Bitcoin. Annison, during her presentation at EthCC in Paris, delved into the changing dynamics of crypto-related crimes. She pointed out that Bitcoin's decreasing popularity among criminals can be attributed to the rise of decentralised finance protocols, mixing services, and most notably, stablecoins. These digital assets, especially those pegged to the dollar, offer new, more discreet avenues for illicit transactions. Why the shift to stablecoins? Annison explains that assets like USDC offer easy access and can be effortlessly laundered through decentralised exchanges (DEXs). She remarked that in her view the deep liquidity and substantial volume on these platforms make them ideal for such activities. However, it's not all gloomy. Annison highlighted a potential advantage for law enforcement agencies. Centralised issuers, such as Circle, have the capability to freeze specific USDC tokens. This means that before these criminals can convert their assets into fiat currencies through DEXs or centralised platforms, their funds can be halted. Annison commented that in her opinion we are witnessing a rise in blacklisted USDC and USDT accounts, effectively freezing assets that criminals can't access. $7.8 billion in scams Annison went on to say that stablecoins aren't the only concern. Ponzi and pyramid schemes continue to plague the crypto sector. A staggering $7.8 billion has been syphoned off from unsuspecting victims through these scams. Moreover, criminals are constantly innovating, employing techniques like chain swapping and asset swapping to obscure their tracks, using a myriad of tools, from DEXs to mixers, in order to muddy the trail for blockchain analytics firms. In the light of crypto scams decreasing by 46% compared to previous years, Annison believes the current bear market in crypto is a significant factor, suggesting that with reduced hype and lower prices, the sector becomes less lucrative for criminals. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

PLUS: Dismissing the very real prevalence of Ponzi schemes in GameFi isn't a good look for Web 3.

Once cyberattacks are added to the mix, a total of $11.5 billion worth of crypto has been lost to bad actors last year.

Illicit activities related to crypto increased across the sector in 2022 despite an overall market downturn.

Ponzi schemes dominated the crypto crime landscape in 2022, with $7.8 billion funneled from victims, blockchain analytics firm said in a new report.

Max Keiser took the opportunity to once again bash Ripple.

The SEC and DOJ have also brought parallel actions against Ichioka.

According to Tim Draper, billionaire venture capitalist, and exponent of cryptocurrencies, the SEC Chair Gary Gensler is stifling the crypto sector leading to a potential long-term detrimental effect on technology in the US. Gensler said the following at a recent Fintech conference, leaving no doubt on his views on crypto: “hucksters, fraudsters, scam artists, Ponzi schemes. The public left in line at the bankruptcy court”. Tim Draper remarked in reply to the above in a Fox Business interview: “Weak regulators spread fear, and strong regulators spread opportunity.” Draper said that the problem was that the SEC was spreading fear, and that the innovative projects in crypto were leaving the country. He said that the SEC’s regulation by enforcement was causing a tech flight out of the country, and that it was far better that all the innovation that crypto projects were providing should stay in the United States. The entrepreneur remarked that the tech was fleeing abroad to Dubai, Singapore, Northern Europe, South America and other jurisdictions across the world. His view is that one of the main reasons for the flight is the impact that the Howey test has on classifying cryptocurrencies as securities. He believes that this test is too old to have relevance in the crypto industry, and that it needs to be regulated “in a new way”. Draper accused the US regulatory agencies of spreading fear on new technologies such as crypto and AI, saying: “What’s America going to look like in 40 years? It’s going to be a total wasteland. There’s going to be no technology. Look, crypto is coming. AI is coming. What is this spreading fear about these new technologies? They’re great for us.” On both crypto and AI Draper stated that crypto is disrupting banking, insurance, real estate, government, and much more. He suggests that AI will transform how people are educated, and will carry out all the mundane tasks. He says that all this cannot be regulated out of the country so that the US loses all this innovation. At the end of the interview, Draper made the following comment which spells out his opposition to heavy-handed regulation: “If you have a command and control government that tells everybody what to do, that shrinks the growth rate to almost zero.” Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.