According to recent reports, cryptocurrency exchange Deribit has been hacked, with hackers draining $28 million from the company's hot wallet. In a tweet, the company reportedly stated that "client funds are safe, and loss is covered by company reserves."
This week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued its most recent Financial Trend Analysis of ransomware-related Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) filings for 2021. According to a FinCEN press release, the report indicates that ransomware continues to pose a significant threat to U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, businesses and the public. Among its notable findings, the report found that (1) ransomware-related incidents have substantially increased from 2020, (2) ransomware-related BSA filings in 2021 approached $2.1 billion and (3) roughly 75 percent of the ransomware-related incidents reported to FinCEN during the second half of 2021 pertained to Russia-related ransomware variants.
According to a recent report by Chainanalyis, following Ethereum's switch from proof of work to proof of stake (the Merge), Merge-related scams took $1.2 million worth of cryptocurrency before, during and after the Merge. The report found that the day of the Merge saw a massive spike in scam revenue, with scamming activity collecting over $905,000 worth of cryptocurrency, compared with just under $74,000 for other scams. Based on data collected and analyzed by Chainanalysis, scammers were able to take advantage of consumers' lack of understanding of the Merge "to fleece unsuspecting users."
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- Crypto Exchange Deribit Loses $28M in Hot Wallet Hack, Pauses Withdrawals
- FinCEN Analysis Reveals Ransomware Reporting in BSA Filings Increased Significantly During the Second Half of 2021
- Ethereum Merge Scams: How Scammers Took Advantage of The Ethereum Merge to Make Millions
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