On Friday, Sept. 27, the SEC and CFTC charged 1pool Ltd. aka 1Broker and its CEO with offenses related to its actions to solicit U.S. investors to purchase swaps and commodity transactions, allow investors to open trading accounts by providing only a username and email address, and require customers to fund their accounts using bitcoin. According to the complaint, 1Broker's actions violated federal securities laws requiring broker-dealer registration and customer identity verification.
A Colorado judge recently sentenced 25-year-old Filip Lucian Simion, leader of the drug trafficking group ItalianMafiaBrussels, to 11 years in prison for selling MDMA (known as Ecstasy) on the Darknet and using cryptocurrencies to launder the proceeds. In a DOJ press release, the U.S. Attorney for Colorado warned, "Let there be no mistake. As the internet has grown, so has the long arm of the law." In France, authorities recently arrested a French intelligence agent who was selling state secrets in exchange for bitcoin.
A recent Wall Street Journal investigation identified almost $90 million laundered through 46 cryptocurrency exchanges since 2016. By following the assets from those who had reported hacks, blackmail schemes and other stolen cryptocurrencies, the investigators were able to pinpoint where the cryptocurrencies became untraceable after entering an exchange. And a new report from ICORating analyzing 100 crypto exchanges trading for more than $1 million concluded that approximately $1.3 billion had been hacked from 31 of these exchanges.
In Brazil, antitrust regulators recently sent questionnaires to 10 crypto exchanges whose bank accounts were closed to investigate potential violations of bank account reporting requirements. In Australia, DigitalX, an ICO investment advisory firm, is being sued by investors who purchased ICOs on DigitalX's advice. According to DigitalX, the investors are asking for $1.833 million plus damages.
In legislative developments, the U.S. House of Representatives recently approved a bill to establish a task force that would develop tools and programs to detect terrorists and their use of cryptocurrencies. The bill, which is currently being considered by the Senate, also proposes to award up to $450,000 to people with information on this subject.
For more information on the above, please see the following links:
- Leader of Darknet ItalianMafiaBrussels Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced to 11 Years' Imprisonment
- SEC Charges Bitcoin-Funded Securities Dealer and CEO
- CFTC Charges Trading Platform with Illegal Transactions Margined in Bitcoin
- France Accuses Intelligence Agent of Selling State Secrets for Bitcoin
- Brazil: Antitrust Watchdog Sends Questions to Crypto Exchanges After Bank Account Closures
- Australia: Clients File Claim Against Publicly Listed ICO Advisory Firm DigitalX
- Exchange Security Report by ICORating
- How Dirty Money Disappears Into the Black Hole of Cryptocurrency
- US Lawmakers Move Forward on Crypto Task Force Proposal
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