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FTX and Alameda Research cash out $10.8M to Binance, Coinbase, Wintermute

December 1, 2023 Coin Telegraph

FTX and Alameda Research cash out .8M to Binance, Coinbase, Wintermute

Analysis

The latest transfer of $10.8 million was spread across 8 tokens, including Stepn (GMT), Uniswap (UNI), Synapse (SYN), Klaytn (KLAY), Fantom (FTM), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Arbitrum (ARB) and Optimism (OP).

Wallets linked to defunct crypto trading firms FTX and Alameda Research moved $10.8 million to accounts in Binance, Coinbase and Wintermute using eight cryptocurrencies.

Blockchain analysis firm Spot On Chain found $10.8 million worth of cryptocurrencies being moved from FTX and Alameda Research accounts to various crypto exchanges.

#FTX and #Alameda moved out $10.8M worth of 8 assets to #Wintermute, #Binance, and #Coinbase in the past 11 hrs:

10M $GMT ($2.58M)
407K $UNI ($2.41M)
5.23M $SYN ($2.25M)
8.76M $KLAY ($1.64M)
3.87M $FTM ($1.18M)
77.77B $SHIB ($644K)
and small amounts of $ARB and $OP.

Note… https://t.co/UZkn8bmQ89 pic.twitter.com/0jb5ZMHvC7
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) December 1, 2023

The latest transfer of $10.8 million was spread across eight tokens — $2.58 million in StepN (GMT), $2.41 million in Uniswap (UNI), $2.25 million in Synapse (SYN), $1.64 million in Klaytn (KLAY), $1.18 million in Fantom (FTM), $644,000 in Shiba Inu (SHIB) and small amounts of Arbitrum (ARB) and Optimism (OP).

On Oct. 24, the FTX and Alameda wallets transferred $10 million to a single wallet address, which was later redistributed to Binance and Coinbase accounts. 1, a similar transaction occurred between the parties involving $13.1 million being moved to Binance and Coinbase accounts.

BNB pops after report that DOJ wants $4B settlement with Binance

November 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

BNB pops after report that DOJ wants B settlement with Binance

agreement

BNB hit its highest price since June after Bloomberg reported the Justice Department wanted $4 billion from Binance to end its probe into the exchange.

BNB (BNB) has gained over 7% in the last day after Bloomberg reported that the United States Department of Justice is contemplating a $4 billion settlement with Binance to resolve its investigation into the company.

Cointelegraph Markets Pro shows BNB spiked 6% to $262 in around 30 minutes after Bloomberg’s Nov. 20 report, which said Binance was negotiating an agreement to resolve a DOJ probe into alleged sanctions violations, money laundering and fraud.

BNB dropped to $252 around four hours later but notched a second spike to $266 — its highest price since June 7 — two days after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao alleging they violated various securities laws.

*BNB has seen an over 7% gain in the last 24 hours. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

The Binance-issued token has the highest 24-hour price increase among the 75 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. BNB is currently the fourth largest token with a market cap of over $40 billion.

BNB market cap +$4b from the post headline low pic.twitter.com/6T6y3EveLF
— Hsaka (@HsakaTrades) November 20, 2023

Despite the recent price pump, BNB is down 61.4% from its May 10, 2021, all-time high of $686 but has gained 6.5% year-to-date.

One settlement scenario sees Binance pay the 10-figure fine and be allowed to keep operating in the U.S. in compliance with certain conditions.

An announcement of a potential agreement could come as soon as the end of the month, Bloomberg reported.

If Binance pays up, it will be one of the largest penalties ever paid in a criminal cryptocurrency case.

Magazine: Deposit risk: What do crypto exchanges really do with your money?

Kronos Research halts trading amid $25M API key hack investigation

November 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Kronos Research halts trading amid M API key hack investigation

Coin Telegraph

While Kronos Research is indefinitely halting trading services until internal investigations track down the culprit who stole over 12,800 ETH, the firm said that potential losses are not a significant portion of its equity.

A hacker walked away with $25 million from quantitative trading firm Kronos Research after accessing its compromised API keys.

On Nov. 19, Kronos Research revealed that an unauthorized entity accessed some of its API keys. Subsequently, the firm stopped its trading services on the platform. However, no losses were reported at the time.

In the interest of transparency
Around 4 hours ago, we experienced unauthorized access of some of our API keys. We paused all trading while we conduct an investigation. Potential losses are not a significant portion of our equity and we aim to resume trading as soon as possible.
— Kronos Research (@ResearchKronos) November 18, 2023

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT followed up on the announcement and found roughly $25 million in total was siphoned away into six unique crypto wallet addresses. According to the investigation, the six transactions — worth 2,780 Ether (ETH), 2,540 ETH, 2,540 ETH, 2,636 ETH, 4.93 ETH and 2,507.52 ETH, respectively — were made from a Kronos Research account to various addresses owned by the hacker.

*Kronos Research hacker sends stolen $25 million to various addresses. Source: Etherscan*

While Kronos Research is indefinitely halting the trading services until internal investigations track down the culprit who stole over 12,800 ETH, the firm expects a positive outcome:

“Potential losses are not a significant portion of our equity and we aim to resume trading as soon as possible.”

Kronos Research did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

The rising number of crypto hacks warrants that investors conduct extensive research on projects they intend to invest in.

Blockchain security firm CertiK recently revealed Q3 2023 as the most “damaging” quarter for crypto.

*Incident counts and amount lost in Web3 security incidents in Q3 2023. Source: CertiK*

Private key exploits, exit scams and oracle manipulation were the most prevalent techniques used for hacking crypto ecosystems. Over $700 million in digital assets was lost to various security incidents in Q3 2023, surpassing first-quarter losses of $320 million and second-quarter losses of $313 million.

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Ukraine officials get training on crypto and virtual assets investigation

November 17, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Officials from Ukraine were trained in tracing crypto transactions over different blockchains using specialized analytics software.

14 Ukrainian officials received advanced training on investigating new-age financial crimes in a training course held from Nov. 14 to Nov. 17 in Vienna, Austria.

According to a report released by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSEC), select supervisory and law enforcement officials from Ukraine learned about advanced techniques and tools required to investigate financial crimes using virtual assets.

OSEC comprises 57 participating countries from Europe, Asia and North America that aim to tackle security-related and other concerns globally.

*Participants of the advanced training on virtual asset and crypto investigations in Vienna (OSCE). Source: osce.org*

The course was organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Ralf Ernst, acting coordinator of OSCE economic and environmental activities, said the training course helped enhance Ukraine’s resilience against financial crimes such as money laundering. He added:

“With the growing use of virtual assets and cryptocurrencies in Ukraine, there is a pressing need to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement and supervisory bodies.”

The officials from Ukraine were trained in tracing crypto transactions over different blockchains using specialized analytics software.

Ernst also revealed that the Ukrainian officials received similar training in the past on crypto investigations and that OSCE will “continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to combat money laundering, particularly through virtual assets and cryptocurrencies” under the “innovative policy solutions to mitigate money-laundering risks of virtual assets” project.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Romania and Poland fund the project, specifically designed to support the governments of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to mitigate criminal risks related to digital assets and cryptocurrencies.

Stablecoin issuer Tether recently collaborated with Ukraine and Israel’s local law enforcement agencies to freeze 32 addresses that were potentially linked to terrorist activity.

As Cointelegraph reported, $873,118 worth of Tether (USDT) spread across 32 wallet addresses in Israel and Ukraine were frozen.

“Contrary to popular belief, cryptocurrency transactions are not anonymous; they are the most traceable and trackable assets,” stated Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, explaining the transparency offered by the crypto ecosystem.

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5 nations challenge crypto experts and investigators to target tax crimes

November 3, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Australia

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

The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), a global anti-tax fraud group, hosted investigators, cryptocurrency experts and data scientists in “The Cyber Challenge” event to track down individuals and organizations committing tax fraud.

The J5 members comprise the criminal intelligence communities from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, which collaborate in the fight against international and transnational tax crime and money laundering.

The group includes the Australian Taxation Office, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs from the U.K. and IRS-CI from the United States. Participants included experts from J5 countries, which were tasked with optimizing the usage of data acquired from a variety of open and investigative sources available to each country.

*J5 members include criminal intelligence communities from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Source: irs.gov*

Since its inception in 2018, the J5 has hosted five such events. In 2022, the fourth event focused on nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized exchanges (DEX). Sharing details about the latest 2023 event, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service report stated:

“This is the first Challenge where Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from each J5 country participated. Private sector was represented by blockchain analysis companies Chainalysis, BlockTrace, and AnChain making this the most collaborative Challenge to date.”

In the process, the J5 generated significant leads for further investigation, which, in the past, helped uncover multimillion-dollar crypto Ponzi schemes, such as the BitClub Network. John Ford, deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office, stated:

“This collaboration between public and private specialists not only generates operational outcomes, but shares expert training, techniques and procedures, which is integral for the participants to remain proactive and effective in a rapidly evolving operating environment.”

Ryan Ryder from Chainalysis pointed out that crypto’s inherent transparency, coupled with international public and private sector experts, “can collaborate to identify and shut down illicit activity,” a task that remains impossible in traditional finance.

The Cointelegraph Innovation Circle recently featured seven crypto experts in an article to help Web3 companies prep for tax season. First and foremost, Web3 companies must constantly monitor the tax implications of their activities and diligently work to ensure they’re meeting their obligations.

In addition, the members of the Cointelegraph Innovation Circle recommended seven best practices to ensure adherence to tax formalities. Choosing a tax-friendly country while ensuring on-time payment is a top priority, in addition to avoiding shortcuts and finding an experienced crypto tax accountant.

Other key factors include accurate documentation of all activities, seeking expert legal counsel, automating transaction tracking and using specialized software.

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Investigation

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