Josh Garza Sentenced to Prison and Fined $9M over GAW & Paycoin Scam

U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Connecticut has announced Homero Joshua Garza (Josh Garza) has been sentenced to “21 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, the first six months of which [Mr. Garza] must spend in home confinement, for his role in his companies’ purported generation and sale of virtual currency.” The … Read more

Someone Wins $3 Million Jackpot in Ethereum Ponzi Fomo3D

Fomo3D, a controversial but highly popular ethereum gambling game, has its first jackpot winner. The aim of the game is to purchase the last key before the timer goes to zero, whereupon it rests for 24 hours. After months of speculation over whether the timer would ever be allowed to reach zero, the question has … Read more

Fomo3D and PoWH3D Dominate Ethereum DApp Volume

First sparked by CryptoKitties, the Ethereum community has taken a liking to a motley crew of decentralized applications (DApps) built on the network. Recently, the network has seen huge volume spikes due to an unlikely niche: Ponzi DApps. At the time of writing, Fomo3D and PoWH3D were leading 24-hour DApp activity by a massive margin, with approximately … Read more

$46 Million of Ether is Locked in a Pair of Ponzi Dapps

The ethereum network has another pair of smash hit dapps. The decentralized applications have proven to be a viral success over the past week, amassing more transactions than IDEX and accruing seven-day trading volume of 180,000 ETH. There’s just one problem: both dapps are ponzi schemes in which virtually everyone who plays will lose. Also … Read more

Bitcoin as Lifeline Amid Crushing Devaluation, Extreme Poverty, Sectarian Violence in Nigeria

The scrappy citizens of Lagos, Nigeria are traders and can-do survivors almost by nature. Their government, however, has mismanaged the nation’s money to such a degree that it’s prone to wild devaluation swings. And while an argument could be made bitcoin too is volatile, it actually isn’t comparatively. With access to peer-to-peer exchanges such as … Read more

ICOs Have Become a Parody of Themselves

Watchdog ICOs exit scamming; ERC20 token wallets getting emptied via smart contract bugs; people dying in token sale publicity stunts: the world of ICOs has become so bizarre it’s impossible to tell what’s real and what’s satire. As a glimpse into the events of the past week shows, there’s never a dull day in ICO … Read more

China Has Found 421 Fake Cryptocurrencies

A Chinese government-backed industry organization has published a report on fake cryptocurrencies. As of April, its monitoring platform has found 421 fake cryptocurrencies, 60% of which are deployed overseas. The Committee has also outlined major red flags of these cryptocurrencies. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space 421 Fake Cryptocurrencies The National Committee … Read more

Indian Ponzi Scheme-Funded Cryptocurrency Mine Raided by Police

Indian police have raided a cryptocurrency mining operation whose establishment was funded by a nearly $15 million USD ponzi scheme. Police seized hundreds of mining cards. Also Read: Another Indian Company Challenges Ban on Crypto Banking  Ponzi-Financed Ethereum Mine Raided in India Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell has conducted a raid on a cryptocurrency mining operation held … Read more

Philippines Senator Wants Harsher Penalties for Cryptocurrency Crimes

On Monday April 16, the Philippines opposition senator Leila M. de Lima asked her fellow bureaucrats to push the passage of the cryptocurrency bills she helped frame. The proposed bills aim to introduce a harsher penalty towards criminals who use cryptocurrencies during illegal activities. Also read: ‘Cryptomatoes’ Using Excess Mining Heat to Grow Produce Philippines Lawmaker … Read more

South Korean Exchange Paying Users to Report Illegal Crypto Schemes

The Kakao-backed cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has launched a system to reward users for identifying fraudulent multi-level schemes related to cryptocurrencies. The exchange has already identified and reported 20 such schemes to the police. Also read: Japan’s DMM Bitcoin Exchange Opens for Business With 7 Cryptocurrencies Reporting Illegal Schemes South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has invited … Read more