Former CEO of Investment Firm Pleads Guilty to Crypto Futures Fraud Scheme
Peter Kambolin, the former CEO of Systematic Alpha Management (SAM) LLC, has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit commodities fraud involving crypto futures contracts. The United States Department of Justice accused Kambolin of operating a "cherry picking" scheme where he misrepresented to investors that his fund involved the trading of cryptocurrency futures and foreign exchange futures. Instead, roughly half of Kambolin's trading in each pool involved equity index futures contracts. Kambolin now faces up to five years in prison and his sentencing hearing will occur on an undisclosed date in the future.
MetaMask Partners with Stripe to Offer US Customers Crypto Purchases with US Dollars
MetaMask, a crypto wallet, has teamed up with Stripe, an internet payment processor, to enable US-based customers to purchase crypto using US dollars. The partnership allows MetaMask users to access Stripe's on-ramp through the mobile app, browser extension, and MetaMask Portfolio dapp. Stripe's fiat on-ramp services called Link simplifies the purchase experience by converting fiat currencies into crypto with one click and handles compliance obligations such as KYC, verification, and fraud. This partnership follows MetaMask's launch of its Snaps feature, which enables users to interact seamlessly with blockchains beyond the Ethereum ecosystem.
Former CEO Pleads Guilty to Crypto Futures "Cherry-Picking Scheme"
Peter Kambolin, the former CEO of Systematic Alpha Management LLC, has pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in a "cherry-picking scheme" involving crypto futures contracts. Prosecutors claim that Kambolin fraudulently allocated profits and losses from futures trades to benefit his own accounts unfairly at the expense of his clients. He also defrauded investors by depriving them of profitable trades and using the proceeds to pay for personal expenses. Kambolin faces a possible five years in prison for conspiracy to commit commodities fraud.
Balancer Blames Social Engineering Attack on DNS Provider for $238K Crypto Theft
Balancer, an Ethereum-based automated market maker, has suffered a frontend compromise on its website due to a social engineering attack on its DNS service provider, EuroDNS. The attack led to the theft of an estimated $238,000 in crypto. Balancer's decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) worked to recover the Balancer UI and secured the domain, but the company is exploring deprecating the .fi TLD and suggests other projects using the same top-level domain should consider moving to a more secure registrar. The attacker employed Angel Drainer phishing contracts and SlowMist and CertiK reported that the hacker may be related to Russia.
Grassroots Crypto Adoption Being Led by Lower Middle-Income Nations Like India, Nigeria and Ukraine – Report
The global economy has faced challenges in recent years due to the Covid-19 outbreak, resulting in inflation and economic uncertainty. The crypto and blockchain industry has also been impacted, with major platforms collapsing. However, a report shows that decentralized digital currencies are being used for financial transactions, particularly in lower middle-income countries.
Zk Proposed to Huang Licheng To Buy 200 DeGods NFT OTC and Promised To Lock the Position for Six Months
On August 17th, it was reported that crypto KOL zk（@ZK_shark） made a purchase proposal for DeGods NFT to Huang Licheng（@machibigbrother） on a social platform, stating that despite not liking Huang Licheng, he was willing to stand up for the DeGods community. zk proposed to purchase 200 DeGods via over-the-counter (OTC) trading and promised to voluntarily lock these DeGods for six months.
Crypto trading platform Txbit announces it will shut down on September 14
On August 14th, cryptocurrency trading platform Txbit announced that it will be closing on September 14th, 2023. All customers should withdraw their funds before 8:00 PM on September 14th, 2023 (Beijing time).
Secure and Ready: MetaTrust Labs Confirms Robust Security of Hope.money in Comprehensive Audit
Hope.money has successfully completed a comprehensive security audit conducted by MetaTrust Labs
Senators reintroduce crypto anti-money laundering bill with emphasis on targeting individual industry members
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall have reintroduced their crypto anti-money laundering bill, which now places a greater emphasis on targeting individual industry members such as miners and validators. The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2023 aims to bring wallet providers, miners, and validators under compliance requirements for financial institutions. Opponents argue that these entities are not equipped to follow such requirements and doing so would hinder their ability to conduct business. The bill also requires anyone in the US with more than $10,000 in crypto held in accounts outside of the US to report this to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Bloomberg : Lack of ‘Catalyst’ Leaves Crypto Volatility At Multi-Year Lows
The volatility of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum is at multi-year lows, according to data from Kaiko. The lack of volatility can be attributed to low market participation and the absence of new capital flows. Lower trading volumes and liquidity usually result in more significant price swings, making the current environment unusual. Bitcoin's 30-day volatility is near five-year lows, which is typical during bear markets. The introduction of a spot Bitcoin ETF could potentially change this dynamic by attracting more institutional investors and increasing trading activity. However, excitement over such a product has faded recently, leading to a decline in prices. Despite this, long-term holders remain stable in their positions as there has been more stability in the cryptocurrency market overall.
