operators

On-chain detective ZachXBT posted about the user @sexinfochina, stating, "This user deliberately concealed the fact that they are an online criminal operating the Chinese dark web market 'FreeCity'. They publicly promote certain illegal services on Telegram and knowingly facilitated five money laundering transactions for North Korean hackers. Two years ago, this user asked me to investigate the reason a CEX account was frozen, and I found that it traced back on-chain to a theft case involving over a hundred million dollars by North Korean hackers."In addition, ZachXBT responded, "Although most users of this dark web platform are Chinese, many illegal transactions occur in Southeast Asia and other places."

The White House will hold a cryptocurrency summit next Monday, inviting senior representatives from the banking industry and the cryptocurrency sector in an attempt to break the deadlock over the Clarity Act. According to three industry insiders, the meeting will be chaired by the White House Cryptocurrency Committee, with the core topic focusing on whether cryptocurrency companies can offer interest or other returns on stablecoins held by customers.The banking industry is concerned that allowing cryptocurrency companies to pay returns will lead to deposit outflows, threatening financial stability. A report from Standard Chartered estimates that by the end of 2028, stablecoins could siphon off about $500 billion in deposits from U.S. banks. Cryptocurrency proponents argue that banning the payment of returns would harm competitiveness and be crucial for attracting new customers.

The American law firm Burwick Law announced a litigation update stating that the plaintiffs have submitted a revised complaint today in federal court, accusing the operator of pump.fun, Baton Corp, as well as the Solana Foundation, Solana Labs, and several executives of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Tuesday that it has proposed a settlement to Nomad crypto bridge operator Illusory Systems, related to a hacking incident that nearly resulted in the theft of all platform funds.According to the FTC's complaint, Illusory Systems introduced a critical vulnerability in a code update in June 2022, which hackers began exploiting on August 1, leading to the theft of approximately $186 million in Ethereum, USDC, DAI, and WBTC assets, with user losses exceeding $100 million. The FTC alleges that Nomad, while claiming to be a "security-first" platform, failed to adequately test its code, maintain clear vulnerability reporting and incident response processes, and did not deploy basic security measures to limit user losses.Under the proposed settlement, Illusory Systems will be prohibited from making false claims about its security practices, must implement a formal information security program, undergo independent security assessments every two years, and return unreimbursed recovered funds to affected users. After the hack, Nomad only recovered $22 million of the stolen funds.

According to Bloomberg, the EU's executive body has announced plans to transfer more regulatory and enforcement powers to its market supervisory agencies, sparking a debate among national regulators about ceding authority to Brussels. The proposal released on Thursday indicates that the Paris-based European Securities and Markets Authority will have new powers over significant clearinghouses, central securities depositories, and trading venues. Less than a year ago, the EU introduced a national regulatory framework for cryptocurrency companies, and now these companies and pan-European market operators fall under the authority of this agency. The centralization of most market regulatory powers in the EU requires the approval of the European Parliament and the Council of Member States, with some member countries firmly opposed.The core of the proposal is to strengthen the powers and resources of the European Securities and Markets Authority, which will be governed by a board composed of five independent members with a maximum term of five years. The preparatory costs will be borne by the EU budget, while trading venues, central securities depositories, and crypto asset service providers will cover ongoing expenses. To simplify the operation of European markets, the European Commission will also revise legislation to limit additional requirements imposed by member states on securities issuers, streamline the licensing process to improve cross-border central securities depository services, and hopes to incorporate distributed ledger technology into the rulebook. Negotiations on this package of plans will begin in January next year, when Cyprus will hold the rotating presidency of the EU Council.

According to Bloomberg, the EU's executive body has announced plans to transfer more regulatory and enforcement powers to its market supervisory agencies, sparking a debate among national regulators about ceding power to Brussels.The proposal released on Thursday indicates that the Paris-based European Securities and Markets Authority will gain new powers over significant clearinghouses, central securities depositories, and trading venues. Less than a year ago, the EU introduced a national regulatory framework for cryptocurrency companies, and now these companies, along with pan-European market operators, fall under the authority of this agency. The centralization of most market regulatory powers in the EU requires the approval of the European Parliament and the Council of Member States, with some member states firmly opposed.At the heart of the proposal is the strengthening of the powers and resources of the European Securities and Markets Authority, which will have a board composed of five independent members serving a maximum term of five years. The preparatory costs will be covered by the EU budget, while trading venues, central securities depositories, and crypto asset service providers will bear ongoing expenses.To simplify the operation of the European market, the European Commission will also revise legislation to limit additional requirements imposed by member states on securities issuers, streamline the licensing process to improve cross-border central securities depository services, and hopes to incorporate distributed ledger technology into the rulebook.Negotiations on this package of plans will begin in January next year, when Cyprus will hold the rotating presidency of the EU Council.

Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: Allows platform operators to offer virtual assets without a 12-month track record to professional investors and Hong Kong licensed stablecoins.

ChainCatcher message, the 0G Foundation announced on platform X that it has airdropped to testnet node operators, with the airdrop sent directly to the wallets of the 0G mainnet airdrop recipients.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, the Director of the Invest Hong Kong, Liu Kaixuan, stated that there are currently stablecoin operators in discussions with their financial team about the opportunity to set up in Hong Kong. It is expected that shortly after the "Stablecoin Regulation" takes effect next month, relevant companies will establish a presence.Liu Kaixuan mentioned that in the past two and a half years, 630 mainland companies have settled in Hong Kong, accounting for about 48%; due to national policies supporting companies going overseas, Hong Kong will become a springboard. It is believed that in the future, among the companies settling in Hong Kong, mainland enterprises will still hold a certain proportion.

ChainCatcher message, BNB Chain posted on platform X that there are only about 12 hours left until the opBNB Lorentz mainnet hard fork. For node operators, this is the last opportunity to upgrade; if the upgrade is not completed in time, the nodes will stop syncing.

ChainCatcher news, according to monitoring by SlowMist founder Yu Xian, after the zkLend hacker accidentally clicked on a phishing website, resulting in the theft of 2930 ETH in illicit funds, the hacker sent an on-chain message to zkLend stating, "Hello, I intended to transfer the funds to Tornado Cash, but I mistakenly used a phishing website, and as a result, all the funds are lost. I am devastated. I deeply apologize for the chaos and loss caused. All 2930 ETH has been taken by the operators of that website. I no longer have any coins left. Please direct your efforts towards those website operators to see if any funds can be recovered.This is my last message; perhaps ending this is the best choice. Again, I apologize."Previous news, according to monitoring by SlowMist Chief Information Security Officer @im23pds, the zkLend hacker (the original incident occurred in February) accidentally clicked on a phishing website while attempting to use Tornado Cash, resulting in the theft of 2930 ETH in illicit funds by that phishing website.

ChainCatcher news, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has issued a warning to cryptocurrency ATM operators, indicating that some machines may be used for money laundering or fraud. The statement shows that there are signs of suspicious activities related to scams and fraud involving cryptocurrency ATMs.AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas stated that it will ensure operators take measures to reduce the risks of money laundering and fraud.Currently, Australia has 1,648 cryptocurrency ATMs, the most in the Asia-Pacific region, with 348 located in Sydney. Recently, the United States has also strengthened regulations on cryptocurrency ATMs, with an Illinois senator proposing a bill to limit daily transaction amounts and require refund protections.

ChainCatcher message, the Ethereum Foundation published an article on its official blog stating that the Pectra network upgrade was previously launched on the Sepolia testnet, but it was later discovered that there was an issue with the Sepolia permissioned deposit contract, which caused many execution layer clients to be unable to include transactions in blocks. The cause of the problem was quickly identified, and the client teams immediately began working on a fix. This issue is specific to the configuration of the Sepolia testnet and cannot occur on the Ethereum mainnet. Validators have now deployed a patch to restore the network to normal throughput. All Sepolia node operators must now upgrade their execution layer clients to maintain network compatibility.

According to ChainCatcher news, in the DeepSea Genesis (Testnet-P2) period, Privasea AI will allocate 1% of the total supply (10 million PRAI tokens) to early Privanetix node operators. The leaderboard will end after 30 days, and the tokens will be fully unlocked and available for claim after TGE. Currently, more than 40,000 FHE acceleration nodes are participating in this program.

ChainCatcher news, a court in Kazakhstan has sentenced three cryptocurrency exchange operators to imprisonment. According to the official report from the Financial Regulatory Agency (AFM) operated by the Kazakhstan government, the court sentenced these three individuals to 2.5 to 3.5 years in prison, and the bailiffs confiscated their assets worth $750,000.The three individuals "operated a platform without a license" and "charged fees for exchanging cryptocurrencies." The illegal exchange processed cryptocurrency transactions worth over $1.28 million for approximately 380 clients. Prosecutors provided "client" bank statements as evidence. The bailiffs confiscated the assets of the three, "including real estate, five cars, a four-wheeler, and expensive computer equipment."

According to ChainCatcher news reported by The Block, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia has indicted three Russian citizens for crimes related to operating two cryptocurrency mixers. According to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice, the defendants Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko, Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, and Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov are accused of running two mixing companies named Blender.io and Sinbad.io. They are charged with conspiracy to launder money and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.In May 2022, the U.S. discovered that North Korean hackers used Blender to launder $20.5 million from the $600 million Axie Infinity hack, leading to sanctions against Blender. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic pointed out in 2023 that Sinbad is likely a rebranded version of Blender, operated by the same organization. Blender maintained a "no-logs policy" and deleted user transaction details.The company operated from 2018 until 2022, with its successor Sinbad emerging a few months after Blender's shutdown. On November 27, 2023, law enforcement took action to shut down Sinbad. If convicted, the defendants could face up to 20 years in prison for money laundering and up to 5 years for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Ostapenko and Oleynik were arrested on December 1, 2024. Tarasov remains at large.

ChainCatcher news, according to News.bitcoin, Nigeria's proposed "Investment and Securities Bill" suggests imprisoning Ponzi scheme operators. This bill has been welcomed by participants in the cryptocurrency industry, who hope that this move will help to cleanse the industry's reputation.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi Data, the Bank of Italy stated that regulatory instability and increased taxes on cryptocurrencies may lead operators to conceal their activities.