The Southern District of New York has approved a $5 million settlement with Gemini, which neither admits nor denies the allegations. The settlement avoids a trial scheduled for January 21 and a preliminary hearing on January 13.
The CFTC filed a lawsuit against Gemini in 2022. The regulator alleged that the exchange misrepresented its measures to prevent bitcoin price manipulation in 2017 while seeking approval for a futures product developed with Cboe Global Markets. Gemini denied wrongdoing and claimed that its actions did not harm investors. As part of the investigation, the exchange turned over the laptops of two former executives, but no charges were filed. The civil lawsuit ended with a fine.
In 2024, the founders of the exchange, the Winklevoss brothers, donated $1 million in bitcoins to Donald Trump's election campaign, counting on the support of the crypto industry from the new US administration.
US, Japan, and South Korea to Join Forces to Combat North Korean Hackers
The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea have called on cryptocurrency and blockchain developers to join together in a public-private partnership to combat North Korean cybercriminals. The joint statement emphasizes that the North Korean-backed cyber program poses a significant threat to the international crypto community.
North Korean hacker groups such as Lazarus Group and Andariel actively use social engineering and malware to attack crypto companies around the world. According to Chainalysis, they are responsible for 61% of all cryptocurrency thefts in 2024. Of particular concern is the infiltration of North Korean IT specialists into companies by posing as job candidates from other regions.
The authorities recommend that blockchain organizations strengthen security measures and cooperate with think tanks such as Crypto-ISAC and SEAL to exchange information and prevent hacker attacks. Such measures will help minimize risks and strengthen the protection of the crypto industry from threats related to the activities of the DPRK.
Three organizers of an illegal exchanger received prison terms in Kazakhstan
The AFM of Kazakhstan has completed an investigation into an illegal bitcoin exchanger with a turnover of over $1.28 million. According to the agency, the three organizers exchanged cryptocurrency for fiat for a fee. Their clients were 380 people, which is confirmed by bank statements.
All defendants were sentenced to prison terms from 2.5 to 3.5 years with confiscation of property worth about $752,000.
The AFM also reported that in 2024, $18.8 million in drug trafficking proceeds were laundered through illegal exchangers.
In Kazakhstan, activities with cryptocurrencies and crypto exchanges are permitted only in the jurisdiction of the AIFC with a license, and miners are required to obtain the appropriate permit.
China May Have Sold 194,000 Bitcoins Seized in PlusToken Case, Says Ki Young Ju, Founder and CEO of crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant, said that Chinese authorities may have sold 194,000 bitcoins seized in the PlusToken Ponzi scheme.
According to Ki Young Ju, the bitcoins confiscated in 2019 were sent to crypto mixers and then transferred to Chinese crypto exchanges like Huobi.
“There is no point in using mixers and multiple exchanges if they did not sell it. The Chinese Communist Party said that the assets were transferred to the national treasury, but did not specify whether they were sold,” he stressed.
Ki Young Ju added that on-chain data points to the sale of bitcoins back in 2019. He noted that in this case, preference should be given to objective blockchain data, rather than statements by the Communist Party of China.
Wiz Research researchers have discovered an open DeepSeek database containing chat history, private keys, backend data, and other sensitive information. The ClickHouse database did not require authentication, which gave full access to the data and the ability to escalate privileges in the system. ClickHouse is a columnar database management system developed by Yandex in 2016. It is now an open source project.
The problem was discovered during the analysis of DeepSeek subdomains. By expanding the search beyond standard HTTP ports, the researchers found two open gateways (8123 and 9000) leading to an unprotected ClickHouse database.
The Wiz Research team reported the problem to DeepSeek, and the startup quickly fixed the vulnerability.
Musk Gains Access to US Payment System to Control Spending
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk has gained full access to the US Treasury payment system, through which more than $6 trillion flows annually. Access was granted by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on January 31, 2024, which has raised concerns among lawmakers. The system, managed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, is responsible for Social Security payments, tax refunds, and payments to contractors. Among those who gained access to it is also the head of Cloud Software Group Tom Krause.
The decision was part of Donald Trump's budget reform, initiated after taking office. Musk advocates for a sharp reduction in government spending, but specific steps have not yet been announced. Senator Wyden warned that providing access to payment data "is fraught with serious harm" and could threaten national security.
In addition to the Treasury, Musk's team allegedly interfered with the work of other departments. According to Reuters, some government agencies have been blocked from accessing systems containing the personal data of millions of federal government employees.
The Utah House of Representatives has approved HB 230, a bill that would allow up to 5% of the state budget to be invested in digital assets. The bill is now headed to the Senate, where it will take a final vote before being signed by the governor. If passed, Utah would be one of the first U.S. states to include Bitcoin in its reserves.
The bill would allow the purchase of digital assets with a market cap of over $500 billion or stablecoins approved by regulators. Qualified custodians are provided for storage, and staking and lending of assets within regulatory requirements are also allowed.
The initiator of the bill was Utah House of Representatives member Jordan Teuscher. In his opinion, the integration of Bitcoin into the state reserve would not only increase the state's financial stability, but would also allow for more efficient development of the digital economy.
In the 19 days since the launch of Official Trump (TRUMP), the accumulated losses from investments in the US President's memecoin have reached $2 billion. According to Chainalysis, Nansen and Molly White have seen 813,294 users suffer losses. Companies associated with the token have earned $100 million in fees.
At its peak, TRUMP was trading at $75, but by now its price has fallen by 79% to $15.78. At its current value, the token's capitalization is estimated at $3.16 billion, which puts it in 45th place among crypto assets. However, some investors managed to make a profit: one of them bought 6 million tokens for $0.18 on the first day of trading and two days later recorded a profit of $109 million.
In February, Public Citizen called on the US Department of Justice and the Office of Government Ethics to investigate TRUMP due to possible conflicts of interest and violations of anti-corruption laws.
The current TRUMP drawdown is in line with the dynamics of other celebrity memes in general.
Binance CEO Richard Teng has warned of a new scam aimed at stealing users’ cryptocurrency. The scheme is known as a “Share-Seed-Phrase” scam and is rapidly gaining momentum.
Scammers send out fake wallet compromise notifications, convincing the victim to “secure” their funds. In the message, the scammers provide the seed phrase of a wallet they control, forcing the victim to transfer their assets there.
Users often react impulsively, without checking the authenticity of the notifications, Binance said in a blog post. Once the scam is exposed, it is no longer possible to get the funds back.
ZachXBT reported suspicious outflows from Bybit, and soon the CEO of the exchange Ben Zhou confirmed the hack. One wallet was affected, the rest of the assets are safe.
According to the exchange, the attack occurred when transferring ETH from a cold multisig storage to a hot wallet. The hackers replaced the transaction signing interface, due to which the participants saw the correct address. At the same time, the logic of the smart contract was changed, and the hackers gained control over the ETH wallet and withdrew all funds to an unidentified address.
The Bybit team is investigating the incident together with experts. According to ZachXBT, some of the stolen tokens have already been exchanged for ETH via DEX. 10,000 ETH are distributed among 36 wallets.
DeFi Llama founder 0xngmi noted the similarity of the attack to the WazirX hack in July 2024, when the exchange lost $235 million due to similar transaction manipulations.
CBI conducts massive raids in $800 million crypto scam case
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has announced a massive operation covering over 60 locations in major cities. The raids were conducted as part of an investigation into the GainBitcoin cryptocurrency scheme, which left investors with $800 million in losses.
GainBitcoin was founded in 2015 by Amit and Ajay Bhardwaj through Variabletech Pte. The scheme offered cloud mining contracts with a monthly return of 10% in Bitcoin. After the project collapsed in 2017, the payouts were replaced with the MCAP cryptocurrency, which turned out to be almost worthless, leading to huge losses for investors.
During the raids, the CBI seized crypto wallets, email correspondence, and cloud data that will help track illegal transfers, including international transactions. Law enforcement officials said the investigation is part of a broader campaign by Indian authorities to control the crypto market.
El Salvador President: The Country Will Never Stop Buying Bitcoin
El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said the country will continue to accumulate bitcoins despite pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He stressed that the government does not intend to abandon its strategy even if it faces restrictions from global financial institutions.
According to him, the initial conditions of the $1.4 billion IMF loan included a reduction in several bitcoin initiatives, including voluntary payments in cryptocurrency and mandatory payment of taxes in dollars. However, new requirements regarding a ban on mining, limiting the issuance of debt obligations, and ending government purchases of bitcoin will not be implemented.
Bukele also said that over the past month, El Salvador has increased its reserves by 46 BTC ($3.9 million), bringing the total amount of savings to 6,101 BTC ($527 million).
Darknet Market Nucleus Wallet Woke Up After 9 Years
On March 7, 2025, a cryptocurrency wallet associated with the darknet market Nucleus woke up after nine years of dormancy, according to Arkham Intelligence. It had been holding 5,000 BTC since the platform shut down in April 2016, when the amount was valued at just $2.1 million.
A $77.5 million transaction was recorded, transferred to three new addresses, while the main wallet continues to hold $365 million in bitcoin.
Nucleus was one of the largest darknet markets where illegal transactions took place, including drug and arms trafficking. After the platform shut down in 2016, there were rumors of a hack, but some in the community suspected fraud on the part of the administrators. All transactions on Nucleus were conducted in bitcoin, ensuring the anonymity of users.
Social network X noted that the wallet's awakening coincided with Donald Trump signing an executive order to create a strategic bitcoin reserve. According to this document, the fund will be replenished with confiscated assets with the possibility of additional "budget-neutral" purchases. This has sparked discussions, since some of these assets may be related to cases similar to Nucleus.
Lazarus Hackers Target Solana and Exodus Crypto Wallets
Socket experts have identified a new attack by the Lazarus group aimed at stealing data from Solana and Exodus wallets.
The hackers posted six malicious npm packages on GitHub, disguising them as legitimate JavaScript libraries. The packages contained BeaverTail software capable of stealing id.json (Solana), exodus.wallet (Exodus) files, as well as credentials from browsers and macOS Keychain.
The problematic modules were downloaded more than 300 times. Developers and crypto traders are urged to be vigilant, as the infected packages are still available.
Lazarus Holds 13,518 BTC, Outpacing Bhutan and El Salvador
North Korean hacker group Lazarus currently controls 13,518 BTC (approximately $1.13 billion), which is more than the Bitcoin holdings of the governments of Bhutan (10,635 BTC) and El Salvador (6,118 BTC).
According to analysts, Lazarus's significant BTC holdings are linked to the $1.4 billion Bybit hack in February. Much of the stolen Ether has already been laundered through the DeFi protocol THORChain.
In addition to Bitcoin, the group holds about $30 million in other crypto assets, including Ethereum, BNB, DAI, and BUSD.
According to Chainalysis, in 2024, North Korean hackers stole $1.34 billion in crypto assets. The UN estimates that about half of the DPRK's foreign exchange earnings come from cyberattacks and go to funding programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
SEC Drops Lawsuits Against Kraken, ConsenSys, and Cumberland
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped lawsuits against Kraken, ConsenSys, and Cumberland on March 27, filing documents to dismiss the cases. The SEC explained that the decision was related to a review of its overall approach to regulating the crypto industry, but emphasized that this does not mean that the claims are valid. The cases are closed with prejudice, making them impossible to reopen.
Kraken faced charges in November 2023 for offering unregistered securities. In June 2024, the SEC filed a lawsuit against ConsenSys, alleging that the company operated as an unregistered broker and also sold securities through MetaMask Staking. In October 2024, trading firm Cumberland DRW came under attack, having been accused by the SEC of unregistered trading of assets recognized as securities.
The SEC's decision may indicate a softening of crypto market regulation.
The Federal Bailiff Service is looking for a way to confiscate $1 billion in bitcoins for the benefit of the state
The head of the Federal Bailiff Service, Dmitry Aristov, said that the agency, together with other agencies, is developing a mechanism for the legal circulation of bitcoins in the state budget.
At a meeting of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, he noted that the legal status of cryptocurrencies is not enshrined in Russia, which complicates their confiscation.
We are talking about 1032.1 BTC (about 1 billion rubles), seized from former investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Marat Tambiev, convicted of receiving a record bribe in cryptocurrency for the country. According to the court's decision, the funds must be transferred to the state, but so far a method for their implementation has not been found.
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