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Four South Korean citizens are facing execution amid allegations that they kidnapped and murdered a woman over a failed crypto investment.  Lee Kyeong-woo, Hwang Dae-han, and Yeon Ji-ho were all indicted for kidnapping the 48-year-old victim in the Gangnam Ward, Seoul, on March 29. It’s claimed that they murder ed her the following day. Prosecutors allege that the accused were paid 70 million won ($51,000) by Yoo Sang-won and Hwang Eun-hee after the couple purchased 100 million won ($74,000) worth of virtual currency and invested 3 billion won ($2.2 million) at the victim’s recommendation in October 2020. Yoo and Hwang reportedly became embroiled in a dispute with the victim over the investment in struggling crypto ‘ fine dust coin ‘ when its price plummeted and they began to incur losses. Lee then allegedly suggested they steal the victim’s crypto and kill her. Lee, Yeon, and Hwang Dae-han are then alleged to have buried the victim 140km south of the ...

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has reportedly obtained the security report created by Ledger Labs that was commissioned by Bitfinex after its 2016 hack. The report details numerous failures to follow industry best practice, failure to practice adequate logging, and failure to implement a whitelist. The Bitfinex hack backstory On August 2, 2016, Bitfinex was hacked in what was then the second-largest Bitcoins hack ever recorded. Indeed, 120,00 coins — then valued at around $70 million but today worth over $3 billion — were withdrawn from the platform forcing it to disable all deposits, trading, and withdrawals in response. In the wake of the attack, Bitfinex announced that “We have arrived at the conclusion that losses must be generalized across all accounts and assets.” The company also claimed that every single account would receive a 36.067% haircut, and for each dollar that represented, users would receive a BFX token, valued ...

Want to keep the government from snooping on your transactional history? Start studying the forensics of crime and privacy on the blockchain. On its surface, Andy Greenburg’s new book, Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency , is a standard crime story. Fans of true crime podcasts will enjoy the crypto version and get a seat in the Federal Bureau of Investigation van as United States federal agents track down criminals through their crypto transactions. The first story recounted is that of a crooked Drug Enforcement Agency agent who stole funds from the online drug market Silk Road. It also addresses the hunt for Dread Pirate Roberts, aka Ross Ulbricht — Silk Road’s founder. Ross’ operational security was pretty good. He used Tor for everything. He used an encrypted laptop that locked itself when it was closed. He didn’t share personal details. But in privacy, all it takes is one mistake. He was ultimately undone by one small slipup on an online for...