US Treasury Report Warns of Defi’s Threat to National Security, Authors Conclude Fiat Is Used in Illicit Finance More Than Crypto

The U.S. Treasury has released a 42-page report assessing the risks of decentralized finance (defi). The report states that specific nation-state adversaries, cybercriminals, ransomware attackers, thieves, and scammers are using defi to “transfer and launder their illicit proceeds.” The Treasury’s report…

Rogue Validator Exploits MEV Bots on Ethereum, Resulting in $25.3M in Crypto Losses

On April 3, 2023, at Ethereum block height 16,964,664, a group of MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) bots were exploited for $25.3 million. An analysis of the exploit revealed that a renegade validator switched the MEV bots’ transactions and seized various crypto…

Coinbase Tries AI Assistant Chatgpt for Pre-Listing Risk Assessment of Tokens

Crypto exchange Coinbase has tested Openai’s Chatgpt as a token verification tool comparing it with its standard security procedure. In over half of the cases, the AI platform produced the same results as the manual review, but it also failed to…

USDC Stablecoin Nears Parity With USD After Fed’s Bailout Announcement

The stablecoin USDC has nearly regained parity with the U.S. dollar after rising just above $0.99 on March 12, 2023, at 7:20 p.m. Eastern Time. The stablecoin jumped back to the $0.99 range after the U.S. Federal Reserve revealed it would…

IMF Report on El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption: Risks Averted, but Transparency Needed

According to a recent mission statement published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), El Salvador has adopted bitcoin as legal tender and has avoided risks so far. The IMF states that the risks have not materialized due to the limited use…

ECB’s Lagarde, Panetta See Digital Euro as More Efficient Payment Means Than Crypto

Unbacked cryptocurrencies are not an efficient means of payment and stablecoins are vulnerable to runs, top officials at the European Central Bank have pointed out in a new article making the case for a digital euro. The executives have marked key…

Leading Eastern European Exchange Exmo Sells Business in Russia, Belarus

Exmo, a U.K.-based crypto exchange with extensive presence in Eastern Europe, is pulling out of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The trading platform, Exmo.com, says it’s making the move to avoid jeopardizing its expansion in other regions by operating in high-risk markets…

Bank of Spain Warns About Risk of Extended Use of Unregulated Cryptocurrencies in the Country

The deputy governor of the Bank of Spain, Margarita Delgado, gave her opinion about cryptocurrencies and how they are increasing the risks in today’s economy. At an event hosted by PWC called “A climate of change,” Delgado explained that the continued…

Putin Warns Cryptocurrencies Carry Risks, Admits They May Have Future

Russian President Vladimir Putin has again spoken about cryptocurrencies, noting the “high risks” associated with the virtual assets. However, the Russian leader has also acknowledged that digital currencies may have a future and it’s necessary to follow their development. Russia’s Putin…