ChainCatcher news, the Spanish police have successfully dismantled a Bitcoin-themed cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that promoted "false cryptocurrency investments," resulting in losses of approximately $32.6 million for victims. The police have arrested 8 suspects, but it is estimated that "over 3,600 people" suffered losses in this scheme.The Economic and Financial Crime Department of the National Police Force (CNP) revealed that the mastermind of this criminal network is a "computer programmer," who has been captured in Malaga.

ChainCatcher message indicates that, according to SoSoValue data, the encrypted market sector continues to show an upward trend, with the Layer2 sector leading with a 3.72% increase. Within this sector, Mantle (MNT) rose 4.86% in 24 hours, and Celestia (TIA) increased by 12.06%. The ssiLayer2 index, which reflects the historical performance of the sector, rose by 3.84%, but the weekly return rate remains at -4.89%.In addition, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.55%, while Ethereum (ETH) fell again by 0.13%, dropping below $1900.In other sectors, the AI sector rose by 3.65% in 24 hours, with KAITO increasing by 11.29%; the Meme sector rose by 3.55%, with Pepe (PEPE) increasing by 10.63%; the Layer1 sector rose by 2.70%, the PayFi sector rose by 1.63%, and the DeFi sector rose by 0.72%.It is worth mentioning that the ssiGameFi and ssiMeme indices, which reflect the historical performance of their respective sectors, rose by 4.01% and 3.61% in 24 hours, but their weekly return rates were -10.55% and -12.88%, respectively.

ChainCatcher message, according to Onchain Lens monitoring, 6 hours ago, a multi-signature wallet associated with Mantle spent 10 million USDT to purchase 200 million WLFI.

ChainCatcher news, according to Onchain Lens monitoring, a multi-signature wallet belonging to Mantle has deposited 15.5 million MNT to Bybit exchange, worth approximately 16.32 million USD.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Australian police recently dismantled a criminal group targeting cryptocurrency ATMs and collectible card shops in Melbourne, seizing a large amount of stolen items, including firearms, car keys, pill presses, and power tools, as well as collectible cards worth tens of thousands of dollars, such as Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Magic: The Gathering.Four men were arrested in connection with the criminal activities, one of whom faces 14 charges including theft and possession of prohibited firearms, and is scheduled to appear in court on May 2; another man is charged with five counts of commercial theft and is set to appear in court on February 21. The other two have been released, pending further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called Musk a "bank robber," accusing him and the Trump administration of dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to gain financial control.

ChainCatcher news, according to CryptoDnes, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria has dismantled a cryptocurrency scam gang, arresting 53 individuals suspected of cyber crimes, including identity theft and fraud.Currently, authorities have recovered approximately $200,000 in assets, but investigations indicate that deposits related to the operation could be as high as $3 million.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the European judicial organization recently announced the successful dismantling of a multinational money laundering gang that used cryptocurrency to transfer profits among criminal organizations. Investigations revealed that the gang had at least 52 members spread across Spain and Cyprus, conducting up to 6 money laundering transactions per week. In the operation, 23 suspects were arrested, $28 million worth of cryptocurrency was frozen, and approximately $8 million in cash was seized across various locations in Africa.It is reported that the case began in 2023 when Spanish border officials discovered a large amount of funds being transported to Cyprus, with the total amount involved exceeding $100 million. The gang transported cash via commercial flights and public transport, maintaining connections with numerous commercial companies worldwide.

ChainCatcher news, the Mantle APAC Hackathon co-hosted by Mantle, OpenBuild, and HackQuest has successfully concluded, and the winning projects in each track have been officially announced.This hackathon attracted over 360 developers, who submitted more than 170 innovative projects. In the end, 9 projects stood out, winning substantial prizes and resource support. High-quality projects that did not win will also receive ongoing attention and support from Mantle. All participants received recognition and guidance from a top-tier jury including Mantle DevRel, Gumi Cryptos, Hemera, NovaSeed & Novabits, Hashkey Capital, GMA, Fenbushi Capital, YGG, OKX Ventures, CoinSpire, SNZ Capital, and others.The final evaluation results of this hackathon are as follows:DeFi Track:1st Place: ellipse2nd Place: FLIP NFT3rd Place: Payroll ProtocolInfra & AI Track:1st Place: Mantle Contract Builder2nd Place: Web3Insights3rd Place: StealthPassGaming Track:1st Place: Vortis2nd Place: Truman AI Live3rd Place: Dunk VerseThe above winning projects will not only receive a total prize pool of $30,000 but will also be eligible for project funding of up to 20,000 MNT. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to receive support from the $200 million ecosystem fund from the Mantle Eco Fund, as well as AWS Activate Credits, and will directly enter the interview phase of the HackQuest X Mantle global accelerator.

ChainCatcher news, the modular L2 network Mantle will integrate USDe and mETH on Compound. Currently, both parties are discussing the introduction and integration of cmETH, aiming to deepen the strategic partnership between Mantle and Compound.

ChainCatcher news, according to Phoenix News, the Hong Kong police recently dismantled a scam group that used deepfake technology to lure others into investing in virtual currencies through social media platforms, involving approximately 34 million HKD.The Hong Kong Police Commercial Crime Bureau arrested 31 individuals, aged between 20 and 34, some of whom claimed to be students and unemployed, based on intelligence last week in two industrial buildings in Kowloon Bay, related to the same scam group, and seized their pre-written "scripts." The group would recruit young people looking to "make quick money," training them to create accounts on dating platforms with fake identities, pretending to have good looks and a luxurious lifestyle, and getting to know individuals from overseas, including Taiwan and East Asia, chatting according to the "script." After understanding the other party's background, they would cater to their interests and develop into online lovers, even using deepfake technology for video calls, subsequently luring the other party to invest in virtual currencies, claiming substantial returns, and asking them to deposit into fake platforms. Once the group received the virtual currency, they would immediately transfer it away and cut off contact with the victims.Hong Kong Police Commercial Crime Bureau Acting Chief Superintendent Kong Hing-fun stated: "They rented two scam centers located next to each other in Kowloon Bay to disperse risks and increase confidentiality. Most importantly, we noticed that these two scam centers operated in two shifts, aiming to continuously attract more victims day and night. Never think that participating in some tasks of a criminal group is just a minor issue; even if you are only assigned to meet victims online without direct contact with virtual currency investment work, it is still illegal."The police stated that this scam group has been operating for at least a year, with criminal profits exceeding 34 million HKD. The mastermind of the scam group, the center's head, and key members, a total of five individuals, have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering, and were brought to the Eastern Magistrates' Court on Monday.

ChainCatcher news, recently, the Yangpu police in Shanghai successfully solved a virtual currency contract trading fraud case after meticulous investigation, dismantling a fraud gang of 16 people, with an involved amount of over 300,000 yuan.During the interrogation, the suspects confessed to their criminal activities without hesitation. Based on the preliminary investigation, the special investigation team fully grasped the modus operandi of the criminal gang, which involved three individuals, Yang and Yu, posing as "investment masters" to infiltrate various virtual currency investment group chats, directing those interested in investing to a fabricated trading platform they set up. They exploited the victims' psychology of wanting to "make quick money" by inducing them to conduct multiple transactions to earn high fees. Subsequently, they misled the victims into raising their investment "profit and loss ratio," making them mistakenly believe that their investment failures were due to their own misjudgment of the market, thereby defrauding them of their money.Currently, Yang and Yu, along with 16 other suspects, have been subjected to criminal coercive measures by the Yangpu police for suspected fraud, and the case is under further investigation. (Xinmin Evening News)

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Brooklyn District Attorney's office has shut down 40 NFT scam marketplace websites after an 85-year-old artist was scammed out of $135,000.The Brooklyn District Attorney's office stated on December 6 that someone impersonating an art dealer contacted the victim on LinkedIn, convincing him to mint his artwork on a fake NFT marketplace similar to New York's OpenSea. He was later told he had earned a profit of $300,000—but to withdraw the money, he had to pay a "fee" of $135,000. He raised the funds by completely draining his retirement accounts, using credit card payments, and taking out loans.The office also added that this counterfeit OpenSea website "appears to be controlled and funded by Nigerian sources," and some of the now-closed websites prompted visitors to enter their cryptocurrency wallet recovery phrases, "which would allow scammers to completely empty the contents of users' online wallets."

ChainCatcher news, according to EmberCN monitoring, Mantle (formerly BitDAO) may be repurchasing 100 million BIT from FTX/Alameda through Mirana Ventures via OTC.Two days ago, they transferred 38.73 million USDC to FTX/Alameda, and then received 105 million BIT from the FTX/Alameda address, with the OTC price possibly being $0.367. The current price of MNT (formerly BIT) is $1.03.ByBit and FTX exchanged their platform tokens in early November 2021: ByBit exchanged 100 million BIT for 3.36 million FTT from FTX, with both parties committing not to sell for three years. Currently, the 3.362 million FTT (worth $9.18 million) is still in the Mantle address.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Financial Times, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has announced the successful dismantling of a large-scale cryptocurrency money laundering network spanning London, Moscow, and Dubai. The case primarily involves two companies: Smart and TGR, which acted as financial intermediaries, providing cross-border money transfer services for cash-rich criminals and sanctioned individuals worldwide through cryptocurrency.The investigation revealed that this network provided services to criminal organizations, ransomware gangs, and Russian espionage activities, including the Kinahan drug trafficking group, from the end of 2022 to the summer of 2023. Its operation involved couriers collecting cash in the UK and elsewhere, exchanging it for cryptocurrency primarily in USDT, and then laundering the money through a network of companies, providing equivalent funds in other countries.Ekaterina Zhdanova, the 38-year-old owner of Smart, a resident of Moscow, has been accused of transferring over $100 million to an unnamed sanctioned oligarch in the UAE, and is currently under U.S. sanctions and detained in France. The money laundering network collected cash at 55 different locations across England, Scotland, Wales, and the Channel Islands in just four months, serving at least 22 criminal groups.NCA's action director Rob Jones stated that this is the agency's most significant anti-money laundering operation to date. Law enforcement has arrested 84 individuals and seized a total of £20 million in cash and cryptocurrency. The U.S. Treasury has imposed economic sanctions on five individuals and several companies involved. The operation was assisted by the U.S. FBI, DEA, as well as police forces from France and Ireland.

ChainCatcher news, the full-chain game infrastructure service provider and ecosystem Blade Games has launched the public beta of its tower defense game Dune Factory on the Mantle mainnet today, along with a $100,000 $MNT and xBlade airdrop incentive program.In addition, Blade Games completed a seed round financing led by PTC Crypto and IOSG at the beginning of 2024, with a roadmap indicating plans to launch its token this year.

ChainCatcher news, the Mantle APAC Hackathon, jointly initiated by Mantle, Hackquest, and OpenBuild, will officially launch on November 15, open for registration to developers and blockchain enthusiasts in the Asia-Pacific region.This hackathon features five major themes: Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Infrastructure (Infra), Game Development (Gaming), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Meme, with a prize pool of up to $30,000. Each participating project can apply for project funding of up to 20,000 MNT. Additionally, outstanding projects will have the opportunity to receive support from the $200 million fund from Mantle Eco Found and AWS Activate Credits. The winning teams will also gain direct interview opportunities with the HackQuest X Mantle Global Accelerator. During the event, participants will receive technical support from the Mantle expert team, as well as professional feedback from the judging teams of Hackquest and OpenBuild. Shortlisted projects will be showcased online during the Demo Day from December 19 to 22.