ChainCatcher News, the U.S. State Department has announced the establishment of a Bilateral Liaison Group on Illicit Finance and Cryptocurrencies in partnership with Nigeria, to jointly combat cybercrime and financial misconduct related to cryptocurrencies.The official announcement stated: "The United States collaborates with global partners to promote cyberspace and digital technologies, foster economic prosperity, while combating and addressing malicious cyber activities, cybercrime, and other digital harms."The announcement reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to assisting the Nigerian government in strengthening its capacity to investigate and prosecute cybercrime, as stated by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, German Bitcoin mining company and data center operator Northern Data AG is considering selling its cryptocurrency mining business to free up funds for expanding its artificial intelligence business.The Frankfurt-listed company, whose main shareholder is stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings Ltd., stated in a press release on Monday that it will use the proceeds from the sale of Peak Mining to focus on its artificial intelligence solutions division. Following the news, Northern Data's stock price surged by 12% at one point, and as of 12:06 PM Frankfurt time, it had risen by 9.8%.

ChainCatcher news, Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas posted on social media, "The Bitcoin spot ETF IBIT launched by BlackRock performed exceptionally well last week, with new inflows reaching $1.1 billion, marking the best single-week performance since March, and surpassing VTI to rank third in the annual inflow leaderboard (this is simply incredible for new products launched later in the year, especially since the other products in the top five have been around for over 20 years and have assets exceeding $300 billion). IBIT has a managed asset size of $26 billion, ranking in the top 2% of all ETFs."

ChainCatcher message, Wombat Exchange posted on X that it has received reports that the DEX Velocore on the ZKsync chain has forked Wombat's design without authorization. Please proceed with caution, as unauthorized copies may pose risks.

ChainCatcher news, Binance Labs announced an investment in the Bitcoin liquid staking platform Lombard. Jacob Phillips, co-founder and strategic director of Lombard, declined to disclose the valuation in the latest funding round but noted that the startup's total funding is currently around $17 million, up from $16 million in the seed round four months ago, indicating that Binance Labs' investment is approximately $1 million.According to RootData, Lombard was founded in April 2024 and is dedicated to unlocking the potential of Bitcoin as a dynamic financial tool by connecting Bitcoin with DeFi. Lombard enables yield-generating BTC to move across chains without fragmenting liquidity, paving the way to become the largest catalyst for bringing net new capital into DeFi. Its flagship product, LBTC, is a yield-bearing, cross-chain, highly liquid Bitcoin backed 1:1 by BTC.

ChainCatcher news, Bloomberg reporter Emily Nicolle posted on X that the crypto custody firm Copper has hired former Goldman Sachs managing director Amar Kuchinad to replace Dmitry Tokarev as the group's CEO, focusing on attracting more traditional financial clients and expanding significantly in the United States.

ChainCatcher news, the Telegram ecological game Hamster Kombat stated on the X platform: "We are committed to ensuring the transparency of the Hamster ecosystem. In light of the recent news regarding Gotbit, we want to clarify that Hamster Kombat has never collaborated with Gotbit as a market maker."Previous news, U.S. prosecutors have charged four cryptocurrency "market makers" and their employees with market manipulation and fraud, including Gotbit.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) jointly filed lawsuits on October 9 against four cryptocurrency companies suspected of fraud and market manipulation, including Gotbit Consulting, ZM Quant Investment, and CLS Global. These manipulated tokens were then sold at artificially inflated prices to unsuspecting buyers. These companies also promoted these tokens and persuaded exchanges to lower fees, further increasing profits.Gotbit is the largest company on this list. This market maker collaborated with well-known brands such as Bonk, Neiro, Hamster Kombat, and Robo Inu. At its peak, the company managed assets totaling $1.5 billion and made nearly $200 million in investments through Gotbit Ventures. Gotbit now faces a maximum fine of $5 million or twice the amount of illegal gains or losses, as well as asset forfeiture. The CEO, who is also facing charges, could face up to 20 years in prison.It is reported that in 2019, Gotbit's 20-year-old CEO Alexey Andryunin told CoinDesk about his practices: Gotbit was not registered in any jurisdiction because it was "not entirely ethical." In 2023, ZachXTB uncovered Andryunin's operations with the help of some leaked documents and a promotional material that stated: "In the first few minutes of the price discovery phase, we will push the price up 10 times to create FOMO and accumulate as much buying power as possible, and sell the most tokens during the subsequent surge."

ChainCatcher news, the Brazilian Federal Police launched "Operation Alcacaria" this Wednesday, aimed at combating operators who provide money laundering services using cryptocurrencies. In addition, the police are tracking and investigating exchanges that collaborate with these operators to provide liquidity for their money laundering activities. However, the names of those involved have not yet been released.This operation issued 62 search warrants, 13 arrest warrants, and seized funds from the involved entities' banks.

ChainCatcher news, Bitget will soon launch Puffer (PUFFER) in the Innovation Zone, DeFi Zone, and LSD Zone. The deposit channel is now open, and the spot trading channel will open on October 14 at 20:00 (UTC+8). Launchpool, PoolX, and CandyBomb will also be introduced.Details are as follows:PoolX:Locked assets: PUFFER,Total prize pool: 300,000 PUFFERLock-up range: 100,000 - 1,000,000 PUFFERLock-up period: October 16, 20:00 to October 26, 20:00 (UTC+8)Pre-lock-up start time: October 14, 20:00 (UTC+8)CandyBomb:Airdrop claim method: Complete designated tasks such as spot trading or contract tradingTotal prize pool: 340,000 PUFFEREvent period: October 14, 20:00 to October 21, 20:00 (UTC+8)Launchpool:Locked assets: BGB or USDTTotal prize pool: 2,700,000 PUFFER

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pledged to combat fraud, money laundering, and market manipulation in the cryptocurrency industry. SEC Director General Emomotimi Agama emphasized the importance of enhancing investor education to help the public steer clear of unlicensed crypto exchanges and illegal platforms.In addition, Nigeria has approved the first batch of digital asset exchanges and revised the relevant rules for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also supports this initiative, highlighting the importance of regulation in ensuring the safety of the crypto market and protecting investors.

ChainCatcher news, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart stated that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are likely to launch in the United States in the first quarter of 2025.Seyffart mentioned during a panel discussion at the Permissionless conference on October 9: "I think it's possible that options could launch before the end of this year, but it's more likely to be in the first quarter of 2025."In September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) authorized Nasdaq to list options linked to the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). They are awaiting final approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC).Seyffart stated: "Unlike the regulations from the SEC, the CFTC and OCC do not have strict deadlines, so they can delay further if they wish."

ChainCatcher news, according to Reuters, the FBI has created a token named NexFundAI on Ethereum to identify and combat these alleged fraudsters and bring them to justice.It is reported that the FBI is discussing cooperation with market makers using the identity of the company and the token. One of the defendants explained that his company uses bots to buy and sell simultaneously on CEX to generate trading volume.Previous news, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed market manipulation charges against four cryptocurrency companies and their related personnel. These companies include Gotbit, ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade, accused of manipulating the market through "wash trading" to lure investors into "pump and dump" schemes.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official announcement, Binance Staking Borrowing (floating interest rate) and VIP Borrowing have added a new borrowable asset, Hamster Kombat (HMSTR).

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) is hiring a senior blockchain analyst to address financial crimes in the cryptocurrency industry, including money laundering activities. Applicants must have at least one year of experience in the cryptocurrency industry and be familiar with blockchain analysis and open-source intelligence tools.Additionally, a deep understanding of the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, and related legal frameworks is required. This position is primarily responsible for using blockchain analysis and on-chain attribution to assess the risk of illegal activities for DFS-regulated virtual currency licensees, monitoring dashboards to identify anomalies that may indicate money laundering or sanctions violations, and conducting further investigations and reporting.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has called on Southeast Asian countries to classify unlicensed currency service businesses or virtual asset service providers (VASP) as criminal offenses. The agency stated in a report released on Monday that some VASPs (including those linked to known criminals) are facilitating transactions for fraud organizations and high-risk gambling websites.The report mentioned that an unnamed entity conducted "at least hundreds of millions of dollars" in transactions with criminal organizations. This includes groups associated with or directly involved in large-scale drug trafficking, human trafficking, cybercrime, and child sexual abuse materials, as well as entities sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and wallets linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group.Masood Karimi-Pour, the regional representative of the Office on Drugs and Crime, stated in a declaration: "Governments need to recognize more than ever the seriousness, scale, and impact of this genuine global threat, and prioritize solutions to address the rapidly evolving criminal ecosystem in the region."

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, hip-hop superstar and alleged sexual assaulter Sean "Diddy" Combs not only shares a prison with crypto criminal Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), but he has also hired SBF's lawyer.Court documents show that the disgraced musician and producer (who was arrested last month and faces charges of extortion and sex trafficking) has hired one of SBF's lawyers, Alexandra Shapiro.