According to ChainCatcher's message and Binance's announcement, Binance discovered that a market maker (hereinafter referred to as "market maker") responsible for GoPlus Security (GPS) was also responsible for the market-making activities of the MyShell (SHELL) project during an investigation.To better protect Binance users, Binance has taken the following additional measures against the misconduct of this market maker:The market maker has been delisted and prohibited from conducting any further market-making activities on Binance;The relevant earnings of the market maker have been confiscated and will be used to compensate users of the GPS and SHELL projects (the detailed compensation plan will be determined and announced by the relevant project teams).ChainCatcher previously reported that, according to Binance's announcement, the recent abnormal price of GPS was directly caused by a certain market maker. The market maker sold approximately 70 million GPS from March 4, 2025, 13:00 (UTC) to March 5, 2025, 9:55 (UTC).During the aforementioned period, the market maker did not place any buy orders. After spot trading began, the market maker continued to sell tokens, becoming the largest beneficiary, with profits of about 5 million USD. While Binance conducts an in-depth follow-up investigation into this matter, the market maker's account has been temporarily frozen.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune, Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife were kidnapped in Paris, with the kidnappers demanding a cryptocurrency ransom. The incident led to the arrest of 10 people.Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated that David Balland and his wife were kidnapped early Tuesday morning, and they were separated and taken to different locations. The kidnappers contacted another co-founder of Ledger, demanding a ransom to be paid in cryptocurrency, part of which has already been paid to the kidnappers.French gendarmerie special forces were called in to negotiate with the kidnappers, and they subsequently tracked down Balland's location. The police successfully rescued Balland, and his wife was found a few hours later tied up inside a van. Most of the cryptocurrency used to pay the ransom has been tracked, frozen, and confiscated.Beccuau stated that Balland was taken to the hospital due to a hand injury, while his wife was not physically harmed but will receive medical supervision due to trauma.

ChainCatcher news, according to the typical cases of punishing gambling and related crimes published by the Supreme People's Court, the People's Court of Rongchang District, Chongqing, tried the case of defendant Wang Zhi, who operated a casino. He developed agents and gamblers through the "Pomelo Alliance" gambling platform, with a total amount involved reaching 590 million yuan, including over 900 bank card accounts and virtual currency funds. The court sentenced Wang Zhi to four years and five months in prison for the crime of operating a casino and imposed a fine, while also confiscating illegal gains and involved funds.The Supreme People's Court pointed out the typical significance of the case, stating that the people's courts closely cooperate with public security, prosecution, and other departments to implement relevant sealing and freezing measures in accordance with the law, confiscating involved funds amounting to tens of millions of yuan and a large amount of virtual currency.

ChainCatcher news, according to official information, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) warns the public to be cautious of an unlicensed virtual asset trading platform named International Standard Carbon Assets Technology Co., Limited, also known as "iSCAT" or "iSCAT Exchange."The Hong Kong SFC stated that "iSCAT" and/or "iSCAT Exchange" claims to be a virtual asset trading platform that once operated in Hong Kong, offering cryptocurrency trading services and using social media platforms to promote investors to its website and app for investing in cryptocurrencies. According to the Securities and Futures Ordinance and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, conducting regulated activities and providing virtual asset services (i.e., operating a virtual asset exchange) in Hong Kong without a license and/or actively promoting such services to Hong Kong investors is a criminal offense.In addition, the Hong Kong SFC also announced that the licensed virtual asset trading platform Hash Blockchain Limited reported 11 websites as fraudulent sites.

ChainCatcher news, according to the disclosure from lawyer Wu Enxiang's public account, in August this year, a public security agency in a certain area of the country determined that the behavior of using VPNs to trade cryptocurrencies was illegal, and the involved individuals were administratively punished, with their profits from trading cryptocurrencies confiscated.A public security agency in a certain area discovered that a man was using a VPN to illegally connect to the internet through non-statutory channels. He contacted overseas clients who needed to purchase a certain virtual currency through a foreign website, then bought the virtual currency at a low price using a certain currency on an overseas trading app, and finally sold it at a high price, engaging in the sale of the virtual currency. After being summoned by the public security agency, the man came to accept the investigation. During the operation of the studio, he illegally profited 90,000 yuan.The administrative penalty decision stated that the man's actions constituted unauthorized use of non-statutory channels for international internet access. According to Article 6 and Article 14 of the "Interim Regulations on the Administration of International Networking of Computer Information Networks of the People's Republic of China" and Article 11, Paragraph 1 of the "Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China," it has been decided to order the violator Zhang San to cease networking, issue a warning, impose a fine of 15,000 yuan, confiscate the illegal gains of 90,000 yuan, and seize eight mobile phones and eight computers used in the crime.

ChainCatcher news, according to DL News, U.S. prosecutors are seeking to confiscate two properties belonging to Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm (valued at a total of $3.1 million) and a Tesla Model Y, claiming these assets are derived from illegal proceeds.Tornado Cash has gained significant attention for concealing crypto transactions but has also been exploited by criminals for money laundering. In 2022, the U.S. imposed sanctions against it. This year, Storm has been charged with three counts, including money laundering and violating sanctions, while another developer, Alexi Pertsev, has been sentenced to five years in prison.Storm's team cited freedom of speech as a defense, but the judge dismissed the request. Crypto privacy advocates strongly oppose this, arguing that developers should not be held responsible for the misuse of their tools. Storm's trial has been postponed until April next year, with defense costs estimated to reach up to $500,000 per month.

According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Cointelegraph, the U.S. government filed two legal lawsuits on October 4, beginning the process of seizing over $2.67 million in digital assets stolen by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group.According to legal documents, the U.S. government is seeking to recover approximately $1.7 million in USDT that the group stole during the Deribit hack in 2022, where $28 million was taken from the options exchange. After successfully hacking Deribit's hot wallet, the hackers mixed the funds through the Tornado Cash mixer and multiple Ethereum addresses.U.S. law enforcement officials are also seeking to recover approximately $970,000 in Avalanche-bridged Bitcoin (BTC.b), which was stolen by the Lazarus Group during a hack of the Stake.com gambling platform in 2023. This malicious attack resulted in losses of over $41 million for Stake.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio announced on Friday that the U.S. has filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to seize $200,000 worth of USDT.This action stems from an incident that occurred in February 2024, when $340,000 worth of Bitcoin was fraudulently transferred from a victim's wallet in Ohio.

ChainCatcher news, article from the official WeChat account of the Intermediate People's Court of Jinchang City. Recently, the Yongchang Court in Gansu, China, ruled on two cases involving telecom fraud, sentencing ten defendants to prison terms ranging from ten months to one year for the crime of assisting in information network criminal activities, and recovering illegal gains of over 1.19 million yuan.According to reports, since 2022, a certain Shen has illegally profited by raising funds to purchase computers, IoT cards, and other equipment, recruiting Li, Chen, and four others to join, and additionally recruiting more than ten people to successively rent houses in Hefei, Anhui, to establish a USDT (Tether) trading studio. They formed illegal over-the-counter trading groups through the Telegram app, buying low and selling high for profit. During this period, the five repeatedly took risks, knowingly helping telecom fraudsters settle payments between Tether and RMB at "high exchange rates," despite being aware that the U coins they received originated from online gambling and telecom fraud. Meanwhile, Shen also contacted downstream "coin traders" like Li to settle payments through methods designated by upstream criminals, using Alipay, WeChat transfers, and cash deposits. By the time the case was reported, the defendants had profited over 880,000 yuan, with more than ten victims, including residents like Meng from Chengguan Town in Yongchang County, losing over 5.9 million yuan while participating in virtual currency investments and online order brushing, with the funds all transferred to accounts related to Tether trading used by Shen and others.The court held that in this case, Shen and others used virtual currency trading activities to assist telecom network fraudsters in transferring funds, which has moved beyond mere virtual currency operations. Such behavior should be included as a key link in the comprehensive crackdown on telecom network fraud and illegal criminal activities, and the involved criminals should be punished.

ChainCatcher news, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) of Germany recently launched a nationwide operation against unlicensed cryptocurrency ATMs. This operation seized 13 cryptocurrency ATMs and $28 million in cash. The action took place on August 20 and involved 35 locations that reportedly operated unlicensed crypto ATMs.BaFin emphasized that these unlicensed ATMs are often used for scams, fraud, and money laundering activities, posing a serious risk to the financial system. According to German banking law, cryptocurrency ATM operators must obtain authorization from BaFin. Violators may face severe legal consequences, including up to 5 years of imprisonment.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the Southern District Court of New York sentenced OneCoin's head of legal and compliance, Irina Dilkinska, to four years in prison and ordered the forfeiture of $111,440,000, along with one month of supervised release.Prosecutors stated that Irina Dilkinska's involvement in the massive OneCoin pyramid scheme was a blatant violation of the law, as she failed to uphold the law and fulfill her duties as the head of legal and compliance, instead facilitating and implementing money laundering activities, helping the project exploit millions of victims.Data records show that OneCoin recruited over 3 million participants, with net sales revenue of nearly $4.4 billion (€4.037 billion) from the fourth quarter of 2014 to 2016. Victims collectively invested over $4 billion in OneCoin.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, the Spanish Treasury is seeking to control and supervise cryptocurrency assets owned by taxpayers. The agency has proposed reforms to the current tax law, allowing the national tax authority Agencia Tributaria to seize cryptocurrencies held by taxpayers when enforcing tax debts. This proposal, submitted to the European Union (EU) in 2021, may soon be implemented, as local sources explain that the government is rapidly taking action to create the necessary conditions for the reform's implementation.The Spanish government has issued a royal decree declaring electronic money entities as tax collection agencies, meaning these entities must take embargo actions on customers' digital currencies and crypto assets when requested by the government, whereas previously only traditional banks and credit institutions were required to fulfill this duty.

ChainCatcher news, according to bitcoinist, Banmeet Singh, a British operator of the Silk Road dark web marketplace, has pleaded guilty in the United States. This case involves the largest Bitcoin (BTC) seizure in history by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), involving approximately 8,100 bitcoins valued at around $150 million.According to the U.S. Department of Justice investigation, customers used Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to purchase drugs on Singh's vendor site. From mid-2012 to July 2017, Singh controlled eight distribution points in the U.S., which received drug shipments from overseas, repackaged the drugs, and distributed them to all 50 states in the U.S., as well as Canada, England, Ireland, Jamaica, Scotland, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.It is reported that Singh was arrested in London in April 2019 and was extradited to the United States in 2023.

ChainCatcher news, the U.S. Court of Appeals finalized an authorization on Wednesday to formally seize 69,370 bitcoins (worth approximately $3 billion) and other cryptocurrencies associated with the now-defunct dark web Silk Road marketplace.The ruling was initially made in August, but according to a document from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the ruling will now take effect. The document submitted on Wednesday lists Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht as the defendant, with two claimants and the U.S. government as plaintiffs.According to the original indictment, the U.S. government has taken control of these cryptocurrencies after the so-called "Person X" attacked the Silk Road and took control of its funds.

ChainCatcher message, Binance co-founder He Yi responded again on social media to the "freezing of accounts related to Hamas," stating that "Binance will not freeze or confiscate any assets of the public. International business institutions need to follow international law enforcement principles. The rules are set by the strong, and in the face of international conventions, Binance is just a small player."

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, the Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) announced on Wednesday that it seized cryptocurrency from a criminal organization that evaded paying 3 billion Hungarian forints (approximately 8.2 million USD) in value-added tax (VAT).Investigators simultaneously raided 28 locations, arrested suspects, and confiscated their illegally obtained assets and cryptocurrency, valued at nearly 420 million forints (1.15 million USD).NAV stated that the seized cryptocurrency has been transferred to a specially created cryptocurrency wallet under its control, but did not provide specific details. Three members of the criminal organization have been detained.

ChainCatcher news, according to reports from the Hong Kong media, the Acting Chief Inspector of the Commercial Crime Bureau, Mak Wai-kwong, stated that the Wealth Investigation Unit has currently frozen HKD 15 million in bank accounts, as well as three properties valued at a total of HKD 44 million, and is considering confiscating this batch of assets worth over HKD 60 million.Victims are concerned about the whereabouts of their funds. Regarding whether the investigation will trace the clients' funds and the mastermind behind it, the police only stated that the case is under investigation, and this is one of the directions of the inquiry.Regarding artists related to the JPEX case who have left Hong Kong for Malaysia, Superintendent Lee Mu-hin of the Commercial Crime Bureau stated that the investigation is still ongoing and that appropriate actions will be taken based on the involvement of relevant individuals and their roles in the case. If someone is indeed committing a crime in Hong Kong, they will be extradited back to Hong Kong from abroad if necessary.