Skip to main content

MLB Team Washington Nationals Partners With Terra Blockchain Community, Ballpark Plans to Accept UST

On February 9, the American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., the Washington Nationals, announced the team has partnered with Terra, the open-source blockchain platform and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The Washington Nationals detail that the team is a “leading innovator” and is “consistently introducing new technologies to enhance the fan experience.” Washington Nationals Ink Long-Term Deal With Terra Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Washington Nationals has partnered with the blockchain platform and DAO Terra, according to an announcement published by the team on Wednesday. The deal with Terra follows a slew of sports-related deals with crypto firms, but the MLB team will be the first to partner with an open-source blockchain project. In addition to the partnership, the algorithmic stablecoin UST that’s issued on the Terra blockchain will be “accepted as a payment method at Nationals Park as early as next season.” “The Nationals continue t...

FBI Seizes Bitcoin Worth More Than $2.2 Million From Ransomware Affiliate

FBI Seizes Bitcoin Worth More Than $2.2 Million From a Ransomware Affiliate

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized bitcoin worth more than $2.2 million tied to ransomware payments. The cryptocurrency allegedly belongs to an affiliate of Gandcrab and Revil/Sodinokibi ransomware.

US Seizes Bitcoin Worth Over $2 Million

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized almost 40 bitcoins from a Russian resident tied to Revil and Gandcrab ransomware, according to a court document unsealed Tuesday. The forfeiture complaint reads:

The United States of America files this verified complaint in rem against 39.89138522 bitcoin seized from Exodus wallet … that is now located and in the custody and management of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Dallas Division.

At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is around $56,318.06 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. The amount seized totals almost $2.247 million.

The seizure took place on Aug. 3. While the FBI did not reveal how it gained access to the wallet, the court document explains that the wallet contained Revil ransom payments belonging to an affiliate identified as Aleksandr Sikerin (aka Alexander Sikerin and Oleksandr Sikerin), whose email address is engfog1337@gmail.com.

According to Bleeping Computer, the name “engfog” in the email address is tied to a well-known Gandcrab and Revil/Sodinokibi affiliate known as “Lalartu.”

Gandcrab and Revil organizations operated as Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), where core operators partner with third-party hackers, known as affiliates, the news outlet noted, adding that ransom payments are split between the affiliate and core operators. The operators usually earn between 20% and 30% of the ransom.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had seized $6.1 million from Yevgeniy Polyanin, a Russian “charged with deploying Sodinokibi/Revil ransomware to attack businesses and government entities in the United States.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has been increasing its efforts to fight ransomware attacks. The Treasury Department has already sanctioned two cryptocurrency exchanges tied to ransom payments.

What do you think about the FBI seizing bitcoin tied to ransomware attacks? Let us know in the comments section below.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Blockchain Software Firm Consensys Acquires Mycrypto Ethereum Wallet

On February 1, the blockchain infrastructure firm Consensys has revealed it has acquired the Ethereum-based wallet Mycrypto and plans to merge the wallet into Metamask. The price Consensys paid for Mycrypto was not disclosed but the announcement notes that the acquisition will “further improve the security of all the products.” Consensys Obtains Mycrypto Ethereum Wallet, Plans to Merge With Metamask in the Future Consensys has acquired the Ethereum-based wallet Mycrypto for an undisclosed sum according to an announcement released on Tuesday. The deal aims to strengthen the company’s Ethereum wallet Metamask and “enhance Web3 experiences.” The eventual merger between the two Ethereum interfaces will “provide users with a heightened experience that is even more extensive and secure,” according to Consensys. Consensys is an Ethereum software company led by one of the Ethereum co-founders Joseph Lubin. The Web3 wallet Metamask, with 21 million monthly active users (MAUs) is owned by C...

Earn up to 50% APY by Staking $GLQ on GraphLinq App

PRESS RELEASE. The newest utility token to offer staking to its users/holders is GraphLinq Protocol’s $GLQ. As of this article, $GLQ has 4,500+ holders according to etherscan, excluding GLQ holders on CEX like Kucoin, MXC, Gate. This is a great step for the future of the project as it will further incentivize more users to hold. Explore more about GraphLinq, its staking mechanism & steps to stake. What Is GraphLinq? GraphLinq – The No Code protocol for automating actions on-chain & off-chain, launched in just March 2021, has come a long way bringing users in the crypto space a never seen model of integrating blockchain automation on any blockchain-related/non-related task. The goal of the GraphLinq protocol is to allow users to interact blockchains with any connected system as effortlessly as possible without any prior knowledge of coding. GraphLinq ecosystem currently consists of an engine, an integrated development environment ( IDE ) & an app to provide automated...

The Congolese Mountain of Gold: Surprise Discovery in Africa Shows Metal’s Scarcity Is Hard to Prove

A myriad of gold bugs like to compliment the yellow precious metal for its ostensible scarcity, as estimates say only 2,500 to 3,000 tons of new gold is produced annually. While new gold discoveries have seemingly slowed, investigative studies also show that in some areas, gold is being smuggled into the economy by the ton, and often never accounted for as far as per annum issuance estimates. Recently, reports show a whole mountain of gold was discovered in the Congo, as the Democratic Republic of the Congo is well known for being a region that sees tons of smuggled gold filtered into the global financial system unreported. Surprise Gold Deposits Continue to Crack the Precious Metal’s Scarcity Proposition It has always been said that the precious metal gold (Au) is scarce, and some reports even say that gold mining on earth will end by the year 2050 . Additionally, estimates also show that there’s roughly 2,500 to 3,000 tons of new gold that is accounted for and enters into the fin...