10 entries tagged “2025”.
A Miami-based crypto token (CLU) that ran a 2021 ICO and pivoted to NFTs and a metaverse game. Founder Austin Michael Taylor ('DNPthree') secretly siphoned ~$1.14M of investor funds into online casinos; he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced in 2025 to 27 months.
A prominent crypto 'market maker' that the U.S. DOJ says ran wash-trading/market-manipulation services (2018–2024) to fake trading volume for token clients (including Saitama and Robo Inu) and win exchange listings. Charged in the FBI's 'Operation Token Mirrors'; founder Aleksei Andriunin pleaded guilty in 2025 and Gotbit forfeited $23M.
A Solana memecoin riding rumors of a Jordan Belfort ('Wolf of Wall Street') token. Launched March 8, 2025 with ~82% of supply bundled under one entity, it peaked near $42M and then crashed ~99% within two days. On-chain analysts (Bubblemaps) traced it to Hayden Davis, of $LIBRA/$MELANIA infamy.
A privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet and mixing service (Whirlpool, Ricochet) whose founders the U.S. DOJ charged in 2024 with running an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Prosecutors said it processed $2B+ in Bitcoin and laundered $100M+ in criminal proceeds; both founders pleaded guilty in 2025.
In January 2025, the Singapore-based exchange Phemex had its hot wallets drained across 16 blockchains, with losses estimated at $73–85M. On-chain investigators (ZachXBT, Arkham) tied it to North Korea's Lazarus Group, later linking it directly to the Bybit and BingX hacks via commingled funds.
On June 18, 2025, Iran's largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, had ~$90M drained from its hot wallets during the Israel–Iran conflict. The pro-Israel hacktivist group Gonjeshke Darande ('Predatory Sparrow') claimed responsibility and deliberately 'burned' the funds to vanity addresses bearing anti-IRGC messages.
Dual Russian-Israeli national whom U.S. prosecutors identify as the first person to exploit the Nomad bridge in August 2022 (taking ~$2.89M and triggering the ~$190M free-for-all). Indicted in 2023; arrested in Israel in May 2025 while fleeing under a new name, and approved for extradition.
CEO of Kelsier Ventures and the figure on-chain analysts and reporting place at the center of a cluster of 2025 memecoin launches — $LIBRA (Argentina), $MELANIA, and $WOLF among them. Wallets tied to him netted $100M+; Argentine prosecutors sought an Interpol Red Notice. He denies wrongdoing.
A pro-Israel hacktivist group (Persian: Gonjeshke Darande, 'Predatory Sparrow') active since ~2021 that has run destructive cyberattacks on Iranian targets. In June 2025 it claimed the Nobitex crypto-exchange breach and the Bank Sepah attack, burning ~$90M to make a political statement.
A Russian-run crypto exchange that the U.S. DOJ says processed at least $96B since 2019 while laundering proceeds for ransomware crews, darknet markets, and North Korea's Lazarus Group. Sanctioned by OFAC in 2022; its infrastructure was seized in March 2025 and two administrators were indicted.