Bitcoin

Two men netted more than £5.7m for cryptocurrency fraud that saw them hoard a suitcase of £551,000 in cash and £60,000 Banksy after targeting 55 victims from around the world

Published

9 months ago

7 May, 2024

Two men netted more than £5.7m for cryptocurrency fraud that saw them hoard a suitcase of £551,000 in cash and £60,000 Banksy after targeting 55 victims from around the world

Two men have been jailed for stealing more than £5.7 million worth of cryptocurrencies from 55 victims across the world in a fraudulent plot that saw them amass a suitcase full of £551,000 in cash and £60,000 Banksy work of art.

Jake Lee, 38, from Bath and James Heppel, 42, from Wiltshire spoofed the domain of online cryptocurrency exchange site Blockchain.com to gain access to their victims’ login details and Bitcoin wallets so they could steal your funds.

An investigation by the Southwest Regional Organization Crime Unit (SWROCU) identified 55 victims from 26 different countries, including 11 from the United Kingdom.

Police imposed a restraining order on £835,000 in cash, including £551,000 in the suitcase which was voluntarily handed over by Lee, £64,000 in cryptocurrency, a Banksy print worth £60,000 and three vehicles.

Jake Lee, 38, from Charlcombe in BathJames Heppel, 42, from Staverton in Wiltshire

A confiscation order worth almost £1 million has been issued against Lee, which will be used to compensate victims.

The investigation began in 2018 after Lee was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

Police seized £24,000 in cash, digital devices and three laminated Bitcoin wallet recovery seeds – a list of words printed or written on a piece of paper that can restore lost Bitcoin funds, but can also be used to steal funds if someone find them.

The investigation unit found a link between Lee and a cryptocurrency scam they were investigating, reported by a victim in Wiltshire who had £11,000 worth of Bitcoin stolen from his Blockchain wallet.

The £835,000 in cash that was seized from Lee and Heppel, including the £551,000 from the suitcase The £60,000 Banksy print called ‘Bomb Love’ that police seized from crypto fraudsters

Detective Sergeant Matt Brain, from SWROCU’s Regional Cyber Crime Unit, said: ‘We took over the investigation of Lee and when we analyzed his devices, we established that he was a central figure involved in a sophisticated domain spoofing fraud and worked to identify countless victims.’

Lee and Heppel pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Lee was sentenced to four years and Heppel to 15 months at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.

DS Brain said: ‘Mapping Lee and Heppel’s offenses and links to other suspects and cryptocurrency exchanges around the world was complex work, but the fact they both pleaded guilty to all charges negates the need for a trial of six weeks, shows the strength of the evidence we obtained against them.

Pamela Jain, specialist prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service’s International Serious Economic Organized Crime Directorate, said:

‘Jake Lee and James Heppel defrauded people in 26 countries, including 11 victims in the UK, by diverting Bitcoin to wallets over which they had control.

‘This was a complex and time-consuming process involving investigations with numerous victims and judicial authorities across the world.

“A substantial amount of money and property was seized. In addition to the prison sentence, the court also ordered Jake Lee to pay almost £1 million in a confiscation order that will allow the victims to receive compensation. Confiscation proceedings against James Heppel are ongoing.

‘Compensation orders force criminals to hand over cash and available assets or face an increase in time to their prison sentence.’

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Bitcoin

What to watch for in the markets

Published

6 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Photo: Andrew Harnik (Getty Images)

After witnessing one of the largest global IT outages on record, affecting the travel, finance and healthcare sectors worldwideThis week is set to see more political drama, events, and earnings reports from tech giants.

Donald Trump’s ‘Lovefest’ Sets Jamie Dimon Up for Consideration for Treasury Secretary Job

Let’s take a look at what awaits us:

Major companies will release their earnings reports

Major tech companies and others will release their earnings reports this week, paving the way for what the second half of 2024 will look like.

Monday

Verizon will report earnings before the start of operations.

Tuesday

Coca-Cola, Comcast and UPS are all set to report earnings before the market opens.
Tesla will report earnings in the morning, while General Motors will report earnings in the evening.
Alphabet and Visa will report results after the market closes.

Wednesday

AT&T will release its report before the market opens.
Ford and Chipotle will report earnings after the market closes.

Thursday

Earnings reports from AstraZeneca, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines will be released before the market opens.

Trump to speak at Bitcoin conference

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will speak at the next Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennesseewhich is scheduled for July 25-27. While this is the first time a presidential candidate will attend the conference, it has sparked a debate over whether the crypto-friendly Trump will receive support from the crypto community in the upcoming election.

In addition to Trump, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will also discuss crypto during the conference. Crypto advocates such as ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, and whistleblower Edward Snowden are among some prominent names who will be participating in the conference.

Ether ETFs are on the way

New Ether Spot ETFs are set to begin trading on Tuesday, July 23. Much like the spot Bitcoin ETFs, these ETFs will allow investors to buy the second most popular cryptocurrency like stocks. BlackRock, Ark Invest/21Shares, VanEck, Grayscale, Fidelity, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, and Invesco/Galaxy Digital are all set to offer Ether ETFs. Crypto asset manager Bitwise predict that trading in the Ether ETF will drive the price of Ether higher, potentially surpassing $5,000.

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Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency’s Biggest Winners and Losers in a Second Trump Presidency

Published

6 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Cryptocurrency’s Biggest Winners and Losers in a Second Trump Presidency

Bitcoin miners and cryptocurrency companies that have been blocked from going public in the U.S. could ultimately be the biggest winners in the digital asset world under a second Donald Trump presidency. Foreign companies at risk of losing market share could end up being the biggest losers.

That’s the view that’s taking hold among market participants and observers in the wake of the former president’s growing embrace of cryptocurrency as his chances of election grow. survey released Thursday by CBS News showed Trump with the majority — 52 percent — of likely voters in his likely November rematch with President Joe Biden.

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Cryptocurrency Markets Look Ready to ‘Send’ as Stars Align, According to Investor Chris Burniske

Published

6 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Cryptocurrency Markets Look Ready to ‘Send’ as Stars Align, According to Investor Chris Burniske

Cryptocurrency investor Chris Burniske says Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SUN) and the cryptocurrency market in general seem poised for a run.

Former Head of Cryptocurrency at ARK Invest account his 292,200 followers on social media platform X that several catalysts are aligning, suggesting that digital asset markets are on the verge of a bull run.

According to Burniske, a partner at venture capital firm Placeholder, the highly anticipated launch of Ethereum-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking at an upcoming Bitcoin event, and the current state of the BTC, ETH, and SOL charts all suggest significant optimism for the cryptocurrency markets.

“With ETH ETFs set to go live, Trump speaking at The Bitcoin Conference, and BTC, ETH, and SOL charts looking [they do] (while stocks are weak), it’s hard to imagine a world where we don’t ship next week.”

Reuters recently reported that preliminary approval for ETH ETFs has been granted as the Bitcoin Conference is scheduled to take place from July 25-27.

BTC, ETH, and SOL are trading at $67,333, $3,528, and $174 at the time of writing, respectively.

The venture capitalist too provides an update on his prediction that the total crypto market cap will eventually hit $10 trillion. According to his chart, the path to $10 trillion is currently “23%” complete, as it sits around $2.2 trillion.

Source: Chris BurniskeX

Earlier this month, Burniske he said in an interview with Real Vision CEO Raoul Paul that he has his eye on the Move ecosystem, which was originally built by social media giant Meta and then used to develop layer 1 blockchains Sui (IUE) and Apts (APT).

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Bitcoin

Here’s the next target for BTC before bulls can hold out for $70K

Published

6 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Here’s the next target for BTC before bulls can hold out for $70K

Bitcoin’s recovery is going well, and the market is seemingly poised to create a new all-time high in the near term.

Technical analysis

Per NegotiationRage

The daily chart

As the daily chart shows, the price of Bitcoin has been rising since it broke above the 200-day moving average.

The market has also reclaimed the $60K and $65K levels and is moving towards the $68K resistance zone, which could be the last hurdle before creating a new all-time high. With the RSI also indicating that the price has clear bullish momentum, it could be just a matter of time.

Source: TradingView

The 4-hour chart

Looking at the 4-hour chart, it is evident that the price has been rising rapidly since breaking the downtrend line to the upside. The market also broke the $65K resistance level with momentum, turning it into a support.

While almost everything points to a new record high in the coming weeks, there is one worrying sign. The RSI is showing a clear bearish divergence between recent price highs, which could indicate a correction or even a reversal in the near term.

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Cryptocurrency Charts by TradingView.

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