Enforcement Actions

According to Cointelegraph, Las Vegas businessman Brent Kowal was convicted by a federal jury of operating a $24 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. Kowal was found guilty on 11 counts of wire fraud, 2 counts of mail fraud, and 2 counts of money laundering. The U.S. Department of Justice stated he

According to The Block, Las Vegas businessman Brent Kovar was convicted of a $24 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme and faces up to 280 years in prison. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Kovar operated Profit Connect, using

The US Treasury expanded its Iran sanctions framework to cover the country's digital asset sector on Monday, citing over $100 million in crypto payments allegedly used to facilitate Iranian oil sales. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued sectoral sanctions determinations covering digit

The US Treasury is expanding the threat of secondary sanctions to Iran-linked cryptocurrency activity, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announcing new measures on Monday as part of Operation Economic Outcast. The campaign targets digital assets alongside four other sectors — technology, gold, a

According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the US announced new secondary sanctions targeting Iranian digital-asset activity on Monday (August 24) as part of Operation Economic Outcast, a broader campaign to isolate Iran economically. Crypto is one of five sectors facing increased sanctions

According to reports, Cosmos Labs issued an emergency advisory on August 25 urging Cosmos EVM chains to halt validator operations as engineers address an ongoing security incident affecting its shared Ethereum-compatible infrastructure. Cosmos Labs recommended that validators stop network operations

In September 2025, Russian investigators detained IT specialist Yuri Belenky, and Binance data was used in the case, even though the exchange had left Russia. Documents reviewed by Reuters show that Binance provided personal and transaction data that was later included in a Russian terrorism financing case. Customer records remained accessible after the company’s departure because financial regulations require such information to be retained. Binance sold its Russian business on September 27, 20

According to a TRM Labs report on August 25, Iran's Mabna Institute transferred approximately $16.8 million across 30 Bitcoin, Ethereum, and TRON addresses. The related addresses can be traced back to 2018. The institute has been linked to coordinated hacking-for-hire activities allegedly

Polish prosecutors have charged Przemyslaw Kral, the head of the bankrupt Polish crypto exchange Zondacrypto, with fraud, local outlet Onet reported. In exchange for a more lenient sentence, he offered to testify about right-wing politicians and their ties to the exchange. Negotiations over possible cooperation lasted about six months and took place in Poland, Sicily, and the Gulf states. Przemyslaw Kral offered testimony in exchange for leniency Polish media reported that Kral left Poland sever

A federal jury convicted San Francisco resident Japheth Dillman, 48, of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading fund, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday. Dillman defrauded more than 20 investors of nearly $1 million through f

According to The Block, a federal jury on August 25 convicted Japheth Dillman, a 48-year-old San Francisco video game company founder, of wire fraud for operating Block Bits Capital, a fraudulent crypto trading fund. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Dillman faces a maximum of 20 years

A U.S. soldier was recently identified as having obtained more than $400,000 in profits on Polymarket using nonpublic information. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has initiated a criminal investigation into the matter, though the agency's involvement has faced

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to rebound, trading at around $79,750 as of August 25. The United States imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran targeting sectors including digital assets and oil. Treasury Secretary Bessent called the move “economic D-Day.” Japan plans to ease restrictions on large stablecoin payments, with individual transactions potentially exceeding ¥1 million. Macro Events & Crypto Highlights The Block reported that the U.S. Treasury announced a new round of sanctions on Iran targe

The lawyer for U.S. soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke filed documents with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Aug. 24, opposing the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) submission of an amicus brief in his criminal case. Van Dyke is accused of using nonpublic information obtained while participating in the operation that led to Venezuelan President Maduro’s ouster in January this year to earn more than $400k on Polymarket. Core Facts of the Van Dyke Case: Fo

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a US soldier accused of making more than $400,000 through allegedly illegal trades on prediction market platform Polymarket, opposed the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's attempt to file an amicus brief in his criminal case through a Monday filing in the US District

According to ChainCatcher, U.S. soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke was charged in April with fraud for allegedly using non-public information to trade on Polymarket event contracts related to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's removal and profit over $400,000. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (C

According to Law360, Block Bits founder Dillman was convicted on five counts—four wire fraud and one conspiracy—on Aug. 24 after a 12-member jury deliberated for roughly six hours. The conviction followed the collapse of a $960,000 fundraising scheme targeting about 22 retail investors between

The US Treasury Department announced secondary sanctions targeting Iran's digital assets, aviation, gold, and shipping sectors on Monday, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The measures, described as an 'economic D-Day,' broaden sanctions risk for entities conducting business with Iran a

According to reports on Monday, Polish prosecutors investigating collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto estimate customer losses at 2.4 billion Polish zlotys, roughly $650 million, with CEO Przemysław Kral charged with participating in large-scale fraud. The figure represents a significant in