Enforcement Actions

According to the CFTC, on August 19, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission reached enforcement settlements with former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang. Ellison was issued a 5-year trading ban and 10-year registration ban, while Wang received a 5-year trading ban and

Behavox expanded its Polaris trading surveillance platform to cover Prediction Markets, adding them as the tenth asset class in the company's compliance framework. The company stated that Prediction Markets coverage is now available in beta for existing Polaris clients, with general availability exp

Edward Zimbardi, 59, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, appeared in federal court after Fijian authorities deported him to the United States on Aug. 14, working alongside the FBI and the State Department. Prosecutors charged him with 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of money laundering, and one count of

According to the Justice Department, Edward Zimbardi, 59, of Georgia, was deported from Fiji to the United States on August 14 following coordination between Fijian authorities, the FBI, and the State Department. Zimbardi appeared in federal court to face 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of

According to ChainCatcher, Singapore's International Commercial Court (SICC) froze approximately SGD 75 million in Bitcoin and USD Coin on a ruling issued in March 2026. The freeze was ordered in a dispute between a global cryptocurrency trading platform and a long-term customer. The court

Australia's corporate regulator ASIC took down 3,106 cryptocurrency investment scams in FY26, marking a nearly 30% increase from the previous period, as AI-generated deepfake networks continue targeting Australian investor savings. The crackdown was part of a broader effort that shut down

According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), on Aug. 17, 2026, the regulator shut down 3,106 cryptocurrency investment scams during FY26, marking a nearly 30% increase from the prior period. Simultaneously, ASIC dismantled over 19,400 online scams total, a 182% surge.

Investigators probing the theft of 1,082.65 BTC from vulnerable Coldcard wallets may have uncovered information capable of identifying the attacker behind the first wave, though the FBI has not publicly confirmed a suspect, arrest, or recovery of funds as of August 19. The development follows an

According to a Bitcoin Magazine report from August 18, investigators examining the Coldcard wallet theft discovered the attacker may have used a paid account at a major blockchain data provider, potentially enabling FBI identification. Block's engineering team found that the attacker queried

On August 18, South Korea's Broadcasting, Media and Communications Standards Commission ordered internet service providers to block Polymarket, ruling that the platform's winner-take-all prediction markets constitute illegal gambling under the Criminal Act. The commission found that outcomes

The European Union has expanded sanctions against Russia involving crypto platforms, adding 14 foreign service providers to the sanctions list and creating a mechanism for imposing bans across entire countries. Under the Council of the EU decision adopted on July 23 as part of the 21st package of sanctions against Russia, transaction bans have been extended to crypto platforms based in Georgia, Panama, the UAE, the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus. The package also included four designa

Bitcoin Magazine reported on August 19 that Galaxy Research analyst Alex Thorn said the identities of the attackers behind the first wave of the Coldcard theft “may have been identified by law enforcement.” The 1,082.65 BTC stolen in the first wave, worth approximately $118 million, remain intact in the attackers’ addresses to this day. Block’s Key Clue: Service Provider’s Internal Logs Closely Matched the Attack Pattern Block’s Clay Garrett explained the full investigation process in a July 31

According to Bitcoin Magazine, investigators probing the July 2026 Coldcard hardware wallet breach have made progress on the first wave of attacks. Approximately 1,082.65 BTC (roughly $118 million) remains in attackers' addresses. Investigators discovered the perpetrators used a paid account from a

U.S. Attorney James McDonald and Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Nichols for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) filed documents last Friday opposing former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky’s motion to vacate his fraud and market-manipulation convictions and 12-year sentence. They called his arguments “meritless” and argued that the court should dismiss the motion outright without a hearing or further investigation. Three Core SDNY Rebuttals in the Filing In the filing submitted Friday, SDNY pros

According to POLITICO, major prediction market operators including Kalshi and Polymarket will not attend a White House technology leaders event hosted by Trump on August 20. The gathering, originally planned to serve as a launch for a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) advisory committee, w

According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has urged a court to dismiss former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky's motions to vacate his conviction and reduce his sentence, stating his legal arguments lack merit. Mashinsky was sentenced in May 2025 to 144 m

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York filed an opposition on Friday to former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky's petition to vacate his fraud conviction and 12-year prison sentence. Mashinsky, who is representing himself after informing the court in May that he would proceed pro se,

According to prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, on Friday they opposed former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky's motion to vacate his fraud conviction and 12-year prison sentence, arguing his claims lack merit. Mashinsky, representing himself after May, claimed ineffective assistance of c

The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report documented 181,565 cryptocurrency complaints totaling more than $11 billion in losses from American victims. Investment fraud accounted for nearly 49% of all scam-related losses reported to the bureau. Fraudulent crypto websites now use professionally designed in