In a similar way to my CBDC post I will try and cover some of the recent crypto crimes. Not the most uplifting topics, but I do have a silver lining at the end. So there is that to look forward to. ;)
The FTX hack looks like it could be solved!
In what can only be described as one of the shittiest timings I have seen in a long time. The FTX hack took place right during the whole collapse of FTX. And to be honest my money was on Sam Bankman being the one to orchestrate the whole thing. But as it happens, all too often, appearances are deceiving. There can be more than one shit shows put on at the same time.
According to the charges filed, the persons behind the ~$400 million FTX hack are Robert Powell, Carter Rohn and Emily Hernandez. These three names virtually mean nothing to people in the crypto industry or at FTX. Why so you might ask? Well as it happens these three "alleged" dustbags were doing their own thing. According to the filing, they were operating a SIM card swap scam. One they had been running from March 2021 and April 2023. And their biggest take by far was on Nov 11, 2022, when the trio siphoned $400 million from an unidentified company. That just happened to be FTX, which was in the middle of a freefall.
They apparently were able to get a hold of an FTX employee's data through AT&T. And that is just one of the 50 victims that were scammed. And now they are looking at what I assume are several charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity theft.
HyperVerse the $2 billion Ponzi that mirrors a Marvel villain
Two people are facing charges for operating what appears to have amounted to a nearly $2 billion dollar ponzie scheme. Under the HyperVerse umbrella, you will find three other entities, HyperFund, HyperCapital and HyperTech. They have been operating and tricking people with the promise of quick riches.
But what about the Marvel stuff.... You promised us.... Stop whining, no one likes a winner I am getting to that part. Just be patient. Oh, and this is not the silver lining by the way. Just in case you were wondering. What the people behind HyperVerse did, that I assume comes straight from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And I am talking about it back when it was good, not the shit that gets the Marvel label these days. I am talking peak MCU, just after the first Avengers movie, Ironman 3. The start of the fall if you will.
What they did was more or less copy the play by play from the real villain of the movie, Aldrich Killian. And they hired an actor to play their company's CEO. Much like Ben Kingsley´s character in the movie is hired to play the Mandarin.
"Lee and Chunga attracted investors with the allure of profits from crypto asset mining, but the only thing that HyperFund mined was its investors’ pockets,” -Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s enforcement division
The story even got one of those cool burns from the "hero" in the story. Not that I have anything against Gurbir, aka the Tony Stark in this version. But more the company he keeps, being in the SEC. I guess they would be Shield in this movie. And that would mean Nick Fury would be "Lee and Chunga attracted investors with the allure of profits from crypto asset mining, but the only thing that HyperFund mined was its investors’ pockets,” said Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s enforcement division... Dam, I thought David Hasselhof playing Nick Fury was as bad as it gets. I better stop here.
The silver lining
Just as I promised I will end with a silver lining. As I am a man of my words. This one comes from Su Zhu, one of the founders of 3AC or Three Arrows Capital if you will. And if that wounds familiar if should. They were one of the major players in and around the whole Luna and Celsius crash. As they had their fingers in several pies and crashed at the same time.
What do you mean that's not silver lines, they look silver enough to me and there are tons of them. Oh, silver lining, not lines...
Three Arrows Capital was later arrested trying to leave Singapore where the hedge fund HQ was situated. While his co-founder, Kyle Davies, still is on the run. Su Zhu would face a measly four months in prison due to failure to comply with the liquidation of 3AC. But let us go to the silver lining.
"No one wants to go to prison, but I think it's actually a really enjoyable experience overall," -Su Zhu
In a recent interview, Su Zhu let me know that he found the experience of prison enjoyable, and he would 10/10 recommend it to everyone. And that indeed is a silver lining for the 5 individuals who are facing charges for the two crimes mentioned above. Also, there is the joint stream where Martin Shkreli, one of the worst humans alive, told Do "run run" Kwon that jail is not that bad.
So there you have it, if you are a criminal the silver lining is jail is not that bad and 10/10 recommendation that everyone should do it. And if you're not a criminal, I guess the silver lining is they are getting caught and hopefully will serve time, even if it "is not that bad.
Have you any other interesting crypto crime story that you have heard of that you would like to share, please do so in the comment section below. And as always, feel free to type away with questions and comments in general.
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