Ripple is suing video-sharing giant YouTube over its failure to shut down XRP giveaway scams that could have stolen thousands of tokens from its users and damaged the company’s reputation. These giveaway scams are conducted using hijacked YouTube accounts.

The hacker who managed to steal $25 million worth of cryptocurrency from decentralized finance protocol dForce has returned all of the stolen funds, supposedly after his IP was given to police in Singapore.

Cryptocurrency payments sent to child abuse websites grew by 32% last year. Most of the funds come directly from exchanges that enforce KYC checks.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Ripple Sues YouTube for Failing to Stop XRP Giveaway Scams
• Hacker Who Exploited DeFi Protocol dForce Returns Nearly All $25 Million Stolen
• Crypto Payments to Child Abuse Websites Grew 32% Last Year

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $6,947.68 (1.02%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $2.01 bn. As for ether (ETH), it is trading at $175.23 (1.71%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $94«7.39 million. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index is currently tracking at 2,553.15 (1.72%).

Ripple Sues YouTube for Failing to Stop XRP Giveaway Scams

Ripple Labs and its CEO Brand Garlinghouse are suing the video-sharing platform YouTube over its failure to stop XRP giveaway scams, which has allegedly resulted in monetary damage to users and reputational harm to Ripple.

According to a report published by Fortune, Ripple and Garlinghouse are seeking an unspecified amount in damages. The complaint filed states both Ripple and CEO suffered and continue to suffer “irreparable harm to their public image, brand, and reputation” as a consequence of YouTube’s “deliberate and inexplicable failures to address” the XRP giveaway scams.

It adds:

“To be sure, the Scam—a pervasive and extended course of conduct detailed in the allegations that follow—often relies upon spear phishing attacks, hacked YouTube accounts, and the misappropriation of Mr.Garlinghouse’s likeness and Ripple marks. But it also depends on, and thrives because of, YouTube’s complacency and unwillingness to take seriously Ripple’s repeated demands for action."

A spokesperson for YouTube, a platform owned by Google, stated that the firm takes abuse of its platform seriously and quickly acts when it detects violations of its policies, such as scams or impersonations.

For months, YouTube has been dealing with a fake cryptocurrency giveaway problem. Hackers hijack the accounts of popular YouTubers to run livestreams on their channels and reach all of their subscribers with fake giveaways.

Speaking to Fortune, Garlinghouse pointed out YouTube made over $15 billion in ad revenue last year, and added: “and you're telling me they can't spend more money to police obvious scams that violate their own terms of service?"

Hacker Who Exploited DeFi Protocol dForce Returns Nearly All $25 Million Stolen

The hacker who managed to exploit the popular decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol dForce to steal around $25 million worth of cryptocurrency from it has returned nearly all of the funds, data on the Ethereum blockchain shows.

Speaking to The Block Sergej Kunz, CEO of 1inch.exchange, revealed the hacker returned the funds because their IP address was shared with police in Singapore. Kunz was quoted as saying:

"We got a request from Singapore police and we were helping dForce. Based on the request, we delivered to the police the IP addresses and sensitive meta information, which the hacker speeded by using our CDN."

In total, the hacker returned about $24.3 million worth of cryptocurrency in various transactions, with the biggest one being of 57,990 ETH, worth over $10 million. dForce founder and CEO Mindao Yang confirmed the project retrieved the stolen funds. It’s worth noting the total amount recovered wasn’t of $25 million because the hacker converted some tokens after stealing them, losing some value in the process.

Crypto Payments to Child Abuse Websites Grew 32% Last Year

Cryptocurrency payments sent to child abuse-linked wallet addresses grew 32% last year in the continuation of a multiyear upward trend. According to a blog post published by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, nearly $1 million in bitcoin and ether were sent to child abuse-linked wallets.

The firm noted the amount makes up for a tiny sliver of overall crypto usage, but the data shows the amounts have been increasing year-over-year. Last year’s figures represent a 32% rise over 2018, which in turn presented a 212% increase over the previous year.

Per Chainalysis, the rising figures don’t necessarily mean there’s an increasing demand for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) but show increasing cryptocurrency adoption in the sector.

“We attribute most of these yearly increases to rising adoption of cryptocurrency rather than increased demand for CSAM, and it’s important to keep in mind these transactions represent a miniscule fraction of all cryptocurrency activity. Even so, this should be a concerning trend for the cryptocurrency industry, from both a moral and reputational standpoint.”

Most of the payments provided to addresses linked to CSAM, Chainalysis adds, fall between $10 and $50, which could be related to either one-time purchases or subscriptions.

Nina Heyden, an economist at the firm, noted that most of the funds come right from cryptocurrency exchanges who collect their users’ identity via know-your-customer (KYC) checks. These “s often cooperate with law enforcement when law enforcement requests more information during investigations.”

Bankera Launches Bank Account Alternative Focused on Crypto Businesses

Bankera, an ambitious project to build a neobank for the digital era, has started to offer payment accounts to individual and business clients as a low-cost, fast and convenient alternative to traditional bank accounts. Individual and business clients who sign up to the service can already enjoy dedicated European IBAN accounts to send and receive funds via SEPA and SWIFT transfers. All clients can send and receive funds from cryptocurrency exchanges.

The entire remote account opening process takes place online and can be completed quickly from the comfort of one’s home. While the platform was designed to ensure seamless user experience, Bankera’s service features live support agents who can be contacted around the clock.

Essentially, Bankera is focused on providing payment services to people and companies involved in crypto businesses and sees it as a growing but underserved niche due to its novelty and unique specifics which are not well understood by more conservative institutions. At Bankera, clients are welcome to receive funds from cryptocurrency exchanges, mining pools, affiliate programs or income from their commercial online activity.  

Up next in Bankera’s plans is to roll out virtual and physical debit cards for personal and later corporate customers. Linked directly to the online banking platform, they will enable clients to pay at points-of-sale online and offline and withdraw cash at ATMs around the world, as well as track their spending. 

In addition to the currently available web version, Bankera is working on releasing its service in the app form as well. Payment acquiring services, multi-currency support, instant transfers are among other features in the plans.

Press Release

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

Build your project with CoinDesk Data

Terms | Privacy

13 Charles II St, SW1Y 4QU

London, UK

This email may include advertisements by third parties. None of the advertised or promoted products and services have been verified or approved by us and this email is not any endorsement by us of the third party or of their products or services.