Author: Vice
The NFTs previously owned by accused Bitcoin launderer Heather Morgan are no longer visible on OpenSea. The world was shocked this week by the allegations against a terminally online husband and wife for successfully laundering stolen bitcoins worth $1 billion and conspiracy to launder nearly $4 billion more from one of the most infamous hacks in crypto history. Heather Morgan and her husband, Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, tried numerous methods to cash out funds originating in the 2016 hack on the Bitfinex exchange undetected, investigators allege, including dark web markets, gift cards, and NFT collectibles. Now, it appears someone has actually purchased some…
On Monday, CityDAO—the group that bought 40 acres of Wyoming in hopes of “building a city on the Ethereum blockchain”—announced that its Discord server was hacked and members’ funds were successfully stolen as a result. “EMERGENCY NOTICE. A CityDAO Discord admin account has been hacked. THERE IS NO LAND DROP. DO NOT CONNECT YOUR WALLET,” the project’s Twitter account declared. CityDAO is a “decentralized autonomous organization” that hopes to collectively govern a blockchain city, offering citizenship and governance tokens in exchange for the purchase of a “land NFT” bestowing ownership rights to a plot of land. Like many other cryptocurrency, NFT, and…
For as long as cryptocurrencies have existed, libertarians have dreamed of using them to create communities, seasteads, and cities free from the prying eyes of the state and its tax collectors. We’ve seen crypto-inspired attempts to claim disputed lands as tax havens, use UFOs and fireworks to christen a new tax-free Bitcoin town, build cities with DAOs, and establish communities inside of U.S. colonies to avoid taxes. But there’s now a wave of attempts to buy entire islands and build the next crypto “paradise.” The first one to look at is “Cryptoland,” founded by Max Oliver and Helena Lopez, who reportedly have a checkered history with the…
The new company plans to let everyday Americans bet on civil lawsuits by buying and trading associated crypto tokens in “initial litigation offerings. A new tech startup plans to become “the stock market of litigation financing” by allowing everyday Americans to bet on civil lawsuits through the purchase (and trade) of associated crypto tokens. In doing so, the company hopes to provide funding to individuals who would otherwise not be able to pursue claims. “Ryval’s goal is to make access to justice more affordable,” said Kyle Roche, a trial lawyer and one of the startup’s founders. “What I want to…