On November 18, the official download site for the Monero CLI served a malicious binary for less than an hour. The malicious version of the download was designed to steal Monero from unsuspecting victims. The incident demonstrates the importance of independently verifying files, messages, and even links. Read more

The German Federal Ministry of Finance claimed that Monero and other privacy coins make tracing money impossible and thus lend themselves to criminal activity on the darkweb, money laundering, and terrorist financing. Read more

Kunal Kalra, 25, agreed to plead guilt to federal charges stemming from his money laundering business and drug trafficking operation. He admitted exchanging up to $25 million in cryptocurrency and cash from darkweb drug traffickers and others looking to launder money. Kalra allowed his customers to use his Bitcoin ATM kiosk. Read more

The White House announced actions to crack down on fentanyl trafficking in the United States through recent private-sector advisories addressed to domestic and foreign businesses in the private sector. The announcement and advisories specifically highlight the role played by both darkweb marketplaces and cryptocurrencies in the international opioid trafficking arena. Read more

In darkweb and cryptocurrency investigations, federal law enforcement agencies routinely rely on the skills and services provided by threat intelligence and blockchain analysis companies such as Flashpoint or Chainalysis. The Drug Enforcement Agency recently awarded Chainalysis with a $134,970 contract for a one year license to their platform and services. Read more

Apollon Market, the market recently featured in various media outlets as the darkweb market with the hacked StockX database, announced that buyers and sellers could now use Monero in addition to Bitcoin when conducting business on the platform. Markets are shifting towards Monero adoption as a result of law enforcement's ability to investigate and identify the some darkweb vendors through the Bitcoin blockchain. Read more

The IRS, as some noticed on Dread, had a conference wherein they discussed the darkweb and various elements of cycbercrime as it relates to the financial sector. The presentation includes information about Alphabay, mentions DeepDotWeb, and has a screenshot of Dread. Read more

In addition to the criminal charges for money laundering, unlawful monetary transactions, and conspiracy, the founder of the BTC-e bitcoin exchange now faces a $100 million civil complaint for monetary penalties owed as alleged violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. The complaint alleges that Alexander Vinnik, one of the exchange's CEOs, willingly failed to follow AML procedures and failed to report suspicious activity, among other violations. Read more