Weekend Crypto News: Bitcoiners Tease German Government, CoinStats Alleges Lazarus Attack and More

Weekend Crypto News: German Govt Mocked by Bitcoiners, CoinStats Blames Lazarus and More

Weekend Crypto News: Germany’s Bitcoin wallet has recovered from its near-zero balance after a group of Bitcoin enthusiasts began sending small donations to the wallet over the past 48 hours. These Bitcoiners used vanity addresses to send messages, some of which were crude. Following the sale of nearly 50,000 Bitcoin (BTC) worth $3 billion, the German government’s Bitcoin wallet had dropped to almost zero on July 12. However, between July 12 and July 14, several Bitcoiners sent over $330 worth of BTC in numerous transactions, according to data from blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence. Some of the sending addresses included names like “1Fuckyou” and “1ELonMUSK.”

CoinStats Blames Lazarus Group for Hack

Crypto portfolio manager CoinStats has attributed a recent hack, which resulted in the loss of $2.2 million across 1,590 wallets, to the notorious North Korea-linked hacking consortium Lazarus Group. On July 12, CoinStats stated that they had gathered enough evidence to confidently attribute the attack to the Lazarus Group or a related organization.

The hackers had accessed several key parts of CoinStats’ infrastructure and third-party service providers, including its HashiCorp Vault, which secured wallets and APIs. CoinStats CEO Narek Gevorgyan mentioned that an employee had fallen victim to a sophisticated social engineering attack, leading to the download of malicious software onto a work device. CoinStats assured that all affected software and infrastructure had been removed, and the investigation was ongoing.

Canadians Lose $373K to Deepfake Crypto Scams

Three Canadian men have lost a combined $373,000 to a deepfake crypto scam involving AI-generated videos of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, promising guaranteed returns from crypto investments. Mohammad Haque, an Ontario resident, told CTV News Toronto on July 12 that he invested $226,000 in the scheme after seeing a deepfake video of Trudeau. His account once showed a total portfolio of $445,000, but he could not withdraw his funds and realized he had been defrauded.

Similarly, Darrell Budnick from Mississauga lost $130,000 after investing in a scam triggered by a similar AI-generated video. Another Ontario man, Giovanni Pugliano of Hamilton, invested in a crypto project following a deepfake video of Musk on YouTube, resulting in a loss of $17,000. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, more than $148 million in fraudulent investment losses have been reported in the first half of 2024, with the majority stemming from crypto scams.

News Roundup

Trump-Themed Memecoins Soar: Following an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Trump-themed memecoins have surged. Additionally, Trump’s odds of winning the election on the crypto betting platform Polymarket have increased.

Whistleblowers Urge SEC to Investigate OpenAI: Whistleblowers have called on the SEC to investigate OpenAI over allegedly illegal non-disclosure agreements, claiming the NDAs prevented them from discussing safety and other concerns with federal agents.

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