Presentazione del mining Bitcoin - Vincenzo Agu
Presentazione del mining Bitcoin - Vincenzo Agu, Network Security Consultant - Bitcoin Foundation Italia. Talk presentato all #39;evento organizzato da TreataBit e Kabminer "Bitcoin per privati...
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Trendon Shavers, a Texas man who ran a scam investment scheme called Bitcoin Savings and Trust, has been arrested in his home state.
The charges filed against Shavers today are one count of securities fraud and oneof wire fraud, with each havinga maximum penalty of 20 years andpotential fines totaling upwards of $5m.
Shavers, 32, has already been fined $40m by a federal judge in north Texasin a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) -related case.This arrest is forcriminal charges of fraud brought by the US Attorney in Manhattan.
By using the online monikers'Pirate' and 'pirateat40', Shavers allegedly sold bitcoin investment opportunities on various online forums.
Calling his schemeBitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST), Shavers promised a 7% return per week to potential investors.
Shavers was able to amass over 700,000 BTC over a period of time stretching fromSeptember 2011 to September 2012, working on the scam from his home in McKinney, TX. The value of the bitcoin at the time of Shavers' initial SEC chargeswas approximately $64m.
The US Attorney's Office in Manhattan claims 48 of the 100 investors in the BTCSTscam lost some or all of their money.
Shavers' previous SEC case in North Texas created precedent when his attorney claimed bitcoin was not subject to US securities laws that prohibit Ponzi schemes. The judge in that case, however, ruled that the scam had indeed violated thoselaws, which are designed to protect investors from fraud.
Earlier this year, officials in Texas issued a warning in regards to virtual currencies. Joseph Rotunda, director of enforcement at the Texas State Securities Board, indicated that bitcoin has huge trust issues because of little regulatory clarity.
At today's bitcoin prices, the roughly 700,000 BTC Shavers apparently scammed from investors would be worth $243m.
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Bitcoin Ponzi Schemer Charged With Criminal Securities Fraud
The federal government on Thursday announced its first bitcoin securities fraud case, accusing a Texas man of engineering a Ponzi scheme by getting people to turn over their bitcoins in return for promises of high interest rates and the ability to recoup their investment at any time.
Trendon Shavers, of McKinney, appeared in federal court in Texas on securities fraud and wire fraud charges that were outlined in a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
"This case, the first of its kind, should serve as a warning to those looking to make a quick buck with unsecured currency," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a news release.
Bharara said the 32-year-old Shavers combined financial fraud and cyberfraud into a bitcoin Ponzi scheme offering "absurdly high interest payments, and ultimately cheated his investors out of their bitcoin investments."
At the peak of the scheme, Shavers possessed about 7 percent of all bitcoin in public circulation, prosecutors said.
George Venizelos, head of the FBI's New York office, said Shavers "used a new currency, but the same old reprehensible tricks."
"He claimed to offer a bitcoin market-arbitrage strategy. In reality, it was nothing more than an insidious scheme motivated by greed. Today, Shavers' jig is up," Venizelos said.
Bharara said Shavers caused about half of 100 investors to lose all or part of their bitcoin investment from at least September 2011 through September 2012 as he promised them up to 7 percent weekly interest and assured them they could withdraw their investment at any time if they turned over bitcoins.
Authorities say Shavers has already been ordered by a federal court in Texas to give up more than $40 million and pay a $150,000 penalty in a related civil case.
Shavers was released on bail Thursday. He didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
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TIME U.S. Crime Man Accused of Running the First Ever Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme He allegedly raised the digital equivalent of $4.5 million by offering insanely high interest rates
A Texas man was charged with fraud in New York on Thursday, in what federal authorities claim is the first-ever Ponzi scheme involving the unregulated digital currency Bitcoin.
Trendon Shavers, 32, who runs a company called Bitcoin Savings and Trust, allegedly raised the equivalent of $4.5 million by offering investors weekly interest rates of 7%, Reuters reports. That translates to a 3,641% annual rate of return.
Shavers is suspected of embezzling about 146,000 of the 764,000 bitcoins he raised between Sept. 2011 and Sept. 2012 and allegedly using the proceeds to buy a BMW sedan, spa treatments and a $1,000 steak dinner, among other things.
If convicted, Shavers could serve up to 20 years in prison.
This case, the first of its kind, should serve as a warning to those looking to make a quick buck with unsecured currency, said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement.
[Reuters]
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New York is moving forward with its plan to regulate bitcoin, which it says will protect consumers and prevent illegal activity. But businesses and startups that have formed around the cryptocurrency are worried about how much that regulation will impact their bottom line.
New York calls its plan to deal with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin "BitLicense," and the head of the states Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) says that it has attempted to address the concerns brought up in the first phase of public comments, which often concerned the compliance costs of regulation on new or fledgling virtual currency enterprises.
There has to be a way for startups to start up and play by the rules without getting crushed by huge compliance costs, Benjamin Lawsky, head of the states Department of Financial Services, said Sunday at a conference in Las Vegas.
Members of the existing bitcoin industry argue that the NYSDFS has not explained the problems that many of the new rules are meant to address. Other rules, they say, are impossible to comply with.
The current proposal includes a stipulation that people must be able to identify the exact source of any funds they receive. Anonymous transfers would then need to be rejected by the recipient, according to the suggested rules.
Which is kind of fascinating, because the way bitcoin works, you cant stop someone from sending funds to you, said David Ripley, chief executive of Glidera, a bitcoin marketplace and digital wallet service. And you cant always identify them.
If the state was willing to more clearly explain to businesses the goals of each proposed regulation, companies would then be able to better comply, Ripley said. To that end, Lawsky said the state would consider a transitional BitLicense that allowed small businesses and start-ups more flexibility. The NYSDFS would then weigh potential consumer risks as well as the companys size and scope.
We are also considering designating a small group of specialized examiners... to deal with startups and their license applications, Lawsky said, to help them better understand the challenges startups face, and help the state tailor its rules to their situations.
The Federal governments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, has already provided guidance on how bitcoin operators should operate while complying with U.S. law. Some critics of the plan argue that additional regulations at the state level are unnecessary.
The NYSDFS is now taking comments from interested parties as it enters the second 45-day phase of its plan to regulate bitcoin, with new rules it has said should be in effect by January of 2015.
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Bitcoin: New York State Continues Its Path To Regulating Virtual Currency
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A Texas man who ran a firm that claimed to make virtual currency-based investments was accused of masterminding a $4.5 million Ponzi scheme in what U.S. prosecutors said was a first-of-its-kind case tied to bitcoins.
Trendon Shavers, founder of Bitcoin Savings and Trust, raised at least 764,000 bitcoins by promising investors a return of as much as 3,641 percent, prosecutors said. Instead, he used bitcoins from new investors to cover payments owed to earlier clients, while also tapping into the currency to pay for his own Las Vegas gambling and spa treatments, they said.
At the peak of his scheme in 2011 and 2012, Shavers held about 7 percent of all bitcoins in circulation, they said.
Shavers managed to combine financial and cyber-fraud into a bitcoin Ponzi scheme that offered absurdly high interest payments and ultimately cheated his investors, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan said in a statement today.
Shaverss arrest comes as the U.S. intensifies its scrutiny of bitcoins. Prosecutors last year charged Ross William Ulbricht with running the $1.2 billion online bazaar called Silk Road in which drug dealers used the digital currency to buy heroin, phony passports and hacking services. He denies wrongdoing. Today, Bharara accused another man, Blake Benthall, with operating a virtually identical site called Silk Road 2.0.
Shavers, 32, was arrested today at his home in McKinney, Texas, by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. Hes charged with securities fraud and wire fraud, which carry maximum prison sentences of 20 years. Hes scheduled to appear in federal court in Sherman, Texas.
In September, Shavers and Bitcoin Savings were fined $40.6 million in a civil suit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The case was the first to determine whether the SEC had authority to regulate transactions in virtual currency.
According to prosecutors, Shavers, using the name pirateat40, solicited investments in his company on Bitcoin Forum, an online site, by offering weekly interest of as much as 7 percent. Those lending the firm bitcoins were told they could withdraw the investments at any time, prosecutors said.
Shavers told investors their bitcoins would be used to support a market-arbitrage strategy that included lending them, trading them on online exchanges and selling them locally in private transactions, according to the U.S.
Shavers largely failed to execute the investment strategy, prosecutors said. Rather, he used new bitcoins to cover interest payments and meet investor withdrawal requests, Bharara said. He also used investor funds for day trading in his own account on a bitcoin-currency exchange and exchanged bitcoins into U.S. currency that paid personal expenses such as gambling and a $1,000 steakhouse meal.
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