WEBVTT

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- Cryptocurrencies have not
been doing so hot lately.

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The last three or four months
have seen prices plummet,

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and the general outlook for crypto bros

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and gals has been grim,

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but crypto's cruel summer

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and the instability that's come with it

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haven't changed the fact that

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fraud, theft, and financial mayhem

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are still going strong in the web3 world.

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Here's a look at some of
the biggest and weirdest

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crypto thefts of the summer.

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Horizon Bridge, 100 million dollars.

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(cash register rings)

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On June 23rd, the
CryptoBridge Horizon announced

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that it had been the
target of cyber criminals.

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Bridges are the platforms
that facilitate the transfer

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of crypto assets between
different blockchains,

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and they're a critical part
of web3 infrastructure.

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But they also have a nasty
habit of getting hacked.

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In Horizon's case, hackers appear

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to have exploited a
vulnerability in the platform

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to steal approximately 100
million dollars in crypto.

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It turns out that the
culprits behind this incident,

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a North Korean hacker
gang known as "Lazarus,"

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are the same ones who pulled off

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a similar attack on Axie Infinity,

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the Ethereum fueled-NFT game,

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when they cleared a whopping

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625 million dollars earlier this year.

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Mirror Trading International,
1.7 billion dollars.

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(cash register rings)

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In June, the US Commodity
Futures Trading Commission

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filed a civil enforcement action

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against Mirror Trading International

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and its CEO Cornelius Johannes
Steynberg for allegedly

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running a 1.7 billion dollar
fraud scheme involving Bitcoin.

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According to authorities,
Steynberg created

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a global foreign currency commodity pool

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that could only be bought
into using Bitcoin.

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Steynberg brought large
amounts of money into the pool,

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despite not being registered
as a commodity pool operator.

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According to federal officials,
Steynberg misrepresented

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how the funds were being invested

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and misappropriated large
amounts of the funds.

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When authorities went after him,

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Steynberg fled South Africa,

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but he was arrested in Brazil

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in June on an Interpol warrant.

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EmpiresX, 40 million dollars.

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(cash register rings)

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On June 30th, the Securities
and Exchange Commission

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announced charges against a company

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called Empire's Consulting
Corporation or EmpiresX.

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According to the government,

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this company claimed to
have a crypto trading bot

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that would bring in, quote,

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"one percent daily profits to investors."

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But officials say that the
crypto bot was actually fake,

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and instead of large amounts
of money for investors,

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the people behind EmpiresX
allegedly misappropriated

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large amounts of their funds,

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using the money to lease a Lamborghini

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and make a payment on a second home,

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amongst other things, as one does.

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As the scheme collapsed,

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federal officials say
that the EmpiresX founders

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halted investors withdrawals
and relocated to Brazil.

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However, the company's
head trader pled guilty

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to conspiracy to commit securities fraud

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in connection to the scheme.

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Rug Pulls Galore Assorted.

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Ah, the rug pull.

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Such scams have become
very popular as of late,

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and they occur when the developers

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behind a particular crypto
project pump up their asset

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and then suddenly pull out,
absconding with investor money.

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This summer, there have
been plenty of them.

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You can take your pick from
the numerous Defi projects,

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that have been accused of
taking the money and running.

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There's the allegations against

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yield aggregator, Blur Finance,

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which closed up shop after
the anonymous developers

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made off with 600 K.

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The 4.5 million dollars
allegedly yanked from investors

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in something called TEDDY tokens.

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And just a week ago,

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a brand new project, SudoRare, collapsed

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in what investors allege was a rug pull.

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A recent estimate found that
some 2.8 billion dollars

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vanished as a result of
the scams last year alone.

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That's not great.

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We got four more examples of
these digital dastardly deeds.

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So stick around for part two.