Engineer Jailed for Crypto Hacks; Chinese Investors Seek UK Help; Ethereum Plans 'Social Recovery' Feature
Summary:
A computer engineer received a three-year prison sentence for hacking smart contracts on two decentralized exchanges. This is the first conviction for a smart contract hack. Chinese victims are seeking the UK government's help in recovering $4.3 billion worth of Bitcoin seized by authorities. The Ethereum network is set to introduce a "social recovery" feature for wallets, aiming to make lost private keys obsolete. The victims of a $6.2 billion investment scam are asking the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to negotiate with the UK government to retrieve their confiscated cryptocurrency.
In a groundbreaking conviction, a software engineer who orchestrated smart contract hacks on two cryptocurrency platforms has been sentenced to a three-year prison term in New York. The Chinese victims of a hefty Bitcoin scam, amounting to over $4 billion, are appealing to the United Kingdom government for aid to recover their digital assets. Concurrently, an impending upgrade to Ethereum is set to include a "social recovery" function for wallets, a development that may make misplaced private keys obsolete.
Shakeeb Ahmed, a computer engineer guilty of performing flash loan attacks on decentralized exchanges, has been handed a three-year prison sentence, which will then be followed by a supervised release of the same duration. His conviction, handed down by the Southern New York District Court, marks the first ever sentencing for a smart contract hack. Ahmed was also instructed to surrender $12.3 million and a significant chunk of his crypto assets, out of which a portion will be used to recompense the defrauded exchanges. Ahmed, the mastermind behind the 2022 flash loan attacks on Crypto Exchange and Nirvana Exchange, resulted in the NIRV stablecoin of Nirvana decoupling from the US Dollar, leading to ANA, its token, falling by 85%. Notably, Ahmed was accused of laundering the ill-gotten money via Monero, overseas crypto platforms and cryptocurrency mixers.
Victims of a mammoth investment scam prompted by a Chinese electronics company are seeking the United Kingdom government's help to recover their Bitcoin, valued at $4.3 billion. Represented by a group, the fraud victims have reached out to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urging them to negotiate with the UK government to reclaim the confiscated Bitcoin. The funds were appropriated from an elaborate investment scheme worth $6.2 billion run by Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology between 2014 and 2017. Former service industry worker, Jian Wen's attempt to launder funds by purchasing a $30 million mansion using Bitcoin, led to the UK authorities confiscating the cryptocurrency. When Wen failed to account for the source of the funds, officials launched an investigation and subsequent raid in 2021, discovering 61,000 Bitcoin in a property leased by Wen and her employer, Zhimin Qian, the alleged brains behind the financial scam.
The forthcoming hard fork by Ethereum, named Pectra, may render seed phrases obsolete. This is thanks to the introduction of a "social recovery" feature, a significant part of the next scheduled Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074 upgrade. The aim of the upgrade is to enhance the capabilities of regular Ethereum wallets, including the ability to reclaim assets via social logins and execute transactions without gas fees. Users desiring to take advantage of the upcoming social recovery feature have to first shift their asset ownership to an invoker contract via a digital signature, which will then oversee future transactions and function calls on the user's behalf.
In addition to this, another important feature of the proposed EIP-3074 upgrade ensures that users need not possess additional Ether in their accounts to conduct transactions, as the entity propelling the invoker contract can settle transaction costs in advance. Ethereum's core developer Tim Beiko confirmed the inclusion of EIP-3074 in the Pectra upgrade through a post in April.
Writing credits for this report go to Geraint Price, Sam Bourgi, Felix Ng. Remember, investments and trading moves come with inherent risks. Always engage in thorough research before making a decision related to investments. This article is not an investment guide or proposal.
Published At
4/12/2024 9:52:01 PM
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