Justin Lahart and Telis Demos, 18 June 2021
The strongest argument against cryptocurrencies used to be that they had yet to show they were much good for anything. Now the strongest argument against them may be that they have become far too good at one thing: enabling crime.
Not long after the first of the private digital currencies, bitcoin, launched in 2009, crooks recognized its appeal. While law enforcement is proving increasingly adept at tracking bitcoin transactions and at times seizing ill-gotten money, the ability to make digital payments without financial intermediaries has facilitated activities such as the selling of illegal goods and services online and money laundering. In a 2019 paper, researchers Sean Foley, Jonathan Karlsen and Tālis Putniņš estimated that 46% of bitcoin transactions conducted between January 2009 and April 2017 were for illegal activity. Continue reading “Article: Why Crime Could Kill Crypto”
The U.S. public health system is part of our country’s center of gravity: a critical sustaining element of our society and a comparative advantage that sets us apart from—and supports—other parts of the world. But our system is not without its challenges. We witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic how a vulnerable healthcare system exposes our communities to a cascading set of problems, highlighting just how important it is to strengthen our public health infrastructure. 
Money laundering can often be seen as a somewhat nebulous, victimless crime that doesn’t affect the everyday person. But Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit Guidance and Outreach Manager Dr Clara Borg Bonaci tells David Lindsay about how money laundering not only deprives government coffers of funds that could be used for the betterment of society, it also feeds serious predicate crimes such as the trafficking of drugs and arms, human smuggling and child sexual exploitation – ‘horribly destructive crimes that have an immense social cost’
It’s not every day a reporter who has worked for The Vancouver Sun and The Province writes a book that hits No. 1 in sales on Amazon.ca and continues to hover near the top.
China’s government is on a campaign to rein in prices for industrial metals. If it wants the plan to work, it needs to address the cause, not the symptoms. 
People over 60 were the special targets of COVID-19-related Internet schemes and financial fraud in 2020, with 28 percent of the total fraud losses sustained by seniors, according to the FBI.
Thirty-four women who claim they are victims of Pornhub filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against the company’s secretive Canadian parent, MindGeek; its owners and executives; Visa, which processes payments for the porn site; and hedge fund Colbeck Capital, which underwrote a debt financing for the company. 
You’ve got to hand it to r/WallStreetBets: They’ve gotten very robust in their stock selection process as compared to the GameStop (NYSE:GME) era. The message board, which has grown significantly in the first half of the year, is picking mortgage REITs and private prisons as some of the latest meme stocks. It should not be a surprise then that the retail investor group is looking to follow whales to new frontiers, like they are doing today with Itaú Unibanco Holdings (NYSE:ITUB) stock. 
NEW CASTLE, Pa. (WKBN) – A man from New Castle was sentenced in federal court this week on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.