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Authorities arrested Esteban Cabrera Da Corte, Luis Hernandez Gonzalez and Asdrubal Ramirez Meza on Tuesday, alleging the group used stolen identities to purchase millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies on a “Cryptocurrency Exchange” in 2020. The purchases were funded with bank transfers; after buying the crypto, the men disputed the transactions with the banks, tricking them into reversing the transfers and redepositing the money into accounts controlled by the crime ring.

From Miami Trio Charged With Defrauding Banks and Crypto Exchange of Over $4M.

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The long-held assumption in the financial services industry is that consumers wouldn’t choose to use services qualifying them as underbanked — cashing checks, purchasing money orders or paying bills through nonbank providers — if they had a banking relationship that provided such services. It is also widely believed that these services prey exclusively upon lower-income adults. But an examination of the demographic makeup of fully banked adults compared with underbanked adults doesn’t support this theory.

From In a Rapidly Evolving Industry, Banking Leaders Must Redefine ‘Underbanked’ – Morning Consult:

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The Federal Trade Commission is currently considering rulemaking for the business of biometric and other personal data. Consumers with an opinion about how their biometric data is managed and mismanaged are likely going to say the FTC should step in to stop any abuse. That is because biometric data is unique in its potential for “life-altering” harm. The Commission is weighing options on commercial surveillance wants public input about regulating unfair or deceptive practices in how companies “collect, aggregate, protect, use, analyze, and retain consumer data, as well as transfer, share, sell, or otherwise monetise that data.”

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Some 1.6 trillion euros are currently circulating, though only about a fifth is used for transactions within the 19-nation euro zone, according to ECB research last year. As much as 50% is physically stored by households, companies and banks, with the rest held outside the currency bloc.

From Demand for Euro Banknotes Dwindles After ECB Ended Negative Interest Rates – Bloomberg:

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A money launderer who was part of an organised crime group had a quarter of a million pounds in cash stuffed under his bed when police raided his house. Lin Guo, 32, was stopped by officers at Canning Town Station in East London in November 2019 carrying a black rucksack with £20,000 cash wrapped in a Chinese newspaper inside, as well as £1,200 in Scottish banknotes stuffed into his pocket.

From Money launderer who used home as a ‘cash house’ had £250,000 stuffed under his bed – Wales Online:

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Dall-E might turn out to be a less straightforward case, though. As with GPT-3, its appearance generated intense interest, perhaps because while most people can write text, many of us cannot draw to save our lives. So having a tool that could enable us to overcome this disability would be quite a boon.

From AI-generated art illustrates another problem with technology | John Naughton | The Guardian.

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It also, of course, generates images beyond copyright.

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The legislative audit found the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency (SLGCA) “did not investigate individuals who won multiple high-dollar lottery prizes to identify patterns of potential collusion between players and lottery-related vendors or officials.”

The report cited eight people who each won a “high-dollar” prize at least 200 times in 2020. In total, the eight individuals won 2,305 times to amount to $4.5 million.

From Audit Reveals Same People Won Multiple Big Prizes in Maryland Lottery  – Montgomery Community Media.

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Over $1.9 billion was stolen in cross-chain hacks in the first half of 2022, according to a new blog post by crypto analytic firm Chainalysis.

But in order to function, bridges must hold large amounts of both tokens. Such liquidity pools make them enticing to hackers. Bridges “allow for blockchains to talk,” says Grauer. “But we’ve also created these honey pots for malicious actors.”

From Over $2 Billion Stolen This Year In Blockchain Bridge Hacks Expose DeFi’s Achilles Heel.

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Let’s consider an example with two blockchain networks: Chain A and Chain B.

When transferring tokens from Chain A to Chain B, the bridge can be designed to lock the token on Chain A and mint a new one on Chain B. In this scenario, the total number of circulating tokens remains constant but is divided across the two chains. If Chain A held fifteen tokens and then transferred five tokens to Chain B, Chain A would still have fifteen tokens (with five tokens locked), but Chain B would have five more.

The owner of the minted tokens can redeem them at any time; they can burn (or destroy) them from Chain B and unlock (or release) them on Chain A. Because Chain A has always possessed a locked copy of each token, its value remains consistent with the Chain A market price. This “lock-and-mint” and “burn-and-release” procedure ensures that the quantity and cost of tokens transferred between the two chains remain constant.

From Blockchain bridges: Guide to cross-chain data sharing – LogRocket Blog.

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The value of 500-euro notes in circulation fell by the most in three years in July, recording its third-largest drop since the ECB stopped production at the end of 2018 to prevent and rein in its use for criminal activities. The decline in 200-euro notes last month was the biggest on record.

From Demand for Euro Banknotes Dwindles After ECB Ended Negative Interest Rates – Bloomberg:

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