Hello dear readers, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some controversial events that threaten the economic and financial health and credibility of the cryptocurrency market, considering that China and the US are allegedly using Bitcoin transactions as a method of bribery.
According to information recently socialized on the various cryptocurrency news portals, Chinese agents used Bitcoin transactions through Wasabi to allegedly bribe a U.S. government employee.
In an Oct. 24 announcement, the Justice Department said Guochun He and Zheng Wang had attempted to obstruct the prosecution of an unidentified China-based global telecommunications company, allegedly involving the payment of some USD 61,000 in bribes to a U.S. government employee using Bitcoin.
However, the individual was a double agent working on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and did not move against authorities in the Eastern District of New York in the case against the China-based company.
According to an analysis by cryptocurrency risk management firm Elliptic, He and Wang used Wasabi Wallet to hide BTC transactions allegedly used for bribes.
The aforementioned firm reported that the privacy wallet had previously been used in an attempt to launder BTC from the July 2020 Twitter hack and attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges Bitfinex in 2016 and KuCoin in 2020.
According to the DOJ, the two Chinese intelligence officers began the scheme in 2019 by directing the double agent to steal confidential information related to the processing of the company - which Elliptic suggested could be Huawei. He allegedly made separate bribes of $41,000 and $20,000 in BTC to the agent to provide "secret" documents and reward the release of information.
SOURCES CONSULTED
Cointelegraph. Chinese agents used Bitcoin transactions through Wasabi to allegedly bribe US government employee. Link
OBSERVATION:
The cover image was designed by the author: @lupafilotaxia, incorporating image: Coinspeaker.
