A virus software that attacks dozens of crypto-applications, called Mystic Stealer, has spread on the web.

Mystic Stealer is a virus program. It costs $150 per month and targets 21 cryptocurrency applications. As well as 40 browsers, more than 50 cryptocurrency browser extensions and many other services and plugins.

Reports on Mystic Stealer, published almost simultaneously by cybersecurity companies InQuest, Zscaler and Cyfirma, warn of the spread of the new malware and its effectiveness.

The program is rapidly gaining popularity in the cybercriminal community and is increasingly being used in attacks, the experts warned.

Mystic Stealer released version 1.0 in April but had already been updated to version 1.2 by the end of May. The vendor advertised the new software on various hacker forums. While offering it on a subscription basis of $150 per month or $390 per quarter. The project also has a telegram channel where development news, software features and other topics are discussed.

When launched for the first time, Mystic collects information about the operating system and sends data to the attacker’s server. Then it already performs its specific tasks of looking for data stored in browsers (cookies) and applications.

The full list of services that the program hacks is given in the Zscaler and InQuest report. They include Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera browsers. As well as browser-based cryptocurrency wallets TronLink, BinanceChain, Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask and many others.

The Cyfirma report states that industry “veterans” have tested the effectiveness of the virus program and confirmed that the program has become a powerful tool for stealing information.

Our experts also note that Mystic’s developer banned the program’s use in CIS countries and added an exception for those regions to its code.

Analysts believe the hackers are affiliated with the Lazarus Group of North Korea

Atomic Wallet hackers transfer stolen funds through the Garantex cryptocurrency exchange. Experts from Elliptic, a cybersecurity company, also discovered this. Several exchanges have frozen addresses related to the incident. But the stolen assets were routed to a platform listed last year by the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on its sanctions lists.

Earlier, Elliptic reported that the Atomic Wallet hacker used cryptomixer Sinbad.io to launder stolen funds. Analysts stressed that this service is popular with Lazarus Group hackers from North Korea. And based on that, they believe the incident is related to the DPRK.

Also Elliptic has now clarified that the stolen assets were first exchanged through an intranet tool from the 1inch project. And then they were transferred to the Garantex exchange, where they were then exchanged for Bitcoins and redirected to cryptomixer Sinbad.

Elliptic noted that thanks to the company’s proactive actions, many crypto platforms blocked addresses. Which are related to Atomic hacking. “Lazarus has now turned to OFAC-sanctioned exchange Garantex to exchange their assets for BTC,” the analysts said in a statement.

Our experts note that OFAC sanctioned Garantex in April 2022 at the same time as the darknet marketplace Hydra. OFAC said the exchange was “deliberately ignoring its obligations” to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Crypto Upvotes experts told about what will affect the price of Bitcoin. And to what levels its price may rise or fall

On June 13, Bitcoin price is fluctuating around the mark of $25.8 thousand. On the weekend of June 10-11, the price of the asset fell to $25.5 thousand. As well as many altcoins from the top 100 cryptocurrencies lost 20-25% in price. At the beginning of the week, rates rose slightly and BTC recovered to around $26k.

After it became known today that the growth of inflation in the US slowed down from 4.9% to 4% year-on-year in May (better than the forecast of 4.1%). Then immediately the rate of Bitcoin rose to $26.35 thousand, but then fell back to $26 thousand.

Recovery from collapse

Bitcoin hit the $26.2K mark, even though it was trading at $25,500 on the weekend. Last week, its price was down 7.5%. This was affected by the fall of BTC/USDT pair on June 5 (down to $25,700 from intraday low of $25,300) and charges of illegal operation, filed against Binance by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The lawsuit against Coinbase for allegedly violating securities trading rules did not add to the positivity either. We see a targeted campaign by the U.S. administration against crypto-exchanges. And recently, similar accusations were made against Bittrex and Kraken exchanges.

That said, the U.S.-based Bittrex began bankruptcy proceedings on May 8 following an April 17 SEC lawsuit. Kraken, meanwhile, continues to operate. But in February it agreed to pay $30 million in fines and refused to provide stacking services.

The tokens that fell the hardest over the weekend were the tokens that the regulator recognized as securities – BNB (BNB), Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL). Bitcoin was also affected. Its high last week was $27,39 thousand, which was followed by a decrease in price.

While investors continue to “speculate” on new crypto industry news. The major cryptocurrency is starting to recover. Our experts believe that already tomorrow we will see a rate of $26.4 thousand, and by the end of the week it will approach $27.2 thousand.

Support and resistance levels of BTC

The first target this week is to get back to the closing level of Friday, June 9, on the CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group). It was $26.47 th.

Then, up to $27K, there is dense, saturated resistance. It will be very difficult to overcome this level.

Support lines of BTC at the moment are at the levels of $25.2 ths and $24.4 ths.

This week the market is expecting more volatility on June 14. On that day, the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet and the U.S. interest rate decision will be released.

Negative and positive scenarios

SEC lawsuits and the recognition of a number of altcoins as securities may cause crypto investors to choose to withdraw assets from altcoins and move them into Bitcoin. But for now, the overall situation is in the hands of the bears. And Bitcoin is unlikely to rise in the coming week.

It is unlikely that the price of BTC will fall below $24k, but it won’t be able to grow above $28k either. In other words, in the next 7 days the price of the asset will fluctuate in this range.

The negative scenario is that a criminal prosecution of Binance, which was warned about by former SEC lawyer John Reed Stark, could be launched. That would bring Bitcoin down to $20,000 – the level of the regional average cost of mining it.

The positive scenario is that the situation will quiet down for a few months. And there will be no criminal prosecution in the coming weeks. In that case, Bitcoin will be able to strengthen its position and return to the $28,000 mark. And maybe even test $30k. But so far, such a possibility is seen at best in the perspective of three to four weeks.

Wallet developers are not cooperating with the investigation and refuse to provide data to back up their claims of hacking

In early June, users of the popular cryptocurrency wallet Atomic Wallet faced massive thefts of cryptocurrency. The first occurred back on June 2.Since then, several analysts in the investigation and have traced more than $35 million worth of stolen money. The wallet team said it was investigating the hack. But at the time of publication, it had not released any details of the incident.

Our experts note that Atomic is is a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet. Unlike exchanges, such wallets allow users to store funds independently of a third party. The service originally launched in 2017 as a cryptocurrency exchanger called Atomic Swap. According to the official website, Atomic Wallet has more than 5 million users.

Although the standard in cryptocurrencies is considered open source. In Atomic Wallet’s case, it has always kept its code closed, including from independent auditors. Some cryptocurrency projects prefer not to disclose the software code. In order to avoid being copied by competitors. However, users, since they cannot view the code. And they cannot check if it really works the way it is supposed to and does not contain bugs. Instead, they are forced to trust the developers.

Details of the hack have not yet been disclosed

Transparency of blockchain as a public registry of cryptocurrency transfers allows to identify the addresses of affected wallets. As well as the further movement of funds. According to an analysis by an online detective known in the cryptocurrency community under the ZachXBT. According to his conclusions, hackers stole about $35 million in various cryptocurrencies. The researcher was also contacted by victims. In doing so, providing him with transaction data on the wallet. The hack stole funds in Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), BNB (BNB) and Polygon (MATIC) cryptocurrencies. And one of the victims lost $8 million worth of crypto-assets.

According to Elliptic’s blockchain analysts, the hacker used Sinbad.io, a cryptomixer popular with North Korean hackers, to launder stolen funds. Based on the results of past major hacks, investigators estimate. That the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group laundered more than $100 million through it. Analysts did not name the amount of Atomic users’ funds spent through the mixer. But they did say that Sinbad.io is probably a revamped version of Blender.io, a service heavily used by Lazarus Group. And the first mixer to be sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.

The investigation requires obtaining so-called server logs, an activity log that logs all user activity on the site. But Atomic Wallet refuses to provide the necessary files to analysts from various companies, despite numerous requests.

A new list of cryptocurrency-friendly banks emerged after the collapse of Silvergate and Signature. And at the moment more fragmented and less U.S.-oriented. Crypto Upvotes expert review

Bloomberg compiled a list of banks working with cryptocurrency companies. The journalists interviewed more than a dozen industry players, including banks, crypto exchanges and trading firms. As well as startups and consultants, and formed a list of banks around the world. Which are ready to accept clients from the crypto industry.

Two months after the collapse of Silvergate and Signature banks – amid increasing pressure from U.S. regulators on the crypto industry. Then a new cryptocompany-friendly banking system is now taking shape. In the U.S., firms are going to small regional lenders. Likewise, more and more market participants are turning to Swiss and Asian banks.

As a result, the new system is more fragmented. It’s also less U.S.-oriented and less publicized, the publication notes.

The following banks now work with cryptocurrency firms in the U.S:

Customers Bancorp of West Reading, Pennsylvania, operates CBIT, a real-time payments platform for trading firms, exchanges and institutional investors. The platform allows transfers in U.S. dollars seven days a week. It is used by Circle, the issuer of USD Coin Stablecoin, and the Coinbase and Bitstamp exchanges were also Customers customers.

Cross River Bank, based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is known for its ties to fintech companies. It provides banking services to some cryptocurrency firms. Such as Coinbase and Circle.

Western Alliance Bank, based in Phoenix, Arizona. It also has a digital asset and blockchain division. Which serves customers in this sector. It also offers real-time payment capabilities.

Axos Financial Bank, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It also opens bank accounts for some cryptocurrency firms. The SEC lawsuit lists it as one of the banks used by Binance.US. The bank previously had big plans to move into cryptocurrencies. But now they are frozen indefinitely.

FV Bank International, registered in Puerto Rico (a self-governing territory under U.S. control). It also allows customers to keep Bitcoin and U.S. dollars in the same bank account. It is launching conversions of some cryptocurrency tokens into U.S. dollars, using third-party brokers for the exchange.

In the Asian market the publication singled out the following 3 banks:

London-based Standard Chartered offers banking services to a “very select” group of digital asset service providers. And it supports them in providing services to connect and disconnect platform users. The bank’s services for digital asset firms include corporate accounts. As well as client asset accounts and currency exchange, primarily in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

DBS Group Holdings is Singapore’s largest bank. It was founded in 1968, three years after Singapore broke away from Malaysia. And became a separate country. The bank offers deposit accounts to regulated companies. Who deal in digital assets and blockchain. It also offers corporate, institutional and accredited clients the ability to deposit. As well as withdrawals through its own digital platform, the DBS Digital Exchange.

ZA Bank is the largest virtual bank in Hong Kong. It now plans to offer conversion of tokens into fiat currencies on licensed exchanges. In addition, the bank plans to provide an account service for the digital sector.

Among the European banks the publication singled out the following:

London-based BCB Group offers customers access to its Blinc payment network for issuing digital assets. It operates in the European region. And in doing so, it allows participants to instantly pay each other in different currencies. The firm offers business accounts, over-the-counter trading in cryptocurrencies. As well as fiat currencies, digital asset storage and treasury services for clients. And also including exchanges, market makers, lenders, funds, brokers and traders.

Bank Frick & Co, based in Liechtenstein, offers banking services. Such as business accounts, for example, for established firms and startups in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors. It also offers trading and storage of some cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

SEBA Bank AG in Switzerland offers individuals, companies and institutional clients access to trading. As well as investments in structured products, storage and borrowing of digital and traditional assets. SEBA has term deposit accounts and payment services. But it also offers crypto investment trackers and a cryptocurrency credit card.

Sygnum Bank AG, based in Switzerland and Singapore. It specializes in digital assets for institutional and private qualified investors. As well as corporate clients and financial institutions. It offers custody, brokerage, tokenization, asset management, lending. And business banking, accepting deposits in Swiss francs, euros, Singapore dollars and U.S. dollars to buy, trade and hold cryptocurrencies.

Payment service provider Clear Junction offers financial institutions, including cryptocurrency companies, access to UK bank accounts. As well as virtual international bank account numbers, payment networks, currency exchange and e-wallets. Companies can receive deposits to buy digital tokens. And they can accept payments through traditional bank transfers. And keep funds under their own name using correspondent accounts.

Gary Gensler said that securities laws helped defeat financial fraud in the 1930s and will help the cryptocurrency industry today

Gary Gensler, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), compared the cryptocurrency industry to the American stock market of the 1920s, full of “huckster and fraudsters”.

Speaking at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange & Fintech Conference on June 8, Gensler said that the passage of securities laws in 1933 and 1934 in the United States helped fight stock market scams. These same laws will also help “clean up” the cryptocurrency market.

“With widespread non-compliance with the law, it’s honestly not surprising that we’re seeing a lot of problems in these markets. We’ve seen this story before. It’s reminiscent of what we had in the 1920s before the federal securities laws were introduced. Hucksters, fraudsters, and Ponzi schemes. And the public was lining up in bankruptcy court,” said the SEC Chairman.

The solution, according to Gensler, is for cryptocurrency issuers and trading platforms to comply with securities laws. He said that the laws of the 30s allowed American securities markets to “flourish” for the next 90 years. And today’s “cryptocurrency securities markets” should also benefit from these laws. Therefore, they are no “less worthy of the protection” of those laws.

The SEC argues that most cryptocurrencies fall under the definition of securities. And even if the tokens have additional utility (which the cryptocurrency community cites to deny the regulator’s position). That doesn’t take “cryptocurrency is a security” out of the definition of an investment contract, Gensler said.

He explained that cryptocurrency exchanges must comply with securities laws. And including the requirement to separate “exchange, broker-dealer and clearing functions.” In his view, such separation “helps mitigate conflicts that can arise when such services are combined.”

Our experts note that two days earlier, speaking on CNBC on June 6, Gensler said that cryptocurrencies are essentially unnecessary. In his opinion, digital fiat currencies-the dollar, the euro, and others-are sufficient.

Chief US exchange regulator equates cryptocurrencies with securities according to Howey test criteria list . Which were developed in the middle of the last century and uses this as one of the main arguments

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), , is actively increasing pressure on the cryptocurrency industry. The main U.S. exchange regulator has already filed lawsuits against two major cryptocurrency exchanges. The agency is making a number of allegations against both exchanges. And the main one is the recognition of a number of cryptocurrency assets. Which are traded on the platforms as unregistered securities, falling under the competence of the regulator.

In the lawsuits, the SEC highlighted a list of crypto-assets on both exchanges, which collectively includes 19 coins. And several of them, including Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Filecoin (FIL), Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Algorand (ALGO), Axie Infinity (AXS), are listed in the charges for both venues.

According to the documents, they all fall under several of the agency’s designated criteria in one way or another. That’s pre-sale or fundraising. As well as promises to improve the project through continuous business development and marketing, the use of social networks to demonstrate the capabilities and benefits of the project.

The SEC uses the criteria of the so-called Howey test. This test, created by a 1946 Supreme Court decision. Which was related to the Florida citrus plantation deals. And is the basis of the SEC’s securities control authority. Which are considered “investment contracts.” And do not fall under familiar categories such as stocks and bonds.

Although the concept originated in the middle of the last century. But the SEC still applies it to actual assets, including cryptocurrencies. Because the U.S. has yet to develop a unified regulatory approach to crypto-assets. And it may be the one that ultimately forms the basis for cryptocurrency regulation.

Florida citrus plantations equated to cryptocurrencies

The Securities Act of 1933 lists financial instruments. Which fall within the definition of a security. And therefore within the scope of SEC regulation. They are stocks, bonds, bills of exchange, security-based swaps and more than a dozen other instruments. The document also cites the term “investment contract,” which arose as a result of a court decision related to the Howey test.

At the time, the SEC sued the W.J. Howey Company and Howey-in-the-Hills Service for selling citrus plantation lots in Florida to the public along with a service contract. Which gave Howey-in-the-Hills the right to lease and own the plots. Howey, with the necessary experience and equipment, remained responsible for growing, harvesting and marketing. The purchasers of the plots received a share of the profits.

Based on this arrangement, the commission accused Howey of offering and selling unregistered securities in violation of the Securities Act. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court. The judge concluded that these transactions clearly belonged to investment contracts under the Act. And introduced the very criteria that became known as the Howey test.

It includes four key elements that must be met to be considered a securities transaction.

1. investment of money. This can be any type of capital, such as cash, checks or current cryptocurrencies.

2. Joint venture. This means that the investor’s income is tied to the success of the entire venture. Not just the success of its individual investments.

3. a reasonable expectation of return. This means that investors must have a reasonable expectation of profit, either through their own efforts or the efforts of others.

4. Profits derived from the efforts of others. This means that investors must rely on the efforts of a promoter or third party to make a profit.

The Howey test is still used to this day by the SEC to determine whether certain financial products are securities. Some examples of assets and transactions that have been found to be securities under the Howey test. Also include initial coin offerings (“ICO”), tokenized assets, and investment contracts.

New guide to applying the Howey test to cryptocurrencies

The SEC has issued guidance on applying the Howey test to cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based assets. The SEC has stated that many cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets are securities. Because they meet the four elements of the Hoey test.

One high-profile example is the case of the failed Telegram messenger ICO. That’s when Pavel Durov was able to raise a record $1.7 billion on the sale of Gram tokens to qualified investors. In 2019, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Telegram. And in doing so, claiming that Gram tokens are securities. Also that Telegram violated the law by conducting an unregistered sale of assets. In the complaint, the SEC also cited the Howey test. And argued that Gram tokens meet all four criteria of the test.

Another high-profile example is the case surrounding Ripple’s XRP token. In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple. In doing so, claiming that XRP is a security and that Ripple violated securities laws by conducting the initial sale of the tokens. And in its complaint, the SEC again cited the Howey test.

How projects try to bypass the Howey citrus test

Focusing on the U.S. market, crypto businesses are forced to consider the Howey test. Now some projects are calling their assets a governance token. Which is used to vote the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) created under the project. However, such tokens are also traded on cryptocurrency exchanges. And are valued in the billions of dollars, so it remains to be seen. How regulators will behave towards them in the future.

Many projects offer their tokens only outside the US. In doing so, they restrict U.S. users from trading or participating in token giveaways (airdrops). Some blockchain services reach an agreement with the SEC. In doing so, they often pay significant fines if their asset is found to be a security.

Our experts note that Coinbase, meanwhile, intends to defend its position. It filed a countersuit against the SEC. In doing so, intending to obtain clear rules from the regulator for dealing with crypto-assets. The platform has openly stated that it has no plans to delist tokens. Which the SEC considers to be securities and wind down staking services. According to Coinbase, the company has more than $5 billion on its balance sheet to maintain operations. And to pay legal fees.

Cumberland withdrew $46 million in Ethereum, 23 million BUSD and other coins from leading cryptocurrency exchanges

Cumberland, one of the largest cryptocurrency market makers, withdrew about $70 million from Coinbase and Binance exchanges in the last two days. The company took $46 million in Ethereum, 23 million BUSD ($23 million). As well as other coins after it became known that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the two exchanges.

Cumberland is a subsidiary of Chicago-based trading firm DRW, created in 2014. It provides liquidity on leading centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges.

Cumberland took about 20,000 ETH ($37 million) from the Coinbase exchange and 4.85,000 ETH ($9 million) from Binance, according to analyst service Lookonchain.

In addition to Ethereum, Cumberland withdrew other cryptocurrencies, analysts noted. Among them were tokens Axie Infinity (AXS), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Compound (COMP), Chainlink (LINK), Curve DAO (CRV) and Aave (AAVE).

A week earlier, in late May, Cumberland stopped trading Firecoin (FIL) because the SEC classified the cryptocurrency as a security token. That is, assets that fall under the definition of securities.

A security token is a crypto-asset that represents a certain amount of ownership of something. For example, part of a company. They can be issued by a business or government and serve the same purpose as securities (stocks).

In addition, Nansen data shows that Cumberland has withdrawn more than 23 million BUSD from Binance in the past 24 hours, noted cryptojournalist Colin Wu. The market maker transferred them to Paxos, the company that issued the stablecoin. The firm has been banned from issuing new tokens, but it continues to redeem old ones.

It also became known that Robinhood will review its work with some cryptocurrencies.

Our experts note that Robinhood provides users with access to 18 cryptocurrencies. These include Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA) and Polygon (MATIC). These have now been called unregistered securities by the SEC in lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges.

Tether has invested in building a Bitcoin mining platform in El Salvador

Tether has participated in the first round of $1 billion in financing to build a Bitcoin farm in El Salvador. The company announced that it would provide capital and “bring its expertise in energy, equipment and communications”. Especially for the construction of Volcano Energy, a 241MW renewable energy generation park, the world’s largest site.

The site selected for construction will house photovoltaic cells to generate 169MW of solar power. And wind power generation equipment for 72 MW. This will enable the placement of mining equipment with computing power in excess of 1.3 EH/s, it said.

The total global hash rate on the bitcoin network on June 5 hovered around 361 EH/s, according to Minerstat.

The Tether says that by investing in green energy around the world. With this, it aims to become one of the leading providers and investors in the global renewable energy and mining infrastructure.

Our experts note that the company previously reported net income of $1.5 billion for the first quarter of the year, and announced its decision to spend up to 15% of realized operating profits on Bitcoin purchases.

At the end of May, Tether also announced that it was investing in renewable energy generation and the launch of bitcoin mining in Uruguay using that energy.

The farm in El Salvador, Tether claims, will be the largest in the world. In early May, one of the largest US miners, Marathon Digital, and developer Zero Two announced the creation of two Bitcoin mining platforms in Abu Dhabi, UAE, under equipment with a total capacity of 250 MW

Atomic Wallet cryptocurrency wallet representative said that his team is “doing everything possible” to recover the stolen funds. And advised the victims of the incident to track the hacker’s transactions themselves

An Atomic Wallet cryptocurrency hacker who stole about $35 million in user funds. He used Sinbad.io, a cryptomixer popular with North Korean hackers, to launder the stolen funds, Elliptic blockchain analysts said.

Atomic Wallet, a cryptocurrency service for non-custodial storage of digital assets, was hacked in early June. The attack stole Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), BNB (BNB) and Polygon (MATIC) totaling at least $35 million from Atomic customers.

Elliptic found out that the hacker started transferring funds via Sinbad.io, a transaction anonymization service. And which is used by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group. North Korean hackers laundered over $100 million through Sinbad io.

Analysts have not named the amount of Atomic users’ funds spent through the mixer. But they did say that Sinbad.io is probably a revamped version of Blender.io, a service heavily used by Lazarus Group. And the first mixer to be sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.

The Atomic Wallet team is “doing everything they can” to recover the stolen funds. But creating a concrete plan is possible only after the investigation is complete. Atomic Wallet marketing director Roland Sede told Cointelegraph.

According to him, having victims of the attack track and report illegal transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges could prevent scammers from withdrawing funds. For its part, the site is doing just that. Because “the more attention hackers get, the harder it is for them (funds) to move them,” Sede said.

Our experts note that according to Atomic Wallet, the hack affected “less than 1%” of the service’s monthly active users. The attack was also stopped on Saturday, May 3. But Twitter users responded with screenshots showing that their funds were stolen even after that time.