DeFi News Official TheBitTimes.com

Blockaid, a startup specializing in advanced crypto security , has successfully raised $33 million in a Series A funding round, with Bessemer Venture Partners at the helm. The round also saw participation from existing investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and Aleph VC. Blockaid was founded in 2020 by a team of former Israeli intelligence and cybersecurity experts who saw the need for a more advanced and proactive approach to crypto security. The startup uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze crypto wallets’ behavior and reputation and detect and prevent malicious activities such as fraud, money laundering, ransomware, and terrorism financing. You might also like: Israel finds new ally in crypto amidst conflict Blockaid’s platform enables crypto exchanges, banks, regulators, and law enforcement agencies to monitor and trace the flow of funds across different blockchain networks and to identify and block high-risk wa...

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued sanctions on Buy Cash, a digital asset exchange located in Gaza used by Hamas for terror financing. Per a press release published on Oct. 18, the OFAC’s directive imposed sanctions on ten key Hamas members and financial cooperators across Algeria, Sudan, Turkey and Qatar. The treasury department cited a trail of transactions involving Bitcoin as authorities implement policies to choke off illicit funding via crypto . In September 2019, Buy Cash’s Bitcoin wallet received a Bitcoin transfer equivalent to over $2,000. The transfer was facilitated by a Türkiye-based money services business operator and al-Qa’ida affiliate. OFAC press statement The OFAC’s reference to trackable crypto transactions challenges the notion that crypto is a perfect tool for money laundering and terror financing. Such remarks were recently espoused by John Reed Stark, a former chief at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Comm...