Twitter Bitcoin Hack Demonstrates That Crypto Fraud is Easier to Track Than Fiat

Chief compliance officer for Paxful Lana Schwartzmann, brought up the Twitter Bitcoin hack  to reference the advantages of cryptocurrency adoption in a traditional fiat world.  

The Twitter hack, that made headlines and drew a lot of media attention over the past few weeks, revolved around the narrative of 3 men who overtook the social media network and conducted a Bitcoin scam. As a result of the massive hack attack, the social platforms of famous celebrities, politicians and influential tech figures were compromised. The Bitcoin heist generated more than $100,000 worth of Bitcoin for the hackers. Officials recently managed to identify he ‘mastermind’ behind the Twitter hack, who was none other than a 17-year-old American, who hired 2 other accomplices to carry out his scheme. 

Paxful executive Schwartzmann addressed the Twitter hack and stated that with traditional fiat, the issue would not have been resolved and traced as quickly. The Twitter hack happened at the beginning of last month, and the process of investigation and tracking down the culprits has already been carried out by US law enforcement. 

Adding to Schwartzmann’s narrative was Coinbase chief compliance office Jeff Horowitz, who said, regarding the Twitter hack, “The story quickly changed to ‘how is crypto partnering with law enforcement to track this issue?’” 

Bitcoin scams are not uncommon these days, with their surging market capitalization.  Last month, Chinese law enforcement tracked down an online Bitcoin pyramid scheme that generated nearly 40 billion Chinese Yuan. 

With the rise of cyber fraud, officials are pressed on defining regulatory policies revolving around the crypto industry. For many investors in the field, a good blockchain infrastructure is considered crucial as digital dollars and cryptcurrencies all rely on the blockchain ecosystem. Therefore, for the benefits of blockchain technology to be reaped globally, a blockchain policy needs to be developed and enforced at the national level. 

However, the Securities Exchange and Commission (SEC) have at times had the reputation of cracking down full force on the crypto industry with heavy punitive sanctions. In June, the US Supreme Court has therefore made amends to the punitive power the SEC was authorized to carry out, and decreed that the SEC was not allowed to impose disgorgement sanctions that exceeded the amount of profit generated by illicit activities. 

The US has also been scrambling to come up with an enforceable and consistent blockchain policy, to stay ahead of other countries in the rapidly changing crypto industry.