CryptoCompare has updated its Exchange Benchmark and found that 3% of cryptocurrency exchanges were hacked last year, while the trading volume of top tier-exchanges dropped to less than one-third of total volume in Q4 2019.

A bitcoin extortionist sent letter bombs to businesses in the Netherlands in an attempt to get an undisclosed amount of BTC out of them, by threatening to keep sending more until they paid.

Stablecoins issuer Tether has started using a compliance tool developed by Chainalysis to track transactions on the blockchain and monitor potential illicit activity.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• 3% of Cryptocurrency Exchanges Were Hacked Last Year, Top-Tier Volumes Dropped
• Bitcoin Extortionist Sends Letter Bombs to Businesses in the Netherlands
• Tether Starts Using Chainalysis Compliance Tool to Track Suspicious Transactions

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $10,232.90 (5.26%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $2.49 billion. As for ether (ETH), it is trading at $259.79 (14.13%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $2.06 billion. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index is currently tracking at 4,107.73 (-0.88%)

3% of Cryptocurrency Exchanges Were Hacked Last Year, Top-Tier Volumes Dropped

CryptoCompare has updated its cryptocurrency Exchange Benchmark that reveals the lowest risk cryptocurrency exchanges according to several criteria, including the team behind them, the quality of their markets, geographical location, legal status, and data provision.

The new report found that 3% of active spot exchanges were hacked last year, a concerning figure taking into account well-known hacker groups, including one allegedly helping fund North Korea’s weapons program, and that only 4% of exchanges offer some form of cryptocurrency insurance.

The report also found that only 30% of trading platforms possess a cryptocurrency exchange license, and only 16% secure over 95% of their funds in cold wallets. CryptoCompare’s report also found that top-tier crypto exchanges, graded AA to B, accounted for 27% of the global trading volume, while lower-tier exchanges, graded C-E, accounted for 73% in Q4 2019.

The report ranks over 160 active spot exchanges throughout the world, assigning them a grade to help users identify the lowest risk trading platform in the cryptocurrency space. U.S. and Japanese regulated exchange itBit ranked number one, followed by Gemini, Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp.

Bitcoin Extortionist Sends Letter Bombs to Businesses in the Netherlands

Two letter bombs exploded on Wednesday, February 12, in two post offices in the Netherlands. The bombs were reportedly part of a bitcoin extortion scheme where the person behind them warned businesses that if they didn’t pay, he or she would keep sending them.

Local news outlet Telegraaf reports that the person behind the scheme was using letter bombs to demand an undisclosed amount of BTC. So far this year over half a dozen letter bombs have been sent to locations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht, although it’s unclear whether the cases are connected.

The two bombs that exploded yesterday were sent to the sorting office of Dutch bank ABN Amro in Amsterdam and to the post room of Japanese electronics firm Ricoh in Kerkrade. There were no reported injuries even though both bombs exploded. These were followed by warnings, although details on these weren’t disclosed.

Tether Starts Using Chainalysis Compliance Tool to Track Suspicious Transactions

Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, has started using a compliance tool from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis to track suspicious transactions and to “quickly understand the risk profile of each token holder.”

According to an announcement, Tether will be using Chainalysis’ Know Your Transaction (KYT) software, which will help it look for potential illicit activities being conducted using the stablecoin. Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CTO, was quoted as saying:

"This solution allows us to ensure a secure compliance program that fosters trust with regulators, law enforcement agencies and users. This is achieved without sharing our user’s identifying information, as such data is only kept on our servers.”

The USDT stablecoin is now circulating on six blockchains, including that of Ethereum, EOS, TRON, and on the Omni protocol. The firm has also issued a stablecoin tied to the euro (EURT), to the offshore Chinese yuan (CNHT), and more recently to gold (XAUT)

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