maryland

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has filed charges against Maryland man Jonathan Spalletta (36 years old), accusing him of hacking the decentralized exchange Uranium Finance twice in 2021. Prosecutors claim that Spalletta first stole approximately $1.4 million through deceptive smart contract transactions, and weeks later exploited a contract vulnerability to take $53.3 million, causing the exchange to shut down due to depleted funds.The stolen funds were subsequently used for money laundering and purchasing millions of dollars worth of rare Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards, as well as collectibles including a piece of original fabric from the Wright brothers' airplane that had reached the lunar surface during the Apollo moon landing mission. Spalletta faces two charges: computer fraud (up to 10 years) and money laundering (up to 20 years), with a maximum combined sentence of 30 years. U.S. authorities had previously recovered $31 million in cryptocurrency assets in February 2025.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted that at the beginning of the year, ten states had filed lawsuits against Coinbase's staking services, and now only five states remain in litigation. Maryland is one of the few states that has completely banned Coinbase's staking services. As a result, residents of Maryland have lost approximately $8 million in rewards, and the losses continue to grow.

According to Decrypt, 40-year-old Minh Phuong Ngoc Vong from Maryland was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release for helping North Korean agents secretly infiltrate U.S. tech companies. Between 2021 and 2024, Vong used false credentials to obtain software development positions at least 13 U.S. companies, which paid him over $970,000 in salary, while the actual work was done remotely by North Korean agents located in China.Some companies also outsourced Vong's services to U.S. government agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), resulting in these agents gaining unauthorized access to sensitive government systems.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin News, the ransomware group "Rhysida" has stolen sensitive data from the Maryland Department of Transportation and is auctioning this data for 30 bitcoins (approximately 3.4 million USD).

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Maryland Democratic representative Caylin Young has introduced a new bill to promote the establishment of a Bitcoin strategic reserve, similar to the reserve envisioned by U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis. In Maryland, this reserve will be funded through enforcement revenue from gambling violations. Legislation in Kentucky was also introduced this week, with two bills that will allow state pension funds to invest in digital asset ETFs. These bills will also set barriers to the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).According to The Block, Florida Republican Senator Joe Gruters submitted a bill on Friday proposing to allow the state to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. According to the submitted documents, the senator suggests that Florida's Chief Financial Officer could use public funds "to invest in Bitcoin and other digital assets for specific purposes."

ChainCatcher news, Maryland Heights man Richard Charles Appelbaum III has been sentenced to three years in prison for laundering millions of dollars through cryptocurrency and ordered to pay restitution of $2.3 million.The 40-year-old Appelbaum conspired with others to transfer the proceeds of business email compromise (BEC) and romance fraud schemes into cryptocurrency through Coins2trade. Under the alleged recruitment of a cryptocurrency figure known as "E.S.," he received training to open fraudulent business and personal accounts, concealing the connection of these accounts to cryptocurrency. More than 36 victims were defrauded, and Appelbaum laundered $3.5 million, transferring the funds to different accounts to obscure their source. The investigation led by the FBI uncovered 34 wire transfers totaling $8.3 million related to the fraud.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, records show that former FTX executive Ryan Salame has begun serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence in a Maryland prison. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Salame served as the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, and as of Saturday morning, he is incarcerated at FCI Cumberland in Maryland. This prison is a "medium-security federal correctional institution, adjacent to a minimum-security satellite camp." According to the prison's website, it houses over 1,000 inmates.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, the Maryland police have issued a warning about a phishing scam targeting Gmail users that is spreading. Scammers are extorting Bitcoin by sending Google Maps photos containing the victim's address and threatening to disclose false damaging information.The police explained that scammers typically use blackmail tactics, claiming to possess damaging information about the victim and threatening to make this information public if Bitcoin is not paid. Scammers usually offer two options: pay the ransom or face the risk of information disclosure.Similar scams have also occurred in places like California and Nevada.

ChainCatcher message, according to an email sent to affected users on November 2, Coinbase has halted staking services in Maryland, USA.Coinbase stated that affected users can no longer immediately hold additional funds, and any funds staked by users after June 5 will be canceled, including any accrued rewards, which will be deposited into the users' main balance. However, users will continue to earn rewards from any staked balance, and they can actively request to cancel rewards at any time.In July, Coinbase restricted staking in four states: California, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. However, the measures taken by the company at that time only prevented users in those states from staking additional assets.