Industry News

FSB Publishes International Regulation of Crypto-Asset Activites

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published "International Regulation of Crypto-asset Activities: A proposed framework –...

OECD Publishes Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) just published a Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and...

SWIFT Publishes a Study on Central Bank Digital Currency Network

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), a messaging network that fosters functional communication...

EU Passes MiCA

The European Council passes Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), EU’s comprehensive crypto regulation. The landmark regulation...

ESMA Report – Crypto-Assets and Their Risks for Financial Stability

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has just published a report on the perceived...

FSOC publishes Report on Digital Asset Financial Stability Risks and Regulation

The Financial Stability Oversight Council today released its Report on Digital Asset Financial Stability Risks...

Hong Kong About to Start Trials of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) stated on Tuesday that it plans to start trials...

U.S. Treasury Releases Three Reports on Digital Assets

On September 16th, the U.S. Treasury Department released three reports pursuant to President Biden’s Executive...

MAS Launches Financial Services Industry Transformation Map 2025

Mr Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minster for Finance, and Monetary Authority of Singapore...

Marin Ivezic's Personal Blog

Marin Ivezic

For 30+ years I’ve been protecting financial services and critical infrastructure against financial crime, cyber, and regulatory risks. I previously held multiple interim CRO, CISO and technology leadership roles in Global 2000 companies. Since 2013 I have been advising institutions and regulators around the world on safe, secure and compliant adoption of crypto assets and other decentralized technologies.
[This is a personal blog with guest contributors. Any views or opinions are personal. See Terms.]

My books (published and in process)

Cryptosec Maps Dark Web SIM Swapping Economy

In the U.S. alone, SIM-swapping attacks resulted in $72 million worth of losses last year, four-million dollars more than 2021, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a 2022 public service announcement, the FBI defined SIM swapping as a “malicious technique where criminal actors target mobile carriers to...

Verified Crypto Account Listings Proliferate on the Dark Web

Verified crypto-exchange accounts have become a hot commodity on the dark web, with login credentials available for as little as $20, according to May data from threat intelligence firm Privacy Affairs. But the price for verified crypto accounts has been steadily rising, with some ‘logs,’ a darknet slang term...

A Deep Dive Into the ‘Rags to Riches’ Manual for Withdrawing...

Annualized data from blockchain forensics provider Chainalysis indicates that crypto-enabled crime has dropped precipitously through the first half of 2023, but cybercriminals are also continuously evolving new cash-out methods to cover their tracks. Chainalysis’s mid-year update found that crypto inflows to “known illicit entities” were down 65% compared to where...

How Blockchain Security Differs From Traditional Cybersecurity – 4 – Security...

This article concludes our four-part series on the basic differences between traditional IT security and blockchain security. Previous articles discussed the security differences critical for node operators, smart contract developers, and end users. In many ways, Security Operations Center (SOC) analysts and node operators face similar blockchain-related security challenges. The...

How Blockchain Security Differs From Traditional Cybersecurity – 3 – User...

This article is the third in a four-part series exploring the differences between traditional IT security and blockchain security.  Check out the first two articles in the series exploring the differences for node operators and application developers. This article explores how user security differs between traditional IT and blockchain environments. ...

How Blockchain Security Differs From Traditional Cybersecurity – 2 – Smart...

This article is the second in a four-part series discussing the differences between traditional IT security / cybersecurity and blockchain security.  Check out the first article in the series discussing the differences for node operators. This article focuses on the differences between application security (AppSec) for traditional applications and smart...

Proof of Reserve vs. Proof of Liability vs. Proof of Solvency

Recent events like the FTX meltdown have sparked interest and conversations about how the incident could have been prevented.  In the case of FTX, the primary problem was that the platform did not hold sufficient assets to cover its user deposits and liabilities. What are Merkle Trees and Proofs? Proof of...

How Blockchain Security Differs From Traditional Cybersecurity – 1 – Node...

Blockchain is a rapidly-evolving technology with a great deal of interest and investment. Decentralized Finance (DeFi), in particular, has a great deal of money invested in it as well as a growing number of high-profile and expensive hacks.  Beyond DeFi, many companies, both large and small, are investing heavily...

The 12 Biggest Hacking Incidents in the History of Crypto

The most comprehensive ranked list of the biggest crypto hacks in history (Up until November 1, 2022. I suspect a larger one is just behind the corner) It wasn’t easy digging through the entire history of cybercrime involving cryptocurrencies, but I wanted to get to the bottom of which ones...