The FBI created a cryptocurrency company and crypto token as a bait for scammers who participate in ‘pump-and-dump’ schemes, new reports have revealed.
The tactic, which involve making fake trades to boost prices before cashing out, worked very well, with 18 people arrested for ‘widespread fraud and manipulation in the crypto currency markets’, marking the first ever set of criminal charges brought against financial service firms for ‘wash trading’ and market manipulation in the cryptocurrency industry.
Over $25 million in cryptocurrency was seized during the operation, along with trading bots responsible for millions of dollars worth of ‘wash trades’ for around 60 different cryptocurrencies, which have been deactivated.
‘Operation Token Mirrors’
The cryptocurrency the FBI created was an Ethereum-based instrument named NexFundAI, which they used to track unsuspecting traders.
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‘Wash trades’ refers to the illegal process of buying and selling the same security as a form of market manipulation. Recent reports suggest that as much as 70% of all crypto currency transactions fall under this category, so it’s no wonder police want to crack down.
“These are cases where an innovative technology – cryptocurrency – met a century old scheme – the pump and dump. The message today is, if you make false statements to trick investors, that’s fraud. Period.” stated Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy.
“These charges are also a stark reminder of how vigilant online investors must be and that doing your homework before diving into the digital frontier is critical. People considering making investments in the cryptocurrency industry should understand how these scams work so that they can protect themselves.” he adds.
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Also charged by the Security and Exchange Commission were three ‘market makers’, which refers to individuals who engage in two-sided markets of a security.
There’s been a flurry of bad news stories for crypto investors recently, with crypto-linked cybercrime seeing a record year, with stolen funds inflows doubling to around $1.58billion in 2024.
Apple is set to introduce a new electrically-induced battery removal technology in the upcoming iPhone 17 series. The innovation promises easier battery detachment with minimal effort.
New battery technology in the iPhone 17 series
According to a recent post by Majin Bu, the entire iPhone 17 lineup, including the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will feature a new adhesive technology. This adhesive allows the battery to detach smoothly by applying a small electrical voltage. The change builds on the existing technology seen in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, which also use a similar adhesive mechanism.
This battery removal process lets users detach the battery from the frame with ease. A low-voltage electrical current applied to the adhesive helps the battery come loose quickly. This innovation makes battery maintenance and replacement simpler for users.
Apple first added this technology to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models. It’s a significant upgrade over traditional adhesive methods. The adhesive in these models loosens with a low-voltage current from a 9V battery, USB-C charger, or other power sources.
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The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models don’t have this battery removal feature yet. But, according to Majin Bu’s report, Apple plans to add this technology to all four iPhone 17 models next year.
This removal enhances usability
The introduction of this new adhesive peel technology in the iPhone 17 series marks a significant shift in how Apple handles battery maintenance in its devices. Majin Bu shared an image of the adhesive in different sizes, hinting that it might cater to the varying models within the iPhone 17 lineup.
While other sources have not yet confirmed this news, the expansion of the iPhone 17 battery removal feature seems like a logical progression in Apple’s product development. The shift could lead to easier repairs and replacements, enhancing the user experience.
Majin Bu, who shared the information about the iPhone 17 battery removal feature, has a mixed track record when it comes to Apple leaks. However, not all his predictions have been accurate, such as the rumored iPad 11 release that never materialized.
SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster successfully returned to the pad after liftoff to be caught by the launch tower’s mechanical arms in an incredible feat Sunday morning. The milestone came during the fifth flight of the company’s Starship, and is a huge step for the rocket’s planned reusability. Starship launched at about 8:25AM ET from SpaceX’s Texas Starbase.
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GREENPORT, N.Y. – Roughly 35 miles off the east coast of Montauk, New York, 12 turbines gently spin in the wind at Orsted’s newly developed South Fork Wind farm. The project, which connected to the grid earlier this year, is the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S., providing enough power for 70,000 homes annually.
It’s a needed bright spot for the U.S. offshore wind industry, which has faced a number of challenges getting off the ground. Rising interest rates and supply chain snags have changed project economics, forcing some developers to return to the market in search of higher contracted prices. Other projects have been canceled entirely.
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Soren Lassen, head of offshore wind research at Wood Mackenzie, said the U.S. offshore wind industry is going through a needed readjustment, and that while the long-term outlook remains intact, progress has been pushed out. South Fork Wind offers tangible evidence that wind projects can work.
Traveling by way of a high-speed ferry from Greenport, New York, it takes about two hours to get to South Fork Wind. It’s hard to get a sense of just how large these turbines are until you’re right under one: they tower 460 feet above the water, with blades that are each longer than a football field. And that’s just what the eye can see. Underwater, each tower sits atop a custom foundation drilled into the seabed. Apart from the gentle “swoosh” of the blades – only audible when right next to the turbine – the wind farm is otherwise quiet in the middle of the ocean.
South Fork Wind’s substation, which is connected to the power grid in East Hampton via a subsea and then underground cable.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
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Each turbine is connected to an offshore substation – the first of its kind built in the U.S. – which is connected to the local power grid in East Hampton, New York, via a 65-mile subsea and underground cable.
South Fork Wind was not without opposition. The waters off the Long Island coast have long been a place for recreational and commercial fisherman alike, some of whom opposed the project. Residents in Wainscott – the summer community where the cable comes ashore – also fought it. This led to Orsted adding extra space between each turbine so that the area remains open both to transit by pleasure and fishing boats, and the company buried the onshore cable beneath the beach and local roads.
Denmark-based Orsted is not new to the area. The company developed the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm, which is northwest of South Fork Wind, in 2016. And northeast of South Fork Wind sits Revolution Wind – a 65-turbine project that Orsted broke ground on in 2023. In July, Orsted began construction on Sunrise Wind, which is also in federal waters off the New York coast.
Offshore wind projects are long-term investments, with work starting years before a single foundation is even drilled into the seabed. Securing the necessary permits is a lengthy process.
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The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management first awarded the leases for South Fork Wind in 2013, which where acquired by Deepwater Wind. Orsted acquired the company in 2018 and partnered with Eversource Energy to start building the project. Onshore construction began in February 2022, with offshore construction following in 2023. In September, Skyborn Renewables, a Global Infrastructure Partners portfolio company, acquired Eversource’s 50% stake in both South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind.
South Fork Wind, which is 35 miles East of Montauk, New York.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
Offshore wind developers typically use power purchase agreements, which are signed ahead of construction. Put simply, it’s a long-term agreement between the owner and a third party who agrees to pay a specific price for the power – oftentimes for 20 years or more. At South Fork Wind, the power is being sold to Long Island Power Authority.
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While this model provides long-term certainty, it can also be a huge obstacle if project costs balloon. Orsted is developing Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, but last year it walked away from Ocean Wind 1 and 2, which were slated to be built off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
“Macroeconomic factors have changed dramatically over a short period of time, with high inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain bottlenecks impacting our long-term capital investments,” David Hardy, CEO Americas at Ørsted, said in October 2023. “As a result, we have no choice but to cease development of Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2.”
In May, Orsted agreed to pay New Jersey a $125 million settlement.
The financial problems are not unique to Orsted. Equinor and BP ended a joint venture to develop a project in waters off the coast of New York in January. Equinor took sole ownership of the project and re-entered the market in search of better prices – securing a deal for Empire Wind 1, but not for Empire Wind 2, which remains on pause.
The two main obstacles around building offshore wind farms are interest rates and the supply chain. Offshore wind is capital intensive: it takes a lot of money to build one of these projects in the middle of the sea, and as interest rates rose companies’ cost of capital surged. At the same time, raw material and labor costs accelerated out of the pandemic. It’s hard to begin construction without a PPA locked in, but if costs rise significantly above initial estimates, the PPA might not be high enough for the project to be feasible.
Each turbine at South Fork Wind rises 460 feet above the water.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
Much of the supply chain is also highly specialized. There are only a few vessels in the world, for example, that can lay the underwater cables. Turbine installation vessels are also industry-specific. The offshore wind industry is not new globally, but it is in the U.S., meaning just a few years ago a domestic supply chain was virtually nonexistent.
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But some of those supply chain constraints are beginning to ease as more and more projects get off the ground. Dominion Energy is building the first Jones Act-compliant turbine installation ship in Brownsville, Texas, which will be used to transport supplies to its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Once the project is completed, the ship will be contracted out to other companies.
Offshore wind port hubs are also popping up, including the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, the Port of Virginia and Connecticut’s Port of New London. Orsted’s domestic supply chain now spans more than 40 states, and work for South Fork Wind took place in New York, South Carolina, Texas, Rhode Island and Connecticut, among other states.
The U.S. Department of the Interior recently approved its tenth offshore wind project – this one in Maryland – in what it called a “major milestone.” But the Biden administration’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of this decade remains far off.
South Fork Wind’s offshore substation is the first-of-its-kind built in the U.S.
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Pippa Stevens | CNBC
Vineyard Wind, off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts, is the only other commercial-scale offshore wind project currently powering homes. Developer Avangrid had to pause construction over the summer after a blade broke off and fell into the ocean, with parts ultimately washing ashore on Nantucket beaches. GE Vernova, which made the blade, called it a “manufacturing deviation” related to “insufficient bonding” in the blade.
Two other projects – Block Island Wind Farm and Dominion’s two-turbine Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Pilot Project – are operational, although they are much smaller, powering 17,000 and 3,000 homes, respectively.
The U.S. does have 58 gigawatts of capacity under development, according to American Clean Power, but some of those projects won’t come online for years, and there is no guarantee all of them will be built. The industry group estimates that $65 billion will be invested in offshore wind by 2030, supporting 56,000 jobs – up from 1,000 today.
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“There are cycles in everything, and now we’re going through a negative cycle,” said Wood Mackenzie’s Lassen, in an interview. “That means that what is now driving the adjustments to price are, instead of success, failures.”
But Lassen is encouraged projects are pushing forward.
“The positive thing is that then there is some readjustment,” he said. “That means the sector is not disappearing. It’s bouncing back, but it is different.”
Orsted’s Block Island Wind Farm. The turbines are supported by jacket foundations, rather than the monopiles used at South Fork Wind.
It’s hard to know where to focus when speaking to Christoph Kohstall. The contents of his packed Palo Alto garage compete for attention. To his immediate right stands a tower of electrical components, dotted with flashing lights. To his left is a workbench and the tops of machining tools.
A red industrial girder runs along the ceiling above. For those who’ve spent time in robotics labs, the element is immediately identifiable as a gantry system, used to stabilize robots during the testing phase.
Indeed, at its far end, the top of a robot head is barely visible, peeking over Kohstall’s shoulder as he logs into the meeting. I inquire as to whether the ceiling-mounted system is being used to test his system’s bipedal robot. He answers in the affirmative, before adding that the team has moved on to another, less conventional system: an $80 coat rack.
One thing you can say for certain peering into Kind Humanoid’s chaotic workspace: The spirit of Silicon Valley’s dormant home-brew computing scene may have been mostly priced out, but it isn’t altogether dead.
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Videos posted by the robotics startup are infused with the same charm. Kind’s earliest Mona prototypes appear Frankensteined together, like a prop from an ’80s movie about two kids building a robot for the science fair.
Image Credits:Kind Humanoid
It’s hard to know what to make of it all at first glance. Kohstall has a Silicon Valley pedigree that would seem to bely the chaotic scene, including, most recently, a year spent working on robotics as part of the now-defunct Google Brain team.
Kind Humanoid’s three-person team recently gained a champion in Yves Béhar. The highly sought-after designer says he first visited Kohstall’s garage in late 2022/early 2023.
“I was immediately fascinated by two things,” he says. “One: To literally see robots emerge out of a small laboratory, to see body parts come out of the 3D printer, and to see motors and actuators and these elements be fitted inside of those parts. The other was a sense of efficiency and speed that I found really exciting.”
Earlier this month, Kind showcased Béhar’s renderings for a humanoid robot. It’s an alien mix of angles and shapes that are every bit as whimsical as the home-brewed robot underneath. The robot is clad in a soft white, with rounded edges to match. It’s as though someone was challenged to construct a human-shaped figure from a collaborative industrial arm.
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The robot’s end effectors are recognizable as an analogue to human hands. Its feet, however, are more hoof-like. On closer inspection, they appear to be a pair of actuated joints stabilizing the bipedal bot. A diamond-shaped head is mounted atop an impossibly skinny neck. Adding to the render’s dreamlike quality, a small visor-like screen displays a cloudy blue sky.
It’s surreal by design. Béhar borrowed aesthetic cues from Belgian painter René Magritte.
“We use these background images of clouds to start to find ways that we can communicate the robot’s intent, or what it’s going through at the moment. Is it thinking? Is it reflecting? Is it going to give me an interesting or funny answer? This is why a face is important. The way it orients itself gives you a sense of intent and connection.”
Image Credits:Kind Humanoid
The team intentionally avoided making a robot that looks too human, to avoid being tripped up by the uncanny valley effect. The system also offers a marked contrast from the stark, stormtrooper design employed by the likes of Tesla and Figure. In this sense, form follows function. Kind envisions Mona as a home caretaker.
Most humanoid manufacturers are targeting the industrial setting first, with eventual plans to bring the technology into a home setting. There are a number of reasons for this, with many boiling down to simple economics. Carmakers tend to have deeper pockets than caretakers. Corporations can invest these technologies to help them scale toward mass production.
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It’s precisely because other humanoid manufacturers aren’t tackling the home in the near term that Kind’s three-person team is investing its efforts here. “We do not intend to compete in the industrial market, because it is very crowded,” Kohstall says. “Ironically, the argument to build a humanoid is not the strongest in the industrial market. The industrial market is pretty well served in many ways by specialized robots. The humanoid becomes so beautifully potent in a setting where [there’s] diverse locomotion across stairs and cluttered environments.”
Initial customers could include care facilities and homes for older adults looking to maintain independence. Aging in place is a largely untapped market for advanced robotics; most commercial work is focused on bringing humanoids to warehouses and factory floors.
All of this feels almost impossibly far off. Perhaps it’s Kind’s indifference to fundraising, a passive act of defiance as alien to Silicon Valley as rent protection.
Image Credits:Kind Humanoid
“Our team is focused on the innovation part,” Kohstall says, “and that’s not something you just solve by throwing money at it. That just requires experimentation, being capital efficient, and thoughtful.”
He adds that Kind is working on building an initial dozen Mona robots, destined for field tests early next year. It’s a statement that seems every bit as surreal as Béhar’s product design. I gesture to the robot behind Kohstall, noting that there’s still a tremendous amount of daylight between the DIY frankenbots on display in early videos and the Magritte-inspired renders.
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He notes that the sinewy robots that frequent Kind’s videos are the first prototype. He moves the conference call outside, where pieces of the robot are being spray-painted on the ground. These form the robot’s outer shell, bringing the design more in line with the one Béhar dreamed up.
“Most parts are injection moldable,” says Kohstall. “So it can be mass manufactured and built cheaply.”
Endangered whale species (like blue whales, humpbacks, and fin whales) face a major threat on the high seas: cruise and container ships that have difficulty avoiding collisions with whales. Correspondent David Pogue talks with a marine ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, whose fleet of autonomous vehicles helps track whales in shipping lanes; and finds out how container ships may be able to reduce striking whales.
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SpaceX launched Starship for its fifth flight test at about 8:25AM ET from its South Texas launch site. The company succeeded in returning the Starship Super Heavy booster to its landing pad, where it was “caught” using arms on the launch tower that SpaceX refers to as the “chopsticks.”
The catch was a first for the booster, which the company hadn’t returned without incident before its previous flight test in June. The company’s next task is to return Starship, which is expected to splash down in the Indian Ocean, as it did before.
Starship’s booster being caught by its launch tower “chopsticks.”Screenshot: SpaceX livestream
Liftoff was delayed slightly while it cleared boats out of its launch range, pushing the flight test to the edge of its 30-minute launch window. The Federal Aviation Administration gave SpaceX approval for the test flight on Saturday, October 12th. It had originally expected to clear the fifth Starship test in November, but the FAA and its partner agencies reportedly carried out their assessments faster than anticipated.
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