Author: TechBrunch
A coalition of law enforcement agencies coordinated by Europol announced on Monday the closure of cryptocurrency laundering service Cryptomixer. Europol confirmed the seizure in a press release, stating that Cryptomixer is “the platform of choice for cybercriminals seeking to launder illegal proceeds from a variety of criminal activities, including drug trafficking, arms trafficking, ransomware attacks, and payment card fraud.” Since 2016, cryptomixers have facilitated the laundering of 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in Bitcoin, according to Europol. Hackers and other criminals use laundering services such as Cryptomixer to obfuscate and hide the origin of cryptocurrencies. By design, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin…
OpenAI has taken ownership of Thrive Holdings, whose parent company is Thrive Capital, one of the AI giant's major investors. Thrive Holdings operates like an AI private equity firm, attracting companies it believes could benefit from the technology in areas such as accounting and IT services. Neither company disclosed the terms of the deal, but the companies said it will include Thrive's internal engineering, research and product teams that have integrated OpenAI to accelerate AI adoption and drive efficiencies. If these companies are successful, their stake in OpenAI will increase and they will also receive compensation for their services, according…
On Monday, Clipbook, an AI-powered platform that helps companies monitor media coverage, announced a $3 million seed round co-led by Mark Cuban, Commonweal Ventures, and Carpenter Capital. The partnership came about because Clipbook founder Adam Joseph made a fiasco with a cold email that he didn't expect anyone to read, he told TechCrunch. Joseph launched Clipbook in 2023 and has grown it to $1 million in annual recurring revenue, he said. At that point, about a year ago, he felt ready to find investors. “I literally made a list of the top five media investors in the world,” Joseph recalls.…
South Korean e-commerce platform Coupang announced over the weekend that the personal information of approximately 34 million Korean customers had been compromised in a data breach that had been going on for more than five months. The company first discovered the breach of 4,500 user accounts on November 18, but announced that a subsequent investigation revealed that the breach actually compromised approximately 33.7 million customer accounts in South Korea. According to Coupang, the breach affected customers' names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses, and certain order history. More sensitive data such as payment information, credit card numbers and login credentials…
David Sachs' role as President Donald Trump's artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar could work out very well for his investments and friends, according to a new report in the New York Times. But Sachs fired back in a post on X in which he described a five-month reporting process in which the accusations were “debunked in detail.” “Today they obviously just threw up their hands and put this nothing burger out there,” Sachs said. “If you read the article carefully, you'll see that they've pieced together a lot of anecdotes that don't support the headline.” This is not the first…
When the season ended earlier this month, Angel City FC finished 11th out of 13 teams, a disappointing result for the Los Angeles soccer franchise co-founded in 2020 by venture capitalist Kara Nortman. But the season's struggles are just part of a larger story that is reshaping the way investors think about women's sports. Despite the lackluster performance on the field, Angel City itself became a case study (literally, including within Harvard Business School) on how to best build women's sports facilities. The team's celebrity ownership group, which includes Natalie Portman and Serena Williams, helped generate near-unprecedented buzz. The franchise…
On Wednesday night at PlayGround Global in Palo Alto, some very smart people who are building things we don't yet understand will explain what's coming. This is the last StrictlyVC event of 2025 and the line-up is truly ridiculous. The series was sponsored by TechCrunch and broadcast around the world. Steve Case rented a theater in Washington, DC. We spoke with the Greek Prime Minister in Athens. Kirsten Greene hosted us at the Presidio in San Francisco. However, the concept is always the same. Get people working on really important developments in a room before anyone else understands their importance.…
The tech layoff wave is still kicking in 2025. Last year saw more than 150,000 job cuts across 549 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. So far this year, more than 22,000 workers have been the victim of reductions across the tech industry, with a staggering 16,084 cuts taking place in February alone. We’re tracking layoffs in the tech industry in 2025 so you can see the trajectory of the cutbacks and understand the impact on innovation across all types of companies. As businesses continue to embrace AI and automation, this tracker serves as a reminder of the human…
At least three London councils are responding to an ongoing cyberattack, prompting authorities to shut down networks and phone lines and activate emergency plans. Local authority authorities covering the London boroughs of Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster said they were sharing IT systems as part of a joint agreement and were focused on “protecting systems and data, recovering systems and maintaining essential services for the public”. Hammersmith and Fulham City Council has also been affected by the cyber attack, according to the city's website. The council, which provides public services such as housing, social services and garbage collection, did not explain…
The always fun-filled Slush conference took place in Helsinki last week and, as always, was a show of the growing power of the European ecosystem. Scandinavia in particular is having a moment, this time led by Swedish vibe-coding darlings Loveable. Loveable is seen as an example of a growing ecosystem of successes. Although older names, other standout companies include Klarna and Spotify. This week on Equity, we spoke to Dennis Green-Lieber, founder of AI company Propane, about the rapid growth of the Nordic ecosystem. Green-Lieber is based in Denmark and has been building its ecosystem over the past 15 years.…