Sohrab Sharma, the third co-founder of Centra Tech, has pled guilty to an initial coin offering fraud, according to CoinDesk.
Sharma’s confession confirms that he, along with fellow co-founders Raymond Trapani and Robert Farkas, lied about their purported cryptocurrency partnerships and credentials. Sharma, in pleading guilty, gave up 10,000 in ethereum, or $2,329,200.
He pleaded guilty to guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, following Farkas’ guilty plea from June and Trapani’s from last year.
The company was able to rip off investors for around $25 million around the height of the 2017 IPO bubble. But the quick success, investor promises and lavish celebrity endorsements from the likes of Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled caught the attention of investigators, who set about looking into what was going on.
Mayweather and Khaled both ended up settling charges admitting that they’d been paid to endorse Centra Tech.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) could be looking at hiring a new expert to help advise on matters of the dark web, hacking and cryptocurrency in its attempts to hone in on cybercrime, CoinDesk wrote.
The position will be for 12 months and will work on the DOJ’s capabilities for crypto tracing and blockchain, according to a job listing from the department’s overseas development office.
The position will work particularly on the areas of Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which the DOJ has identified as havens of “sophisticated transnational organized crime threats” in the underworld for cybercrime and intellectual property.
Those applying must either already have or be ready to apply for a Top Secret security clearance as they work alongside DOJ’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and the U.S. Transnational and High-Tech Crime Global Law Enforcement Network, the posting says.
The U.S. has been working on fighting cybercrime more rigorously, including a new Secret Service program intended to arrest and convict the worst offenders, particularly as the pandemic has supercharged financial crimes.
What do the movies “Blade Runner,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Back to the Future Part II” and Spike Jonze’s “Her” all have in common?
These science fiction movies, each depicting various versions of a future full of fantastic technologies, all take place in the year 2025 or earlier.
Though some of the high-tech gadgets and futuristic innovations seen in these films, such as hoverboards and flying cars, haven’t quite materialized in everyday life, they have sparked imagination and set the stage for the very real innovations. As the dozens of groundbreaking products and wacky gadgets that debuted at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week reveal, the future is certainly now.
CES, after all, rarely disappoints when it comes to providing a first-look at some truly strange gadgets that might just represent the ultimate showcase of tomorrow’s technology.
From artificial intelligence (AI) being embedded into everything and smarter than ever home devices, to autonomous robotic companions and wearable tech that both bends and blends reality, many of the inventions that once seemed out of reach in Hollywood films are now being unveiled on the convention floor.
See also: The Five Not-So-Obvious Things That Will Change the Digital Economy in 2025
It’s becoming clear that today’s technological advancements are increasingly bridging the gap between what was once imagined and what’s now becoming real.
For example, smart home robots are no longer a futuristic fantasy — they are being positioned as potentially indispensable components of modern households.
CES 2025 saw the debut of the Roborock Saros Z70, a robot vacuum with a telescopic, five-axis arm. Rosey the Robot from “The Jetsons” has nothing on this little gadget, which its maker describes as “a mechanical arm that sees and thinks,” and is able to pick up and put away items like socks, shoes, tissues and more.
For more serious household tasks, the SwitchBot Multitasking Household Robot K20+ Pro was also unveiled at CES 2025. “Whether it’s delivering objects, vacuuming, monitoring pets, purifying the air, providing home security, or even mobilizing smart tablets, the K20+ Pro juggles household management with ease … from delivering food and drinks to carrying small packages,” said a company release.
Read more: Training Robots Using Video Games Could Democratize Warehouse Automation
The K20+ Pro’s core is designed for customization and flexibility, serving as a modular foundation that allows users to create, adapt, and personalize the robot for a wide variety of innovative applications, and can connect with third-party smart devices like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, ensuring integration into any smart home ecosystem.
Elsewhere, TCL premiered its “AI Me” (Amy) concept companion robot, complete with animated eyes, autonomous movement and an AI-powered camera on its head; while Dreame showcased its X50 Ultra robot vacuum that has legs to avoid obstacles.
As smart home technology continues to evolve, the integration of robots designed to assist in daily activities could significantly alter how we interact with our homes, manage tasks and even shape the future of work.
TomBot, for example, debuted an emotional robotic lap dog, Jennie, an AI robot therapy dog designed to keep seniors company. On the more playful side of things, Tokyo robotics startup Yukai Engineering introduced the Nékojita FuFu, a portable cat-shaped robot that can blow air to cool hot food or drinks.
It wasn’t solely robotics for use at home being showcased at CES. John Deere used the Las Vegas event to reveal its own autonomous agricultural products. The fully autonomous machines were on display from Jan. 7 to 10, and were a bit bigger in size, if equivalently less cute, than the TomBot puppies.
Read more: Google Reportedly Bringing Gemini AI to TV Sets
Behind the strangely futuristic convenience of a robot picking up your laundry and taking out the trash while it vacuums and interfaces with the rest of your household appliances lies a much larger story: the rise of the smart economy.
As CES 2025 showed, augmented reality (AR) glasses are the eye candy of the smart economy. A host of futuristic specs were unveiled, capable of a range of tasks that turn the wearer into a high-tech superhero.
Halliday showcased “the world’s first proactive AI glasses with invisible display,” while freshly debuted Loomos.AI glasses offer a ChatGPT-4o integrated AI assistant.
But other appendages remain up for grabs, and innovative products from smart rings to apps like WowMouse, which allows smartwatch wearers to control devices using just their gestures and fingers, are vying for market share in ways that aim to make daily life more convenient, efficient and secure.