OKX and Bybit Removing Sanctioned Russian Banks From P2P Transactions
Following the largest crypto exchange Binance, crypto exchanges OKX and Bybit have also removed sanctioned Russian banks as payment methods from their P2P marketplace. P2P trading is a great feature that users get in the crypto exchange.
You can buy crypto with fiat and sell crypto to get fiat currency in your bank account. Frankly speaking, it is very easy and convenient to use the P2P marketplace to make any transactions. If anything is imposed by regulators, centralized crypto exchanges have to comply with that. No company wants to get into any trouble while running their business.
It started with The Wall Street Journal report about allowing sanctioned Russian banks as payment methods in Binance's P2P marketplace. Even though Binance removed those sanctioned banks before, users kept doing transactions using yellow and green codewords. Binance was criticized for this.
Paying attention to this situation, Binance removed sanctioned Russian banks quickly from its platform. Now OKX and Bybit did the same thing by removing Tinkoff Bank and Sberbank from P2P transactions. Users can make P2P transactions in Raiffeisen Bank and the Russian Standard Bank. These two banks are not included in the sanction list.
The concerning part is that centralized cryptocurrency exchanges have to follow whatever comes from regulatory agencies. They do not have the choice to do something if they want to avoid regulatory scrutiny. Crypto exchanges are under pressure and they find a way to settle issues to keep running their businesses smoothly.
We are talking about decentralization in crypto. You may find most crypto projects are centralized in some ways. In order to survive and resist any pressure from the central authority, crypto projects have to be more decentralized. Otherwise, they do not have any option except to follow whatever comes from regulators.
OKX and Bybit did not make any announcements about removing sanctioned Russian banks Tinkoff Bank and Sberbank from their platforms. You may not find these banks as payment methods over there. Did users stop using these banks in P2P trading?
Users still try to find a way to use these banks to make P2P transactions. They may add other banks to the payment methods. But you could find in the terms and conditions that they will only accept payment from specific banks. It can happen in the P2P marketplace even after removing payment methods.
People prefer to do P2P trading to on-ramp and off-ramp crypto especially where crypto falls into a gray area. If crypto is legal and allowed in your country, that is great. But there are some countries where you will face way more restrictions to get involved in crypto.
People will feel how important it is to have decentralized P2P marketplaces where you may not face any restrictions. The central authority will take more actions to establish some sort of control over crypto. The good thing is that they will fail to do so in any crypto that is really decentralized. It will be a test and we will see which crypto project holds decentralization in practice.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/cryptocurrency-financial-concept-3409655/ https://pixabay.com/photos/coin-silver-gold-currency-bitcoin-5282271/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/okx-bybit-remove-russian-banks-from-payments-list
Binance Removes Sanctioned Russian Banks From P2P Services
The largest crypto exchange Binance removed sanctioned Russian banks from payment methods of its P2P services. So what happened recently? When the Wall Street Journal reported about facilitating sanctioned Russian banks as payment methods in the Binance P2P marketplace, that was concerning.
After this report, the crypto exchange was highly criticized for listing sanctioned Russian banks like Tinkoff and Rosbank as payment methods. It might put more pressure on the crypto exchange which will be difficult to handle. Binance no longer supports yellow and green codewords anymore.
Probably you are wondering about yellow and green codewords. There must be some reason or use case. Binance removed the sanctioned banks from its payment methods list before. But it appeared later under the yellow and green codewords. Here yellow represents Tinkoff and green represents Rosbank.
Binance is going through tough situations and they do not want to get in trouble for violating sanctions. The exchange quickly took action to remove these yellow and green codewords. People might still use these banks in some ways like mentioning terms and conditions that they will only accept payment from the green bank or yellow bank.
It becomes unclear which crypto is security and which one is not due to an aggressive crackdown in crypto. There are some countries where crypto is not legal and it feels like they will not change their minds any time soon. So what option do people have to get into crypto?
Binance is doing a great job providing peer-to-peer services which it is easy, fast, and reliable. This marketplace has become more popular these days. People are happy using the Binance P2P marketplace. You can purchase crypto at any time as well as sell your crypto to get fiat currency.
The regulatory authority can put too much pressure on the centralized P2P marketplace. People need P2P marketplaces to get into crypto and sell crypto to convert it into fiat currency. I think decentralized P2P marketplaces will be more popular in the future since they can move forward in a challenging environment.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/cryptocurrency-financial-concept-3409655/ https://pixabay.com/photos/coin-silver-gold-currency-bitcoin-5282271/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-p2p-removes-sanctioned-russian-banks-from-payments-list
Magnate Finance on Base Rug Pulls $6.4 Million
People are talking about Coinbase's Base these days. They like to get involved in crypto projects on Base and make investments. It looks like criminal actors are more active over there and keep scamming and rug-pulling the crypto project. Investors are getting rekt and have negative experiences.
Magnate Finance is a borrowing and lending platform on the Base Layer 2 protocol. Unfortunately, it pulled an exit scam and ran away with $6.4 million. What if you get to know this just before being an exit scam? You might do your best to withdraw your crypto and stay away from this platform.
The interesting thing is, on-chain analyst and crypto expert ZachXBT tweeted about it and warned the crypto community about Magnate Finance's possible exit scam. Magnate Finance's deployer address is linked to the Solfire exit scam. Due to the exit scam of Solfire, $4.8 million was lost.
Just in an hour of this warning from ZachXBT, Magnate Finance disappeared. They deleted their Telegram group and took the website down. Users cannot get access to its website anymore. They also deleted X's account as well as vanished from any social media presence.
Thanks to ZachXBT for detecting Magnate Finance's abnormal behavior earlier and informing the crypto community about the possible rug pull. ZachXBT also found links with the Kokomo Finance exit scam that was based on Optimism. So criminal actors of Magnate Finance were also involved with two DeFi protocols rug pulls.
It appears that the same bad actors are behind all these three exit scams. Who knows what is their next target? It gives crypto a bad name and people may not feel comfortable getting involved in crypto projects. Becoming a victim and losing cryptocurrency is a terrible experience.
The total value locked (TVL) before the collapse of Magnate Finance was $6.4 million. Developers of the protocol manipulated the price oracle and removed the assets, as per blockchain security firm PeckShield's analysis. MAG token price dropped to 90%. Criminal actors try to get away with this.
Being early in any platform gives you more advantages, but it is also associated with high risk. You may not know which crypto project will survive and do better. Investing in a crypto project that was planned to be an exit scam can hurt you the most financially and psychologically.
Never go all in into a single thing that is capable of destroying everything. Allocate that portion of your capital to invest in risky crypto projects that you can handle. Wish you would not have to deal with unfavorable situations. Watch out and stay safe in crypto.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://twitter.com/zachxbt/status/1694914871165345997 https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/magnate-finance https://cryptopotato.com/lending-protocol-on-coinbases-base-pulls-the-rug-on-users-report/
Are Criminal Actors More Active In Using Google Ads To Scam?
When you see Google ads, how do you feel? It pops up when you search for something on Google or visit any website that is monetized by Google ads. It feels harmless to click the ads, but I don't think you feel the same way now when you see bad actors use Google ads to lure potential victims.
Recently the founder of the DeFi data aggregator platform DeFiLlama reported the scam on ads. Criminal actors gave Google ads for DeFiLlama. It appears on the top of the search engine result page when people search on Google. In spite of reporting the ads to Google multiple times for a couple of days, no action has been taken from Google so far.
The founder confirmed in his tweet that it is not a legitimate ad. It is a trap to make people fall for scams. It will send visitors to the phishing website. The first click might redirect you to a good website. Then a couple of clicks may send you to the phishing website.
Have you ever seen any Google ads that are run by scammers? I saw ads on the Google search result page that were fake. The URL was different from the original website. Cybercriminals use different tactics to make it look legit so that you do not have any doubt.
Paying attention to the URL can save you from accidentally clicking the ads. Maybe you want to download a crypto wallet and land on a fake website via scammers' Google ads. If you download and install the wallet, you follow what bad actors want you to do.
As soon as you insert the seed phrase over there, your crypto is gone forever. You basically hand over your crypto assets to the scammers falling into their traps. DeFiLlama founder suggested using ad blockers to avoid crypto scam ads. Paying attention to the URL can give a warning to stop right there.
You can bookmark legitimate websites that you visit. Updating your browser can help you not to become a victim. You can update your antivirus on your computers or devices that you use. When you download any software, make sure that you land on the official website.
Criminal Actors will come up with new advanced tactics to fool others. Awareness of what's happening in the crypto space can act as the best defense, in my opinion. You can adapt to any situation quickly and follow best practices.
If bad actors keep using Google ads, people will keep avoiding ads. Hope Google will take action against it. Otherwise, online marketers and business owners will not be interested in using their platform for ads. And that will hurt their business.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://twitter.com/0xngmi/status/1694360865154167289 https://pixabay.com/photos/glass-hands-palm-transparent-green-3983411/ https://crypto.news/cybercriminals-launch-new-crypto-scam-using-google-ads/
Is Thailand Going To Take Action Against Facebook?
You may notice that crypto scams and frauds are on the rise on social media. Now if crypto scams and fraudulent ads show up on social media, that is bad news. Thailand plans to seek a court order to shut down Facebook if the company does not take action against fraud and crypto scam ads.
Many people see fake investment and crypto trading scam ads. Maybe you ignore the ads that appear on your feeds but when you see it consistently, you might be interested to try it out. And people get caught when they get involved in it. You wish you would not see the ads in the first place or act on them.
Bad actors use difficult tactics to attract people's attention and make it look legit. The image of celebrities and popular financial figures is used to promote their ads. People usually pay attention to what they see in ads when they notice celebrities are associated with that. It must be legit and real.
The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society stated that they have been communicating with Meta and sent a letter about this issue. If the platform reviews the ads properly, it may not happen. People would not see investment and crypto scams ads.
The ministry is working on collecting evidence of crypto scam ads that show up on the platform They are getting ready to take action by asking the court to shut down Facebook. They warn people about how this kind of scam operates and what are the red flags when they see anything on social media.
The promise of higher returns or guaranteed returns that seem unrealistic is the obvious red flag. Do not change your mind seeing well-known figures in ads. Criminal actors do everything to make it trustworthy so that more people fall for it. It is not easy to generate a higher return. So ask yourself how they are going to give you a higher return.
You may see crypto trading scam ads and it is claimed that they make a huge amount of profit by trading crypto. If you have any experience of trading crypto, probably you will not fall for that scam because you know how hard it is to be profitable in trading consistently.
It is sad to see fake investment and crypto scam ads on social media. Thailand thinks about it seriously and what can be done to stop this. I think it is good to put pressure and take action against any platform that fails to filter and stop crypto scam ads.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/facebook-icon-social-media-3250006/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/marketing-communication-loudspeaker-3739779/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/thailand-to-seek-shutdown-facebook-crypto-scam-ads
Glow Token Founder Falls Victim To Scam and Sues Crypto.com
Are you surprised to see some scams? You think what you are doing, that is legit. You discover later that's a scam. Glow Token founder Bryan Lawrence lost over $250,000 and one Bitcoin falling for a scam Now he is selling his home to continue the legal battle.
Bryan Lawrence wanted to list Glow Token FLARE to the crypto exchange crypto.com. He was in touch with individuals who claimed to be crypto.com employees. They communicated about listing the token and agreed to pay for it. He sent more than $250,000 and one Bitcoin to the address that is believed to belong to crypto.com.
He hoped that Glow Token FLARE would be listed on the exchange. He was informed later by crypto.com that he was talking to imposters and became a victim of scams. He did due diligence and verified every step he was taking including reviewing emails that he received and confirming contact information.
If there was any doubt that he was communicating with imposters, not crypto.com official employees, he would not transfer any crypto. He thinks it is crypto.com's negligence and a lack of security measures. It was crypto.com employees or any external third party that compromised the exchange's internal communication.
Glow Token founder filed a lawsuit against Forix Dax, the parent company of Crypto.com. He is forced to sell his home for a legal battle. A home is a special place you are emotionally attached to. It hurts the founder financially, mentally, and physically.
Bryan is going through a lot of stress that causes health issues. He has been suffering from stomach issues. He was in the hospital and consulting with specialists to recover from his health issues. Financial stress can put too much pressure. And I wish nobody would face this.
It may be difficult to believe that Bryan Lawrence communicated with imposters. He called crypto.com to verify the chat log. The crypto exchange not only revoked his access but also sent a cease and desist letter. Bad actors somehow managed to impersonate and scam the victim successfully.
Sometimes a costly mistake is enough to ruin everything that you build so far. Criminal actors are more advanced to launch phishing attacks and scams. Secure your crypto the best possible way you can. I think the allocation of your capital and diversification is very important.
You can lose your crypto. But when you don't put your all eggs in one basket, you at least do not lose everything. In case, something happens, you can recover your loss and it will not put too much pressure on you that hurt you pretty bad financially and psychologically.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/relationship-man-woman-termination-2822420/ https://twitter.com/GlowTokenCEO/status/1692479026328150049 https://crypto.news/glow-token-founder-sues-crypto-com-after-falling-victim-to-scam/
Harbor Protocol Exploited and Hacked
Harbor Protocol, an Interchain stablecoin protocol on the Comdex chain, was exploited and hacked recently. It does not feel good to see any negative bad news. If you are aware of what's going on in crypto, that is better. When you make any decision in crypto, you can consider the present situation.
Harbor Protocol is built on the Cosmos platform. There has been a security breach and hackers got access to the protocol. Hackers exploited and stole funds from its stable-mint, as well as stOSMO, LUNA, and WMATIC vaults. It is not confirmed yet how much funds hackers drained from the vaults. The Harbor team has been working on it and estimating the total loss.
Hackers used this address comdex1sma0ntw7fq3fpux8suxkm9h8y642fuqt0ujwt5 at the time of exploiting the protocol. It is unexpected to go through this. The attackers always take advantage of any vulnerability they find and hack to steal crypto assets.
People get into crypto because they find the freedom and control over their finances that they might not get in the existing financial system. When you hold your crypto and keep your private keys secure, no one can get your crypto.
When you invest in any crypto project or use any protocol for some reason, you may have exposure to risk. You cannot eliminate some risks and that will always be there in crypto. But you can reduce the risk. You are in control of allocating your capital in crypto.
Harbor protocol is not the only one that exploited recently. Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols Exactly was exploited and hacked as well which causes to loss of $7.3 million. The Exactly team try to communicate with the attackers with a view to recovering the stolen funds.
It is sad to see that crypto assets are stolen and the attackers are in control. Hope they fix any possible vulnerability of the protocol and strengthen the security. That is the most important part to build anything in crypto. Otherwise, no matter how popular a crypto platform is, it will take no time to collapse.
The Harbor team tweeted on social media platform X. They will inform the community about the progress as it happens. They also try to draw the attackers' attention, in case there is any way to find a solution, they are open to talking with the attackers. They are working to trace the funds so that they can necessary steps later.
Hope the team will resolve the issue soon and be successful to recover the stolen funds. It is your responsibility where to invest and which protocol to use. If you see only the upside of any opportunity in crypto, wait and do more research and analysis before moving forward.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://twitter.com/Harbor_Protocol/status/1692836252498723154 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-crypto-money-8154779/ https://crypto.news/harbor-protocol-falls-victim-attack-funds-missing/
BNB Hackers Lost More Than $53 Million Liquidating On Lending Protocol
When hackers exploit any platform, do they get away with that? Maybe they manage to get away with stolen crypto, they can lose crypto somehow. The crypto market just crashed and many traders position was liquidated. BNB hacker lost more than $53 million via liquidation.
The attackers stole almost $600 million worth of BNB tokens by exploiting the BNB Smart Shain. According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, the attackers kept more than $53 million as collateral on the lending protocol Venus and took a loan of $30 million USDT. Due to the sudden pullback in the crypto market, the attackers' position was liquidated.
Good to see the attackers lost crypto in some way. It is a crime to exploit any protocol and trick others to steal their crypto assets. Criminal actors will get caught sooner or later. Even if they do not get caught, they may not enjoy the crypto assets they steal. Nature will take revenge in some way. Karma is practical.
Someone has the power or takes advantage of the vulnerability to hurt others and steal their crypto. Do you think that person will get peace inside? That person has to face the consequence at some point. Today it seems okay, but it is not okay to misuse the power. It will come back and hurt the bad actors.
Some people get upset because the crypto market went up and they could not buy the dip. Or, they planned to buy more but failed to do that before. Now you will get your favorite crypto at a low price and that can be a good opportunity to take your entry. I am happy to see the crypto market move.
It is a good time to pay more attention to the crypto market You can make your plan and execute that to make your crypto portfolio. No expert has the magical power to see exactly what will happen in the crypto market. So it is better to prepare yourself to deal with the unexpected situation.
Hope the BNB hackers get some lessons. Exploiting and hacking any platform to steal crypto will not bring anything positive. They might not realize how their stolen crypto will disappear or they may suffer for the crime.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/hacker-hood-light-boy-criminal-1725256/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bitcoin-coin-money-electronic-money-495995/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/bnb-hacker-loses-over-53m-after-getting-liquidated-in-market-crash
SwirlLend on Coinbase Layer 2 Base Is An Exit Scam
The lending platform SwirlLend turned into an exit scam. This platform was active on Base and Linea. You might not have thought of this project to do a rug pull and end up like this. Looks like bad actors are very active on Base.
Coinbase is one of the popular cryptocurrency exchanges and most people have their first experience in crypto on Coinbase. They are excited about Coinbase Layer 2 Base. Criminal actors come up with different tactics to exploit and steal investors' crypto assets.
According to the blockchain security firm PeckShield, SwirlLend made its first move by transferring almost $289,500 worth of cryptocurrency from Base. Then the criminal actors moved 94 ETH from Linea and brought cryptocurrency to the Ethereum network.
Victims will take action in order to recover the crypto assets. But SwirlLend intends to get away with this. Criminal actors sent 253.2 ETH to the crypto mixer Tornado Cash. They close their website and social media accounts as well. They did not keep an option to communicate with them. They will definitely not like to give any answer about the rug pull.
People use lending protocols in crypto and it has a great use case. But if bad actors make their plan to exploit like this, people will have a hard time trusting this platform in the future. People who have a negative experience will stay away from this.
Losing crypto is a painful experience. People who lost their crypto assets can resonate with this. The central authority gets a chance to crack down on crypto more which makes it difficult to get involved in crypto. No one wants to get in trouble and lose their cryptocurrency.
SwirlLend's total value locked (TVL) on Base was $784,300. Now it comes down to $49,200. Victims will find a way to get what they can from this platform. From the beginning, bad actors plan to exploit and make more people fall for their scams. They show their true color later when they carry out an exit scam.
RocketSwap, a decentralized exchange on Base, was exploited and ended up losing $865,000. Then SwirlLend showed people its true color and did what it intended to do from the beginning. Do you think surviving and making money in crypto is easy? Well, losing your money in crypto is also easy. So consider the risk before doing anything in crypto so that you can handle the situation.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/thief-crime-robber-online-hackers-7071478/ https://pixabay.com/photos/ethereum-cryptocurrency-eth-6237040/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/swirllend-rugged-on-new-coinbase-layer-2-base-as-large-number-of-scammers-reported
Zunami Protocol Lost $2.1 Million In Price Manipulation Attack
Zunami Protocol has been exploited and the attackers stole over $2.1 million in price manipulation attacks. Blockchain security firm PeckShield identified the attack first and suggested users to take action. It is estimated that Zunami Protocol lost more than 2.1 million from the liquidity pool hosted on Curve Finance.
Criminal actors managed to steal crypto assets by manipulating the price. PeckShield advised people not to buy any Zunami Ether (zETH) or Zunami USD (UZD) stablecoins. The price dropped drastically after this incident. Zunami Protocol admitted this attack and confirmed that on X.
Investors invest in crypto to get a return. They do not intend to do anything in crypto to lose their crypto assets. We get many offers in crypto that are lucrative. Sometimes you feel like you are lucky and get into FOMO. Unfortunately, you will lose everything if hackers find any vulnerability in the protocol that you use to earn yield.
People can stake stablecoins on Zunami Protocol to get the highest yield on the market. Most people hold stablecoins and they do not earn any from that. Staking stablecoins on Zunami Protocol and getting APY sounds great. But users have to take high risks.
If there is no news about hacks and scams in crypto, that would be great. Users might not expect that it will happen in Zunami Protocol while they expect to get APY. Now Zunami Protocol urges users not to buy Zunami Ether (zETH) and Zunami USD stablecoin (UZD). Unfortunately, crypto scams and hacks have increased significantly that you cannot underestimate.
The attackers sent the stolen fund to the crypto mixer Tornado Cash. I am wondering whether the team of Zunami Protocol did not have anything to do to prevent this exploit in the first place. SlowMist founder Xian Yu disclosed something that is sad.
According to Xian Yu, they found out about the vulnerability almost two months ago. Then they informed the Zunami Protocol and ended up getting an unpleasant response. Let's see what Zunami Protocol does now. If there is any option to prevent any exploit and attack in the first place, that is always better.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://twitter.com/peckshield/status/1690857760412610560 https://pixabay.com/photos/computer-security-padlock-hacker-1591018/ https://www.bsc.news/post/zunami-protocol-hacked-for-2-1m-what-really-happened
Do Russians Think The Digital Ruble As Some Kind Of Fraud?
Like many other countries, Russia has been working exclusively on the digital ruble that is the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). So what do Russians think about the digital ruble? The information service provider Bankinform conducted research to see how many Russians are interested in the upcoming CBDC.
13% of the participants pay close attention to the development of the digital ruble and they may use it in the future. They are curious to explore it. 34% of respondents are interested in the digital ruble but have no intention to use it. Whether people adopt the CBDC or not, that is a big question.
21% are not interested in CBDC at all. The interesting thing is, 32% of the respondents see the digital ruble as some kind of fraud. According to Bankinform, the way people think about the digital ruble may be related to ignorance and lack of information on its advancement. The digital ruble is going to be used as a payment method.
When the central authority talks about CBDC, you often hear some buzzwords like transparency, fast transaction, low cost, and financial inclusion. There are many people who do not have access to financial services, and CBDC will provide that services.
Recently the Bank of Canada also conducted research to understand the potential of CBDC and how people behave in a hypothetical environment. It does not show a positive outcome. The thing is, most Canadians are barely interested in CBDC.
According to the research, 98% of Canadians have a bank account. Not only that, 87% also hold a credit card. There are no barriers and they have access to all financial services. In case there are barriers to financial services, there is a chance to see CBDC from a different angle. They have little to no incentive to use Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
Cash is still an effective method of offline payment especially in emergency situations like widespread power outages or extreme weather. Whether it is in Russia or Canada, I think people will respond in the way when it comes to CBDC. The central authority can force something to happen, but the willingness to adopt that matters.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/finance-bank-banking-business-4858797/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/abstract-technology-background-tech-5035778/ https://beincrypto.com/russians-view-digital-ruble-as-scam/
Fantom-Based SpiritSwap Shutting Down Its Operations
One of the popular decentralized exchanges (DEX) on the Fantom Opera Network SpiritSwap is going to make a tough choice to shut down its operations. SpiritSwap will keep running its operations till September 1, 2023. Now they look for a new team that can take over the project. If that does not happen, unfortunately, they will have no option except to close the operations.
People have the time to remove liquidity from the protocol safely. After the announcement, SpiritSwap (SPIRIT) token price started falling drastically. The SPIRIT token price was around $0.0012. Now the token price is almost $0.0006 which is a 50% decline at the moment of writing this.
So what just happened? Why did SpiritSwap have to make this choice? Every business has its cost to run its operation. Now this project has come to a point when it cannot bear the expenses like operating costs, salaries, and marketing expenses to run the operations. The multichain hack was the reason that drained their treasury.
Cross-chain protocol Multichain was forced to cease its operations. The protocol was exploited for almost $130 million and the way the lockup assets on the Multichain MPC address moved to an unknown address, that was abnormal.
The Multichain CEO Zhaojun was arrested and he was under the custody of Chinese police. The Multichain team failed to contact the CEO. From the beginning, all operational funds and investments have been under CEO's control. It was unexpected to end up things like that, but it did.
Due to having exposure to the Multichain, SpiritSwap got into trouble in the first place. It was the most used decentralized exchange on Fantom. And you will be surprised to know that at the peak, the Total Value Locked (TVL) of the protocol was around $373 million. Now the TVL stands at around $2.83 million.
When we use a decentralized exchange, we are happy with the facility we get from it. You can invest in DeFi, provide liquidity in the protocol, and at the same time, earn rewards. It is great to see what you get as returns. But do you seriously consider the risks you are taking?
When you hear the word decentralized in crypto, it does not always mean that's truly decentralized. That can be a buzzword every crypto project is more than happy to use in its marketing campaign. Certain aspects of centralization can be enough to demolish the whole empire.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/board-door-gate-shutters-subway-895399/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/network-digitization-keyboard-hand-7482510/ https://crypto.news/fantoms-dex-spiritswap-folding-after-multichain-hack/
Blockchain Capital’s X Account Hacked To Advertise Fake Token
When you see an opportunity to claim free tokens and get a passive income, you think you are lucky. And this offer is active for a limited time before the supply runs out. You may not like to miss this opportunity. Wait. Where did you see this?
Hacking the reputed and popular X (Twitter) account becomes common these days. Now the latest victim is Blockchain Capital, a crypto-focused venture capital firm. The X account of Blockchain Capital has been compromised and multiple posts were made to promote fake tokens named BCAP.
Scammers' posts can easily draw people's attention. Scammers offered to earn true passive income and claim free tokens. The time is limited, only a day. Moreover, it can be over if the allocated token supply runs out fast. It gives a push to the potential victims to click the link and claim tokens fast.
Scammers set up a copycat website that looks similar to the venture capital firm Blockchain Capital's original website. Even the URL of the website looks like the same, only added additional n by scammers. Maybe you may not notice this at first glance.
The ultimate target of bad actors is to make people connect their crypto wallets to the fake copycat site. As soon as they connect their crypto wallet to the website, scammers will get access to drain their wallets. Victims will never make this mistake if they are aware of what actually they are doing.
When scammers make any posts on X like this, people usually make comment below the post and warns people about the scam. There is less chance people will fall for this. But in this attack, scammers turned off the comment option so that people may not warn others. It does not stop people from making awareness.
People warned others of this fake token scam and shared the post so that no one falls for this scam. When you see any post about any offer and see the comment option is disabled, I consider that a red flag. They must hide something or do not want something to be revealed. Say away from this as far as you can.
Recently the FBI warned of criminal actors' phishing attacks via compromising social media accounts. Attorney Jeremy Hogan is known for his positive stance on XRP. His X account was hacked and hackers promoted fake XRP giveaways. You know about how hackers hacked Uniswap founder Hayden Adams' X account to spread phishing links.
Watch out and protect your crypto assets.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/binary-black-cyber-data-digits-2170630/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bitcoin-digital-money-decentralized-3227986/ https://crypto.news/blockchain-capitals-twitter-account-hacked/
FBI Warns Of Phishing Attacks In The Crypto Space
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned of phishing attacks in the crypto space and how criminal actors exploit and drain NFTs and cryptocurrencies from victims' wallets. Hackers usually create a sense of urgency in their tweets or messages. The potential victims do not get the time to think before acting on it.
Having a sense of urgency does not mean it is from scammers and hackers. When digital marketers do marketing, they also create a sense of urgency in their posts, ads, and offers. We often see that online. So you cannot give a red flag instantly.
It is not easy to detect that the posts come from bad actors because that is a legitimate account. The thing is, bad actors compromise the real social media accounts that have a high reputation and then promote fake giveaways, and airdrops.
For example, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams’ X account was compromised, and hackers warned of Uniswap exploit. Since it comes from the founder, there is a high chance people will act on it. When it mentioned that tokens are at risk, people are ready to do something to protect their tokens. Then hackers gave a phishing link.
The FBI comes forward to talk about criminal actors' moves to compromise social media accounts to launch phishing attacks. The phishing link directs potential victims to a fake website which is designed to drain their wallets. If they click somewhere to claim airdrops or for any reason and connect their wallets, bad actors steal their crypto assets.
X user StockEd clicked a Google ad that pops up on search results but did not connect the wallet. It is surprising but more than $300,000 worth of NFTs was stolen from the wallet. You cannot say you just click the link to take a look at the website and you are safe.
Maybe there was malware or any other form of virus that enabled the hackers to exploit and drain the victim's wallet. Or that person mistakenly clicked somewhere on the website that caused this to happen. Unfortunately, you will see Google ads run by scammers that show up on search results. I avoid clicking Google ads.
Many people lost their crypto becoming victims of phishing attacks. It is great to see that the FBI talked about it and warned people so that they do not fall for any scams.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/hacking-cyber-blackandwhite-crime-2903156/ https://twitter.com/robbyhammz/status/1687672153796235265 https://cointelegraph.com/news/fbi-warns-of-phishing-scams-and-social-media-account-hijackers
Revolut Is Going To Stop Providing Crypto Services In The US
The financial technology company Revolut made a tough decision to stop providing all crypto services in the United States. If you use Revolut, you do not need to worry about stopping to get any crypto services suddenly.
Revolut will not allow US customers to buy cryptocurrency on its platform from September 2. They will completely stop providing any cryptocurrency services from October 3, 2023. So users still have enough time to move their crypto assets and do what is best for them.
According to Revolut, regulatory uncertainty is the reason behind making this hard decision. When there is regulatory clarity, crypto companies know what they can or cannot do. They can operate their business without getting into any problems with regulatory agencies.
Popular crypto companies ask for regulatory clarity, unfortunately, they don't get a clear answer. What they get instead are fines and lawsuits. It pushes crypto businesses and investors out of the country. It is actually happening.
If the intention is to regulate crypto and protect investors, there should be clear regulatory guidelines. After a partial win in court, it shows XRP is not a security. Besides Bitcoin and XRP, the regulatory agency can claim any crypto as a security. There is no clear answer whether Ethereum is a security or not.
It is difficult to provide crypto services without having regulatory clarity. That's why crypto companies delist some crypto that could be securities or stop providing crypto services. Suspending cryptocurrency services like this definitely impacts Revolut's use base. According to Revolut, it will impact 1%of its global crypto customers due to leaving the U.S. market.
Crypto businesses find a crypto-friendly country to set up and run their business. Some countries see this as an opportunity to attract crypto business and those counties will surely do well in the future. They will lead the innovation and development in the crypto industry.
The central authority cannot stop the movement that starts with Bitcoin. You can be your own bank. The dependency on centralized institutions will go down. They can only slow down the adoption of crypto. They cannot put a stop sign on it.
This is the power of crypto and people will embrace it to enjoy freedom. Driving the crypto businesses away is not good for a country. Hope crypto businesses will get regulatory clarity and there will be crypto-friendly regulations.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/chart-stock-market-iphone-dollars-6716410/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bitcoin-coin-crypto-currency-bit-3227442/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-revolut-to-suspend-cryptocurrency-services-in-us
A Man Lost $9 Million In A Crypto Romance Scam On LinkedIn
People usually fall for crypto romance scams on dating websites. Crypto scams are on the rise on social media like Instagram, X, and Meta. Have you ever heard of falling for a crypto romance scam on LinkedIn?
A man from Minnesota lost $9 million investing in a scam crypto project Coinrule-web3. That scammer reached out to him on LinkedIn and gained the trust of the victim. The conversation moved from puppy love to investment and how to make a huge amount of money quickly.
That woman showed love and dreams of getting quick wealth. The victim invested $100,000 at a time. He was very happy to see the return of investments on a fake website. He started investing more in the Coinrule-web3 project for six months and kept everything secret from his wife.
Things were doing well, but when he wanted to withdraw money from the investment scheme, that woman from LinkedIn informed him to pay a $2.8 million fee for getting returns. At this point, he talked to his wife about withdrawing the remaining assets in order to pay the fee.
His wife was shocked to know that his husband invested in a fake crypto investment scheme for the last six months. She called the police and reported everything on June 15. The police started investigating immediately and found out that Coinrule-web3 is related to cryptocurrency and romance scams.
Investing in crypto trusting someone without doing any research and analysis is a big mistake. Even if that person is an expert in investing in crypto, still you have to do the work. Investing in crypto is not like you throw some money into cryptocurrency and you wait for when you get rich. The victim would not fall for this crypto scam, if he put his time to investigate and understand what he was doing.
When he was asked to pay a $2.8 million fee to withdraw his return, that must be a stop sign. Giving that huge amount of fee only rises the figure of losing money. It is sad to see people fall for this kind of crypto romance scam even after getting married. Hope they would find a way to recover the loss.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/hands-rose-love-red-romance-1161112/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-phishing-cyber-crime-6989423/ https://crypto.news/minnesota-man-loses-9m-in-linkedin-crypto-romance-scam/
Binance CEO Warns About The Latest Scams In Crypto
You might have heard about the latest crypto scam where the victim lost $20 million USDT. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, CZ tweeted about it and warned the crypto community to stay safe. The surprising thing is, Tether put the scammers' address on the blacklist immediately within 1 hour.
Maybe you are wondering about who the person is becoming a victim and Tether took action so quickly to blacklist the address. According to Binance CEO, that person is a very experienced crypto operator. After noticing the mistake of sending USDT to the wrong address, that person quickly informed Binance about that.
Binance made a request to freeze the USDT and Tether did that. Quick action after any mistake can help find a solution. Scammers successfully stole the USDT but failed to get away with that. Maybe that person has a high connection or gets lucky. If an experienced crypto operator can fall for scams and send crypto to the wrong address, it can happen to others.
We usually look for convenience. We will usually choose the convenient one, and there is nothing wrong with that. But if that can be a reason behind making a costly mistake, it is better to avoid that. Scammers target potential victims and generate addresses matching starting and ending characters of the address where victims send crypto. Then they send 0 tokens to that address that shows up in the potential victim's history.
In case the potential victim copies the address from the history and does not check the address properly, he will send crypto to the wrong address. The victim sends crypto to the scammers' address on his own if somehow scammers convince him or trick him to do so.
Scammers are getting better to trick people. They use advanced tactics to launch their attacks in order to exploit and hack. You can invest and build your crypto assets. You will find it more challenging and difficult to protect your crypto assets.
You need to change your habit of picking up the address from history to make transactions, in case you usually do that. Losing your crypto assets is one of the most painful lessons. Hope no one has to learn this lesson the hard way.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/vr-virtual-reality-metaverse-7185802/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-hacker-hacking-privacy-fraud-7435657/ https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1686764372616515585
Tether Blacklists The Address Of Stolen $20 Million USDT
Zero transfer scammer successfully stole $20 million USDT and that is immediately blacklisted by Tether. It is good to know that scammers cannot use the USDT that they stole by zero transfer phishing attacks. This kind of phishing attack started in December 2022 and scammers stole more than $40 million.
Crypto detective ZachXBT is well known for investigating and exposing scams and exploits. The speed of taking action against stolen USDT from Tether is unusual. It was very fast. ZachXBT is curious to know who this individual is. The company blacklisted the address pretty fast within 1 hour.
According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, the victim wanted to send $20 million USDT to one address but sent it to the wrong address that is controlled by scammers. The address the victim intended to send USDT is 0xa7B4BAC8f0f9692e56750aEFB5f6cB5516E90570. But mistakenly it was sent to the phishing address 0xa7Bf48749D2E4aA29e3209879956b9bAa9E90570.
If you look at both addresses, you see some first characters and last characters are the same. We usually do not check out the entire address before sending crypto. We just see a couple of first characters and last characters. And that's one of the reasons, the potential victims may fall for scams.
Scammers noticed that the victim sent $10 million USDT to a specific address. They created a similar address, you may not realize that's a wrong address at first glance. Scammers sent 0 tokens from the victim's address to the phishing address. And that transaction appears in the transaction history.
When the victim copied the address from the history, that was the scammers' address and sent $20 million USDT. Scammers fool victims with zero transfer scams. The most important thing before sending any crypto is to check out the address properly. Even if you copy the address from the history, you will not send crypto when you check it out.
It is easy to copy an address from the history. It is better to avoid this practice. You may not know whether you are the scammer's next target. Bad actors are waiting for you to make the mistake and send crypto to them. So what do you think we can do to protect against zero transfer phishing attacks?
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/phishing-fraud-cyber-security-3390518/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/cybersecurity-cyber-hacker-fraud-7183284/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/zero-transfer-scammer-steals-20-million-usdt
Nigeria’s SEC Declares Binance Operations Illegal
When you deal with some problems, you will see more problems come on your way. It feels like every challenging factors are active to challenge you and you have to face them all. Everyone knows that the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance handles some challenging situations.
Now the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warns against trading on Binance. They talk about the risk of investing in crypto and especially warn against investing with Binance. The agency stated that Binance does not have a license to operate its business and its operation is illegal in Nigeria.
The SEC warned people against Binance Nigeria. It sounds like a company that is related to Binance or controlled by Binance. The thing is, Binance Nigeria is a fraudulent company that uses the Binance brand. It has no affiliation with the crypto exchange Binance. That indicates that this entity intends to deceive people.
Binance confirmed that they had no relation with Binance Nigeria. The fraudulent entity uses the Binance brand to mislead people. The SEC has made its move against Binance which will put more pressure. The SEC points out the risk in crypto and the possible result of losing investments.
Do you think investors don't consider the risk while investing in cryptocurrency? They do their analysis and research before making any move to invest in crypto assets. The SEC's approach will discourage people from using crypto exchanges. People will choose alternatives to trade and invest in crypto.
There are reasons why the crypto adoption rate is high in Nigeria. The inflation rate is so high. People are losing purchasing power consistently. They consider crypto as a way to deal with the problems they are struggling with. Crypto is a blessing. They find solutions in crypto and see the light to improve their finances.
According to the SEC, anyone dealing with crypto or an unregistered crypto exchange does that at their own risk. The central authority puts more pressure on this crypto exchange. You often hear them talking about protecting investors. Are you wondering like me whether the regulatory agency is there to protect retail investors or institutional investors?
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/bitcoin-money-cryptocurrency-6204671/ https://pixabay.com/photos/money-bitcoin-financial-currency-6990721/ https://blockchain.news/news/sec-nigeria-issues-warning-against-investing-with-binance;-declares-operations-illegal
The SEC Asked Coinbase To Delist Everything Except Bitcoin
The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission first filed a lawsuit against Binance. The next day, the SEC made its move to sue the popular crypto exchange Coinbase. We may not know what happened behind the scene. Do you know what the SEC asked Coinbase to do prior to suing the exchange?
Recently Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, revealed valuable information about that in an interview with the Financial Times. He claimed that the SEC wanted Coinbase to halt all cryptocurrency trading except Bitcoin. SEC chairman Gary Gensler often says that everything other than Bitcoin is a security.
Coinbase asked the SEC about how they come to the conclusion about this because this is not the way the exchange sees the interpretation of laws. It is interesting how the SEC responds. Their response was like, they were not going to explain how they made this decision, but they demanded the crypto exchange to delist every crypto trading except Bitcoin.
Then the SEC took legal action and pressed charges against Coinbase for operating as an unregistered exchange and mentioned 13 cryptocurrencies as unregistered securities. There is way more crypto trading in the exchange, why did they not bring charges against the rest of cryptocurrencies as unregistered securities?
The central authority always gets things done enforcing their power. They do not even give a clear answer whether specific crypto is a security or not. Coinbase did its best to get regulatory clarity from the SEC but ended up being disappointed.
It is not for a specific country, you may notice a similar thing in other countries that go hard on crypto. They show their power to take any action, and unfortunately often get away with that. It is the nature of centralization that intends to silence the voice with power.
You will not get a clear answer from the authority. I think they keep it vague intentionally so that they can have more options to do anything they wish. It is difficult to run crypto businesses in this situation. I do believe the situation will change because crypto is unstoppable. And big guys do not want to miss out on this huge opportunity that crypto offers.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/gavel-usa-flag-justice-judge-7533906/ https://pixabay.com/photos/coin-silver-gold-currency-bitcoin-5282271/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-told-coinbase-delist-all-cryptocurrencies-but-bitcoin-brian-armstrong
Are You Aware Of Fake Audits In Crypto?
Before interacting with a crypto platform, you think about how safe and secure the platform is. No one wants to lose their cryptocurrencies. It is important for the crypto platform to gain the trust of users. After seeing an audit report, you will assure that the crypto platform is safe to use and make any interaction. The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission warns about fake audits in crypto.
According to Paul Munter, chief accountant of the SEC, accounting firms have obligations, and if their finding is misrepresented while working with a crypto company, it has serious consequences. When accounting firms analyze and review certain parts of the crypto business, that can be presented in the wrong way and a fake audit report will get the business in trouble.
People might put their trust after seeing the audit report and if that's a fake report, that's misleading. People can make the wrong decisions and end up losing financially. Accounting firms have a legal obligation, so it is better to stay away from any company that misrepresents their report to deceive people.
You see only assets of a crypto platform and conclude that is safe because they have sufficient funds in their accounts to meet the users' demand. Don't you think you see only one side? Do you check out the liabilities that the company has? You have to see assets and liabilities to have a better view of that company's financial condition.
When you are convinced by your analysis, you can move forward. You cannot rely on a crypto platform only because some famous guys make endorsements and talk about it. They will not be there when you become a victim and lose your crypto assets.
The warning from the SEC about fake audits in crypto raises concern. There are scammers and hackers that keep making damage in the crypto industry. If crypto companies do some trick to present fake audit reports, that will make people do things that they would not do in the first place. Crypto is like the wild west. Watch out and stay safe.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/accounting-report-credit-card-761599/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/analytics-data-analytics-graph-2158454/ https://crypto.news/sec-warns-against-fake-audits-in-crypto/
Crypto.com Gets Regulatory Approval In The Netherlands
We often hear negative news when crypto exchanges fail to fulfill the requirements and register in a country. The good news, one of the popular crypto exchanges crypto.com got regulatory approval in the Netherlands. Now they can expand their service over there.
This crypto exchange went through a comprehensive review of its business and compliance with the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and anti-terrorism laws. Then finally they got a green signal to offer its services from De Nederlandsche Bank. They are happy about this.
The company achieves a significant milestone by getting regulatory approval. And it shows their commitment to working with regulators and following regulations to be regulatory compliant. Recently they also got a regulatory license in Spain to run their business.
On the flip side, crypto exchange Binance exited the Netherlands after failing to secure regulatory approval from regulators to run their business. Crypto.com makes its move and sees an opportunity in the Netherlands.
Binance recently confirmed about withdrawal of its application for a crypto license in Germany. They are interested to expand their business and offer services over there. So we may see they will get regulatory approval in the future to run their business over there.
I think crypto.com is careful about making its move so that they do not get into trouble. For example, they stopped providing institutional exchange services in the US. Although they pointed out that low demand from institutions and challenging market conditions are the reason for their actions, they did it to stay on the safe side.
Regulators can put extreme pressure on crypto companies. Crypto businesses can focus their shift to go offshore and that would not be good for a country that drives crypto companies away. There will be some sort of balance to support innovation and development.
The central authority cannot destroy something that is truly decentralized. Everything cannot be controlled and that's the truth. Despite regulatory pressure and challenging market conditions, the adoption rate of crypto is going up. It will not slow down, so we will see a bright future in crypto.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/handshake-hands-men-businessmen-5760544/ https://pixabay.com/photos/crypto-bitcoin-hacker-auction-6733805/ https://cryptopotato.com/crypto-com-expands-its-european-presence-by-registering-in-the-netherlands/
CoinsPaid Suspecting Lazarus Group Behind The Hack Of $37.3 Million
Hackers hacked the internal system of the crypto payments platform CoinsPaid and stole $37.3 million on July 22. CoinsPaid pointed fingers at the notorious Lazarus Group for this incident. Lazarus Group is behind hacking many high-profile companies and the mastermind of cyber attacks.
CoinsPaid suspects that this powerful hacker group is responsible for hacking $37.3 million. It makes significant damage to the platform and they stopped the operation for four days. After four days, they resume their operation in a limited environment.
They have already reported this to Estonian law enforcement to investigate this exploit. Not only that, they are also working with blockchain security firms including Chainalysis, Match Systems, and Crystal. CoinsPaid gets support from crypto communities to deal with this challenging situation.
CoinsPaid CEO Max Krupyshev pays more attention to the security of the platform and users' assets. They are doing everything that can to minimize the loss and hold the Lazarus Group accountable for their crimes. Crypto payments processor Alphapo was hacked recently and hackers managed to drain more than $60 million.
Atomic Wallet became a victim of hacks and again hackers got away with stealing crypto assets. Is there any link related to the CoinsPaid hack with the hack of Alphapo and Atomic Wallet.? Blockchain security firm SlowMist thinks there is a link to this hack.
CoinsPaid did not reveal how hackers hacked its platform and stole its funds. It remains a mystery how this notorious hacker group manages to get access and exploit the platforms. It is assumed that Lazarus Group is good at doing social engineering targeting people who work in crypto projects and cybersecurity sectors.
The hacker group somehow pursues professionals on social media and makes them fall into their traps to get sensitive information. Then they plan to launch an attack on each platform. People who work in crypto projects and cybersecurity sectors have to be more careful while using social media.
It takes time to invest and build your crypto assets. You can lose everything in crypto if hackers are able to make you fall into their traps. There is no alternative to staying vigilant. I wish no one would go through a negative experience of hacks in crypto.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/hacker-hacking-computer-security-3480124/ https://pixabay.com/photos/cyber-security-internet-network-4610993/ https://crypto.news/breaking-coinspaid-targeted-in-37-3-million-hack/
Crypto Exchange Binance Withdraws Application For Crypto License In Germany
Crypto exchange Binance has to make some tough decisions sometimes. And withdrawing its application for a crypto license in Germany seems like that. The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) rejected Binance's crypto exchange license almost one month ago. It was not so clear then.
It was not confirmed whether regulators officially rejected the application or verbally let the company know about it. Now Binance makes it clear that it has withdrawn its cryptocurrency license application officially. According to a Binance spokesperson, the crypto exchange still wants to apply for a crypto license in Germany.
The thing is, the situation in the international market has already changed significantly. Regulators come up with new regulations or implement the existing regulations in crypto. The crypto exchange application is supposed to reflect those changes. Regulators may not give a positive signal if they don't get an application reflecting those changes.
There are new crypto regulations or significant changes in upcoming regulations. Binance wants to be more regulatory compliant and that's its focus. The exchange will offer its exchange services complying with European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations as well as expand its services in European countries.
The crypto exchange has to consider everything seriously when it comes to expanding its operation in a tough situation like this. The U.S. SEC puts so much pressure on Binance filing lawsuits against Binance and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. Moreover, this exchange has been under investigation in France which started in early 2022.
The crypto exchange has to be ready to face the upcoming unfavorable situation. Binance has already made some tough decisions like quitting Canada even though that's a huge market. Binance also exited the Netherlands due to failing to meet registration requirements to operate its business.
Things do not look good while handling these challenging situations. The most popular crypto exchange Binance has the experience and necessary skills to deal with difficult situations. The truth is, the crypto market gets bigger. More people are adopting crypto and they see how it changes their life. The present situation will surely change sooner or later.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/cryptocurrency-binance-crypto-6850639/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bitcoin-litecoin-binance-coin-6967808/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-withdraws-crypto-license-germany
Is Pro-XRP Attorney Promoting Fake XRP Giveaways on Twitter?
People are interested to know updates about XRP. After the partial win of XRP Against the U.S. SEC, crypto communities are excited about it. The SEC is not happy about the outcome and signals to appeal. People want to get updates on the SEC's move.
Attorney Jeremy Hogan who is well known for his pro-XRP stance tweeted to celebrate the win and start XRP giveaways. People usually follow what he tweets due to his stance on XRP. Wait. Is that a fake XRP giveaway? Yes, that's a fake giveaway to fall people into the traps.
Jeremy Hogan's Twitter account has been compromised. This is not the Attorney who made this tweet. It came from hackers who hacked his Twitter account. Lawyer and founder of Seedstarter Jesse Hynes found out about it and warned people not to click the link.
Jeremy Hogan was on vacation with his family at the time of hacking his Twitter account and promoting fake XRP giveaways. Looks like you cannot relax thinking about what's happening on your account. Hackers and scammers make this situation worse.
You react fast when you get to know something bad happened. It is not like you make some mistakes. You just become a victim. If you become a victim, you make your move to regain access to your account and minimize the loss.
Due to this incident, Attorney Jeremy Hogan's professional reputation has been affected negatively. It also impacts his personal life. Hackers do not randomly hack someone's potential victims' Twitter accounts. They plan how to launch phishing attacks after compromising accounts.
When the co-founder and CEO of Sandbox Arthur Madrid's Twitter account was compromised, hackers promoted an airdrop of SAND tokens which is the native currency of Sandbox. OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati was hacked to promote crypto airdrops.
Recently Uniswap founder Hayden Adams’ Twitter account was also hacked and then hackers tweeted fake news of Uniswap exploit and pursued users to click the link to revote immediately. It gets easier for hackers to make more people fall for scams when they tweet from real Twitter accounts.
Hope people would not fall for the fake XRP giveaways scam. Watch out and stay safe!
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/ripple-cryptocurrencies-crypto-6237041/ https://twitter.com/jesse_hynes/status/1683595172943151104 https://crypto.news/pro-xrp-attorneys-twitter-hacked-to-promote-fake-giveaways/
Alphapo Hacked and Lost Over $31 Million In Crypto
Alphapo, a payment processor, was hacked and lost more than $31 million in different cryptocurrencies. Crypto detective ZachXBT warned people about this exploit where hackers hacked Alphapo's hot wallets and drained over $31 million worth of crypto.
The point to be noted, it is confirmed that hackers managed to steal over $31 million. The number of stolen Bitcoin is uncertain, so the total stolen crypto would be a lot higher than what is found now. They are still doing more investigations.
According to ZachXBT’s report, hackers gained access to Alphapo's hot wallets by exploiting the vulnerabilities of the platform's security. When they managed to get access to the hot wallets for Ethereum, Tron, and Bitcoin, they transferred and swapped funds for ETH. Then hackers bridged to the Avalanche and Bitcoin blockchains. They transferred stolen funds to different wallets to make it difficult to track.
We may get more information later. According to DeDotFi’s security team, a leak of private keys caused this hack. Hackers are active to take advantage of any opportunity or vulnerability to launch their attacks. That is a big loss for the platform.
Alphapo is well-known as a payment processor that offers instant payment services in more than 30 cryptocurrencies and a wide range of fiat currencies. It is also used as a payment gateway for some gambling platforms like HypeDrop, Bovada, and Ignition.
Gambling platforms offer gambling services, but now they are in trouble due to the hack of the payment processor Alphapo. HypeDrop stopped deposits and withdrawals of crypto. They assured users not to worry about this.
Pending deposits on HypeDrop will be added to the balance when the payment processor starts its operation. Users have to make new requests to withdraw since pending withdrawal requests are canceled.
One crypto platform is directly or indirectly related to other platforms. So when hackers exploit and hack a crypto platform, it affects others. The team always tries to recover the stolen funds. Will they become successful to do that?
Blockchain security experts at SlowMist analyzed this attack and the flow of stolen funds. According to their analysis, the attackers' move is similar to the previous exploit that is associated with the North Korean notorious Lazarus group.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1. https://pixabay.com/photos/hacker-silhouette-hack-anonymous-3342696/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/hack-hacker-elite-hacking-exploits-813290/ https://unchainedcrypto.com/31-million-stolen-in-alphapo-hot-wallet-hack/
Social Payments App Bundle Closing Crypto Exchange Services
You expect there will be more facilities to interact with crypto and use crypto in daily life. The adoption rate of crypto increases, but at the same time, there are obstacles that force it to close crypto services. Bundle, a popular Nigerian social payments app, is shutting down its crypto exchange services.
Bundle did not disclose why they take this decision to discontinue its crypto exchange services. It seems they are going back to focus more on its core business. The unfavorable market condition can be a reason behind their action.
Bundle gained popularity in Nigeria providing its crypto exchange services. Customers are happy to use their platform. You can guess they are facing challenging situations, otherwise, they did not make this decision.
People can trade on their platform till September 30, 2023. They will not be able to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies in Bundle after that. Retail investors may choose other crypto exchanges to do trading and investments.
Due to the regulatory crackdown on crypto, there is uncertainty. And you cannot overlook that. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) pays more attention to the potential risk in crypto. It is claimed that crypto is used to do illicit activity, terror finance, and money laundering. Creating barriers to crypto is like doing good things for retail investors.
The central authority assumes crypto is something that will disrupt the financial system, and create instability which can be a big challenge. It may even threaten the national security. Looks like the CBN is highly concerned about the financial system, and the risk of using crypto in the country.
Do you feel like the central authority plays the same old song everywhere? Crypto is bad that is used to do illegal activities. They are doing everything to protect people from getting involved in risky crypto investments. Who are they protecting anyway?
When it comes to illicit activity, fiat currency is the winner. Do they raise concerns about fiat currency? It is as if crypto is the only problem and they are worried about it.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/trading-investing-stocks-options-7181179/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bitcoin-currency-crypt-2348392/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/nigerias-social-payments-app-bundle-shutting-down-crypto-exchange/
An Old Man Lost His Life Savings Of Over $340,000 In Crypto Fraud
Why do you use social media? Do you use social media to get investment advice? Some experts will appear on your social media feeds and show you ways to make a living changing money. People lose a lot of money falling for crypto fraud.
Naum Lantsman, a 74 years old man lost his life savings of more than $340,000 becoming a victim of crypto fraud on social media. If you are young, you have time and more opportunities to make money to recover from the loss. It is sad to see this.
It is not that he has never heard of crypto scams but did not expect he would go through this. He saw a post about SpireBit on Instagram. It claims to be an international financial broker that deals with cryptocurrency. He created an account on SpireBit without doing any research about it.
A representative on Spirebit reached out to him on Telegram. After talking for a couple of days, he invested there. It started with a $500 investment which surprisingly turned into over $340,000 loss. How could someone invest that much amount over there?
The trick is on the dashboard. It shows he makes a profit from every trade. That seems incredible! Greed kicks in. People usually want to make more profit. So the investment amount increases. It ended up losing life savings money.
When you see something on social media especially something that is related to crypto and investment, you must not act on it without doing your research and investigation. Crypto fraud and scams are happening over and over on social media. First people see something that seems hard to avoid and act on it.
How you react and then take action in crypto, that's important. Scammers can impersonate someone or hack popular and reputed individual accounts to launch phishing attacks. Recently hackers hacked Uniswap founder Hayden Adams’ Twitter account and tweeted warnings about Uniswap exploit which did not happen. Then added a link to revoke quickly to keep tokens safe.
Crypto is not some sort of magic. Fear, greed, and taking investment decisions without doing any research can get anyone in trouble. There is a high chance it would cause losing hard-earned money.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-hacker-anonymous-mask-7473371/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-hacker-anonymous-7503835/
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/vermont-issues-crypto-fraud-alert-on-media
Hackers Used Uniswap Founder’s Compromised Twitter Account To Promote Scam
Do you trust tweets on Twitter?
You get updates and valuable information on Twitter. Popular and trustworthy people are there to share important things in crypto. When you see any tweet on Twitter, are you sure about whether that comes from an authentic source? You might not know whether that comes from a scammer or not. That Twitter account could be compromised.
Uniswap founder Hayden Adams’ Twitter account has been compromised and hackers used that account to promote scams. So why would you click the scammers' tweet link? They will create an artificial situation that you are more likely to click the link.
After getting access to the Uniswap founder’s Twitter account, scammers tweeted warnings about Uniswap exploit. People would get panic seeing that and since that comes from the founder, many people might trust that. Scammers say tokens are at risk, and suggest clicking the link to revoke it immediately.
Since people get panic and are worried about the tokens, there is a high chance that people will fall for it. Web3 Security Alerts notified that Hayden Adams’ Twitter account has been compromised and what people see comes from scammers.
Uniswap Labs made a tweet confirming the Twitter account hack. And Uniswap protocol has not been hacked or exploited in any way. They advised followers not to click any links. It is also mentioned that there is no airdrop or giveaway.
Uniswap founder regained control of his Twitter account and tweeted about it which is confirmed by Uniswap Labs. It is good to see they resolved this issue and get access to the Twitter account. I do not know whether someone falls for this scam or not.
When people get panic, they cannot think clearly. At that time, they might make mistakes. Scammers use the tactic to install fear or greed in people's minds so that they do what scammers want. Many people lose their crypto assets becoming victims of scams.
It takes time to build crypto assets but you can lose it quickly if scammers are successful to make you fall into their traps. Seeing the present situation, it seems you cannot blindly trust any tweet even if it comes from a reputed Twitter account. Watch out and take care.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/smartphone-twitter-mobile-phone-586944/ https://twitter.com/Uniswap/status/1682130018225225728
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/hackers-compromise-uniswap-founder-twitter-account-promote-scam
Is Crypto Treated Like Gambling?
The regulatory authority wants to regulate the crypto market and they come up with their approach to see this market. In the UK, the House of Commons Treasury Committee made a proposal on regulating crypto retail trading in the same way as gambling. The UK government rejected this proposal.
Do you see crypto as gambling? Or when you do trading as a retail trader, do you feel like you are gambling? Big guys who say crypto is a bubble may treat crypto as gambling like throwing some money and they can win or lose. It is not a way to build wealth, they build their wealth on the existing financial system and impose their perspective on crypto.
When you do trading in crypto, you are not gambling. You analyze the market, take an entry, set stop loss and profit, and stick to your system. You do not throw some money into crypto and hope to become rich. Gambling is different and obviously, you are not gambling in crypto.
You invest in crypto to build wealth outside of the existing financial system. There is no middleman and decentralization gives it special power that the centralized authority cannot take that away. You find freedom in crypto and see a bright future.
The government can follow its standards. I don't think treating crypto like gambling is the right approach. Some people can gamble in crypto and that does not turn crypto into gambling. You are missing the whole point if you have a gambling mindset.
Regulatory clarity is important. It gives institutions more confidence to allocate their capital to crypto. Crypto-friendly regulations will support crypto businesses to grow and accelerate innovation and development in this sector. But if the regulatory agency goes after crypto to put a limitation on crypto-related companies, that will force them to go offshore.
Crypto companies will gradually shift their businesses where they get a crypto-friendly environment. Regulatory agencies crack down on crypto pointing fingers at protecting retail investors. But most of the time retail investors get hurt by their actions.
You cannot treat crypto as gambling. If you do, you still close your eyes and cannot see what is coming up in crypto.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/gambling-roulette-game-bank-2001035/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/background-logo-business-technology-6206622/
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-uk-rejects-regulating-crypto-gambling
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