What Would Happen To Your Crypto Assets When You Are No More?
Did you get cryptocurrency from your parents? How about your kids? Your kids can inherit crypto. Many people invest in crypto assets and things are changing. Your loved ones will get cryptocurrency from you. What would happen to your crypto assets when you are no more?
We usually do not prefer to talk about that part. But the fact is, we cannot live forever. Now you work hard to invest in crypto and grow your wealth. You hold your crypto assets securely and do not want to compromise their safety and security.
You want your loved ones to get your crypto assets when you are no more. But if your private keys disappear with you, your kids will not have access to your crypto assets. Again if you tell more people about crypto holdings and private keys, you lower the security of your cryptocurrency.
It is not difficult to make an arrangement for other assets so that your loved ones get that. When you think about crypto inheritance, there are challenges and complexity. Crypto laws and regulations may not be clear. What you think is okay today can be an unregistered security in the future.
The lack of clear regulatory guidelines adds an extra layer of complexity. You may not face this in other assets class. You cannot say how crypto regulations will change and how they will impact your crypto holdings in the future.
You should decide what you would do so that your loved ones can get your crypto assets. It is better to teach your loved ones about how to handle crypto assets. Otherwise, even if they get access to your crypto assets, they might fail to handle that.
You can give them clear instructions about what to do to get access to your cryptocurrency when you are not there to guide them. You add an extra layer of security and do not keep your all eggs in one basket, aka, you can hold your crypto in different wallets. In case something happens to one wallet, your crypto assets in other wallets remain safe.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/lonely-alone-man-person-silhouette-7689797/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bitcoin-blockchain-crypto-3510168/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/crypto-inheritance-how-to-protect-your-digital-wealth-beyond-life/
Canadian Crypto Hacker Soup Stole Over $1 Million
We often hear the news of hacks, scam, and exploit. Many people become victims of hacks and end up losing their crypto assets. If victims know that they are going to lose their cryptocurrency, they will not take any further steps suggested by scammers. They will get back and stay safe.
Are you wondering about who is hacking and scamming people and how they do that? Crypto investigator ZachXBT revealed very valuable information about hackers and scammers. According to ZachXBT's investigation, a Canadian hacker who is known as Soup (Dan) is the mastermind behind several high-profile scams and phishing attacks.
Soup (Dan) helped to launch high-profile phishing attacks and stole more than $1 million in assets. This hacker along with his team successfully hacked the Discord server of several Web 3 projects. He attacked the Pika Protocol Discord Server and managed to steal more than $220k worth of crypto assets. Not only that, he is behind exploiting the Orbiter Finance Discord server and stealing over $760k.
It is surprising how they are able to get access to Web 3 projects' official Discord server and scam people all over the world. Soup (Dan) impersonates Decrypt’s senior software engineer Luke Hamilton. He creates a fake Decrypt website and reaches out to legit crypto projects.
He tricks them into joining the Decrypt Discord server which is a fake one. Then he attempts to steal Web 3 projects' Discord token. Once he gets access to the targeted Discord server, he along with his team tricks people to fall into their traps.
When you see any message from the official Discord server of a Web 3 project, you will trust that since it comes from a trusted source. Potential victims usually have no idea at that point that the Discord server is compromised and they see what hackers show them. People easily fall for scams.
ZachXBT did a great job and shared more information about the hacker with the victims so that they can take legal action. It is better to double-check something if that looks suspicious. In case something is too good to be true, you must check that out properly before taking any further action.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-hacker-anonymous-7478783/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-hacker-fraud-cyber-7435646/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/canadian-crypto-hacker-soup-allegedly-stole-over-1m-in-scams/
Binance CEO CZ Admits Laying Off Employees
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the largest crypto exchange Binance laid off more than 1000 employees recently. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, CZ admitted that. He stated that they had to take this decision and it is referred to as involuntary termination.
But Binance CEO did not agree with the number of laid-off employees reported there. Binance is still hiring in order to enhance talent density, he added. There is FUD around Binance and that usually comes from traditional media outlets.
Many companies lay off their employees sometimes. Especially due to unfavorable market conditions, we saw this happening. But it is also true that Binance has to deal with challenging situations. It reaches to an extent they cannot avoid it in any way.
The SEC filed lawsuits against Binance and its CEO CZ. Binance takes preparation to deal with costly and lengthy legal battles. Unfortunately, this exchange is going through regulatory security in other countries as well. Handling this unfavorable situation is not going to be easy and no one can predict the results.
This exchange has to deal with everything and keep running its business. Maybe they think it is better to lay off some employees and be prepared to face challenging situations. Ripple's partial win shows XRP is not a security and that is a good sign.
Regulators often point out some cryptos as security and play their cards to take legal action. They state that crypto exchanges have to register in a proper way. Without giving clear guidelines, they are more interested in charging a fine or filing a lawsuit against crypto exchanges.
The SEC stated XRP is an unregistered security which is not a security now. They claimed 68 cryptos as securities so far. Now after Ripple's partial win, it will be more difficult to prove those cryptos are securities. Several allegations were brought against Binance and CZ. No company likes to put its business at risk.
Probably the centralized authority goes after bigger exchanges to scare other crypto businesses. Binance is successful in its business as a crypto exchange. They faced challenging situations before and hope they will handle this unfavorable situation successfully.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1679951762906595330 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/statistics-transparency-company-706381/
Reference: 1 https://cryptopotato.com/cz-admits-to-involuntary-terminations-within-binance-but-disagrees-with-reported-numbers/
Don't Be A Victim Of Fake LayerZero Airdrop
Have you ever come across the LayerZero airdrop offer? You might have watched videos on YouTube talking about LayerZero airdrop. Airdrops are legit and many people earn money in crypto by participating in different airdrops.
You might be rewarded with airdrops because of the activity that you complete to participate in airdrops. Since this is free, many people are interested to participate. If you become a victim of a fake LayerZero airdrop, your cryptocurrency wallet balance will be zero.
Recently there are fake LayerZero airdrops and giveaways on Twitter targetting crypto enthusiasts. Blockchain security firm Certik warns people about this fake LayerZero airdrop that is promoted on Twitter. People may think that is a legit LayerZero airdrop.
They advised people not to interact with links on the tweet. The website it leads to is known as wallet drainer. Scammers follow the trends and trick people to fall into their traps. They start with phishing attacks promoting links to the website.
Potential victims click the link to participate in the airdrops. It redirects the victims to the fake Layerzero website that looks like the original one. Then they are asked to connect their crypto wallet to the website. Following instructions, they take action. Scammers drain their crypto wallets and victims are left with nothing.
I usually avoid airdrops. Many people are doing well participating in airdrops. In case you decide to participate in any airdrop, do not click random links on social media. Check that out properly. Don't get into FOMO to do anything. Scammers usually use the tactic of scarcity to take action quickly.
Potential victims do not get the time to think. There is a high chance people can avoid fake airdrops if they take the time to look into it. Do not jump into any offer without doing any research about that before. It is better to avoid scams at any cost. So watch out and be careful!
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/phishing-fraud-cyber-security-3390518/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/fraud-prevention-scam-corruption-3188092/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/fake-layerzero-airdrop-drains-victims-wallets/
Ripple CTO Warns On Fake XRP Airdrop and Scams
Ripple Labs' victory against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) creates positive vibes. The legal battle against the SEC started in December 2020. Now it's clear that XRP is not an unregistered security that the SEC claimed.
XPR price increased more than 70%, the price going up from $0.47 to $0.83. Not only the XRP community but also other crypto communities are happy about the outcome. Scammers take advantage of this situation to scam people.
Ripple CTO David Schwartz warned the community about ongoing scams of XRP airdrops. Scammers pretending as XRP community leaders promote fake XRP airdrops. Ripple CTO clearly mentioned in the tweet that there is no XRP airdrop or giveaways.
If you see any XRP airdrops in your feed, it is certain that the offer comes from scammers. Stay away from clicking any links to claim airdrops. Scammers replicate the official Ripple website and set up everything in such a way that people will not have any doubt at first glance.
Potential victims might connect their wallets or give information requested by crypto scammers. Later scammers will drain all crypto from the victims' wallets. Sometimes people get offers to get double the amount of XRP that is sent to the mentioned address.
Ripple stated that Ripple and its executives will never ask for any funds from the users. If you get any giveaway offer to double your XRP by sending XRP, it is obviously a scam. Report and block the tweet if you see any.
People are excited about XRP. Since the price went up quickly, it draws many people's attention. Scammers take advantage of the excitement and positive vibes to trick people. Don't be greedy and jump on to grab something out of FOMO.
There must be some reasons behind any offer you get. Nothing is free. Check that out and understand it first to move forward. Doing something out of FOMO without doing any research often leads to something pretty bad.
Scammers and fraudsters are active to take advantage of any situation. They make the scams look like a legit offer. More people fall for that because that is relevant and goes on the trend. Be aware of the scammers' moves and protect yourself from scams.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://twitter.com/Ripple/status/1679941597553922048 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-alert-cyber-attack-hack-7321925/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/ripple-warns-on-fake-xrp-airdrops-amid-us-ruling/
XRP Is Not A Security
Finally, Ripple Labs wins the case after a long legal battle in court with the U.S. SEC. XRP is not an unregistered security ruled by Federal District Judge Analisa Torres. One exception is when it's used to raise funds from institutions.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple and its two chief executives and brought allegations that Ripple offered unregistered security. It takes time to settle this issue. That's great news. There is a reflection on the XRP price after this win. XRP price went up to $0.83 from 0.47 in a short period of time.
People who bought XRP at a low price captured this gain. Maybe you wish you would buy or buy more XRP. When the SEC claims that any specific crypto is an unregistered security, people usually stay away from that crypto. Crypto exchanges delist that crypto quickly with a view to not getting into trouble.
It creates uncertainty and usually, the price of that crypto drops significantly. People start selling more and the price falls further. People who hold XRP, believe in this project and take the risk, they are super happy. I think this happiness and positive vibes spread everywhere.
At the time of filing lawsuits against the most popular crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase, the SEC mentioned some cryptocurrencies as unregistered securities. Some exchanges delisted some crypto after that. This victory shows once there is a lawsuit against specific crypto, that's not over. The outcome can be positive.
The way the centralized authority went after crypto, you got a feeling that every altcoin might end up being a security. Altcoins might not have a bright future. Things can change pretty quickly in crypto. And it does not take long to see the reflection in the crypto market.
Checking out your risk tolerance level first before investing in crypto. Once the price pumps, do not get into FOMO and make the decision to buy. Wait, observe the market, and then buy crypto based on your strategy.
So happy to see this victory. I'm excited to see what coming up next and how the crypto market reacts.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/coin-cryptocurrency-ripple-xrp-3786692/ https://pixabay.com/photos/bitcoin-gavel-ripple-regulation-7161668/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/xrp-is-not-a-security-us-judge-rules/
Bank of China Starts Offline Payment Trial For Digital Yuan Via SIM Cards
Nowadays you may hardly find any person who does not have a smartphone. Everyone uses apps and has an internet connection. Still are you always online? If not, it can be a barrier to increasing the user base of CBDC if people cannot use it offline.
The Bank of China is working on it and starting a trial of offline payment for Digital Yuan via SIM cards. People can make payments without an internet connection. The Bank of China made partnerships with two major telecom operators China Telecom and China Unicom.
They are working together to introduce offline payments for Digital Yuan via SIM cards. In the trial, they use specific Android phones. They select some specific areas to launch this trial. Users need to integrate the Digital Yuan app with “super SIM cards” to make payments.
Users need to bring phones near the point of sale terminals. Even it is possible to make payments with Digital Yuan offline without turning the phone on. It will be more convenient and secure. They are exploring more options to make it easy for everyone so that more people use it.
Not only in China, the way everything moves forward in other parts of the world, it is difficult to avoid Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). People always tend to accept something that is easy and convenient. But what we are losing to get that, we have to think that seriously.
You have money. How you use your money, that decision is yours. With CBDC, things can move in other directions. Are people willing to sacrifice their freedom and give more control to the central authority? Glad that we have cryptocurrency.
CBDC is here and at the same time, cryptocurrency is not going anywhere. We may see more trials like offline payments with CBDC. Many counties are working on their own Central Bank Digital Currency. They will also explore different options to make it better and easy to use. Otherwise, the adoption rate of CBDC will be extremely low.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://unsplash.com/photos/0VGG7cqTwCo https://unsplash.com/photos/NHRM1u4GD_A
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/cbdc-digital-yuan-bank-of-china-trials-offline-payments-for-digital-yuan-via-sim-cards
Arbitrum-Based DeFi Protocol Chibi Finance Rug Pulled
When you think about Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocol, you might think that's more secure. Hackers can hack DeFi protocol taking advantage of the vulnerability of the protocol. Or, the intention behind building a specific DeFi protocol can be scamming people and stealing their cryptocurrency.
Arbitrum-based DeFi protocol Chibi Finance rug pulled and drained more than $1 million. You will be surprised to know that Chibi Finance exit scam is the 12th incident on the Arbitrum platform in 2023. It's been only six months. It is shocking, so how many scams and rug pulls do we have to see for the rest of this year?
According to blockchain security firm CertiK's analysis, Chibi Finance developers deployed a malicious contract. And this malicious contact lets them steal user funds from the protocol smart contacts. This DeFi protocol's native token CHIBI price crashed by almost 99%.
After stealing the funds, they converted them into 555 ETH and moved ETH from Arbitrum to the Ethereum blockchain. Then the stolen funds have been sent to the crypto mixer Tornado Cash. They do not want to get caught in anyhow.
Chibi Finance Twitter account was deleted and the Telegram profile was disabled. Not only that, their website also disappeared. It was claimed that the Arbitrum-based DeFi protocol Chibi Finance was audited by blockchain security firm SolidProof. It gives a good impression and people think that's safe and secure.
They promoted their DeFi protocol heavily. Many influencers were busy promoting this protocol. That created hype in the community. People could do crazy things out of FOMO. When the DeFi protocol rug pulled, crypto influencers deleted the tweets. There were posts associated with Chibi Finance, they deleted those posts as well.
Due to the rise of crypto scams and hacks, it become more difficult to identify scam projects. Do not put your money into any crypto project without doing proper research and analysis. If any crypto project turns into a scam, probably it was a scam from the beginning. Victims figure out that when it becomes too late.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-hacker-anonymous-7503834/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-hacker-fraud-cyber-7435646/
Reference: 1 https://cryptoslate.com/chibi-finance-becomes-12th-arbitrum-based-protocol-to-rug-users-in-2023/
Binance Australia Got Only 12 Hours Notice Before Cutting Off From The Local Banking System
Sometimes we do not know details about how something happened. You just got to know you cannot do something anymore and that's it. You do not have the time to prepare for something or respond to that properly. Binance Australia only got 24 hours' notice and then it was turned out to 12 hours before cutting off from Australia’s banking system.
Binance regional manager Ben Rose talked about this on June 26 at the Australian Blockchain Week. Suddenly Binance Australia team was informed that its dollar services were about to be cut off from the local banking system.
Binance's third-party payments provider Zepto cannot support the transactions anymore. So the exchange had to suspend its Australian dollar services. For being the largest crypto exchange, many people use Binance. It has almost 1 million customers in Australia and they are unable to use this service.
Investors have their plans to invest in crypto. They will take entry into the crypto market according to their strategy. Now they can not do that using Binance like they used to do before. Or if they need to withdraw money into Australian dollars, they face the obstacle.
Investors cannot execute their plans to invest in cryptocurrency. Having restrictions on how much you can make payments to crypto exchanges to buy cryptocurrencies or holding payments temporarily will have a huge impact. The crypto market is highly volatile and you will definitely lose the moment when you want to take an entry.
On the flip side, more people become victims of scams and fraud. And the number is going up rapidly. People directly lose money in crypto scams, or sometimes crypto is used as a payment method. You will be surprised to know that Australia lost almost 221.3 million Australian dollars ($148.3 million) in 2022. They made the decision to impose restrictions for the protection against scams and frauds.
Will only imposing restrictions work to protect against scams and fraud? If people are not aware of scams, fraud, and risks of investing in crypto, they will fall into traps. The concerned authority should take the necessary steps to educate people. People can protect themselves when they invest in crypto. It can help to minimize the loss from scams and fraud.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/vectors/scam-phishing-fraud-money-6922102/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/cyber-security-information-security-3400657/
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-australia-debanked-on-short-notice-says-regional-manager
Bybit Gets A License To Expand Its Operation In Cyprus
When it comes to regulatory approval, you get a feeling to have a negative response. Due to ongoing regulatory scrutiny, you do not expect something positive. Fortunately, you do not face the same situation everywhere. Crypto exchange Bybit has received a license to operate the business in Cyprus.
Now this exchange can offer exchange and custody services to the people in the country. It is important to have easy on-ramps and off-ramps of crypto. People will get crypto-related financial services. Bybit has crypto and fiat currency pairs and traders can easily trade.
The central bank of Cyprus warned against cryptocurrency before. The vibe was like avoiding crypto. Now it seems they are interested to embrace blockchain technology and crypto. You cannot fight against technology. If you avoid or fight against technology, it will only let you down in the long run.
You can overlook what's going on and pretend like nothing is happening. People are adopting crypto and the adoption rate will keep going up. If a country becomes reluctant to embrace crypto and blockchain technology, it will stay behind.
I am wondering why some countries put extreme pressure on crypto exchanges. They just make it hard to operate crypto businesses in their countries or drive them away from their countries. They think they establish more control in this way. Bybit has stopped its services and exited Canada. Cyprus gives green signals and welcomes Bybit.
According to the co-founder and CEO of Bybit Ben Zhou, it is important to have a global presence and they are excited to operate their business and offer crypto services in Cyprus. It feels great to see positive news. Crypto exchange crypto.com also secured a regulatory license to operate its business in Spain.
If a country is able to draw the attention of crypto businesses, that will be better in the long run which will accelerate innovation and development in crypto. Crypto enterprises prefer to have certainty from a regulatory standpoint. They do not have to face challenging situations from regulatory agencies. It will be good for planning and executing the plan to move forward.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/blockchain-bitcoin-finance-currency-3253777/ https://pixabay.com/photos/bitcoin-money-cryptocurrency-6204671/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/bybit-expands-to-cyprus-with-a-newly-granted-license/
Crypto Hacker PlugwalkJoe Gets 5 Years In Prison
Seeing the rise of hacks and scams in crypto, do you think bad actors will get away with stolen crypto assets? Joseph O’Connor, a British hacker who is also known as PlugwalkJoe, got his punishment and has been sentenced to five years in prison in the United States.
Joseph launched a sim swap attack on a crypto exchange executive and stole $794,000 worth of cryptocurrencies in 2019. Then the hacker transferred cryptocurrency and made different transactions. Some of the stolen cryptos were deposited to a crypto exchange that is controlled by the hacker Joseph O’Connor.
This attacker got arrested in Spain in July 2021 and then sent back to the United States on April 26, 2023. He along with other bad actors committed different crimes. He hacked and got access to more than 130 popular Twitter accounts. Not only that, but he also managed to compromise TikTok and Snapchat.
He usually applied social engineering techniques and SIM swap attacks. He made targeted people fall into his trap. He also threatened the victims to expose private their chats and made them lose more financially. Literally, he blackmailed the victims to get things done.
SIM swap attack is a serious issue. The attackers somehow link the victim's SIM to another SIM that they control and take control of the victim's SIM. Then the attackers get messages and notifications. They use this SIM to gain access to the victim's account using SIM two-factor authentication.
Hacker Joseph managed to hack and steal $794,000 through a SIM swap attack on the crypto exchange executive. Now he has to pay the price in prison and return the stolen crypto assets. The hacker hurts himself by getting involved in crimes.
Probably bad actors think they can live their dream life destroying others' life. They can see the money and wealth, but they will not get peace and end up being in prison if get caught. Secure your crypto assets and don't fall for the scammers' traps. Watch out and stay safe.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/handcuffs-prisoner-crime-sin-921290/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/security-internet-crime-cyber-4700815/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/crypto-hacker-gets-5-years-in-prison-after-stealing-794000/
Crypto.com Receives A Regulatory License in Spain
Singapore-based crypto exchange crypto.com expands its global reach and finally obtained a Virtual Asset Service Provider registration from the Bank of Spain. This is great news for the crypto exchange. Due to regulatory scrutiny, there are a lot of restrictions and there is something that is not explicit.
To avoid unnecessary hassle and difficult situations, they take different steps to position themselves in a safe zone. Now crypto.com can provide its services to the people in Spain. The exchange went through a process to get the regulatory license. Everything is reviewed from Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) and other financial crimes laws' perspectives.
As per Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek's statement, they want to keep working with the Bank of Spain and provide a safe and secure crypto experience to the users. It also shows the exchange complies with the regulations and follows the guidelines of the regulatory agencies.
When there is regulatory clarity, I do think crypto companies will follow that to operate their business. But if that remains unclear intentionally or unintentionally, that is not helpful to run crypto businesses. The regulatory agencies come and accuse of something that crypto companies are not aware of.
Some crypto trading platforms delisted specific cryptocurrencies after the U.S. SEC's lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase and putting labels of some cryptos as securities. Crypto.com stops providing US institutional exchange services pointing out limited demand for institutional customers.
When the exchange is accused of manipulating market prices, that is not good for its reputation. Crypto.com denied all allegations about market price manipulations. They have an internal market maker that is used to lower the spread and improve order book liquidity. The thing is, it is treated exactly as a third-party market maker.
It is good to see that crypto.com works on expanding its business and focusing on other countries where it will get more opportunities. Not only Spain, this cryptocurrency exchange also received green signals from regulators in the UK, Australia, France, Dubai, South Korea, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and the Cayman Islands. In spite of challenging situations, we will see more adoption of crypto and things will get better.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/bitcoin-coin-money-electronic-money-2665932/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bitcoin-loss-stock-exchange-profit-3134829/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/spain-grants-virtual-asset-service-provider-registration-to-crypto-com/
More Than 100K Compromised ChatGPT Accounts Credentials Out There On Dark Web
You may hardly find anyone who does not hear about ChatGPT. Many people created accounts and the result of using the chatbot makes them surprised. Here is another surprise. More than 100K ChatGPT accounts login credentials were leaked and out there on dark web marketplaces, according to the report of Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Group-IB.
People have to create an account first to use ChatGPT. They can create an account directly via Openai or they can log in using their existing Google, Apple, or Microsoft account. Users' search queries, history, and the responses AI provides based on prompts are there.
Many companies and employees use ChatGPT and increase the efficiency and productivity of their work. Now hackers and bad actors can do anything with compromised account login credentials. They can use the company's or employees' sensitive information to launch an attack. It can be a big threat for companies that integrated ChatGPT and their accounts have been compromised.
According to Group-IB, the number of compromised ChatGPT accounts increases over time. It started in June 2022 and it was at its peak in May 2023. It is shocking that 26,802 account login credentials were leaked in May. The Asia-Pacific region is at the top of the list of compromised ChatGPT accounts.
Group-IB advised updating the passwords and using two-factor authentication to have better security. No one wants their accounts to be compromised and login credentials are available on dark web marketplaces.
Info-stealing malware is used in this attack. This malware can collect very sensitive information like credentials, cookies, browsing history saved in the browsers, crypto wallet information, and bank card detail information. After collecting information, the malware sends that to its operators.
Once your accounts are compromised, your accounts credentials are out there. In case your personal sensitive info falls into the wrong hands, it can make way more damage financially. You might see terrible things that you did not expect.
It is sad to see things like that keep happening and bad actors trick people fall into their traps. Hope experts and security analysts find a way to minimize this kind of attack. Stay safe.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/background-abstract-technology-6250712/ https://twitter.com/GroupIB_TI/status/1671069057318002691
Reference: 1 https://www.group-ib.com/media-center/press-releases/stealers-chatgpt-credentials/
Binance Launches Crypto Exchange In Kazakhstan
We keep getting bad news about Binance for a while. Now the good news is, Binance expands its operation and launches a new crypto exchange in Kazakhstan. They made the announcement of launching this platform on June 20, 2023. Kazakhstan’s banking industry representatives were present at the press event while making the announcement.
Binance got in-principle approval to run its business in August 2022. Then they received a permanent license from Kazakhstan’s Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) in October 2022. It allows the exchange to offer users different services including deposit and withdrawal of fiat currency, custody of cryptocurrency, exchange, and conversion services.
Kazakhstan’s Freedom Finance Bank offers banking services and users can use this service to deposit to the crypto exchange and withdraw fiat from the exchange. Two channels are available now to make the transaction, that is bank transfers and bank cards.
The largest crypto exchange Binance works with regulators to help and support the adoption of crypto in the country. It is good to see that Kazakhstan sees the potential of crypto and slowly moves forward with its initiatives. Crypto friendly regulatory framework for crypto assets is really important that can boost the development in this section.
We will see experts and entrepreneurs work on their projects and develop their own products that will add value to the crypto industry. Investors feel comfortable investing in different crypto projects.
The U.S. SEC's move against Binance creates a difficult situation and now Binance is busy dealing with lawsuits in the United States. Big boys who don't see the potential of crypto or pretend to hate crypto are busy applying for and approving Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). The crypto market responds positively.
Are you wondering why regulatory agencies are so hard on crypto exchanges? Maybe they are clearing the field so that big boys can play without much competition. You own your crypto as long as you hold it in your wallet you have the private key. Letting others hold your crypto assets empowers them.
It is better to focus on somewhere you get a crypto-friendly environment and you do not have to go through unnecessary regulatory scrutiny. It looks like Binance shifts its focus and keeps working to grow its business.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/man-business-adult-suit-bitcoin-3126802/ https://pixabay.com/photos/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-currency-3215559/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/binance-unveils-local-crypto-exchange-in-kazakhstan/
Do You Trust Wallet Apps That Appear On The App Store?
You secure your crypto assets in your wallet. You usually download the wallet app from the app store. You search on the app and it appears. Do you have any doubts about apps that appear on the screen?
Apple has taken action to remove a fake Trezor wallet app from the Apple app store. You might find more fake and malicious apps on the app store. If you download any malicious app and insert the seed phrase that you usually do in your wallet, app operators will get it. As soon as bad actors get your seed phrase, they will drain your wallet.
Your crypto assets will disappear as if it was never there before. You can notice your cryptocurrency transfers to another wallet that bad actors control. One user lost $600K in Bitcoin becoming a victim of a fake Trezor wallet app in 2021.
Apple removed fake wallet apps several times back then. Still, it keeps appearing on the Apple app store. Recently Apple has removed another malicious Trezor wallet app. Will you trust apps on the app store blindly?
I will never do that. Even though it says that Apple app store is a place you can trust, scammers get their hands everywhere. It shows that fake wallet apps appear on the app store over and over. Despite their effort to remove fake and malicious apps, you can be a victim of a fake wallet app.
What do you usually do to download the original apps from the Apple app store or Android app store? I check out the official website first. If they have apps, you will get information there. When you land on the official website and redirect to the app store, it ensures that you will get the original app.
It is difficult to distinguish the fake wallet app from the original wallet app. Scammers make it look like the original one. Many people lost their crypto assets using fake wallets. You can blame the app store that did not take action against fake wallet apps in time. You will not get your stolen crypto assets back.
Apple can send a warning letter for violating its policy as it did to the social media app Damus. Damus offers P2P transactions in Bitcoin, and that was a problem. It has to use the in-app purchase feature. On the flip side, fake wallet apps keep popping up on the app store.
I think scammers and hackers will use their tricks to steal crypto and it will happen over and over. If you keep yourself safe and be careful before anything happens, that can be the best defense against scams.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/scam-hacker-security-virus-fraud-4126798/ https://pixabay.com/photos/cryptocurrency-ledger-money-3424623/
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/fake-trezor-crypto-app-removed
Is Crypto.com Involved In Market Prices Manipulation?
Crypto exchange Crypto.com is accused of manipulating market prices. This crypto exchange offers crypto trading services for retail traders. It gained popularity in the bull market. It is going through allegations of proprietary trading and manipulating market prices.
Artificially doing something to manipulate the price and take advantage of the situation to get market gain is a bad practice. It will damage the reputation of any crypto exchange. Crypto.com denied all allegations. They provide a good environment for retail traders to trade and that's the platform's primary income stream.
Crypto.com has an internal market maker that is treated as a third-party market maker. The goal is to provide an efficient market for traders and investors in the crypto exchange. The exchange always tries to lower the spreads and improve order book liquidity that helps all participants.
Nowadays a little issue can be turned into a big issue and that may be used against crypto exchanges to take legal action. You get a feeling that every crypto is a security. And if it is stated by the SEC that some cryptocurrencies are unregistered securities, crypto exchanges are too busy taking any action so that no legal action can be taken against them.
We see some exchanges and trading platforms delist some cryptocurrencies that the U.S. SEC puts a label on as securities. The social trading and investment company Etoro, and crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood already made their moves to delist some top cryptocurrencies. You as a retail trader cannot trade those cryptos on these platforms anymore.
Crypto.com suspended its US institutional exchange service. Are you wondering why this exchange did this? According to crypto.com, there is limited demand from institutional customers, so that's the reason. They also pointed out the challenging market conditions that they took into consideration to make this decision.
The demand for institutional customers is supposed to be more. Since the largest crypto exchange Binance and popular crypto exchange Coinbase are dealing with lawsuits, investors will move to other platforms to do trading and investments. Regulatory scrutiny makes it difficult to use fiat currency to invest in crypto. So any platform that offers this service, investors will be there.
I think it is a step crypto exchanges take to avoid any difficult situation from regulatory agencies. The consequences of getting a lawsuit are more difficult to handle and it can take a way long to settle that. It is better if crypto trading platforms can avoid that in any way. Let's see how everything moves forward from this point.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/trading-blockchain-cryptocurrency-6531134/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/trading-investing-stocks-options-7181176/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/crypto-com-denies-allegations-of-market-prices-manipulation/
Crypto Exchange Binance Cancels Registration In The UK
When things are difficult to handle, you may face more challenging situations. It is as if you have to deal with unfavorable circumstances all at once. You find a way to take a breath and see more obstacles are on your way.
The leading crypto exchange Binance takes some hard decisions recently. Binance’s UK-based subsidiary Binance Markets Limited (BML) canceled registration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Now it cannot offer any services in the country since it is not authorized by the FCA anymore.
According to Binance, Binance Group acquired Binance Markets Limited (BML) in 2020. The intention behind acquiring BML was to run a regulated business in the United Kingdom, but it was not successful. Now BML canceled its registration and it may not have an operational impact on the crypto exchange Binance.
Recently Binance has made the decision to exit the Netherlands. Binance did not intend to leave the Dutch market but could not get a VASP license. No new accounts can be opened in the exchange. Existing customers cannot trade or deposit, they can only withdraw funds from the exchange.
Will regulatory crackdown on crypto slow down or become harder? I think Binance focuses on what is more important for them. Since Binance Markets Limited (BML) was not successful, they might think it is better to cancel the registration and focus on something else.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Binance and Binance has to deal with that in court. Regulatory crackdown makes it harder to operate crypto businesses even though crypto companies intend to follow regulations. The lack of regulatory clarity is a big issue that remains crypto businesses in the dark.
People get used to having bad news in crypto since crypto winter has no shortage of negative news. Hope regulators will realize that they can only drive the crypto business away from the country or make the process of adoption of crypto slower. People will adopt crypto in other parts of the world and no one can stop it.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/crypto-cryptocurrency-blockchain-6851184/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/cryptocurrency-coins-currency-2922058/
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-cancels-registration-in-the-uk-amid-regulatory-scrutiny
Are Turkey Residents Moving To Crypto?
Because of inflation, people are losing the power chasing power. It can become a serious problem when the fiat currency depreciates more. Some Turkey residents focus on crypto, especially stablecoin USDT to hold the purchasing power and preserve their wealth.
It is sad to see the national fiat currency loses its value. People may not feel comfortable holding the Turkish lira since it keeps losing its value against the US dollar. 1 Turkish lira was worth almost $0.15 USD at the beginning of 2020. Recently it hit a record low and now 1 Turkish lira is equal to $0.042 US Dollar.
It is difficult to hold the purchasing power in the Turkish lira. They prefer USDT which is the largest stablecoin in market cap. Stablecoin USDT usually holds its peg against dollars. It is easy to convert the national fiat currency into stablecoins. Turkey residents may not lose value the way they are losing in native fiat currency.
Fiat currency has inflation and the US dollar is not exceptional. So it has inflation which causes losing its purchasing power. The point is which one is better for the time being. People choose to stick with that. Besides inflation, while people are holding stablecoins, they also bear the risk. Stablecoins are not risk-free. It may lose its peg and there is uncertainty.
Still, it gives a better solution for the time being. While keeping money in stablecoins, people will explore more to invest in cryptocurrency. It will give more exposure to crypto and blockchain. They will look into it and embrace crypto in their life.
Turkey regulators put some restrictions on the purchase of dollars or even buying gold with the Turkish lira. People find it more convenient to buy USDT to preserve their wealth. They can transfer stablecoin anywhere at any time which gives more flexibility. Living in an inflationary environment, they can take a breath paying attention to crypto.
You need to start using crypto for some reason. When you realize the potential of crypto, you will find your way to build your wealth. It brings equal opportunity to everyone. You will have access to your crypto assets living anywhere in the world.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/vectors/bitcoin-investment-business-5675758/ https://pixabay.com/photos/bitcoin-crypto-cryptocurrency-7201378/
Reference: 1 https://cryptopotato.com/turkey-residents-turn-to-crypto-amid-another-lira-collapse-report/
How Do Australians Respond To Crypto Payment Restrictions?
Australia's peak blockchain industry body Blockchain Australia criticizes banking limits to make payments to crypto exchanges. Recently Commonwealth Bank (CBA), the largest bank in Australia, made a decision to hold or decline certain payments to crypto exchanges to buy cryptocurrencies.
Not only that, they plan to put a limit of $10,000 Australian dollars ($6,650) per month to make payments to cryptocurrency exchanges. Many people make investments in cryptocurrency, but unfortunately lose their crypto assets becoming victims of scams. Australian Banks are doing it to protect customers against crypto scams and fraud.
Blockchain Australia addresses the issues of scams and fraud in the crypto space, but the way banks act to solve it will open new doors to another type of scam and it will be way harder to detect. Banks should take the initiative to educate their customers about crypto scams and fraud instead of limiting access to make payments.
The way banks impose restrictions may have very costly side effects. People have the right to make their financial decisions and banks are supposed to be there to facilitate that, not impose restrictions to decline or hold payments temporarily
In order to protect customers from being a victim of scams and fraud, Banks can take different initiatives if their intention is to protect investors and support the crypto industry. Blockchain Australia takes the initiative to educate people about scams and fraud, and how to detect them to stay safe. Scammers are bad, crypto is not. They will recognize good actors in the crypto industry and people may not fall into the trap of bad actors.
Blockchain Australia's initiatives are praiseworthy. They take another good initiative to host a Roundtable discussion with major banks, politicians, regulators, and policymakers. It will be held on June 27 during Blockchain Week in Australia.
The world is moving forward, you cannot close your eyes and block access to crypto and think it will bring any solution. I think there is no alternative to talking about ongoing challenges in crypto. Then we can find a better solution to mitigate the risk of scams and fraud.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/blockchain-bitcoin-bank-business-3581920/ https://pixabay.com/photos/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-btc-currency-2868703/
Reference: 1 https://www.cryptopolitan.com/australia-outraged-over-crypto-restrictions/
Will Apple Ban Social Media App Damus?
Social media app Damus received a warning letter from Apple, stating the app would be removed from the Apple app store due to having tipping features to tip in Bitcoin. It has to comply with Apple's guidelines. People use the Damus app that runs on the Nostr platform.
Damus got approval on the Apple app store in January 2023. There is a Zaps feature in the app that allows users to tip others and content creators in BTC. They use the Lighting Network widget for making payments and people can use it to tip each other.
According to Apple, it violates their policy, and only in-app purchase features can be used. The Damus team clarifies that the app does not sell any goods or provide a feature to sell any digital goods. The tip button is there to give people options to make P2P transactions like Cash App or Venmo.
Tipping on social media becomes very popular these days. Using Bitcoin Lighting Network, people can use the tip feature easily to support others. It is a way to give feedback and engage with favorite personalities and content creators.
Tipping features on Twitter is okay on the Apple app store while it is not okay with Damus. Many people raise questions about this. It is as if one app can get benefits and another app will get punishment for doing the same thing.
It is not a surprise if you notice a double standard. Apple approved an app named Game of Birds in 2015 which provides tipping features in Bitcoin. Now it is a big problem and the way they act appears to be a threat to the social media app Damus.
According to Damus's tweet, they contacted to schedule a call with Apple to talk about this and discuss the role of Zaps in detail. Since the zap button on posts is considered to sell digital content, they may remove the button from the posts. But zaps on profiles are allowed, so it will be there.
Any platform that works on providing decentralized and censorship-resistant social media will face various challenges from the centralized entity. It is not in their best interest to facilitate decentralized apps. Through struggles and challenges, things will move forward.
If people realize what they have been missing on centralized platforms, they will start using decentralized platforms. We will have popular decentralized ecosystems to support decentralized apps. People will have easy access and we do not need to rely on centralized ecosystems.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://twitter.com/damusapp/status/1668529709867495424 https://twitter.com/damusapp/status/1668690038521995285
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/damus-app-must-drop-bitcoin-tipping-or-face-apple-app-store-removal/
Etoro Delisting ALGO, DASH, MATIC and MANA for US Customers
The social trading and investment company Etoro makes the decision to delist ALGO, MANA, DASH, and MATIC for US customers so that they cannot start doing new trade. The platform comes up with this decision paying attention to the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape in the United States.
It is clearly mentioned that this decision is only applicable to US customers which will be effective on July 12, 2023. From July 12, US customers cannot take a new entry to trade in algorand (ALGO), decentraland (MANA), dash (DASH), and polygon (MATIC). They can hold their crypto and sell it later. Etoro is not the only trading platform to make such decisions.
Crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood made the same decision to delist Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL). Crypto.com suspends its US institutional exchange service that is going to be effective on June 21. This is not a coincidence that trading platforms dealing with crypto trading make similar moves.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made its harsh move to sue the largest crypto exchange Binance, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, CZ, and Binance US. The next day the SEC filed a lawsuit against the popular crypto exchange Coinbase. In both lawsuits, some cryptocurrencies are mentioned as securities, and crypto exchanges are in trouble now.
Seeing the SEC's move and current challenging situations in the market, Etoro makes its choice to be on the safe side like Robinhood and crypto.com. Without regulatory clarity, trading platforms remain in the dark about which crypto assets are securities and which are not.
In spite of seeking guidelines and regulatory clarity, crypto businesses fail to get that from regulatory agencies. It feels like playing hide and seek game, when something is revealed like which cryptos are securities, trading platforms quickly act based on that to stay safe. In case the crypto platform is sued by the SEC, that's bad luck because they did not have the time to react, now they have to deal with it in court.
Etoro wants to work with regulators around the world and give a safe environment for investors to make investments. Many crypto businesses are committed to following regulatory guidelines and rules. It should be crypto-friendly to support development and innovation in the crypto industry.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://twitter.com/eToroUS/status/1668323755435622405 https://pixabay.com/photos/gavel-usa-flag-justice-judge-7533906/
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/etoro-algo-mana-matic-dash-purchases-us-customers
DeFi Protocol Sturdy Finance Exploited and Lost $800K
There is more uncertainty in the crypto market. Due to regulatory scrutiny and challenging crypto market condition, it is getting more difficult to survive and move forward. The central authority goes hard on crypto like taking legal action to sue the popular crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase.
In spite of unfavorable situations, hackers and exploiters keep attacking to exploit and steal cryptocurrency. The hackers attacked the DeFi protocol Sturdy Finance and successfully exploited and drained $800K worth of Ethereum from the protocol.
According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, the attackers manipulated the price to exploit and ended up getting 442 Ethereum which is worth almost $800,000. The faulty price oracle is defined as the root cause of this exploit which allowed the attackers to drain $800K from the Sturdy Finance protocol.
Sturdy Finance tweeted that they are aware of the current situation. They already paused all markets to mitigate the risk. It is confirmed that no additional funds are at risk. They will share more information later and users do not need to take any action.
Will DeFi protocol Sturdy Finance get its stolen funds back? There is no update from Sturdy Finance after the above tweet. It is confirmed by PeckShield that the attackers made their move and transferred the stolen $800,000 worth of ETH to the crypto mixer Tornado Cash. It seems there is hardly any chance to get the stolen funds back.
Sturdy Finance has to investigate this incident more and fix the vulnerability so that the hackers cannot take advantage of this again in the future. Users' funds are safe at this moment. But without tightening the security and fixing the vulnerability of the protocol, investors may not trust Sturdy Finance again.
The ongoing hacks and regulatory crackdown put more pressure on the crypto industry. Looks like the regulatory agencies are determined to drive crypto businesses away from the United States or at least make it way hard to survive.
Crypto winter shows its true color and makes its deadly blow. If you manage to avoid scams and not fall into hackers' traps, you are doing great. Staying calm and making your move as per your plan and strategy is a way to go.
Image Sources: 1, 2 and 3 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/hack-hacker-elite-hacking-exploits-813290/ https://twitter.com/peckshield/status/1668072853802037248 https://twitter.com/SturdyFinance/status/1668080627030315009
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/attacker-drains-800k-from-defi-protocol-sturdy-finance
Is Crypto.com Going To Suspend US Institutional Exchange Service?
This month has been pretty tough for crypto so far. It started with the filing lawsuit against the most popular two crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase by the SEC. It may create more uncertainty in the crypto market and other crypto exchanges will make their decision to stay safe.
Now crypto.com decides to suspend its US institutional exchange service which is going to be effective on June 21. It will not be good for the crypto exchange when institutional investors will not have options to trade there. So why did this crypto exchange make this tough decision?
Crypto.com pointed out that limited demand from institutional customers and the current challenging market condition are the reasons behind this action. Retail customers will remain unaffected by this decision. They will have full access to the crypto.com platform and do trading and investment.
Is crypto exchanges leaving the US market? No one wants to leave a big market. But when they are forced to do something and make it very difficult to run the business without having regulatory clarity, they do not have other options. It also revealed which cryptocurrencies are going to fall under unregistered securities in the United States.
Crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood decides to stop supporting Cardano, Polygon, and Solana since the SEC gives these cryptos a lebel of unregistered securities while suing crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase. It will affect investors' decisions to invest in crypto assets.
Crypto will move forward at its own speed despite challenges and difficulties. Other countries will embrace crypto businesses and let them grow and thrive that will drive more innovation and development. It is revealed that crypto.com plans to list EURO to trade against cryptocurrency. Listing EURO as a base currency, traders can trade it against crypto assets like BTC, ETH, and USDT.
I don't see any sign to slow down the regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency. It will ultimately force crypto businesses to do things that they don't plan before. Adapting to the situation is a must to survive in the crypto industry.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/stock-market-trading-stocks-6531146/ https://pixabay.com/photos/trading-investing-stocks-options-7181179/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/crypto-com-to-halt-us-institutional-exchange-service/
Are Major Australian Banks Going To Suspend Payments To Crypto Exchanges?
When you can give an answer with yes, or no, that would be good. But you may not express everything with yes or no. There is more to talk about. How do you send payments to cryptocurrency exchange?
Probably, you use any banking channel. Now if there is some sort of limitations on crypto payment, you cannot do things normally that you plan to do before. Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is the largest bank in Australia that decides to decline or hold certain payments to crypto exchange temporarily.
The scams and frauds in the crypto space are increasing and they are taking these measures to protect people against scams and fraud. The bank can hold certain payments temporarily for 24 hours. They also plan to put a $10,000 Australian dollars ($6,650) limit on customers per month to make payments to crypto exchanges to buy cryptocurrency. This limit may be implemented in the coming months.
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) spokesperson did not disclose further what type of payment would be declined or halted temporarily to mitigate the risk of scams. Westpac, another major bank in Australia, banned making transactions with the crypto exchange Binance.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission took legal action and sued the leading crypto exchange Binance. Not only that, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase after Binance. It is for protecting investors. I was wondering what those centralized agencies did against FTX before its dramatic collapse. Many people would not lose money if they took action against FTX on time.
It is true that scams and fraud are on the rise in crypto. Hackers successfully hack and steal people's crypto assets. There are risks in investment and people invest in crypto checking out their risk tolerance level. It is up to you how much capital you will allocate to crypto.
It sounds good at the beginning that they are doing everything to protect investors against the risk of scams and fraud. Putting any limit to making payments to crypto exchange will prevent investors from implementing their investment decisions in cryptocurrency. Maybe we will see many things where you will be unable to make your decision to trade and invest in crypto independently.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/banking-bitcoin-mining-exchange-5941605/ https://pixabay.com/photos/crypto-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-4232113/
Reference: 1 https://cryptopotato.com/australias-largest-bank-to-temporarily-cease-certain-payments-to-crypto-exchanges/
Stolen Crypto From Atomic Wallet Sending To Crypto Mixer Sinbad
After any hack and exploit, the team always tries to do its best to recover the stolen funds. Sometimes they offer the hackers to send a certain portion of the funds and keep the rest as a bounty. It is luck if the stolen crypto assets are refunded. Blockchain security analysts can trace and track the stolen funds and provide valuable information.
Atomic Wallet was exploited and hacked recently. According to blockchain compliance analytics firm Elliptic, hackers sent stolen funds from hacking Atomic Wallet to the crypto mixer Sinbad.io, which is associated with North Korea’s notorious Lazarus Group.
Hackers converted stolen crypto into Bitcoin before sending it to the crypto mixer. However, Elliptic did not define how much crypto was laundered via the crypto mixer Sinbad.io. $35 million worth of crypto assets were hacked from this attack. According to Atomic Wallet, less than 1% of active monthly users of the wallet were affected by this hack.
It seems less when you pay attention to 1% of affected users. But some users claimed to lose their entire crypto portfolio. It appeared that hackers targeted wallets having more crypto assets. One user lost $7.95 million and that is a huge amount. So some users lost way more and that puts them in a terrible situation.
When you become a victim of hacks, you become desperate to get some help. Some scammers tried to exploit and take advantage of this situation as well. They impersonated Atomic Wallet to spread phishing links on Twitter pretending to support victims.
Victims are already in trouble. Those scammers tried to get them to fall into more trouble. Pretty sad! I was wondering whether hackers would get away with stolen funds like this. The Atomic Wallet team still works with experts and major crypto exchanges to track and block the funds.
Before making the decision to use any crypto wallet, doing your research and analysis is a must. You just randomly choose a crypto wallet and think that's safe. I think that's the first mistake. You have to spend your time choosing your crypto wallets that can ensure the safety and security of your crypto assets.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/hacker-cyber-crime-internet-2300772/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/matrix-computer-hacker-code-2354492/
Reference: 1 https://cryptopotato.com/atomic-wallet-hacker-funnels-stolen-crypto-to-north-korea-tied-coin-mixer-elliptic/
Be Aware Of Fake Uniswap Website
If you land on a website and it looks suspicious, you will be careful. You will not interact with that website and stay away from that. How about landing on a website that looks legit but that's a fake website created by fraudsters?
CEO of Uniswap Labs and the creator of the Uniswap protocol Hayden Adams was very surprised to see a fake Uniswap website. It shows that bad actors put their effort to make it look legit and pretty convincing. You may not have any doubt looking at first glance.
Scammers provide Chinese community content on their fake website and give links to the original Uniswap app. When you as a visitor click the link, it will redirect you to the original Uniswap app, so you will have more trust in the site.
A one-hour Zoom long conference recording video was there on the website that was intended to increase credibility. Looks like they are from Uniswap holding higher positions. Hayden Adams, CEO of Uniswap Labs, does not even know those people on the video. He clearly mentioned that those people have no association with Uniswap or Uniswap Foundation.
It is shocking to see how far scammers could go to show something legit only to deceive people. Those scammers do everything to make people fall for the scam and get access to their wallets so that they can drain their crypto assets.
It is easy to make the mistake and interact with a scammer's website assuming that's the original one. The team of Uniswap works to decrease this kind of scam and takes down the domain of the fake website. Do you check out the URL before interacting with any website?
The fake website URL can be similar but it will not be the same. And checking out the URL can help you to avoid a lot of scams in the crypto industry. People use DeFi protocol for better security and safety without any restrictions. If you pay attention to which DeFi protocol you are interacting with, it will keep your crypto assets safe.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/fraud-prevention-scam-corruption-3188092/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/hacking-hacker-cyber-security-code-4839031/
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/uniswap-scam-alert-fraudsters-impersonate-executives-and-create-fake-website
Atomic Wallet Exploited and Users Lost Their Funds
Even though you intend to secure your crypto assets, there is something that is out of your control. No one wants to fall for any hacks or scams and ends up losing their cryptocurrency. Unfortunately, we see scams, exploits, and hacks in the crypto space consistently.
There is no sign to slow it down. Looks like it keeps rising. The latest addition to it is Atomic wallet which is a non-custodial decentralized wallet. Your cryptocurrency should be secured and safe in the wallet. You hold your private key.
Users are complaining about losing their crypto assets from their atomic wallets. They are sad and depressed to see their crypto portfolio vanish. Their hard work and investment have gone. This is unexpected and not acceptable.
The atomic wallet team tweeted about the complaint report. They are investigating this incident. They also mentioned their email address for support and questions. People speculate about this exploit like it could be a supply chain issue, hackers make some changes in the software code, and so on.
On-chain investigator ZachBTX also works on this to find out what happened. They have experience in tracing stolen funds and solving this kind of issue. Hope they will find out the problem and fix that. But hacking and losing funds like this is discouraging and it will work against the mass adoption of cryptocurrency.
Arbitrum-based DeFi protocol Jimbos was exploited which causes a loss of $7.5 million in ETH. DeFi lending protocol Fintoch was an exit scam and investors lost $31.6 million. Hackers hacked the Orbiter Finance Discord server to promote fake airdrops. Popular Twitter accounts like OpenAI CTO was hacked to spread fake token airdrop that leads to the phishing website.
You have to be alert in the crypto space, otherwise, you can be the next victim. In order to make progress, scams, and hacks have to be minimized. Because of the lack of security measures, crypto enthusiasts and investors pay the price and lose their crypto assets.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://twitter.com/AtomicWallet/status/1664946301815910400 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scam-phishing-cyber-crime-fraud-6989424/
Reference: 1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/atomic-wallet-exploited-users-report-loss-of-entire-portfolios
Is OpenAI CTO Promoting Fake Crypto Airdrop?
You work hard to earn something, but it is more difficult to protect that. Due to rising of crypto scams and hacks, many people lose their crypto assets. If victims know that it's fake and that is well-planned to scam people, they would not fall for that.
**So is OpenAI CTO promoting fake crypto airdrop?**
No, she is not. The Twitter account of OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer was compromised. Hackers took control of her account and then started promoting fake crypto airdrops. When it comes from high-profile personalities like OpenAI CTO, people may not have any doubt about it.
The hacker's tweet was there for almost one hour and got 83 retweets and 79,600 views. Don't have any news about how many people click the link and fall for it. The phishing website looks good which is a copy of an actual crypto-focused project called ChainGPT. There are some changes on the website.
On the phishing website, there are options to connect the wallet and the end goal of the hackers is to pursue people to connect their wallets so that hackers can drain the funds. The leoFinance discord server was hacked recently and hackers promoted fake giveaways to pursue people to claim the tokens.
It seems when you see any airdrop in crypto or giveaways, the first thing that comes to your mind is whether that's legit or not. We usually trust the announcement that comes from the official Twitter account or Discord server. Looks like you cannot trust that anymore without any investigation and verification.
Some people speculate that OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer became a victim of a SIM-swapping attack and that's how hackers got access to her Twitter account. The good thing is, OpenAI CTO regained access to her Twitter account and deleted the hackers' tweet.
Securing and protecting your crypto assets is more important than anything else since hackers use advanced technology and tactile to trick people. You might not realize it at a first glance. Watch out and stay safe!
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/twitter-banner-message-sky-1566735/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/phishing-fraud-cyber-security-3390518/
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/openai-ctos-twitter-account-hijacked-to-promote-crypto-scam/
Orbiter Finance Discord Was Hacked To Promote Fake Airdrop
Orbiter Finance discord has been compromised recently. Hackers offer and promote fake airdrops of ORB tokens. People use Orbiter Finance that is a decentralized cross-rollup Layer 2 bridge. When you see some announcements in their official discord server, you usually have no doubt.
Who wants to miss an opportunity to make money in crypto? So you will act quickly after seeing the announcement on the official discord server. As soon as hackers take control of the discord server, they mislead people to fall into their traps and steal their crypto assets.
Protecting yourself against hacks and scams becomes difficult when you cannot differentiate whether something is legit or not. Blockchain security and analytics platform CertiK Alert noticed Orbiter Finance discord hacks and made an announcement on Twitter about it. They advised people not to click any links.
It is not safe to click links on their discord server anymore. If it is confirmed that the team behind Orbiter Finance regains control of their discord, then you can trust what is said on discord. Orbiter Finance is aware of what's going on and tweeted not to trust anything on the discord server. They are working on it to solve the problem soon.
Clicking any links on their discord server and following instructions can get you in big trouble. Hackers target social media and as soon as they gain access to anything, they use it to hurt people financially. Official Twitter account hacks are on the rise.
The Sandbox CEO’s Twitter account was hacked recently and that was used to promote fake airdrops just like hacking the Orbiter Finance discord server. KuCoin’s Twitter account was hacked for 45 minutes and hackers used this time to spread the fake giveaway. People trusted the fake giveaway and ended up losing more than $22,000.
We all want to make money but be careful, especially when you feel the urge to act quickly due to FOMO, there is a high chance you can make some mistakes. Some mistakes are big enough to ruin everything you did in crypto. According to the latest tweet from Orbiter Finance, they fully restored the discord server and strengthened the security to avoid anything like this in the future.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://twitter.com/CertiKAlert/status/1664131763361202178 https://twitter.com/Orbiter_Finance/status/1664141758241050627
Reference: 1 https://crypto.news/hackers-hijack-orbiter-finances-discord-to-post-fake-airdrop/
Crypto Exchange Bybit Exiting Canada
Crypto exchanges are leaving the Canadian market one by one. One of the popular crypto exchanges Bybit is the latest exchange that decides to stop its operation in Canada. Due to regulatory security, it becomes more challenging to run crypto businesses.
Bybit wants to provide a safe and sustainable trading experience for everyone. They want to follow rules and regulations to operate their business. But it becomes more challenging and without going into detail, Bybit points out recent regulatory development as a reason to exit the Canadian market.
Even though crypto exchange Bybit works on expanding its business, it has to make this tough decision. The good thing is, they are expanding their business in Kazakhstan. And they already got in-principle approval from regulators over there.
As a part of exiting Canada, Bybit stopped accepting any new account opening applications from May 31. Existing customers can make more deposits, increase their position and make new contacts, but they cannot do that from July 31. It is mentioned to close their positions, otherwise, they will be liquidated after September 30, 2023.
If you are from Canada and use Bybit, I think it is better to reduce your exposure to Bybit and withdraw your crypto assets. You have time to do that. Since Bybit made the announcement to cancel its operation in Canada, you should look for alternatives to do crypto trading and investment.
Coinbase still runs its operation in Canada. They might expand their operation in spite of having regulatory challenges. The trading fee on Coinbase is usually high and that can be a factor to discourage traders to do trading.
Due to new crypto regulations and requirements, some crypto companies already decided to stop their operation in Canada. The leading crypto exchange Binance is not the only one on the exit list, OKX, dYdX, and Paxos did the same thing to say goodbye to the Canadian market.
Driving crypto businesses away from the country will not bring good results in the long term when other countries are more than happy to welcome crypto businesses. Regulators see what's happening because of their actions and probably that's what they want.
Image Sources: 1 and 2 https://pixabay.com/photos/crypto-bitcoin-judgement-gavel-6722637/ https://pixabay.com/photos/crypto-bitcoin-blockchain-6716411/
Reference: 1 https://cryptopotato.com/bybit-pulls-out-of-canada-amid-new-crypto-regulations/
@rezoanulvibes
