roadrunner

Rapper TI and four other people, including film producer Ryan Felton, have been charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over fraudulent token sales. TI, or Tip as the rapper is also known, is also fined $75,000 by the securities regulator. Rapper TI and Film Producer Charged The SEC announced Friday the charges against rapper and actor Clifford Harris Jr. (often known as TI or Tip), film producer Ryan Felton, and three others over two fraudulent initial coin offerings (ICOs). The SEC also charged two companies, Flik and Coinspark, that conducted the sales. Rapper TI, whom the SEC described in its order as “a well-known musician, actor, and producer,” participated in the offer and sale of flik tokens, which are unregistered securities. Investors were able to buy and sell these tokens on at least two cryptocurrency exchanges using ETH and BTC, the SEC detailed. “Promotional materials described Flik as ‘Netflix on the blockchain’ — a company that would provide a streaming media platform with products and services that could be purchased with flik tokens.” The SEC alleges that between Aug. 20 and Sept. 20, 2017, the rapper offered and sold these tokens on his social media accounts, falsely claiming to be a Flik co-owner, and asked a celebrity friend to promote the sale on social media, calling flik TI’s “new venture.” The Flik sale raised approximately 539 ETH, worth about $164,665 as of Sept. 20, 2017, the SEC’s order states, adding: The SEC’s order against T.I. requires him to pay a $75,000 civil monetary penalty and not participate in offerings or sales of digital-asset securities for at least five years. TI neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s findings, Reuters reported Friday. His attorney Henry E. Mazurek says that the rapper regretted getting involved with Felton, whom he “believed to be a local entrepreneur trying to make it easier for new artists to enter the music industry,” the news outlet conveyed. The lawyer additionally claims that TI “never received a dollar” from Felton’s failed venture. In addition, the SEC detailed that film producer Felton allegedly promised to build a digital streaming platform for Flik and a crypto trading platform for Coinspark, but he misappropriated the funds raised. He secretly transferred flik tokens to himself and sold them for $2.2 million in profits. He also engaged in manipulative trading to inflate the price of spark tokens and used the ill-gotten gains to buy a Ferrari, a million-dollar home, diamond jewelry, and other luxury goods. The complaint charges Felton with violating registration, antifraud, and anti-manipulation provisions of the federal securities laws. Flik and Coinspark are charged with violating the registration and anti-fraud provisions. Besides Felton, all persons have agreed to settlements to resolve the charges against them. Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia has simultaneously brought criminal charges against Felton. The proposed settlements are subject to court approval. “The federal securities laws provide the same protections to investors in digital asset securities as they do to investors in more traditional forms of securities,” said Carolyn M. Welshhans, Associate Director in the Division of Enforcement. What do you think about the SEC’s action against rapper TI and others? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Rapper TI Cryptocurrency Fraud: Charged and Fined $75,000 by SEC appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Apple Inc. has censored some cryptocurrency features of the Coinbase app. Specifically, Apple has blocked Coinbase from adding to its iOS app the ability to earn money using cryptocurrency and access to decentralized finance (Defi) apps. Apple vs. Coinbase Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been struggling to get some functionalities approved for its iOS app, CEO Brian Armstrong detailed his company’s experience dealing with Apple Inc. on Friday. “In the wake of other companies struggling with Apple’s App Store restrictions, I want to share a bit about Coinbase’s own struggle here,” he began, elaborating: Here is the issue. Apple has told us we cannot add the following functionality in our iOS apps: (1) the ability to earn money using cryptocurrency and (2) the ability to access decentralized finance apps (sometimes called Defi apps or Dapps). “We’ve tried discussing this through regular channels with Apple, and I reached out directly to leadership to request a dialog, but we seem to be at a dead end,” he shared on Twitter. Armstrong criticized Apple for disallowing iOS users the choice of earning through cryptocurrencies during this coronavirus-led economic crisis. “There are many unbanked and underbanked people in the world who have no ability to get a loan to buy a home, or start a business, so this kind of technology has enormous potential to improve the world over time, even if it is still early days,” the CEO wrote. He further revealed that Apple has prohibited Coinbase from providing a list of decentralized apps to users on the iOS platform, claiming that the Coinbase app “offers cryptocurrency transactions in non-embedded software within the app, which is not appropriate for the App Store.” However, Armstrong maintained: “Dapps or Defi apps are fundamentally just websites that you can access through any browser. So Apple is essentially saying you can’t provide users with a list of websites they can visit through an app.” Gabor Gurbacs, the digital asset strategist and director at Vaneck and MVIS, explained: “Apple is a company and the Appstore is their own product/property, not a public utility. It often feels like some product and services should be more open or easier to use but ultimately it’s the company’s/owner’s decision … similar to how Coinbase decides which tokens to list.” Lawyer Jake Chervinsky commented: “Apple wants to be your bank. Defi is bad for business.” Nonetheless, Coinbase’s CEO emphasized that his company’s iOS apps are not missing some features that users want because his teams have not gotten to them, but because “those features are being censored by Apple.” Armstrong continued: Apple also has a conflict of interest in applying these app store restrictions. While they are ostensibly designed to protect customers, it increasingly looks like they are also protecting Apple from competition. “Forcing users to use the App Store instead of Dapps (websites), or IAP [in-app purchase] instead of crypto payments, reminds me of what Microsoft did back in the day (forcing users to use IE if you were on Windows) which led to all their antitrust issues,” the Coinbase CEO opined. “Apple, it’s time to stop stifling innovation in cryptocurrency.” What do you think about Apple censoring some crypto features? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Apple Censors Some Cryptocurrency and Defi Features of Coinbase App appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

From late March 2020, when the global pandemic Covid-19 paralysed many economies, the appeal of cryptocurrencies has grown. Several statistics show increased interest from downloaded wallet apps to peer-to-peer traded volumes. In many ways, this interest in bitcoin and altcoins is evidence that the policies of central banks are failing. Many professional investors, as well as ordinary people, are losing confidence in fiat currency systems. However, many that are exploring the idea of investing in crypto alternatives are falling victim to scams. It seems more scam crypto sites are roaming the space than bonafide cryptocurrency businesses. It turns out that criminals also appreciate the shifting dynamics and are aware that investing in bitcoin is the new in-thing. In fact, the FBI issued an alert in April warning potential investors to be on the lookout for cryptocurrency-related scams. The start of the severe lockdown measures meant homebound individuals suddenly had more time to explore and experiment with different investment propositions. The challenge now is how to tell if a crypto-related website is genuine or not? For the most part, it appears bitcoin-related scams employ similar tactics used by organised criminal syndicates to entice victims. There are some tale-tell signs that expose potentially scammy crypto websites which investors need to look out for. The Lure of Passive Income Any scam website would not be interesting if it fails to promise a healthy rate of return to investors for doing almost nothing. A typical scam starts by telling an investor that with just a small deposit, they will be guaranteed returns of 10% and above per month. As an extra inducement, the investor is told the interest earned will be compounded on a monthly basis. Still, the mere mention of guaranteed passive incomes may not be enough to lure many investors. So in order to get even more people interested, the scam website must also promise investors a quick path to becoming the next crypto millionaire. Oftentimes, prominent individuals and businesspeople that became wealthy after investing in bitcoin are displayed on these types of schemes. The chance to become the next millionaire is enough to obscure any concerns about the volatility of the cryptocurrency market that the potential investor might have. The typical overblown promises of scammers, exemplified by the scam site bitcoin-up.live. Criminals are also aware that some in their target market might be hesitant to invest with an unknown entity. To get around this problem, criminal websites often display logos of reputable organisations. The objective is to gain the confidence of the more circumspect investors. Therefore, when a site displays the logo of Visa or Mastercard, gullible investors will believe this to be an endorsement. Such perceptions usually erase any lingering doubts an inexperienced investor might have. The infamous Plustoken crypto scam had pictures of Prince Charles of the U.K. taken together with one of the masterminds displayed. The scam managed to steal billions from thousands of unsuspecting investors. Next, testimonials by other investors that have already made unrealistic returns are also used to convince gullible investors to part with their funds. Tales of real people that turned a $250 investment to more than $10,000 in less a month helps to convince new investors to come on board. It does not matter that there is no way of verifying this because criminals also know that many people want easy money. A Lax Registration Process If an investor takes the bait, (and many do) they are asked to register or open an account for “free.” To complete the process, investors are asked to deposit funds that are needed to activate the trading account. After this, the funds may be converted to bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. However, once the transfer is made, the investor actually loses control of the funds to the virtual investing platform. At that point, the investor is at the mercy of the investment company. If the company decides to exit scam there will be no recourse for investors. Meanwhile, when discussing the usual signs of fraudulent crypto sites in a Whatsapp group, one user says scammers’ registration processes sometimes fail to generate the confirmation email. Even more bizarre is getting an account verified without any form of KYC. Another user says other signs include promises of “super high returns of $120 in less than 24-48hrs usually 120% 150%.” However, all scam websites have one thing in common, promises of riskless investing which is not possible. Every form of investment carries risks, the higher the anticipated return the higher the risk of losing everything. Every potential investor must be aware of this fact lest they get conned. What are the other signs of a potential crypto scam website? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. The post The Tell Tale Signs of a Scam Crypto Website: Bitcoin-Up.Live appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Tether has recovered and returned $1 million worth of USDT to a group of Chinese traders who, in error, sent the funds to a wrong decentralized finance (defi) address. On September 8, the group, going under the moniker ‘Bill,’ “accidentally” transferred the money to a Swerve token contract and could not retrieve it. In desperation, the over-the-counter traders sent out an SOS on Twitter, and hoped for the best outcome. They were in luck. Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Bitfinex and Tether, issuers of the centralized stablecoin USDT, responded and requested that the traders open a support ticket. “If it’s USDt ERC20 stuck in an address we should be able to recover it, but in order to be sure, please contact our customer support and we’ll try our best,” he said. And then a few days later, on September 11, the good news came through, laced with doses of defi caution. Ardoino tweeted: Use defi projects at your own risk but if you do, at least make sure to use tether. 1M $USDt recovered and returned to the legitimate owner(s). The Etherscan transaction shared by Ardoino shows that a total 1,010,808 USDT, valued at $1.02 million, had been sent back to the Chinese investors. Tether was able to recover the lost funds because it is a centralized financial network, which gives it some control over users’ funds. A noncustodial defi platform would not. Suggestions by Blockstream CSO Samson Mow to recover the funds by burning the million-dollar USDT and then re-issuing it did not fly. Paolo Ardoino explained how the funds could be retrieved properly. “The only solution would be requiring, for each transfer, an additional signature provided by a Tether watchtower. Such [a] system would allow Tether to “freeze” funds. But burns of tokens on specific addresses are not possible,” he said. What do you think about Tether’s intervention in recovering the lost USDT? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Tether Recovers $1 Million USDT Sent to Wrong Defi Address by Chinese Traders appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Regional reports from China have highlighted that a number of major Chinese ASIC mining rig manufacturers have sold out of their next-generation model stock. The shrinking supply of high-performance machines may be due to the shortage of 7nm and 8nm chips from TSMC and Samsung. Bitcoin miners are finding it difficult to obtain next-generation application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining rigs after a number of firms have sold out. Semiconductor goliaths like Samsung and TSMC have been struggling to keep up with the demand that was sparked by the Covid-19 outbreak. On September 10, financial columnist, Vincent He, detailed that mining manufacturers like Canaan, Whatsminer, and Ebang have “sold out most of their stocks this year.” Furthermore, the report highlights that Bitmain still has leadership issues and delays in delivery. Rumor has it, Innosilicon might be releasing a next-generation ASIC mining device at the end of 2020 that leverages Samsung’s 8nm chip. Vincent He says that the difficulties right now straining the next-gen mining rig supply, stems from the shortage of 7nm and 8nm semiconductors. A research paper covering the semiconductor production equipment market notes that the coronavirus pandemic made the industry see exponential growth, as there was “increased demand for semiconductors in diverse applications.” Additionally, the semiconductor industry has seen a transition from traditional wafer producers to those creating Kerfless wafers. Bitcoin hashrate on September 12, 2020. Meanwhile, the Bitcoin (BTC) network’s hashrate has been considerably higher than usual, as the seven-day average touched 131 exahash per second (EH/s) this week. Some of the top machines that are seeing the most profits today include Bitmain’s Antminer S19 Pro, Microbt’s Whatsminer M30S++, Innosilicon’s T3+, and Canaan’s Avalonminer 1166 Pro. These high-powered ASIC machines are leveraging semiconductors between 10nm to 7nm. The report from China also notes that Microbt and Bitmain have sold a bulk of their stock to mining operations overseas. News.Bitcoin.com has covered a number of publicly disclosed sales invoked by Marathon Patent Group, Hut8, and Riot Blockchain. Vincent He stresses with the next-gen ASIC shortage, older machines are getting a second life by being sold on secondary markets. “The second-hand mining machine market is very active,” the author concludes. “Some big miners [are] choosing to sell the previous generation of second-hand mining machines, such as M20S and T17, [and are] gaining a lot of profits.” What do you think about the shortage of next-generation ASIC bitcoin miners? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Bitcoin Hashrate Ramps to 130 Exahash Amid Next-Generation Miner Shortage appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s chief strategist and head of emerging markets has recommended bitcoin as an alternative investment to stocks amid central banks’ massive money printing policies. He says that alternative assets, like gold and cryptocurrency, could keep doing well while stocks struggle. Morgan Stanley’s Strategist Discusses Stocks, Gold, and Bitcoin Head of Emerging Markets and Chief Global Strategist at Morgan Stanley Investment Management Ruchir Sharma discussed stocks, gold, and also bitcoin in an interview with CNN on Tuesday. The Indian investor and fund manager joined Morgan Stanley in 1996. Sharma began by explaining that tech stocks and risk assets would really be hurt by rising interest rates. Despite the Federal Reserve’s indication, the strategist believes that interest rates could start to rise “more quickly than we think, possibly even as early as next year.” He explained that we have been seeing “such high stock prices even though the economy is very weak.” Next year, he expects to see the opposite, as the economy rebounds and the covid-19 pandemic is behind us. However, he noted that stocks will struggle “just because of the incredible support they have got from liquidity and interest rates and that support goes away next year.” When asked about gold and cryptocurrency, Sharma said “it’s a generational thing,” adding that some older investors are still buying gold whereas “some of the younger ones are, the millennials are buying more of the bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.” He added: Generally I think what that’s telling you is that there is this lingering feeling out there that given what central banks are doing in terms of printing so much money there is a search for alternative assets, I think that these assets could keep doing well. “Gold, in particular, does very well when interest rates, adjusted for inflation, are negative and I see that environment carrying on for a while,” the chief global strategist predicted, adding that even when inflation comes back, central banks are going to be far behind the curve to do anything about it quickly. However, he said that “Gold is a very speculative asset,” emphasizing that “in the long term, stocks do much better than gold.” He cited an article on The New York Times suggesting that in the last 100 years, the inflation-adjusted return on U.S. stocks is about 7% a year, compared to 1% for gold. Nonetheless, Sharma still feels that in the next three to five years, “gold is relatively ok.” Reiterating that “central banks are printing so much money and we want some safety out there,” he elaborated: To have about 5% or so of your portfolio in gold is not a bad idea, and if you’re a bit more adventurous, and I guess it’s more to do with demographics, then obviously search for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Sharma is not the only one who believes that central banks’ mass money-printing could boost the price of gold and bitcoin. News.Bitcoin.com previously reported on Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz and an analyst with Weiss Crypto Ratings sharing the same sentiment. Moreover, Devere Group CEO Nigel Green expects bitcoin to break out this year and macro strategist Raoul Pal believes that bitcoin beats gold on every single measure. Some analysts have predicted that the outcome of the November presidential election could collapse the U.S. dollar, boosting the price of gold and bitcoin. As the Federal Reserve shifts policy to “push up inflation,” some companies have already turned to bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, such as the Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy. What do you think about Sharma’s recommendations? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Morgan Stanley Strategist Recommends Bitcoin as Central Banks Ramp Up Money Printing appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The U.S. has sanctioned several Russian nationals, a Ukrainian lawmaker, and their cryptocurrency addresses for interfering with the country’s electoral process. The Russians are allegedly employees of a troll factory that previously targeted presidential candidates. Operations to Interfere With U.S. Elections The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has “designated four Russia-linked individuals for attempting to influence the U.S. electoral process.” The Treasury alleges that “Russia uses a variety of proxies to attempt to sow discord between political parties and drive internal divisions to influence voters” with the aim to “undermine democratic countries and institutions.” The announcement explains that in the U.S., “Russia has used a wide range of influence methods and actors to target our electoral process, including targeting U.S. presidential candidates.” Three of the four people designated — Russian nationals Artem Lifshits, Anton Andreyev, and Darya Aslanova — are employees of the Russian troll factory known as the Internet Research Agency (IRA), the announcement notes, adding: They supported the IRA’s cryptocurrency accounts. The IRA uses cryptocurrency to fund activities in furtherance of their ongoing malign influence operations around the world. The Treasury Department has previously designated the troll factory and its Russian financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin. The latter was designated for “providing material support to the IRA’s influence activities against the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.” Lifshits was also separately charged by federal prosecutors Thursday. He allegedly serves “as a manager in ‘Project Lakhta,’ a Russia-based effort to engage in political and electoral interference operations,” according to the announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The Justice Department explained that since 2014, “Project Lakhta has sought to obscure its conduct by operating through a number of entities,” including the IRA. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers described: Artem Lifshits, conspired with others to steal Americans’ identities and use them to open fraudulent bank and cryptocurrency accounts. Prosecutors say, “Lifshits and the conspirators allegedly used these fraudulently opened accounts to both promote Project Lakhta’s influence operations and for personal enrichment.” The fourth person sanctioned on Thursday was Andrii Derkach, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament who has been an active Russian agent for over a decade and has retained close connections with the Russian Intelligence Services, the Treasury Department alleges. According to reports, he ran a campaign against former vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claims that Derkach, and “other Russian agents employ manipulation and deceit to attempt to influence elections in the United States and elsewhere around the world.” The Treasury Department’s announcement continues: As a result of today’s designations, all property and interests in property of these targets that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked. The Treasury Department also updated its OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List (SDN) with details of the four individuals named above and their cryptocurrency addresses. Furthermore, “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them,” the announcement emphasizes, declaring that “Additionally, any entities 50 percent or more owned by one or more designated persons are also blocked.” According to reports, Russia has refuted the claims that it attempts to interfere in the U.S. elections. Meanwhile, Microsoft has reportedly identified hackers linked to foreign countries, such as Russia, China, and Iran, attempting to infiltrate both President Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s campaign camps. What do you think about the U.S. accusing Russia of interfering in its elections? Let us know in the comments section below. The post US Sanctions Russians Allegedly Using Cryptocurrency to Influence Presidential Election appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A massive Bitcoin ad campaign has launched in the heart of Hong Kong’s financial district, featuring three Bitcoin trams and 20 matching billboards. It is a community initiative coordinated by the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, an organization with more than 5,000 members. The Bitcoin Tram Campaign The Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong announced Friday the start of a massive bitcoin awareness initiative called the Bitcoin Tram campaign. Various ads are scheduled to run between Sept. 11 and Oct. 8. During that time, three doubledecker bitcoin trams of various lines will cruise the east and west tracks on Hong Kong Island, each plastered with the Bitcoin logo. “The educational campaign is an initiative from the Hong Kong Bitcoin community,” explained the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, emphasizing that “The campaign is financed with donations from the community.” With the goal to foster and promote bitcoin and its technology in Hong Kong, the association has more than 5,000 members and has held more than 250 events. Its website details: The Bitcoin Tram campaign has the goal of matter-of-factly discuss the risks and merits of Bitcoin, especially in the context of ongoing financial and economic changes. The trams are accompanied by 20 billboards in matching design. The billboards outside Chater Garden are being displayed from Sept. 11 to 24, and various billboards on Hong Kong Island are displayed from Sept. 11 to Oct. 1. Five different billboard messages for the community-funded Bitcoin Tram campaign, coordinated by the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong. There are five different billboard ads. One says: “Warning: Your bitcoin are your responsibility. There will be no bailouts or quantitative easing. You can verify the total supply of bitcoin with your home computer on the blockchain.” Another ad says: “More U.S. dollars have been printed in 2020 than were in existence in 2009. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoin.” The third message reads: “Scarce. Divisible. Transferable. Verifiable. Tamper-proof. Bitcoin is better at being gold than gold.” The fourth ad quotes writer Stewart Brand, who said in 1987 that “Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.” The fifth quotes FCC Commissioner T.A.M. Craven, who said in 1961 that “There is practically no chance that space satellites would be used to improve phone, telegraph, TV and radio service.” The Bitcoin Tram ad campaign features “Be your own bank” and various billboards placed in front of the HSBC building. “We hope the campaign will give us the opportunity to discuss how bitcoin fits into a quickly digitizing global economy, the opportunities and dangers of drastic technological advancements and the implications of digital, verifiable scarcity,” the Hong Kong Bitcoin Association detailed. Bitcoiners are excited about this bitcoin ad campaign. Martin Baumann, the co-founder of CMCC Global, commented: “Love this initiative – perhaps the biggest bitcoin campaign to date, globally. Hong Kong’s financial district fully covered in bitcoin today with panels along all bus and trams stops and bitcoin trams circulating Hong Kong’s financial district.” Twitter account Asia Hodl wrote: “Bitcoin advertising right in the heart of Hong Kong’s office district. And right in front of HSBC’s headquarters.” Switzerland also has a bitcoin tram, as Bitcoin Suisse quickly pointed out that its “tram has been cruising through Zurich’s streets for almost one year now.” Recently, a major newspaper in Hong Kong, the Apple Daily, featured a “Bitcoin will never ditch you” ad on its entire front page after its founder, Jimmy Lai, was arrested on charges of violating the new controversial national security law imposed by Beijing. Other recent bitcoin ad campaigns include those by Grayscale Investments and Galaxy Digital. What do you think about this Bitcoin ad campaign? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Huge ‘Bitcoin Tram’ Ad Campaign and 20 Billboards Flood Hong Kong’s Financial District appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

It seems there is a lot of turmoil happening in the world, as the year 2020 keeps giving and giving. From natural disasters, a global pandemic, and race wars and riots, everyone is wondering what will happen next. However, something happened earlier this year that resonated with me personally, and I wanted to touch on this subject as I don’t believe it has received enough attention and is a topic that in particular for this year, is important because of what’s going on around the world, especially in the cryptocurrency space. Women in Tech It’s not a big surprise for people to hear or know that women in the tech sector are at times, far and few between. Depending on the space you’re in, it may be hard to find other women in your office. For example, if you’re a female engineer, you may be the only one or maybe there are two in your entire team that are women. This OP-ed is written by Summer Lyu. According to an article written earlier this year by CIO, women make up 47% of all employed adults in the U.S., but only hold about 25% of technology related positions. Also, women who are working in the computing sector are typically paid less than their male counterparts. On top of that, women have a higher likelihood of facing discrimination in the workplace. The struggle Earlier this year, right when the United States was starting to get hit hard with the Corona Virus, there was news that hit crypto twitter – Binance is hiring and the only requirements are “beautiful young girls with big boobs.” You can imagine my shock. Being a female in a male dominated industry where it’s already hard to get a name for yourself, I was just sent back years by one of the biggest exchanges in the crypto space. From the different news articles that popped up on the issue, it was discovered that Binance was hiring women so they could exploit them in order to potentially get new clients and customers. The exchange was hiring them not because they possess the knowledge and experience to do the job, but they were hiring them strictly because of how they looked. They later recanted what happened, saying they were joking about the job requirements, however, the damage was done. Women everywhere in the crypto space felt this, especially those of us who work for exchanges. Binance being a peer in the space, set the bar really low for all us, and now we have to work our way back up, whether it was a joke or not. Currently there are over 30 million people unemployed in the United States, primarily due to the Corona Virus pandemic. This staggering number has many people worried, including myself. If you split that right down the middle, which it’s probably not a straight split, but to argue the point, let’s say there are somewhere around ~15 million women who are unemployed. Who do you think will be going after your job? With the bar set low, women are now facing an even bigger struggle to get employed and keep their jobs, especially in this booming space with lots of competition. The Numbers Being in the crypto space and working for another top exchange, OKEx.com, I have the personal experience and statistics to help paint the picture. Let’s take a raw look at some numbers to give you a firsthand view into who is using these exchanges. As you can see, the number of female users (29.8%) that come and use OKEx is far less than the male users (70.2%). For the age demographics of people using the exchange, 38% of the users belong to the age group 25-34, and 31% of the users are 18-24, making up nearly 70% of all the users on our platform. The top countries that represent where the majority of our users are coming from are Indonesia, Russia, India, Vietnam, China, and Ukraine. As a woman who works in the cryptocurrency industry, I think I have a different view of the situation. Every workplace has its own gender preference at an early stage, and it will become more diverse as time goes by and the company grows. One of the challenges that I face is the worry about being treated less with less importance compared to a male employee with my voice not being heard every time. One of my friends asked me the other day if people at my work even want to hear a female’s opinion? Frankly speaking, I have not experienced this kind of issue, but it is still a concern. I do feel I work in a very healthy, organic, and fair work environment. I can speak up anytime I want to express my opinions in the office. But not all work places are like this, and as others have shown, women are not always treated equally and fairly. Overall, in the crypto community, I feel valued. Also, most of the people that I work with are very professional. But this doesn’t go without saying I have different challenges and issues to deal with being a woman and dealing with others who may not value what I have to bring to the table. We have a long road ahead I have to say that representation of females in the technology sector still has a long way to go before women are no longer considered a minority in tech, and it’s a similar scenario in the blockchain and crypto sector. At OKEx, I’m glad to see other female employees, which there are plenty of. However, for web developers and engineers, it’s still far less below than what I would like to see, which is a general phenomenon across the whole computer science field. On my team, I am one of the rare female faces. This gender imbalance problem arises from school age challenges, all the way up to adulthood where women aren’t always treated the same. My hope is that this will change as time goes on and new technologies emerge such as blockchain and crypto, which will help pave the way for women to give us an opportunity to make our mark. This OP-ed is written by Summer Lyu. Summer Lyu is a Global Business Manager at OKEx.com who accomplished her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Northeastern University in Boston. She is passionate about crypto, business communication, reading, and traveling. She is also working on increasing the awareness of women’s rights and trying to bring equal opportunities for women in the workplace. What do you think about this subject? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Working in the Cryptocurrency Industry as a Woman appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The European Commission, the executive arm of the E.U., has drawn up regulation to tightly monitor cryptocurrencies it considers “significant”, including asset-backed stablecoins like Facebook’s libra. Euractiv, a European news outlet, first reported the news on Sept.10, citing a leaked 167-page draft crypto proposal. According to the report, the regulation will seek to tackle bitcoin’s high volatility as well as “risks posed by systemic ones, like libra” by creating a “new college of supervisors” involving existing national and continental regulatory agencies – and one new additional body – all chaired by the European Banking Authority (EBA). The legislation will be tied to the level of risk posed by each crypto asset, with tougher requirements on issues such as supervision and obligations applied to what it calls “significant e-money tokens”. For example, the Libra Association, issuers of libra, will have to become a credit institution or an electronic money institution under the supervision of the EBA, with assistance from national bodies. This classification means libra and other notable e-tokens will face stricter regulation compared to other digital firms, said Euractiv. With a potential reach of 2,7 billion people, Facebook’s libra is particularly feared by authorities around the world. The stablecoin is to be backed by central bank-issued currencies such as the U.S. dollar, and government debt. Regulators are concerned this could destabilize monetary policy, enable money laundering while eroding user privacy. Some governments, such as France’s, have threatened to block its use within their jurisdictions. On Friday, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands said “stablecoins should not be allowed to operate in the European Union until legal, regulatory and oversight challenges have been addressed,” according to Reuters. Under the Commission’s proposal, digital asset developers should issue a ‘white paper’ detailing information about the issuer, the token, or the trading platform “to enable potential buyers to make an informed purchase decision and understand the risks relating to the offering.” All these documents must then be approved by national and EU regulators before issuers can start operating. Per the draft text, the EBA will be empowered to investigate, carry out on-site inspections and impose fines equivalent to 5% of the crypto firm’s annual revenue “or twice the amount or profits gained or losses avoided by these systemic cryptocurrencies thanks to the infringement.” The Commission’s proposal, coming two years after it was first mooted, will be released sometime this year, Euractiv reported. What do you think about cryptocurrency regulation in the EU? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. The post European Union Seeks Strict Regulation of Crypto and Stablecoins in New Draft Law appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The U.K.-based Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) exchange Cryptophyl is closing its doors in order to restructure into a decentralized finance (defi) platform. Cryptophyl has revealed the trading platform will officially go offline on September 21 and is asking customers to withdraw before that period. Just recently the SLP token trading platform Cryptophyl has revealed it will be shutting down in the near future. The website will be taken offline by September 21, 2020, which gives customers ten days to remove funds off the exchange. Maintaining Cryptophyl has been difficult the team notes in a recent blog post and it wants to shift to a noncustodial platform. “Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult for us to maintain a consistent user experience,” the Cryptophyl closure announcement reads. “Maintaining our SLP token infrastructure has become a chore for the team and we’d prefer to focus our energy and resources on our up-coming non-custodial exchange, Detoken.” News.Bitcoin.com reported on Cryptophyl’s idea to join forces with the Anyhedge project back in April. In the latest announcement, the developers mention the collaboration with the blockchain-enforced synthetic derivatives project for Bitcoin Cash. The announcement highlights that the Detoken launch will be around Q3 2020. “Detoken will initially offer the first Decentralised Finance product built on Bitcoin Cash, in collaboration with General Protocols. Shortly after, SLP tokens will be added,” Cryptophyl said. The announcement further adds: SLP tokens listed on Detoken can be traded directly out of your Detoken wallet, with no deposits or withdrawals. Trades are made with zero confirmations: this means no more waiting for the blockchain network to accept your transaction. SLP trading on Detoken will be done using atomic swaps, hence, the process is trust-less: you never need to trust either Detoken or the counterparty in your trade. Defi has exploded on the Ethereum (ETH) network, and a number of other blockchain projects hope to compete with Ethereum’s lead. Back when news.Bitcoin.com discussed the defi project with the General Protocols team it said Anyhedge tools will be released for testing, alongside the Detoken launch. Cryptophyl says that with the decentralized exchange (dex), users will “always be in control of their private keys on Detoken.” In addition, the firm also said that for a fee it will list any SLP token on the dex but it will go through a community inspection. “In order to list a token, a straightforward due diligence criterion must be met, followed by a community vote,” the announcement concludes. What do you think about Cryptophyl’s restructuring goals? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post SLP Trading Platform Cryptophyl Plans to Change Into a Noncustodial Defi Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

One week after the Sushiswap creator was accused of an exit scam, he has returned all of the coins he cashed out. The anonymous creator also apologizes to the community, including to Binance which came under fire for listing the sushi token. Sushiswap Creator Says ‘Sorry’ The creator of Sushiswap, the anonymous Chef Nomi, has returned $14 million worth of ETH to the project’s developer fund. Chef Nomi tweeted Friday: I have returned all the $14M worth of ETH back to the treasury. And I will let the community decide how much I deserve as the original creator of Sushiswap. In any currency (ETH/SUSHI/etc). With any lockup schedule you wish. “To everyone. I fucked up. And I am sorry,” Chef Nomi further wrote. “I would like to apologize to everyone who I have caused troubles to. I was emotional, I was greedy, I was afraid. I made bad controversial decisions under pressure. And it hurt everyone. I failed your expectation and I am sorry.” The Etherscan transaction posted by Chef Nomi shows that 38,000 ETH have been transferred. Following this news, the price of sushi token soared 25%. The token’s price stands at $2.67 at the time of writing. Sushiswap, just over two weeks old, is a decentralized finance (Defi) liquidity provision platform forked from Uniswap. Sushiswap’s price chart showing a price jump after the creator announced that he had returned $14 million in ETH. The former head chef of Sushiswap liquidated his sushi holdings on Sept. 5, causing a drop of more than 75% in the price of SUSHI. Many people in the crypto space call his action an exit scam. Then, on Sept. 6, Chef Nomi transferred control of the Sushiswap project to FTX exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. In a series of tweets on Friday, Chef Nomi explained that he “will continue to participate in the discussion and technical implementation of Sushiswap in the background.” However, he will neither have any control nor be part of the governance and will not take the spotlight. He wrote: “I hope that Sushiswap continues to evolve. Don’t let my mistake deter it from being a 100% community-run AMM. The success of Sushiswap will set a precedent for many more community-run projects. It has a lot of potential, don’t let my action alone fuck it up.” Chef Nomi also apologized to crypto exchange Binance, CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), and Sorawit Suriyakarn, the co-founder and CEO of Band protocol. Suriyakarn has been accused of being Chef Nomi, which both parties have denied. “I am sorry that I may have caused you trouble,” Chef Nomi wrote. Binance and its CEO have been heavily criticized for listing the sushi token within days of its launch even though its founder is anonymous. Adam Cochran, Partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, has proposed using some of the returned $14 million ETH to re-buy sushi tokens, Bankman-Fried tweeted. Cochran also proposed to formally hire Sushiswap’s general manager and founder known as “0xmaki” to lead the project, noting that “Currently Sushiswap has no formal full-time team.” The proposal outlines that 0xmaki will be given a “one-time founders grant” of “500k SUSHI upfront, and 500k locked over a one-year period as a founders grant.” 0xmaki will also receive “A payment of 500k Sushi vested over two-years for continued work on Sushi.” At the current price of $2.67 per SUSHI, the upfront payment is more than $1.3 million, which many people on Twitter say is too much. Do you think Sushiswap will recover fully? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Sushiswap Creator Returns $14 Million After Community Cries Exit Scam appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

During the last two years, hackers have been trying to crack the seventh-largest bitcoin wallet, an address that holds 69,370 BTC or $712 million using today’s exchange rate. According to the CTO of the cybercrime intelligence firm, Hudson Rock, the wallet is being publicized on hacking forums in order to crack the password. Wallets with a massive amount of bitcoin (BTC) are listed on bitinfocharts.com in a list called the “Bitcoin Rich List.” During the last ten years, crypto proponents have scrutinized this list in order to figure out the owners or record significant transfers. According to a report published by Vice, the seventh richest BTC address is a target for hackers, as an ostensible wallet.dat file has been passed around hacker forums for 12 to even 24 months. On Twitter, Alon Gal, the Chief Technology Officer of cybercrime firm Hudson Rock explained the situation. “Get this,” Gal tweeted. “There is a bitcoin wallet with 69,000 bitcoins that is being passed around between hackers/crackers for the past [two] years for the purpose of cracking the password, no success so far. I have the wallet, Google hook me up with a quantum computer please,” the cybercrime intelligence expert added. The “Bitcoin Rich List” according to bitinfocharts.com data on September 11, 2020. Following Gal’s tweet, he was inundated with a number of direct messages on Twitter asking about the wallet. Gal further wrote: Unless there is a really good reason for me to give you the wallet, you’re not going to get it sorry 40+ [direct messages]. News.Bitcoin.com also discovered that the wallet.dat file has been selling on a number of websites like Bitcointalk.org. The 69,000 BTC wallet file has been seen on Satoshidisk.com, and All Private Keys as well. The website All Private Keys operates a market so individuals and groups can buy certain files in order to crack a number of public bitcoin addresses. A screenshot of the wallet.dat file being sold on the web via a variety of websites like Satoshidisk. This advertisement is selling the 69,304 BTC wallet.dat file for $1,050 in bitcoin. News.Bitcoin.com does not recommend obtaining these files as they could be malicious, they likely are phony, and the wallet with $712 million worth of BTC is someone else’s funds. The file being sold on Satoshidisk.com is selling for 0.08929505 BTC or $1,050 using today’s exchange rate. On Friday, 321 people viewed the Satoshidisk.com listing that allegedly contains the wallet.dat file. Despite the various attempts to crack the wallet with $712 million worth of BTC, no one has been able to crack it yet. Moreover, Gal explained on Twitter that there is possibly a scheme that allows someone to “forge a wallet,” which means the address might really be empty. “Someone alerted me that there might be a method to forge wallets, although I don’t know if it is true or if it was applied to this specific wallet,” Gal tweeted. “There is a thriving market for selling uncracked wallets where I know some crackers had undeniable success,” the Hudson Rock CTO wrote. Of course, many individuals were skeptical of any of the so-called wallet.dat file sales, and the website All Private Keys. Some people assume that all of the sites are basically selling phony keys and wallet.dat files to score BTC. “How does one know [the marketplace All Private Keys] is not just a scam to get people to send them BTC and in return give them locked empty wallets?” one person asked in Gal’s Twitter thread. News.Bitcoin.com does not recommend downloading or purchasing wallet.dat files or alleged private keys, as it is highly likely that most of these advertisements are scams. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. What do you think about hackers trying to crack this wallet with 690,000 BTC? Let us know what you think of this subject in the comments below. The post The $700 Million Wallet Crack: Bitcoin’s 7th Largest Address Is Under Constant Attack appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A California judge has dismissed the $200 million in damages claim against the telecom giant AT&T for alleged negligence and fraud. The judge still ruled the telecom company had to answer the lawsuit by Michael Terpin for enabling the theft of $24 million worth of his cryptocurrency after a company agent gave his sim card to hackers. Terpin filed the lawsuit in 2019. According to a report, Terpin accused the telecoms giant of “allowing hackers to swap his SIM card, in what appears to be an elaborate scheme by fraudsters.” Terpin, a crypto entrepreneur, also claims that AT&T’s lax security “allowed hackers to enter his wireless account and steal crypto coins worth roughly $24 million.” For its part, AT&T argues “that it is not responsible for a series of recent SIM-swapping complaints.” Still, the telecom giant details the security thresholds it applied specifically to Terpin’s account and they include placing the “account on a higher security level with special protection.” According to AT&T, this security threshold “included requiring a six-digit passcode (known only to Terpin and his wife) of anyone attempting to access or change his account settings or transfer his telephone number to another phone.” In his lawsuit, however, Terpin “attributes the incident to AT&T’s willingness to cooperate with the hacker, gross negligence, violation of its statutory duties, and failure to adhere to its commitments in its privacy policy.” In its findings, however, the U.S. court “recognized that AT&T disclosed the limits of its security protections and that its privacy policy explicitly states it cannot guarantee that customers’ personal info will never be disclosed as the result of unauthorized acts by third parties.” Although it is unclear exactly how the thieves replaced Terpin’s mobile SIM, the “lawsuit suggests they impersonated him to AT&T’s customer service agents and requested that the phone number be transferred to their own device.” After gaining access to his phone number, the criminals were able “to request a password change and reset the security on many of his accounts.” The hackers then “changed the password on his cryptocurrency account and initiated the transfer of digital assets to their own wallets.” What do you think of the court’s ruling? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below. The post Judge Dismisses $200M Damages Claim in SIM-Swap Crypto Lawsuit Against AT&T appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wants to pay a contractor $625,000 if they can crack layer-two privacy schemes and the privacy-centric crypto asset monero (XMR). The tax agency says that the entity has “limited investigative resources” for tracing these types of cryptocurrency transactions. The United States tax agency wants to obtain a solution to trace the digital currency monero (XMR), alongside “Layer 2 network protocol transactions” like the Lightning Network. The IRS will distribute $625,000 to “one or more contractors” in two phases; $500k will be distributed after the first proof-of-concept, then another $125k following a full examination and launch. “Currently, there are limited investigative resources for tracing transactions involving privacy cryptocurrency coins such as monero, Layer 2 network protocol transactions such as Lightning Labs, or other off-chain transactions that provide privacy to illicit actors,” the IRS contract offer notes. The intro to the IRS contract for someone to crack monero (XMR) and layer two privacy solutions. The contractor will provide “weekly status reports of progress” and work with members of the CI Cyber Crimes unit, and Cyber Special Agents. “All documentation, data, source code, and software developed shall be provided to IRS-CI.” Essentially there are three goals for the contractor to accomplish, which include: Provide information and technical capabilities for CI Special Agents to trace transaction inputs and outputs to a specific user and differentiate them from mixins/multisig actors for Monero and/or Lightning Layer 2 cryptocurrency transactions with minimal involvement of external vendors Provide technology which, given information about specific parties and/or transactions in the Monero and/or Lightning networks, allows Special Agents to predict statistical likelihoods of other transaction inputs, outputs, metadata, and public identifiers with minimal involvement of external vendors Provide algorithms and source code to allow CI to further develop, modify, and integrate these capabilities with internal code and systems with minimal costs, licensing issues, or dependency on external vendors Of course on social media and forums, the crypto community had something to say about the latest job offer from the IRS. Some people also complimented monero (XMR) for being so elusive to law enforcement’s special task forces. “This is so funny, how desperate the IRS is [and how they] want their cut of your darknet drug money,” said one person on Twitter. “It really must irk ’em to think of all that moolah they could steal if only you didn’t secure your funds through encryption. Monero, keep up the good work,” he added. Another person wrote: “The odds are better to land a craft on our Sun’s surface… It must be a prerequisite to be somewhat mentally retarded to work for the IRS,” he added. Meanwhile, others also criticized the U.S. tax agency for looking into monero, while they should really look into the felonious operations tethered to the U.S. dollar. “No need for the IRS to try and figure out the criminal activity that is using USD cash currency in their crimes, (probably 1,000,000,000X that of monero),” one person said. In fact, the IRS contract was more of a laughing stock to many privacy coin supporters on social media. “If you can crack Monero why the hell would you settle for $625K, LMAO,” another tweeted. What do you think about the IRS wanting to crack monero and layer-two privacy-centric transactions? Let us know in the comments section below. The post IRS to Pay $625K to Crack Monero, Crypto Proponents Scoff at Contract appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Eterbase, a Slovak cryptocurrency exchange, revealed Thursday that it had been hacked for $5.4 million. Cyber-criminals broke into six hot wallets containing bitcoin, ethereum, algo, ripple, tezos, and tron, stealing everything, it said. Hot wallets are active digital asset accounts connected to the internet. Eterbase used these wallets to facilitate day-to-day trading activities on its platform. However, hot wallets tend to be susceptible to hacks on account of their being connected to the internet. “Law enforcement authorities have been informed and we will assist as much as we can in the ongoing investigations,” said Eterbase, in a short statement. The exchange sought to reassure fretful investors, stating, “we have enough capital to meet all our obligations.” Following the breach, Eterbase has now suspended all deposits and withdrawals, including any trading, until Sept.10. The exchange said it will resume operations once an audit of its security systems has been completed. According to a series of messages posted on its Telegram channel, Eterbase detected the hack, but was powerless to stop it. Eventually, the company tracked the crypto assets as they left its coffers. A large part of the stolen money allegedly ended up at Binance, Huobi Global and Hitbtc, it claimed on Twitter. Eterbase has now contacted these exchanges, requesting that the funds be frozen. In July, another European crypto exchange Cashaa lost 336 bitcoin (worth around $3.1 million at the time) to hackers. The London-based platform said the hacker attacked one of its Blockchain.com wallets, which is used to store BTC and make transfers from the exchange. Worldwide, bitcoin exchanges have become a prime hunting ground for cyber-criminals. Last year, Japan’s Bitpoint was raided for $32 million and a few months later South Korean platform Upbit suffered a $52 million loss. Zaif, another Japanese exchange, was attacked for $60 million in 2018. What do you think cyber-attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below. The post European Crypto Exchange Hacked for $5.4 Million in Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Yfdex.Finance (Yfdex), a new liquidity mining pool, has reportedly exit scammed, making off with up to $20 million of investors’ funds. The decentralized finance (Defi) project convinced people to hand over their life savings following just two days of aggressive marketing on social media, and then disappeared without a trace. Crypto investor and analyst Cryptowhale on Thursday tweeted about Yfdex’s alleged dramatic plunder, a classic hit, and run. “Another day, another Defi scam!” the analyst ridiculed. “After promoting themselves on Twitter for 2 whole days, Yfdex has taken a total of $20M of Investors funds in their recent exit scam,” he added. News.Bitcoin.com followed the breadcrumbs. A visit to Yfdex’s official channels on Telegram and Twitter showed that both accounts had been pulled down. The protocol’s website as well as its page on Medium, all of which were used to promote the project, returned an error message. But much of the work had been done prior, in the past two days, to be exact. On September 8, Yfdex announced the pre-sale of its eponymous token, starting at 16:00 UTC, according to earlier screenshots posted by the Yfdex community on a Telegram discussion group, now a hotbed of regret following the alleged exit scam. Yfdex, which touted itself as “a powerful player of industry (sic) that breaks down all barriers”, said the pre-sale was to last only four hours “until hard cap is reached… [and any] unsold tokens would be burned immediately.” For each ether (ETH), an investor would receive 12 Yfdex tokens, it added. Within a few hours, a total of more than $20 million had been locked into the Yfdex protocol from thousands of investors. And that was it. Soon after, on September 9, the project completely disappeared from the radar, leaving investors facing financial ruin. Cryptowhale expressed skepticism towards the whole economy of decentralized finance, telling his 33,000 followers on Twitter that: “99.99% of Defi tokens are scams, and will go this (Yfdex) route. Please be very careful if you are heavily invested.” The news comes hard on the heels of another alleged fraud within the Defi space. Sushiswap anonymous founder was on September 5 reported to have exit scammed after converting all of his sushi tokens to ETH. The allegations later turned out to be false, as the founder transferred the coins to a known third party for supposed safe-keeping and transparency purposes. Liquidity mining, the new craze in crypto economy, “is a community-based, data-driven approach to market making, in which a token issuer or exchange can reward a pool of miners to provide liquidity for a specified token.” What do you think about the risk of fraud in Defi projects? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Defi Project Yfdex.Finance Vanishes With $20M Investors’ Funds Just Two Days After Launch appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

While Ethereum has seen a number of benefits from the decentralized finance (defi) movement and initial coin offerings (ICOs), more recently individuals have been leveraging ether for pyramid schemes and matrix cycler programs. One particular scheme crypto enthusiasts are discussing these days is the gifting pyramid scheme called Forsage. Following the demise of a number of Onecoin masterminds and the recent charges against Plustoken and Wotoken members, another massive pyramid scheme has been raking in funds. The project is called Forsage and it has attracted a lot of ethereum deposits since it launched in February 2020. According to the web portal dappstats.com, Forsage is considered “high risk,” but still managed to see $2.8 million worth of ethereum (ETH) in volume during the last seven days. Essentially, Forsage is a matrix cycler program that claims to offer users the ability to make ‘passive income’ by simply signing up more partners. Dappstats.com and Etherscan call the Forsage contract a “high risk” investment. At the time of writing, the Forsage website tells the visitor they can invest 0.05 ETH ($18.34) to join, and the more people they sign up, the more money they can allegedly make. The Forsage website cunningly says the operation is a “simple relationship.” “The more partners, the more of the money collected,” the Forsage FAQ notes. In order to complete the first round of the matrix cycle, the investor must get three referrals in on the Forsage scheme, and from here the ladder continues. The page also gives an example of one user called “ID 8679” who is allegedly making over $700k, and soon will be a “millionaire.” However, the Philippines based matrix cycler Forsage is considered a Ponzi scam that could end in a matter of no time. A few crypto proponents have been speculating on the Forsage project and how it has attracted a lot of ETH since it launched. Chart shared on Twitter by Edward Morra shows the ETH sent to Forsage since it’s inception. Primitive Ventures founding partner Dovey Wan recently discussed the Forsage pyramid scheme on Twitter. Wan said a lot of the Ethereum network’s liveliness stems from Forsage. “The ETH price floor is not from a few foodcoin scams or a potential defi vault explosion, sadly is from the liveness of Forsage, the ongoing ETH version Plustoken,” Wan tweeted. “I just checked its activity which is still thriving, feeling comfy,” she added. The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a warning about Forsage on July 1, 2020. Edward Morra responded to Wan’s tweet and also shared a graph showing the amount of ETH sent to Forsage since it’s inception. Morra’s chart shows that the deposits have been slowing down, which could mean an exit could be in the cards very soon. “It’s pretty scary considering the amount of ETH sent is decreasing for some sustained time now,” Morra wrote. “Meaning this Ponzi will soon stop functioning like all Ponzis.” Deposits are still flowing into the Forsage matrix scheme. The screenshot was taken on September 10, 2020. Additionally, the Forsage scheme has continued after the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a warning about Forsage. “Forsage, which is headed by Lado Okhotnikov, is not duly registered with the SEC and lacks the necessary license to solicit, accept or take investments from the public or issue investment contracts and other forms of securities,” the warning notes. The SEC letter highlights: Active income generated from the compensation plans depends on the number of referrals and/or membership fees gathered while passive income is acquired through spillovers. Aside from lacking the necessary licenses, Forsage’s compensation plan resembles a Ponzi scheme, where investors are paid using the contribution of new investors, according to the SEC. In a Medium post written by Badmlm the writer notes that all Forsage does is offer an ethereum-based gifting pyramid scheme disguised as “crowdfunding.” “Pay ethereum to join for the ability to refer other suckers, to get paid ethereum so they can do the same,” the review details. “People think it’s all legit and some kind of revolutionary way to earn Ethereum daily, because it’s handled with smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. Don’t be fooled by all the smoke and mirrors, it’s still an illegal pyramid scheme,” Badmlm concludes. What do you think about the Forsage pyramid scheme? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below. The post Despite Warnings from Regulators, the Ethereum Fueled Pyramid Scheme Forsage Thrives appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

As the cryptocurrency world is experiencing rapid growth, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms are also rising. In early 2019, there were only $275M of crypto collateral in the DeFi economy than the current $5 Billion+; this represents the massive adoption of this platform. XFI Presale Xfinance announced earlier that they would cooperate with LID Protocol to launch the XFI ILO presale. The presale is going to be launched on the LID presale dApp on September 10th 9pm(UTC-7). Liquidity Dividends Protocol (LID) advances the development of divided bearing Proof of Locked Liquidity tokens. It hence can solve the issue of Uniswap exit scamming. After the stipulated presale, 60% of ETH will be locked in the Uniswap liquidity permanently. Within 72 hours after the presale, 15% of ETH will buyback and burn XFI tokens, preventing any form of dump, thus reducing supply and increasing the demand. Website: https://xfinance.io Presale links: https://xfi.lid.sh Presale steps: Go to the XFI presale links, then connect the Metamask or other wallet, get your ETH ready, and then click “deposit” button after the presale start. If you use mobile, you can search xfi.lid.sh in mobile wallet app (such as Trustwallet, imtoken) DAPP browsers , and go to the page to connect your wallet. More details: https://link.medium.com/Z9McoOWDq9 XFI presale details Total supply: 50,000 XFI Presale: 15,000 XFI (30%) Presale Base price: 1 ETH = 4.8387 XFI Hard cap/Soft cap: 3000ETH/1000ETH Bonus: According to the presale progress 0–500 ETH 10% bonus; 500–1000 ETH 5% bonus; 1000–2000 ETH 2.5% bonus; 2000–3000 ETH 0% bonus Uniswap Initial liquidity ETH 1800 XFI 7000 Uniswap Initial Price: 1ETH =3.889 XFI What is Xfinance Xfinance is a DeFi platform whose goal is to build an aggregated liquidity pool, automatic market-making, leveraged trading platform, and other functional platforms. It makes use of XFI, which is an equity token. Users can acquire the XFI token by providing liquidity to the platform’s aggregate liquidity pool. Withdrawal fees in the Xfinance platform are directly used to buy back and burn XFI. Community twitter:https://twitter.com/xfinance_io telegram:https://t.me/nowex_io This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post New DeFi Project Xfinance(XFI) ILO Presale Will Start Today appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Mastercard has launched a digital currency testing platform aimed at helping central banks test their digital currencies. The system will also demonstrate how consumers can use central bank digital currencies to pay for goods and services wherever Mastercard is accepted worldwide. Mastercard’s Digital Currency Testing Platform Global payments company Mastercard announced Wednesday the launch of its “proprietary virtual testing environment” for central banks to evaluate use cases of their central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The company detailed: The platform enables the simulation of issuance, distribution and exchange of CBDCs between banks, financial service providers and consumers. “Central banks, commercial banks, and tech and advisory firms are invited to partner with Mastercard to assess CBDC tech designs, validate use cases and evaluate interoperability with existing payment rails available for consumers and businesses today,” the announcement continues. Emphasizing the need for its new platform, Mastercard cited research by the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) highlighting that about 80% of central banks are researching CBDCs and about 40% have already progressed to the experimental stage. “Central banks have accelerated their exploration of digital currencies with a variety of objectives, from fostering financial inclusion to modernizing the payments ecosystem,” Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s Executive Vice President of Digital Asset and Blockchain Products and Partnerships, detailed. “This new platform supports central banks as they make decisions now and in the future about the path forward for local and regional economies.” Sheila Warren, Head of Blockchain, Digital Assets and Data Policy at the World Economic Forum, believes that “Collaborations between the public and private sectors in the exploration of central bank digital currencies can help central banks better understand the range of technology possibilities and capabilities available with respect to CBDCs.” The new platform can be customized for each central bank, allowing them to “Simulate a CBDC issuance, distribution and exchange ecosystem with banks and consumers.” This includes how a CBDC can interface with existing payment networks and infrastructures, including cards and real time payments, Mastercard described. The system can also be used to “Demonstrate how a CBDC can be used by a consumer to pay for goods and services anywhere Mastercard is accepted around the world.” Mastercard has also been expanding its footprint in the crypto space. In July, the company announced the acceleration of its cryptocurrency card partner program aimed at making it “easier for consumers to hold and activate cryptocurrencies.” Wirex became the first native cryptocurrency platform to be granted the Mastercard principal membership that allows the company to directly issue payment cards. “The cryptocurrency market continues to mature,” Dhamodharan opined, adding that “Mastercard is driving it forward, creating safe and secure experiences for consumers and businesses in today’s digital economy.” What do you think about Mastercard’s digital currency testing platform? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Mastercard Launches Digital Currency Testing Platform for Central Banks appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Digital Currency Group has acquired South African cryptocurrency exchange Luno, which has more than five million customers in over 40 countries. The acquisition will help Luno expand globally, including across its existing markets in Africa, Europe, and Asia. DCG Committed to Helping Luno Expand Globally New York-based Digital Currency Group (DCG), an investment firm that has backed more than 160 blockchain companies in 35 countries, announced Wednesday the acquisition of South African cryptocurrency exchange Luno. DCG is also the parent company of Grayscale Investments, Genesis prime brokerage, and the recently launched mining subsidiary Foundry. The company invested in Luno’s seed round in 2014. Founded in South Africa in 2013, Luno is now headquartered in London with regional hubs in Singapore and Cape Town. The company also maintains local offices in Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, the U.K., Zambia, and Australia. While the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, Wednesday’s announcement confirms: DCG will be making a significant financial commitment to help Luno expand globally, both in geographies where Luno currently operates and beyond. Luno will operate as an independent, wholly-owned subsidiary of DCG. Having grown significantly in recent years, the exchange currently has more than five million customers spanning over 40 countries and about 400 employees. The exchange currently operates across Europe, Africa, and Asia. Luno is South Africa’s largest crypto trading platform and the first fully approved crypto exchange in Malaysia. Marcus Swanepoel, Luno’s CEO, explained what the acquisition means for his exchange. “In short, it will enable us to reach our target of upgrading 1 billion people to a better financial system by 2030, a target we set for ourselves a few years ago, faster and better than if we did it completely on our own,” he said. What do you think about DCG acquiring Luno? Let us know in the comments section below. The post South African Crypto Exchange Luno Expanding Globally After Acquisition by Digital Currency Group appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

An anonymous Defi trader says he gained almost $250 000 after inadvertently exploiting a rebase bug embedded in the $SYFI Defi token. The trader, who insists he had no prior knowledge about the bug, got this reward after staking an initial investment of 0.5 ETH or about $175 at current prices. In a long Twitter thread published September 6, the trader who uses the name Amplify thinks the bug was deliberately set in the rebase code. The trader suspects $SYFI devs to be behind the act. To help his followers understand how the exploit occurred, Amplify starts the thread by detailing how he stumbled onto the bug and the split-second decision he had to make. The long explanation appears to be corroborated by earlier reports wherein $SYFI devs blame an unknown malicious actor for “wiping out most of the liquidity provided in the Uniswap pool.” The devs also reportedly offered to reward anyone who could identify or apprehend the malicious trader. The price of the Defi token dropped from a peak of $174 last week to $0.00040 by Monday, September 7 as a result of the bug exploit. However, the Defi trader beats back allegations that his actions had malicious intent. Instead, he condemns the actions of the developers “for having the balls to ask for a PRESALE for a forked coin and pushing it with unaudited code.” The $SYFI Defi token is one of the many copycats of the popular token YFI to emerge since mid-July. However, unlike YFI, some of these knock offs have already collapsed while others appear destined for a similar outcome. Having observed that $SYFI had similarities with some of the failed Defi tokens, Amplify posed a rhetorical question to the devs: “You want to mimic the price of $YFI, but won’t mimic it’s distribution? You want to sell a token that is, fundamentally and in no uncertain terms, another token.. but less of it?” Furthermore, the Defi trader hints at even more serious allegations against the devs: I will not go so far as to argue that the token $SYFI was built with this bug in mind with the specific intent of fooling the community into thinking ‘liquidity locked’ actually meant something for a coin with faulty rebase code and would make for a blameless exit scam by the devs because ‘liq lock.’ But hey, there it is. Take it as you will. Meanwhile, to prove that his actions were not entirely malign, Amplify says he will donate $10,000 from his winnings “to a gitcoin grant of my choosing.” The $SYFI token joins the growing list of Defi tokens whose liquidity challenges ultimately caused a price collapse. Accusations of exit scamming are also becoming common following the alleged Sushiswap exit by its creator Chef Nomi. What do you think of this Defi trader’s statement? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below. The post Defi Trader Pockets $250k From Bug Exploit, Hints at Possible Exit Scam by $SYFI Devs appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Monthly cryptocurrency transfers to and from Africa under $10,000 soared more than 56% from a year ago to reach $316 million in June, according to new research by U.S. crypto analytics firm Chainalysis. Altogether, $8 billion worth of crypto was received into the continent and $8.1 billion sent onchain in the last year. The total value of retail-sized transfers slowed down somewhat between November 2019 and February 2020 – falling to as low as $147 million – but spiked sharply in the ensuing months, as the hype around Bitcoin’s third halving, which occurred on May 11, started to gather steam. Chainalysis said the number of small transactions recorded each month climbed 31% to nearly 700,000 by June, with much of the activity concentrated in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, along with South Africa and Kenya. “That relatively small amount of activity [in Africa] is creating life-changing value for users in the region facing economic instability, offering low-fee remittances and an alternative way to save,” observed Chainalysis, in an excerpt of its “2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report,” to be released later this September. The funds are typically moved by individuals and small businesses, it noted. But the biggest drivers of growth inside Africa’s virtual currency economy are remittances and fiat currency devaluation. Indeed, while some countries are clearing the turf for crypto through soft-touch regulation, others are unwittingly doing the same by failing to contain inflation and maintain liquidity, forcing citizens to take back their financial freedom through alternative currencies, primarily bitcoin (BTC). For example, the South African rand has lost over 50% of its value against the U.S. dollar in the last decade, Chainalysis stated, “and is consistently one of the most volatile fiat currencies.” Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Ethiopia, and Ghana all face similar issues with their own currencies, it added. In Zimbabwe, government policies have robbed citizens of their savings twice in two decades as the national currency has dramatically shed value. According to the World Bank, fees for remittances below $200 in Sub-Saharan Africa average 9%, but could be as high 15% in more active economies. The global average is roughly 6.8%. All these factors have driven Africans toward cheaper and trusted alternatives in crypto. Per the report, around $562 million worth of bitcoin was transferred directly from overseas addresses to ones based in Africa in retail sized payments during the period under review. Chainalysis detailed: Cryptocurrency can act as a more stable value store for people living under these conditions. “African users aren’t just using cryptocurrency for overseas transfers between individuals…a significant share of transactions between Africa and other regions — particularly East Asia — are for business purposes,” it added. In the last year, the continent’s professional market has sent and received more than $210 million worth of crypto, up from about $175 million at the end of July 2019. In most countries throughout Africa, the virtues of bitcoin are becoming increasingly evident. Whereas alternative currencies are subject to geopolitical considerations and fiscal discipline, BTC investors have little reason to worry about central banks or sanction committees, who are powerless to control a decentralized cryptocurrency. What do you think about the growing crypto economy in Africa? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. The post Fiat Devaluation Drives Retail Bitcoin Transfers in Africa 56% in a Year: Report appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

After selling out their own token sale in just 57 seconds in late August, DistX have been making headlines and attracting a lot of attention. The reason for the hype? Their unique tokenomics offering some of the most interesting and significant rewards to DISTX token holders. DistX is building a decentralised token sale platform with some very unique features included. Token sale participants will be able to search for upcoming token sales, view all of the smart contract guaranteed settings selected by the token sale teams, and contribute right from the DistX website. Immediately on contribution, the participant receives a unique redemption token in their destination wallet. This token can be redeemed for the token sale tokens at any time, and to any address, once the token sale is completed and soft cap is reached. This unique system also guarantees the token sale holders cannot access their raised funds until the token sale has reached soft cap and tokens are distributed. So, what’s the rewards system? Well, the top 200 DISTX token holders are added onto the recipient list for every single token sale hosted on the DistX platform. They share in 2% of all tokens, from every token sale. This gives the top 200 DISTX holders a constant share of new tokens from brand new projects, at no cost. It’s a very unique and sustainable rewards system. The more token sales that DistX hosts, the greater the rewards. Put simply, DistX looks to become the future of decentralised token sales, and rewards its own token holders in a big way. On top of the top 200 rewards, 1% of all raised funds during a successful token sale, is used to buy back and burn DISTX tokens, making it deflationary. There are too many features and benefits to list, and are all outlined in the very well received DistX whitepaper. The DistX platform is due for launch next month. Check out distx.io for more information and you can trade for DISTX tokens on UniSwap and some popular centralised exchanges. Press Contact Email Address info@distx.io Supporting Link https://www.distx.io This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post DistX is Taking the Crypto World by Storm appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A new report by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) says cryptocurrency is seldom used for money laundering activities compared to fiat or other traditional methods. Despite the perception that crypto assets are a preferred haven for illegally acquired funds, criminals prefer to launder proceeds through mules, front companies, or cash businesses as well as investing it into crime, it said. “Identified cases of laundering through cryptocurrencies remain relatively small compared to the volumes of cash laundered through traditional methods,” SWIFT noted, in a report titled “Follow The Money”, published last week. Money laundering remains a huge problem for economies throughout the world. According to the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime, around $800 billion to $2 trillion, or the equivalent of between 2% to 5% of global GDP, is laundered through cash channels each year. But crypto does not feature prominently. The money laundering report, compiled in collaboration with financial research firm Bae Systems, looks at how criminals spin money through the financial system to obscure its fraudulent origins and ownership before reintroducing it back into the legitimate economy. SWIFT, an interbank messaging firm, said while virtual currency accounts for fewer cases, some of these are high-profile. In one of the featured cases, a cyber-crime group allegedly converted funds stolen through ATM cashouts into crypto. Another case involved arrest and prosecution after authorities found 15,000 bitcoin (BTC), two sports cars, and jewelry worth $557,000 at the group leader’s house. The authors observed that privacy-centered digital assets like Monero or Zcash could in the future become attractive to criminals, saying: The raft of alternative cryptocurrencies that offer greater anonymity, as well as services like mixers and tumblers that help obscure the source of funds by blending potentially identifiable cryptocurrency funds with large amounts of other funds, could boost the appeal of cryptocurrency for nefarious purposes. SWIFT explained that online-thieves might seek to use crypto as a means for obfuscating and laundering the funds stolen during a cyber-heist, before making various purchases in order to integrate the money “In this instance, cyber-criminals might launder the stolen funds at a bitcoin farm, before using financial platforms to load prepaid cards with bitcoin,” said the report. The alleged North Korea-linked Lazarus Group heist, involving the transfer of stolen funds across the crypto ecosystem, as well as the use of Chinese facilitators to cash stolen crypto assets provides insight into one of the methods used. Prepaid cards linked to crypto wallets can also facilitate the reversion of stolen crypto back to fiat in small amounts. Another layering technique involves converting cryptocurrency into tangible assets. Per the report, “there are dedicated sites that facilitate the purchase of high-end land and property assets across the world, including luxury penthouses and tropical islands, as well as watches, jewelry, gold bars, and fine arts.” SWIFT notes concern within the financial system, that peer-to-peer purchases on online markets for luxury assets help to keep ill-gotten wealth concealed. What do you think about money laundering involving cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. The post SWIFT Says Criminals Prefer Cash for Money Laundering, Not Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article