Social engineering scam on Twitter exposing risks in cryptocurrency accounts
On Twitter, members of Crypto quickly warned of a scam promoted on the compromised account of Hayden Adams, founder of Uniswap. The scam included fake tweets claiming that Uniswap’s Permit2 contract had been affected and users’ tokens were at risk, encouraging them to click on a malicious link. Security firm Web3 also reported blocks on Adams’ accounts with MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet. Social media platforms are taking steps to reduce scams, but bad actors still persist. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has warned of the rise of phishing attacks in the cryptocurrency industry. He recommended using hardware devices for two-factor authentication (2FA) on exchanges, rather than mobile carrier-based 2FA. The alert came after Adams had his Twitter account compromised. The trend of social engineering hacks, including SIM-swapping attacks, may increase in the future. Experts recommend protective measures such as avoiding SIM card-based methods for 2FA.
DoJ expands team to fight crypto crimes
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) will increase its crypto-crimes team by doubling the number of acting prosecutors. The cryptocurrency crimes unit will merge with the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), resulting in a more comprehensive and well-resourced team. NCET, which focuses on cryptocurrency crimes, will work on investigating and prosecuting abuse of digital assets. The unit will be led by Claudia Quiroz. A primary task will be to fight ransomware crimes by tracking criminals through their cryptographic payments.
Web3 crime: Changing preferences and money laundering with stablecoins
Web3 crime is shifting its preferences away from Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) to focus on stablecoins and Ponzi schemes, according to Tara Annison, former head of cryptocurrency technical advisory at Elliptic. During a presentation at EthCC in Paris, Annison highlighted how dollar-denominated assets such as USDC (COIN:USDCUSD) are being widely used by criminals to launder money through decentralized exchanges (DEXs). She also noted that Ponzi schemes remain a threat and highlighted the increasing sophistication of criminals in money laundering, including using the metaverse for illicit activities.
FTX seeks to recover more than $1 billion in misappropriated funds, faces DoJ accusations
FTX has filed a complaint against its former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and other executives, seeking to recover more than $1 billion in allegedly misappropriated funds. The lawsuit alleges that they misappropriated client funds for personal purposes, such as buying property and stock on the Robinhood platform. The exchange would also have allowed accounts with negative balances and used fraudulent tactics while it was insolvent. At the same time, the US Department of Justice filed a complaint against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, accusing him of leaking the personal diary of Caroline Ellison, a former ally and romantic partner. The DoJ alleges that Bankman-Fried tried to interfere with a fair trial by publicly discrediting Ellison, who became a government witness in the case. He allegedly shared private documents with a reporter to be featured in an article published by The New York Times. Charges include fraud, illegal political donations and bribes to the Chinese government.
Coinbase ends Bitcoin lending program
Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) will end the Borrow program for retail customers that allowed borrowing money using bitcoin as collateral. Customers have been unable to take out new loans since May and now have until Nov. 20 to pay off any outstanding balances before the exchange sells the bitcoin collateral to terminate the loans. The shutdown will not affect Coinbase institutional customers. This decision comes amid a legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
DeFi Conic Finance platform suffers the theft of millions in Ether
Conic Finance, a liquidity pool balancing platform for the DeFi Curve protocol, has been targeted by an exploit in the Ethereum omnipool, resulting in the theft of $3.26 million worth of Ether (COIN:ETHUSD). Security firm Peckshield identified the root cause in the CurveLPoracleV2 contract. The platform disabled ETH Omnipool deposits on Conic’s frontend after the attack. DeFi hacks and scams caused losses of over $204 million in Q2 2023 alone, as per reports.
Cerebras Systems signs billion-dollar deal for AI supercomputers
Cerebras Systems has entered into an approximately $100 million deal with UAE-based technology group G42 to deliver an artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer. The agreement provides for the acquisition of three Condor Galaxy systems, which make up an innovative network of supercomputers. The first system, CG-1, with 4 exaflops performance, will be deployed later this year, while CG-2 and CG-3 will be online in early 2024. Cerebras is looking to challenge Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) dominance in the AI computing sector and plans to expand the supercomputer to 36 exaflops by next year.
Wormhole Gateway announces Cosmos chain interoperability
Blockchain Wormhole interoperability project announced the release of Wormhole Gateway, a blockchain appchain developed in the Cosmos ecosystem to connect various Cosmos chains and applications. The Gateway will act as a sovereign verification layer for Wormhole messages, adding an additional layer of security to Wormhole’s Guardian consensus mechanism. With plans to connect 23 initial chains, including Osmosis, Evmos, Neutron and Sei, Gateway will compete with protocols such as Axelar in the interoperability of Cosmos chains. Gateway also implemented “Governor” to improve security and limit cross-chain contagion during potential hacks.
Utopia Labs launches USDC bank transfers for businesses
Utopia Labs, backed by Paradigm, has launched USDC bank transfers for businesses with the aim of accelerating the adoption of crypto payments. The offering will allow entities around the world to send USDC (COIN:USDCUSD) to US bank accounts, improving the speed and convenience of transactions. Venture capital funds, crypto companies and projects can also benefit from the service. Utopia Labs plans to provide offramping for any token, expand to other blockchain networks, and introduce onramps to obtain fiat in crypto. The company raised $23 million in a funding round led by Paradigm.
Bitcoin futures ETF counters tracking error concerns
ProShares, issuer of the first U.S. bitcoin futures ETF, has brushed aside concerns that derivatives trading costs would lead to tracking errors. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy Fund (AMEX:BITO) has closely followed the price of bitcoin since its launch on the NYSE in October 2021, offering investors exposure to BTC without the need to own the cryptocurrency. The fund invests in regulated bitcoin futures listed on the CME and has so far performed consistently with the bitcoin price.
Solana features improvements in reliability and uptime
The Solana blockchain network has seen significant improvements in its reliability and uptime this year, according to a report by the Solana Foundation. As of February 25th, the network has achieved 100% uptime, marking an entire quarter without outages. The ratio of voting to non-voting transactions has also improved, and lock times have become more consistent. The network’s maximum daily TPS has risen since January, reaching 3,777 transactions per second.
Partial sale of CoinDesk may close soon
The Wall Street Journal reported that a partial sale of crypto news site CoinDesk, worth $125 million, may be close to completion. The investor group involved in the sale is led by Peter Vessenes of Capital6 and Matthew Roszak of Tally Capital. Digital Currency Group (DCG), CoinDesk’s parent company, will retain a stake in the site’s media, events, data and index businesses under the agreement. CoinDesk’s financial performance remained strong despite DCG’s struggles in other sectors.
PBoC digital yuan records billion-dollar transactions
The PBoC revealed that China’s central bank-backed digital yuan (CBDC) has seen transactions of $250 billion in the 18 months since the start of the pilot. Governor Yi Gang said 1.8 trillion yuan in transactions had been carried out by June, with about 950 million transactions in 120 million wallets. Circulation of the digital yuan accounted for 0.16% of the Chinese money supply, and transactions have grown by more than 70% since August 2022.
France’s CBDC will enhance cross-border payments
The Central Bank of France concluded that its wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) would improve cross-border payments, settlement of financial assets and security through testing using encryption technologies. The experiments demonstrated the viability of wCBDC issued on distributed ledger technology (DLT), with applications in asset tokenization and improved international transactions. Wholesale CBDC is seen as essential for native and tokenized digital assets that cannot be liquidated. Interoperability and energy efficiency are priorities for the global development of CBDCs.
Myanmar launches first cryptocurrency-based bank
Asian country Myanmar is set to launch Spring Development Bank, its first fully cryptocurrency-based banking institution, on July 22. The bank aims to provide financial services and funding for the Government of National Unity (NUG), which is fighting the State Administration Council (SAC). Built on the Polygon Network, the bank will offer financial products to Myanmar residents and more than two million Burmese diasporas abroad. It will issue stablecoins linked to fiat currencies to facilitate more efficient cross-border payments. The NUG has extended support to the project to establish a credible alternative in the country’s financial system.
Indonesia opens national cryptocurrency exchange
Indonesia opened a national cryptocurrency exchange and futures clearinghouse on July 17, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Supervision Agency (Bappebti). PT Bursa Komoditi Nusantara has gained approval for the crypto futures exchange, and PT Kliring Berjangka Indonesia will be responsible for clearing transactions. Authorities stressed the effort to create a fair crypto asset trading ecosystem to protect customers. Although cryptocurrency transaction volume dropped by 68.65% in the first half, blockchain technology is still seen as promising for the crypto industry.
Mara announces testnet for Ethereum compatible layer 2 network
Africa-focused decentralized financial platform Mara has announced the launch of a testnet for its upcoming Mara Chain, an Ethereum-compatible layer 2 network that uses MARA tokens for fees. Developers in Africa can build and test decentralized applications on the Mara Chain based on Optimism. The network promises fast transaction speeds, low fuel fees and interoperability with other Optimism-based networks. The company seeks feedback from the developer community to improve the platform before the mainnet launch, and offers rewards to encourage development in the ecosystem.
McDonald’s celebrates 40 years of McNuggets in the metaverse
McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) celebrates 40 years of Chicken McNuggets with the opening of McNuggets Land in The Sandbox metaverse. The experience includes pixelated characters, rewards and prizes for players in Hong Kong. “ Collaborating with a global brand like McDonald’s, with its extensive customer base, takes Sandbox to a new level and brings us closer to realizing the ultimate goal of mass adoption of the metaverse ”, Sandbox CEO Sebastien Borget said in a press release.
Web3, AI and NFTs drive global access and innovation
At Christie’s ‘Art + Tech Summit’, experts highlighted how Web3 and AI are opening up new avenues for art to reach global audiences. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were considered “enablers” for digital art collection. Web3 expands the reach of art institutions, making digital art more accessible and pervasive in many walks of life. While AI is seen as a useful tool in artistic production and curation, human curation remains paramount. The cryptographic space is explored in search of new possibilities.