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🆘 Bitfinex Alerts Users After Phishing Incident – Ensures Swift Protective Measures!
Bitfinex alerts recently released a statement detailing a “minor” information security breach that occurred within its systems. According to the company’s announcement, the intruder or intruders gained access through a phishing attack on a customer support channel with limited access to supporting tools and helpdesk tickets. Bitfinex alerts assured users that the majority of affected accounts were either empty or inactive, minimizing the potential impact of the breach on active users.
Despite the relatively contained nature of the incident, Bitfinex alerts underscored its commitment to transparency and user protection by pledging to inform all affected users. The proactive approach of notifying potentially impacted users reflects the company’s emphasis on maintaining trust and accountability within the cryptocurrency community. Bitfinex announced its intention to collaborate with law enforcement authorities to identify and apprehend the perpetrators behind the attack. By prioritizing cooperation with legal authorities, Bitfinex alerts aims to not only track down the individuals responsible for the breach but also to prevent similar security lapses in the future. This collaborative effort aligns with the broader industry’s push for robust security measures.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🇺🇸 PayPal hit with SEC subpoena over its PYUSD stablecoin
Payments giant PayPal is currently under regulatory scrutiny by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its PYUSD stablecoin. "On November 1, 2023, we received a subpoena from the U.S. SEC Division of Enforcement relating to PayPal USD stablecoin," the company disclosed in a Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on Wednesday. "The subpoena requests the production of documents. We are cooperating with the SEC in connection with this request."
SEC subpoenas are primarily a means of collecting information and do not necessarily lead to legal actions or enforcement. The SEC determines its course of action based on the information it gathers. PayPal launched its PYUSD stablecoin in August through a partnership with the crypto firm Paxos, saying that the stablecoin is regulated and fully backed. PYUSD is issued by Paxos, which is subject to regulatory oversight by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and PayPal has a BitLicense from NYDFS, PayPal said at the time. The current total supply of PYUSD stands at around 159 million tokens. It remains to be seen whether the SEC, which is perceived to be hostile toward the crypto industry, will take any action against PYUSD.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
📣 Celestia's mainnet expected to go live tomorrow, including TIA airdrop and exchange listings
Celestia’s mainnet is expected to launch tomorrow along with its native token, which will become available for trading on centralized exchanges. Centralized exchanges, including KuCoin and Bybit, announced their respective plans to initiate trading for Celestia (TIA) tokens at an estimated time of 10 a.m. EST tomorrow. The trading platforms stated that they will initiate trading for TIA against the USDT stablecoin. Binance also confirmed it would list TIA and tentatively open trading at 12 p.m. EST.
A Celestia contributor confirmed the launch timeline to The Block. Celestia’s GitHub repository also indicates a due date for the mainnet launch of Oct. 31. The project has set aside 60 million tokens for an airdrop to active users on Ethereum Layer 2s, stakers on Cosmos Hub and Osmosis, and developers in the broader crypto space. The snapshot for the airdrop was taken on Jan. 1, 2023. Unlike monolithic Layer 1 blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana, Celestia aims to be a modular network. This design intends to make it easier for developers to create new blockchains using its platform. Celestia Labs announced it had raised $55 million at a valuation exceeding $1 billion, in a funding round led by Bain Capital and Polychain.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🇺🇸 US Lawmakers Ask DOJ to Consider Criminal Charges Against Binance and Tether
The office of U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) announced Thursday that the senator from Wyoming and U.S. Representative French Hill (R-AR) have sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) “to swiftly investigate Binance and Tether.” They alleged that the two cryptocurrency platforms have been used to fund Hamas and “have a history of allowing illegal activity to occur.” Lummis is a member of the Senate Banking Committee while Hill is the chair of the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Digital Assets.
Senator Lummis highlighted “the need for federal investigators to crack down on bad actors in the crypto asset space after reports surfaced that showed Hamas used crypto assets to fund their war in Israel,” the announcement describes. The letter cites an article published by the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 10 stating that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah have received crypto funding since August 2021. While acknowledging that the level of funding reported in the article is “likely not accurate,” the lawmakers said: “We believe it is nonetheless imperative that the Department of Justice hold bad actors accountable if they are shown to facilitate illicit activity.” The firm added that the data it provided “has been misinterpreted.”
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🪙 Vitalik Buterin invests in Nocturne Labs, which aims to bring private accounts to Ethereum
Nocturne Labs, a crypto startup that wants to bring private accounts to the Ethereum ecosystem, has raised $6 million in seed funding. Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital co-led the round, with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Bankless Ventures, Hack VC, Robot Ventures and others participating, it said Wednesday. The firm started raising for the round in January of this year and closed it in August amid a crypto funding slump, co-founder and CEO Luke Tchang told The Block.
Founded last year in the United States, Nocturne is building a protocol that aims to allow users to transact anonymously within the Ethereum ecosystem. "Users will have 'internal' accounts within Nocturne where receiving/ spending funds from these accounts works in a way that is anonymous (not all tied back to the same address)," Tchang said. Users will be able to deposit or receive payments into their Nocturne account. They can then prove via zero-knowledge proof technologies that they own such funds and use them for other transactions such as payments, trading and staking, Tchang said. Crypto mixers have poor user experience, Tchang said, explaining that if you put in one ether, you can take out exactly that one ether.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
💰 Ripple celebrates dismissed charges, calling it a 'surrender by the SEC'
Ripple Labs Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty celebrated the dismissal of all charges against its executives in an ongoing lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said it would dismiss its lawsuit against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen over whether they are liable in their involvement in illegal securities sales. XRP rose on the news, climbing 3.7% to $0.51, according to CoinGecko.
"The SEC and Ripple intend to meet and confer on a potential briefing schedule with respect to the pending issue in the case — what remedies are proper against Ripple for its Section 5 violations with respect to its Institutional Sales of XRP — and respectfully request until November 9, 2023 to propose such schedule to the Court or, if the parties cannot agree, to seek a briefing schedule from the Court on a contested basis," the SEC said in a filing on Thursday. New York District Court Judge Analisa Torres ruled in July that some of Ripple's sales, called programmatic, of XRP did not violate securities laws because of a blind bid process in place for them. She also ruled that other direct sales of the token to institutional investors were securities, leaving a partial win for the SEC.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
💰 SBF Met With Clinton And New York Governor Before FTX Went Bankrupt
Former FTX CEO SBF met with Clinton’s intricate web of high-level meetings, just months before the exchange’s eventual collapse, has come to light during the ongoing trial in the New York Southern District court. The investigation further uncovered SBF met with Clinton’s meetings with top Saudi officials, including Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan and Khalid A. Al-Falih, around the same time. Notably, a prior meeting with New York City mayor Eric Adams was also highlighted during the trial.
Busick disclosed that Bankman-Fried’s phone data from June 2021 to November 2022 indicated a flurry of engagements with influential figures. Among the notable mentions, an encounter with former President Bill Clinton on September 20 at a New York City Hilton hotel caught the attention of Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Kudla. Additionally, a meeting with New York State Governor Kathy Hochul at an unconfirmed location was noted on September 16. While the specific reasons behind these meetings remain undisclosed, the emerging narrative of SBF met with Clinton’s extensive political influence campaign has begun to take shape. Earlier revelations by Nishad Singh, the former Head of Engineering at FTX, underscored Bankman-Fried’s involvement in directing political donations.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🪙 Ethereum's New Low-Fee Regime May Put Its 'Ultra Sound Money' Thesis to Test
Ethereum is likely entering a new regime dominated by low network revenue generated from fees, testing its native token ether's (ETH) deflationary supply narrative, crypto data analytics firm IntoTheBlock said in a report. Ethereum users over the past years' bull market complained about high transaction costs – also known as gas fees – while the network was prone to clogging due to increased activity from non-fungible token (NFT) trading and decentralized finance (DeFi) yield farming.
The proliferation of layer 2s, which have been developed to help Ethereum scale and increase its capacity, has also contributed to bringing down fees, the report noted. While the development is positive for Ethereum users who can execute transactions cheaper than before, it impacts ETH's supply by keeping it inflationary by burning fewer tokens than new issuance. Over the past 30 days, ETH token supply has grown by 33,500 ETH – worth some $52 million – driven by the low activity on the blockchain, data shows. Outumuro said that network fee revenue will likely stay low as speculative activity dries up and users continue migrating to layer 2s. For example, NFT trading was responsible for the bulk of tokens burned in 2021 and early 2022, but last week, it only represented 8%, he said in the report.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🇺🇸 Democratic senators tell IRS to speed up crypto tax reporting rules
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, along with a handful of other senators urged the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department to implement tax reporting requirements for crypto brokers “as rapidly as possible.”. The Treasury and the IRS proposed crypto tax reporting rules in August that would treat crypto brokers similarly to brokers for more traditional investments like stocks and bonds. The rules would specifically require brokers to provide crypto users with information needed to file their taxes.
The proposed regulations stemmed from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021 that included crypto language to increase reporting made by brokers on customers’ crypto activity. “While we applaud the substance of the proposed regulations and your agencies’ efforts to ensure taxpayers continue to report crypto activity, we are deeply concerned that the final rule will not become effective until 2026,” the lawmakers said. "Treasury has worked diligently to implement the bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the proposed regulations on the sale and exchange of digital assets by brokers will help close the tax gap and address the tax evasion risks posed by digital assets," the spokesperson said.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🟠 Binance introduces copy trading feature for futures markets
Crypto exchange Binance has introduced a copy trading feature for futures products in selected markets. This addition is aimed at simplifying the trading process by allowing users to emulate the strategies and portfolios of experienced or “lead” traders. Copy traders can follow up to 10 lead traders simultaneously and have the discretion to set their own risk preferences — such as take profit/stop loss, leverage levels, and margin configurations, as outlined by the exchange.
Binance highlighted the potential of copy trading feature to enhance engagement within its trading community. "We believe copy trading lowers the barriers to entry into crypto and can help improve social engagement within the community,” the exchange’s spokesperson remarked. The exchange declined to comment to specify which markets would incorporate copy trading. The exchange spokesperson said that Binance continually reviews its products, emphasizing its commitment to regulatory adherence. Some regulatory bodies in various countries have expressed concerns, suggesting that Binance might not have implemented sufficient measures to prevent its platform from being used for unlawful financial activities. In response, Binance has repeatedly stated that it is committed to meeting all relevant legal and regulatory standards.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🇺🇸 Tom Emmer's maneuver to move up in US House leadership could be good for crypto
Rep. Tom Emmer's maneuver to move up the ranks in House leadership amid a vacant House Speaker spot could bode well for cryptocurrency legislation. The Minnesota Republican and Majority Whip is reportedly vying for House Majority Leader or to the top position as Speaker, after the dramatic ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., earlier in the week. That could be good for crypto as more seniority could mean a push to get crypto legislation across the finish line.
"We are always excited to see any champion of the digital asset space advance and we look forward to seeing what this means for the future of our industry,” said Perianne Boring, CEO and founder of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. “Rep. Emmer has been a key collaborator for us, and we appreciate his hard work to foster innovation for digital assets and blockchain technologies." Emmer has introduced legislation in the past few years, including the Securities Clarity Act, which would create a new definition for tokens that exist in the in-between of commodity and security. Emmer has also been staunchly against central bank digital currencies and introduced a bill last month to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC directly to individuals. So if McHenry asks for work on his crypto bills, Emmer will take that very seriously, Hammond added.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🪙 Layer 1 blockchain that uses USDC as main transactional currency opens public testnet
Web3 developer Burnt announced the launch of its public testnet for Xion, a Layer-1 blockchain that will use the Circle-issued USDC stablecoin as its primary transactional currency. The network will focus on uses cases around payments, social communities, web subscriptions, loyalty programs and games. Xion will be supported by an ecosystem of over seventy-five partners who provide users with key functionalities, from onramp to managing on-chain communities and fee abstraction.
Besides using USDC for transaction fees, all products built on Xion will display prices in the stablecoin to make them user friendly. "Our long-term vision for XION is to empower user-friendly applications that harness the power of Web3 without the complexities typically associated with blockchains," said Burnt Banksy, CEO of Burnt. "We are proud to support Burnt in its mission of empowering developers to craft user-friendly experiences that abstract away the complexities typically associated with using Web3," said Wyatt Lonergan, Principal at Circle Ventures. "With the beta launch of XION, developers can build purpose-built applications that leverage USDC for widespread adoption.".
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
💰 Ripple Says Singapore License Formally Approved
Ripple’s Singapore arm has secured a license as a major payments institution from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the company said, allowing it to keep providing digital payment token services in the fast-growing region. It's the second piece of good news for Ripple in the past eight hours. “Singapore has developed into one of the leading fintech and digital asset hubs striking the balance between innovation, consumer protection and responsible growth,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, in a statement.
Ripple was granted a preliminary approval in June, but now its Ripple Markets APAC Pte Ltd subsidiary has obtained its formal licensing. The company said in a statement Tuesday that it does about 90 percent of its business outside the U.S. Meanwhile, Ripple has been fighting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its right to operate there. The company won another significant victory in that case on Tuesday, when a federal judge ruled against the SEC’s effort to appeal, so the matter is heading toward a final showdown in an April trial. adding that the country has been the company’s Asia Pacific headquarters for six years.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🇺🇸 SEC initiates legal action against FTX’s auditor
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has commenced legal proceedings against an accounting firm that had provided services to cryptocurrency exchange FTX before its bankruptcy declaration. According to a Sept. 29 statement, the SEC alleged that accounting firm Prager Metis provided auditing services to its clients without maintaining the necessary independence as it continued to offer accounting services. This practice is prohibited under the auditor independence framework.
To prevent conflicts of interest, accounting and audit tasks must be kept separate. While the statement doesn’t explicitly mention FTX or any other clients, it does emphasize that there were allegedly “hundreds” of auditor independence violations throughout the three-year period. Furthermore, a previous court filing highlighted that the FTX Group engaged Metis to audit FTX US and FTX at some point in 2021. Subsequently, FTX declared bankruptcy in November 2022. The filing alleged that since former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried publicly announced previous FTX audit results, Metis should have recognized that FTX would use its work to bolster public trust. Concerns were previously reported about the material presented in FTX audit reports.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🏦 Kraken Stock Trading Will Be Launched In 2024
According to Bloomberg, Kraken, the renowned cryptocurrency exchange platform with a 12-year history, is set to diversify its offerings by introducing trading services for US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in 2024. This strategic move represents Kraken’s first foray beyond its cryptocurrency core business. The new trading services will be facilitated through Kraken’s newly established department, Kraken Securities. Initially, these services will be rolled out in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Kraken stock trading and ETF trading will be provided through its new division, Kraken Securities. The company is targeting a 2024 launch for these services. Eligible customers will have the opportunity to integrate their crypto holdings seamlessly with their Kraken stock trading and ETF portfolios, presenting a unified balance. This expansion comes at a time when Kraken is also bolstering its prime brokerage services and preparing to launch a qualified custodian service for institutional clients in the coming weeks. The custody service will operate independently from the exchange, with Kraken having applied for approval from the state of Wyoming.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
💰 FTX Is Handing Over Customer Crypto Trading Data to the FBI
Bankruptcy advisors to collapsed crypto exchange FTX passed customer information to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to court records. The documents reveal that feds made the request to sift through the data to “investigate all transactions and customer accounts.” But the court records, made public yesterday, do not show details of just how much information federal agents received.
Customer privacy has been a hot topic since the collapse of FTX last year. Lawyers repeatedly blocked attempts from major news outlets—including the New York Times and Dow Jones & Company—to reveal customer names. They argued that former customers of the collapsed crypto platform could be subject to scams and identity theft if their names were revealed. The crypto brand’s co-founder and ex-boss Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested a month after the exchange collapsed and prosecutors said he criminally mismanaged the exchange and lost billions of dollars in client money in the process. FTX swiftly collapsed last November—sending shockwaves through an already battered crypto industry.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🇹🇼 Taiwan’s Record 320M USDT Crypto Laundering Scandal Unveiled!
Taiwanese authorities recently made a significant breakthrough in the battle against crypto laundering, cryptocurrency-related crimes, uncovering what is being touted as the country’s largest-ever money laundering case involving a staggering sum of 320 million USDT. The investigation, spearheaded by the Taiwan police, has shed light on the intricate web of criminal activities orchestrated by a group of sophisticated fraudsters operating within and beyond Taiwan’s borders.
According to the latest findings, the criminal suspects implicated in the money laundering scheme have been found to frequently traverse international boundaries, with Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Malaysia emerging as key destinations for their illicit activities. These individuals are believed to have established communication channels with local fraud groups in these regions, actively aiding in the process of laundering the substantial sum of cryptocurrency, with USDT as the focal point. In response to this alarming development, authorities in Taiwan have intensified efforts to fortify their regulatory framework and enhance collaboration with international counterparts, aiming to clamp down on the proliferation of illegal cryptocurrency activities.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🇺🇸 IRS Extends Comment Period for Crypto Reporting Regulations Amid Public Interest Surge
IRS extends comment period for crypto reporting regulations by two weeks, new deadline: November 13, 2023. In response to the widespread interest and concern generated by its proposed crypto reporting regulations, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has decided to extend the comment period by an additional two weeks. This move grants stakeholders more time to express their opinions, with the new deadline of November 13, 2023. Previously, stakeholders were required to submit comments on the proposed regulations by October 30, 2023.
The Treasury and IRS have announced an extension of two weeks for the comment period on its proposed crypto reporting regulations. This update, announced in an Oct. 25 Federal Register document, allows stakeholders more time to provide feedback. The final date for feedback has been extended to mid-November in response to the rule’s significant public interest since its August announcement. The proposed regulations focus on defining “brokers” in the crypto industry, including trading platforms, payment processors, digital asset-hosted wallet providers, and individuals who redeem digital assets they create or issue. He also pointed out the potential data overload the IRS could face, including transactions with “zero or negligible taxable income” under the proposed rules.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
⚪️ Neo plans Ethereum compatibility via sidechain
Neo is developing a sidechain designed to support Ethereum-based decentralized applications (dapps) and ensure full interoperability with its N3 mainnet, founder Da Hongfei announced at a Hong Kong event. The sidechain will inherit key features from Neo, including its Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (dBFT) consensus mechanism, to enhance scalability. It will utilize Neo’s native GAS token for both governance and utility functions.
Designed to resist Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) attacks such as frontrunning and sandwich attacks, the objective behind the sidechain will be to provide a secure platform for dapps, according to the team. Founded in 2014 and initially known as AntShares, Neo is one of the oldest smart contract platforms originally based out of China. The Neo mainnet has been running in stable capacity since Oct. 2016. Utilizing sidechains, which are parallel blockchains, is emerging as a prevalent approach to integrate Ethereum-based smart contracts with blockchains that lack native support for the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🟠 Binance Resumes Euro Transfers Through New Fiat Partners
Binance, the global leader in digital assets exchange, has signed agreements with new fiat partners that will process EUR payments, deposits and withdrawals for traders. These are regulated and authorized providers of fiat services, the crypto company said. Users have already started being migrated to the new platforms, Binance revealed in a blog post published Thursday, emphasizing the importance of accessible fiat channels for driving cryptocurrency adoption around the world.
In June, Binance’s former euro partner, Paysafe, announced its intentions to drop support for bank transfers of euros to and from the exchange via the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) network. The move came amid heightened regulatory scrutiny on Binance in Europe and elsewhere. Paysafe suspended its services in late September when Binance advised users of the payment processor to either convert their EUR balances to the stablecoin tether (USDT) or withdraw them to bank accounts while the trading platform was working to integrate new fiat channels. This year, the world’s largest crypto exchange was targeted by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic with lawsuits and investigations.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
❄️ Blockchain.com and TON Foundation introduce Toncoin incentive program
Today, The Open Network Foundation (TON Foundation), the non-profit Swiss organization working towards growing a Web3 ecosystem within Telegram, has announced a collaborative endeavor with Blockchain.com, one of the world’s most trusted and popular platforms for retail customers and institutions to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency. Blockchain.com and TON Foundation will make crypto more accessible for the over 800 million monthly active users on Telegram.
Starting in November 2023, TON Space will be available by default in the Telegram menu for all Telegram users outside the United States. All existing and new Telegram users, excluding those in the United States, will be able to access their wallets directly from the Telegram menu and enjoy an experience where buying, selling, and trading crypto is as easy as texting. Toncoin will also be available in Blockchain.com’s 90 million wallets across the globe to facilitate easy onboarding and off-ramping, with transaction pairs for GBP, USD, and EUR. To reinforce their mutual commitment to providing users with best-in-class value, the program includes a limited-time, incentivized campaign for Blockchain.com users to receive an extra $5 USD of Toncoin when they buy $20 USD of Toncoin on the platform.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🪙 Ethereum validator queues drop to record lows
The entry and exit queues for Ethereum blockchain validators have dropped to new lows, briefly hitting zero earlier today, according to data from Validator Queues. This marks a significant change in the staking landscape. In May 2023, over 90,000 validators waited more than 40 days to join the network. As it stands, merely a few validators are in the entry and exit queue — and their initiation process is almost immediate.
Additionally, the exit queues for validators intending to withdraw their staked ETH and cease validation are minimal, standing at just under five. This implies that existing validators are largely content to maintain their stakes amid the changing dynamics of the staking environment. The time required to complete the exit process has also been reduced to roughly 15 minutes. The current settings for activation and exit limits for validators — called churn limit — were recently changed from 12 to 13 per epoch, which translates to a daily cap of 2,925 validators that can either join or exit the network. According to analyst Tom Wan from 21 Shares, this allows the network to accommodate up to 93,600 new ETH deposits every day without necessitating that new validators wait longer than a day.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🪙 Ethereum Has Nearly Cleared Out Validator Queue, a Sign of Weak Staking Demand
Ethereum’s once-crowded queue for new validators on the blockchain has almost completely cleared out. It would be the first time that has happened since Ethereum’s major “Shapella” upgrade in April, which marked the completion of the blockchain’s transition to a fully-functioning proof-of-stake network. This is a remarkable decrease from when new validators were looking at a 45-day wait due to massive pent-up demand to stake ether (ETH), the network’s native token.
Ethereum’s rules limit how many new validators can come on every blockchain “epoch,” or roughly 12 seconds. Validators participate in maintaining Ethereum’s proof-of-stake blockchain and verifying transactions by locking up (staking) ETH. In exchange for their efforts, they receive staking rewards. Ethereum’s Shapella upgrade allowed withdrawal of staked ETH for the first time, eliminating a significant source of risk for investors – that they might not be able to get their funds back out. ETH staking growth was “exceptionally strong” since the Merge – when Ethereum transitioned to proof-of-stake in September 2022 – and Shapella upgrades, but the initial fervor has started to cool, David Lawant, head of research at institutional crypto exchange FalconX, noted in a market report.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🟠 Binance CEO – Changpeng Zhao Indicted Along with Three Executives in Brazil
According to a congressional commission looking into Brazilian pyramid schemes, Changpeng Zhao indicted along with three other top executives for financial fraud and engaging in prohibited financial activity. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is currently facing legal action in Brazil. A congressional committee has recommended indicting Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and three other top executives for their involvement in fraudulent management and unauthorized financial activities. This recommendation is part of an investigation into pyramid schemes in Brazil.
Brazilian law enforcement has compiled a 508-page report that exposes these pyramid schemes. If the authorities proceed with indictments, Changpeng Zhao Indicted along with three other top executives for fraudulent management and operating a financial institution without authorization. The report also implicates local Binance executives Daniel Mangabeira, Guilherme Haddad Nazar, and Thiago Carvalho for their involvement in fraudulent practices and unauthorized securities trading. It states that they established a network of legal entities controlled by Zhao to evade compliance with the law. Binance’s Brazilian division is currently under investigation by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) for their derivatives sales. In August, CVM rejected a settlement offer of 2 million reais, or $395,835.80, from Binance’s local executives.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
📣 Crypto Cards Still an Option to Spend Digital Cash in Fiat Environment
Rising regulatory pressures may have limited crypto cards on offer but they remain a viable way to pay with coins where only fiat is accepted. With them, you spend crypto and that’s without the need to exchange it beforehand as it often happens when you want to pay with cryptocurrency in a fiat scenario. While not as immediate as most in the crypto community would like, crypto cards nevertheless present an opportunity to pay with decentralized digital money where merchants would only take dollars, euros or any of the other central bank currencies.
Just like bank cards, crypto cards can come in physical, or plastic, and virtual form. The latter can be used to make payments online while the former can be also swiped or tapped at brick-and-mortar stores equipped with point of sale (POS) terminals. They are several types of crypto cards, which differ slightly from the regular ones. Credit crypto cards, for example, use deposited crypto assets as collateral to extend a credit line in fiat. There are also fiat credit cards that offer coins and tokens as cashback or rewards. The category that allows you to actually spend your digital coins or withdraw cash at ATMs are the crypto debit cards. These are linked to a cryptocurrency wallet and provide instant conversion to fiat at current exchange rates at the time of purchase or withdrawal.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🆘 Web3 platform Galxe hit by DNS attack on front-end website
The official website of the web3 credentials and rewards platform Galxe was compromised due to a DNS hijack attack on its front-end website, the team confirmed. The team notified users of the incident, advising them not to use the site. During the attack, hackers executed a DNS exploit to take control of Galxe's official website link and redirected users to a phishing site associated with a malicious contract aiming to steal user funds. Galxe stated the compromise targeted its account with the domain name registrar, Dynadot.
The incident appears to have resulted in a loss of funds for some user, with crypto sleuth ZachXBT noting that an address linked to the hacker has received funds from Galxe users. So far, the hacker’s address has amassed over $140,000 in user funds. The same address was tied to the attacker who executed a similar DNS hijack attack on the Balancer exchange on Sept. 20. Galxe is a web3 platform that allows developers to leverage digital credential data and NFTs to reward users for their participation in various crypto activities. Users receive custom reward programs for attending community events, participating in governance tasks, or completing an incentivized testnet activity. "We’ve detected a security breach affecting the DNS record for 'galxe.com' through our Dynadot account. Please refrain from visiting the site from all channels while we are resolving the issue," the team said.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
💰 Ripple Says Singapore License Formally Approved
Ripple’s Singapore arm has secured a license as a major payments institution from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the company said, allowing it to keep providing digital payment token services in the fast-growing region. It's the second piece of good news for Ripple in the past eight hours. “Singapore has developed into one of the leading fintech and digital asset hubs striking the balance between innovation, consumer protection and responsible growth,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, in a statement.
Ripple was granted a preliminary approval in June, but now its Ripple Markets APAC Pte Ltd subsidiary has obtained its formal licensing. The company said in a statement Tuesday that it does about 90 percent of its business outside the U.S. Meanwhile, Ripple has been fighting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its right to operate there. The company won another significant victory in that case on Tuesday, when a federal judge ruled against the SEC’s effort to appeal, so the matter is heading toward a final showdown in an April trial. adding that the country has been the company’s Asia Pacific headquarters for six years.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🆘 Friend.Tech Users Targeted by SIM Swap Attack, Several Ether Drained
Some Friend.Tech users reported that they were the victim of SIM swap attacks over the weekend with the attackers successfully draining thousands of dollars worth of tokens. SIM Swap attacks are a common occurrence and happen when criminals take over control of a mobile phone by tricking service providers to connect that phone number to a SIM card in the hacker’s possession. Swapped phones can then be used for fraudulent activity.
At least two users claimed that were targeted in a SIM swap attack which allowed exploiters to drain over 42 ether (ETH), worth nearly $70,000 at current prices, over separate attacks. “If your Twitter account is doxxed to your real name, your phone number can be found, and this could happen to you,” posted @darengb, a user who got impacted. Their phone carrier is Verizon. Social application Friend.Tech has become one of the most popular crypto platforms this year, despite the bear market, generating steady revenues and profits for its creators. The application amassed over 100,000 users in under two weeks after going live, as previously reported. Hackers may employ techniques from smart contract manipulation or flash loan attacks, to using a traditional method to exploit wealthy users.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🇺🇸 Valkyrie Ether Futures Now Suspended Until SEC Approval
On September 29, the asset management company made an official announcement regarding the suspension of Valkyrie Ether futures purchases. The decision to halt Ethereum futures purchases is directly tied to the approval status of an amendment to the fund’s registration statement. Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) has opted to refrain from acquiring Ether (ETH) futures contracts until the SEC’s approval for adding these contracts to the fund’s principal investment strategy becomes effective.
Earlier, the SEC had granted Valkyrie approval to transform its existing Bitcoin futures ETF into a Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETF. Consequently, this new fund will undergo a name change to “Valkyrie Bitcoin and Ethereum Strategy ETF,” and it is scheduled to take effect on October 3rd, maintaining the code BTF. In light of these developments, Valkyrie has committed to unwinding any Ethereum futures purchases that were previously initiated. This swift change in strategy follows the firm’s recent announcement that it had commenced the inclusion of Ether futures exposure within the BTF, following SEC approval. The suspension of Valkyrie Ethereum futures purchases underscores the company’s commitment to regulatory compliance and the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency investments.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest
🪙 Ethereum OFAC Compliance Crashes to 45% After Merge Overhaul!
Ethereum OFAC compliance embarked on a momentous journey with its Merge upgrade, signaling a monumental shift from the traditional proof-of-work (PoW) to the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Ethereum OFAC compliance is pivotal as it determines which transactions are allowed to pass through Ethereum’s blockchain. Prior to the Merge upgrade, Ethereum’s OFAC compliance was on an upward trajectory, bolstered by the adoption of censoring MEV-Boost relays by major crypto exchanges and platforms.
Notable offenders included industry giants like Binance, Celsius Network, Bitfinex, Ledger Live, Huobi, and Coinbase. However, since the Merge upgrade, Ethereum OFAC compliance has seen a sharp decline. In November 2022, a robust 78% of Ethereum blocks adhered to OFAC regulations. As of September 27, 2023, this figure has plummeted to a mere 30%, marking a significant 57% reduction. Addressing this compliance issue necessitates the utilization of relays that do not censor transactions in line with OFAC requirements. While there are seven major MEV-boost relays in use, only three of them do not impose OFAC-related censorship, according to MEV Watch. Furthermore, it’s essential to understand that blocks built by OFAC-compliant relays will censor transactions that do not meet the compliance criteria, even though not all blocks are inherently censoring.
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@DeFi_ICO_Invest