Every week, I will be collecting some news stories / opinion pieces that I have found to be interesting in the crypto world and condensing them down into one easily digestible article. All the article and images are taken from a news source that I like to use and an alternative to CoinTelegram called BeInCrypto.
BeInCrypto is a news website founded in August 2018 that specialises in cryptographic technology, privacy, fintech, and the Internet — among other related topics. The primary goal of the website is to inject transparency into an industry rife with disingenuous reporting, unlabelled sponsored articles, and paid news masquerading as honest journalism. You can visit their website by clicking here or join their new Telegram Trading channel by clicking here. I am also part of that group and like the content they are discussing. There is a lot of news that came out last week, So let's get started!
Darknet Opioid Vendors Charged with Money Laundering Using Bitcoin, Wire Transfers
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken into custody and charged a pair of darknet opioid vendors. David Brian Pate and Jose Luis Fung Hou, both from Costa Rica, allegedly sold the opioids on the darknet and laundered the money using Bitcoin and wire transfers.
The charges include both the illegal use and distribution of controlled substances, as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering. The men allegedly sold the narcotics on AlphaBay and SilkRoad and would accept payment in Bitcoin, using online exchanges to launder the funds. You can read the full article by clicking here.
All Eyes were on Medalla as ETH 2.0 Testnet was Launched
The Ethereum community held its collective breath on Tuesday as the final planned public testnet for ETH 2.0 went live. Ethereum prices are close to the psychological $400 level again, but can they surge past the barrier with this building momentum?
Tuesday was a big day for Ethereum’s Phase 0 public testnet. A timer had been set up by the Ethstaker group on Reddit to mark the countdown to the genesis launch time of 13:00 UTC. To read the full article, click here.
Opyn DeFi Platform Discovers Exploit, Over 370k in USDC Stolen
Opyn, the decentralised finance (DeFi) platform said that an exploit has affected ETH put contracts, leading to over $371,200 being stolen.
Revealed yesterday in a blog post, a user report had alerted the company to hackers who exploited Opyn ETH Put contracts. The perpetrators walked away with more than $370,000. Are we seeing the flaws of DeFi' platforms? You can read more by clicking here.
Ethereum Classic Rocked by Second 51% Attack This Week
Ethereum Classic has experienced yet another malicious 51% attack—the second in under a week. Binance has frozen all Ethereum Classic deposits and withdrawals.
Reports have shown that a 51% attack on the Ethereum Classic blockchain reorganised 4,000 blocks on the chain. The attack was reported at around 3:30 AM UTC by Ethermine’s parent company Bitfly.
This is the second attack that Ethereum has faced this week. Reports show that between Jul 31 and Aug 1, over 807,000 ETC, worth $5.68 million, was stolen. Blockchain data intelligence firm Bitquery said that the attacker spent $192,000 worth of Bitcoin to obtain the network hashing power to execute the attack. It's not looking too good for Ethereum Classic! To read more, click here.
Google Advertises Uniswap Phishing Scams
Google searches recently displayed results and ads for at least three phishing schemes masquerading as the Uniswap decentralised exchange.
It was discovered that the world’s most popular search engine was showing results for (and even advertising) scams pretending to be the Uniswap platform.
Earlier today, searching for ‘Uniswap’ in Google resulted in ads for fake sites with the following domains: uniswap.com, uniswapdex.org, and unsiwap.site. Make sure to always check the website before doing any transactions. You can read the full article by clicking here.
Bitfinex offers $400 Million Reward for 2016 Bitcoin Hack
Bitfinex, the behemoth exchange, reached out to hackers and whistle-blowers in an attempt to make good on 2016’s massive security breach.
On Tuesday, Bitfiniex issued a statement with details of an award for information leading to the return of 119,755 bitcoin stolen in a 2016 hack. On August 2, 2016, Bitfinex found itself humiliated after a hacker stole millions of its users’ funds.
At the time, the loss was valued at around $72 million. However, as of writing, that value had ballooned to about $1.3 billion. They are offering up to $400 million as a reward. What do you think about this? Do you think this will work? You can read the full article by clicking here.
Bancor Builds on DeFi With New Liquidity Farming Solutions
This week’s DeFi darling is Bancor, which has been gaining momentum following the launch of its v2 pools last week. Meanwhile, DeFi markets themselves have been consistently hitting new highs over the past few months, with no signs of slowing.
On July 31, non-custodial token exchange protocol Bancor launched its highly anticipated v2 to mainnet. What do you think about so many projects jumping into DeFi? You can read the full article by clicking here.
Bitcoin Community Member Develops Funding Tracker
A Bitcoin community member under the alias ‘Polylunar’ has published a Bitcoin Grants Tracker.
The user aims to bring additional transparency to the world of crypto funding. Due to the decentralised nature of Bitcoin, keeping track of the different funding projects is complex.
By making development funding more accessible, the tracker could attract interest from open-source developers. The tracker may be a step forward in the quest to bring crypto into the mainstream. You can read more by clicking here.
Russia’s Largest Bank May Issue Its Own Stablecoin
On the heels of new crypto legislation, Russia’s largest (and state-owned) bank Sberbank, is considering launching its own stablecoin to simplify blockchain transactions.
Sergei Popov, director of Sberbank’s Transactions Business department, has raised the possibility of the issuance of digital tokens. He believes it would be in the bank’s interest to have a digital coin to settle accounts in the future. What do you think about this? You can read the full article by clicking here.
Square Raked in $875 Million in Bitcoin Revenue During Q2 2020
In an early release of it’s most recent shareholder report, fintech giant Square announced that it did $875 million in Bitcoin revenue during the second quarter of 2020. This figure was primarily driven by its Cash App, which enables users to buy and sell Bitcoin.
This total represents an all-time high in Square’s quarterly Bitcoin purchases — a 186% increase compared to last quarter, and a 600% increase year-on-year. What do you think about this? Will this help with mass adoption? You can read more by clicking here.
LINK Marines Declare War on Zeus Capital Copycat
The saga between the ChainLink community and a seemingly fraudulent investment firm keeps unfolding in unexpected ways. After releasing a 60-page report a few weeks ago, the investment firm copycat is still attacking LINK.
A Zeus Capital Twitter account imposter, going by the handle @ZeusCapitalLLP, has been attempting to rile up the ChainLink community to create more discord. Zeus Capital LLP claims to have a significant short position against LINK.
In order to fight back against the attacks, the ChainLink community, often referred to as ‘LINK Marines,’ organised a price pump to try and liquidate Zeus Capital LLP’s alleged short position. What do you think about this? You can read the full article by clicking here.
Kazakhstan Set to Impose Taxes on Crypto Mining
Bitcoin miners in Kazakhstan will soon be paying taxes to the state as the government looks to raise funds for COVID-19 recovery plans.
Outside China, Kazakhstan controls the third-largest share of the global Bitcoin (BTC) mining hash rate. Recently, governments in West and Central Asia have begun to draft policies targeted at getting the most from their local crypto mining markets.
According to a report from local news media in the country, the proposed draft seeks to amend the current tax registration and filing procedures to include crypto mining activities. If passed, the proposed plan from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Economy will see crypto miners pay up to 15% in taxes. What do you think about this? You can read more by clicking here.
Latest Update on India’s Proposed Law to Ban Crypto Trading
A proposed government ban on cryptocurrency trading is back on the cards after an anonymous official said on Tuesday that authorities will soon propose a new law. The move is seen as a blow to the country’s crypto investors, despite a supreme court decision earlier this year to lift a central bank crypto ban.
The government official, on condition of anonymity, explained to moneycontrol that the new law would be “more binding”. Where do you think this will go? It feels like deja vu! You can read more by clicking here.
That is my weekly roundup of the interesting news coming from the crypto world. What do you think about the topics / news stories and what was your favourite article? If you liked the content, please consider following me and tipping the article. Also are you a trader? If you are check out my favourite Telegram Trading chat, where you can discuss and find out more about crypto projects. Click here to start conversations with other crypto traders!
