Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Majority of Russia’s Financial Pyramids in Q1 Linked to Crypto

Many of the financial pyramids identified in Russia during the first quarter of the year have been associated with cryptocurrencies, a top central bank official has revealed. Fraudsters are actively exploiting the hot topics of the day, including the sanctions theme.　　 Pyramids Offer Russian Investors Ways to Circumvent Western Sanctions　　Amid growing financial uncertainty, Ponzi schemes advertising opportunities to invest in digital assets are mushrooming in Russia. Of all financial pyramids detected by regulators in the first three months of 2022, well over half have used cryptocurrency as a lure.　　“Schemes based on transfers using cryptocurrencies or investments in ‘digital instruments’ have received another impetus,” Valery Lyakh, director of Bank of Russias Department for Combating Unfair Practices told Tass news agency. More than 58% of the pyramids identified by Russian financial authorities in the first quarter of this year were linked to cryptocurrencies, Lyakh detailed.　　As usual, the scammers take advantage of the trending topics in the news, the high-ranking representative of Russia‘s monetary authority added. “Against the backdrop of financial uncertainties, calls to ’save money in foreign jurisdictions, invest in a foreign project, in foreign securities are popular,” Lyakh elaborated.　　Investment proposals like these have been made in the past but now fraudsters

2022-05-09Deep Dive

What Is Blockchain Sharding?

The Bitcoin business is enormous and sophisticated, with hundreds of little cogs working together to run a well-oiled machine. There are several activities that may be done on or inside a blockchain, but blockchains can also be divided into various segments. This is known as sharding. But how precisely does blockchain sharding function, and what is its purpose？　　Many of us envision a blockchain as a lengthy line or chain of information. So, let us use this concept to better understand sharding. A typical blockchain is made up of one chain of blocks and acts as a standalone network that stores data in a decentralised manner. While this is not a perfect system, the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and blockchains poses a severe concern for autonomous organisations: scalability constraints.　　As the number of transactions on a blockchain rises, a backlog of un-validated blocks forms. This is a major issue on the Bitcoin blockchain, as users must wait an excruciatingly long time for their transactions to be processed.　　Bitcoins scalability challenges stem partially from its tiny block sizes, as well as the fact that the Bitcoin network is so popular that developers and miners simply cannot keep up with the massive transaction traffic. As

2022-05-09Deep Dive

Understanding staking pools

1. What are crypto staking pools？　　A staking pool is a technology that allows numerous crypto token holders to pool their tokens, allowing the staking pool operator validator status and awarding tokens to all stakeholders for their contributions of computing resources.　　Many crypto investors throughout the world are unfamiliar with the notion of a staking pool, and investing in one prompt suspicion rather than attracting swarms of investors. However, the general idea of a staking pool is accessible on blockchains that use a proof-of-stake (PoS) architecture and require stakeholders to lock their crypto tokens in a specific blockchain address or wallet in exchange for an annual percentage pay-out (APY).　　These locked tokens are tied to the development of the corresponding blockchain. In exchange, the blockchain offers stakeholders a percentage payout based on the quantity of tokens invested via the public stake pool operator. The numerous benefits of investing in a public stake pool are accompanied by a number of drawbacks that must be considered before staking crypto tokens, particularly the staking pool type used.　　Public stake pools are perfect for retail investors that wish to engage in staking without having to stake huge quantities of a crypto token or join a private staking pool.

2022-05-09Deep Dive

Binance disables derivatives services in Spain

Binance, one of the worlds biggest crypto exchanges, disabled its derivatives services in Spain while seeking regulatory approval from Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), the Crypto Times reported on Saturday.　　The website of Binance in Spain removed its derivatives drop-down and local newspapers reported that the company had temporarily suspended derivatives offerings to comply with regulations and eligibility criteria set by the government agency.　　Currently, Binance is on a gray list of CNMV, along with other crypto exchanges including Coinbase and Bit2Me. The gray list identifies organizations not allowed to operate as fully licensed entities.　　Last week, Binance received a digital asset service provider license from the financial markets regulator in France, The Block reported.　　For more Blockchain news, please download WikiBit- the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.

2022-05-09Deep Dive

US Treasury Imposes Sanctions on North Korean Crypto Mixer

The US Department of the Treasury‘s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced fresh sanctions on a cryptocurrency mixer called Blender.io, which happens to be used by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).　　OFAC Sanctions Coin Mixer　　In the official press release, the OFAC revealed that North Korean hackers had used Blender to launder digital assets as well as to carry out state-sponsored cyber attacks.　　The website was reportedly engaged in the high-profile security breach on Axie Infinitys Ronin Bridge, processing over $20.5 million of the illicit proceeds out of the total $620 million drained. It has also facilitated the transfer of more than $500 million worth of Bitcoin since its inception five years back.　　Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson stated,　　“Today, for the first time ever, Treasury is sanctioning a virtual currency mixer. Virtual currency mixers that assist illicit transactions pose a threat to U.S. national security interests. We are taking action against illicit financial activity by the DPRK and will not allow state-sponsored thievery and its money-laundering enablers to go unanswered.”　　North Korean-Sponsored Hackers　　The latest development emerged two weeks after the FBI issued a statement saying that the cyber actors APT38, also known as

2022-05-09Deep Dive

Majority of Russia’s Financial Pyramids in Q1 Linked to Crypto, Scammers Exploit Sanctions Topic

Pyramids Offer Russian Investors Ways to Circumvent Western Sanctions　　Amid growing financial uncertainty, Ponzi schemes advertising opportunities to invest in digital assets are mushrooming in Russia. Of all financial pyramids detected by regulators in the first three months of 2022, well over half have used cryptocurrency as a lure.　　“Schemes based on transfers using cryptocurrencies or investments in ‘digital instruments’ have received another impetus,” Valery Lyakh, director of Bank of Russias Department for Combating Unfair Practices told Tass news agency. More than 58% of the pyramids identified by Russian financial authorities in the first quarter of this year were linked to cryptocurrencies, Lyakh detailed.　　As usual, the scammers take advantage of the trending topics in the news, the high-ranking representative of Russia‘s monetary authority added. “Against the backdrop of financial uncertainties, calls to ’save money in foreign jurisdictions, invest in a foreign project, in foreign securities are popular,” Lyakh elaborated.　　Investment proposals like these have been made in the past but now fraudsters also exploit the sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Valery Lyakh pointed out. They are talking about projects in countries that are not supporting the measures against Moscow and offers to circumvent restrictions on international payments have become

2022-05-09Deep Dive

Google Cloud Establishes a New Team for Web3 Infrastructure

Cloud data storage, primarily controlled by big techs like Amazon and Microsoft, is partly what the blockchain-powered Web3 aims to revolutionize through decentralization. The largest search engine in the world is planning its foray into such a promising field.　　Googles cloud group, whose parent company has reportedly shifted its major source of revenues from advertisement to cloud computing, has announced forming a new team specifically for building blockchain infrastructure.　　Googles Web3 Endeavors　　Amit Zavery, a vice president at Google Cloud, expressed the urgency of developing a blockchain-focused team as the leader of such a field in an email sent to his employees, reported by CNBC.　　Zavery clarified that the company positions itself as a technology provider for blockchain entities rather than a direct participant in cryptocurrency.　　“We‘re not trying to be part of that cryptocurrency wave directly. We’re providing technologies for companies to use and take advantage of the distributed nature of Web3 in their current businesses and enterprises.”　　Zavery noted that Google could develop a system for making blockchain data easy for people to explore while simplifying the process of building and running such nodes, which is essential for validating and recording transactions.　　The vice president believes as blockchain applications continue to infiltrate into industries such

2022-05-09Deep Dive

Crypto, like railways, is among the world’s top innovations of the millennium

You are about to read a half-fiction witty story based on Stuart Hylton‘s review of “the making of Modern Britain” and my interpretation of the blockchain’s impact on todays world. I found it fascinating how the description of the industrial age front-runner technology resembled the awe and fear of blockchain in modern times. Some quotes are so relevant that changing the “railroad company” to “blockchain protocol” would give the same shilling.　　After several “bubbles” (actually eight so far) and some huge announcements — remember Libra and TON？ — I figured it was a good time to coin (pun intended) the history of the emerging technology that could be the biggest innovation in the last 500 years.An intriguing comparison　　Why bother？ From a distance of two centuries, it is difficult to grasp or even believe the impact that the development of the railways must have had at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In a similar manner, the common observer is stuck between a Bitcoin (BTC) evangelist preaching the dollar‘s Doomsday and a big bank’s crypto skeptic. In fact, there is no clear trend of what to expect from distributed ledger technology in the next few decades.　　The physical impact of railways was dramatic:

2022-05-08Deep Dive

Meta’s Instagram to Support NFTs From Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Flow

NFTs from some of the most popular blockchain networks for crypto art are coming to Instagram with the announcement of a pilot as soon as Monday.　　The social media powerhouse owned by Meta is planning non-fungible token (NFT) integrations for Ethereum, Polygon, Solana and Flow, CoinDesk has learned. Those networks host the vast majority of trading in digital collectibles, with Ethereum and its Bored Apes leading the way by market cap.　　The pilot will feature a small group of NFT aficionados based in the U.S. It wasnt immediately clear whether Instagram would support NFTs from all four chains at launch.　　Instagram intends to support widely used crypto wallets such as MetaMask. Plugging in their wallets, users will be able to prove NFT ownership, showcase them on their profiles and tag the creators who made them.　　CoinDesk has confirmed Instagram will not charge users for posting and sharing NFTs, as Twitter initially did for its hexagonal NFT profile pictures in January.　　The decision likely spells a rush of new cultural visibility for NFTs. Instagram has over one billion monthly active users; many of whom use the platform to promote and market their art.　　Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased the initiative in March without divulging much details.　　The Financial

2022-05-08Deep Dive

Tron DAO Reserve Purchases $38 Million in TRX to Safeguard the Stablecoin USDD

Tron DAO Reserve and Justin Sun Reveal a $38 Million TRX Purchase　　Terra‘s UST reserve system is becoming a popular scheme, and Tron’s USDD stablecoin project is following the pattern. Bitcoin.com News reported on Trons algorithmic stablecoin project on April 21, and since then the fiat-pegged crypto asset has officially launched. The project has a number of partners now and USDD is listed on Pancakeswap, Kyberswap, Sunswap, Sun.io, Curve Finance, Uniswap, and Ellipsis.　　According to tronscan.org, there‘s approximately 211,245,005.49 USDD at the time of writing. Statistics show on Saturday, May 7, 2022, Uniswap version three (v3) is the most active exchange to buy and sell USDD. While USDD’s $211 million market capitalization is small potatoes to Terra‘s UST ($18.7B), its only been around for two days. While terrausd (UST) saw $990.3 million in 24 hour trades, USDD saw $2.31 million during the past day. USDD’s market valuation is larger than gemini dollars (GUSD) $199.5 million market capitalization.　　On Saturday, the Tron DAO and Trons founder Justin Sun announced that the team purchased 504,600,250 TRX at an average price of 0.07727 per unit. The purchase will be used as a reserve asset to “safeguard the overall blockchain industry and crypto market,” Tron DAO Reserve

2022-05-08Deep Dive

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