Avoiding cryptocurrency scams: How scammers use your friends and social media against you

Experts say it is a perfect storm: the combination of unknown and cutting edge currency, making scammers come out of the woodwork.  Paper money? Try computer-generated, digitally encoded signature money. That is cryptocurrency, and it is now number two on the Better Business Bureaus (BBB) riskiest scam report.  It happens within a matter of a couple clicks.  “Because its coming from your friends, your relative, your brother, you think, Oh, is this real? Is this legitimate? And you look into it a little bit more,” said Rebecca Barr, BBB communications manager.  Its a scam artists dream—unknown, cutting edge, and unregulated. Using social media and the influence of friends, by hacking social media accounts, scammers target the younger generation by luring them into buying cryptocurrency.  “They get you in contact with an investment guide whos going to tell you how to do it,” Barr explained in a hypothetical situation. “And it only costs an initial upfront investment of, lets say, $500, but youre going to make $5,000. And in most of the reports, we see what were seeing is you actually do see the investment make a profit and quite rapidly so youre watching your money, or so you think, grow and grow and grow. But

2022-03-28Deep Dive

How to get access to Metapolis, the reason ZIL is up 100% in 24 hours

The first Metaverse as a Service (MaaS) has been announced on the Zilliqa network. Named, Metapolis, the newly announced metaverse project will be supported by an IRL early access event in Miami on April 2. The price of ZIL broke $0.12 Sunday morning from a low of $0.43 just the day before. This marks a 159% price increase in less than 24 hours.  At present, the only way to get access is via the competition hosted on this Reddit post. Prizes include tickets to the event or a limited edition NFT and T-Shirt. More information should be released on Discord at 12 pm EST Wednesday, March 30 via a Metapolis AMA with the leadership team from Zilliqa.  This is not just any old metaverse announcement. Zilliqa has partnered with Agora, a global talent awards app. Through the partnership, it is possible that creators will be able to upload content to the Agora app and, through community voting, have their work added to the Metapolis metaverse. Further, winners of Agora awards currently receive up to $150,000 in grants. Helou, Head of Metaverse and NFTs and Zilliqa said,  “We are excited for this partnership as we are able to bring not only creativity to life

2022-03-28Deep Dive

UK Set to Disclose Plans for Regulating Crypto in Coming Weeks: CNBC

The U.K. government is set to reveal its plans for regulating the crypto industry in the coming weeks, according to CNBC.  Although details are still being finalized, the regulatory regime will focus heavily on stablecoins which are cryptocurrencies fixed to the value of other assets, CNBC reported Sunday citing unnamed sources.  The U.K. Treasury Department has discussed the upcoming regulatory package with multiple crypto firms including Gemini, the issuer of stablecoin Gemini dollar (GUSD), which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, according to the report.  The European Union‘s landmark regulatory framework for crypto assets, currently moving through the bloc’s complex legislative process, also has a heavy emphasis on oversight into stablecoins.  The U.S. Congress is also working on specific regulations for stablecoins over potential risks these private cryptocurrencies may pose to financial stability.  On Thursday, U.K. regulators published a report voicing concerns about how crypto adoption poses financial risks.  Rishi Sunak, Britain‘s finance minister, is set to announce the U.K. government’s regulatory plans for crypto in the coming weeks, according to the report.  For more Blockchain news, please download WikiBit- the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.

2022-03-28Deep Dive

Elon Musk Giving 'Serious Thought' to Creating Social Media Platform With Free Speech as Top Priorit

Elon Musk Considers Building New Social Media Platform, Says Free Speech Is Essential to Democracy  The CEO of Tesla and Spacex, Elon Musk, has been discussing the need for a new social media platform on Twitter over the past couple of days. He has recently become more critical of Twitter and its policies, claiming that the social media platform is undermining democracy by failing to adhere to free speech principles.  Replying to a question about whether he would consider building a new social media platform with an open source algorithm, where free speech is given top priority and propaganda is minimized, Musk replied: “Am giving serious thought to this.”  The discussion began when Musk put up a Twitter poll Friday asking his 79.2 million followers to vote whether they believe Twitter adheres to the principle of free speech, which “is essential to a functioning democracy,” he wrote.  The Tesla boss emphasized: “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.” After 24 hours, the poll ended with more than 2 million votes; 70.4% said no.  Musk opined:  Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?  In a follow-up

2022-03-28Deep Dive

EU Cracking Down on Unhosted Wallets

According to a Twitter thread posted by Patrick Hansen, head of growth and strategy at decentralized finance startup Unstoppable Finance, the European Parliament is on track to vote to include unhosted wallets, such as Ledger or Metamask, in the anti-money laundering (AML) package as part of the Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR).  Hansen says that the European Commission might end up entirely prohibiting transactions to private wallets.  The existing Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rule requires businesses to verify all transactions that exceed 1,000 euros ($1,098). However, the draft doesnt include any lower limit, meaning that all cryptocurrency transactions will be accompanied by compulsory identity checks.  The move to crack down on anonymous transactions enjoys broad support among lawmakers, which means that a few dissenting right-wing voices wont be enough to prevent the passage of the draconian proposal.  The effort to de-anonymize all cryptocurrency transactions is spearheaded by Ernest Urtasun, a Spanish ecosocialist politician, and Assita Kanko, a Belgian journalist, human rights activist who represents the New Flemish Alliance.  The Economic Affairs Committee is set to vote on de-anonymizing all cryptocurrency transactions to self-hosted wallets on March 29. If the proposal passes, it will then be debated by the “trilogue.” As reported, the European

2022-03-28Deep Dive

Can Crypto Miners Make the World Greener?

Around 15,000 cryptocurrency mining rigs are humming away at HIVE Blockchain’s 30 megawatt (MW) data center in Boden, Sweden. But not all the time. Sometimes, the facility powers down to help the local grid.  The data center, drawing cheap energy from local hydropower producers, acts as one of the largest, if not the largest, active energy reserves the Swedish grid can call upon whenever there are major disturbances to the local power supply. The facility can shut down its machines almost instantaneously, so that energy can quickly be diverted to public use.  “In five seconds, we have to power down half of what we have allowed into the system,” said Johanna Thornblad, HIVE Blockchain’s Sweden country president. “And within 30 seconds, the entire power supply that is being requested has to be participating in the FCR-D system” – the Frequency Containment Reserve for Disturbances that keeps the lights on in the region.  When managed like that, the energy demand of HIVE’s mine is an asset to the local electricity grid; the miners are a stable source of cash flow when public energy consumption is low, but can power off during peak hours.  The mutually beneficial relationship between the HIVE facility and the local grid

2022-03-27Deep Dive

TOP 10 GOOD CRYPTOCURRENCY FORUMS FOR YOU TO JOIN IN 2022

Cryptocurrency forums are the places where crypto enthusiasts exchange their thoughts  Cryptocurrency forums are one of the most crucial parts of the cryptocurrency world. Cryptocurrency forums are the places where people like crypto investors, enthusiasts, entrepreneurs gather to exchange their thoughts, ideas, perspectives, promotions, etc. For those who are entering the crypto market now, it is an excellent opportunity to be aware of what is most important today in the cryptocurrency world. For example, which cryptocurrencies are performing well, or should you consider buying expensive or cheap cryptocurrencies, etc. This article features the top 10 good cryptocurrency forums for you to join in 2022.  Here are the top 10 cryptocurrency forums to join in 2022:Master The Crypto  Master The Crypto is a knowledge hub and a resource center for everything Cryptocurrencies and blockchains. With the technical complexities of the Crypto market which is a major hurdle to the masses, MTC aims to bridge the gap by featuring articles that are broken down and easy to understand for many. It is one of the best cryptocurrency forums for you to join in 2022.  The Bitcoin Forum  Read various Bitcoin discussions in the Bitcoin Forum. Here you can talk about Bitcoin economics, mining, project development, marketplace, and

2022-03-27Deep Dive

Manchester police returned over $25 million in stolen cryptocurrency to scam victims

In the last 18 months the police in Manchester, the home of the two of the most famous football teams in the world, have returned over $25 million to victims of a global crypto scam. As of the last report, not all the people who have come forward to request their funds back have been verified and had their crypto returned.  However, figures suggest that the sums were around $230,000 per victim. Some requests may still be being processed but appeals for further victims to come forward are being made by the service.  A recent report by MPs claimed that there was not enough being done to stop and prosecute online scammers. This is a big win for blockchain as it again shows the power of a validated and open decentralized ledger. Transactions on the blockchain are visible to all and thus scammers transactions can be tracked by following the transaction history.  This is something that can not always be done with traditional banking and is impossible with cash. Scams within the traditional financial system still massively outweigh those in the crypto space.  MPs called for a “single law enforcement agency with responsibility to fight economic crime, along with one government department to take

2022-03-27Deep Dive

Coinbase Makes Changes to Services in Canada, Japan, Singapore to Comply With Local Crypto Regulatio

Changes Affecting Coinbase Customers in Canada, Japan, Singapore  The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced this week:  Starting on April 1, 2022, Coinbase will introduce a few changes for customers in Canada, Singapore, and Japan to comply with local regulations in those countries.  “This change will only impact users in Canada, Singapore, and Japan who are transferring digital assets from their Coinbase exchange wallet to a wallet off the Coinbase platform,” the exchange detailed. “This change will not affect a users Coinbase experience of buying and selling digital assets using Coinbase.”  Coinbase detailed that customers located in the aforementioned three countries who are sending digital assets outside Coinbase “may need to provide information about the type of wallet youre sending assets to and information about the recipient, depending on the country.”  Different rules apply in each country, the Nasdaq-listed exchange noted. For example, in Canada, only transactions of 1,000 CAD ($780) or more will be affected and the full names and addresses of the recipients will be required. For Singapore, all crypto transactions to an address that is not controlled by Coinbase will be affected.

2022-03-27Deep Dive

Fed Governor Says 'Blockchain Is Totally Overrated,' Claims Crypto Is 'Just Electronic Gold'

The American economist and member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Christopher Waller, believes blockchain technology is “totally overrated,” even though the U.S. central bank “put a lot of resources into understanding digital currencies and the blockchain.” On Friday, Waller spoke during a panel that discussed central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and said that CBDC white papers were similar to “infomercials.”  Fed Governor Insists: ‘These Things Aren’t Payment Instruments at All  On Friday, a virtual panel made up of Yales Gary Gorton, Bank for International Settlements (BIS) executive Hyun Song Shin, and the Feds Christopher Waller discussed blockchain technology and CBDCs at great length. The hour-long panel discussion was called “Should Central Bank Issue Digital Currencies?” and Waller is very skeptical about such technologies.  “These things aren‘t payment instruments at all,” Waller remarked during the virtual panel. “My view is these things are just electronic gold. They’re forms of storage carrying wealth across time. Look at art, look at baseball cards. Look at all of this stuff thats intrinsically useless that people pay a lot of money and hold on to because they think they can sell it later and get their money back.”  Waller further stressed that he doesn‘t think blockchain technology

2022-03-27Deep Dive
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