Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Spanish Securities Regulator Warns of Impersonators Selling Bitcoin on Its Behalf

The CNMV, the Spanish securities regulator, has issued a warning about the existence of an unknown party asking for information and offering to sell bitcoin on its behalf. The fraudsters are said to perform the scam attempt via phone calls, where they ask for personal information and offer the benefit of purchasing bitcoins said to be confiscated from a company indicted by Spanish courts.　　Unknown Party Impersonating Spanish Securities Regulator　　The Spanish securities regulator (CNMV) has warned about a series of impersonators that are asking for data in the name of the group. According to the warning issued, an unknown party is using phone calls to contact and require data from Spanish citizens with a fake offer to sell bitcoin. The bitcoin offered is falsely said to have been confiscated from a company indicted by Spanish courts. The callers also explain they are contacting the citizen from a fake anti-fraud department of the organization.　　In its warning, the CNMV states that it has already reported this irregularity to the authorities to find the responsible parties and thwart these initiatives. It stated:　　“As soon as it became aware of the facts, the CNMV has carried out various actions, including alerting the State Security Forces and

2022-02-16Deep Dive

NFT Market Cools Down Once Again as Crypto Prices Heat Up

The market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) showed signs of a cooldown last week, even as the prices of many cryptoassets have been on the rise.　　According to a new report from crypto research firm Delphi Digital, activity in the NFT market has slowed down over the past week, with the volume of NFTs traded on Ethereum (ETH) falling 35% week-over-week in USD terms. 　　Additionally, the total number of unique NFT buyers has fallen more than 20% since last week.　　Notably, the firm said that NFT trading activity on other blockchains than Ethereum, including Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), and Flow (FLOW), has also fallen. “However, Ethereum is still the dominant chain for most NFT activity by a long shot,” the report said.　　Delphi Digital further pointed out that,　　“These types of slowdowns often follow periods of extreme hype and excitement,” noting that the cycles “are healthy for a market like this, especially one that’s still driven in large part by speculation.”　　The slowdown in NFT sales can also be seen in data from other sources, including a monthly view of NFT sales in USD terms from NonFungible.com, which shows a clear downtrend since early February.　　Total USD spent on completed NFT sales:　　Source: NonFungible.com　　Other indicators for the state

2022-02-16Deep Dive

FTX's Amy Wu: How Crypto and Gamers Can All Get Along

Theres bad blood between the crypto and gaming communities—and the situation is getting worse. As more studios propose introducing NFTs and other crypto elements, gamers are lashing out like never before. Is there any way to smooth things over？　　Amy Wu thinks so. A prominent investor in gaming startups, Wu recently jumped from Lightspeed Ventures to FTX to lead the crypto giants new $2 billion Web3 venture fund—a position that will entail spreading bets from FTXs war chest across new trends in gaming.　　On the latest episode of Decrypts gm podcast, Wu shared her thoughts on why so many gamers are touchy about crypto encroaching on their turf. The primary reason she says is that players care deeply about their games—and are suspicious that blockchain could change their favorite pastime for the worst.　　“There are few fan bases more passionate than a gamer is about their game. Theyre super protective of sticking to the integrity of the content, that the studio is doing the right thing, that their voice is being respected,” said Wu, adding that any move by a game studio to make extra money by cheapening game play is seen as a money-grab.　　Wu also observes that a lot of the same

2022-02-16Deep Dive

How secure is your crypto?

Hardware wallet manufacturer NGRAVE has announced the launch of the Self Security Audit, enabling users to check the security of their digital assets.　　For the second year in a row, NGRAVE is bringing awareness to the importance of security, both online and in the crypto space.NGRAVE is incentivizing good security practices　　The growing number of hacks, thefts, and rug pulls the industry has seen in the past year has put security into the spotlight. Good security practices and well-audited protocols are the best and only ways to prevent losses, which is why NGRAVE has set out on a mission to improve and incentivize security.　　Earlier this week, the Belgian hardware wallet manufacturer launched its second Self Security Audit, enabling users to discover how secure their crypto portfolio really is. After completing a simple, but comprehensive quiz, users receive results that range from level 1 to level 12, with level 12 being “God Tier” security.　　To incentivize users to take the quiz, NGRAVE established several major partnerships to give away a set of prizes. The company told CryptoSlate that they would be giving away three NGRAVE COMBO sets, which include the ZERO hardware wallet and GRAPHENE, a stainless-steel private key backup, each worth almost $500.

2022-02-16Deep Dive

Build Finance DAO hostile takeover, treasury drained

In what seemed to be a hostile takeover of the governance of the Build Finance DAO, the attacker was able to drain the funds of the DAO. But calling this incident an attack is a matter of definition; the attacker, while obviously not playing along the intents and purposes of the DAO, did not break any rules. The DAO was, after all, abiding by the principle of “code is law”.　　The Build Finance DAO is a decentralized autonomous venture builder, owned and controlled by the community. Build Finance produces, funds, and manages community-owned DeFi products. The DAO engages in identifying business ideas, organizing teams, sourcing capital, helping govern the product entities, and providing shared services. In other words, the Build Finance DAO is a DAO providing services to other DAOs.Total takeover of the DAO treasury　　According to a tweet thread posted by the BuildFinance Twitter account, the governance of the DAO was taken over by a malicious actor who put forward and succeeded to push through a governance proposal to take control of the BUILD token contract.　　“The attacker succeeded in the takeover by having a large enough vote in favor of the proposal and there were not enough countervotes to prevent the

2022-02-16Deep Dive

New survey reveals Ethereum could trade above $7k in 2022

A group of Australian fintech panelists has expressed their bullish view about the price movement of the second largest crypto asset by market cap, Ethereum, in a recent survey carried out by Finder.Ethereum to end the year at $6500　　According to the report, crypto enthusiasts can expect the value of Ethereum to rise to as high as $7609 before the end of this year; however, the analysts predicted that the digital asset would only finish the year at around $6500.　　Speaking on what the assets price would be by the end of this decade, the analysts stated that they believe that ETH would be exchanging hands for $26338.　　“Over half (52%) of the panel think now is the time to buy ETH, with 30% saying you should hold onto what you‘ve got. Just 19% say it’s a good time to get out.”　　This is a far cry from what the analysts had earlier predicted for ETH. In 2021, the analysts had predicted that Ethereum was going to finally cross the $5k mark before the end of the year and that by 2030, its value would have risen to $50788.　　But Ethereums current all-time high of $4891 was set before the end of 2021, and the

2022-02-16Deep Dive

Sanctions May Be The Driving Force For More Countries Adopting Bitcoin As Legal Tender

Bitcoin has come a long way from being a fringe asset to being adopted by an entire country. However, it still has a lot to do for nation-states to begin mass adoption but there appears to be a more rapid route.　　Sanctions Could Accelerate The Adoption Of Bitcoin　　Sanctions have been used as a subtle means of control by international organizations against a country. The concept has also been used by nations against other nations as a means of control like the US issuing sanctions to Iran and North Korea. These sanctions often take the form of trade and financial embargos that leave the affected nations in economic distress.　　The bloc of nations that are most affected is those that do not have access to US dollar-based financial rail like Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. This causes dire economic problems for the affected country because of the status of the US dollar as the reserve currency of the world. Other countries are on the cusp of these sanctions and one wrong turn could have them being slammed by an avalanche of sanctions.　　The success of El Salvador in adopting Bitcoin as legal tender in the face of mounting international pressure might serve as the

2022-02-15Deep Dive

ECB Chief Lagarde Says Digital Euro Will Not Replace Cash

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, says that a digital euro will not replace cash but would complement it. “A digital euro would give you an additional choice about how to pay and make it easier to do so, contributing to accessibility and inclusion,” the ECB explained.　　Digital Euro to Complement Cash　　ECB President Christine Lagarde talked about the digital euro at the plenary session of the European Parliament Monday on the 20th anniversary of the introduction of euro banknotes and coins.　　“Last year, we launched the digital euro project,” she said. “We will investigate how a digital euro could offer a convenient, cost-free means of payment, allowing people to pay anywhere in the euro area with risk-free digital money – for example, when making payments online, which preclude the use of cash,” the ECB chief continued, emphasizing:　　In any event, a digital euro would complement cash, not replace it. This is also why we launched the process for redesigning our banknotes.　　The European Central Bank launched a two-year investigation into a digital euro in October last year. “Once the investigation phase has ended, we will decide whether or not to start developing a digital euro. We would then create and

2022-02-15Deep Dive

UK authorities make the first seizure of NFTs in a tax crackdown

The UKs tax body seized three non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and arrested three people on suspicion of attempting to defraud it of £1.4 million. This is a first for British authorities in the policing of digital assets, Telegraph reported. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said the move was part of a probe into a suspected Value Added Tax (VAT) fraud involving 250 alleged fake companies.　　The NFTs were seized alongside £5,000 of other cryptocurrencies.　　VAT is a broadly based consumption tax assessed on the value added to goods and services. The NFTs were seized alongside £5,000 of other crypto assets. Officials told The Telegraph that the seizure was a “warning to anyone who thinks they can use crypto assets to hide money.” The UK tax body added that the suspects had used a raft of measures to cover their tracks, including pre-paid mobile phones, false addresses and invoices, and stolen identities. Authorities across countries are on high alert about the potential for dodgy dealings involving NFTs.　　The Treasury Department warns against NFTs.　　As reported earlier, the Treasury Department in the US released a report describing how the NFT art market fits into money laundering schemes. While NFTs may be used in financial crimes, the blockchain

2022-02-15Deep Dive

No Crypto Loans and Fewer Trading Options – Russian Finance Ministry Clarifies Regulatory Plan

Russian authorities are not going to allow cryptocurrency lending, the finance ministry has announced, clarifying its proposals for crypto market regulation. The treasury department also revealed that not all cryptocurrencies will be available to Russian investors under the new rules.　　Russian Government to Restrict Investor Access to Crypto Assets　　Authorities in Moscow are not planning to permit loans in cryptocurrency or its use as collateral, the Ministry of Finance has emphasized in an explanatory note to its regulatory proposal. The department‘s concept was recently approved by the federal government to form the basis of Russia’s legal framework for the crypto sector.　　The treasury adds that market participants will be obliged to duly inform citizens about the heightened risks associated with digital currencies. Russian regulators also intend to impose restrictions and introduce strict control over advertising of crypto-related products and services, Tass news agency reported, quoting the document.　　The department suggests that officials consider limiting the number of cryptocurrencies available for trading in Russia for the sake of protecting investors. Foreign crypto exchanges rarely verify crypto projects thus allowing the coins of fraudulent schemes and financial pyramids to be listed, the ministry explains and states:　　“In contrast, regulated circulation through licensed exchanges will limit the list

2022-02-15Deep Dive

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