Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Mobile crypto ‘mining’ app possibly connected to personal data leak

A 17GB personal data leak reportedly sprung from the Pi Network mobile app.　　Pi Network, a cryptocurrency mining app for mobile users, may have been connected to 17GB worth of personal data leaks, a Vietnamese news outlet reported on Monday.　　The treasure trove of personal data was apparently taken from the Know Your Customer checks of users of Pi Network, according to the person who posted it to hacker hangout RaidForums on Thursday.　　The identity cards of an estimated 10,000 Vietnamese citizens were placed for sale, along with connected home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. The seller placed a price tag of $9,000 on the data, payable in either Bitcoin (BTC) or Litecoin (LTC).　　Phien Vo, a moderator of a Vietnamese Pi Network group chat channel, told VnExpress that Pi Network‘s KYC checks are performed by a third party, adding that Vietnamese identity cards like those in question aren’t compatible with the app. However, Vo did indicate that an older version of the app was compatible with the cards at one point.　　“To perform KYC verification on Pi Network, Vietnamese would need to use their passports. Only some users who used earlier versions of Pi could perform KYC verification using their driver licenses, but

2021-05-18Deep Dive

Is That It Now Elon? Is The Bitcoin Recovery Now On?

Bitcoin and the crypto markets took one hell of a crash overnight and this morning following Elon Musk and Teslas complete about face regarding Bitcoin. Musk has faced a backlash on Twitter following hints that his company might sell its Bitcoin – a threat that has now been denied.　　The Elon Musk/Bitcoin saga continues without abatement. The latest twist in the plot came very recently this morning when Musk appeared to be going back somewhat on his incredibly negative stance on Bitcoin. He tweeted the following:　　With Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market hovering on the brink of potential disaster at a Bitcoin price of around $42200, the tweet had the effect of Bitcoin bouncing up to $45400. Having practically reached a point of no return, the Bitcoin price might well have bounced anyway, but the latest Musk tweet will have helped.　　Musk has taken quite a negative hammering on Twitter as his new-found negativity towards Bitcoin caused a backlash. Many from the community were incensed at what they construed as serious manipulation of the crypto market.　　Some of the most prominent pro-Bitcoin voices on the internet have also been querying the Musk stance. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has argued that if Bitcoin

2021-05-17Deep Dive

Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Burns $6.7 Billion in Shiba Inu (SHIB) Tokens

Vitalik Buterin, who was gifted half of Shiba Inus total supply, has burned 90% of his holdings worth nearly $7 billion. The Ethereum co-founder further said he would allocate the remaining 10% to charitable organizations while also praising the “dog token community” for its generosity.　　Buterin Burns $6.7B in Shiba Inu　　The Dogecoin rise to the top led to the creation of numerous copycats that garnered significant attention in the past several weeks. Perhaps none became more popular than the self-described DOGE-killer – Shiba Inu.　　One of the compelling features came from the anonymous developers who decided to send half of the total supply to Vitalik Buterin – the co-founder of Ethereum. The other half remains locked for liquidity on Uniswap.　　Buterin, who donated 50 trillion SHIB tokens (and other dog-related digital assets) to India Covid Relief Fund last week, has decided to burn the majority of his Shiba Inu holdings now.　　“I have decided to burn 90% of the remaining Shiba tokens in my wallet. The remaining 10% will be sent to a (not yet decided) charity with similar values to CryptoRelief (preventing large-scale loss of life) but with a more long-term orientation.” – he explained in the transaction hash.　　Buterin outlined the severe problem

2021-05-17Deep Dive

Does Digital Yuan Threaten Global Stability?

China is making promising progress with testing its digital yuan currency. It has announced the success of a pilot in Suzhou City, near Shanghai in eastern China, where 181,000 consumers were given CNY 55 (USD 8.5) of free money in digital wallets to spend at participating outlets in the Double Fifth shopping festival between May 1 and 5.　　This was part of a bigger test by the Peoples Bank of China targeting 500,000 consumers in 11 Chinese regions since April. For those eligible, there is a straightforward app to download which gives them a wallet. Using this to make purchases in thousands of participating stores, they receive discounts.　　The digital yuan is a version of the normal Chinese currency deployed on a blockchain, which is the tamper-proof online ledger technology that underpins digital coins like bitcoin and ethereum. However, this blockchain is permissioned, meaning the Peoples Bank decides who can use it.　　The latest round of tests is ten times the size of the original round that took place in autumn 2020. China has also been trialling the digital yuan cross-border between Hong Kong and neighbouring Shenzhen, and is developing a platform for making the currency internationally viable that involves Thailand, UAE and

2021-05-17Deep Dive

$2.38 billion ‘rekt’ in crypto markets as Bitcoin drops to $43,000

Over $2.38 billion worth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were liquidated in the past 24 hours as the market fell by double-digit percentages, data from multiple sources showed.　　Money gone　　‘Liquidations,’ for the uninitiated, occur when leveraged positions are automatically closed out by exchanges/brokerages as a “safety mechanism.”　　Futures and margin traders—who borrow capital from exchanges (usually in multiples) to place bigger bets—put up a small collateral amount before placing a trade. If the market moves against them, the collateral is fortified and the position said to be ‘liquidated.’　　Yesterday saw nearly $3 billion getting liquidated. $1.26 billion of that, as the below image shows, came from Bitcoin trades alone, with Ethereum trades ($515 million), Ripple trades ($80 million), and Dogecoin trades ($69.42 million) trailing in behind.　　IMAGE: BYBT　　Overall, $1.78 billion worth of liquidations came from ‘long’ positions, or from traders borrowing capital to bet at higher asset prices. $345 million came from ‘short’ positions, or traders betting for lower prices (prices did fall lower, but the volatility may have contributed to even ‘shorts’ getting liquidated.)　　Among all exchanges, Huobi saw over $633 million worth of liquidations, Binance saw $399 million, while options powerhouse Deribit saw liquidations worth $287 million.　　In all, over 300,000 traders were liquidated,

2021-05-17Deep Dive

Was Bitcoin Crash Orchestrated? These 4 Theories Scream Beware

With so much FUD floating the Bitcoin and crypto market, many have wonder if the recent price action was the result of a “coordinated attack”. Writer Rob ONeill believes there are 4 potential main theories that could possibly explain recent events with institutions and “the ultra-rich” as the main catalyzers.　　O‘Neill claims these entities feel they “missed out” on the early days of cryptocurrencies and BTC. Thus, they are looking to gain more control over the space as they acknowledge that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. The new wealth created by BTC could be a threat against the establishment. O’Neill said:　　(…) prediction 1. Over the next few years there will be numerous repeat efforts to crash crypto markets. These will be coordinated, and institutions + wealthy people will buy enormous amounts on the dips. We just saw one of these happen.　　At this point, these institutions and wealthy could try to increase their crypto holdings for every major project, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. In addition, they could receive government backing in exchange for the protection of fiat currencies. ONeill said:　　Prediction 2. Government will be used to strong arm & scam retail in order to advantage institutions & prevent retail from creating

2021-05-17Deep Dive

Bitcoin: Inflation Hedge or Not?

Its an article of faith among Bitcoin believers that the currency is a store of value—a safe haven that will be worth something in good times and bad. That faith got tested, however, when an alarming U.S. inflation report on Monday led nervous investors to sell off assets of all sorts, including Bitcoin.　　In theory, this shouldnt have happened. One of Bitcoins big appeals is that it has a finite supply. Unlike central banks, which keep printing more and more money (“Fed go brrrr,” as they say), only 21 million Bitcoins will ever be minted. This means Bitcoin should be a natural hedge against inflation, one that investors embrace in response to reports like the one we got this week.　　So whats going on？ Is Bitcoins reputation as an anti-inflation hedge simply wishful thinking？ Decrypt spoke to economists and market experts to get to the bottom of it.　　One of those experts is Ed McKelvey. A former Federal Reserve economist and longtime Goldman Sachs analyst, McKelvey warns about reading too much into a one-off event like the response to Mondays inflation report. He also notes that fears of inflation may be overblown because macroeconomic forces are different than the ones that touched off

2021-05-17Deep Dive

Internet Computer (ICP) Becomes 8th Wonder Of The Crypto World – Here’s What This Token Is All About

While the two hype-filled dog-themed cryptocurrencies – Dogecoin and Shiba Inu – a few days ago, battled for canine dominance in the crypto-kingdom, ICP snuck up to steal the shine, briefly edging both coins including XRP, ADA, and BNB with a $90billion first-day value before settling as the 8th most valuable coin by market valuation.　　The ICP that simply stands for Internet Computer is a newly introduced decentralized token built on a blockchain created by a not-for-profit organization – Dfinity foundation-to serve as a futuristic replacement for the internet it is known today.　　Unlike Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, ICP boasts of a strong underlying utility value as it will be used by participants as a default token for democratic staking on Dfinity‘s customized Network Nervous System (NNS). It is already being dubbed crypto’s third-biggest invention after BTC and ETH.　　The Idea Behind ICP　　The creators of the blockchain believe that the current state of the internet (known as web 2.0) is becoming increasingly centralized with only a few companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon exerting dominance and control over about 70% of the internets space.　　Dfinity aims to fracture the centralized power of the internet and run it as a credible open-source, allowing developers

2021-05-17Deep Dive

Elon Musk Confirms “Tesla Has not Sold Any Bitcoin”

After a lot of speculation and FUD about Tesla selling Bitcoin anytime soon, Elon Musk has momentarily cleared the air stating “Tesla has not sold any Bitcoin”.　　Elon Musk‘s late Sunday tweet rattled Bitcoin (BTC) along with the overall crypto market losing over 10% in a flash crash. Musk’s latest tweet has once again helped limit the Bitcoin losses. After Musks confirmation, the BTC price surged by $2000 from under $43,000 to now coming closer at $45,000.　　Clearly, Elon Musk‘s influence over Bitcoin and the overall crypto space seems to be very high. Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff questioned Bitcoin’s status as a “safe-haven asset” or a “store of value” if just one tweet can rattle investors. Note that Elon Musk has confirmed that Tesla hasn‘t sold its Bitcoin yet. It doesn’t mean it wont be selling anytime in the near future.　　Buying the Dips Amid Higher Market Fear　　Coming in Support of Bitcoin some of the crypto market veterans and investors like Anthony Pompliano said that they are buying these dips amid all the FUD.　　Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao also wrote:　　“Bitcoin/crypto have not changed. They dont care. There are always fluctuations in the market, for all kind of reasons. You can blame others for what

2021-05-17Deep Dive

Iran to Issue Fines for Crypto Miners Using Household Electricity

The Iranian government is hardening its stance on cryptocurrency mining as it announces anyone caught using household electricity to do it will face heavy fines.　　According to reports, the fine is not the only penalty any household miners will face, either. They will also be required to pay compensatory fees for damage caused to the electricity network.　　More specifically, unauthorized crypto mining causes electrical supply issues, on account of the damage it causes to the local power grid and transformers.　　Reports indicate that if mining continues at the current rate, the consequent damage could lead to blackouts and other outages.　　The government in Iran first approved cryptocurrency mining as an industrial activity back in 2019. A surge in the number of crypto miners in the country followed, taking advantage of Iran‘s low-cost electricity. Also following the government’s decision, power plants in the country spied an opportunity for increased income.　　With this in mind, plus concerns about the detriment crypto mining causes the electricity industry that came soon after, some power plants offered their excess electrical energy to crypto miners specifically.　　The government gave permission to power plants to mine for cryptocurrencies in their own right in July 2020.　　Energy efficient mining methods　　Irans announcement comes as the toll

2021-05-17Deep Dive

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