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Richard M Adrian

US Department of Justice Seized Militant Cryptocurrency Fundraising Campaigns

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The U.S. Department of Justice has said it has thwarted fundraising attempts by various militants around the world by seizing hundreds of cryptocurrency accounts, four Facebook accounts, and four websites. According to reports by Reuters, the seizure is the largest cryptocurrency syncopal episode by the Hamas, al-Qaeda, and Islamic State military-terrorist platforms to raise funds via cryptocurrency through schemes that included selling fake COVID-19 safety equipment to U.S. hospitals. Three militia groups ended their fundraising efforts following the seizure by the US government of their online accounts.

The authorities noted that the government, along with more than 300 cryptocurrency accounts, four websites and four Facebook (FB.O) pages, recovered at least $ 2 million of cryptocurrency. Syrian Al-Qaeda militants sought donations via the Telegram message application and said it was a bid to buy weapons. Meanwhile, U.S. officials said the Al-Qassam Brigades are using the internet (social media and websites) to collect donations for crypto. It said government agents seized control of one website to funnel payments away from the group which is the armed wing of the Hamas Palestinian militant Islamist organization. Nevertheless, the U.S. government also issued search warrants for individuals living in the U.S. who donated to the campaigns.

On the other hand, the Justice Department claimed the IS, advertised on a website and Facebook as sellers of Covid-19 personal protective equipment. The militants, however, only sold fake COVID-19 equipment to collect funds. A US official who went unnamed said the terrorists believed they had been covered by encryption from authorities. He added the websites and social media pages were not hidden against anyone, including authorities.

IS Remains UK’s Biggest Security Threat

According to a warning from the country’s defense secretary, Ben Wallace, the IS remained the biggest security threat in the United Kingdom. He added that the ideology of the militia group remains a major threat despite the loss of territorial control in both Iraq and Syria.
Wallace told the House of Commons that British aircraft had hit at least 40 IS targets in the last year. These targets included arms bunkers, caves in Northern Iraq, and training camps. However, while the secretary underscored a strong military attack on the Islamists, he claimed that the group’s ideologies still prevailed throughout the region.

 

Three PlexCoin ICO Scammers Face Allegations Over $8Million Fraud

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According to recent reports, three Canadians face charges of allegedly swindling investors of $8 million for the 2017 PlexCoin ICO scam.

Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Securities Fraud

The three individuals, Dominic Lacroix, Sabrina Paradis-Royer and Yan Oullet, face five counts, including money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy; securities fraud and wire fraud charges.

Investigators believe that the scammers have taken part in the transfer of millions of investment funds swindled from them through the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) dubbed PlexCoin.

According to the legal team behind the investigation and the case, the three individuals used the funds; for their daily living expenses and the renovation of their homes. In addition, the indictment continues to argue that the three have misinterpreted PlexCoin to investors through a number of websites and social media campaigns.

Misrepresentation of  PlexCoin Management

Oullet, Paradis-Royer and Lacroix made false presentations on behalf of the management of PlexCoin and stated that the management of the company consisted of a team of professionals based in Singapore. The three promised investors a return of 1,354 percent within 30 days of investing their money in the ICO. The ICO raised $8,269,218 for the alleged PlexCoin firm.

This is the most recent ICO fraud charge. Meanwhile, the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission has frozen Paradis-Royer and PlexCorps with an emergency asset freeze back in 2017. This was part of a legal indictment that accused the firm of going against security legislation. The Exchange Commission renewed the freeze in 2018 and described Dominic Lacroix as a “recidivist Quebec securities violator”

Meanwhile, the Chainanalysis report indicates that scammers and thieves hold approximately 300,000 bitcoins. The report went on to state that cryptocurrency exchanges were the final destination for illegal crypto.

Binance Kicks off Issuance of Debit Cards

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Binance, the Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange unveiled its plans for a digital currency debit card back in April of this year. According to the recent updates, the exchange has now begun to ship its debit cards to customers in limited quantities after months of planning to carve a niche in the card payment sector.
Using the card, the holders of the crypto will be able to pay bills through Bitcoin or any other coin. Users would no longer have to exchange their cryptocurrencies on exchanges in order to make payments and the main benefits are; they can also use HODL while spending their digital assets. 

A previous report on the Binance card indicates an acid test for the issuance of the debit card in European regions. It was initially not clear what provider Binance was going to partner with for the debit card, but in July the company made it clear that it was going to acquire the Swipe Technology-a crypto-debit card project. According to the Exchange’s official blog, the Binance Card would be acceptable to 46 million merchants spread through both online and offline platforms in more than 200 regions.

Binance Debit Card Will Support Bitcoin and BNB

Binance CEO CZ revealed that the payment option had been tested, saying that the company had already started the project trial. By mid-July, the exchange revealed plans ahead of August ‘s launch and noted the card ‘s compatibility with at least four digital assets, including Binance’s BNB asset and Bitcoin. Nonetheless, the exchange had previously emphasized the beta version of its debit card and stated on the official blog that it was indeed a physical card.

Nonetheless, yesterday, CZ announced that the shipping was already in progress. He said : “This started shipping in limited quantities as of yesterday, I heard”

The Exchange’s blog states that one must register an interest in the Binance Card on the Exchange’s landing page and receive a notification once the card is available in their region.

Decentralized Exchanges Caught on the Radar of Volume Manipulation by Wash Trading

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A 2019 blockchain report by Bitwise concluded that most of the reported crypto trading volumes by centralized exchanges were fake. This was after analyzing data and trading patterns across different crypto exchanges and finding that the true market value of a major company’s bitcoin traded was only $273.A rather big difference compared to the daily volumes reported was usually hitting an ostensible $6 billion.

While this report had only been limited to centralized exchanges, analysts found out that decentralized exchanges were as well not immune to volume inflation. Whereas the latter are widely loved for their openness, lack of a central authority and lack of custody; all features that reduce the need for trust in their operations; instances of manipulation are also possible.

Fake Volume Manipulation through Wash Trading

Wash trading is one of the methods by which exchanges inflate their volumes. This is an instance where an individual trader acts both as the maker and taker of a trade order (simply trading him / herself). The method is popular among exchanges attempting to manipulate and inflate their reported data. Nonetheless, several exchanges have been noted for implementing reward schemes for wash trading such transaction fee mining incentives.

Self-custody services of decentralized exchanges remain one of their big winning factors. This is because it ensures transparency in the operation of the exchange. Usually, with the self custody ledger, all transactions are recorded on a public database. Hence, making it easier to detect misbehaviors as they take place across the exchange. It is therefore impossible that Decentralized exchanges have not noticed instances of wash trading on their platforms.

Binance DEX Wash Trading

For instance, wash trading has been taking place in DEXs such as Loopring and Binance DEX. Specifically the token Travala (AVA), a project backed by Binance is one of the tokens posting record volumes with Binance’s BNB pair. What signals wash trading on this pair, is its volume chart.

A normal volume curve can have astronomical volumes during high or low volatility periods. Peaks will appear only at times the market prices are moving in a specific direction. It is typically the metric that Bitwise uses to detect fake volume. In this pair therefore, the chart shows a uniform high even though the market is facing low volatility and during spikes, the volume plummets instead of surging.

Even while there are instances of wash trading on these platforms; it is not clear if the perpetrators will reap any benefits from the action. A Binance spokesman for instance denounced having a hand in wash trading and stressed exchange admins neither had the ability to control order flow on the platform.

Coinmarket Withdraws Binance Coin(BNB) from #1 Decentralized Finance (DEFi) Token

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A swarm of critics might have pressured CoinMarketCap to remove Binance Coin (BNB)from the list of leading decentralized finance tokens. The company withdrew the coin and claimed it had been placed at number one as a result of human error. Popular crypto podcaster Yannick Eckl first noticed a change in the listing, stating that Binance coin was listed above other popular DeFi tokens such as Compound (COMP), Maker (MKR) and Aaver (LEND). It was only a matter of time before the tweet went viral and other crypto fanatics began to comment.

 

Three Arrows Capital founder and CEO retweeted Eckl’s tweet with “Wut;” while another Twitter user, Jim Yang, criticized Coinmarketcap for ranking and claimed that crypto required a decentralized Coinmarketcap.

Apparently, dozens of crypto fans felt that blockchain projects were cusping towards the DeFi hype to take advantage of the bubble. A few opined below Eckl ‘s comment that Bitcoin was the # 1 DeFi token; and some still questioned the methodology used to rank the project along the lines of Decentralized Finance. Qiao Wang said the following:

“Total DeFi market cap will 10x in the next 3 months not because current DeFi projects will 10x, but because all crypto projects will rebrand themselves as DeFi.”

Coinmarket Maintains  Neutrality with Parent Company -Binance

However, CoinmarketCap alleged that the ranking of Binance Coin was a mistake and reinforced the human nature of their employees. In addition, the ranking agency emphasized its neutrality from its parent company, Binance, which most people believe might have influenced the ranking. Binance, however, deleted Binance Coin from the ranking moments later.

This is not the first criticism that coinmarketcap faces following Binance ‘s controversial acquisition back in March. Several observers pointed to many improvements in the site’s ranking algorithm and noted that it was in Binance’s favor.

Gold and Silver Smashing New Records, Will Bitcoin Follow

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Discount Brokerage Platform Robinhood has made a spike in the trading activities of gold-tethered traded funds (ETFs). The data from the analytics site, Robintrack, recorded a surge in the number of Robinhood users trading SPDR Gold shares Exchange Traded Funds from 6,000 in 2019 to 26,000 this year. Silver, on the other hand, rose to record highs after moving toward $20.00 per ounce price point.

Gold Trading Performance Surges by 0.40%

Gold approached $1,950 an ounce price support after rising by 0.40 percent and trading an ounce at $1817.50. The weakening of the US dollar as a result of Covid-19 seems to have been Gold’s lifting force. Silver’s price action has taken an overnight surge of 3.0 percent to reach its current price.

Price actions of either metals gave Peter Schiff enough reason to mock bitcoin for its failure to rally strongly against Silver. The epic trader and analyst posted on Twitter that Silver was the “new bitcoin”

Schiff claimed silver was rallying high percentages over the count of 10, while bitcoin was hardly up by 2%. At the time of Schiff’s twitter post, Silver hit a 6-year high after rising by 7% to $21.15 per ounce. The leading crypto, on the other hand, stalled around $9,300 after breaking away from the $9,200 resistance on Tuesday. 

Silver is the New Bitcoin For Millennial

It’s not clear whether Silver could take the lead in making investments and become the next bitcoin; but what’s clear is that millions of millennials are hovering around platforms like Robinhood to trade in all things-assets. However, the only limitation that silver faces are that it is less liquid. On average, the supply of silver is lower compared to both Gold and Bitcoin. That’s why most of the silver directional moves post staggering records and are more aggressive. Yet, it seems millennials are more than ready to invest in anything that promises returns.

Nevertheless, Schiff said that the silver was a new kind of bitcoin with direct utility. The trader advised bitcoin enthusiasts to turn to silver and to hesitate to back up the wrong asset.

Youtube Refutes Ripple Inc Claims of Perpetrating Cryptocurrency Scams

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Youtube video sharing platform was under pressure from a lawsuit filed by Ripple in April 2020 blaming it for supporting crypto scams. Youtube responded to the April lawsuit citing the site failed to stop XRP scammers and impersonators from doing so.

According to today ‘s report, Law 360, the legal team representing Youtube referred to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act during a dismissal bid; claimed that the publisher was not liable for any information provided on the platform by a third party. In that case, Garlinghouse accused the video-sharing platform of benefiting crypto scammers from Paid Advertisements.YouTube said that it is not Youtube ‘s fault for cryptocurrency scammers using its platform

The lawyers argued that it was completely unwise to accuse the video publisher of content that it had not created. In addition, Youtube’s verification of the scam channels did not in any way change the fact that the channels were the product of third parties.

Since the video-sharing platform did not solicit, encourage or participate in third party video scams, Ripple had no reason to back the accusation.

Youtube Scams Include Identity Theft, Impersonation and Phishing

A Forbes post on Youtube scams indicated that much of the scamming on the platform involved phishing the credit card, promising traffic spikes, identity theft and impersonation. Ripple ‘s lawsuit provided Ripple Executive Brad Garlinghouse had been impersonated by at least 305 youtube channels.

The lawsuit argued how the fraudsters took over entirely unrelated but verified channels, modified the branding, content and layout to make it look more like a legitimate crypto-currency giveaway.

Cryptocurrency scammers on Youtube not only impersonated the CEO of Ripple but also a variety of key figures in the fintech industry, according to the lawsuit’s filings. With that they could scam hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Nevertheless, the legal team of Youtube argued that the right to publicity law protected the names, voices or images of individuals from being used for any commercial gain; without the owners’ prior permission.

Conclusion

Recently, a twitter hack staged the famous “ double your money”;  through twitter profiles of influential leaders such as Barack Obama, Elon Musk and Bill Gates. Social media platforms and blockchain projects are at the onset of a cyber criminal bubble, and most of them are taking initiative to protect users from fraud and identity theft. 

Spiking Volume of Bitcoin P2P Trading Hit New All Time Highs

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Bitcoin P2P ( Peer to Peer )trading is taking the lead in different countries around the world. This could be the result of strict measures to engage in cryptocurrencies in countries such as China. This week, the volume of P2P bitcoin trading has hit new all-time highs in at least six countries. India took the lead in recording a transaction volume of $3.4 million. Other countries on the trail included Ghana with $1.7 million, Argentina and the Philippines with $1 million each, Mexico with $700,000, and finally Egypt with $150,000.

India lifted the ban on crypto trading back in March of this year. The ban appears to have a reversal effect on the direction of trading, with the country emerging strongly as a global leader in cryptocurrency transactions. Bitcoin optimists believe that India will certainly do well and witness a booming growth in the industry. Dozens of exchanges in India experienced an explosive spike in trade volume between March and June. For example, WazirX reported a 160 percent increase in new registrations from different Indian cities. Blockchain analysts believe that wealthy families in India could invest in crypto as a means of diversifying their wealth portfolios.

Peer to Peer ( P2P) bitcoin trading is people ‘s engagement in buying and selling cryptocurrencies without the involvement of middle parties, such as exchanges. This trading method is popular in countries where strict measures against crypto involvement are in place. While countries like China have stopped people taking part in crypto, P2P trading is becoming a healthy bet for people under such governments. As mentioned above, with respect to the top-performing P2P countries, P2P trading has grown steadily and steadily in countries such as Ghana, the Philippines, India, and Argentina. The rate appears to be rising at a high rate and is unlikely to slow down any time soon.

Dogecoin Clinches Top Position Among Most Profitable Altcoins to Mine

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An altcoin that only started as a meme/joke coin in 2013, is gaining traction as one of today’s most speculated coins. Apart from its price rallying upwards by extreme percentages, Dogecoin sets itself apart as a profitable altcoin for miners. The original design of Dogecoin was inflationary, and this is the main factor in the mining benefits of the coin.

Dogecoin Value has Grown , Posting High Percentage Spikes Over the Past Few Weeks

Unlike Bitcoin, whose mineable limit is within a total supply of 21 million Bitcoins and only 6.25 Bitcoins per block reward (currently); Dogecoin’s mineable coins are unlimited and its blockchain pumps at least 10,000 Dogecoins into circulation every 10 seconds.

The value of the digital coin has grown and last week saw a 50% spike. Dogecoin has recorded the highest single day  gain since 2017 and according to google trends keyword search metric, “How to Buy a Dogecoin? “It rose from a score of 25 to 100. Therefore recording the highest possible popularity for a google search over the last one year. As a result, the performance has warmed up the cryptocurrency community including miners and traders. 

Factors to Consider Before Mining a Digital Coin

While the surging price of a coin is not the motivating factor surrounding a spike in the interest of the miner. Dogecoin has emerged as the favorite altcoin for crypto miners, given its high mining rewards that beat some of the leading coins, such as Bitcoin SV and Bitcoin Cash. Some of the factors miners consider before choosing a coin to mine are block reward, cryptocurrency price, equipment efficiency, halving and block generation duration. All these factors seem to be aligned in favor of Dogecoin. For instance, the altcoin has a block generation time of 60 seconds, and a block reward of 10,000 coins.

Conclusion

The coin’s scrypt protocol sets Dogecoin’s mining equipment apart, compared to other coins; because its equipment is affordable and efficient. 

Perkshield Blockchain Security Analytics Reveals $1.4B of Laundered Money was Moved Across Crypto Exchanges

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The security incident on Twitter on Wednesday left a lot of people wary of crypto and bitcoin in particular. While the social media company has investigated and fixed security loopholes, its share price on the stock market has decreased significantly by almost 4 percent. 2020 as in the past years, cryptocurrency hacks are not without blame. After the incident, the hacker walked away with nearly $116,000 laundered money.

However, these hacks also fuel a movement dubbed “Ban Bitcoin;” arguing that the absence of bitcoin would lay the foundation of a scam-free World. Mainly because some critics believe that bitcoin is the most loved incentive for scams. The fact that the bitcoin blockchain is encrypted and transactions seem to be untraceable, bitcoin haters have turned to claim that the coin allows criminals to supposedly hide their trail. On the other hand, several bitcoin fanatics have come out to dismiss the hack as a colluded event to outlaw bitcoin. 

“Why?”They are asking, 

Could cybercriminals bypass Twitter’s two-factor authentication just like that and hack into high-profile individuals. Some allegedly questioned why hackers did not take over President Trump ‘s active twitter account.

It’s impossible, however, to ban bitcoin. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the Twitter probe. Which, by far, seems to be one of the worst social media attacks in history.   Crypto analysts believe that leading exchanges, such as Binance and Okex, have the opportunity to track the recipient of the $116,000 sent by approximately 300 people in the four-hour record hack.

$1.4 Billion of Laundered Money in the Hands of Crypto

It’s a Peckshield Security Company report that has revealed exchanges are the recipient of at least $1.4 billion of the world’s laundered money this year.

The report highlighted data collected from online and offline sources over the past year. Following a thorough verification and analysis of the data, the company identified at least 100 million transaction addresses. Approximately 50 million major crypto addresses were identified at exchanges. The company then ranked the exchanges according to the amount of stolen cash they contained and found the top ten included: Coinbase, Bithum, HaoBTC, Luno, Bitmex, Gate.io, ZB, Okex, Binance and Huobi.

Peckshield suspected crypto wallets containing illicit money related to the dark web economy gambling and hacker attacks. A large segment of which included funds stolen during major crypto and exchange hacks.