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How an engineer hacked a Trezor wallet and recovered $2M in crypto

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Joe Grand, an electrical engineer, recently tweeted about how he hacked a Trezor wallet and recovered $2M. After forgetting his wallet passcode and seed phrase, he helped the owner retrieve cryptocurrency worth over $2 million.

Grand is an electrical engineer who has been hacking devices since he was ten years old. He was a member of the infamous L0pht hacking group, which testified before the US Senate in 1998 about a vulnerability that could be exploited to take down the internet or allow an intelligence agency to spy on traffic. His hacker name was “Kingpin.” He teaches hardware hacking to organizations and businesses that create complicated systems and want to know how hackers may attack them.

How did he crack the Trezor wallet?

Joe Grand said in his video, “a lot of people forget their passwords, and if you forget your password, then you can’t access the information on the chip, and you’re out of luck, and you’re out of money that’s the problem we’re dealing with today.”

He added that some guys contacted him out of the blue, saying that they have a trezor hardware wallet. They have a couple of million dollars stored on a device like this, and they want him to see if he can hack the wallet, defeat the security, and get access to the information to prove that the money is theirs.

“If he screwed something up, there was a good shot that it would never be able to be recovered,”

Reich, owner of the wallet

Grand, who runs a tailored lab in his family’s backyard in Portland, bought many similar wallets and placed the same version of firmware on them as Reich and his friend. Then he spent three months conducting research and experimenting with various approaches on his practice wallets.

Grand was fortunate in that he had past studies to help him. In 2017, Saleem Rashid, a 15-year-old hardware hacker from the United Kingdom, devised a technique to successfully unlock a Trezor wallet belonging to tech writer Mark Frauenfelder, freeing $30,000 in Bitcoin. Grand had put out a detailed video on the process on Youtube.

Are these wallets safe?

Ever since the video went viral, trezor wallet owners have been on the verge of doubt of how secure their funds are on the wallet. As a reply to Joe Grand’s tweet, Trezor replied:

image 5

No matter what secured updates come, hackers will always find a loophole to crack it. Wallet owners don’t need to panic. There is no bad news here; keep your wallet safe and do not forget your password. It’s as simple as that.

Critical Privacy Vulnerability can Jeopardize 21 million Metamask Users Data, says Researcher

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Cryptographer and security analyst Alexandru Lupascu, the co-founder of OMNIA protocol, found Metamask vulnerable. During his recent research, he came across and pointed out that Metamask crypto wallet users could be in jeopardy and might lose all their digital assets.

In his recent medium article, he mentioned that he spent time with this team researching different NFT airdrop situations. They bumbled upon a scenario that could compromise the privacy of more than 21 million people.

“It’s quite a potent scenario, too, as it has the potential to be eight times more devastating than a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. And I’m saying that after comparing it to some of the most notorious attacks to hit the news last year.”

Alexandru Lupascu

How dangerous is it?

Alexandru shows how a malevolent actor may create an NFT, transmit it to a victim, and acquire their IP address, putting their privacy at risk. This is a significant privacy flaw in the blockchain ecosystem that anyone may attack for as little as $50.

Do not undervalue the threat posed by IP leaks. Alexandru adds: if hostile actors obtain other information from the IP address (such as geolocation or GSM carrier), they may transform it into a physical threat, such as kidnapping.

Alexandru detailed how the invasion is carried out, from minting an NFT to sending it to the target, obtaining the victim’s IP address, and, finally, jeopardizing their privacy or stealing their crypto assets. He used the iOS Metamask software version 3.7.0 to test this attack, but it might also apply to Android.

Are the users safe now?

Alexandru identified the flaw in early December 2021, and after examining Metamask’s Mobile security policy, they contacted them on December 14, 2021.

They informed us that this is a known problem being addressed as part of a responsible disclosure schedule.

After the study went public, Daniel Finlay, the founder of MetaMask, verified the problem and pledged to resolve it as soon as possible. He also added, “Alex is right to call us out for not addressing it sooner. Starting work on it now. Thanks for the kick in the pants, and sorry we needed it.”

OTO Motors brings real-world car design into the Metaverse with its 3D NFT racing game

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OTO Motors, a new digital platform for racing and playing with 3D-car NFTs, introduces its OTOmobile NFTs designed like real cars. Applying physical car designs to its NFTs, OTO Motors offers a race-management experience for car enthusiasts and designers completely unrivaled in the digital space. 

As the physical world slowly begins to merge with the Metaverse, people are increasingly looking for ways to mesh the two, specifically in the car racing field. Aston Martin, one of the most recognized car brands in the world and a leader in automotive designs, recently released a collection of iconic NFT photographs. As the first Formula One team offering NFTs, Aston Martin’s Metaverse debut serves as a strong indication NFT racing is set to expand, and rapidly. For consumers to move their racing endeavors into the digital realm, the Metaverse will need physical-grade products to keep up.

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OTO Motors brings real-world car design into the Metaverse with its 3D NFT racing game 3

OTO Motors tackles this challenge by integrating real-world car designs into the Metaverse and upgrading the adventures of true racing enthusiasts. OTO offers a racing experience that consists of custom-designed NFTs, called OTOmobiles, with authentic car features developed in-house, similar to a real-world car manufacturer. Users enjoy an all-encompassing racing experience in the metaverse, with a fantasy-like racetrack and scenery. The cars are not bound by functional constraints that exist in the physical world, such as the need for headlights in the front of the car. Headlights and other functional exterior features become a design opportunity and can be placed wherever is deemed most aesthetic, enhancing the otherworldly feeling.

Drivers adjust their OTOmobile’s features in preparation for automated races that will be live-streamed on the platform. Participants will earn play tokens, called OTOKENs, which are dropped daily, allowing every member the opportunity to enhance their car. Similar to tokens on a standard smartphone game, they have no cash value, but facilitate a user evolution in the platform and access to car upgrades. A limited number of OTOmobiles from the presale event are available on Opensea, each having three different body kits, used to upgrade the car and increase the value of the NFT. The next round of mintings will begin in mid-January.

“Our cars are meant to simulate real-world experiences in the Metaverse, but also enhance them in a reality unconstrained by physical-world limitations,” says Chief Design Officer Eyal Melnick. “We want people to connect with the story of the Metaverse where things happen and look different and just experience the designs.”

Crypto Betting and Its Infrastructure in India

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Is Online Betting with Crypto Possible and Safe in India?

When it comes to online betting, one of the important factors to check on a site is the payment options. This determines how convenient your gaming experience will be. Fortunately, the majority of online betting sites today offer customers a plethora of payment solutions but now that many online industries are starting to adopt the use of cryptocurrencies, can you also bet with Bitcoin and other cryptos?

Definitely!

Cryptocurrency gambling has been practiced for a while now and many would say that it is convenient and safe. Cryptocurrency holders find that using Bitcoin or other cryptos is the best way to avoid restrictions or limitations that are in place in their location when it comes to gambling.

For example, in India, betting sites that don’t allow transactions if Rupees are prohibited. However, there is still no law that prohibits the use of cryptocurrencies in online casinos and bookies. This is why 10CRIC India Bitcoin betting is a hit in the country.

What to Consider When Betting with Crypto

While it is already possible to bet with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and many other altcoins, there are still betting sites that don’t have this option yet. There are also gaming sites that only transact with their customers through the use of cryptocurrencies but most of the time, gaming options on those sites are a bit limited.

Aside from checking if you can use cryptos when betting on certain casino sites or bookies, there are also other important factors to consider. One of these is the reputation of the operator. You can easily check on this by visiting casino review sites. What’s great about going through review sites is that you get to have a deep insight as to how an operator treats its customers.

Most review sites these days are thorough when it comes to giving you all the details you need. It’s a one-stop place to check on details that matter like what payment options are available on the site, what real money games are offered, what kind of sports you can bet on, and many more.

It’s also best that you check on a site’s timelines for giving payouts to their customers. If you’ve been using cryptos for a while now, you probably already know that you may have to pay fees when processing payments. Generally, expect that minimal fees may apply when purchasing cryptos and transacting with them.

Many bettors would also consider how generous a bookie is concerning promos and bonuses. There are many types of bonuses that bookies would offer. Typically, for Bitcoin casinos and bookies, more bonuses are offered because they can afford to do so. On the business side of things, it’s mostly cheaper to process crypto payments compared to fiat currencies. With that, many of them are also trying to promote crypto transactions. Hence offering better bonuses to crypto users.

How Safe is Crypto Betting and What Are Its Other Advantages?

The majority of cryptocurrency users are quick to claim that usage of cryptocurrencies is the safest payment method. It is hard to manipulate Bitcoin transactions because it utilizes blockchain technology. Blockchain is a system of recording information that is impossible to change, hack, or cheat. Every transaction ever made with crypto is recorded and can easily be traced when needed.

Even if this is the case, privacy is still guaranteed because records will only show wallet addresses instead of the user’s actual information. That’s why many gamblers prefer using Bitcoin when playing online.

They get to avoid gambling-related transactions on their bank records. In some countries, people with gambling transactions in the past few months may not be allowed to take out loans or mortgages. With cryptos, this is something that they can avoid. Another advantage is that cryptos are still invulnerable to the impact of geopolitical tensions and government policies. There are only a few countries that have imposed a ban on the use of digital currencies and cryptos are decentralized in nature. This makes Bitcoin a versatile payment option.

If you’re traveling and you want to bet online, fiat currency exchange could be a hassle. You may also end up having less money value once you have your currency exchanged. All that can be avoided if you make transactions with cryptos instead. Since the recent all-time high of Bitcoin, many people showed more interest in cryptocurrencies and even NFT gaming. With that, we can expect that crypto usage will increase in the coming years. As this happens, more businesses including betting sites will be motivated to use cryptocurrencies too.

RichQuack launches hyper-deflationary token with high liquidity rewarding holders with static rewards

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RichQuack, a new hyper-deflationary token backed by a community of over 100,000 on Twitter and 65,000 on Telegram, launches on the Binance Smart Chain with the simple goal of making its investors rich. RichQuack is a play on words, mocking those who want to get rich fast without working hard. They are a community of members that work hard together, for token holders to earn money simply by holding the token. The company also provides a launchpad, alongside an incubator program with financial incentives, to help other projects kick off their own tokens. 

RichQUACK
RichQuack launches hyper-deflationary token with high liquidity rewarding holders with static rewards 5

As the U.S. Federal Reserve navigates the pandemic-stricken economy, inflation has reached its highest levels in 30 years. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the high inflation is “transitory,” meaning temporary.  The rising prices of cars, food, and gas are actually causing a psychological shift in Americans’ minds, as inflation becomes a top concern for many.

RichQuack bypasses the problem of inflation by launching a deflationary token with a built-in 12% transaction fee distributed as follows:

  • 4% Tax To Reward Holders and Feed the Blackhole.
  • 8% Tax for Self Generating Auto Liquidity

From the 8% Auto-Liquidity Tax, Liquidity Manager will:

  1. Lock 50% of Auto Liquidity Generated to Team.Finance (4%)
  2. Remove 50% QUACK/BNB (4%) Liquidity Generated

Manually, daily (24–48h) and split it up to:

  • 2% Tax for Marketing & Dev Wallet
  • 2% Tax for QUACKPump & Blackhole Wallet

RichQuack’s incubator program helps launch other tokens by making them a pitch deck and providing capital. The QUACK token is listed on Gate io, Bitmart, Digifinex, Hotbit, ZT Global, XT.com Exchange, PancakeSwap, MEXC, and BKEX.

Binance NFT Marketplace set for the launch of Jimmy Choo collection

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Binance NFT Marketplace has been booming with a lot of new projects. In an announcement by the world’s biggest crypto exchange, it was revealed that Jimmy Choo will be releasing their NFT on the platform. The platform will be hosting the auction from 20th October.

Jimmy Choo will be releasing their NFT on the Binance Marketplace in collaboration with an artist from New York, Eric Haze. The famous clothing brand from Britain has teamed up with Binance, which will hold the sale from “2021-10-20 11:00 AM (UTC) to 2021-10-25 11:00 AM (UTC).”

Recently, we have observed a lot of firms shifting to the NFT industry, including McDonald’s China and even TIME Magazine.

Jimmy Choo NFT sale on Binance

The sale will be composed of two major events, both of which will happen at the Binance Marketplace. The first is the exclusive NFT auction, while the second is the sale of a mystery box series. These mystery box series will have the same price for every customer.

Regarding the technicalities, the world’s biggest crypto exchange mentioned in its announcement that the Jimmy Choo NFT collection will consist of 8,888 mystery boxes consisting of NFTs divided into 4 categories. These categories include a single Super Super Rate (SSR) NFT, super-rare cards, rare cards, and neutral cards.

On the other hand, the NFT auction will feature the tokenized version of the famous sneaker produced for the JIMMY CHOO / ERIC HAZE CURATED BY POGGY partnership.

NFT Marketplace booming

The NFT marketplace has been booming with a lot of action recently. We also witnessed the NFT collection by The Associated Press drop on the Binance network. This sale would consist of the historical events tokenized and made available for sale on the Marketplace.

With new firms entering into the world of NFTs, we have seen certain tokens getting sold for as much as $69 million. Artists, actors, and musicians have been actively participating in the industry, including Katy Perry, The Weeknd, DJ Paul Oakenfold, and Mila Kunis.

Facebook pressured to drop Novi crypto wallet project by Senators

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In a letter, the US banking committee Senators have vehemently opposed the revival of the stablecoin and wallet project of the world’s leading social media platform, Facebook.

Just a few hours had passed after Facebook’s launch of a pilot version in collaboration with a leading crypto exchange, Coinbase when Senators started handing in a letter of disapproval. There were around 5 Senators voicing their concerns regarding Facebook’s revival of its blockchain-based project.

In a letter, one of the five Senators, Elizabeth Warren, raised her concerns. She is known for her skepticism about crypto and wrote,

“Given the scope of the scandals surrounding your company, we write to voice our strongest opposition to Facebook’s revived effort to launch a cryptocurrency and digital wallet, now branded ‘Diem’ and ‘Novi,’ respectively.”

Elizabeth Warren’s letter

Facebook looking to revive the stablecoin and wallet project

Facebook had decided to launch a stablecoin termed Libra which failed and is now rebranded as the Diem token. The plan for the release of this project saw a lot of hurdles and remarks from a majority of regulators for the past couple of years.

It seems that rebranding the project didn’t have any effect on the financial authorities, as they continue to remain dubious of Facebook’s activities and the crypto industry as a whole.

According to the social media giant, the goal of the wallet is to hold the yet-to-be-released Diem token as well as other stablecoins. The wallet was tested in Guatemala and the US on 19th October in collaboration with Coinbase. The social media platform could learn about the efficiency and demand of their wallet through this testing process.

Senators against the social media giant

There were 5 Senators who co-signed the letter, including Tina Smith, Richard Blumenthal, Brian Schatz, Sherrod Brown, and Elizabeth Warren.

“Facebook cannot be trusted to manage a payment system or digital currency when its existing ability to manage risks and keep consumers safe has proven wholly insufficient.”

The Senators claimed in the letter

On the other hand, the social media giant’s partner in the project, Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong came out in support of David Marcus, the leader of the entire project.

NFT collection by The Associated Press to debut on Binance Marketplace

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A new NFT collection by the renowned news agency, The Associated Press, is all set to debut on the Binance marketplace. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange shared a press release, announcing the launch of “The AP Unique Moments.”

The sale will start on 19 October at 12:00 PM (UTC) and end on 26 October at 12:00 PM (UTC), with a limited number of tokens available for buyers. The NFTs will be curated by a prominent firm in the blockchain industry called MetaList Lab.

This new NFT deal with Binance marketplace for the release of a new NFT collection also involves the distribution of some additional gift card NFTs for certain buyers. The Associated Press also shared the news on their Twitter:

The NFT collection to represent historical moments

The Associated Press has been linked to breaking some of the biggest news pieces in the world. The organization has been around since 1846 and has covered more than 150 years of human history. This history is what the NFT collection drop by the press house will represent.

According to the details of the NFT collection released by Binance, there will be a total of 4 rarity levels for the Mystery NFT Boxes, each priced at 29 BUSD or Binance USD, the native stablecoin of Binance.

The 4 rarity levels are Normal (N), Rare (R), Super Rare (SR), and Super Super Rare (SSR). Also, a limit of 25 boxes was put for a single address. This was done so that it becomes easy for more collectors to buy the token.

The NFT collection will be portraying the biggest and most talked-about moments that have been photographed by the press house, including some of the more rare images ever seen, i.e., the biggest “News Wire Flashes.”

What will these mystery boxes contain?

The SSR mystery boxes will contain the ‘Revolutionary Che Guevara 1964’ and ‘The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy’ NFTs while the normal boxes are said to include moments like ‘Berlin Wall Falls in 1989’, ‘Horror in Rwanda,’ ‘US Kills Osama Bin Laden’ among other tokens.

Users can fill a form to take part. The users who will collect 1 N, 1 R, and 1 SR token and hold them from 19 October 12:00 PM (UTC) to 25 October 11:59 PM (UTC) will be eligible for exclusive “AP’s Reach” NFT.

Binance CEO indicates that progress is coming, but gradually

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Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) spoke at the Future Blockchain Summit Dubai on Day 2 of the gathering. The CEO has been actively vocal about the activities of the government, sharing his two cents on the same. In the Summit, the Binance CEO explained why it is futile to expect the entire monetary system to change in one day.

The Binance CEO spoke on the current stance of regulatory authorities on digital assets and the adoption rate for the new asset class. While we have already seen countries like El Salvador take a huge leap of faith, South Korea has allowed a few exchanges to operate in the nation in partnerships with banks.

Binance CEO believes that patience is the key

Changpeng Zhao explains why he believes that expecting crypto adoption in a short period is futile by reminding the audience that the current financial architecture has been around for centuries. Therefore, Zhao stressed the importance of patience when it comes to crypto adoption.

The main reason it is not easy to regulate blockchain-based products is because of the explosion of blockchain-based games and NFTs. While the industry keeps expanding at unparalleled rates, the regulatory authorities are not getting enough time to bring out regulations related to blockchain-based financial products.

Communication is of utmost important

Every crypto investor has noticed the heightened attention of the government in the industry. However, Binance CEO considers that this fact indeed has a positive side to it. The reason being simple, nobody knows what’ll work. It’s just a big hit and trial. Before making laws regarding cryptocurrencies, many nations are trying one thing and the other to tame the new asset class.

Binance CEO Chenpeng Zhao claims that the most important aspect while implementing regulations involves communication with the entities involved. He further announced that communication channels of Binance are always open for regulatory authorities.

Terra [LUNA] Hits Roadblock as Market Caps Crash; Investors Look to Long Term Investments

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The past week saw multiple changes in the cryptocurrency industry as prices fluctuated across the board. Even though Bitcoin moved past the $57,000 mark, altcoins failed to surmount a similar bullish charge. One of the altcoins suffering under the bear’s brunt was Terra [LUNA] after a good run of days that elevated it near the top 10 club.

At press time, Terra was trading for $36.4 with a total market cap of $14.54 billion. While the start of the month boosted the cryptocurrency’s performance on the charts, it still was not enough to sustain monthly gains. The daily trading volume fell to $1.18 billion even as user interest surged.

Entering the top 10 club has been an aim for the cryptocurrency even as developments take place on the network. Year to date, Terra has grown by 6922 percent after strong rallies in the second quarter. Terra’s rally could be attributed to its Columbus-5 network upgrade going last week.

The Columbus upgrade was seen as a marker by its ecosystem because of its connection to the stablecoin development. According to sources, the upgrade would better enable the TerraUSD ratio with the United States dollar. Some analysts have called Columbus a “huge and influential update” with the power to set the tone for the future.

A look at the investor sentiment further added to Terra’s lore. Despite the latest crash, the capital continued to enter the Terra market. The 4-digit growth in 2021 was a sign that the market was looking for more function and less flash. The Columbus upgrade’s ability to regulate the Luna supply is expected to be an important step in achieving that.