Worldcoin, the digital biometric identification project, has rejected the claims made by Buenos Aires regarding possible infringements of customer protection laws. The organization told local sources that it answered Buenos Aires’ requirements since January to show the transparency it exercises in its operations. Worldcoin might face a deeper investigation if a local proposal gets approved. […]
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Solana Foundation Asserts Core Network Should Be Permissionless Regarding Offensive Meme Coin Issues
The Solana Foundation has given its take on the offensive meme coin issue that originates on the Solana blockchain. Austin Federa, head of strategy at the Solana Foundation, sustained that the core components of Solana should be permissionless while blocking some of these offensive assets should be left to individual applications. Solana Unlikely to Deal […]
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‘Nuances Exist’ Among BRICS Members Regarding Bloc’s Expansion, Kremlin Admits
The enlargement of BRICS will be “near the top of the agenda” at the organization’s summit in August, the Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told media. While recognizing the importance of the topic, Peskov indicated that participants in the meeting will likely discuss some differences on the matter.
Expansion-Related Issues to Be Determined During BRICS Summit, Putin’s Spokesman Says
With a growing number of nations either applying formally or showing interest in joining the BRICS group of developing economies, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov, highlighted expansion as a key topic for the talks at the bloc’s top level meeting in Johannesburg later this month.
Expanding BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is “near the top of the agenda” and will be discussed at the upcoming BRICS summit, although nuances exist regarding expansion prospects, the Russian official told reporters.
“This is a very important topic because we see that increasingly more countries are making statements about their intention to join this group,” Peskov elaborated, quoted by the Tass news agency. However, he also admitted:
Indeed, within the framework of BRICS certain nuances exist among members on the subject of expansion, and all these nuances certainly will be discussed during the upcoming summit.
The spokesman of the Kremlin administration was referring to a recent report by Bloomberg, based on sources familiar with the matter, which revealed that China’s push for a rapid enlargement of the economic bloc is facing opposition from India and Brazil.
Peskov remarked that expansion-related issues will be determined during the BRICS summit, scheduled to take place on Aug. 22–24, as “the heads of state will talk about their position.” Russia’s president will not attend in person but will take part in the forum via video link.
“Overall, such a [high level of] interest in the BRICS group is indicative of the association’s great potential and growing authority, and, most importantly, of the hands-on nature of the group,” the representative of the Russian president emphasized.
At their summit, BRICS leaders are expected to review official applications submitted by candidates to join the organization which seeks to expand its economic and geopolitical influence on the global stage. The large number of potential members has fueled concerns in the West about the alliance becoming a counterweight to the U.S. and the EU.
Do you think the current five BRICS members will reach consensus on the bloc’s expansion? Tell us in the comments section below.
House Financial Services Republicans Blast SEC’s Proposed Rule, State Gensler Is Pushing ‘His Own Personal Views Regarding Digital Assets’
Republicans of the House Financial Services Committee have criticized U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, stating he is using Rule 3b-16 amendments to impose his views on cryptocurrency assets. In a letter sent to the SEC, republicans push back against the new proposed definition of “exchange” and its implications.
Financial Services Committee Republicans Push Back Against SEC’s Proposed Ruleset
Republicans of the House Financial Services Committee are pushing back against the proposed amendments to Rule 3b-16 presented by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that expands the definition of “exchange.”
The group, comprising Chair Patrick McHenry and 28 other representatives, sent a letter on June 13 criticizing the implications of the approval of the rule, and its effects on the cryptocurrency market and its operators.
According to these representatives, passing this rule would imply that software protocols and even developers of decentralized financial products would have to register as exchanges with the SEC. This would be detrimental to adoption of the tech in the U.S.
Republican representatives stated:
The proposed rule will stifle innovation and harm digital asset market participants and the U.S. economy more broadly. We urge you to withdraw this proposal as it would effectively shut down development of the digital asset ecosystem and continue to stagnate U.S. technological innovation.
Furthermore, the group of Republicans disagreed with an assertion made in the proposed rule, which states that “it is unlikely that systems trading a large number of
different crypto assets are not trading any crypto assets that are securities.” The letter explains the SEC should not generalize or make “sweeping judgments” in its rulemaking.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Said to Be Pushing His Personal Views
The letter goes even further, accusing SEC Chair Gary Gensler of taking advantage of his position to propose rules that fit his perception of cryptocurrency. The letter states:
It is clear that Chair Gensler is using this proposal to push his own personal views regarding digital assets. It appears this proposed rule is an attempt to assert this personal view as official SEC policy without adequate analysis or justification.
Finally, the group accused the SEC of trying to front-run Congress, which is already working on different bills regarding cryptocurrency, with some of them being introduced by representatives part of the committee like Tom Emmer.
Rep. Warren Davidson, who also signed the letter, recently introduced a bill to oust Gary Gensler from his position as chairman of the SEC, titled the “SEC Stabilization Act.“
What do you think about the House Financial Services Committee Republicans’ stance on the SEC’s proposed rule? Tell us in the comments section below.
Trust Wallet Comes Clean On Rumors Regarding $4 Million ‘Hack’
Multichain cryptocurrency wallet provider, Trust Wallet, has cleared the air around a mysterious million theft from its user’s account. Rumors about the theft started circulating on Monday, January 6.
According to the rumors, a scammer carted million in crypto assets away from the Trust Wallet user with merely a picture of the user’s balance. The hacker never used any seed phrases or passwords to access the account. Trust Wallet took to Twitter on Wednesday to share a statement explaining the events behind the hack attack.
Details Of Trust Wallet Hacker’s Operation
According to Trust Wallet’s statement, it carried out investigations into the mysterious theft and made an interesting observation. The mastermind behind the hack attack is a particular crime unit that has orchestrated strings of theft on other wallet providers in regions such as Barcelona and Milan.
Related Reading: This Little-Known Crypto Erupts 1,300% In Last 24 Hours – Find Out Here
Aside from the victims, many crypto community members have reported that the criminals also approached them. The hackers posed as Web3 project investors and deceived users into showing them their wallet balances.
Trust Wallet further explained that these criminals often approach users asking for proof of funds on hot wallets before taking action. The notorious hackers spend weeks persuading their victims to transfer their funds from a multi-signature wallet to a single-key Trust Wallet.
Multi-signature wallets usually require two or more private keys before signing in and sending a transaction. So, it would be more difficult for hackers to access a multi-sig (multi-signature) wallet than a single-key wallet.
The wallet provider also explained that the hacker shared an NDA pdf file and fake KYC information with the victim, which they suspect might have contained malware. The malware introduced vulnerabilities that allowed the thief to access the user’s wallet and move the funds.
After explaining the hack process, Trust Wallet ended its statement with advice to users to remain alert against scammers. In other words, users should rest assured that their funds are safe with Trust Wallet, but they must stay vigilant to prevent criminals from taking advantage of them.
Wallet Providers Seek Solution To Hack Attacks
Hack attacks are no longer new to the crypto industry. Hackers have developed malicious strategies to steal funds from unsuspecting customers on crypto platforms. Some introduce phishing sites into online crypto platforms to lure users into unknowingly transferring their funds.
Some even fix malicious codes through phishing websites and hijack user transactions. Last year, Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO, advised users to stay alert against phishing scams that pop up with Google search results.
In a recent report, CertiK Alert revealed that hackers attacked Azuki’s official Twitter account and introduced links through which they stole about 8,000 from the platform. BonqDAO protocol also witnessed an oracle hack that left its platform with a 0 million loss in user funds.
Given the constant account compromise and hack attacks in the crypto ecosystem, many wallet providers have integrated new features to protect users. On January 30, Coinbase announced its new wallet app safety features that flag suspicious activities and allow users to take countermeasures to prevent fund loss.
Also, on January 27, the Phantom NFT platform announced new security features in its wallet app. Phantom’s security features allow users to preview transactions and report NFT spamming. It also has an open-source block list that keeps users from connecting with malicious domains.
Featured image from Pixabay and chart from Tradingview.com
Ripple CEO: Fed Decision Regarding Interest Rates to Direct Focus to Crypto
The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell made a shocking announcement during yesterday’s widely watched speech, in which he noted that the Fed will be allowing inflation to start running past 2%. This had far-reaching implications, influencing the price of assets like gold, crypto, and equities.
Although high inflation is overtly positive for Bitcoin in the near-term, investors faded the move, with the crypto rallying as high as ,600 before losing its momentum and plunging down to lows of ,150.
This decline was fleeting, as bulls have since erased virtually all of the losses that came about as a result of this movement.
Despite the inflation news not having any positive short-term impacts on Bitcoin, the CEO of FinTech company Ripple believes that it will help direct heightened focus to crypto going forward – providing the entire market with a significant boost.
Fed Decides to Let Interest Rates Run Hot
The massive money printing that has been undertaken by the U.S. government was bound to lead to heightened inflation.
As NewsBTC reported yesterday, during Powell’s speech yesterday, he explained that the Fed would be taking unprecedented actions to allow inflation to surmount 2% in the coming years.
This is being done to help support the economy, as it will allow for heightened money printing in the form of direct stimulus, bond repos, and quantitative easing.
Naturally, the benchmark crypto’s absolute scarcity makes it the obvious alternative to the US Dollar as a store of value, as the fiat currency will now degrade in value on an annual basis at a pace higher than ever seen before.
Investors looking to preserve their capital will now need to find assets that have scarcity and can appreciate at a rate higher than the 2%+ inflation.
Ripple CEO: Crypto to Receive Boost Due to Ongoing Inflation
While speaking about the news regarding the Fed’s decision, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse explained that he believes heightened inflation will ultimately help the crypto markets.
He notes explicitly that the nascent asset class will be boosted by global investors looking to diversify their portfolios to avoid unnecessary exposure to USD.
“The pandemic is throwing so many playbooks out the window… yesterday’s action flies in the face of decades of precedent. Signs point to further dollar debasement in the near term (leading to further diversification of assets which will certainly be good for crypto).”
It is crucial to keep in mind that these benefits are all long-term and that the implications of the Fed’s decision will likely have a muted short-term impact on the crypto market.
Featured image from Unsplash.
Zuckerberg to Testify Before Congress Regarding Libra Stablecoin
n Rep. Maxine Waters stated that Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the Financial Services Committee later this month regarding the Libra payments networkn
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Ripple CEO Tries to Set the Record Straight Regarding Massive XRP Sales
XRP – the cryptocurrency that is closely associated with the FinTech company Ripple – has faced a significant amount of bearish volatility as of late, which many analysts believe has been caused by Ripple selling a large amount of tokens onto the markets each quarter.
Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO and founder of Ripple, is now trying to set the record straight when it comes to the controversy surrounding XRP and is shooting back at critics who claim that it is a security.
Ripple CEO Claims It Is Clear That XRP is Not a Security
One oft-cited critique of XRP is that it is likely to be designated as a securities product due to its close ties to Ripple.
Although the debate surrounding this topic is quite heated and has split the crypto community, Garlinghouse explained in a tweet that it is “clear” that XRP is not a security, signaling that he is confident that Ripple will win the class action lawsuit they are currently facing from investors who claim that the cryptocurrency is a security token.
“As a defendant in the class action lawsuit, I won’t get into the details (response from Ripple is coming soon). I will say: SEC guidance isn’t issued by the Commission and isn’t law, rule or regulation. It’s clear XRP is not a security and the UK and others have said as much,” he explained.
1/ As a defendant in the class action lawsuit, I won't get into the details (response from Ripple is coming soon). I will say: SEC guidance isn't issued by the Commission and isn't law, rule or regulation. It's clear XRP is not a security and the UK and others have said as much.
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) August 27, 2019
Garlinghouse: Quarterly XRP Sales Done in Attempt to Expand XRP Utility
In addition to the class action lawsuit that Ripple is currently engaged in, the company is also facing controversy surrounding news that they have been selling a large amount of tokens onto the markets due to using inflated volume data.
News of this led many investors and analysts to claim that Ripple has been the force behind XRP’s lackluster price action over the past several months, but Garlinghouse explained that the sale of the crypto has been done with a goal of expanding its utility.
“XRP sales are about helping expand XRP’s utility – building RippleNet & supporting other biz building w/XRP ie Dharma & Forte. Reality is we DECREASED our sales by volume Q/Q and since then the inflation rate of XRP circulating supply has been lower than that of BTC and ETH,” he said.
2/ XRP sales are about helping expand XRP's utility – building RippleNet & supporting other biz building w/XRP ie Dharma & Forte. Reality is we DECREASED our sales by volume Q/Q and since then the inflation rate of XRP circulating supply has been lower than that of BTC and ETH.
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) August 27, 2019
Assuming that Ripple’s quarterly sales of the crypto continues to decline on a quarterly basis and that the company resolves the lawsuits it is currently engaged in, it is highly probable that XRP will be able to incur some upwards momentum – assuming the aggregated crypto market incurs stable growth.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The post Ripple CEO Tries to Set the Record Straight Regarding Massive XRP Sales appeared first on NewsBTC.
Fed Chair Says Facebook Needs to Satisfy Regulatory Concerns Regarding Libra
n The chair of the Federal Reserve said Facebook needs to address a number of concerns thoroughly and carefully before it can move forward with Libran
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European Central Bank Exec Calls for Fast Regulatory Action Regarding Libra
n Financial regulators must act fast to prepare for Facebooks Libra stablecoin, according to European Central Bank executive board member Benoit Coeuren
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