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New Crypto to Watch: VR Project 5thScape Raises Over $1.5M
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India’s Central Bank Digital Currency Has 1.5M Users, 300K Merchants, Says RBI Chief
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has revealed that India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) now has around 1.5 million users. In addition, over 300,000 merchants are currently accepting payments in digital rupees, and the pilot is being operated through 13 banks in 26 cities.
RBI Governor’s Digital Rupee Update
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das provided an update on the progress of India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot on Wednesday at this year’s Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai. The Indian central bank began its digital rupee pilot for the wholesale segment in November last year, followed by a pilot in the retail segment in December.
The RBI governor revealed that India’s central bank digital currency trial has been rolled out to approximately 1.46 million users. He added that the digital rupee pilot is being operated through 13 banks in 26 cities, and over 300,000 merchants accepted payments in CBDCs as of Aug. 31.
Das further detailed that the RBI has enabled full interoperability of CBDC with UPI QR codes, noting that the central bank is targeting 1 million daily CBDC transactions by December this year, which will provide it with sufficient data points for analysis.
In February, RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar said that 50,000 users and 5,000 merchants had adopted the central bank’s digital currency. By July, he shared that the user base had surged to 1.3 million, with 300,000 merchants accepting the digital rupee.
Moreover, RBI Executive Director Ajay Kumar Choudhary said Sunday on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit that the Indian central bank is likely to launch a CBDC pilot for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market by October. India holds the G20 Presidency this year. Choudhary was quoted by local media as saying:
The RBI will introduce the wholesale CBDC in the call market either this month or next month.
Choudhary believes that the e-rupee will rival cryptocurrency, stating in March that India’s central bank digital currency will act as an alternative to cryptocurrency. Last December, Sankar claimed that India’s CBDC should be able to do anything crypto can do without risks.
What do you think about the progress of India’s central bank digital currency? Let us know in the comments section below.
Major Cryptocurrency ATM Manufacturer General Bytes Hacked, Over $1.5M in Bitcoin Stolen
General Bytes experienced a security incident on March 17 and 18 that enabled a hacker to remotely access the master service interface and send funds from hot wallets, according to the company and sources. The breach forced a majority of U.S.-based crypto automated teller machine (ATM) operators to temporarily shut down. The hacker was able to liquidate 56.28 bitcoins, worth approximately .5 million, from about 15 to 20 crypto ATM operators nationwide.
Crypto ATM Operators Temporarily Shut Down After General Bytes Security Breach Enables Hacker to Liquidate .5M in Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies
The largest cryptocurrency automated teller machine (ATM) manufacturer, General Bytes, has produced 9,505 such machines globally, with thousands located in the United States. On Saturday, March 18, the company informed the public of a serious security incident that occurred on March 17 as well.
“We released a statement urging customers to take immediate action to protect their personal information,” the company explained at 4:42 p.m. (ET) on Saturday. “We urge all our customers to take immediate action to protect their funds and personal information and carefully read the security bulletin,” the firm added.
General Bytes’ security bulletin said the attacker was able to remotely upload their own Java application using the master service interface, which is typically used by terminals to upload videos. The attacker had access to BATM user privileges and was also able to access the database, read and decrypt API keys used to access funds in hot wallets and exchanges. In addition, the hacker could download usernames, access their password hashes, turn off 2FA, and send funds from hot wallets.
Bitcoin.com News spoke with a U.S.-based cryptocurrency automated teller machine (ATM) operator who confirmed that all U.S. operators using General Bytes machines were shut down nationwide for the evening. The operator also mentioned that servers would have to be rebuilt from the ground up, which can be a lengthy process.
Reportedly, General Bytes is transitioning crypto ATM operators to self-hosted servers. In the security bulletin, General Bytes stated that the company is discontinuing its cloud service. Furthermore, the firm explained that it had conducted multiple security audits since 2021, and none of them had identified this vulnerability.
According to onchain statistics, the hacker siphoned 56.28 bitcoins worth approximately .5 million and also liquidated dozens of other cryptocurrencies such as ETH, USDT, BUSD, ADA, DAI, DOGE, SHIB, and TRX. The bitcoin (BTC) address holding the 56.28 BTC has not moved the funds since its last transaction at 3:20 a.m. on March 18. Some digital currencies were transferred to different locations, and a fraction was sent to the decentralized exchange (DEX) platform Uniswap.
General Bytes has experienced issues before, recording a security flaw on August 18, 2022. The attacker at the time leveraged a zero-day attack to “create an admin user remotely via CAS administrative interface via a URL call on the page that is used for the default installation on the server and creating the first administration user.”
As for the March 17 and 18, 2023 hack, General Bytes not only disclosed the addresses used in the attack but also three IP addresses used by the attacker. The source who spoke with Bitcoin.com News on Saturday evening further noted that while their firm’s system was hacked, the company runs a full node that’s “locked down enough” to prevent the attacker from accessing funds.
What do you think about the breach that affected General Bytes? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.
Uno Re to provide 1.5M insurance coverage to Nord Finance
In Uno Re’s effort to bring safety to the broader crypto community, the protocol has recently announced that their long-term strategic partner, Nord Finance, has increased its coverage from 0,000 to ,500,000.
This decision was taken to further enhance the safety of the protocol and the users on the platform against any unpredictable vulnerabilities. The coverage plan currently provides a customized Protocol Cover for Nord Finance’ single-sided staking pool, USDC, USDT and DAI staking pool on the Ethereum Network!
Nord Finance will now receive insurance coverage over their entire protocol on a pro-rata basis with Uno Re.
This adjustment will be effective from 29th November 2021
Uno Re is the world’s first decentralized insurance and reinsurance platform, allowing the community to invest and trade in ‘risk’ and receive sizable returns on their investments in one of the safest asset classes in the world. The platform will break barriers to entry for the retail investor by doing away with the historic pre-requisite of absurdly high capital generally needed to invest in the market while also introducing much-needed transparency into the industry as a whole. Uno Re will also allow the community to propose innovative insurance products to the space, thus propelling a new generation of Insurtech companies powered by the Uno Re ecosystem.
UK Regulators Shut Down Crypto Exchange Following £1.5m Scam
GPay Limited, which traded as XtraderFX (formerly CryptoPoint) has been shut down by UK authorities following investigations into its practices.
The firm has been on the radar of the Financial Conduct Authority for over two years. But a High Court hearing, before Deputy Insolvency & Companies Court Judge Baister, finally forced it to close last week.
“This firm is not authorised by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorisation.”
Investigators discovered that at least 108 victims had lost £1.5 million in total, as a result of using the online crypto trading platform.
The URL address www.xtraderfx.com now leads to a secure connection failed screen.
XtraderFX homepage. (Source: 55brokers.com)
Users became suspicious when asked to submit copies of their photo ID, a utility bill, and a debit/credit card, following a withdrawal request.
While this is a standard industry practice, especially from reputable crypto exchanges with close ties to regulators, users usually deal with KYC and AML requirements on sign up.
David Hill, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said the crypto exchange operated by GPay was entirely a scam. With that, Hill stressed the importance of conducting suitable checks on any trading platform, especially when large sums of money are involved.
“We welcome the court’s decision to wind up GPay as it will protect anyone else becoming a victim. This scam should also serve as a warning to anyone who conducts trading online that they should carry out appropriate checks before they invest any money that the company is registered and regulated by the appropriate authorities.”
Scam Crypto Exchange Used Facebook to Bait Victims
The XtraderFX crypto trading platform had used social media adverts to lure rookie traders who were looking to get rich quick.
The adverts used by XtraderFX featured images and the name of Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert.com – a consumer champion in the world of UK finance.
Source: moneysavingexpert.com
His TV show, The Martin Lewis Money Show, on ITV, occupies a prime time slot that offers money tips and consumer advice.
Lewis raised the issue with Facebook when he first became aware of the fraud back in 2018. But a lack of action on their part forced Lewis to launch court proceedings against the social media giant on the grounds of defamation.
Lewis claimed that over 1,000 scam adverts, featuring his image or name, had appeared on the social media platform, even after he had informed them of the problem.
The matter was settled by an agreement to withdraw legal action if Facebook donated £3 million to Citizens Advice as part of their initiative to deliver a new UK Scams Action project.
Facebook also agreed to launch a new UK specific scam reporting tool manned by a dedicated team.
With regard to XtraderFX’s forced insolvency, Lewis had mixed feelings about the ordeal. Nonetheless, he explained why he choose to sue Facebook, rather than XtraderFX directly.
“I don’t know whether to dance a jig that these despicable scum have been shut down, or cry that they managed to take so many people’s money. I’ve been fighting scam ads with my face on for four years now – sadly 1,000s have appeared. It’s always been tough to get at the actual scammers, which is why I sued Facebook to try and cut off their publicity.”
What’s more, similar to Hill’s advice, Lewis stated that scam adverts often appear on legit websites and even in broadsheet newspapers. With that, individuals need to be more skeptical.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
Crypto Giant Binance Pledges $1.5m to Help Chinese Coronavirus Victims
Over the past few weeks, a virus in the coronavirus family (same family as the common cold, SARS, MERS, etc.) has started to circulate the globe. This novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) originated in China, specifically in the Chinese city of Wuhan and seemingly due to infected animals being sold at a local market.
The virus has thus far infected 1,400 individuals, official numbers state, with cases existing mainly in China though starting to spread to the U.S., France, Malaysia, Singapore, and beyond.
Although these numbers may seem small, reports indicate that hospitals in Wuhan are being overrun due to the influx of cases and those believing they are sick with this coronavirus. Independent videos published to social media, in fact, say that there is a shortage of masks and other protective materials, along with too few doctors.
Thus, the world has sprung into action, attempting to support the victims.
Crypto Giant Binance to Support Coronavirus Outbreak
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the Chinese-Canadian businessman that heads the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, revealed in a tweet published minutes ago that his company has pledged “10m RMB (.5m USD) to help coronavirus victims.”
Zhao seemingly denied any use of crypto assets in this, writing that it “is not realistic to do crypto to end beneficiaries [for the Wuhan outbreak].”
Binance is purportedly still working on the logistics for this move, with the industry executive writing: “We didn’t make any announcements. But BCF/Binance team has been busy for the last few days. Still need help to arrange logistics locally.”
For #Wuhan, not realistic to do crypto to end beneficiaries.
Binance pledged 10m RMB (.5m USD) to help #coronavirus victims.
We didn’t make any announcements. But BCF/Binance team has been busy for the last few days.
Still need help to arrange logistics locally. https://t.co/UH6FXgVSrX
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) January 25, 2020
This seemingly makes Binance the first crypto company to have started a charitable initiative to support victims of the latest Chinese coronavirus.
This isn’t the first time Binance has been charitable in times of need. It in 2018 contributed million to aid those affected by the massive flood in the west of Japan. The crypto firm also has its own charity arm.
Featured Image from Shutterstock The post appeared first on NewsBTC.
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