Oasys, a blockchain network focused on gaming, has partnered with SBINFT Market, an NFT platform operated by a subsidiary of the Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Group, to expand the crypto gaming sector in Japan. The collaboration will allow developers on the Oasys platform to sell NFTs through the SBINFT Market, which now supports Oasys’ Hub-Layer […]
Bitcoin News
Chainalysis Named Council Member of MENA Banking Group’s Digital Asset Lab
Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm, has been appointed as a council member of Digital Asset Lab. The firm will use its expertise to assist Emirates NBD’s lab in understanding market trends and client needs. The Digital Asset Lab’s objective is to comprehend how Emirates NBD’s customers can utilize digital assets and the associated technology. Leveraging […]
Bitcoin News
Jack Dorsey’s Block Faces DOJ Probe Over Alleged Transactions With Sanctioned Nations and Terrorist Groups
Department of Justice (DOJ) federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York are investigating fintech company Block, formerly known as Square, for significant compliance failures in its transaction monitoring systems after a former employee revealed lapses that included processing transactions with sanctioned nations and groups linked to terrorism. Allegations against Block include handling transactions […]
Bitcoin News
Deutsche Börse Group’s Crypto Subsidiary Granted Four Licenses by the German Regulator
A subsidiary of the German multinational company Deutsche Börse Group has been granted four licenses by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority or Bafin. The licensing of the subsidiary helps to distinguish its product offering “as one of the few to meet these exceptionally high standards.” Cementing Crypto Finance’s Position in the European Digital Asset […]
Bitcoin News
Blockchain Advocacy Groups Slam EIA’s ‘Politically Motivated’ Inquiry Into US Crypto Mining
After the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) declared its intention to launch an urgent inquiry into the power consumption of cryptocurrency mining within the nation, two blockchain advocacy organizations have labeled the move as a “politically motivated” drive against bitcoin mining, denouncing it as “an attack against legitimate American businesses.” EIA Faces Backlash Over Emergency […]
Bitcoin News
Spartan Group’s Report Reveals Bitcoin’s Untapped Potential via Emerging Layers
A new report details how Ordinals and other layer-two innovations can reshape Bitcoin’s role in the digital economy, moving it beyond just a store of value.
New Report Outlines How Bitcoin Can Evolve to a Multi-Layered Ecosystem
The “Bitcoin Layers” report, produced by the Singapore-based web3 investment firm Spartan Group, provides an insightful look into the potential future of Bitcoin.
The report points out that bitcoin’s market capitalization, now exceeding 0 billion, has a significant portion of capital that remains underutilized due to challenges in programmability, scalability, and community alignment. It posits that Bitcoin can evolve beyond a mere store of value, transitioning into a foundational platform for a trustless financial system.
A key development in this transformation is the introduction of Ordinals, which is causing a cultural shift in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Ordinals are extending Bitcoin’s use beyond its traditional role as a store of value, which is creating a surge in interest in what is sometimes criticized as an ossified digital asset.
Another crucial aspect of Bitcoin’s evolution is the emergence of strategic layer-two solutions. These solutions address Bitcoin’s inherent limitations by enhancing functionalities such as programmability and transaction speeds, both of which are essential for scalability and overall growth. In fact, layer-two solutions are important for Bitcoin’s future, the report claims.
With these ongoing developments, bitcoin is increasingly attracting institutional interest and investment, a trend likely to accelerate with the anticipated 2024 halving event.
The ecosystem is experiencing a surge in new projects and technologies, indicating a hotbed of innovation and potential for growth. The report observes that auxiliary networks within the Bitcoin ecosystem are taking cues from Ethereum’s architecture, leading to a likely increase in demand for Bitcoin block space.
Bitcoin’s layer-two networks, while still nascent compared to those on other blockchains, are showing promising growth. Developments like the Ordinals protocol and the BRC-20 token standard signify a revival in Bitcoin’s builder culture. The report identifies four major layer-2 projects: Lightning Network, Stacks, Liquid, and Rootstock, known as the “Big Four.” These projects are at the forefront of introducing functionalities such as smart contracts and faster transaction speeds to Bitcoin.
In addition to the “Big Four,” there are other innovative projects within the Bitcoin ecosystem. For instance, Ark focuses on off-chain low-cost payments, while Interlay is developing a network between Bitcoin and multi-chain ecosystems. Interlay recently created a decentralized Bitcoin bridge with a 1:1 bitcoin-backed asset.
The report paints an optimistic future for Bitcoin. It emphasizes the significance of recent developments, such as the listing of ETFs in the U.S. and the upcoming halving event, in inspiring new use cases for Bitcoin. These advancements, together with the growing layer-2 ecosystem, are poised to further boost Bitcoin’s adoption and cement its status as a multifaceted financial platform.
Will Bitcoin become a multi-layered financial system? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Russian Crypto Exchange Moves Money for Gaza Groups, Report
Palestinian militant organizations, including a Hamas-linked Islamist group, have been using a Moscow-based crypto exchange to transfer millions, a press report revealed. The U.S.-sanctioned platform, which allows customers to convert Russian cash to crypto and then withdraw fiat abroad, has been also serving criminal gangs and rich Russians, sources claim.
Russian Exchange Allegedly Transfers Millions in Crypto for Fundamentalists in Gaza
Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian extremist organization active in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, has received part of a $ 93 million payment through a Russian cryptocurrency exchange called Garantex, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
The company, originally registered in Estonia but headquartered in Moscow, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in April 2022 as part of measures to prevent Russian efforts to evade financial restrictions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.
The crypto trading platform allegedly processed illicit transactions from the ransomware group Conti and darknet market Hydra as well. It was also used to launder money for Russia’s largest crypto pyramid scheme, Finiko, and raise funds for the Russian far-right paramilitary unit Rusich.
Hamas, the Islamist political and military movement which launched a terrorist assault on Israel earlier this month, has employed a similar funding scheme to conceal transactions and circumvent sanctions, according to the sources quoted in the article.
The Garantex exchange offers users the option to purchase cryptocurrency with cash in Russian rubles. The digital coins can later be converted back to fiat money overseas. The WSJ points out that it’s very hard to track and stop these kinds of transfers.
Despite the U.S. sanctions, the crypto exchange, which has offices in the Moscow City business center, remains quite active, the publication noted. In June alone, its trading volume reached 5 million, which is actually higher than the turnover registered before the platform was blacklisted.
The WSJ report does not specify any amount that Hamas might have received through Garantex. It was reported that the Palestinian movement has been also using wallets at the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, to collect crypto donations. The Israel Police announced it had frozen such accounts with the help of Binance.
Do you think Palestinian groups rely on other Russian crypto exchanges as well? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
Russian Darknet Markets, Ransomware Groups Thrive Despite Sanctions, Report
Russian marketplaces on the dark web have continued to operate despite Western sanctions and efforts to shut them down, according to a report accessing the illicit blockchain space amid the world’s “first crypto war.” Ransomware actors and high-risk crypto exchanges have also remained active.
Underground Russian Crypto Platforms Adapting to Disruptions Caused by Ukraine War
Before Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, cryptocurrency exchanges linked to the two countries accounted for over half of the international volumes of illicit crypto funds. Cybercrime organizations were full of Russian-speaking members and Russian-language darknet markets (DNMs) dominated the global drugs trade in cryptocurrency, TRM Labs noted in a new report.
Over the past year, the blockchain intelligence firm analyzed changes in the illicit crypto ecosystem to find out how cybercriminals are adjusting to the financial, political, and logistical disruptions caused by the conflict. The company describes the latter as “the world’s first crypto war,” with the two sides relying on donations in digital assets to fund their military and humanitarian campaigns and the West trying to limit the opportunities for Moscow to use coins to bypass restrictions.
When the war broke out, Western governments and law enforcement agencies went after Russia-linked DNMs, ransomware syndicates and crypto exchanges exposing users to increased risks. However, these have continued to thrive even after the unprecedented actions against them, the researchers were able to establish.
In April, German authorities seized the servers of the largest darknet market, Hydra, while the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Hydra and Garantex, a Russia-based crypto exchange accused of processing 0 million of illicit transactions. The total includes million from the Russian ransomware group Conti and around .6 million from Hydra.
Despite the crackdown, Garantex not only continues to operate but has more than doubled its trading volumes over the course of 2022, TRM Labs revealed. Meanwhile, newly founded Russian DNMs have quickly filled the gap left by the dismantling of Hydra. Sales on these platforms between May and Dec. 2022, surpassed those in the first four months of the year.
At the same time, while Conti officially shut down in May, it has actually rebranded and is still operating through several smaller groups. Although, a study published by Chainalysis in January of this year showed that sanctions have played a role in reducing ransomware revenue.
The TRM report also highlights the politicization of some Russian and Ukrainian hackers providing an example with Killnet. The group, which conducts malware and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, pledged allegiance to the Russian state, threatening entities linked to unfriendly nations. The pro-Ukrainian Dump Forums have also hit Russian targets. Both have been raising crypto on Telegram for their respective causes. DNMs and darknet forums have largely remained politically neutral.
Do you think the authorities in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in the region will crack down on such platforms in the future? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
Crypto Groups on Russian Social Media Hit by Bots Discrediting Bitcoin
Social media groups devoted to cryptocurrencies in Russia have been attacked by bots in what looks like a campaign against bitcoin and the like. Their comments on Russia’s largest social media platform are triggered by certain keywords like crypto and blockchain, members of the community have noticed.
Bots Flood Vkontakte Groups With Comments Against Cryptocurrency
In the past week or so, crypto-themed groups on Russia’s state-controlled social network Vkontakte (VK) have been seeing a growing number of comments seeking to discredit cryptocurrencies and related technologies, the crypto news outlets Bits.media and RBC Crypto reported.
The comments appear under posts and linked articles about crypto assets. They are all similar, for example: “It’s more expensive to delve into crypto, it’s always big risks,” “Someone still talks about bitcoins?” or “People who buzz about crypto don’t even understand it.”
According to Nikita Zuborev, senior analyst at the exchange aggregator Bestchange.ru, these bots first appeared in his platform’s community and official page on Vkontakte on Feb. 13. The accounts are typical for such attacks and are only recently registered or stolen dormant accounts.
Bots are often used to spread spam and advertisements or attract users to fraudulent schemes but this is not the case this time. The messages lack external links and their content is limited to abstract criticism of cryptocurrencies and activities like trading.
Vkontakte’s press service told RBC that the company “does not register an increase in the number of bots on the platform” and assured that its moderators “promptly respond to complaints” about bots that post the same information en masse.
Zuborev also commented that it is still difficult to establish what exactly the bots are reacting to. According to his observations, they ignore posts containing images but are activated by those containing words like “Binance,” “bitcoin,” or “blockchain.” Attacks have intensified this week, the analyst noted.
Crypto Channels on Telegram Not Affected by Bot Attacks
It’s hard to understand the meaning and the effectiveness of such campaigning against cryptocurrencies, remarked the CEO of defi banking platform Indefibank, Sergey Mendeleev, as most of the Russian-speaking crypto community does not use this social platform, “for obvious reasons.”
Mendeleev believes that someone ordered the attacks so that they can later refer to “the large volume of negative comments on the most popular social network.” The expert pointed out that no such attacks have been seen in crypto channels on Telegram.
Vkontakte was founded in 2006 by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov who later launched the Telegram messenger. In April 2014, Durov was dismissed as CEO of VK. He suggested that the move was due to his refusal to hand over personal user details to Russian law enforcement agencies, including those of members of a group dedicated to the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine, and left Russia.
In September of that year, the Mail.ru group became the sole proprietor of the company. In December, 2021, the Russian state-owned bank Gazprombank and insurance company Sogaz bought out 57.3% of the VK shares, becoming the holders of its controlling interest. Vkontakte recently launched an NFT service.
Who do you think is behind the attacks on crypto groups on Vkontakte? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
ABBC Foundation Strikes New Partnership with TNC Group’s Real Research
ABBC Foundation just struck a significant partnership with TNC Group’s Real Research project. Since its inception in 2017, the ABBC Foundation has achieved many important milestones so far. To keep to its mission of establishing the ‘Future of Payment Security’, the brand is happy to announce its latest achievement.
Signing this new partnership with TNC Group’s Real Research is another huge breakthrough for both companies. Thanks to this new partnership, ABBC Coins will soon be given as a Reward Coin on the Real Research platform. This means that sponsors on the Real Research platform will soon have the option to choose either TNC or ABBC to be given out as rewards.
While TNC can be bought on the Sponsor Portal through exchanges and PayPal, ABBC Coin too will soon be purchased as such. Therefore, once the purchase is confirmed, sponsors can then use ABBC Coin to be given as a reward coin to every respondent who completes answering their survey.
Real Research is a relatively new project and it already has over 3,000,000 users. Furthermore, it is still rapidly growing its user base. The platform hosts the Real Research App and the Real Research Sponsor Portal. The former is predominantly used by users who answer surveys and earn reward coins. The latter, on the other hand, is mostly used by sponsors to create and launch unique surveys set to reach their targeted demographic.
By eventually giving ABBC Coins as a Reward Coin on a popular platform such as Real Research, the ABBC team expects to see a massive boost in ABBC Coin users. This is a promising development for both parties. The ABBC team estimates that ABBC Coin will see around 100,000,000 new users within this year, thanks to this new partnership. The team is also very eager and excited to see the ABBC value increase via this expected boost in users.
Hence, the ABBC team is working relentlessly to ensure that this expected increase in users will go smoothly. The ABBC community will evidently hear more updates following this latest development. Meanwhile, the CEO of ABBC Foundation, Jason Daniel Paul Philip, believes that this partnership will bring great value to the ABBC ecosystem.
Additionally, he shared his sentiments on the partnership by saying,
“Firstly, I am most grateful towards our loyal users for receiving their unwavering support towards our project over the years. There is indeed no milestone that we cannot achieve together. I am bursting with pride to see how far the project has come and I am looking forward to seeing ABBC Foundation’s future endeavors.”
Ultimately, ABBC Foundation is ecstatic to see the fruits of this new partnership. Besides reaching its next milestone of gaining over a total of 10,000,000 ABBC Coin holders, ABBC Foundation is excited to see an increase in ABBC market value as well.