Weeks after calling bitcoin brilliant, Elon Musk has lauded one of the crypto market’s oldest and silliest alternatives.
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Crypto Tidbits: Elon Musk Enamored With Bitcoin, CME Futures Set Record, Samsung Delves Into Blockchain
What a crazy week it has been for the crypto space. Elon Musk lauded Bitcoin for its “brilliant” structure, subsequently claiming that crypto assets are evidently a better medium of exchange than banknotes. CME’s Bitcoin futures posted a new record, even amid the “nuclear winter.” And Samsung delved into blockchain with its “KeyStore” offering, slated to launch on its Galaxy S10 flagship device.
Crypto Tidbits
- CME Bitcoin Futures Set Record Volumes: Per exclusive data gathered by The Block, the Bitcoin futures market backed by the Chicago-based CME has garnered monumental levels of attention as of late. Citing an internal email, February 19th, not 24 hours after the aggregate value of all digital assets spiked by 10%, saw CME’s biggest Bitcoin trading session ever in a seeming bear market rally. The firm’s futures vehicle, launched when Bitcoin was trading at ,000 a piece, saw 18,338 contracts, valued at 91,690 BTC (0 million), traded on that day alone. Compared to the product’s 4,630 contracts in average daily volumes over recent quarters, the 19th’s session was undoubtedly staggering.
- Samsung Unveils Galaxy S10, Which Has Blockchain & Crypto Offering: After months of rumors, Samsung unveiled its new flagship — the Galaxy S10 — at its Unpacked event. While the announcement was the same old, same old, with a flashy keynote, extremely extensive media coverage, and marginal (yet visible) improvements over last year’s phone, something caught the eye of crypto industry participants across the board. According to a press release issued as Unpacked trended on Twitter, the entire S10 lineup will have a blockchain- and crypto-centric feature. The release read that the S10 is built with “defense-grade Samsung Knox,” along with hardware that “houses private keys for blockchain-enabled mobile services.” Although the words “crypto” and “wallet” weren’t explicitly divulged, many believe this facet of the press release indicates that Samsung likely has a wallet or cryptocurrency private key solution product ready to ship for S10 buyers.
- U.S. SEC Pushes Two Crypto ETFs To The Federal Register: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently pushed two crypto-backed exchange-traded fund applications to the Federal Register. This means that the governmental entity has 45 days from now to either approve, deny, or delay the proposals from making it through the regulatory hoops. Proposals from Bitwise Asset Management & NYSE Arca and CBOE, VanEck, and SolidX Partners are up on the chopping block.
- Elon Musk Lauds Bitcoin For Its Brilliance: Elon Musk recently took to ARK Invest’s “FYI” podcast to touch on Tesla’s plans, autonomy, other innovations, such as crypto. Near the end of the interview, Musk claimed that the “Bitcoin structure was (is) quite brilliant,” adding that Ethereum and “maybe some of the others” have merit too. Musk did admit, however, that he isn’t too enamored with Bitcoin’s mining consensus mechanism, noting that it is rather energy inefficient. Yet, he explained that from a fundamental point of view, cryptocurrencies are great as they bypass currency controls, especially in nations that are in the midst of financial and political turmoil, namely Venezuela. He added that cryptocurrencies are also a “far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper,” subsequently quipping that he’s sure of this “without a doubt.”
- Pantera Secures 5 Million In Funding For Crypto Investment: CoinDesk reports that Pantera Capital has secured 5 million for an upcoming venture, slated to close its funding round in March. Citing a partner from Pantera, the outlet claims that the nine-digit sum has been derived from high net-worth individuals, family offices, and others that “could move money quickly.”
- University Of Michigan To Invest In A16Z Blockchain Fund: According to an exclusive report from Bloomberg, the University of Michigan’s billion endowment intends to siphon more of its funds into crypto-centric funds in the near future, in spite of the dramatic slump in the Bitcoin price. Per a Board of Regents agenda, the institution has its eyes on a “cryptonetwork technology” (they likely mean blockchain technology) fund managed by the world-renowned Andreessen Horowitz. More specifically “CNK Fund I,” as the vehicle in question has been dubbed by the Menlo Park, California-based venture group that backs it, is currently in the University of Michigan’s scopes. According to Kevin Hegarty, the chief financial officer at the state-run educational institution, CNK invests in “cryptonetwork technology companies across the spectrum of seed, venture and growth stage opportunities.” It wasn’t made clear whether CNK makes allocations to physical crypto assets, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, or not.
- Facebook’s Zuckerberg Hints At Blockchain Offering: According to The Verge report, which cited an interview that Mark “Zuck” Zuckerberg had with Harvard Law professor Jonathan Zittrain, Facebook is looking into the latter. More specifically, in the recent interview, Zuck claimed that account authentication is a blockchain use case he is “potentially interested in.” He claimed that if this project comes to fruition, it would replace Facebook Connect, allowing individuals to determine what apps and partners can access their personal data in a decentralized manner.
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Billionaire Elon Musk Lauds Bitcoin As “Quite Brilliant,” Why Isn’t Tesla Going Crypto?
While Elon Musk has yet to formally delve into the Bitcoin space, he has long been a fabled member of the crypto community. Since finding his way to the headlines of the world’s media, the Tesla chief executive’s pro-innovation mindset has struck a chord with many enamored with cryptocurrencies.
In fact, some say that Musk’s unsaid raison d’etre of bettering society at large, especially by amending the world’s most harrowing issues (climate change, confinement on Earth, financial inequality), lines up with the goals held by many cryptocurrency insiders.
Thus, some have even argued that Musk could be Satoshi Nakamoto. Sahil Gupta, a former intern at Musk’s second multi-billion dollar enterprise SpaceX, once infamously claimed that Musk’s brief mentionings of cryptography, economics, the C++ computing language, along with the entrepreneur overarching vision scream Satoshi. The South African-Canadian entrepreneur has done his best to keep his mouth zipped regarding his candidacy for the Satoshi title, but that hasn’t stopped him from talking about cryptocurrencies.
We had @elonmusk on the latest episode of @ARKInvest's podcast!
He had a few things to say about Bitcoin.
"Paper money is going away and cryptocurrency is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper." – Elon Muskhttps://t.co/U5qOnM7nBo
— Yassine Elmandjra (@yassineARK) February 19, 2019
Bitcoin Is “Quite Brilliant”
While the crypto market has remained in a depressed state, save for Monday’s jaw-dropping rally, stars have begun to descend on this industry. Weeks ago, NewsBTC reported that a mass of celebrities, including the Spice Girl’s Mel B, Johnny Depp, Madonna, and Lionel Messi, had some involvement in cryptocurrency. More recently, Jack Dorsey of both Twitter and Square took to Joe Rogan to claim that the native currency of the Internet is likely to be Bitcoin.
Related Reading: Twitter CEO Loves Lightning on Bitcoin: is it the Future of Fast, Instant Payments?
And just on Tuesday, Elon Musk, the most well-known Silicon Valley guru, took to the New York-based ARK Invest’s “FYI” Podcast to touch on Tesla’s plans, autonomy, other innovations, such as crypto. Per The Block, who compiled his comments regarding cryptocurrencies, Musk made his comments with explicitly bullish tones.
After discussing Tesla’s most recent advancements, the hosts of the podcast, the CEO and an analyst at ARK, a disruptive innovation-centric investment group, took a brief aside. They asked Musk if he agrees with Dorsey’s recent comments on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies at large. Interestingly, Musk responded with an answer, albeit somewhat cursory.
He tacitly agreed, noting that the “Bitcoin structure was (is) quite brilliant,” adding that Ethereum and “maybe some of the others” have merit too. Musk did admit that he isn’t too enamored with Bitcoin’s Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, noting that it is energy intensive.
Yet, he explained that fundamentally, crypto assets are great as they bypass currency controls, especially in nations embroiled in financial and political turmoil, like Venezuela. He added that cryptocurrencies are also a “far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper,” subsequently quipping that he’s sure of this “without a doubt.”
In spite of all this, he made it clear that Tesla isn’t going to foray into the crypto space in any capacity, noting that it would be a good use of his firm’s resources to prop up an offering.
Musk’s abrash comments quickly elicited responses from each and every corner of the crypto space. Matt Odell, a long-time pro-Bitcoin coder and industry personality, joked that the comments “confirmed” his bias that cryptocurrencies could oust banknotes. Changpeng “CZ” Zhao of Binance noted that eventually, “[Musk] will join the brotherhood,” adding that he is unequivocally sure that the businessman will take up a crypto mantle. CZ notably called on the Tesla founder to take up the Lightning Network Trust Chain torch last week, just days after Twitter’s Dorsey openly lauded Bitcoin in dozens of tweets.
Crypto Is Better Than Banknotes?
While Musk made notable acknowledgments in his brief appearance on ARK’s “FYI,” what stood out to many crypto investors was his thoughts on the dichotomy between banknotes & physical cash, and crypto assets, not centralized e-money. For a brief recap, Musk simply stated that he is unequivocally sure that crypto, whether it be Bitcoin, Ethereum, or otherwise, is a “far better” medium of exchange than pieces of paper. Shocking, right?
This may be deemed hearsay by pundits of the legacy world, but the world is already adopting digital mediums of exchange. Per previous reports from this outlet, Arthur Hayes of BitMEX took to his company blog to claim that platforms like WeChat Pay and AliPay have already begun to take over China’s financial system. Who’s to say that cryptocurrencies, a decentralized counterpart to these systems that tout their own currencies, cannot have a similar impact on society at large?
The fact of the matter is that these digital payments systems, whether decentralized or centralized, offer benefits that cash/plastic cannot. Case in point, payments on both Bitcoin and WeChat Pay are cheap, rapid, and relatively secure. But arguably, decentralized payment ecosystems, which are non-sovereign, private, immutable, and non-censorable, are even better than their centralized peers, which is likely what Musk was touching on.
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From Dorian Nakamoto to Elon Musk The Incomplete List of People Speculated to Be Satoshi Nakamoto
n For Bitcoins 10th anniversary, we remember the list of people who have been speculated to be Satoshi Nakamoto, from a Japanese mathematician to Elon Muskn
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Twitter Crypto Scammers Steal $150K by Posing as Elon Musk
Scammers plaguing a popular social media platform have successfully stolen over 0,000 in cryptocurrency.
They used the verified accounts of two prominent British businesses by posing as Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk.
Two British Brands Targeted in Twitter Scam to Steal Crypto
British fashion and home goods retailer Matalan and the United Kingdom arm of French film production company Pathé each had their verified Twitter accounts reports the BBC. Combined the two accounts have over 100,000 followers, who became the targets of a scam aimed at stealing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Hackers gained access to the two highly-valuable, verified Twitter accounts, and promptly changed the account photos and names to appear as if the accounts were owned by Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur Elon Musk.
The accounts join in on an increasingly growing trend across Twitter, where scammers pose as cryptocurrency industry icons, celebrities, or tech entrepreneurs – even posing as the United States President – and offer a “giveaway” where users receive free cryptocurrency in exchange for sending a smaller denomination or the same cryptocurrency.
To further sell the scheme as legitimate, additional Twitter accounts owned by the hackers are then used to respond to the giveaway tweet, thanking the accounts for their generosity. Over 300 of the 100,000 followers between the two accounts fell victim to the scam, and were duped of their crypto assets. The total stolen according to wallet data amounts to over 0,000 in Bitcoin.
This particular instance used Musk’s likeness, suggesting the Tesla CEO was stepping down from his post as “director,” and used a fake web domain with Musk’s other company Space X mentioned in the URL. What’s worse, is that the tweets in question were approved by Twitter to be run as paid advertising, even though they were fake, from a hacked account, and were riddled with spelling errors.
Why Elon Musk? Twitter Scams Surrounding Entrepreneur Are Relentless
Cryptocurrency scammers impersonating Elon Musk refuse to give up, despite the entrepreneur recently enlisting help from Dogecoin creator Jackson Palmer and receiving a “script” that was meant to reduce the frequency of such instances. Musk had initially been impressed with the scammers, saying they had “mad skills.” However, that quickly turned into frustration.
But why Elon Musk?
While other crypto influencers and celebrities have been impersonated as part of this recurring scam, none have been the focal point as prominently or as often as Mr. Musk. The answer is simple: The eccentric and outspoken Tesla CEO uses Twitter as his personal soapbox, and the public figure seemingly has no filter, and says some of the wildest things, sometimes landing him in hot water as a result.
Back in August, Musk made a public statement on Twitter talking about a Tesla IPO that resulted in Musk being forced to step down from his post at Telsa, and had to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in court for million.
Musk’s tweets now have to be reviewed by a lawyer, which should cause investors to be extra skeptical over any cryptocurrency giveaways coming from Musk. It’s the outlandish comments Musk makes that makes him an easy target for scammers to impersonate.
Musk also commonly tweets about cryptocurrencies. Last month, Musk tweeted a bizarre photo accompanied by the question “Wanna buy some Bitcoin?”
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Musk Impostors Hack Lawmaker, Publisher Accounts in New Crypto Scams
A number of verified Twitter accounts were hacked to look like Elon Musk’s as part of an effort to defraud owners of bitcoin.
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Fake Elon Musk Accounts on Twitter Promote Bitcoin Scams, One Collects $170K
n More than 0,000 have been lost in another Elon Musk impersonation crypto scam on Twitter, with hackers compromising the accounts of a U.S. politician and French film companyn
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Hodlers Digest, September 16-23 Elon Musk Wants Advice on Twitter Crypto Scammers, the US SEC Wants Comments on BTC ETFs
n Elon Musk wants those pesky Twitter crypto scammers gone, and Japan suffers yet another crypto exchange hack read more in this weeks Hodlers Digestn
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Elon Musk Asks Dogecoin Creator to Help Fight Crypto Scam Bots on Twitter
n Elon Musk, previously amused by Twitter scam bots, now finds them annoying, asks Dogecoin founder for helpn
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Elon Musk Fed Up with Twitter Crypto Scams, Turns to Dogecoin Creator for Help
Eccentric tech entrepreneur and founder of Space X and electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, is reportedly getting fed up with the cryptocurrency giveaway scam bots that have been plaguing popular social media platform Twitter for the better part of a year.
As a result, he has turned to the creator of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin to seek a solution to the ongoing issue.
Elon Musk Asks Dogecoin Creator Jackson Palmer for Help
The widespread prevalence and frequency of Twitter spambots promoting fake cryptocurrency giveaway scams has finally got to Elon Musk, according to recent public comments he made via his Twitter account.
Musk tweeted at Jackson Palmer, the founder of the Dogecoin meme cryptocurrency, asking if he “can help get rid of the annoying scam spammers,” saying it would be “much appreciated.” Musk’s comment may have also contained a tongue-in-cheek nod to Dogecoin. Dogecoin was created as a “joke” to honor the Shiba Inu dog meme that often uses the term “much wow.”
Palmer had previously developed a script to block the scam bots in the past, sharing the code with Musk, claiming its “short, simple and you just run it with cron somewhere.”
Palmer turned the conversation toward Twitter itself, suggesting Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO, and his team “should definitely automate and fix this problem on their end.”
Elon Musk: From Impressed to Annoyed
Musk is among the tech industry figure heads often impersonated by Twitter scam bots. Others include Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO, actor William Shatner, and even United States President Donald Trump. Many have been forced to include “not giving away cryptocurrency” in their Twitter usernames to try and save investors from being duped.
Musk recently tweeted, appearing impressed by the scam bots, saying they had “mad skillz.” It didn’t take long, however, for Musk’s amusement to turn into annoyance.
The public social media conversation caught the attention of Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin who replied to Musk imploring Dorsey to “help us please.”
Twitter Not Doing Enough to Protect Users
As Buterin and Musk’s conversation suggests, the consensus has been that Twitter isn’t doing enough to prevent their users from being repeatedly subjected to such scams.
Dorsey said back in March that the firm would be cracking down on crypto scams on the platform, but the issue has only further spread throughout 2018. Dorsey reaffirmed his plan to rid the platform of “scams and misinformation,” telling Congress at a recent Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing that Twitter was looking into blockchain in an effort to protect consumers.
Research firm Duo Security recently discovered a bot net consisting of at least 15,000 Twitter bots working together to perpetuate cryptocurrency giveaway scams. The scheme often involves a Twitter account posing as a popular business figure or cryptocurrency industry icon, and promotes a giveaway in which a user must send a specific amount of cryptocurrency, usually Ethereum, to an address to receive a larger sum of crypto in return.
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