Coinbase, a leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, claims that Americans could have saved at least million in 2022 by leveraging crypto tech instead of using credit cards as payment options. In its latest State of Crypto report, Coinbase reveals how traditional finance system institutions keep transaction fees high in a system “mired in delays.” Coinbase […]
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Solana’s Jupiter Airdrop Allegedly Leaked: A User Received Almost $1 Million Using 9,246 Wallets
The recent airdrop of JUP, the token of the Solana native Jupiter exchange, was allegedly gamed by an individual who avoided established controls. An unknown airdrop hunter received 1.85 million JUP (almost million) using over 9,000 wallets for this task, with some users presuming an insider leaked the airdrop information beforehand.
Jupiter Airdrop Allegedly Leaked by an Insider
Some users have begun to question the fairness of the Jupiter airdrop, an event that distributed over 0 million in JUP tokens to users of the Solana native Jupiter exchange in January. While the airdrop has been recognized as one of the largest in its class, crypto sleuths have detected irregularities in the form in which some approached this event.
X user Open4profit stressed the airdrop was unfair, claiming that an unknown user gamed the system, receiving 1.85 million JUP tokens (almost million) using over 9,000 wallets to achieve this objective.
The leader and founder of Jupiter, also known as Meow in X, recognized that these irregularities did happen and denied that this was related to an insider leak before the airdrop. He stated:
This was something we did not catch. We did not declare an airdrop ahead of time, but someone guessed the airdrop a few days before and farmed it super hard. Will do much better in future.
Nonetheless, X user Lord Ashtray pressed on, declaring that, most likely, the airdrop hunter was tipped off by an insider because he knew exactly how to farm the JUP airdrop without triggering the bot detection algorithms that prevent this kind of farming. He also stated that other teams tried to farm the airdrop without success.
Lord Ashtray said:
Stop being a lying piece of human being and just start investigating which team member leaked all the information and to whom.
However, no relationship has been established between Jupiter team members and the unknown airdrop farmer.
What do you think about the alleged leak that allowed an airdrop farmer to receive almost million worth of JUP tokens? Tell us in the comments section below.
Analyst Predicts Cardano Future Using Historic Trends, And It’s Very Bullish
A crypto analyst has provided insights into why this year will be “massive” for Cardano (ADA) based on historical data. The analyst also highlighted how patience was key, as ADA could replicate a similar run like the one it did when it saw a gain of 8,288% following about two years of consolidation.
2024 Could Be Another Breakout Year For Cardano
In a recent video, the analyst behind the Crypto ZX YouTube channel alluded to ADA’s history as he provided a bullish narrative for the crypto token in this new year. He spoke about how Cardano launched at the peak of the 2018 bull market but didn’t make any significant gains until two years later.
ADA is said to have broken below the .11 support months after its launch and ranged within that time frame from around August 2018 to June 2020. After that, things began to pick up for the crypto token as it went up by 8,288% on its way to hitting its all-time of in 2021.
Based on this, the analyst urged ADA investors to be patient as he expects ADA to break out anytime soon and enjoy a parabolic move. He warned these investors against being like those who currently have regrets about not holding when ADA was at its lowest, considering that some of those who held made millions.
One Last Chance To Accumulate Before The Next Bull Run
The Crypto ZX analyst mentioned that the bear market cycle ends at the 78.6 Fibonacci retracement level. However, he noted that ADA is currently struggling to break that level as the selling pressure around that range is huge, and there is not enough demand for ADA. Going by previous cycles, he stated that “explosions” could come by May or June.
In his opinion, though, he believes that Cardano could get to that Fibonacci level before those months. However, he doesn’t expect “massive moves” until May at least. With this in mind and the fact that there could be another “shake-off” before Bitcoin Halving, the analyst believes this is a great opportunity to accumulate as many ADA tokens as possible.
Meanwhile, the “exciting times” will be in the third and fourth quarter of the year, as that is where this crypto analyst is personally targeting (possibly to take profits). He also predicted that this bull market would be the biggest of all time as he believes that other cryptocurrencies, including Cardano, could get their Spot ETF.
At the time of writing, ADA is trading at around .532, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
North Korean Lazarus Group Withdraws $1 Million in BTC Using Mixing Service
The Lazarus Group, one of the most infamous cryptocurrency hacking collectives, has made one of its largest cryptocurrency withdrawals in over a month. According to Arkham, an on-chain intelligence exchange system, the group withdrew a million dollars worth of bitcoin from one of its addresses, likely using a mixing service.
Lazarus Group Moves Million in Bitcoin
Lazarus Group, an infamous North Korean cryptocurrency hacking collective, has its funds on the move. According to data from Arkham, an online blockchain intelligence platform, the group recently made one of its largest withdrawals in over a month, withdrawing million worth of BTC to an address controlled by the entity. Then, the group transferred 0,000 in BTC to another address previously used.
Arkham also reported that these moves had likely involved using a mixer, a service that facilitates obfuscating the origins of the funds of transactions. Lazarus’ activities registered by Arhkam were limited to small movements for months before this transaction.
Before, Arkham had reported on trading movements coming from an address controlled by North Korean actors, likely from Lazarus, looking to grow their capital by investing in other cryptocurrencies.
The group has been suspected of participating in several high-profile hacks during 2023, including the attack on Poloniex’s hot wallets in November, in which the exchange lost 4 million and the hack suffered by Coinex in September, where million in cryptocurrency was lost.
Also, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) linked the group to a theft of million from Stake.com, an online crypto casino and sports betting platform. If all of these incidents were performed by Lazarus, the group netted over 0 million just in 2023.
The group still has over million in cryptocurrency in several addresses, holding 1,629 BTC and 1,519 ETH. These two assets comprise more than 95% of the group’s portfolio.
What do you think about the recent movements of the Lazarus Group? Tell us in the comments section below.
MS Wallet Drainer Has Siphoned Over $58 Million Using Google and X Phishing Ads
A recent report from Scam Sniffer, an anti-scam solution, revealed that MS Wallet Drainer, a cryptocurrency malware tool, has managed to siphon over million in crypto since March. The drainer uses Google search and X ads phishing links as a distribution vector and has affected over 63,000 victims as of December 21.
MS Drainer Allows Criminals to Siphon Over Million
A recent report from Scam Sniffer, an anti-scam platform used by several Web3 wallets, has revealed that a certain malware type has managed to siphon over million from cryptocurrency holders. The tool, called MS Wallet Drainer, attacks the cryptocurrency wallets (Ethereum, BNB, and other EVM chains and rollups) of victims using Google and X ads to infect their devices and drain them of any available funds and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The malware is distributed using the search results of Google searches for popular cryptocurrency sites and decentralized finance exchanges, such as Zapper, Lido, Stargate, Defillama, Orbiter Finance, and Radiant. The same malware was also detected in a series of Ordinals-related X ads, and a recent sampling of X ads on some feeds resulted in more than 60% of the ads leading to sites using the MS Drainer.
The report highlights that these ads use several techniques to obfuscate their purposes and pass advertising audits. For example, they only target certain regions and use redirection to bypass revisions.
One of the victims lost over million in an Ethereum wallet, while another lost over million in Ethereum assets. An investigation revealed that the tool is available in darknet forums with a price of ,500 for a standard functionality set. While other similar malware tools are fully managed and charge a 20% fee, this one only charges for modules that add additional functionality to the standard package.
What do you think about the MS Wallet Drainer and its usage of Google and X phishing ads as a distribution method? Tell us in the comments section below.
City of Basel Settles Tokenized Bonds Using Wholesale CBDC
The Swiss city of Basel recently settled a series of tokenized bonds using a wholesale central bank digital currency (WCBDC) as part of Helvetia III, a WCBDC pilot program. The system is designed to prioritize efficiency, as having on-chain funds bypasses the need for reconciling transactions with a private bank account.
Basel Issues Tokenized Bonds Settled Using a Wholesale CBDC
The city of Basel in Switzerland has achieved a milestone by completing what might be the first regulated settlement of tokenized bonds in a production environment. As part of the Helvetia III wholesale central bank digital currency (WCBDC) pilot program, the city issued a tokenized bond via the Basel Cantonal Bank that was settled using a WCBDC.
The issuance, valued at almost 0 million, was managed by the Swiss National Bank and the SIX digital exchange, the entity in charge of tokenizing the Swiss francs for the transactions. Using on-chain money is said to make these transactions cheaper and more efficient, given that participants don’t have to wait for private bank redemptions in the settlement process.
David Newns, head of SIX digital exchange, praised this development as a new step in modernizing securities markets. He stated:
The settlement of the first securities transactions in WCBDC … represents a major milestone for the entire industry on the road of adoption of a tokenized, DLT based financial markets infrastructure.
The Helvetia III pilot involves six commercial banks and the SIX digital exchange. The next step for this WCBDC is to be used for repo transactions, something that had already been hinted at by the SIX digital exchange in November.
All of these operations use R3’s Corda blockchain platform, with its CEO David Rutter stating the endeavors represent “another key milestone for the wider development of wholesale CBDC and digital assets which will importantly be used in a live production environment.”
What do you think about Basel issuing tokenized bonds settled with a WCBDC? Tell us in the comments section below.
Argentina’s Presidential Candidate Sergio Massa Suggests Using Blockchain for State Finance Oversight
Presidential candidate and Economy Minister Sergio Massa has proposed to develop a system to allow citizens to control and monitor state finance using blockchain tech in Argentina. At a recent presidential campaign rally, he declared that Argentines “should be able to control state accounts with their mobile phones,” interacting with the national budget.
Sergio Massa Discusses Blockchain Monitoring for State Accounts in Argentina
Sergio Massa, a presidential candidate and the Economy Minister of Argentina, proposed implementing a blockchain-based system to monitor state accounts and the execution of the national budget. Massa declared that this system would benefit the citizens and the country, increasing the transparency of the expenses and incomes by making this data available to the population.
At a rally, Massa stated:
We live in the age of communication. I want every Argentine to be able to control the state accounts online from their cell phone. So each of the Argentines has their blockchain when interacting with the state.
Furthermore, Massa stressed that this proposal was framed into the construction of a new stage of the national government, in which “ethics, integrity, fight against corruption, spending control, and transparency” would be part of the work agenda of his upcoming administration.
Transparency in Budget Spending
Massa described a mechanism to establish contracts between the Argentine state and companies executing state budget work using this blockchain system.
He explained:
In this plan that the State must have, in addition to a blind application mechanism between the contracting party and the contracted party, there must be a certain payment date in the bidding process, in the contracting process, and in the award process.
He praised blockchain tech, concluding that it gives traceability and certainty to state contracts and serves to control public expenses.
Massa, who will face libertarian Javier Milei in a runoff election on November 19, has also proposed the creation of a national digital currency that would be part of a plan to bring the economy to formal channels, combined with a tax reduction scheme.
Another of his plans includes using natural gas from Vaca Muerta, one of the largest oil fields in the country, to mine bitcoin. In a recent interview, he stated he supported the idea due to the “reduction in the carbon emissions” of the activity.
What do you think about Sergio Massa’s proposal to develop a blockchain-based system for monitoring budget expenses in Argentina? Tell us in the comments section below.
OFAC Sanctions Russian National Accused of Using Virtual Currency to Launder Money
According to the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Russian national Ekaterina Zhdanova has been sanctioned as punishment for using virtual currency to launder money for designated Russian elites. OFAC said Zhdanova’s properties and interests in the United States are now either blocked or must be reported.
Russian Elites Seeking to Evade U.S. Sanctions
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s OFAC announced on Nov. 3 that it had sanctioned a Russian national it accuses of using virtual currency to launder money for Russian elites. According to OFAC, the action is in line with the Group of Seven Countries (G7)’s goal of going after sanction busters who have been helping sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
As per the statement, the Russian national, Ekaterina Zhdanova (Zhdanova), is accused of helping an unnamed client obfuscate the source of .3 million that was funneled into Western Europe. By taking such a step, Zhdanova helped the sanctioned Russian individual evade the sanctions, OFAC added.
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Commenting on Zhdanova’s addition to the list of sanctioned Russian nationals, Brian E. Nelson, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said:
We remain focused on safeguarding the U.S. and international financial system against those who seek to exploit this technology, among other illicit finance risks in the virtual assets ecosystem.
As a result of her designation, OFAC said Zhdanova’s properties and interests in the United States are either blocked or must be reported. According to OFAC, Zhdanova’s activities undermine the effectiveness of multilateral U.S. and international sanctions which are intended to “impose costs on Russia for its unprovoked war.”
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
JPMorgan Settles Transactions for $1 Billion Daily Using JPM Coin
JPMorgan announced that it is registering transactions for billion daily using its own currency, jpm coin. JPMorgan Global Head of Payments Takis Georgakopoulos added that while these movements are denominated in U.S. dollars mostly, the institution is seeking to expand on that in the future.
JPMorgan’s JPM Coin Sees Billion in Movements Daily
JPMorgan has reported that jpm coin, the cryptocurrency created by the financial giant, is being used to settle billion daily. According to statements from JPMorgan’s Global Head of Payments Takis Georgakopoulos, the bank plans to expand on jpm coin’s usage in the future, widening adoption.
In an recent interview with Bloomberg, Georgakopoulos stated:
JPM Coin gets transacted on a daily basis mostly in US dollars, but we again intend to continue to expand that.
Jpm coin allows making transactions denominated in dollars and recently in euros using the Qorum blockchain, a distributed ledger created by the bank in 2016 and sold to the Ethereum software company Consensys in 2020.
Announced in 2019 by JPMorgan and beginning to be used commercially in 2020, jpm coin is one of the few blockchain applications being used by banks to reach this level of adoption, even if the amount pales in comparison to the trillion transacted using JPMorgan’s traditional banking solutions, according to Bloomberg.
Blockchain Retail Adoption
Georgakopoulos hinted at a possible application of deposit tokens for retail purposes. Deposit tokens, which JPMorgan considers an evolution of stablecoins, represent a claim on a deposit at a regulated financial institution, like a bank.
Georgakopoulos detailed:
The next step in that journey is to think about how you can create a more retail version of that, so that you can bring that same efficiency to consumers.
JPMorgan announced its interest in deposit tokens in February, seeing promise in this tech and profiling it as another implementation for programmable money, explaining that such tokens “can become a strong foundation for digital money and an important part of a broader tokenized asset ecosystem.”
More recently, in September, sources stated the bank was developing a platform that would use deposit token technology to bring quick settlements and payments to its institutional customers. However, the institution would not offer these services until the project is revised and approved by U.S. regulators, and it would supposedly be ready for launch a year after this approval.
What do you think about JPMorgan’s implementation of jpm coin for settlements? Tell us in the comments section below.
BRICS Leaders Declare Importance of Using Local Currencies in International Trade
The BRICS leaders stress “the importance of encouraging the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions” in their declaration released at the conclusion of their 15th annual summit. In addition, the BRICS nations have tasked their finance ministers and central bank governors to “consider the issue of local currencies, payment instruments, and platforms.”
BRICS Declaration and Use of Local Currencies
The BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) wrapped up their 15th annual summit on Thursday in Johannesburg. The three-day summit was held under the theme: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism.” The BRICS leaders released their “Johannesburg II Declaration” at the conclusion of the summit.
The declaration states that all leaders of the BRICS nations are committed to “strengthening the framework of mutually beneficial BRICS cooperation.” Emphasizing that they “recognize the widespread benefits of fast, inexpensive, transparent, safe, and inclusive payment systems,” the BRICS leaders declared:
We stress the importance of encouraging the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions between BRICS as well as their trading partners.
“We also encourage strengthening of correspondent banking networks between the BRICS countries and enabling settlements in the local currencies,” the BRICS leaders added.
They further proclaimed:
We task our finance ministers and/or central bank governors, as appropriate, to consider the issue of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms and report back to us by the next summit.
Russia will assume the 2024 BRICS Chairship and will hold the XVI BRICS Summit in the city of Kazan.
The declaration further details that the BRICS nations recognize the key role of the New Development Bank (also known as the BRICS Bank) in “promoting infrastructure and sustainable development of its member countries.” In addition to Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the New Development Bank includes Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt as members, with Uruguay as a prospective member.
The BRICS economic bloc has invited six countries to become new members: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Earlier, South Africa, the chair of this year’s BRICS summit, claimed that 23 countries have formally applied to join the group. “We have also tasked our foreign ministers to further develop the BRICS partner country model and a list of prospective partner countries and report by the next summit,” the declaration adds.
What do you think about the BRICS declaration and the leaders’ push for the use of local currencies? Let us know in the comments section below.