Crypto news
Binance launches New Zealand-based offices following regulatory approval
Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has registered with New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and opened local offices in the country. In a Sept. 29 tweet, Binance said it was registered as a financial service provider in New Zealand, allowing residents to access services including spot trading, nonfungible tokens and staking. The move to the crypto-friendly Pacific nation followed regulators in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kazakhstan and Italy giving the green light for Binance to open an offshoot. “New Zealand is an exciting market with a strong history of fintech innovation,” said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. New Zealand! We are kiwis. https://t.co/UtxbVlvXFV — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) September 30, 2022 New Zealand lawmakers and regulators have largely not imposed strict...
NEXO risks 50% drop due to regulatory pressure and investor concerns
Crypto lending firm Nexo is at risk of losing half of the valuation of its native token by the end of 2022 as doubts about its potential insolvency grow in the market. Is Nexo too centralized? For the unversed: Eight U.S. states filed a cease-and-desist order against Nexo on Sep. 26, alleging that the firm offers unregistered securities to investors without alerting them about the risks of the financial products. In particular, regulators in Kentucky accused Nexo of being insolvent, noting that without its namesake native token, NEXO, the firm’s “liabilities would exceed its assets.” As of July 31, Nexo had 959,089,286 NEXO in its reserves — 95.9% of all tokens in existence. “This is a big, big, big problem because a very basic market analysis demonstrates that Nexo would be...
Crypto and decentralization could influence voters in 2022 US midterm elections: Report
A poll of 800 likely midterm voters in four U.S. swing states suggested that the overwhelming majority favored ideas around decentralization, and many were HODLers. According to a Sept. 29 report from venture capital firm Haun Ventures on a survey conducted by business intelligence company Morning Consult, roughly one in five voters polled in New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania said they owned cryptocurrency or nonfungible tokens. In addition, 91% of respondents supported a “community owned, community governed” internet that “gives people greater control over their information.” Poll of 800 swing state voters who own digital assets. Source: Haun Ventures “Significantly, and reflective of how the values that voters associate with Web3 will drive electoral behavior, voters are less ...
Transit Swap loses over $21M due to internal bug hack, issues apology
Transit Swap, a multi-chain decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator, lost roughly $21 million after a hacker exploited an internal bug on a swap contract. Following the revelation, Transit Swap issued an apology to the users while efforts to track down and recover the stolen funds are underway. “We are deeply sorry,” stated Transit Swap while revealing that a bug in the code allowed a hacker to make away with an estimated $21 million. Blockchain investigator Peckshield narrowed down the attack to a compatibility issue or misplaced trust in the swap contract. pic.twitter.com/KJ7u5xoxBp — Transit Swap | Transit Buy | NFT (@TransitFinance) October 2, 2022 Peckshield, along with other investigators, including SlowMist, Bitrace and TokenPocket joined in on the pursuit to track down the hacker. ...
Bitcoin 2021 bull market buyers ‘capitulate’ as data shows 50% losses
Bitcoin’s (BTC) spot trading below $20,000 is seeing a new “capitulation” event encompassing an entire year’s worth of buyers, research reveals. In one of its Quicktake market updates on Sept. 29, on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant flagged intense selling by a large number of recent hodlers. 2021 bull market coins “have been sold aggressively” As BTC/USD lingers near levels barely seen since 2020, it is not just miners feeling the pinch. Analyzing Bitcoin’s Exchange Inflow Spent Output Ages Bands (SOAB), CryptoQuant contributor Edris showed that those who bought between April 2021 and April 2022 have been selling coins en masse — for less than they bought them. “Looking at the chart, it is evident that coins aged between 6–18 months ago have been sold aggressively re...
Putin gives Snowden citizenship, Interpol elicits help in Do Kwon search and FTX US buys Voyager: Hodler’s Digest, Sept. 25-Oct. 1
Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Pro-centralization Russian president grants citizenship to Edward Snowden: Report Edward Snowden has reportedly received Russian citizenship via a decision from the country’s president, Vladimir Putin. Snowden has been a permanent resident in Russia since 2013 after he exposed secrets relating to the United States National Security Agency. However, Snowden favors less government involvement than Putin’s approach to leadership. Snowden has offered comment on crypto multiple times and helped build crypto asset Z...
California fraud cases highlight the need for a regulatory crackdown on crypto
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced last month that it had issued desist and refrain orders to 11 entities for violating California securities laws. Some of the highlights included allegations that they offered unqualified securities as well as material misrepresentations and omissions to investors. These violations should remind us that while crypto is a unique and exciting industry for the public at large, it is still an area that is rife with the potential for bad players and fraud. To date, government crypto regulation has been minimal at best, with a distinct lack of action. Whether you are a full-time professional investor or just a casual fan who wants to be involved, you need to be absolutely sure of what you are getting into before get...
Web3 is the solution to Uber’s problem with hackers
Uber is a staple of the gig economy, for better or worse, and a disruptor that once sent shockwaves throughout the mobility space. Now, however, Uber is being taken for a ride. The company is handling a reportedly far-reaching cybersecurity breach. According to the ride-hailing giant, the attacker has not been able to access sensitive user data, or at least, there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. Whether or not sensitive user data was exposed, this case points to a persistent issue with today’s apps. Can we continue to sacrifice our data — and thereby our privacy and security — for convenience? Web2, the land of hackable honeypots Uber’s track record for data breaches is not exactly spotless. Just in July, the ride-hailing giant acknowledged hushing up a massive breach in 2016 that lea...
Nexo-labeled address withdraws $153M in Wrapped BTC from MakerDAO
Just a few days after market analysts predicted a 50% drop in NEXO price due to regulatory pressure and investor concerns, a crypto wallet address labeled as NEXO 0x8fd withdrew 7,758.8 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) — roughly worth $153M — from MakerDAO. On Sept. 26, regulators from eight U.S. states filed a cease-and-desist order against Nexo under the allegations of offering unregistered securities to investors without warning. Moreover, Kentucky regulators accused Nexo of insolvency owing to liabilities exceeding assets when excluding Nexo. Following suit, on Sept. 30, blockchain investigator Peckshield alerted the transfer of 7,758.8 WBTC from MakerDAO. One of the main reasons the crypto community chose to link the funds’ withdrawal with Nexo’s insolvency rumors is the name of the...
What is the economic impact of cryptocurrencies?
Although the cryptocurrency market appears to grow in a positive feedback loop, that does not mean that (un)expected events may not impact the trajectory of the ecosystem as a whole. Although blockchain and cryptocurrencies are fundamentally meant as ‘trustless’ technologies, trust remains key there where humans interact with one another. The cryptocurrency market is not only impacted by the broader economy, but it may also generate profound effects by itself. Indeed, the Terra case shows that any entity — were it a single company, a venture capital firm or a project issuing an algorithmic stablecoin — can potentially set into motion or contribute to a “boom” or “bust” of the cryptocurrency ma...
What is wrapped Ethereum (wETH) and how does it work?
Traders who use the Ethereum network are familiar with the ERC-20 technical standard and have most likely traded and invested in tokens that utilize it. After all, its practicality, transparency and flexibility have made it the industry norm for Ethereum-based projects. As such, many decentralized applications (DApps), crypto wallets and exchanges natively support ERC-20 tokens. However, there’s one problem: Ether (ETH) and ERC-20 do not exactly follow the same rules, as Ether was created way before ERC-20 was implemented as a technical standard. So, why does wrapped ETH matter? Briefly put, ERC-20 tokens can only be traded with other ERC-20 tokens, not Ether. In order to bridge this gap and enable the exchange of Ether for ERC-20 tokens (and vice versa), the Ethereum network introduced wr...
NFT space bridges passions for tennis legend Maria Sharapova
Tennis legend Maria Sharapova appeared at the Binance Blockchain Week Paris 2022 to share her interest in nonfungible tokens (NFTs). During an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Sharapova mentioned that “she is exposing herself to this new world of crypto and Web3,” noting that the sector will help her better engage with her fans. Sharapova was also one of the strategic investors behind MoonPay’s Series A financing round, yet she mentioned that she aims to bridge her personal experiences to the digital world moving forward. Maria Sharapova (right) with Cointelegraph senior reporter Rachel Wolfson (left) at Binance Blockchain Week Paris 2022. Source: Rachel Wolfson Cointelegraph: What are you doing here today at Binance Blockchain Week Paris? Maria Sharapova: I’m crypto curious and wou...
