Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

A new Spam Scam is circulating that appears aimed at millennials and those who do much of their shopping on Amazon. High Country Bank (HCB) is warning its customers that the rumors circulating that Amazon either has or is in the process of creating its own cryptocurrency are not true.

Cryptocurrency image. Photo by Art Rachen for unsplash

There hasnt been any confirmation from official sources that these rumors are true, warns an e-message from HCB. However, the truth hasnt stopped cyber criminals from taking advantage of these rumors.

According to HCB sources, including The KnowBe4 Security Team, and KnowBe4.com, cybercriminals are running social media ads that spoof well-known news sites such as CNBC and Yahoo! Finance. The ads claim that Amazon has opened presales for their Amazon Token and link to a fake Amazon website.

The convincing website even includes a roadmap outlining the release of the token, details about Amazon Prime integration, and a countdown to when the presale will end. If you try to buy an Amazon Token, youll be sending your money straight to the cybercriminals and receive nothing in return. None of it is true.

HCB is offering these tips to stay safe from similar scams:

Continued here:
Scam of the Week: No, Amazon hasn't created its Own Cryptocurrency - by Ark Valley Voice Staff - The Ark Valley Voice

The financial services sector in India has been characterised by exponential growth, coupled with significant innovation and disruption over the past few years. The burgeoning adoption of cryptocurrencies and the larger blockchain ecosystem in India is one such example.

With a rapidly-growing investor base, and multiple crypto unicorns, there is a bullish sentiment around this sector. This ishighlighted by estimatesthat peg the possible contribution of digital assets to be at $1.1 trillion by 2032. It is also being looked at as a major source of FDI, as well as a driving force for the creation of thousands of direct and ancillary jobs in India.

Despite these factors, there is regulatory ambiguity regarding the way forward for this sector. The upcoming Union Budget is expected to bring some clarity in this regard.

Initial highlights of the proposed cryptocurrency Bill point towards the role of SEBI in regulating cryptocurrency as an investment asset in capital markets, with the RBI at the helm of the broader monetary and foreign exchange aspects. Jurisdictional clarity in this respect is important, considering that a Reuters report pegs thenumber of cryptocurrency investorsin India to be at 15-20 million, with a holding size of nearly Rs 400 billion.

Crypto Assets and Taxation

Recognising cryptocurrency as a legitimate tradable asset under SEBIs oversight would bring in greater stability, not just in terms of institutional regulation, but also through better understanding of digital assets. Treating it as an investment instrument will also allow investors greater diversity in their asset portfolios, benefitting retail investors in the medium-term.

Additionally, encouraging public-ledger-based crypto-assets (vis-a-vis private cryptocurrencies) to be registered for trading, would lead to greater competitiveness, and a more reliable valuation of crypto-assets. Such a regulatory framework could also help central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) co-exist with crypto assets, and foster greater trust and stability in cryptocurrencies. These measures could, over time, help in on-boarding educated and informed investors, rather than encourage short-term, speculative investments.

In addition to setting the foundation for cryptocurrency as a tradable asset, the Budget could create more certainty around its taxation. Asnoted by the government, there are plans to makechanges in the Income Tax Act to bring gains made from transactions in cryptocurrencies under the tax net.While there is already an element of taxation, in that investors have treated cryptocurrencies as assets and paid capital gains tax, the proposed tweaks in the law would bring about greater certainty in this aspect. This would also clarify the applicability of GST on trading, and brokerage activities.

Additionally, the Budget, and the cryptocurrency Bill may functionally classify various operators in the cryptocurreny space (exchanges, wallet providers, brokerage, token issuers), and accordingly impose differential tax liabilities on the supply side. This is in line with global practices ofdifferential taxation, where different stages of cryptocurrency operations (from mining, trading, inheriting, or liquidation) are taxed differently.

Accountability and Investor Protection

Given the nascent nature of crypto-assets, investor protection, and education are significant concerns that must be incorporated via regulation around advertising and outreach. The need for responsible marketing has also been echoed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, where last month shehinted at government regulation of cryptocurrency advertising, reviewing the guidelines provided by the Advertising Standards Council of India. These guidelines encompass risk disclosure, distinguishing between cryptocurrency and legal tender, and differentiating cryptocurrency trading from trading of regulated asset classes.

Investor protection contributes significantly to a stable cryptocurrency ecosystem due to its potential to promote informed investments, and deter casual investors. This would enable a less volatile method of price discovery for crypto-assets, in addition to making sure that investors understand the difference between conventional assets and digital assets.

The accountability of cryptocurrency intermediaries is another crucial aspect to consider for transitioning cryptocurrency towards the mainstream macroeconomic framework. Over the last few years, the major overarching concern of the government has been the possibility of illicit use of crypto funds and transactions to the detriment of investors and national interests.

In this context, the Budget may emphasise the need for better standards for verification of investors, and reporting mechanisms from cryptocurrency operators. Stricter regulation in terms of including monitoring and reporting of suspicious transactions, additional authentication mechanisms, and periodic audits of transactions are also plausible.

These regulations may also reflect therecent FATF guidelinescirculated to countries, regarding the applicability of these standards for all virtual assets, virtual asset activities, and virtual asset service providers (including licensing, registration, and reporting frameworks). Regulation is also likely to focus on customer and trader verification with exchanges and anti-money laundering authorities, as well as developing co-ordination channels between them.

Conclusion

Previous budgets have often sought to widen the fiscal vision towards financial inclusion, and the current climate provides an opportunity for Budget 22 to employ newer tools to move closer towards this vision. Regulation of cryptocurrency, and the underlying blockchain technology could provide an impetus to this, with the strengthening of peer-to-peer financial networks, faster transactions, reduced transaction intermediaries, and greater transparency in information and liabilities.

The 2022 Budget assumes greater importance in light of the overarching economic recovery it will aim to herald. Considering its imminent implementation, establishing an enabling and forward-thinking regulation for cryptocurrencies can help play an important role in this recovery.

Kazim Rizvi is Founding Director, and Gautam Kathuria is Senior Research Associate, The Dialogue. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.

Read the rest here:
Budget 2022 must bring more clarity to the cryptocurrency sector - Moneycontrol.com

CryptoWire launched the first cryptocurrency index in India, IC15, in 2022

India has received the first cryptocurrency index known as IC15 in January 2022. It is launched by CryptoWire, the global cryptocurrency super app. The aim is to track the performance of the 15 most-traded cryptocurrencies that are listed on the leading exchanges across the world. The cryptocurrency index in India will help crypto investors to have a strong understanding of the process of virtual coin trading. Lets get into details of IC15, being Indias cryptocurrency index.

IC15 consists of a governance committee including industry expertise domain professionals, and many more. The committee is in charge of monitoring as well as maintaining the index with the reshuffling of the top fifteen cryptocurrencies in the cryptocurrency market. Indias cryptocurrency index is launched to increase the awareness and knowledge of cryptocurrency, crypto mining, crypto EFTs, funds, cryptocurrency market, as well as blockchain technology.

The cryptocurrency index in India needs to address the development of the cryptocurrency market while mitigating potential risks through possibilities and the right decisions. This platform will provide crypto investors with the research-oriented and technology-powered opportunity for careful monitoring and tracking of the highly volatile cryptocurrency market. The first cryptocurrency index in India is set to provide diversified investment solutions to investors as well as investment managers.

It is essential for fifteen cryptocurrencies to trade on at least 90% of crypto trading days during the whole period of review as well as remain in the top 50 as per the marketing capitalization in the preceding month. There is also another regulation that all fifteen cryptocurrencies should be amongst the top 100 most liquid cryptocurrencies for trading value to be eligible for being in the IC15.

IC15 will consist of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Binance Coin, Solana, XRP, Polkadot, Litecoin, Chainlink, Uniswap, Terra, Dogecoin, ShibaInu, Avalanche, and Bitcoin Cash. CryptoWire has mentioned that the committee will review and re-balance the cryptocurrency index of India every quarter.

CryptoWire is focused on emerging as the full suite of real-time price and insights on cryptocurrencies including news, relevant information, awareness, and real-time data. CryptoWire super app consists of the worlds first-ever Crypto University, CryptoWire, and Crypto TV.

Share This ArticleDo the sharing thingy

About AuthorMore info about author

Go here to read the rest:
Launch of First Cryptocurrency Index in India: IC15 by CryptoWire - Analytics Insight

Analytics Insight presents the top 10 current cryptocurrency prices on January 07, 2022

There is a high demand for investing in a popular cryptocurrency among professional investors in recent years. This article provides the top 10 cryptocurrency prices that are necessary to check before investing subsequent time and money. Investors should not only depend on the news but also have to complete extensive price analysis while Bitcoin is falling every day and Dogecoin is rising in the cryptocurrency market.

Analytics Insight lists the top 10 current cryptocurrency prices on January 07, 2022

Bitcoin (BTC)- US$41,453.70 (down by 4.06%)

Ethereum (ETH)- US$3,184.26 (down by 7.83 %)

Tether (USDT)- US$1.00 (down by 0.01%)

Binance Coin (BNB)- US$442.29 (down by 4.88%)

USD Coin (USDC)- US$1.00 (up by 0.04%)

Solana (SOL)- US$137.14 (down by 7.72%)

Cardano (ADA)- US$1.20 (down by 0.42%)

XRP (XRP)- US$0.7374 (downby 2.23%)

Terra (LUNA)- US$68.90 (down by 9.0%)

Polkadot (DOT)- US$24.56 (down by 4.33%)

According to CoinMarketCap, the global crypto-market cap is US$1.96T with a volume of US$106.85 billion over the last 24 hours with a decrease of 12.03%.

Share This ArticleDo the sharing thingy

About AuthorMore info about author

Read more here:
Fall in Bitcoin, Rise in Dogecoin: Top 10 Cryptocurrency Prices Today - Analytics Insight

This article is a Brand Presspost.Brand Pressis a paid service for brands that want to reach Techpoint Africas audience directly. Techpoint Africas editorial team doesnt write Brand Press content. To promote your brand via Brand Press, please emailbusiness@techpoint.africa

Content producers and influencers are looking for new methods to monetise their intellectual property, image, and likeness, and blockchain and cryptocurrency are becoming more important. The adoption of this new technology is causing a fundamental change in how money moves through the ecosystem of the entertainment business.

The Difference Between Influencers and Content Creator

We often use these phrases interchangeably, yet there is a significant distinction. An Influencer is a broad phrase that encompasses someone with a huge following. Professional sportsmen and actresses are often influencers who create an impact with their public personalities but do not always do so by providing content.

There are content producers who are influencers, but not all content creators are influencers. Many social media superstars have risen to popularity on sites such as TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch, but there are many more producers out there who havent yet made it big.

HUH Token (HUH)

One cryptocurrency that understands the importance of social influence is HUH, which was recently launched in early December 2022. This cryptocurrency is a self-described utimeme as it takes both the propagational power of a meme with the functional utility.

It is currently available on Pancakeswap, but it has also gone multi-chain and was released on Uniswap, Ethereums exchange network, on the 6th of January. There are apparently more listings happening being announced at the end of this week. In regards to this cryptocurrencies meme potential, it has been announced that hundreds of well known, viral, Instagram and Twitter influencers will be posting about HUH towards the end of this month.

This, combined with their referral mechanism, has the capacity to propel it into a Shiba Inu frenzy. The token launched to a 6000% increase without their army of influencers. This coming demonstration is only a taste of what is to come, the marketing campaign is incredibly strong for this cryptocurrency, and its well understood the value that attention has in the cryptosphere.

Blockchain Content

When it comes to utilising content on the blockchain, its recommended that producers begin with NFTs. Fans and creators/influencers have several options to interact in novel ways. NFTs use the same blockchain software as cryptocurrencies, but instead of holding financial assets, they represent intellectual property ownership. HUH Token is also utilising this strategy too. They will be airdropping NFTs at the end of this month to their presale participants.

Personalised creator tokens are a lesser-known use of cryptocurrency. These may be one-of-a-kind community-building materials; think of them as elite-level membership passes. Ownership of these assets offers greater access to the creator, enabling both artists and fans to trade enormous value in a fast and secure manner. Its a new source of money for creators. It might be a chance for fans to engage with artists on a deeper level. HUH Token also plans to create a platform for this type of monetisation, integrating itself as a platform and participating in the Metaverse. Their plans for a Met-HUH-Verse is illustrated on their whitepaper.

Blockchain Opportunities

But, more intriguingly, there may be possibilities to get paid in cryptocurrency itself, which might have a significant upside if the value rises over time. However, given the markets volatility, it is critical to do research to assess the advantages and drawbacks of going down that path.

Creators may invest directly in different cryptocurrency initiatives, which may be more immediate. Although the great majority of media sources focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum, there are hundreds of other cryptocurrencies in circulation. Dont be afraid to look into other emerging brands, like HUH, since there are many interesting prospects as our digital world becomes more decentralised.

Crypto is at a tipping moment, and influencers and content forerunners are playing an enormous role in educating us on the potential power of a decentralised society. Potentially there may be gratitude for the labour and sacrifices done by many public personalities in order to aid in the education process and usher in a new age of financial empowerment and interconnection.

Crypto Criticisms

Scepticism and criticism are important to keep pushing the limits of this technology so that it can become more scalable and broadly accepted. It is critical to only participate in this market if you are completely at ease. Before going on this trip, always undertake your own research and due diligence.

Learn More About HUH Token Here:

Website: https://huh.social

HUH Official Swap- https://swap.huh.social/

Telegram: https://t.me/HUHTOKEN

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HuhTokenInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/huhToken/

Excerpt from:
The Power of Social Influence on Cryptocurrency HUH Token Set to be the Next Shiba Inu - Techpoint Africa

The rising number of cases of the Covid omicron variant in the U.S. are a major catalyst for the falling cryptocurrency prices in December, according to investors and analysts.

Ethereum is up more than 400% in 2021 but on pace for its worst month since March 2020 as investors reassess their exposure to riskier assets following the emergence of the omicron variant.

Bitcoin is on pace to double the S&P 500, and ripple is more than 200% higher year to date, but both are also down double digits this month.

"With omicron coming along and the U.S. economy stalling a bit, a lot of macro funds that use bitcoin as this pro-cyclical inflation hedge have decided to take profits throughout December," Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of digital currency investment firm BKCM, told CNBC.

ESG or environmental, social and governance investing and concerns over energy use have also been a catalyst in recent crypto declines, according to Lou Kerner, partner at Blockchain Coinvestors.

"Today 'proof of work' from the [cryptocurrency] mining machines is looked upon negatively by a lot of the investment community because of the energy it consumes," Kerner told CNBC. "But if you dig deep, much of the energy is energy that couldn't be used for anything else. Relative to the massive value we are getting from it, the energy I think will become much less of a concern next year."

Stocks that hold or mine cryptocurrency saw deeper declines than the assets themselves in December. MicroStrategy is down 21% this month, while Riot Blockchain has fallen 38%. Marathon Digital declined 31%. The coins and stocks are closely correlated in the minds of investors, something Kerner sees changing.

"We are on the cusp of a deep understanding by institutional investors of the different companies and what they actually do and the economics of the businesses," Kerner said. "It's still hard for most investors to wrap their head around mining. It's a small part of the market, so you don't have a lot of institutional investors devoting massive amounts of time to it. It's easier for them to just look at it like a basket."

Kelly said he is bullish on bitcoin and believes it could hit $100,000 by the end of 2022 but that the emergence of the metaverse is pulling investor interest.

"You'll see a lot of other coins, whether they be in the metaverse, gaming or decentralized finance do really well," Kelly said. "The venture capitalists, new money and funds like mine are focused on those early growth opportunities."

Read more:
Cryptocurrency prices fall in December, and investors blame omicron, climate change - CNBC

Bitcoin is going higher. But, don't be shocked if it goes a bit lower in 2022. If it does, but it.

Bitcoin...moon again?

Well, wasnt 2021 sort of a moon launch? I think so. It hit all-time highs despite all the legends saying its a worthless seashell for tech dorks. Wrong! Hey, its not $68,000, but itll get there again.

Right?

Bitcoin will reach at least $200,000 by 2025, says Paycer UG founder & CTO Nils Gregersen in Hamburg, Germany. But I am pretty sure we will see it fall to around $20,000 before hand.

Yikes!

Okay, no panicking. Ill buy it.

What about the rest of the cryptocurrency space? Theres more to this market today than Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency investing is the new stock market. Everybody knows that.

This year was a very interesting one for crypto. We saw trends coming and going very fast with coins hyped up by influencers like Elon Musk who gave Dogecoin a lift for a short time before it returned to being a dud coin.

There is a lot of pump in the market at the moment, says Gregersen. I think in 2022 we are going to see a little cooldown in the market. Only the stronger projects will survive. For the memecoins and other shady projects, I think the air gets a little thinner for them, he says, adding that regulations will have an impact on DeFi cryptocurrencies, within varying degrees of positives and negatives.

DeFi will still be a thing in 2022. We have only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of DeFi, says Gregersen. There are many new products to come that we can't even imagine today.

Some DeFi trends expected next year: Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) that offer unregulated, decentralized finance and a new regulated centralized- decentralized finance. Call it the yin and yang of DeFi, I guess. CeDeFi will offer less complex financial services based on DeFi but will hold hands with the regulators of financial markets and banking, in general. This might be the type of DeFi that Jim Cramer of Mad Money can get behind.

Ava Labs president John Wu also predicts DeFi will have a good 2022.

But he seems to like the GameFi space even more.

DeFi will continue to lead in terms of total value in the ecosystem, butblockchain gaming will introduce more people to crypto because the learning and adoption curves in gaming are notably smaller than that of DeFi, he says.

Yeah, Im still playing video games on an X Box One. I dont know about blockchain games. I have never stared into the eyes of any blockchain yet. Ill have to do that this year.

Future game gamefi and entertainment digital technology. Teenager having fun play VR virtual reality ... [+] glasses sport game metaverse NFT game 3D cyber space futuristic neon colorful background.

Gaming growth is outpacing new DeFi activity. Just wait until major developers and studios get involved, Wu says.

GameFi is considered a subset of the metaverse as most game developers in the blockchain world are building their ecosystem to be more linked to the virtual world. Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are also an offshoot here because diehard gamers will spend money for digital art, let alone weapons and other gear (or fake land) associated with a game.

The metaverse is in its infancy. So this gives crypto investors a chance to get in on the ground floor of some of the newcomers. I own Decentraland (MANA) as my metaverse play.

Getting aboard the metaverse train today with all the connections to other aspects of blockchain evolution will be synonymous to getting aboard the Bitcoin train in its earliest days, says Sven Wenzel, co-founder of Castello Coin, which operates in the digital art space. An early investment in a metaverse token can amount to so much more in the longer term, he says in comparing metaverse plays with the likes of Bitcoin.

Castello Coin and Decentraland all run on the Ethereum blockchain. Its still the No. 2 cryptocurrency investment after Bitcoin. How will Ethereum look in 2022?

I would invest in Ethereum. I would invest $200 every month in Ethereum, says Gregersen.

Overall, market participants expect more people opening accounts with exchanges. Thats a long term bullish signal for cryptocurrencies.

I predict some of the more old school platforms (think E*Trade) will allow for investment in at least Bitcoin and Ethereum next year. That should get more people involved, especially those who cant be bothered opening up a Gemini account, for instance.

POLAND - 2020/06/15: In this photo illustration an Ethereum logo seen displayed on a smartphone. ... [+] (Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The resilience of cryptocurrencies is expected to be a highlight again this coming year. We all have witnessed how our investments can snap back rather quickly from a 10% or 20% loss.

In the past, this would have triggered a sustained downturn and crypto winter, but better risk management on the professional investor side means the market just has a snow day instead. People will be buying the dips in 2022.

I know I will. After a 23 day battle with Covid, Im ready to put some money to work in my Coinbase account again. Ill probably load up on some Bitcoin. After these interviews, I might have to check in on MANA.

Besides investing ideas, Wu from Ava Labs thinks more traditional brand name corporations will enter the space in 2022.

Look at the list of major media companies, sports leagues or content creators participating in digital assets at the start of the year versus the end of it, he says. Deloitte and Mastercard recently linked up with Ava Labs to explore their Avalanche blockchain and its smart-contract enabled applications.

This year was a true zero-to-60 growth in new blockchain protocols like Solana (SOL) and Polkadot (DOT). Many Fortune 500 companies who used this year to explore what NFTs and digital assets can do for them will be two feet in, in 12 months time, Wu predicts.

Theyve seen their peers succeed and so the risk of failure is low enough to make a move, he says.

If you watched the World Series, you saw the FTX crypto exchange logo on the jerseys of the umpires. Yes, you can buy and sell NFTs on FTX, like the currently priced $615 Stephen Curry NFT: The 2974 Collection.

So 2021 was the year of NFTs, for sure. What will 2022 be the year of, if you had to pick one?

More new blockchain projects, especially for businesses, says Wu.

I think you will see enterprise blockchain pilots move into the live stages a lot quicker than people expect, he says.

Sorry, haters, the world will still be investing in digital assets in 2022. To steal an old adage from the world of Wall Street: the trend is your friend.

**The writer owns Bitcoin, Polkadot and Decentraland. Oh, and sadly, Dogecoin.**

See more here:
Cryptocurrency Investing Predictions For 2022 - Forbes

By Lisa Chau

NEW YORK Cryptocurrency is going mainstream, as evidenced by the large turnout at the recent NFT NYC conference. Indeed, increasing numbers of companies are accepting the digital money that takes the form of virtual coins or tokens.

There are over 11,000 cryptocurrencies in existence, with more than 400 exchanges for such digital money, financial website Motley Fool reports. Roughly 14 percent of American adults own cryptocurrency and many more say they are planning to buy some. El Salvador recently made Bitcoin legal tender..

One of the hottest concepts in such circles is NFTs (non-fungible tokens) Indeed, Cointelegraph recently reported record numbers in Google searches for NFTs, blowing past traffic for DeFi, Ethereum and even blockchain search terms which had dominated searches for cryptocurrency-related information.

While Dogecoin firmly captured the publics imagination during the second quarter with search volume for Dogecoinrising to rival Bitcoin in early May, dog-token fever quickly subsided in the third quarter, wrote Kiera Wright for the Cointelegraph site, whose self-proclaimed mission is to cover the future of money.

James Haft is the chairman of DLTx, which deploys blockchains and tech infrastructure used to build the foundations of Web 3, the next iteration of the internet. DLTX is a public company listed on the Oslo Brs Stock Exchange of Norway, hosted a satellite investor event at the NFT confab withLD Capital, GDA Capital & Akash Network. The attendee list included guests from Coinbase, FTX, Facebook, PayPal, Bitfinex, Grayscale, Pantera Capital, Fenbushi Capital, Consensys, Polymath, BlockFi, Blocktower Capital, Republic, Wax.io, IOTA, Hedera Hashgraph, Valhalla Capital, Sovryn, Yugen Partners, Casper Labs, BitMart Exchange, Huobi, Shima Capital, 6th Man Ventures, Graph Protocol, Yield Ventures, EY, Coindesk, Forbes, Insider and others.

Haft believes that the strong attendance numbers at the conference and its satellite events not only showcased the strength and increasing momentum of the new NFT economy, it also demonstrated the world is returning to in-person business transactions.

The wildfire growth of NFTs and the meme stocks and tokens illustrate the path to mass adoption of crypto. These new economies are signing up more new users faster than the classic crypto markets, Haft said. The enthusiasm of these new users for the content-based NFTs and memes will likely abate, and then these users will move into the classic markets en masse.

Gumi Cryptos CapitalGeneral PartnerMiko Matsumura points to play-to-earn game Axie Infinity as a reflection of industry growth. The NFT-based online video game developed by Vietnamese studio Sky Mavish boasts approximately 23 million monthly active users. Matsumura sees a future where users will abandon internet services that dont include them as owners.

Instead, users have begun focusing on work that is more personally empowering.That trend is reflected in a Civic Science poll posted on BeInCrypto, which showed 4 percent of Americans have quit jobs based on crypto gains.

This is an unusual part of an economic recovery that represents the power of nerds and technology on behalf of art and meaning. Crypto nerds have become wealthy sovereigns who are now powering a new renaissance, says Matsumura. Right now, Bored Apes are the kings of pure NFT culture. They will go down in history that way. Eventually this kind of culture will infuse everything and will be less radical but for now thats the tip of the spear.

While the blockchain industry is getting bigger, its still a blip on the radar for the general population, said Bettymedia Founder and Creative Director Bettinna (who goes by one name only). For instance, a couple of members on her team were baffled by NFTs. They had heard her talk about bitcoin, crypto, NFTs, but they didnt fully understand those concepts until NFT NYC this year.

One of her colleagues was excited to open his first crypto-wallet, and got a free NFT at the Palladium. Although excited, he didnt know what it really meant before Bettinna gave him a thorough explanation.

My team said NFTs are like a massive underground world they didnt know about, Bettinna said. I dont know if NFTs or NFT NYC signal an economic recovery for the industry, because the NFT community has been thriving before the pandemic and during the pandemic. Its just many of the general public who didnt know about the NFT community and crypto before Covid-19 found out about it during the pandemic.

Amid all the newfound excitement, observers say its important to be careful when investing in NFTs. Scams are everywhere and in every industry and the ruses include impersonators, fake accounts and misinformation. Bettinna believes that the NFT community does a decent job of calling people out, but that sometimes the major social media companies dont move fast enough to shut down scammers.

She recalled the Fame Lady Squad incident which happened over the summer.The $1.5 million NFT project claimed it was created for women to support women. But collectors found out that the founders and their female avatars were in fact Russian men. Collectors said they felt duped and ultimately the founders surrendered the project to a team of females in the community.

I bring up this story because some saw it as a scam and I believe they have every right to feel the way they did, but I didnt see it as a total scam, said Bettinna. The collectors got beautiful crypto art from the very beginning. They all got their investment and after this controversy, these NFTs from that project will live on in history books. I do see the positive side of all this, at the same time I do think people should be mindful of the NFT world.

With that in mind, Gumi Cryptos Capitals Matsumura offer this advice to those thinking about entering the cryptocurrency realm:

If someone offers you a yield or profit, and you dont understand where its coming from, YOU are the yield.

Edited by Matthew B. Hall and Bryan Wilkes

The post Cashing In On Cryptocurrency And NFTs: Buyer Beware appeared first on Zenger News.

See original here:
Cashing In On Cryptocurrency And NFTs: Buyer Beware - Birmingham Times

A representation of cryptocurrency Binance is seen in this illustration taken August 6, 2021.

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Crypto giant Binance is bolstering its presence in France after a choppy year of regulatory scrutiny.

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is financing a 100 million euro ($113 million) initiative with industry group France FinTech in an effort to support the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector in France.

The initiative, announced in November and dubbed Objective Moon, will see Binance establish a research and development office in France and collaborate on an incubator program for start-ups and training programs.

"The aim of Objective Moon is really to develop an ecosystem and to nurture and accelerate an ecosystem. You cannot do it alone," David Princay, Binance's French GM, told CNBC.

"We need to be also able to capture the talent and to have more capabilities to grow bigger," he said of plans to open an R&D office. "Having an R&D center is one step that we need to go for our next evolution."

Ledger, the French crypto hardware firm recently valued at $1.5 billion, and edtech company OpenClassroom are also involved in Objective Moon on developing educational programs.

France may prove to be fertile ground for the initiative given its growing fintech scene. According to figures from Dealroom, fintech investments in France have ballooned this year with bumper funding rounds for the likes of Lydia and Qonto.

Binance has had a turbulent year in its relationships with regulators across the globe. Among its headaches were a ban by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority and an investigation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The company also put an end to the trading of its digital stock tokens and, most recently, shut down its trading platform in Singapore.

While its roots are in China, Binance has been famously shy about pinning itself down to any one location, leaning into the decentralization maxims associated with the crypto industry.

Binance has recently changed its tone on that front, however, as CEO Changpeng Zhao has spoken out in favor of regulation and of a willingness to work with regulators while expressing an interest in France as an official base of operations.

Princay was tight lipped on whether the company's significant investment in France was a precursor to establishing its formal headquarters there; "We have nothing yet to add on that," he said.

However the company's moves in the country have not gone unnoticed by watchdogs. Last month the governor of France's central bank said that Binance must have strong anti-money laundering checks in place if it wants to set up operations in the country.

Meanwhile, France's digital minister Cedric O was present with Binance and France FinTech at the announcement of Objective Moon.

"Cedric O has been very clear with us, they are welcome to see us and to have us, but they are also very exigent and that's for the better," Princay told CNBC. He added that Binance is in discussions with regulators in France on licensing.

"It's a very positive sign for innovation," he said of regulation for crypto in France and Europe generally. "We need to be fully scrutinized and audited to pass and that's for the better because when we're going to pass, it is going to be a sign of trust, compliance."

"Our aim is to be 100% compliant in every activity and country we operate."

Regulation is often playing catch-up with cryptocurrency businesses. On a European level, the industry's next big challenge will be the EU's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation.

MiCA, which was recently approved by the European Council, will introduce greater investor protection and expand the licensing and passporting for crypto firms in the bloc. It is due to be discussed in the European Parliament in the coming months.

Ariel Wengroff is editor-in-chief at Ledger and leads the company's educational content efforts.

She told CNBC that Ledger signed up to the initiative with Binance to increase awareness of crypto, blockchain and Web3 a broad concept of decentralized web services built on blockchain technologies in its home market. She said providing educational programs are "for the greater good" of the industry as it has moved much faster than traditional curricula.

"We are very much still at a stage of mainstream curiosity and if we want to get to mainstream adoption and have individuals have the education they deserve for it to be a secure, seamless and open source future then we have to come together as businesses to provide that now," she said.

"Education in web3 should not be something that is siloed or held against one another, it should be open to any person that wants to learn about this space."

View post:
The world's largest crypto exchange Binance is trying to woo France - CNBC

2021 saw an incredible amount of adoption and interest in the cryptocurrency industry, leading to the increase in the development and investment of DeFi platforms.

Following the spike of interest, the total value locked (TVL) across the cryptocurrency industry reached upwards of $230bn.

However, hackers are catching on and beginning to target unaudited DeFi protocols with increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Coin Rivet runs through the top five biggest cryptocurrency hacks faced in 2021:

The Poly Network hack in August was the biggest cryptocurrency exploit ever!

More than $600m in assets were stolen from the multi-chain protocol, including $264m worth of assets stolen from Ethereum wallets, $250m from Binance Smart Chain wallets and $85m from Polygon.

Following the hack, the cryptocurrency industry banded together to stop the funds being used and laundered by the hacker.

Then, in a surprising turn of events, the hacker decided to return $260m of stolen funds after being hunted by various security firms such as Slowmist and Chainalysis.

The fallout led to the hacker known as Mr White Hat to first be offered a role as chief security adviser by Poly Network before returning the rest of the stolen funds in exchange for a 161 ETH bounty.

The BitMart hack saw a total of $196m in assets stolen from two of the platforms hot wallets on Ethereum and BSC in December.

The assets stolen from the wallets included mostly memecoins such as SHIB alongside a variety of BSC-based tokens that offer similar utility.

Following the hack, rumours circulated within the platforms Telegram channel, where it was dismissed as fake news.

Upon further investigation, BitMart CEO Sheldon Xia confirmed that a large-scale security breach occurred and that funds were stolen. Little is still known about the cause of the exploit.

DeFi platform Cream Finance was hacked twice in 2021, first for $18m in August followed by a larger $130m exploit in October.

The first saw $18m in ETH stolen thanks to a smart contract issue before the second hacker was able to use flash loans to repeatedly lend and borrow funds across multiple wallets.

In total, the hacker managed to get away with a massive trough of assets including 2,760 ETH, 76 BTC and more than $10m in stablecoins.

In December, the play-to-earn NFT game Vulcan Forged had a total of $140m of PYR tokens stolen from compromised wallets.

A majority of the assets were taken from users wallets, which were linked to an integrated wallet service called Venly.

The exploit saw the private keys of 96 addresses being compromised and allow the attacker to drain the contents of their wallets, which also included vast amounts of ETH and MATIC.

Following the hack, the team reimbursed users from its treasury.

The final hack on our list again occurred in December when BadgerDAO faced a front-end attack that saw more than $120m in ETH and BTC stolen from the platform.

Taking advantage of contract approvals which allows the smart contract to interact with the funds within a wallet the hacker inserted additional approvals and was able to send user funds to their own wallet in secret.

Following the reveal of the exploit, the Badger team announced it had paused all smart contracts before investigating further.

Popular crypto platform Celsius was also affected, reportedly losing 896 Bitcoin ($50m) thanks to the exploit.

*All information was correct at the time of writing.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.

More:
The five biggest cryptocurrency hacks of the year - Coin Rivet