Crypto Fight

2022-11-05 20:00:08 ​​Fidelity offers retail investors commission-free BTC and ETH trading.

Fidelity Crypto will focus on Bitcoin and Ether initially. The brokerage will make money by charging a 1% spread on trades.

Fidelity Investments is expanding retail access to commission-free cryptocurrency trading services — a move designed to recognize growing mainstream interest in digital assets.

According to CNBC, Fidelity’s new crypto offering will be powered by its subsidiary, Fidelity Digital Assets. Dubbed Fidelity Crypto, the new service will give retail investors the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin with minimal fees. Instead of a commission, Fidelity Crypto will incorporate a 1% spread into every trade. In financial markets, a spread represents the difference between the buy and sell prices quoted for an asset.

Although Fidelity didn’t specify a launch date for the new offering, it has opened up an early-access waitlist to users. The brokerage said it is targeting retail investors for commission-free crypto trading because a significant portion of its customers is already invested in digital assets.

“A meaningful portion of Fidelity customers are already interested in and own crypto,” the asset manager told CNBC in a statement.

Fidelity Digital has expanded its institutional offerings amid the bear market, having only recently launched Ether custody and trading services to its high-net-worth clients. In April of this year, the asset manager announced plans to give retirement savers the ability to invest in Bitcoin directly through their 401(k) accounts.

Fidelity has been a major institutional proponent of Bitcoin and digital assets, calling BTC a “superior form of money” that will grow in acceptance. Although most of its efforts have focused on institutional investors, speculation about a retail offering has been growing for some time. As reported by Cointelegraph, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said in September that Fidelity will soon open retail access to crypto. Open / Comment

2022-11-02 20:00:19 ​​Team Finance hacker returns $7M to associated projects after exploit.

The individual who exploited the protocol intends to keep a 10% bounty of the stolen funds.

Four projects have received some $7 million worth of tokens from the hacker behind the $14.5 million Team Finance exploit on Oct. 27. Over the weekend, the attacker confirmed in a series of messages that they would keep 10% of the stolen fund as a bounty and return the other tokens to the affected projects.

The exploiter — a self-described “whitehat” — drained assets from Team Finance through the Uniswap v2-to-v3 migration. As reported by Cointelegraph, liquidity from Uniswap v2 assets on Team Finance were transferred to an attacker-controlled v3 pair with skewed pricing, explained the blockchain security firm PeckShield.

The stolen funds included USD Coin, CAW, TSUKA and KNDA tokens. Some of the affected tokens, such as CAW, suffered steep price declines due to the exploit and subsequent liquidity crunch.

On Oct. 30, Kondux, a nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, announced it received 95% of the stolen funds, or 209 Ether
ETH, while Feg Token recovered 548 ETH. Tsuka’s blockchain protocol also confirmed receiving over $765,000 worth of the stablecoin Dai .

DAI and 11.8 million TSUKA. Caw Coin — the biggest victim of the exploit — received back $5 million worth of DAI and 74.6 billion of its native token, CAW.

We're thrilled to announce we have received 95% of the exploited ETH back!

On Twitter, the protocol urged the hacker to get in contact for a bounty payment. According to Team Finance, its smart contract had been previously audited, and developers had temporarily halted all activity on the protocol. The company was founded in 2020 by TrustSwap, which provides token liquidity locking and vesting services to project executives. The protocol claimed to have $3 billion secured across 12 blockchains.

The exploit followed the Mango Markets attack on Oct. 11, when a hacker manipulated the value of the platform’s native token, MNGO, to achieve higher prices. The attacker then took out significant loans against the inflated collateral, draining Mango’s treasury. Open / Comment

2022-10-30 20:00:09 ​​Web3 sees 15 new scam smart contracts an hour: Solidus Labs.

Solidus Labs, which has been monitoring 12 leading blockchains, has detected a majority of scam-like tokens originating from Binance’s BNB Chain.

The Web3 and cryptocurrency space is seeing a significant amount of smart contract scams proliferating, with blockchain risk monitoring firm Solidus Labs saying it has detected on average 15 newly deployed scams every hour.

Solidus Labs said on Oct. 27 that it had been monitoring 12 blockchains including Ethereum, Polygon and BNB Chain since Oct. 10, and in that time, had detected 188,525 smart contract scams.

Former United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director, Kathy Kraninger, who is now Solidus’ vice president of regulatory affairs, said in the statement that “while some of the big rug pulls and scams make the news the full picture stemming from our data shows the vast majority of these scams go unnoticed.”

The firm also shed some light on the number of tokens that are scams, saying 12% of BEP-20 tokens — the BNB Chain’s token standard — exhibit fraudulent characteristics marking it as the blockchain with the most cryptocurrency scams.

Ethereum’s native ERC-20 token standard came second, with 8% of the blockchains’ tokens exhibiting scam-like characteristics, according to the company. It also estimated around $910 million worth of Ether related to scams had passed through centralized and regulated exchanges.

Solidus said these so-called “scam token smart contracts” are hard-wired to steal investors’ funds and fit alongside other abusive practices such as rug pulls, where the developer steals the invested funds and token impersonations that aim to trick people into investing by mimicking popular cryptocurrencies.

It said these types of contracts are “automatically deployed and easily repeated” with scammers able to quickly complete thousands of low-value attacks with exchanges, regulators and authorities none the wiser.

It’s not only scamming cryptocurrencies that investors need to watch for, hacks are also on the rise, with October being possibly the biggest month ever for crypto hacking activity, according to analytics firm Chainalysis. Open / Comment

2022-10-29 16:00:07 ​Qartium is a revolutionary new cryptocurrency that has been gaining a lot of attention from investors and crypto analysts alike. Its innovative technology and focus on functionality and usability, as opposed to flashy features, have earned it a lot of praise in the cryptosphere. And many analysts believe that this up-and-coming coin has the potential for huge rise in price after launch on Binance, one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world.

Qartium has partnered with some of the most influential companies and organizations in industries ranging from finance to e-commerce to sports. These partnerships have helped to accelerate the growth and adoption of qartium by tapping into well-established international networks and introducing new customers to the power of qartium's cutting-edge capabilities.
Some of the big names are Nike, Trust Wallet, Binance and Amazon Web Services.

Already, Qartium's value has skyrocketed in anticipation of this listing, with many predicting that its value will continue to rise as excitement around it builds. So if you're looking to get in on the next big cryptocurrency boom, then Qartium may just be the perfect choice!

Website: https://qartium.one/ico1
Airdrop: https://qartium.one/airdrop.pdf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/QartiumToken/ Open / Comment

2022-10-27 20:00:07 ​​Women remain bullish on crypto investment despite market lull: Survey.

As the crypto winter rages on, new data from BlockFi reveals that women investors are still bullish on crypto, with 22% intending to buy in the next 12 months.

The crypto market downturn is proving a difficult storm to weather for both investors and businesses alike in the industry. However, according to new data, this hasn’t stopped women from being bullish on crypto.

A new survey conducted by BlockFi, a crypto trading and investment platform, asked women across the United States about their views of and participation in the crypto industry between September 2021 and March 2022.

According to the findings, one in 10 women chose crypto as their first investment, with 17% of that being Millennial women investors and 11% Generation Z. Findings even revealed that of the women surveyed, 7% of Generation X, which includes individuals born between 1965 and 1980, reported crypto as their first investment.

However, as past data has revealed, more education and clarity surrounding the space is needed to make investors feel secure and confident in their investments.

The survey highlighted that while an overwhelming majority of surveyed women (81%) have heard of crypto, 77% still view it as a risky investment.

Flori Marquez, founder and chief operating officer of BlockFi, echoed the sentiment that education is key to bringing more women into the space:

“Knowledge drives empowerment and confidence.”

Despite the barriers, both market- and education-wise, many women still see a place for themselves in the industry. Over one in five (22%) said they have the intention to buy crypto in the next year. 20% of Gen Z women called Bitcoin the “best long-term investment” among others in a lineup of investment choices.

Data from the BlockFi survey showed that women are indeed here to hodl, with 69% of female crypto owners saying they hold crypto and remain hold-only.

Marquez said the current downturn of the crypto market is the perfect time to build on these communities of female hodlers.

“The best building happens during bear markets. It’s imperative that we utilize this time to build products and communities that are inclusive to all investors.” Open / Comment

2022-10-24 20:00:10 ​Reporters Dig Deeper into Crypto Exchange Bithumb’s Mysterious Ownership Story.

Bithumb – one of South Korea’s biggest crypto exchanges – remains in the public spotlight with questions about the firm’s ownership structure raising concern across the nation.

Last month, the country was rocked when it was revealed that Kang Jong-hyun, the reclusive majority stakeholder of Bithumb, had been secretly having a romantic relationship with the top-billing actress Park Min-young. Reporters also discovered that Kang’s affiliates had bought Park’s talent agency – and had installed her older sister as a director at a publicly listed firm that he also owns.

Kang is reportedly the “secret chairman” of Bithumb, crypto industry sources have claimed – and three of the other firms he owns were raided by prosecutors investigating these allegations earlier this month. These include Vidente, a video equipment-making firm that reportedly owns a 34% stake in Bithumb.

But the exchange – and Kang in particular – could be in for a rocky ride as the week gets started. One of the nation’s top investigative journalism-based news shows – MBC’s “PD’s Notebook – is set to air an episode devoted to Kang this evening, Newsen reported.

Its producers promised further revelations and disclosed some of the results of their investigation. They alleged that Kang’s younger sister also appears to be a key player – as she is listed as Vidente’s largest shareholder. The show’s makers also reported that at one point, Kang’s sister saved him from bankruptcy by “mobilizing $16 million.”

Kang’s sister is also listed as the biggest shareholder of Inbiogen, another of the firms raided by prosecutors this month – and referred to by the press as a Bithumb “affiliate.” Open / Comment

2022-10-21 20:00:07 ​​Not like China: Hong Kong reportedly wants to legalize crypto trading.

Hong Kong’s securities regulator wants to allow retail investors to invest directly in virtual assets and to reconsider current crypto trading requirements.

Hong Kong is taking action to regain its status as a global cryptocurrency hub by launching several legal initiatives related to the crypto industry.

A city and special administrative region of China, Hong Kong is willing to distinguish its crypto regulation approach from the blanket crypto ban in mainland China.

The government of Hong Kong is considering introducing its own bill to regulate crypto in its own China-free way, according to Elizabeth Wong, head of the fintech unit at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

One of the SFC’s initiatives is allowing retail investors to “directly invest into virtual assets,” Wong said during a panel held by InvestHK, the South China Morning Post reported on Oct. 17.

Such an initiative would mark a significant shift from the SFC’s stance over the past four years, which restricts crypto trading on centralized exchanges to professional investors, Wong noted. Eligible investors include individuals with a portfolio worth at least $1 million, or about 7% of the city’s population, as of September 2021.

Wong emphasized that the crypto industry has become more compliant over the past four years, suggesting that it’s time to change the city’s stance on crypto, stating:

“We think that this may be actually a good time to really think carefully about whether we will continue with this professional investor-only requirement.”

The SFC official also mentioned a few other legal initiatives targeting the development of the crypto ecosystem in Hong Kong, including a policy introduced in January to allow service providers to sell certain crypto-related derivatives. The regulator has also been reviewing whether to allow retail investors to invest in crypto-related exchange-traded funds, Wong noted.

The latest news comes amid Hong Kong, on Oct. 19, launching a $3.8 billion fund to attract foreign businesses back to the city after a massive talent exodus prompted by strict lockdowns and tense political climate. Open / Comment

2022-10-18 20:00:07 ​​Germany leaves the US behind in top crypto economies in Q3.

The United States, which was the joint top-ranked crypto economy last quarter along with Germany, fell to seventh place in the rankings.

Germany has become the most favorable crypto economy in the world in the third quarter of 2022, according to a new report. The United States, the joint top-rank holder from last quarter, fell six places to rank seventh on the top crypto economy.

The crypto economy rankings compiled by Coincub looked into various factors such as favorable crypto outlook, clear crypto tax rules and more transparent regulatory communications to rank countries.

Germany, although not a tax haven, is considered one of the strongest all-around "traditional-tax" crypto economies that reward long-term crypto holders. German law charges zero tax on crypto holdings of over a year.

Switzerland ranked second with its positive crypto regulatory stance and is home to some of the top crypto organizations in the world. The next three spots on the list were acquired by Australia, UAE and Singapore, respectively.

Australia has shown a great appetite for crypto and the government has been equally supportive of it over the past year, pushing positive crypto legislation along with reasonable tax policy. UAE has invested heavily in Web3 and has a very attractive zero-tax policy on crypto gains. Singapore, on the other hand, has established itself as a crypto powerhouse in Asia, with a significant chunk of the population involved in crypto trading and investment.

The U.S dropped to the seventh spot due to its unfavorable crypto tax policy and lack of clarity on the regulatory end. However, the report highlighted that the U.S is the only country to allow crypto to form part of strategic workplace pensions. With some key crypto regulations legislature under work, the U.S could see a significant improvement in its rankings by next quarter.

Among the top crypto-curious nations determined by the number of “Bitcoin” related searches, El Salvador topped the list again, followed by Nigeria and the Central African Republic. Open / Comment

2022-10-15 20:00:08 ​​Community discusses why inflation isn't pushing more people to crypto.

A community member started a discussion on r/cryptocurrency on why inflation isn’t pushing more people into the crypto space.

While some anticipate that more people will naturally get into crypto due to inflation, the reality is far from some community members’ expectations. A discussion in the r/cryptocurrency subreddit highlighted this topic and explored why higher inflation is not pushing more people into the crypto space.

According to a Reddit user, events like the United States Federal Reserve printing more money and the government spending more and more funds have led them to the conclusion to get into crypto as one of its functions is to hedge against inflation. The Redditor posted that they expected more people to do the same in the subreddit. However, the community member is now puzzled as to why this is not the case.

In response to the Reddit thread, one community member pointed out that higher inflation means that the cost of goods is on the rise. Because of this, the Redditor believes that people have “less to invest,” suggesting that people would prioritize their basic needs rather than put their money into crypto. Another user agreed with this notion, saying that people would rather burn gas to keep them warm in the winter than burn their money on “sketchy shitcoins.”

Meanwhile, another user brought up that the US Dollar (USD) has performed very well throughout the year. According to the user, even Bitcoin has lost value against the USD in the current year. In addition to this, a user believes that people not jumping into crypto has something to do with its volatility, lack of use cases and the space being plagued by a lot of scams, rug pulls and hacks.

Despite the negative notions, some still argued in favor of crypto. A community member highlighted that in terms of volatility, Bitcoin has been less volatile compared to some tech stocks this year. In terms of use cases, the user argued that there have been a lot of use cases within crypto, like easier cross-border transactions and smart contracts. Talking about scams, the community members said that there are scams everywhere, citing real estate, fake gold scams and pyramid schemes. Open / Comment

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