17-Year-Old 'Mastermind', 2 Others Behind the Biggest Twitter Hack Arrested

Three young individuals — 17, 19, and 22-year-old — have reportedly been arrested for being the alleged mastermind behind the recent Twitter hack that simultaneously targeted several high-profile accounts as part of a massive bitcoin scam.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Mason Sheppard, aka “Chaewon,” 19, from the United Kingdom, Nima Fazeli, aka “Rolex,” 22, from Florida and an unnamed juvenile was charged this week with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and the intentional access of a protected computer.

Florida news channel WFLA has identified a teen named 17-year-old Graham Clark of Tampa Bay also arrested this week in connection with the Twitter hack, who probably is the juvenile that U.S. Department of Justice mentioned in its press release.

Graham Clark has reportedly been charged with 30 felonies of communications and organized fraud for scamming hundreds of people using compromised accounts.

On July 15, Twitter faced the biggest security lapse in its history after an attacker managed to hijack nearly 130 high-profile twitter accounts, including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Uber, and Apple.

The broadly targeted hack posted similarly worded messages urging millions of followers of each profile to send money to a specific bitcoin wallet address in return for larger payback.

“Everyone is asking me to give back, and now is the time,” a tweet from Mr. Gates’ account said. “You send $1,000; I send you back $2,000.”

The targeted profiles also include some popular cryptocurrency-focused accounts, such as Bitcoin, Ripple, CoinDesk, Gemini, Coinbase, and Binance.

The scheme helped the attackers reap more than $100,000 in Bitcoin within just a few hours.

As suspected on the day of the attack, Twitter later admitted that the attacker(s) compromised its employees’ accounts with access to internal tools to gain unauthorized access to the targeted profiles.

“There is a false belief within the criminal hacker community that attacks like the Twitter hack can be perpetrated anonymously and without consequence,” said U.S. Attorney Anderson.

“Today’s charging announcement demonstrates that the elation of nefarious hacking into a secure environment for fun or profit will be short-lived.  Criminal conduct over the Internet may feel stealthy to the people who perpetrate it, but there is nothing stealthy about it.  In particular, I want to say to would-be offenders, break the law, and we will find you.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as additional details become available.

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Margin Trading And Lending On The Crypto Market

In recent years, many of you who are interested in crypto, probably have noticed the continuous growth of the number of new exchange products that help earn from lending and margin trade.

In case, there are unknown terms, a short note:

Margin trading is trade with the help of borrowed funds. Turning to the details,  when a trader takes out a loan on collateral and sell borrowed funds. After that, if the rate of sold coins is dropped, a trader buys borrowed funds with a lower rate and pay back the loan. The difference between the initial selling price and buying price is a profit or loss. Margin trading became highly popular among ordinal markets. Perhaps, many of you not only have heard but also have already tried to trade through Forex currency market brokers. However, it is a relatively new type of trade for the crypto market. 

Lending occurs when someone allows another person to borrow something, or, in our case, cryptocurrency. Therefore, repayment will include the payment of interest.

Leverage is the ratio of the trader’s funds (which are the guarantee for the loan) to the loan size. For instance, 2x leverage means that having $100, it is possible to borrow $200, while 10x leverage provides an opportunity to borrow up to $1000 with the initial balance of $100.

You’d think, the higher the leverage, the “better” for the traders, because more funds could be used to trade. You are likely to believe in such a golden opportunity that is created for the traders, but let’s go deeper into details.

If you have $100 and you have borrowed $200 (leverage is 2x), after that, you have bought 1 ETH expecting that an exchange rate of Ethereum will grow and you could sell 1 ETH for $250, pay back the loan of $200 and profit from the deal $50. But something went wrong and the ETH rate, instead of growing, began to fall. At the same time, you have $100 on the balance (as security for the loan) and also 1 ETH, the price of which falls. You also have a debt of $200 (for which you have already bought 1 ETH). In this case, the forced repayment of your loan and the liquidation of the trading position will happen at the price of Ethereum of $110, that is, you have about 45% in case of rate swings.

And now, you suppose, having $ 100, take about $ 1000 (leverage 10x) and buy 5 ETH, in this case, a drop in the price of Ethereum from $ 200 to about $ 185 will lead to the liquidation of your position and the use of collateral to cover the loan, you’ll practically “zeroing” your balance.

Now, you can easily imagine what kind of rate fluctuations with leverage of 20x-100x is certain to zero out your account. For example, with 20x it will be about 4% aren’t in your favor, and at 100x less than 1% of changes in the rate will already put a crimp on your balance.

Daily exchange rate fluctuations and short-term reversal in a currently downward trending price that can easily make up 10-15% even for the most liquid currencies like BTC and ETH should not be neglected. So, if everyone knows about the volatility of the cryptocurrency market, why are exchanges still offering to “trade” with leverage of 10-100x? 

Unfortunately, it is clear that the cryptocurrency market turns into one huge gambling house, and the larger players benefit from the “herd mentality”  of lemmings, promising them exorbitant profits, playing on excitement, or ignorance. If a few years ago, crypto exchanges offered only spot trading, now many of the “top exchanges” are ready to give leverage up to 10-150x.

The thing is, based on the simplest mathematical model, currently, if a trader deal with leverage of 10x-150x in the crypto market, the probability of losing all funds is tending to 100%. And this means that exchanges no longer even need to place the positions of such traders on the real market, but just right away they can put all of the traders’ deposits in their pockets. That is why the number of offers to trade with high leverage has rocked over the past year. And now, even the most top exchanges are doing traders a disservice. Considering the rapid penetration of cryptocurrencies into all sectors of society almost everywhere around the world, the behavior of these “businessmen” can be described by a well-known idiom: “A fool and his money are soon parted”. Let’s leave the moral aspect of these actions beyond the scope of this article; this is just a statement of fact.

Now let’s talk about the lending of funds, this is the other side of margin trading. In ordinary markets, liquidity for margin trading is provided by brokers, and their liquidity is provided by banks and other financial institutions. In the crypto market, mainly liquidity for margin trading is provided by the exchanges, from reserves or funds that they borrowed from other users at a certain annual % (lending). For example, now, the well-known exchange N1 is ready to provide borrowed funds to traders for margin trading in BTC at 11% per annum. But it is interesting to note that interest rate which is offered to users who have lent their funds – approximately 3% per annum. Accordingly, the difference between these rates is the profit of the exchange.

And all of the above would not be such a big deal if top exchanges played honestly. But the fact is that by lending funds you give them to a “term deposit”. Meanwhile, these funds are most likely to be used by exchanges to manipulate the market and play against traders. At the same time, unlike whales, exchanges always know exactly all the margin orders of users, and they can accurately calculate how much, when, and in which direction the rate should be changed to benefit the most. Probably, many of you have read about claims against one of the most popular crypto derivatives exchanges.

What do we offer, the 50x.com exchange team?

We propose to start changing the rules of the game in this market. And more recently we launched a transparent system of spot margin trading and lending on our platform. Now, any holder can lend their funds, and at the same time, any trader can take out a loan at the most favorable interest rates. Thus, lenders will receive the real fees that traders pay, and traders will be able to take out loans on better terms, in contrast with other exchanges.

We offer leverage for loans up to 3x, which allows you to minimize risk for margin trading. Moreover, the uniqueness of our quantum trading core, based on Any2Any technology, allows to use all of your so-called trust coins on the account (now, it is BTC, LTC, ETH, USDT, TUSD, USDC) as collateral, lend/borrow funds, and also trade any of coin present on the exchange to any other.

If you wish to learn more about 50x.com, visit their website.

The post Margin Trading And Lending On The Crypto Market appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

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Analyst: The Bitcoin Price Is Spiking Because It’s Rarer

Bitcoin has been experiencing some extremely bullish patterns as of late. The currency has managed to spike by roughly $2,000 in just a matter of weeks, jumping from the low $9,000 range beyond $11,100 at the time of writing.

The Bitcoin Price Surge Could Easily Continue

The currency recently rose by more than 12 percent in a single 24-hour period, marking the highest it’s been in more than six months. This represents a nice change for the world’s number one cryptocurrency by market cap, which has experienced a rather shaky 2020 thanks to the growing coronavirus pandemic and several economic repercussions.

In mid-March, the asset fell to the high $3,000 range after spending most of the previous month trading for well over $10,000. However, the asset managed to regain all it had lost and really turn itself around come early May. It briefly rose back above the $10K mark, but ultimately fell back into the $9,000 range, which it remained for more than two full months.

Now, with its latest jump forward, the asset is beginning to intrigue the minds of analysts and industry experts everywhere, who are confident that the currency is likely to experience further bullishness throughout the remainder of the year. One such figure to put this idea out there is Alyse Killeen.

As an advisor to Mantis VC, Killeen believes that one of the big contributing factors to bitcoin’s sudden price spike is that BTC is now being used differently than it was just five or even ten years ago. In a recent interview, Killeen states:

Bitcoin has much more intrinsic value today than it did a year ago just from an infrastructure perspective. [The] Lightning Network is working, and sidechains are working. So, you can do a lot more with bitcoin today than you could just last year.

The Lightning Network is more accessible and scalable today than it was just a few years ago. The platform is helping bitcoin in that it is allowing smaller transactions to take place off-chain so that bitcoin will not be bogged down by excessive fees and congestion, which can be common issues for overstuffed blockchains.

In addition, Killeen comments that bitcoin has experienced an increase in interest from investors while also experiencing a shortened supply. Following the third halving, BTC is less accessible and has established itself as a rarer asset, which is no doubt contributing to its sudden price surge.

Banks and Crypto Working Together!

And now that banks can offer crypto custody services to users, things are about to go very well for the world’s number one cryptocurrency. Casa chief executive officer Nick Neuman explains:

This is bullish for bitcoin and self-custody. With ‘real banks’ holding bitcoin for their customers, the average person will view bitcoin more like money, and [the] differentiation of being your own bank becomes even more clear.

The post Analyst: The Bitcoin Price Is Spiking Because It’s Rarer appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

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As Gold Touches New Highs Investors Face Storage Issues, Market Dilution, Threat of Seizures

During the last few weeks, gold has skyrocketed in value over the concerns fueled by the faltering global economy. Despite the fact that gold has always been a safe-haven, many investors are looking to bitcoin because they fear central banks will dilute the market or even confiscate the gold.

Prior to Covid-19, central banks purchased massive amounts of gold and alongside this, a number of countries are having serious issues repatriating their gold reserves. This has caused investors worldwide to question gold over crypto assets.

There’s no doubt that gold has been on a tear, but many people have concerns about the precious metal being a solid safe-haven due to a number of factors. In recent years, investors have found cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) have a number of benefits that gold cannot offer.

At the time of publication, one troy ounce of .999 fine gold is trading for $1,963 and many investors believe the price is headed higher. But some of the biggest issues with gold, in comparison to crypto assets, is the problem with storage.

A few hundred thousand dollars worth of gold held by a single individual isn’t not as easy as say storing $300,000 worth of BTC. An individual has to secure the precious metal by hiding it and leveraging a safe, and oftentimes people with that much gold have a third-party store it for them.

Safes and added custodial security create extra costs to investing in gold and storing the metal with a third party means you have to trust them. The gold custodian could get robbed or a government entity could seize the metal leaving all the investors high and dry.

Moreover, governments have been known to seize peoples gold. One of the most famous instances of this type of event occurred in 1933, when American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) invoked the Emergency Banking Act. At that time, FDR also issued Executive order 6102 which forbade the hoarding of gold certificates, bullion, and gold coins.

American President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing Executive order 6102.

According to FDR, the move to seize American gold stashes was meant to stimulate economic growth during the Great Depression. On April 5, 1933, FDR signed Executive order 6102, and citizens were mandated to take their bars, coins, and certificates to the Fed. They were paid $20.67 per ounce and after the Emergency Banking Act was lifted, FDR raised the price to $35 per ounce.

Many people wholeheartedly believe that this “could never happen again” but the reason why it did happen was so FDR and the banking cartel could strike 40% off the dollar and bolster the economy. The reason it could happen again is because the USD has been declining in value for years.

On July 30, 2020, the USD’s trade-weighted index dropped to a two-year low against a basket of other fiat currencies. The U.S. government could easily invoke another executive order against gold in order to keep the reserve currency of the world afloat. Furthermore, back in 1933, FDR had government entities conduct a nationwide search for gold coin, bullion, and certificates as part of the government’s “confiscation policy.”

The U.S. dollar dropped to a two-year low on Thursday with values not seen since May 2018.

There are a few high-profile U.S. gold confiscation enforcement that the American press covered at the time. For instance, the federal government seized double eagles worth $12.5 million at the time from an investor who was holding the coins for a Switzerland-based firm.

Another individual was charged when he tried to withdraw 5,000 ounces of gold worth $9.6 million today. Banks holding gold would notify government entities if someone was withdrawing gold and the man with the 5,000 ounces was greeted by federal agents that day. In addition to the U.S., other countries like China and Japan have had cases where gold smuggling is common and governments seize people’s gold.

Gold investors are also scared about the massive amounts of precious metal central banks have held in reserve and many suspect they could dilute the market. There are a number of central banks doing shady things with gold reserves and some of them are not allowing other countries to withdraw.

Many countries have tried to repatriate their gold, but have had significant issues from central banks. Venezuela, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, India, and Bangladesh all have had problems attempting to repatriate their gold. The countries holding these reserves could weaken the value of gold, by simply selling off massive amounts during times of economic distress.

Statistics show that the U.S. is the largest holder of gold reserves and the country is followed by Germany, the International Monetary Fund, Italy, France, Russia, China, Switzerland, Japan, India, the Netherlands, and the European Union.

In April, financial columnist David Fickling said that it was possible central banks could sell these reserves in an emergency. This happened during the 2007-2008 economic crisis as gold was supposed to be a safe haven after the 2007 Bear Stearns emergency bailout, but central banks dumped gold to provide liquidity.

Gold has been a safe haven asset for centuries, but crypto assets are far more portable and they require far less security. A person can easily send a million dollars worth of ethereum (ETH) or bitcoin cash (BCH) to anyone in the world in a matter of no time. Moving a million dollars worth of gold is not as easy. It would be much harder to seize people’s digital currencies as well, as a million dollars can simply be hidden in a twelve-word mnemonic phrase. Just the other day, news.Bitcoin.com’s financial columnist, Jeffrey Gogo, reported on how the gold bull Dennis Gartman is moving out of gold, because the market has become “too crowded.”

An individual can store a million dollars in bitcoin without paying custodial costs and do so in a noncustodial fashion. Even central banks who are attempting to repatriate their gold reserves, would have been in much better shape if they leveraged crypto assets over gold reserves. There is no doubt that gold will continue to be thought of as a safe-haven asset, but there is also no doubt that crypto-assets offer people significant advantages over precious metals like gold.

What do you think about gold’s issues? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Tags in this story

.999 gold, 1933, 3rd Party, Bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash BCH, BTC, Bullion, Central Banks, China, confiscation policy, Custodial Services, Ethereum (ETH), Executive order 6102, FDR, gold, gold certificates, gold coins, Gold reserves, Japan, Noncustodial, One Troy Ounce, PMS

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Goldprice.org, Trading View,

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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This Indicator Predicted the 2017 and 2019 Bitcoin Rallies; It Just Flashed Again

Bitcoin is currently flashing some signs of strength as it continues consolidating within the lower-$11,000 region.

Overnight, bears attempted to push the digital asset below $11,000, but this dip was met with significant buying pressure that subsequently allowed it to climb higher.

Analysts are widely noting that the resistance found within the mid-$11,000 region remains a crucial hurdle that the cryptocurrency may continue struggling to surmount.

Because BTC is consolidating above its support throughout the upper-$10,000 region, it does seem as though it may be well-positioned to push higher in the near-term.

Its declining volatility also indicates that it may once again be coiling up before it makes a big movement.

One indicator that just flashed is offering bulls with an incredibly positive sign for BTC’s near-term outlook.

This indicator has only flashed twice in the past few years – once before the 2017 bull run and once before that seen in 2019.

Bitcoin is Coiling Up for Another Big Movement as Volatility Dives

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading up just over 1% at its current price of $11,250. This marks a notable surge from daily lows of $10,800 that were set yesterday.

The slight uptrend seen today came about close on the heels of that seen by Ethereum. If ETH continues showing strength as it pushes against its key resistance at $350, it may continue providing a tailwind that lifts BTC higher as well.

Despite these tempered signs of strength, it is important to keep in mind that Bitcoin remains caught within a consolidation phase between roughly $10,800 and $11,300.

This has caused its volatility to once again dive – as one analyst on Twitter observed in a recent tweet.

“Interesting how fast they crushed BTC vol; the 1 month ATM already back to levels from two weeks ago.”

Image Courtesy of Alex Krüger.

This Indicator Suggests BTC Is About to Enter a Bull Run

One popular cryptocurrency trader explained in a tweet that an elusive indicator that has forecasted previous bull markets is now flashing again.

This indicator surfaced in late-2017 just before Bitcoin ran to highs of nearly $20,000. It also flashed last year, before the benchmark crypto ran from lows of under $4,000 to highs of $14,000.

The trader explained:

“The supertrend went green on the weekly. Probably no big deal. It’s not like this indicator has marked major macro bull & bear cycles in the past.”

Image Courtesy of Byzantine General. Chart via TradingView.

Bitcoin’s current strength may be enough to guide it significantly higher in the days and weeks ahead.

Featured image from Unsplash.
Charts from TradingView.

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What To Expect If Bitcoin Forms Three White Soldiers On Weekly Timeframes

Bitcoin price this week exploded through resistance at $10,000 and blasted to a high of $11,400. The cryptocurrency is now consolidating below that level, gearing up for what one crypto analyst expects to be a follow up nearly one and a half times the size of this week’s rally.

Will the cryptocurrency close a “Three White Soldiers” formation, and if it does, what can be expected for price action in the days and weeks ahead?

Bitcoin Price Weekly Structure Looks Set For Bullish Uptrend Pattern, Claims Crypto Analyst

In response to the United States’ second round of stimulus money flowing into free markets, gold soared to a new record, while silver, Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies went on a tear.

These hard assets are expected to continue to perform in response to hastening inflation. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are also breaking out from a three-year bear market, providing them with much pent up momentum.

Related Reading | Why Bitcoin Ditching Stock Market Correlation For Gold Is Bullish for BTC

Case in point, BTCUSD rallied over 13% this week alone, after spending nearly three full months consolidating below $10,000. And while much of the push from precious metals and crypto was due to the dollar collapsing and not all due to these assets pumping, most analysts are expecting the uptrend to continue in crypto.

According to one crypto analyst’s “bold take,” they expect Bitcoin to close out this week strong, yet next week much stronger. They see the leading cryptocurrency by market cap performing 1.5 times better than this week, confirming a three white soldiers Japanese candlestick pattern.

But what exactly will the pattern imply if confirmed?

BTCUSD Weekly Three White Soldiers | Source: TradingView

Will Three White Soldiers Form On BTCUSD Weekly Price Chart? What Does This Mean?

Three white soldiers is a bullish Japanese candlestick pattern, where three green candles close in a row, each higher than the next, with similar-sized or increasingly larger candlestick bodies.

Even if the pattern confirms with three candles in a row, due to heavily overbought conditions the fourth candle in the formation is often a pullback. After that, however, three white soldiers would confirm a new uptrend.

The last time such a pattern confirmed, was during the 2019 parabolic rally that took Bitcoin price to $14,000.

Related Reading | Bearish Bitcoin Signal That Preceded 220% Explosion in 2017 Just Flashed

After finally breaking out from resistance near Bitcoin’s bottom, the asset paused, consolidated, and then took off like a rocket ship. The second weekly candle was particularly large after the breakout, matching the rally we’ve seen this past week.

What came next, was another 100% climb before the asset topped out. Another 100% rally from current prices, would take Bitcoin price to a new all-time high.

Three white soldiers are the opposite signal of three black crows. The bearish signal appeared on monthly timeframes following the asset topping in 2019, promoting a new downtrend to follow.

With three white soldiers potentially forming on BTCUSD weekly price charts, will it kick off another explosive uptrend?

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BTC Futures Trading on Bakkt Surges

It looks like Bakkt is experiencing a sudden surge in business.

Bakkt Is Pulling a Few Unexpected Punches

Recently, it was reported that the institutional crypto trading platform owned and governed by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICO) was doing rather poorly as of late, having traded zero bitcoin options since mid-June. Now, more than 30 days later, that still hasn’t changed.

However, the platform has witnessed a surge in bitcoin futures trading. Just last Monday alone, Coin Market Cap reported a total of $114 million in BTC futures traded on Bakkt, posting the highest number for the platform in a single day.

To say that Bakkt has had something of a shaky history would be a bit of an understatement. First off, the platform was initially set to emerge for customers to enjoy beginning at the end of 2018, but the venture was delayed by roughly one year due to regulatory issues. When it finally did debut in September of 2019, the platform experienced a very dismal opening weekend in which very few people took part in futures trading.

As a result, bitcoin took a nasty dive, dropping from the mid-$9,000 range to about $8,100 within just a matter of minutes. While bitcoin ultimately surged by the time November came about – it eventually went back up to the $9,000 range for a brief period – Bakkt’s influence proved too strong for the currency, and the world’s number one crypto asset by market cap still withstood further falls that took the currency down into the low $7,000 range by the end of the year.

Even when trading picked up slightly for the platform, things didn’t really turn around for the globe’s leading digital currency.

For the most part, Bakkt has not managed to attract the same levels of attention and activity as platforms such as the CME Group in Chicago. That said, it has enjoyed little spurts along the way since it opened roughly ten months ago, and this appears to be one of them. It’s hard to know if bitcoin is rising thanks to Bakkt trading, or if Bakkt trading has grown more popular due to the surging price of BTC.

A Massive Jump Is in the Books

Either way, the currency surge represents a new record for a platform that initially began on a very slippery slope. This sudden jump to $114 million represents a near 84 percent jump from its previous all-time high, which was set in December of last year.

On average, the daily trading volume for Bakkt has amounted to roughly $14 million or 1,726 BTC. This means that the volume expanded by approximately $100 million from one day to the next, but while the number may appear large on paper, Bakkt trading is still considerably less than the levels witnessed by platforms such as Huobi, Binance and various others.

The post BTC Futures Trading on Bakkt Surges appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

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Chinese Police Take Down $6 Billion Plustoken Ponzi, Arrest 109 People

Chinese authorities have reportedly arrested 109 people in connection with the Plustoken Ponzi scheme. Twenty-seven of them are allegedly the scheme’s masterminds and 82 are key members. The Plustoken scammers have swindled funds worth about $5.7 billion from more than 2 million investors.

Plustoken Scammers Arrested

Under the command of China’s Ministry of Public Security, the country’s principal police and security authority, Chinese police have taken down Plustoken, a major multinational pyramid scheme using cryptocurrencies, local news outlet CLS reported on Thursday.

The Plustoken scheme has lured in more than 2 million investors who joined on over 3,000 levels. It has swindled funds worth more than 40 billion yuan (approximately $5.7 billion) from the victims.

The police have arrested all 27 alleged masterminds and 82 key members of the scheme. “The arrest completely destroyed this huge multinational MLM organization network entrenched at home and abroad,” the publication noted.

“Based in China, Plustoken presented itself as a cryptocurrency wallet that would reward users with high rates of return if they purchased the wallet’s associated PLUS cryptocurrency tokens with bitcoin or ethereum,” Chainalysis described. The scammers claimed those returns would be generated by exchange profit, mining income, and referral benefits. In addition, the token would be listed on several exchanges.

In June, six people connected to the scam were arrested. However, “the stolen funds have continued to move through wallets and be cashed out through independent OTC brokers operating mostly on the Huobi platform, showing that one or more of the scammers are still at large,” according to the blockchain analytics firm.

Over time, the Plustoken scammers have moved a large number of cryptocurrencies, including BTC and ETH, prompting concerns that they may cash out enough of their ill-gotten gains to move the market prices of bitcoin and ether. For example, they moved 789,534 ETH in June, 13,000 BTC to bitcoin mixers in March and almost 12,000 BTC in February.

What do you think about the police taking down the Plustoken scam? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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pTokens project launches pNetwork DAO with staking rewards of 42% APR interest

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Nigeria is not only Africa’s biggest cryptocurrency market but is also a leading adopter of digital currencies globally. Official figures show the country is well ahead of fellow African countries. Citizens of the West African state use cryptocurrencies for cross … read more.

Goldman Sachs Warns US Dollar Risks Losing World Reserve Currency Status, Gold and Bitcoin Soar

Goldman Sachs has warned that the U.S. dollar may lose its status as the world’s reserve currency. The investment bank is bullish on gold as fears over governments debasing their fiat currencies grow and real interest rates are pushed to … read more.

Swiss Exchange SIX Lists Actively Managed Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Product

Switzerland’s principal stock exchange SIX Swiss Exchange is listing a new bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP). The BTCA index, otherwise known as the “Bitcoin Capital Active ETP (BTCA),” is different from other crypto ETPs exchanged on SIX because it’s an “actively … read more.

Coinbase Sees More Institutional Investors Buying Bitcoin in H1

Coinbase says more institutional investors are now using its platform to build direct positions in the cryptocurrency market. Crypto fund managers are now getting more backing from institutional investors that see the crypto market as an alternative investment strategy. In … read more.

Bakkt Futures Volume Hits $122 million, as Bitcoin Reached New 11-Month High

Volumes on bitcoin futures offered by Bakkt set a record high on July 27, with 11,500 contracts traded on the institutional exchange. Altogether, the contracts are worth about $126 million, at the time of writing. Each contract is equivalent to … read more.

Bitcoin’s Current Breakout Sets It up for $28,000, Headed for Six Figures – Max Keiser

Max Keiser has predicted that bitcoin’s current bullish pattern will lead toward a price of $28,000. While the bitcoin bull does not give a timeframe when this is likely to happen, he believes that, thanks to relentless government money printing, … read more.

Crypto Hardware Wallet Firm Ledger Hacked, One Million Customer Emails Exposed

Ledger said on Wednesday that its e-commerce database was hacked in late June, compromising about one million email addresses. No user funds were affected by the breach. In a blog post, the French bitcoin hardware wallet company revealed that contact … read more.

Power Plants in Iran Now Authorized to Mine Bitcoin

Power plants in Iran are allowed to mine cryptocurrencies, the deputy head of the country’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir) has reportedly confirmed. Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, deputy head of Tavanir, explained that entities have to apply for the … read more.

93% of Bitcoin’s Supply Profitable at $11K, ‘Realized Price’ Recovers from Black Thursday

Onchain data shows that bitcoin’s breakout above $11,000 puts 93% of the circulating supply in a state of profit. Additionally, seven-day metrics show that bitcoin’s “realized price” has recovered from the low that took place on March 12. The research … read more.

Ethereum Price Creates GPU Shortage, Some Manufacturers Blame Nvidia

During the last four weeks, cryptocurrency markets have gathered significant value, and the crypto asset ethereum gained over 40% during the last 30-days. The price of ether moving northbound has caused a strain on the graphics processing unit (GPU) market, … read more.

Novogratz: Global ‘Liquidity Pump’ Will Keep Bitcoin Rising, Price to Hit $20K This Year

Billionaire investor Michael Novogratz said global “liquidity pump” from stimulus packages will keep driving bitcoin’s price higher. He expects the price of bitcoin to reach $20,000 this year, fueled by retail investors shifting to the cryptocurrency. Mike Novogratz’s Bitcoin Prediction … read more.

The Onecoin Debacle: Indictments Unsealed, 2 Dead in Mexico, Story Gets ‘Darker’

The Onecoin fiasco is still making headlines these days as a number of alleged money laundering companies were exposed on July 25, two Onecoin leaders were recently killed in Mexico, and the British author Jamie Bartlett revealed a new “Missing … read more.

Bitcoin Tops $11,000 Reigniting Interest in India

A resurgent bitcoin is rekindling Indian interest in cryptocurrencies with reports suggesting many dormant holders are back to trading. A report in Livemint is also attributing the piqued interest to a recent Indian supreme court decision to overturn a prohibition … read more.

Privacy-Enhancing Protocol Cashfusion Completes Security Analysis

Just a few days prior to the Bitcoin Cash anniversary, BCH fans found out that the Cashfusion audit from Kudelski Security is now complete. Electron Cash engineer Jonald Fyookball announced the audit was finished and said the protocol “passed, mostly … read more.

Zero Collateral: $138 Million in Defi Flash Loans Issued in 24 Hours

The decentralized finance (defi) realm continues to heat up with concepts like yield farming, but another scheme called defi flash loans has also grown exponential. On Monday, the noncustodial lending protocol Aave issued $138 million in loans with zero collateral. … read more.

Tether Prints $300 Million, While XRP Reclaims Third Spot

Tether Ltd printed a total of USDT 300 million Wednesday and this brought the total coins created to 540 million in the last three days alone. The latest USDT printing will see the top stablecoin’s market capitalization significantly passing the … read more.

Bybit presents World Series of Trading (WSOT) – 200 BTC Prize Pool up for Grabs

While movie theaters may be unusually empty this time of the year, a different kind of summer blockbuster is coming soon, one that promises to bring back the exhilaration of competitive crypto trading with up to 200 bitcoins (BTC) prize … read more.

‘Huge Demand in India’ Spurs Zebpay to Launch OTC Bitcoin Trading Desk

Indian cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay is launching an OTC bitcoin trading desk. The exchange has shared the details with news.Bitcoin.com, stating that “There is huge demand” among bitcoin traders and arbitrageurs in India for OTC desk services. Zebpay Sees Huge Demand … read more.

Major Investment Bank Oppenheimer Bullish on Bitcoin, Highlights Instead of Gold

U.S. investment bank Oppenheimer’s analyst says gold is “extended” and has “run up a bit,” bringing attention to bitcoin instead. He sees the cryptocurrency reversing its downtrend from the $20K peak, benefiting from the dollar’s weakness. Oppenheimer Analyst on Bitcoin … read more.

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MoneyNext Summit Goes Virtual, Live Discussion Panel Starts August 18th, 2020

MoneyNext Summit Online is the leading virtual event to address the current financial landscape and offer insight and opinion into the future of money. 

MoneyNext Summit Online is a bigger and more complex version of Fintech Friday panel discussion, and is taking place from 18th to 21st August 2020. The event will assist fintech and tech professionals shape the future of money.

MoneyNext Summit Online gives users access to over 30 hours of exceptional content across 4 days and a line-up of 180 speakers – fintechs and disruptors, technology decision makers to discuss, debate and challenge the latest industry trends and future innovations alongside an audience of 5000 people from tech giants and latest startups.

The conference themes that will be in spotlight include Banking Transformation, Payments and Transfers, Blockchain, Open Banking, Lending and Finance, Insurtech and Security. 

Industry captains from Finance and IT will share their trials and successes to help your business adapt and thrive. Some of the top speakers to take the virtual stage in 2020:

RICHARD DAVIES – CEO Banking, Revolut

CRAIG WELLMAN – Director Financial Services, Microsoft

ANDREA DUNLOP – Chairwoman of the Emerging Payments Association

JASON MAUDE – Head of Technology Advocacy, Starling

AMNAH AJMAL – Group Executive – Merchants, Acceptance & Digital Partnerships, Mastercard

LUCY DEMERY – Global Head of FinTech Banking, Standard Chartered

CAROLINE AMBROSE – Director – Open Banking Implementation, Barclays

CHRIS HIGHAM – Head of Strategy & Change – Payments, Virgin Money

STEPHEN INGLEDEW – Chief Executive, FinTech Scotland

BECKY MOFFAT – Global Head of RBWM Customer Marketing, HSBC

NOUAMANE CHERKAOUI – CIO, Société Générale

SIMON VINEY – Cyber Security Financial Services Sector Lead, BAE Systems

The event is completely free to attend. Register now at https://moneynextsummit.com/online/registration and follow #MoneyNextOnline hashtag on social media for the event’s latest updates and news.

MoneyNext is the source of this content. This Press Release is for informational purposes only. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. Cryptocurrencies and tokens are extremely volatile. There is no guarantee of a stable value, or of any value at all.

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