MahaDAO’s Algorithmic ‘Valuecoin’ Goes Live on Ethereum

An India-based startup is coming for decentralized finance (DeFi) stalwart MakerDAO’s crown with the launch of its new “valuecoin.”

MahaDAO’s ARTH algorithmic stablecoin is now live on the Ethereum mainnet, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk. ARTH will also go live on the Matic network at an undisclosed point in the future, the team said.

The MahaDAO team defines the new token as a “valuecoin” for its ability to “maintain its purchasing power over time.” That’s compared to other stablecoins – like MakerDAO’s collateral-backed dai (DAI) token – which are meant to mirror the dollar in terms of price value even if the greenback goes off a cliff.

“Elastic supply stablecoins are one of the most exciting and innovative verticals within DeFi right now,” MahaDAO co-founder Steven Enamakel said in a statement. “Having closely examined existing algorithmic stablecoins, and learned from their successes and shortcomings, we’ve engineered ARTH to ensure that it will be much more stable, making it suitable for a range of DeFi applications from lending to staking as well as real-world, non-crypto use cases.”

Regardless, a host of algorithmic tokens have recently come back into vogue such as Basis Cash (BAC) or Empty Set Dollar (ESD). These tokens, like ARTH, try to retain a peg to the dollar through a complex system of bonds that can be redeemed or bought when the peg is thrown off.

“Users who elect to purchase ARTH bonds will exert a direct effect on the Uniswap price of the ARTH-DAI pool instead of just reducing the supply of ARTH. This will exert a stronger effect on the ARTH-DAI price, resulting in greater price stability for ARTH,” the MahaDAO release states.

This system hasn’t really panned out for BAC or ESD, as data provider CoinGecko notes both tokens are far below their intended pegs, currently at $0.86 and $0.58, respectively. 

Enamakel told CoinDesk through a spokesperson that ARTH’s algorithm has greater resistance than other algorithmic tokens because of the token’s underlying components – including price dynamics tied to a basket of goods, bond purchases on Uniswap and stability fees to “dampen bond redemptions.”

Distribution of ARTH will begin Jan. 16 by placing assets into MahaDAO pools. MahaDAO also completed an Initial DEX Offering (IDO) on the Polkastarter platform in December.

Source coindesk.com

First Mover: Biden's $1.9T Plan Shows 'Blue Wave' Bitcoiners Saw Coming

(EDITOR’S NOTE: First Mover will not publish Monday, Jan. 18 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S., a CoinDesk company holiday. The cryptocurrency market will be open, as it always is.) 

Bitcoin (BTC) was lower, trading around the $38,000 level where prices have gravitated for the past week.  

The market faces price resistance around $41,000, with support seen around $34,000, Mark Warner, head of trading for London-based BCB Group, a financial firm focused on digital assets, said in comments emailed by a spokeswoman. 

“A move above $42,000 will likely see a resumption of the heady gains we saw last week,” Warner said. Prices are up 29% so far in 2021, versus a 0.4% year-to-date loss for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of large U.S. stocks. 

In traditional markets, Asian and European shares fell and U.S. stock futures pointed lower on Friday, as anticipation of President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief proposal, rolled out late Thursday, yielded to sober assessments of the state of the economy. Gold was little changed at $1,847 an ounce. 

Market Moves

First Mover wrote last October how a “blue wave” in then-upcoming U.S. elections – full control of the government by Joe Biden’s Democratic Party – could lead to trillions of dollars of new government spending on coronavirus relief and economic stimulus. 

That wave has arrived, in the form of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus-relief package proposed late Thursday by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. And some Wall Street analysts are now wondering openly if the economy and markets are becoming hooked on stimulus. 

“The market is back to an expectation that more fiscal stimulus is all but inevitable,” Ed Mills, of the stock-brokerage firm Raymond James, wrote early Friday in a note to clients.  

Cryptocurrency investors could jump straight to the implication: The Federal Reserve might need to print trillions of new dollars to help finance any extra borrowing by the U.S. Treasury Department. That in turn could spur more demand for bitcoin, seen by a growing number of investors as a hedge against inflation. 

“Stimulus targets could steadily increase on any setbacks with the coronavirus pandemic, and that has been one of the fundamental reasons why many continue to pile into bitcoin,” Edward Moya, a New York-based senior market analyst for the London-based foreign-exchange broker Oanda, wrote in an emailed note.  

Biden’s proposal, announced in a speech, earmarks $1 trillion for families and individuals and more than $400 billion to combat the pandemic directly, including money to accelerate vaccine deployment and safely reopen schools, according to the New York Times. There’s also $350 billion of aid for state and local governments.

Democrats, set to become the majority party in both chambers of Congress, might use a “budget reconciliation” process to push the legislation through with a simple majority of votes, according to Mills at Raymond James. 

“We would note that it would not prevent them from a second reconciliation package later this year,” Mills wrote. 

During the 2020 fiscal year that ended in September, the U.S. budget deficit hit a record $3.1 trillion, swollen from government relief packages signed by President Donald Trump as the coronavirus-related lockdowns devastated the economy.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist for the forecasting firm Pantheon, predicts that the U.S. budget deficit could reach $4 trillion during the current fiscal year. 

With the economy now suffering from the recent uptick in coronavirus-related cases and a vaccine rollout still months away, fiscal discipline looks unlikely. A government report Thursday revealed a bigger-then-expected increase in weekly unemployment claims to 965,000, the highest since August. The past year’s shift toward remote working represents another potential source of widespread dislocation. 

Not to fear. As Scott Anderson, chief economist at San Francisco-based Bank of the West, a unit of the giant French bank BNP Paribas, told clients Thursday: “While the latest jobless claims report is sobering, the $900 billion coronavirus aid package recently passed and the promise of more fiscal aid coming shortly from the Biden administration should deliver some much-needed support to the unemployed and businesses in the current quarter until service-sector businesses are allowed to reopen as more Americans receive the vaccine.”  

The U.S. government’s public debt, which stood at about $5.7 trillion in 2000, is now hurtling toward $30 trillion.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The U.S. national public debt stands at an already-elevated $27.7 trillion, and analysts say the Fed would likely have to help finance any extra goverment borrowings with more purchases of Treasury bonds, once considered an emergency measure. 

“Taxes will go up, but they are unlikely to rise by what could be an incremental $4 trillion in one year,” Dick Bove, a five-decade bank analyst who now works for the brokerage firm Odeon, told clients Thursday. “Thus, the Fed must step in. This can cause the dollar to decline meaningfully, inflation to rise and interest rates to become a problem. It is a worrisome situation that a President Biden may be unable to control.”

Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan, who sits on the U.S. central bank’s monetary-policy committee, suggested that officials later this year might consider whether to taper their ongoing $120 billion-a-month of bond purchases, initially implemented as an emergency measure.  

But the drama was short-lived, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday squashing speculation of an imminent tapering. “Now is not the time,” he said during a virtual discussion. 

Bank of America estimates the Fed’s balance sheet will end 2021 at $8.8 trillion, up from about $7.4 trillion as of Wednesday. Before the pandemic hit at the start of 2020, the level was $4.2 trillion. 

But even those estimates might be subject to change. 

“Depending on the extent of U.S. fiscal expansion and deficits in coming years, there is a risk the Fed might not be able to withdraw themselves completely from the U.S. Treasury market for fear of disorderly market conditions,” Bank of America’s economists wrote this week. 

The upshot for crypto traders and investors? If bitcoin is a hedge against Federal Reserve money printing, the use case doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.  

Bitcoin Watch

Bitcoin’s two-day rally has stalled as the U.S. dollar gains ground in the wake of President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion fiscal-stimulus proposal.

The cryptocurrency was changing hands around $39,600 when Biden spoke at around 00:15 coordinated universal time (UTC), and prices have since traded down to about $38,000, based on CoinDesk 20 pricing.

The pullback marks a weak follow-through to the two-day rise, which saw prices revisit $40,000 resistance. The lack of a bullish response by the bitcoin market is perhaps surprising, given that fiscal and monetary stimulus is seen as inflationary, and bitcoin is seen by a growing number of investors as a store of value.

The strength of the U.S. dollar against major currencies could be playing spoilsport, with the greenback gaining in foreign-exchange markets early Friday. Over the past year, bitcoin prices have shown an increasingly negative correlation with the U.S. dollar, meaning they typically move in opposite directions.

Read More: Biden’s $1.9T Relief Package Proposal Fails to Stir Bitcoin Market

What’s Hot

Paxos teams up with Chainlink (LINK) in fresh push to make its asset-backed tokens Paxos Standard (PAX) and Paxos Gold (PAXG) more widely available across DeFi (CoinDesk) 

Some Asian traders are using Polkadot to predict bitcoin’s future (CoinDesk) 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell sees “years rather than months” before digital dollar is released (CoinDesk)

Grayscale raises $3.3B in 4Q 2020, most ever (CoinDesk), adds 2K+ BTC to reserves in first day back after three-week pause on new investment; reserves addition is 2.4x number of new bitcoins minted by the blockchain (Decrypt) (EDITOR’S NOTE: Grayscale is owned by Digital Currency Group, which also owns CoinDesk) 

Trading in the BTCEetc Bitcoin Exchange Traded Crypto (BTCE) on Germany’s Deutsche Borse has climbed to levels typically only seen in the most popular European ETFs (FT) 

Lido Protocol, a new DeFi and staking protcol, lets users stake ether in Ethereum 2.0 while receiving “tokenized staked ether” of a similar value (CoinDesk)  

Bahamas-based Deltec, bank to Tether, says it invests customer funds in bitcoin, renewing questions on whether the USDT dollar-linked stablecoin might be backed by bitcoin (CoinDesk) 

Galaxy Digital launches proprietary mining, miner financial services (CoinDesk) 

Some analysts (and data) cast doubt on narrative that bitcoin miners were responsible for recent price dips (CoinDesk) 

Analogs

The latest on the economy and traditional finance

Jobless claims surge more than expected to 965K, highest weekly total since August (CNBC) 

Retail arm of Thailand’s state-owned energy giant PTT plans initial public stock offering with fund-raising goal of 54B baht ($1.8B), potentially sign of booming year (Nikkei Asia Review)

Australian fintech firm AfterPay becomes 13th largest stock by market cap on ASX following coronavirus pandemic (Australian Financial Review)

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Source coindesk.com

CEO Sentenced to 18-Month Jail Term for Accepting Bitcoin Bribes to List a Cryptocurrency

A South Korean court has sentenced the former CEO of the defunct crypto exchange Coinnest to 18 months in prison. The court also fined him over $61,000, who also was charged for fraud in 2020.

Prosecutors Accused Coinnest Executives of Receiving 110 BTC in Bribes

According to Fn News, the Supreme Court of Korea determined that Kim Ik-hwan should spend time in jail, as the authorities previously indicted him in 2018 for accepting bitcoin (BTC) bribes.

The investigation unveiled that he and other executives received almost $771,270 worth of BTC (at the time) for arranging the listing of an unnamed altcoin — referred to by the court as “S” coin.

However, the former Coinnest CEO and its former operating director, Jo Mo, claimed there was “no unfair solicitation.” The prosecutors commented in the first trial:

The defendants acknowledged or promoted the situation that they were taking unreasonable gains by manipulating the market price on the exchange after listing the cryptocurrency. (…) This crime greatly undermined fairness and trust in cryptocurrency transactions. This is bad.

Although the Supreme Court, chaired by judge Noh Jeong-hee, didn’t reveal details on the “S” coin, prosecutors said the altcoin was issued by K Group.

The prosecution also accused Coinnest’s executives of receiving 110 BTC in bribes for the purpose. Jo Mo’s sentence is still pending confirmation by the Supreme Court.

Former Coinnest’s CEO Court History

The former CEO of the now-defunct crypto exchange has additional sentences on his CV. Alongside two unnamed executives, Kim was found guilty in February 2020 of fraud and embezzlement.

A South Korean court gave him a three-year prison sentence, but it was suspended for four years. Moreover, the appeals court sentenced Kim to pay a $2.5 million won fine, and also to serve 100 hours of community service.

The judge ruled that Kim and the other executives misappropriated “billions” of won, transferring client funds to employee accounts. At that time, the executives denied any wrongdoings.

Coinnest closed its crypto exchange operations in April 2019.

What do you think about this sentence? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Source bitcoin.com

Bittrex Won't Disclose Why It Withdrew Support for Dash, Zcash, Monero

• Numerous exchanges, like Bittrex, have delisted coins that have features to protect user privacy.


• Explanations of why they’ve done so have been vague or non-existent.


• It has set up clashes between the exchanges and Zcash, Monero and Dash over whether there is actually regulatory pressure to do so. 

There is a question that no one seems to want to answer. Why are exchanges delisting zcash, monero, and dash (DASH)?

On New Year’s Day, cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex announced it would be delisting these three so-called “privacy coins” as of Jan. 15, adding its name to a growing list of exchanges that have done the same.

In a blog post announcing the development, Bittrex did not provide a reason for doing so. 

Bittrex: No explanation offered

The assumption has been that the delistings are related to know-your-customer and anti-money laundering (KYC/AML) concerns. But by and large, exchanges have delisted without much explanation, leaving users and privacy advocates out in the cold, with little recourse. 

“Where privacy is opt-in and not mandatory such as in dash or zcash, which allows the vast majority of transactions to remain traceable, the difference between these assets and bitcoin [or] ethereum is often just in focus and marketing,” Reuben Yap, project steward of the privacy coin firo told CoinDesk, as he saw exchanges also delisting firo in December. 

“In some cases – even where coins did not have any meaningful privacy features or even had them disabled – they weren’t spared from delistings, supporting the claim that many of these bans were established for form over substance.”

Bittrex did not cite any specific regulatory challenges or reasons for the delisting in its post, and declined to comment for this piece. Notably, the crypto exchange continues to host other privacy coins such as firo, verge and horizen at the time of writing, giving little insight into the rationale. 

‘No public regulatory rationale’

In response to Bittrex’s decision, Electric Coin Company (ECC), the makers of zcash, published a blog post that criticized the decision and asked a question that has yet to be answered – why?

“In spite of all the conjecture on Twitter, there is no public regulatory rationale for delisting zcash,” the company said in the post. “Law firm Perkins Coie recently published a paper that lays out how regulated entities can comply with regulatory requirements and support cryptocurrencies that include privacy as a feature.”

According to the paper, “Not only do privacy coins provide public benefits that substantially outweigh their risks, existing AML regulations properly and sufficiently cover those risks, providing a proven framework for combatting money laundering and related crimes.” 

Perkins Coie declined to comment for this article.

With a lack of specific regulation to point to, it seems that the decision to delist these coins is a decision made by the businesses themselves, rather than responding to some perceived immense, yet still unclear, regulatory pressure. 

In response to Bittrex’s decision, Kraken CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell tweeted, “Haven’t heard of anything on the regulatory side. Presumably, it’s something specific to their business.”

As Justin Ehrenhofer, a Monero developer, previously said, the most common reason given for delistings is de-risking from perceived (or direct) pressure from regulators and banks. 

“Most jurisdictions do not impose strict bans on these privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies, but they may require more detailed AML programs before feeling comfortable with them,” he said. 

ShapeShift and Bittrex’s responses

Indeed, “derisk” is the term that the exchange ShapeShift used when it delisted zcash, monero and dash last year. 

“We’ve taken down the privacy coins because of their regulatory concerns,” Veronica McGregor, ShapeShift’s chief legal officer, told CoinDesk’s Brady Dale in an interview. “At least for the moment, we’re not working with those coins.” 

They “were delisted at the same time for the same reason – to further derisk the company from a regulatory standpoint,” McGregor wrote in a followup email.

This week though, ShapeShift pivoted to routing orders through decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and integrated with multiple decentralized exchanges, abandoning the KYC regulations that sapped users from them when they were implemented in 2018.

Even as ShapeShift has added back support for dash, Dash Core Group CEO Ryan Taylor said in a recent Zoom interview with CoinDesk that they’d never heard from the exchange about being re-listed. They’d sent along their material arguing that their coinjoin function, introduced in 2016 and advanced for the time, was no longer enough to classify them as a privacy coin, particularly with bitcoin now having a coinjoin function. Eventually, with no communication from ShapeShift, they saw they’d been relisted. 

“There’s no definition you can set where we’re dash falls in the privacy coin bucket, and bitcoin falls out,” said Taylor. “All we’re asking for is fair treatment.” 

Need for privacy coin education

In Taylor’s experience with regulators around the world, he proactively engages with them and tries to educate them. This education effort isn’t new, and isn’t a reaction to Bittrex. 

“We’ve been working on this for a couple of years,” said Taylor. “And in my interactions with regulators, they don’t even understand how the technologies work. Almost always, when you ask them, ‘Why was dash included?’ They say, ‘I googled it.’”

“There is no regulatory requirement in the USA that would result in a coin being delisted due to it protecting the user’s privacy,” said Zooko Wilcox, cypherpunk and CEO of the Electric Coin Company. 

ShapeShift did not respond to questions regarding whether it would now add support for zcash and monero, or why they decided to re-list dash. 

Almost always, when you ask them, ‘Why was dash included?’ They say, ‘I googled it.’

ECC’s blog post also pointed out that both Coinbase and Gemini, prominent U.S. exchanges, support zcash. In September 2020, Gemini launched support for zcash shielded withdrawals, a first for a regulated exchange. 

ECC then questioned whether the decision came in response to the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) rejecting the exchange’s application for a virtual currency and money transmitter license in part because of “deficiencies in Bittrex’s BSA/AML/OFAC compliance program.”

Coinbase and Gemini, both of which support privacy coins, hold such licenses. 

“ShapeShift and Bittrex have not told us why they delisted zcash,” said Wilcox. “Coinbase and Gemini continue to work with us to further increase their support for zcash.”

Bittrex declined to comment when sent a list of questions about the rationale behind the delisting, whether regulatory requirements forced it to do so, and if the action was linked to the concerns NYDFS raised. 

But given the numerous concerns about transaction monitoring, sanctions violations, major compliance issues such as inadequate customer due diligence, trying to strike down some of the more popular privacy coins could be a low-effort way to address these, but not if other privacy coins remain listed. 

No big deal

Kristin Boggiano, co-founder and president of CrossTower, a global digital asset infrastructure platform, said she did not see delisting of privacy coins as a trend in the industry, and that most digital asset trading platforms will evaluate the tokens they trade from time to time.

When asked why some exchanges were able to list these coins while others declined to, Boggiano said she couldn’t speak to other platforms’ listing decisions or frameworks but that  CrossTower’s current Digital Asset Risk Assessment Framework takes a number of factors into consideration when listing a token.  

“We consider trader feedback, market demand, whether our technology can support it, whether our vendors support it, regulatory considerations, and other compliance considerations,” she said in an email to CoinDesk. “The framework is dynamic because the industry is clearly rapidly changing.”

She did recognize that it’s natural there is a market for privacy tokens, especially given there is a growing awareness in the U.S. and internationally that the disclosure of certain personal information can cause serious issues. 

“There may be data mining, which can cause minor inconveniences if their information is sold,” she said. “However, it could also be sold to advertising agencies and other entities without consent, causing significant friction in digital operations. Worse, it may also be used for malicious purposes such as hacking, identity theft, blackmail and other harmful purposes.” 

Whether such delistings continue will seemingly be up to the perceived regulatory environment and exchanges involved, but a good place to start addressing the merits of the issue is the reasoning behind why these decisions are taken, rather than leaving users with little or nothing to go on.  

Source coindesk.com

Advisers Allocating Crypto in Clients’ Portfolios Rose 49% Last Year: Survey

The number of advisers allocating to crypto in client portfolios rose from 6.3% to 9.4% in 2020.



Source coindesk.com

Biden's $1.9T Relief Package Proposal Fails to Stir Bitcoin Market

Bitcoin’s two-day rally has stalled as the U.S. dollar gains ground in the wake of Joe Biden’s fiscal stimulus announcement.

The U.S. President-elect proposed an emergency relief package worth $1.9 trillion at around 00:15 UTC when bitcoin was changing hands near $39,600. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency by market value is trading down near $38,000, according to CoinDesk 20 data.

The lack of a bullish response by the bitcoin market is perhaps surprising, given that fiscal/monetary stimulus is inflationary and bitcoin is widely considered a store of value. Public-listed companies such as MicroStrategy bought bitcoin in the second half of 2020 to preserve the value of their treasury.

The strength of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies could be playing spoilsport. The performance of USD on the Dollar Index (DXY) has affected the cryptocurrency’s price in the past, and the negative correlation between the two assets is strengthening, as noted by CoinDesk Research.

The DXY is currently trading modestly higher on the day near 90.40. Meanwhile, European equities and S&P 500 futures are trading lower, and gold is trading flat, according to data source Investing.com.

“A lot of the optimism surrounding another injection of U.S. fiscal stimulus had already been priced in ahead of the keenly-awaited announcement,” ForexTime market analyst Han Tann noted in his daily analysis. Axios had previously suggested Biden would push for a $3 trillion relief package.

With the stimulus expectations, the dollar is rising, possibly on the back of the classic “sell the rumor, buy the news” trade and capping upside in bitcoin.

Analysts, however, expect the greenback’s bounce to be short-lived. “Biden’s stimulus plan has given some strength to the U.S. dollar. However, it remains firmly bearish for the medium term,” Matthew Dibb, COO, and co-founder of Stack Funds, told CoinDesk. “Any further depreciation of the greenback will lead to a bitcoin rally.”

Source coindesk.com

JPMorgan Provides $100M Financing Facility for Blockchain Mortgage Platform Figure

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Source coindesk.com

Researchers Disclose Undocumented Chinese Malware Used in Recent Attacks

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed a series of attacks by a threat actor of Chinese origin that has targeted organizations in Russia and Hong Kong with malware — including a previously undocumented backdoor.

Attributing the campaign to Winnti (or APT41), Positive Technologies dated the first attack to May 12, 2020, when the APT used LNK shortcuts to extract and run the malware payload. A second attack detected on May 30 used a malicious RAR archive file consisting of shortcuts to two bait PDF documents claimed to be a curriculum vitae and an IELTS certificate.

The shortcuts themselves contain links to pages hosted on Zeplin, a legitimate collaboration tool for designers and developers that are used to fetch the final-stage malware that, in turn, includes a shellcode loader (“svchast.exe”) and a backdoor called Crosswalk (“3t54dE3r.tmp”).

Crosswalk, first documented by FireEye in 2017, is a bare-bones modular backdoor capable of carrying out system reconnaissance and receiving additional modules from an attacker-controlled server as shellcode.

While this modus operandi shares similarities with that of the Korean threat group Higaisa — which was found exploiting LNK files attached in an email to launching attacks on unsuspecting victims in 2020 — the researchers said the use of Crosswalk suggests the involvement of Winnti.

This is also supported by the fact that the network infrastructure of the samples overlaps with previously known APT41 infrastructure, with some of the domains traced back to Winnti attacks on the online video game industry in 2013.

The new wave of attacks is no different. Notably, among the targets include Battlestate Games, a Unity3D game developer from St. Petersburg.

Furthermore, the researchers found additional attack samples in the form of RAR files that contained Cobalt Strike Beacon as the payload, with the hackers in one case referencing the U.S. protests related to the death of George Floyd last year as a lure.

In another instance, Compromised certificates belonging to a Taiwanese company called Zealot Digital were abused to strike organizations in Hong Kong with Crosswalk and Metasploit injectors, as well as ShadowPad, Paranoid PlugX, and a new .NET backdoor called FunnySwitch.

The backdoor, which appears to be still under development, is capable of collecting system information and running arbitrary JScript code. It also shares a number of common features with Crosswalk, leading the researchers to believe that they were written by the same developers.

Previously, Paranoid PlugX had been linked to attacks on companies in the video games industry in 2017. Thus, the deployment of the malware via Winnti’s network infrastructure adds credence to the “relationship” between the two groups.

“Winnti continues to pursue game developers and publishers in Russia and elsewhere,” the researchers concluded. “Small studios tend to neglect information security, making them a tempting target. Attacks on software developers are especially dangerous for the risk they pose to end users, as already happened in the well-known cases of CCleaner and ASUS.”

Source TheHackersNews

Crypto Mining Hardware Manufacturer Whatsminer Plans to Launch Public Offering in the US

One of the world’s biggest bitcoin mining machine manufacturers is preparing to go public in the United States. China-based Whatsminer is reportedly looking to obtain additional funds to buy Samsung chips with the initial public offering (IPO).

Whatsminer’s Revenue Could Hit $1 to $2 Billion in 2021

According to Chinese media outlets and Asian journalist Collin Wu, the company’s market value can exceed “tens of billions.”

Citing three sources familiar with the matter, Wu says that such a move could help the mining giant obtain more funds to increase its production capacity.

The founder of Whatsminer, Yang Zuoxing, is a former employee of Bitmain, and he claims to be the pioneer of the S9 mining devices Bitmain produces. Back in 2019, Bitmain sued him for “infringement of trade secrets.”

Whatsminer’s IPO plans include going public, on Nasdaq. The US public listing plans have been in the works since 2019. However, the aforementioned legal issues with Bitmain ahve delayed the listing.

Per Weixin, due to the surge in mining machines’ price, Whatsminer’s revenue could hit $1 to $2 billion in 2021. That’s why the expectations around the company are high in anticipation of the IPO, said Wu.

Although a timeline is not set yet, Weixin forecasts that both Whatsminer and Bitmain could be listed in the U.S. in the next two years.

Latest Moves in the Crypto Mining Industry

Overall, the crypto mining world has been quite lively in the last few months, especially in the manufacturing industry. 500.com Ltd reached an initial agreement to acquire mining machines from an unnamed non-U.S. seller. The transaction will allow the company to acquire mining machines, including such models as the M20s from Microbt S17, T17, and S9 from Bitmain.

On December 16, 2020, news.Bitcoin.com reported that the latest generation mining rigs’ prices have gone up 35% since the beginning of November.

What are your thoughts on Whatsminer’s IPO plans? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Source bitcoin.com

Bitcoin ETP Trading at Levels Seen by Top European ETFs: FT

Only one major ETF was trading at volumes slightly higher than the BTCetc ETP in the first 11 days of January, says the FT.



Source coindesk.com

Ripple Tech to Power New Malaysia-Bangladesh Remittance Corridor

Ripple has inked a deal with a Malaysian money transfer business and Bangladesh’s largest mobile financial services provider to enable a remittance corridor between the two countries.

According to an announcement Tuesday, Malaysia’s Mobile Money and Bangladesh’s bKash will leverage Ripple’s global payments network, RippleNet, for wallet-to-wallet transactions.

“This partnership will … contribute further to our national economy by encouraging inward foreign remittance flow through legal channels,” said bKash CEO Kamal Quadir.

Under the purview of Bangladesh’s central bank, Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) will function as the domestic banking partner to undertake remittance settlements.

While MobileMoney represents a small fraction of Malaysia’s mobile payments, bKash boasts a user base exceeding 45 million. The company currently captures a large portion of the country’s remittance flows, the third-largest in South Asia.

“Last year, Bangladesh remittances reached an all-time high of 18.2 billion U.S. dollars with the majority of these remittances coming from Malaysia, Middle Eastern countries and the U.S.,” said Mutual Bank CEO Syed Mahbubur Rahman.

The partners do not seem deterred by Ripple’s legal troubles in the U.S. The company is being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the claim it violated federal securities laws by selling the XRP cryptocurrency to retail consumers.

Source coindesk.com

Bitcoin Worth $1.2M Seized From India Hacker

“Shreeki” allegedly hacked government portals, bitcoin exchanges and poker sites.



Source coindesk.com

Liquidators of South African Bitcoin Trading Club Request Greater Probe Powers

Provisional liquidators are seeking greater powers to investigate a defunct cryptocurrency trading firm after it was allegedly discovered to be lying to investors and operating illegally.

According to a report by Bloomberg on Friday, Mirror Trading International (MTI) is set to be put under the microscope by four liquidators following an investigation from South Africa’s Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) last year.

A kind of trading club, the firm had claimed to be able to create profits of 10% per month by using bots to carry out high-frequency trading using client’s pooled bitcoin.

The liquidators now want to increase their powers to include the right to call witnesses to an insolvency trial, appoint additional investigators and request financial information from banks. They may also request the ability to operate across multiple jurisdictions, according to Herman Bester, one of the four provisional supervisors appointed to commence the investigation into MTI, according to the report.

MTI was placed under provisional liquidation last month. That has remained unopposed, despite CEO Johann Steynberg in November telling investors that his embattled firm was being targeted by “every single attack imaginable,” and that claims it was mismanaged are untrue.

Initially declared as fraudulent by Texas state regulators in July last year, the FSCA probe concluded MTI deliberately misled investors and operated a financial service without a license. A criminal case has been opened with South African police.

According to the report, investors from the U.S. and Canada, Namibia and South Africa are preparing to lodge claims having failed to recover their funds from MTI. The firm is said to still hold $880 million-worth of users’ bitcoin.

The company’s last interaction with investors was on Dec. 22, 2020 when the firm’s management said the CEO was nowhere to be found, that they had been lied to and were now cooperating with authorities.

Source coindesk.com

Coinbase Issues a Public Apology to EU and UK Customers — Did Not Address Its Global Issues

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase published a statement addressing their U.K. and E.U. customers, apologizing for system outages and account restrictions. The company also recognized their customer support “has not been at the levels” expected.

High Flow of Incoming Customers

According to the public apology, the U.S.-based crypto company said customers from both regions have been facing transaction restrictions. However, Coinbase didn’t make a direct mea culpa for its global issues, that occured precisely when volatility and velocity increased in the crypto markets.

Coinbase blamed the recent “sustained market rally that has brought a significant number of new customers” onto the platform.

Moreover, Coinbase claims that the regulatory environment is not helpful in this situation:

Evolving regulatory requirements mean that we have to collect additional information from some of our customers, which has meant temporary restrictions being placed on their accounts as we request that information.

But the firm admitted that they could do “a better job in communicating” regulatory obligations and requirements to their customers. However, they didn’t provide full details on the matter in the statement.

As additional measures to deal with the issues, the crypto exchange detailed that they’ll prioritize pending customer information requests. Also, Coinbase will send push notifications and emails, asking for additional information to more quickly remove restrictions.

Another of the changes rolled out by the firm is the re-enabling of a feature exclusive for their U.K. customers:

We have re-enabled a feature that allows U.K. customers to directly convert crypto into fiat currency (GBP/EUR) and transfer it into their Paypal accounts.

Coinbase’s Background on System Outages

Coinbase’s system reliability is often on the radar when bitcoin (BTC) volatility heats up, especially when it reaches new all-time highs.

Over the last weekend, the San Francisco trading platform had an issue with “delayed transfers.” The day prior, it suffered from “delayed transfers and elevated error rate.”

In another instance on Monday, the analyst Willy Woo tweeted about the San Francisco exchange Coinbase and stated that “buys on Coinbase are not completing.” The issue this time happened amid a larger bitcoin price drop.

As of press time, while the platform is working well, some customers have been experiencing a delay with ID verification, according to Coinbase’s status page.

What are your thoughts on the Coinbase mea culpa? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Source bitcoin.com

EU Parliament Receives Petition Seeking to Establish Crypto Crime Victims' Fund

A petition to the European Parliament hopes to persuade the bloc to provide financial support to victims of cryptocurrency crime.

The petition, filed Wednesday by lawyer Jonathan Levy, seeks the implementation of a “regulatory scheme to compensate victims” who were fleeced of digital assets by fraud, hacks and extortion. To date, 44 supporters have signed the petition.

Levy wants the EU to implement a .0001 cent per euro fee on cryptocurrency transactions that would be pooled into a “victim superfund,” according to a press release sent to CoinDesk.

The lawyer represents clients who have suffered losses exceeding €50 million (US$60.7 million) and is joined by class representatives for the 240,000 account holders caught up in the alleged exit scam by Irish cryptocurrency exchange Bitsane.

At today’s prices, the victim’s funds lost to the Irish exchange would be worth as much as €1 billion (US$1.2 billion), according to Levy.

“Victims of the collapsed  Irish cryptocurrency exchange Bitsane are still awaiting justice,” he said, claiming that Irish authorities had “accomplished little or nothing” to track down Bitsane users’ stolen funds.

Source coindesk.com

Bitcoin Cash Analysis: Dips Turned Attractive Near $485

• Bitcoin cash price started a fresh increase above the $450 resistance against the US Dollar.


• The price climbed above the $485 resistance and the 55 simple moving average (4-hours).


• There is a major bearish trend line forming with resistance near $520 on the 4-hours chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Coinbase).


• The pair could either rally further above $520 or it might dip sharply below the $485 support.

Bitcoin cash price is showing positive signs above $485 against the US Dollar, similar to bitcoin. BCH/USD is likely to accelerate higher once it clears the $520 resistance.

Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis

After forming a support base near the $400 level, bitcoin cash price started a strong increase. BCH price broke many hurdles near $450 and $455 to move into a positive zone.

The upward move gained pace above the $485 level and the 55 simple moving average (4-hours). The price even cleared the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the key decline from the $4654 high to $398 low. There was a spike above the $500 level, but the price seems to be facing hurdles near $535.

There is also a major bearish trend line forming with resistance near $520 on the 4-hours chart of the BCH/USD pair. The trend line is close to the 50% Fib retracement level of the key decline from the $4654 high to $398 low.

A clear break above the trend line resistance and then $535 could open the doors for a larger increase. In the stated case, the price could surge towards the $550 and $565 levels. Any more losses might call for a test of the $600 level.

On the downside, the price is likely to remain stable above $485 and the 55 simple moving average (4-hours). A downside break below the $485 support may possibly lead the price towards the $450 level. The main support is still near the $400 level.

Bitcoin Cash Price

Looking at the chart, bitcoin cash price is clearly holding gains above $485 and the 55 SMA (H4). Overall, the price could either rally further above $520 or it might dip sharply below the $485 support.

Technical indicators

4 hours MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is slowly losing pace in the bullish zone.

4 hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD is currently above the 50 level.

Key Support Levels – $485 and $450.

Key Resistance Levels – $520 and $550.

The post Bitcoin Cash Analysis: Dips Turned Attractive Near $485 appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

Source livebitcoinnews.com

Charted: Chainlink (LINK) Revisits $18, Why It Could Soon Break $20

Chainlink (LINK) is up 15% and it broke many hurdles near $16.20, similar to bitcoin and ethereum. The price is testing a major barrier at $18.00, above which it could test $20.00.

• Chainlink token price is showing a lot of positive signs above the $16.20 level against the US dollar.


• The price is now testing the $18.00 resistance and it is well above the 100 simple moving average (4-hours).


• There was a break above a key bearish trend line with resistance at $16.20 on the 4-hours chart of the LINK/USD pair (data source from Kraken).


• The price is likely to accelerate higher if there is a clear break above the $18.00 level.

Chainlink (LINK) Rally Could Gather Momentum

In the past few sessions, there was a steady increase in bitcoin, Ethereum, bitcoin cash, chainlink (LINK), and other major altcoins. LINK price broke a major hurdle near $16.20 to start the current upward move.

There was also a break above a key bearish trend line with resistance at $16.20 on the 4-hours chart of the LINK/USD pair. The pair gained pace above $17.00 and it even spiked above the $18.00 resistance level.

It seems like the price is again struggling to gain pace above the $18.00 level. A high is formed near $18.75 and the price is currently correcting lower. It is trading below $18.00. An initial support on the downside is near the $17.25 level.

Source: LINKUSD on TradingView.com

The 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent increase from the $12.48 swing low to $18,76 high is also near the $17.25 level. If there are more downsides, the price might continue to move down towards $16.20.

On the upside, the $18.00 zone is a key breakout area. The next major resistance for LINK is near the $18.50 level. A close above the $18.00 and $18.50 levels could open the doors for a larger increase in the near term. The next stop could be $20.00, followed by $20.40.

Downsides Supported?

If there is a fresh decline, chainlink’s price is likely to find buyers near the $16.20 level. The next major support on the downside is near the $15.60 zone (a multi-touch zone).

The 50% Fib retracement level of the recent increase from the $12.48 swing low to $18,76 high is also near the $15.60 level to provide support.

Technical Indicators

4-hours MACD – The MACD for LINK/USD is gaining momentum in the bullish zone.

4-hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for LINK/USD is currently close to the 70 level.

Major Support Levels – $17.25, $16.20 and $15.60.

Major Resistance Levels – $18.00, $18.50 and $20.00.

Source newsbtc.com

Anchorage Obtains Federal License to Operate as Crypto Bank From the OCC

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted conditional approval to crypto custodian Anchorage to launch the first federally chartered digital asset bank in the country.

In a statement on Jan. 13, 2021, the OCC said the company received the national trust banking charter, which allows it to create Anchorage Digital Bank, following a thorough review of its operations.

With the approval, Anchorage will now be expected to comply with the capital and liquidity requirements of the OCC and certain risk management procedures. The firm signed an agreement with the banking regulator to this effect.

“By bringing this applicant into the federal banking system, the bank and industry will benefit from the OCC’s extensive supervisory experience and expertise,” said the regulator, a unit of the U.S. Treasury Department.

“At the same time, the Anchorage approval demonstrates that the national bank charters were provided under the National Bank Act are broad and flexible enough to accommodate evolving approaches to financial services in the 21st century,” it added.

Founded in 2017 by Nathan McCauley and Diogo Mónica, Anchorage provides crypto custody and trading services to institutional investors. The firm reportedly manages around $100 billion in transactions per year.

Anchorage filed for a national banking charter last year, hoping, among other things, to make it easier for conventional banks to offer crypto services via what it calls sub-custody with the company.

In a blog post on Wednesday, McCauley and Mónica detailed:

Having a national bank charter places Anchorage Digital Bank firmly on the same regulatory footing as other national banks in the country. Since our founding, we’ve been credited numerous times with blurring the lines between crypto and traditional finance. Today, we’re happy to see those lines begin to be erased.

Anchorage becomes the first cryptocurrency entity to receive a federal charter. However, last year Kraken and Avanti were both licensed to operate as digital asset banks by Wyoming state. The state charter allows the duo to go national, but there are limits.

The Anchorage banking charter is being hailed as an important development in the growth of the crypto industry in the U.S. Under Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks, the OCC has shown some progress in building the nascent sector. Last year, the regulator allowed banks to use stablecoins and public blockchains for settlement. The OCC also gave the green light for U.S. banks to hold stablecoin reserves for issuers.

What do you think about Anchorage’s national banking charter? 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.

Source bitcoin.com

TA: Ethereum Struggles Near $1,250: Why ETH Remains Attractive On Dips

Ethereum gained bullish momentum above the $1,150 resistance against the US Dollar. ETH price broke the $1.200 resistance, but it struggled to clear the $1,250 level.

• Ethereum started a steady increase above the $1,150 and $1,200 resistance levels.


• The price is facing a resistance near $1,250 level, but it is above the 100 hourly simple moving average.


• There is a major bullish trend line forming with support near $1,200 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).


• The pair could correct lower, but the previous resistance near $1,150 could act as a strong support.

Ethereum Price Turns Green

There was a strong increase in bitcoin and Ethereum above $38,500 and $1,150 respectively. ETH price gained bullish momentum after it broke the $1,150 resistance and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

The price even broke the $1,200 and $1,220 resistance levels. However, the bears were active near the $1,250 level. The bulls made two attempts to clear the $1,250 zone, but they failed. The recent high was formed near $1,252 and the price is currently consolidating gains.

Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com

It already tested the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent increase from the $983 swing low to $1,252 high. On the downside, there is a major bullish trend line forming with support near $1,200 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD.

A downside break below the trend line support could lead the price towards the $1,150 support zone. On the upside, the $1,250 level is a major breakout zone. A clear break above the $1,250 level could open the doors for a steady increase in the coming sessions. The next key resistance is near the $1,300 and $1,320 levels.

Dips Supported in ETH?

If ethereum corrects lower below the trend line and $1,200, it could find a strong support near $1,150 and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

The next major support is near $1,120. It is close to the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent increase from the $983 swing low to $1,252 high. Any more losses may possibly call for a fresh decline towards the $1,050 support level in the near term.

Technical Indicators

Hourly MACD – The MACD for ETH/USD is slowly losing pace in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI for ETH/USD is moving lower towards the 55 level.

Major Support Level – $1,150

Major Resistance Level – $1,250

Source newsbtc.com

Nigerian Youth Propels the Country to the Top of Google Bitcoin Search Rankings

Nigeria, one of the biggest cryptocurrency markets in the world, recently emerged as the country with the highest number of bitcoin searches globally, according to Google Trends data. The data shows that the West African country has a search score of 100, which is more than double that of its nearest rival.

Youth-Driven Interest

According to one local report, Nigeria’s rise to the top of bitcoin search rankings signals the growing utility of the crypto in that country. The report also explains that country’s youth have been the decisive force behind this surge in bitcoin searches. This assertion is supported by Senator Ihenyen, the new president of the Stakeholders in the Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN).

In his reaction to Nigeria’s new status, Ihenyen insists this is hardly surprising for a country with a “median age of 18.4.” He contends that in such a scenario, “interest in bitcoin and its adoption should be expected.”

As the Google Trends data confirms, the Nigerian interest in bitcoin is also decentralized with the Delta State ranked first in that country. Lagos, the “most populous city” in Africa is ranked a distant 17th. According to the SIBAN leader, this decentralization of interest suggests that BTC is seen by the youth as “represent(ing) the democratization of access to global wealth.”

Decentralized Interest

Meanwhile, Ihenyen points out that while institutional investor interest in bitcoin is taking hold in countries like the United States, interest for BTC “in Nigeria is as decentralized as the cryptocurrency itself.” The SIBAN president explains:

Nigerians are experiencing the level of financial inclusion that many have expected for too long. The freedom of money is a powerful thing, especially in a borderless, digital economy. Whether for remittances, e-commerce, bitcoin trading, more and more Nigerians are taking interest in bitcoin daily.

According to Ihenyen, this growing interest be cannot be stopped but “can it be maximized and managed.” He adds that policymakers and regulators should therefore be searching for ways to maximize and manage this interest instead of “looking for the red button.”

In the meantime, the Google Trends data also shows that two more African countries, namely South Africa (2) and Ghana (5), make it into the top five of the rankings. The next highest-ranked African country to feature on the list is Kenya at number 14.

What does it mean for Nigeria to be ranked number on the bitcoin search list? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Google Trends,

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.

Source bitcoin.com

TA: Bitcoin Revisits $40K, What Are Chances of BTC Hitting New ATH

Bitcoin price recovered further and surged above the $38,000 resistance against the US Dollar. BTC even spiked above $40,000 and it is likely preparing for more upsides.

• Bitcoin remained well bid and it managed to climb above the 38,000 and $38,500 resistance levels.


• The price is now trading nicely above the $38,500 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.


• There is a key contracting triangle forming with resistance near $39,425 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).


• The pair could surge again if it clears the $39,400 and $39,500 resistance levels in the near term.

Bitcoin Price Gains Traction

After a successful break and a follow up move above $36,000, bitcoin price started a strong increase. BTC broke a couple of key hurdles near the $38,000 level to move further into a bullish zone.

The price gained pace and broke the $39,200 resistance. It even spiked above the $40,000 resistance and settled above the 100 hourly simple moving average. A high is formed near the $40,212 level and the price is currently consolidating gains.

It corrected below the $39,500 and $39,200 levels. A low is formed near $38,052 level and the price is currently forming a breakout pattern. It climbed above the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $40,212 high to $38,052 low.

It seems like there is a key contracting triangle forming with resistance near $39,425 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. The triangle resistance is close to the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $40,212 high to $38,052 low.

If there is a clear upside break above the triangle resistance, the price could clear the $40,000 level. In the stated case, bitcoin price might aim a strong surge and the bulls are likely to aim a new all-time high in the coming sessions.

Fresh Dip in BTC?

If bitcoin fails to clear the triangle resistance and $40,000, there is a risk of a fresh decline. An initial support is near the $38,500 level.

A downside break below the $38,500 and $38,000 support levels may possibly push the price towards the main $36,000 support zone in the near term.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is slowly losing momentum in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is moving lower towards the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $38,500, followed by $36,000.

Major Resistance Levels – $39,450, $40,000 and $41,800.

Source newsbtc.com

Etoro Warns Customers to Brace for Suspension of Crypto Buy Orders due to an 'Unprecedented Demand'

Etoro, a trading and investing platform, has warned its customers to brace for possible limitations on their buy orders this coming weekend. The company says it might be forced to take this and other steps if the anticipated and unprecedented surge in demand for cryptos occurs.

Unprecedented Demand and Limited Liquidity

The Israeli company’s warning follows its curb of European investors’ “ability to trade cryptocurrencies on margin” in the past week. The company had reportedly made this decision in “response to soaring risks in the market.”

Etoro’s notice, which implies that customer demand for cryptos remains high, comes less than a week after the BTC price plunged by more than 20% in less than 48 hours. This plunge caused the value of the entire cryptocurrency market to drop from over $1.1 trillion to $854 billion. Meanwhile, this recent BTC plunge occurred shortly after the crypto set a new all-time high (ATH) of over $41,900.

Still, in its notice, Etoro suggests that demand for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is outstripping the supply. In the email sent to customers on Jan. 13, Etoro says:

The unprecedented demand for crypto, coupled with limited liquidity, presents challenges to our ability to support buy orders over the weekend. In light of this, it may be necessary for us to place limitations on crypto buy orders over the weekend.

Therefore, as part of the steps to curb this unprecedented demand, Etoro says it may set a “maximum exposure per crypto-asset per client.” Additionally, the trading platform might consider “temporarily suspending the ability to place new crypto buy orders.”

Incredible Volatility

Furthermore, one report quotes an unnamed Etoro spokesperson saying “crypto markets are incredibly volatile at the moment and the weekends present the greatest challenges.” This market volatility is epitomized by bitcoin which on Jan. 13 had regained 10% of value in 24 hours of trading.

At the time of writing, bitcoin is trading at about $39,341 and its market capitalization is about $733 billion.

What are your thoughts on Etoro’s limitation plan? You can share your views in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Source bitcoin.com