Brainwallets, especially those generated with passphrases from popular culture references, might not be as safe as previously imagined.
Pop Culture References Make for Vulnerable Keys
According to a report published by BitMEX Research on Oct. 13, brainwallets might be easy to crack with hackers purportedly setting up servers to crawl the blockchain in search of victims. A brainwallet or “mind wallet,” as the name implies, refers to storing Bitcoin (BTC) in a user’s own brain by committing a seed phrase to memory.
Thus, rather than owning a wallet app or hardware storage, brainwallets store Bitcoin in one’s own mind. The process is fairly straightforward as it involves using a seed generation service like Electrum or Armory to create a passphrase for a BTC wallet that is

Software and EOS developer Block.one announced the news of Google Cloud joining the community via a blog post published earlier today, on Oct. 6.According to the announcement, apart from joining the network, Google Cloud is also aiming to become a BP on the chain.The decision to allow Google Cloud to become a BP will be put to a vote among token holders. Currently, 21 BPs form the core part of the EOS network. Also, joining the public blockchain platform will mean that the tech behemoth will bring its premium infrastructure that would benefit the EOS network.The latest development underscores the growing confluence of blockchain and the broader tech scene. Block.one’s CEO. Brendan Blumer stated that “EOS is a powerful solution for anyone looking to leverage the decentralized ecosystem with

Yield chasers in search of the next “DeFi gem” are falling victim to elaborate scams with rogue actors on the prowl, using cleverly devised malicious contract codes to steal funds.From “rug pulls” to outright absconding with presale funds, the activities of DeFi scammers are threatening to overshadow the novel developments in the emerging crypto market niche.DeFi Farming Hopeful Loses 36,000 UNI TokensTweeting on Oct. 5, Alex Manuskin, a researcher at crypto keyless wallet maker ZenGo, revealed that an anonymous “Chad” with the moniker Jhon Doe unknowingly lost UNI tokens worth $140K. This loss came as a result of Doe’s participation in a fraudulent yield farming project.The anonymous yield chaser seeking to leverage on the yield farming hype decided to put some of his UNI tokens in

The Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released a proposed cryptocurrency regulation guideline while classifying crypto assets as securities.Crypto Regulations UnderwayAccording to an official release on Monday (September 14, 2020), the Nigeria SEC announced that the commission is looking at a three-pronged approach towards regulating the crypto industry. The SEC also stated that the aim of the proposed regulation was to promote market efficiency and transparency and not impede the nascent technology. Back in September 2019, the SEC set up a committee to develop a guideline that would see the inclusion of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the country’s capital market. The latest development signals a progressive step for the emerging industry. In the release,

The U.S. SEC has fined Atlanta-based rapper Clifford Harris Jr, better known as T.I, along with other individuals for their involvement in two fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) projects.T.I, Others Pay $125K in PenaltiesAccording to a press release by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday (September 11, 2020), T.I, along with businessman Ryan Felton and three other individuals based in Atlanta, were involved in a fake pump and dump ICO scheme. The rapper was cleared of all fraud charges back in March 2020.In 2018, aggrieved investors sued the rapper and Felton after the victims failed to reap the rewards of their investment. The FLiK token created in 2017 started with six cents, with the price hoping to rise to almost $15 under 15 months.Also, T.I promoted the

The Bitcoin (BTC) price dip seen on Thursday has triggered a cascade of forced liquidation on derivatives exchanges like BitMEX and Bitfninex. U.S. stocks have also taken a beating, with the markets experiencing its worst performance since June.Bitcoin Long Bloodbath as BTC Price Falls to $10,700According to data from the crypto derivatives analytics platform Datamish, about $131 million in Bitcoin Longs on the BitMEX exchange got liquidated, following Bitcoin’s plunge to below $10,500.As earlier reported by CryptoPotato, Bitcoin price shed $1500 in 48 hours, with the price of Ethereum and other altcoins also nosediving. Such was the extent of Thursday’s price crash that the total cryptocurrency market capitalization is down by over $40 billion.Apart from BitMEX long traders suffering as a

Zug, a canton in Switzerland, will be the first canton to start accepting cryptocurrency for tax payment purposes starting from February 2021.Zug Canton Partners with Bitcoin Suisse for Crypto Tax PaymentAccording to an announcement by the canton on Zug on Thursday (September 3, 2020), taxpayers in the canton will have the option of paying taxes in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). The crypto tax payment option which is open to both individuals and companies will see taxpayers pay taxes to the tune of CHF 100,000 ($110,000)The crypto tax payment functionality comes via a partnership with Bitcoin Suisse, a cryptocurrency broker headquartered in Zug. As part of the collaboration, Bitcoin Suisse will help convert crypto to francs to avoid the state incurring losses due to price

The popular Bitcoin exchange Bithumb in South Korea has reportedly been raided by the authorities. This happened because of fraud allegations.Bithumb Accused of Fraud by South Korean PoliceAccording to a report by a local news outlet, the Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Police authorities raided South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb. The authorities raided the company’s headquarters on Wednesday (September 2, 2020), under allegations of fraud.Bithumb earlier conducted a presale of its native BXA tokens to investors worth 30 billion won ($25.2million), which was supposed to be listed on the exchange. However, the company reportedly failed to list the token, costing a massive loss to investors.Consequently, law enforcement stormed the exchange’s

Popular cryptocurrency advocate John McAfee has ghosted his Ghost project, citing incompetence of the management team.McAfee Ghosts GhostTweeting on Wedsnesday (August 19, 2020), McAfee announced that he was dumping Ghost, a privacy-centered project. Back in April, McAfee announced the Ghost privacy coin, which uses proof-of-stake (PoS) and will ensure users’ privacy by making them “ghosts” when carrying out transactions.The tech guru further explained the reason for his actions, saying:“I tried to explain the fundamental principles of management, but they fell on deaf ears.”McAfee went on to declare that the Ghost project was undoubtedly doomed to fail while apologizing for leading people astray.Wednesday’s decision to exit the project comes as complete 180 from this publicly espoused

Swipe is set to venture into the U.S. market following approval from regulators. The news of the launch caused a rise in the price of its SXP tokens.Swipe Crypto Trading Functionality Coming to 200M AmericansIn a tweet on Tuesday (August 18, 2020), crypto wallet and card provider Swipe announced that it received a go-ahead to launch its services in the United States. According to the announcement, the Binance-owned platform stated that its wallet and debit card would be available in the U.S. following the launch and the revelation of its banking partners.Swipe’s entry into the U.S. market constitutes an expansion of the company’s operations, which has mostly been restricted to the U.S. The crypto card provider offers services in 31 other countries, including Spain, France, and

While segregated witness ‘SegWit’ adoption dipped after mid-March, the utilization of the protocol upgrade on the Bitcoin network is on the rise. Some industry pundits say time is running out for the declining set of non-adopters to embrace SegWit.Bitcoin SegWit Utilization Now Above 65%According to data from Transactionfee, about 65% of daily Bitcoin payments utilize SegWit. This figure indicates an almost 200% increase in SegWit utilization since the release of the Bitcoin Core SegWit.Despite the significant growth in the proportion of Bitcoin SegWit payments, the actual adoption appears to be on the decline. Data from Woolbull chart shows BTC SegWit adoption at 48% down from its all-time high of 57% achieved back in January 2020.Tweeting on the matter on Monday, Bitcoin proponent Aliste

With YAM Financial’s token value almost at zero, the team behind the project has proposed a two-phase migration plan that could see an audited version.Two-Step Migration Process for YAMIn a Medium blog post on Friday (August 14, 2020), the YAM Finance team announced plans for a planned migration to a new protocol called YAM 2.0. According to the team, the migration will be implemented if there is enough support from the community.The migration planned follows from a failure of the YAM developers to resolve a bug found in the rebase contract. As a result, the project crashed, losing over 90% of its dollar value in under one hour.YAM migration plan. Source: MediumAs reported by CryptoPotato on Wednesday, developers of the YAM protocol revealed that there was a bug in the YAM rebasing

YAM Finance, the latest yield farming sensation, witnessed a bug in the rebase mechanism. However, the developers of the protocol assure users that funds are unaffected.Bug Found in Unaudited DeFi ProjectDevelopers at new DeFi sensation have found a bug in the protocol’s rebase contract. The team announced the news via Twitter hours ago.Rebasing refers to the process of setting a new base level for a price index. As an elastic supply token, rebasing should trigger push/pull pressure on YAM token price towards $1 with 10% used to purchase yCRV, a high-yield USD denominated stablecoin.According to the tweet, the bug will cause inflation in the number of YAM token minting after the initial rebase process. However, due to the 10% sell slippage on Uniswap, this extra YAM supply will go straight

MicroStrategy has become the first NASDAQ-listed company to buy Bitcoin as part of its planned capital allocation strategy.Bitcoin is Better than CashAccording to an official press release on Tuesday (August 11, 2020), MicroStrategy bought 21,454 BTC at $250 million. The company stated that Bitcoin, which is seen as an investment asset, is the firm’s main reserve in its treasury.MicroStrategy’s BTC buy follows an earlier statement made in late July. The company revealed that it was going to adopt a two-way capital allocation strategy, which would see the purchase of stock worth $250 million, and another $250 million used for investing in other assets.Michael Saylor, the company’s CEO commented on the decision to go for Bitcoin, According to him, the reason for investing in BTC was because

Crypto commerce in Ireland is about to become a lot more regulated, with lawmakers in the country ready to introduce laws targeted at combating cryptocurrency-related money laundering.Wallets and Exchanges to Come Under Scrutiny in IrelandAccording to the Irish Examiner, Ireland’s cabinet is set to introduce new anti-money laundering (AML) laws. These pieces of legislation will reportedly focus on the use of cryptos in illicit financial activities like money laundering and terrorist financing.The new bill under consideration will bring crypto businesses under the purview of government agencies in a planned expansion of the EU’s fifth anti-money laundering directive (AMLD-5) to include the cryptocurrency sector. According to the report, a specific focus will be on wallets and exchange

China’s blockchain growth in terms of newly added firms in 2020 has surpassed the total figure seen in 2017. With support from the government, startups dedicated to developing decentralized ledger technology (DLT) are increasing in number with the country looking to dominate the emerging digital landscape.Current 2020 Figures Topple 2017’s TotalIn a tweet by blockchain and crypto data platform LongHash on Friday (August 7, 2020), China’s blockchain sector has seen an impressive growth so far in 2020. Between January and July 2020, 10,075 blockchain-based companies sprung up, which is more than the total figure recorded in 2017.In the first 7 months of 2020, there are more than 10,000 newly established blockchain companies in China, more than the total number from all of 2017 🔥

Germany’s financial regulator has come down hard on Bitcoin ATMs that are operating in the country without a license.BaFin Clampdown on Unlicensed Bitcoin ATMsAccording to a report by Handelsblatt, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) targeted operators of Bitcoin ATMs that were working in the country illegally. Only BTC machines with a BaFin license according to the German Banking Act can function in Germany.The report further reveals that the operator of BTC ATMs under the name “Shitcoins Club” has come under the regulator’s sledgehammer. Back in March, BaFin ordered Adam Gramowski, manager of the Shitcoins Club Bitcoin ATMs to cease operations in Germany.Shitcoins Club’s BATMs are scattered in different parts of Europe, including Spain, Italy, and Poland. According

The Coke One North America (CONA) aims to utilize Ethereum’s Baseline Protocol in a new project to manage supply chains across different bottling suppliers.Coca Cola to Create Botting Harbor with Ethereum-based NetworkAccording to a report from Monday (August 3, 2020), CONA established a project called “Coca-Cola Bottling Harbor,” which will leverage the Baseline Protocol. The use of the protocol will ensure that transactions are private and stored on the Ethereum blockchain.The project is an extension of the earlier Hyperledger-based platform used to handle inter-organizational supply chain management for bottling companies. In this new iteration of the system, the beverage giant wants to leverage blockchain technology across a broader range of key market participants in the raw material

Central bank digital currency (CBDC) fever appears to be heating up across the APAC region as The Philippines announces plans to study the possibility of issuing its own sovereign virtual “coin.”Committee to Study Modalities for Possible CBDC IssuanceAccording to a report by Bloomberg on Wednesday (July 29, 2020), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor, Benjamin Diokno, revealed that the central bank has set up a committee for a potential CBDC project. The group will consider the possibility and policy implications of issuing its CBDC.While speaking a virtual briefing the BSP Chief said that the government has a keen interest in blockchain technology. A statement from Diokno reads:“Cryptocurrency for us has always been beyond the asset itself but more on the blockchain technology

President Vladimir Putin of Russia has signed a new law that will prohibit the use of cryptocurrency as a payment means in the country by 2021. Meanwhile, the Russian government recently deployed blockchain technology for its constitutional amendment.Crypto as Payment to Become Illegal in 2021According to a report by local news outlet RIA on Friday (July 31, 2020), the bill signed by President Putin will prevent citizens from using crypto to pay for goods and services in Russia. The bill will, however, enable transactions via digital financial assets (DFA).Also, government officials and other individuals barred from having overseas accounts cannot own cryptocurrencies.Speaking on the new bill, Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, commented that the

Grayscale Investment, operators of the largest crypto hedge fund, is close to reaching a $5B valuation after adding $500M to its assets under management (AUM) is less than a week. Meanwhile, other cryptocurrency funds like Tetras Capital are shuttering after low returns despite market-wide recovery since Black Thursday.
Grayscale Crypto Fund AUM at $4.8B
Tweeting on Monday, Grayscale revealed that its crypto fund AUM was currently at $4.8B. Comparing with the figures from five days ago, it appears that there has been an additional $500 million.

07/27/20 UPDATE: Net Assets Under Management, Holdings per Share, and Market Price per Share for our Investment Products.
Total AUM: $4.8 billion$BTC $BCH $ETH $ETC $ZEN $LTC $XLM $XRP $ZEC pic.twitter.com/JwvRSzk0Ns
— Grayscale (@GrayscaleInvest)

With gold setting a new all-time high (ATH) and Bitcoin (BTC) surging past $11,000 for the first time in over 11 months, market observers say investors are focusing on haven assets while governments prepare for another round of economic stimulus activities.
Market Uncertainty Acting as Tail Winds for Bitcoin and Gold
As of the time of writing, Bitcoin — the largest crypto by market capitalization — has set a new 2020 price high, and gold broke its all-time high.
Much of the recent price revival for these haven assets has come over the last few weeks, with investors worried about the health of the equities market. Tweeting on Monday, ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees predicted that BTC and gold will continue to see gains in the coming months.
According to Voorhees, both assets constitute

Satoshi Nakamoto  — the pseudonymous Bitcoin (BTC) creator — may have mined over 1.1 million bitcoins if the details from a recent report are to be believed. Early Bitcoin miners like Satoshi were able to use CPUs to secure the network during the project’s infancy.The $10.9B Satoshi StashAccording to a report by Whale Alert published on Monday, an in-depth examination of the “Patoshi pattern” puts the Bitcoin creator’s horde at 1,125,150 BTC instead of the more conservative 600k-700k BTC claimed by previous studies. Given the current spot market price, the unknown Bitcoin creator could be holding about $10.9B worth of BTC.Expanding on Sergio Lerner’s 2013 discovery of the Patoshi pattern, Whale Alert claimed to have been able to attribute more blocks to the Bitcoin creator beyond block

National banks and federal saving associations can now offer crypto custody services to customers following approval from regulators in the country.OCC Okays Crypto Custody Operations for US Federal BanksAccording to a letter issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Wednesday, U.S. Federal banks can now offer crypto custody services. The decision follows last month’s request by the OCC for public input on the matter.As part of the letter, the OCC explained the rationale for its decision noting that crypto owners desire safe custody of their tokens from recognized institutions like banks. The OCC also argued that banks offering crypto storage could be beneficial for market participants like investment advisers who require third-party asset custodianship by law.For

Open interest for Bitcoin Futures on major derivatives crypto exchange BitMEX reached an all-time-high (ATH) as it crossed the $1 billion milestone. The record high happened for the first time since the crypto market crashed back in March 2020.Bitcoin Futures Open Interest on BitMEX at 4-Month HighAccording to data from crypto derivatives market data provider Skew, the open interest on Bitcoin Futures on BitMEX crossed the $1B landmark for the first time since Black Thursday. Across the market, total open interest is above $4B.While BitMEX is no longer the number one crypto derivatives exchange, the platform still leads the way in terms of BTC futures open interests. Data showed that BitMEX was ahead of major exchanges like OKEx and Huobi. In terms of BTC futures’ daily aggregated volume,

Brazil’s CVM Says no to Binance Futures Trading: In a statement released on Monday, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) — Brazil’s securities regulator — announced the ban on Binance crypto derivatives trading in the country. According to the CVM, Binance is not authorized to offer securities trading in Brazil.For the CVM, crypto derivatives constitute a securities offering regardless of whether the underlying asset like Bitcoin (BTC) is not a security. Following the statement, Binance must cease providing cryptocurrency derivatives products to residents in Brazil or face daily fines in the equivalent of $186 (or 1,000 Brazilian Real).The prohibition of Binance’s crypto derivatives trading is only the latest in a series of anti-crypto policies in Brazil. As is the case across many

Kraken’s London-based subsidiary, Crypto Facilities, has reportedly become the first firm to get a trading license from the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).Kraken’s Crypto Facilities Becomes First in Europe With Trading LicenseAccording to Financial News on Monday (July 6, 2020), the Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) license will enable the crypto futures platform to offer its derivatives market to institutional investors. Timo Schlaefer, Chief Executive at Crypto Facilities, stated that it took the crypto company about two years to obtain the FCA approval. Schlaefer further said the UK financial regulatory was thorough during the process. Commenting on the importance of the license, Schlaefer said:“Traditional trading firms could have traded with Crypto Facilities

Ravencoin is the latest altcoin project to suffer an inflation bug, after discovering an attack that saw rogue actors mint 315 million counterfeit RVN tokens. Ravencoin Suffers Inflation BugThe Ravecoin network announced the news of the attack via a Medium blog post on Thursday (July 2, 2020). According to the post, the CryptoScope team alerted Ravencoin to the incident. Both teams worked together not to release particulars of the vulnerability to prevent copycat attacks.  Rogue actors were able to carry out the action as a result of a vulnerability in the Ravencoin protocol. According to the official report, the hackers minted about 1.5% of the total supply cap of 21 billion, which amounts to about 315 million “coins.” A statement from the publication reads: “The vulnerability does not

Justin Sun appears keen to see Tron make a splash in the emerging decentralized finance (DeFi) scene. Sun Eyes Tron-based DeFi ExpansionTweeting on Friday (July 3, 2020), the Tron CEO announced three new DeFi products, namely; JUST Lend, JUST Swap, and JUST BTC. According to Sun, the JUST (JST) token will serve as the native coin for the TRON  ecosystem. As part of the tweet, Sun revealed that “JUST Lend” will enable TRON users to earn interests or borrow assets against collateral. “JUST Swap” will be a fully decentralized on-chain protocol for token exchange, while “JUST BTC” will be a TRC20 token pegged to Bitcoin 1:1.The Tron CEO added:“We can’t wait to see the series of JUST products’ all-rounded empowerment, community governance, and fully shareable dividend integrated into the #TRON

Cardano (ADA) is currently among the best-performing token in the top-10 rankings by market capitalization amid the announcement of future token staking capability on Coinbase Custody.ADA Staking on Coinbase Custody Coming in Q4 2020In a tweet published on Friday, Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) — the Cardano parent company — announced a partnership with Coinbase Custody to list the ADA token later in the year. As part of the agreement, ADA “bagholders” will be able to enjoy token staking functionality while enjoying robust cold storage on the Coinbase Custody platform.Voltaire is coming! We’ve announced a pending delivery date for Cardano’s Voltaire era. We’ve issued a full press release, please contact [email protected] for details @InputOutputHK #cardano2020— IOHK Media (@IOHKMedia) July 2,