Chain News Daily Today TheBitTimes.com

A former team leader of Terra report edly testified against Do Kwon, saying he knew that the project was legally problematic. The 14th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court engaged the first witness on Feb. 5 in a case against Do Kwon. According to a report from the daily newspaper Chosun, the South Korean court heard testimony from a witness known only as “Lee,” which local media report was a former leader of the Terra development team, who testified against Terra founder Do Kwon and Terraform Labs co-founder Shin Hyun-seung. Lee acknowledged during the testimony that he was aware of the legal challenges facing Terra, citing discussions with Do Kwon as the source of his realization about regulatory obstacles. Lee’s testimony also highlighted the operational framework of Terra, which aimed to establish LUNA as a functioning currency through the “ChaiPay” payment system. The model suggested potential profits based on the expected increase in the...

Cybersecurity company SlowMist analyzed social network X for malicious content. Scam sleuths came to the conclusion that over 80% of comments under publications of well-known projects are related to phishing software . In a report by SlowMist, scammers were found to be actively purchasing X accounts to use for scamming purposes. Users are usually sold in the Telegram messenger application, where there is an active market for this category of clients, experts claim. According to the study, attackers are typically offered a wide selection of accounts, among which there are accounts similar to the profiles of well-known crypto projects. Such a “product” may have a different number of subscribers and a long date of registration on the platform. After purchasing an account, scammers use advertising tools to increase trust on the social network. With their help, they increase the number of subscribers, likes and promote their profile on site X. Experts note that such services are off...

Bit24.cash, an Iranian exchange, faces KYC data breach affecting 230K users. Research uncovers misconfiguration, exposing passports, IDs, and credit cards. Conflicting claims between Cybernews and Bit24.cash prompt user concerns. Bit24.cash, a prominent Iran ian cryptocurrency exchange, is under scrutiny following report s of a significant security breach . Cybernews researchers uncovered a misconfiguration in the platform’s cloud storage system, leading to unauthorized access and exposing sensitive Know Your Customer (KYC) data of nearly 230,000 users. The incident raises concerns about user data protection in the cryptocurrency industry, as conflicting narratives emerge between the research findings and Bit24.cash’s official response. Passports, IDs, and credit cards info compromised The research by Cybernews exposed a misconfiguration in the exchange’s cloud storage system, providing unauthorized access to KYC data. The compromised inf...

Victoria, Seychelles, December 15th, 2023, Chainwire Bitget Research, the research arm of Bitget, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, has released a research Analysis delving into macro and micro trends within the Bitcoin ecosystem. This report offers insights for investors and outlines potential future technological and financial trends for Bitcoin and its assets within the network for 2024. Given the future macroeconomic environment and market conditions, the Bitcoin ecosystem presents a promising outlook. Not only do popular cryptocurrencies like BTC and ORDI have significant potential for appreciation, but there will also be new exciting opportunities for coins within the Bitcoin ecosystem. While the trading volume in the Bitcoin NFT market has surged, its current scale remains relatively small, indicating the anticipated potential for growth in the future. Simultaneously, the Lightning Network is expected to serve as the ...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proudly announced that it has had another “highly productive and impactful” year enforcing crypto-related misconduct, highlighting cases like Terraform Labs, Richard Heart, and Sam Bankman-Fried. According to its fiscal year report published on Tuesday, the SEC filed more enforcement actions this year than in 2022, with 784 in total — up 3% from last year. Of these, 501 are stand-alone enforcement actions, marking an 8% increase year-on-year. The commission ordered almost $5 billion in financial remedies in 2023 and distributed nearly $1 billion to harmed investors, the report added. The $5B in remedies obtained this year makes it the second-most lucrative year for the SEC, after the record-breaking numbers of 2022. In 2022, the SEC also distributed over $900 million to harmed investors. This year’s SEC Whistleblower Program awarded a record-breaking $279 million to one person who submitted a useful tip....

In August, the IRS unveiled its proposed crypto tax report ing requirements, which are slated to become enforceable in 2026. However, a group of seven senators, including prominent figures like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, believes that this timeline falls short of the urgency required. These senators have jointly petitioned the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to expedite the implementation of a rule that mandates specific tax report ing obligations for crypto brokers as swiftly as possible. In a letter dated October 10, addressed to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, they expressed their concerns about the two-year postponement in instituting these crypto tax report ing requirements. The regulations, as currently outlined, are set to take effect in 2026 for transactions occurring in 2025. The senators argue that this delay could potentially cost the IRS approximately $50 billion in annual tax revenue and perpetuat...

Web3 platform Galxe experiences a security breach, as several users report losing access to their funds and wallets. Leading web3 community-building platform Galxe has suffered a security breach. Multiple users have report ed being unable to access their funds and wallets on the platform . The Galxe website is also down.  The platform has posted multiple cautions for users to disconnect their wallets from the platform and not to confirm any transaction. According to the latest information, the breach was the result of a DNS account conducted through the platform’s domain nameservers on Dynadot, a domain marketplace. Update: We’ve detected a security breach affecting the DNS record for “https://t.co/yxdPH0SijN” through our Dynadot account. Please refrain from visiting the site from all channels while we are resolving the issue. Your safety remains our utmost priority. — Galxe (@Galxe) October 6, 2023 Users have been urgently advised to transfer funds from their Galxe acco...

British Members of Parliament (MPs) have claimed that crypto has “no intrinsic value and no useful social purpose” while suggesting the space may be better regulated if it’s treated more like gambling.  The comments were made in a new report on regulating crypto in the UK , published on Wednesday by the Treasury Select Committee, a panel of ​​MPs from across the political spectrum. The report claims that regulating retail trading and investment activity in unbacked crypto assets (such as bitcoin and ether) as a financial service, will “create a ‘halo’ effect, leading consumers to believe this activity is safe and protected when it is not.” Instead, the report says UK crypto should be regulated like gambling .  “Unbacked crypto assets have no intrinsic value, and their price volatility exposes consumers to the potential for substantial gains or losses while serving no useful social purpose,” the report reads. “These characteristics more closely resemble gambling than a financ...

The NFT market needs to weed outwash traders to become a sustainable and reliable environment. The nonfungible token (NFT) market has seen an unprecedented number of new NFT collections introduced in 2022 despite the year-long crypto winter, showing that the turbulent state of the crypto market was not enough to deter NFT creators and collectors. With more than half a million new contracts across Ethereum, Polygon and Avalanche, the NFT market inevitably met with its own set of troubles, with the primary issue being NFT wash trading. A recent study by AI-powered NFT analytics provider bitsCrunch and Cointelegraph Research titled “BitsCrunch NFT Wash Trade Report for 2022” revealed that over 610,000 new NFT contracts were made during 2022, showing an 860% jump from the previous year. This translated into over 85 million new NFTs, largely thanks to the recent surges in NFT gaming and sports-related collectibles. The total NFT sale volume for 2022 hit $54 billion, with Yuga Labs, the tea...