Author: Cristian Lipciuc

Cristian Lipciuc is a blockchain journalist working with startup companies across multiple domains such as freelancing, app development & cryptocurrency. Cristian specializes in applied blockchain technologies, cryptocurrency integration, the adoption of new technologies by governments, and cybersecurity.

Categories
Crypto Wallets Cryptocurrencies Hackers Illegal

Ledger And Shopify Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Over 2020 Data Breach

One of the most popular hardware wallet companies, Ledger suffered a massive blow to their reputation last year when a massive data breach occurred, causing somewhere between 250,000 and 1,000,000 customer email addresses to be leaked – and among the affected customers, 9500 also had more personal information leaked, such as their names and addresses.

ID Tag Team Theft

It turns out that the incident was actually part of a coordinated effort by two rogue Shopify employees to harvest data from Shopify users, with slightly less than 200 distinct merchants affected.

As Ledger used Shopify’s platform to create their online store, both companies are now being sued in a class-action effort.

The lawsuit will be coordinated by Roche Freedman, a company known for taking on crypto-related cases.

Although Pascal Gauthier – the CEO of Ledger – took to Twitter at the time to reassure customers that the cryptocurrencies stored in the hardware wallets – also known as cold wallets – were not affected in the least, his statement was not well-received by several users who received threatening e-mails rife with promises of midnight visits and the like.

Ledger’s general counsel Antoine Thibault commented on the case, stating that although they will not comment on ongoing legal cases, the company would like to remind Ledger customers that their cryptocurrency stashes were safe.

“Ledger does not comment on ongoing legal issues. Ledger would however like to take this moment to remind our customers, yet again, never to divulge their 24 words and validate the identity of the recipient of your transactions. You are in sole and total control of access to your funds.”

In turn, Kyle Roche of Roche Freedman stated that the class-action lawsuit had been in preparation for a while – and that he and his firm had been consulting with blockchain experts ever since the incident had taken place.

Categories
Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies Europe

Data Shows Ukrainian Officials Are Well-Stocked On Crypto, Owning a Massive 46,351 BTC

According to a graph of the cryptocurrencies owned by civil servants, 652 officials in the Ukrainian government declared owning 46,351 Bitcoin – among other cryptocurrencies such as XLM, ETH, Monero and ADA. The total value would be around $2.7 Billion USD.

To Declare Or Not To Declare, That Is The Question

In Ukraine, civil servants must declare all property that they own. However, the legislation regarding cryptocurrencies in Ukraine – a country far ahead of many others when it comes to crypto adoption – is still in its incipient stages, and has not been voted on by Parliament yet. Meanwhile, Dinamo Kiev, one of the most popular football teams in Ukraine, has also been developing its own cryptocurrency.

As a result, public servants are not yet obliged to declare their crypto holdings. Nevertheless, 652 of them chose to declare their holdings – sharing 46,351 BTC between themselves.

Taking a Closer Look At Who’s HODLing

Among those who chose to declare their holdings, the biggest whale is Vyacheslav Mishalov, a member of the Dnipro city council. He accounts for over a third of the total BTC holdings reported, owning a total of 18,000 BTC.  Other noteworthy BTC holders are the first secretary of Ukraine’s embassy in Vietnam – Petro Lenski – with around 6,528 BTC, and Alexander Urbanski – the deputy chairman of the Odesa regional council – who holds a considerable sum of 5,328 BTC.

Although not a Bitcoin HODLer, Rostislav Solod is another public servant in the Kramatorsk region of Kiev – who, besides managing to get into politics and administration at 19, is also a multi-millionaire in Monero. Having bought in when the cryptocurrency was see-sawing between 30 and 50 cents, that’s quite a profit.

According to Chainalysis, Ukraine, Russia and Venezuela are the countries where cryptocurrency is the most widespread – and with people in power who may bring up crypto in a legislative meeting from a more informed position than those who see investing in cryptocurrencies as a new way to attract other investors, the trend may keep going for a while. 

Categories
Australia Crypto News Cryptocurrency Tax Swyftx

CoinTracking Adds Tax Support For Swyftx Traders

Users of Swyftx, one of the leading cryptocurrency trading platforms in Australia, can now benefit from a service to help them cut down on the hours spent filling out spreadsheets to comply with the tax office requirements.

Since the ATO declared cryptocurrencies as a form of property – therefore making holdings and gains taxable – a sizable amount of traders were reluctantly torn away from candles and graphs to a possibly less fun type of tracking.

Importing Your Transaction Data

Although there are a number of software tools that can help you easily import your transaction data to help you calculate what you may owe the taxman, an integration with a platform you might already be using may help you save some more time.

Earlier this week, CoinTracking announced their integration of the Swyftx API, which will allow Swyftx users to track their trades for any and all purposes.

Considered the world’s first tool dedicated to crypto tax reporting, the team at CoinTracking boasts over a hundred tax professionals that are regularly consulted with to ensure users are kept up to speed.

CoinTracking was founded in 2012 and went online in April 2013 as the world’s first cryptocurrency tax reporting tool and portfolio manager. The company was started with the goal of making cryptocurrency traders’ lives easier – not only during tax season. Since its inception, CoinTracking has accumulated over 802,000 users with currently 24.7 billion US-Dollars total worth of all portfolios. Its worldwide professional network consists of more than 160 tax advisors and tax lawyers to assist with international tax filing.

CoinTracking

On their end, Swyftx – as they call themselves, “the Australian Crypto Exchange that gives a ****” – have shown yet again their commitment to improving the trading experience for their users.

If you’ve been putting off filings out of a sense of dread when confronted with endless rows of numbers, this fresh implementation might be what you need.

Categories
Crypto News Cryptocurrencies Investing Scams

Singapore Authorities Caution Crypto Investors

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has warned crypto investors to be wary of new tokens and to do their research before investing. The warnings come after the Prime Minister of Singapore had his account created without permission on BitClout – a platform for social tokens.

Pre-Loaded Identity

Lee Hsien Loong – the Prime Minister of Singapore – issued a statement on social media informing people that he was not involved in any of this and does not endorse the platform. The creator coin using his likeness had used his profile picture and Twitter bio in order to create the token – rising at a market cap of over $9800.

I have discovered that my Twitter profile (and others as well) has been used without my permission or knowledge on a blockchain platform that allows users to buy and speculate with its proprietary cryptocurrency.

The site’s creators are anonymous, but I have sent an open tweet out to ask that my name and photo be removed from the site immediately, as I have nothing to do with the platform. It is misleading and done without my permission.

Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore

Although the Prime Minister’s account has since been taken off of BitClout, it appears that his account may have been pre-loaded by the platform, going by the number of Twitter followers that users have –  over 792,000, in Loong’s case.

The PM encouraged crypto investors to only deal with businesses regulated by the relevant Singaporean authorities in order to benefit from the protection of the applicable law.

Although Singapore is, overall, a country that is very welcoming to Blockchain – even collaborating with Australia on certain issues – the need for caution in an industry rife with investment opportunities will never diminish.

Categories
Blockchain DeFi Industries

CEO of Shopify Shows Interest For DeFi

Shopify – an online platform that allows users to quickly build their own eCommerce store – has recently posted on Twitter about DeFi, asking for suggestions on how he can help the DeFi movement be pushed to the forefront of economic transactions.

Suggestions Requested

Although Shopify has been accepting crypto integrations since around 2014 – and an Aussie dev has been working independently on a Cardano integration, whose source code is freely available on GitHub, this tweet seems like a request for ideas to make DeFi a more official part of Shopify – which would most likely also come with support from the platform. This would in turn make investors more likely to consider supporting both Shopify and the DeFi ecosystem.

Several DeFi bigshots eagerly responded with suggestions, including Nansen’s Alex Svanevik’s suggestion to allow stablecoin payments and yields on cash stored in Shopify accounts.

ConsenSys’s Corbin Page also pointed to a project he and Jordan Lyall had made at the Ethereum Denver event a year back that would allow willing eShop owners to do just that.

Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke went on to say that his ethos coincides with decentralization – and that he’s been a fan of the concept even before crypto was a thing.

“Shopify is a product of pre-crypto times and spiritually aligned with decentralizing opportunity. Over a million businesses use us around the world. Usually, companies see a market like retail and say “cool, I’ll go win that market”. Shopify did “cool, let’s make sure everyone can participate”. So, in spirit (not by your definition) we are helping push against centralization. Makes sense?”

As one of the top companies in Canada – ranked in Forbes’s top 50 Canadian companies – the adoption of blockchain by Shopify could be a major landmark for the banking industry and DeFi investors alike.

Categories
Australia Bitcoin Crypto News Scams

Crypto Criminal Jailed For Money Laundering And Identity Theft

A Sydney resident has been sentenced to 16 months in prison following an arrest last June after authorities were tipped off by a crypto company he had dealt with in order to deposit the stolen bitcoins.

The suspect pleaded guilty to seven counts of money laundering, one charge of identity theft and a drug offence.

In order to withdraw a total of $43,350, he used his newfound identities to withdraw the money from various crypto ATMs provided by BitRocket. However, BitRocket informed law enforcement that something fishy was going on in the wake of the first few transactions — leading to the man’s subsequent arrest while attempting yet another withdrawal. His apartment was subsequently searched, where police found a small amount of methamphetamine, as well as $6500 in cash.

Several Identities Used 

Spokesmen for law enforcement have stated that as many as seven false identities were used by the suspect in yet another crypto money laundering case these past few months.

According to AFP Cybercrime Detective Acting Inspector Thomas Walker, the use of false identities can slow down police work considerably, since there is the risk of apprehending an innocent person who may not even be aware that their identity was stolen.

Criminals are continually trying to identify new opportunities to profit at the expense of other people, but we are focused on identifying and stopping anyone who tries to cheat the system and defraud others.

Thomas Walker, AFP Cybercrime Detective Acting Inspector

Although law enforcement representatives are not sure yet, they suspect the Bitcoins were stolen back in 2019. Detectives are also investigating whether the man is part of a larger cybercrime group, or a “lone wolf”.

So far, the alleged money launderer has spent a total of 9 months behind bars — and will be eligible for parole after 12 months in custody.

Categories
Blockchain Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Law

Former SEC Chairman Hints At Possible Bitcoin Regulation On The Horizon

Jay Clayton – a former chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission – has given CNBC an intriguing soundbite regarding possible future regulation of Bitcoin, which he sees as a real possibility lurking just beyond the horizon.

Similar To Gold In The 30s

Just about a week ago, big-league investor Ray Dalio hinted that in the not-so-distant future, Bitcoin may actually be banned in the US for private purposes, similarly to the ban on private ownership of gold in the 1930s.

Now, the former chairman of the entity currently going toe to toe with Ripple in court has stated that he sees tighter regulations placed on Bitcoin – and maybe cryptocurrencies in general – as a thing that may be coming pretty soon. He also added that during his stint at the SEC, he did not seek to declare BTC a security – but also that it was already classed as a non-security before he took up the position.

Currently, Mr Clayton is a crypto advisor for investment firm One River Asset Management.

Although Clayton has reasserted that he is not privy to any insider information regarding future regulation, his career has certainly provided him with enough insight to make an educated guess – and probably more.

“Where digital assets land at the end of the day […] will be driven in part by regulation—both domestic and international—and I expect, and I’m speaking as a citizen now, that regulation will come in this area both directly and indirectly whether it’s through how these are held at banks, security accounts, taxation and the like. We will see this regulatory environment evolve.”

The debate surrounding the amount of regulation cryptocurrencies should be subjected to is generally between those who want crypto to become increasingly more mainstream and the ones who want their own private realm of finance. Provided the restrictions speculated about become a reality, it remains to see which of the camps will be proven right – if either of them.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Scams

Sergei Sergienko Wins Against Convicted Fraudster in Supreme Court Ruling

Russian-Australian blockchain entrepreneur Sergei Sergienko won his recent case at the Supreme Court against Oliver Roths – who was already convicted for fraud in the past. The dispute was over an ASX-listed financial entity – PLC Financial Solutions – which Sergienko had paid for, aiming to repurpose it for another one of his projects.

Transaction Failed

Sergei Sergienko – better known for his blockchain fintech firm Chronobank, among other projects he’s been involved in – took Roths to court back in 2018 when he negotiated a deal with Roths and his business associates – such as AXL Financial – worth $1.58 million to take over PLC Financial.

At least $530k of that money was used to purchase 6.33 million shares in PLC, with each share costing 5.5 cents on average.

However, a dispute appears to have taken place between Oliver Roths and Harry Fung – the chairman of the company in question.

Whatever the dispute was, Mr. Sergienko never received the shares he had paid for. He promptly took Roths to court – and the Supreme Court has ruled in his favour. The company was also unlisted by the ASX in 2020.

In addition, AXL Financial was obliged by the court to provide Mr Sergienko with a mortgage in deliverable form on a property in Sydney’s Killarney Heights.

Mr Roths previously spent 7 years in jail for fraud and perjury – and the deal was allegedly brokered by a mutual business associate, namely Ian “Rocky” Chalmers, who also did time for attempting to import 30 kilos of cocaine from Bolivia.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Power Ledger

Solar Powered Beer – VB and Green Energy

Solar Exchange has been launched – a blockchain-powered program that will allow people who produce more energy from solar powers than they need to be paid for it in packs of Victoria Bitter.

Every $30 worth of extra power will get members of the Solar Exchange program a pack of VB delivered straight to their backyard, just in time for a good old barbie.

Only 500 Places For Now

According to Brian Phan – GM of Marketing at VB – there are only 500 spots available in the program for now. However, the Solar Exchange gig should be expanding in the near future.

Last year we put the Australian sun to work and started brewing VB with 100% offset solar energy. Now we’ve launched this Aussie-first program to thank those who have made the effort to go solar with some hard-earned VB. There are currently only 500 spots available. While we want to have more people exchanging solar credit for beer down the track, for now any beer lover who wants to participate should sign-up quickly […].

Brian Phan, General Manager of Marketing at Victoria Bitter

The Solar Exchange was created for VB by Power Ledger in cooperation with Diamond Energy. On the back end, VB will be receiving solar credits from Diamond Energy. They then plan to reinvest the funds back into the program, as a part of the company’s reportedly strong stance on environmental issues and renewable energy.

For now, the program is open to customers from SA, as well as Energex customers in VIC, NSW, and QLD. In order to participate, you must also be a residential householder.

Dr Jemma Green – Power Ledger’s co-founder and chairman – also commented on the program, mentioning the affinity many Aussies have for beer.

Power Ledger is delighted that our technology is being used to keep participants informed of their progress in the program. We are a global pioneer of peer-to-peer energy trading, and in a country that thrives on the beer economy, we are excited to be part of Australia’s first peer-to-beer energy exchange scheme.

Dr Jemma Green, Co-Founder and Chairman of Power Ledger

Cheers!

Categories
Blockchain Payments Ripple

Ripple Buys 40% Of Leading APAC Payment Firm Tranglo

Ripple – already known for their (reportedly recently rocky) partnership with Moneygram – has announced that they will be buying a 40% stake in Tranglo, the leading payment solution in Southeast Asia.

Meeting Increased Demand

From this purchase, Ripple will be gaining a larger number of users to market their On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) XRP-based solution to. The purchase may also help Tranglo meet the needs of an ever-increasing market for quick money transfers.

 If Western Union, Moneygram and other companies whose business model relies on getting money around faster than banks have lost customers in Europe and elsewhere due to SEPA and companies like Revolut, this market does not show any signs of decreasing in the APAC region. In a highly-fragmented payment ecosystem without much international cooperation, banks have fallen far behind less traditional money transfer solutions.

Not only will Tranglo customers be able to use the ODL network in order to get their money faster – simultaneously increasing the XRP market cap – ODL users will also get access to Ripple’s Line of Credit service.

According to Ashhesh Birla – General Manager of RippleNet – Tranglo’s advanced customer service and well-developed payment infrastructure are what drew the firm’s attention.

Tranglo’s robust payments infrastructure coupled with their unparalleled customer service and quality makes them an ideal partner to support our expansion of On-Demand Liquidity starting with the Southeast Asia region. We are excited to continue and carry out our shared mission to transform cross-border transactions to be faster, cheaper and more secure with blockchain technology and digital assets.

Asheesh Birla, General Manager of RippleNet at Ripple

Coupled with the recent news that seems to indicate Ripple may be gaining the upper hand in their ongoing legal battle with the SEC, the future of Ripple appears to be looking brighter and brighter – and this may directly influence the future value of XRP tokens.