Author: Ibiam Wayas

Ibiam is an optimistic crypto journalist. He loves to associate with like-minded individuals and collaborate with them on similar projects. He spends much of his time honing his writing and critical thinking skills.

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto News Ransomware

Australian Retail Companies Hit by Bitcoin Ransomware Attack

The massive supply-chain ransomware attack on software provider Kaseya last week also affected retail companies in Australia. The Australian federal government’s Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) made this known in a report on 6 July, saying it’s working with the affected companies to ascertain the extent of the impact and possible mitigation measures. 

REvil Ransomware Attack on Kaseya

On 5 July, the notorious Russian ransomware gang Sodinokibi, also known as “REvil“, pulled a large-scale supply-chain attack on Kaseya VSC. More than 1,000 businesses that use Kaseya’s IT solutions in countries including Australia, the US and South Africa were affected by the incident. 

The cybercrime gang reportedly took advantage of a zero-day vulnerability on Kaseya’s VSC software to infect the chain of businesses on the network. Prior to the attack, the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD) alerted Kaseya but the IT solutions provider wasn’t quick enough to patch the flaw. 

The REvil gang launched the attack while DIVD was still in the process of fixing the problem. Consequently, several companies linked to the Kaseya VSC network were locked out of their data via encryption.

The REvil group demanded about AS$92 million (US$70 million) to release the global decrypter for the data. 

Potential Impact on Aussie Retailers 

Several Australian retail businesses linked to the compromised network were also hit by the attack. 

There is a lot of chatter among incident responders in Australia that there are impacted businesses here.

Josh Lemon, Managing Director of Digital Forensics and Incident Response, Ankura

Although the ACSC and the FBI are jointly investigating the extent of the attack and viable mitigation advice, Aussie retailers are advised to shut down Kaseya servers until further notice. ACSC also recommended activating Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) as an extra layer of security.

REvil’s latest attack comes weeks after receiving a Bitcoin ransom demand worth about US$11 million from the world’s largest meat producer, JBS SA. Last year, Australian non-profit organisation Anglicare Sydney also suffered a ransomware attack in which 17 gigabytes of data were stolen. 

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Crypto News Crypto Wallets

Trust Wallet Glitch Tricks Thousands of Users into Thinking They’re Multimillionaires

Trust Wallet users are getting false hopes of being “overnight multimillionaires” following a sudden increase in the value of some cryptocurrencies held in the mobile wallet. This was apparently a Trust Wallet glitch. 

Users Complain About Incorrect Prices

Following complaints from users, BabyDogeCoin and the Phoenix Protocol token (PHX) are among the coins affected by the glitch. In a recent post on Reddit, one of the users told how his PHX bag suddenly turned to “US$300 million”, only to find out he couldn’t withdraw the funds.

Reddit User’s Trust Wallet

I was already in the process of making a ‘help me cash this out please’ post when I found their week-old tweet saying ‘CMC and Trust Wallet seem to be displaying the incorrect price for Phoenix. It is a glitch, unfortunately.’

Trust Wallet user

When trying to sell or withdraw the amount on the wallet, users received a different price, which was less than the inflated prices on the Trust Wallet.

While some understood this inaccurate data to be a glitch, other users weren’t happy with the development as they claimed it gave them false hopes and even “played with their feelings”.

How Trust Wallet Calculates Prices 

The mobile wallet platform depends on the price information provided by CoinMarketCap, a crypto price tracking platform. The value of coins on a Trust Wallet is the average trading price across multiple exchanges. It remains unknown whether the glitch was from the Trust Wallet or the data feed.

However, it’s also worth noting that this isn’t the first time such an incident has occurred. There was a similar issue last month where Trust Wallet assured users that “funds are SAFU”. 

Earlier this year, Swyftx announced it had listed the native cryptocurrency of Trust Wallet on its platform. And just last week, scammers were found to be sending out fake emails and confirmation messages to Coinbase users in an attempt to lure them into revealing their account details.

Last year, hardware wallet provider Ledger reported an internal security breach resulting in the exposure of 250,000 to 1,000,000 customer email addresses. In some cases, the information leaked included full names and addresses.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Trading

Bitcoin Trading Volume Dries Out as US Celebrates Independence Day

Bitcoin Trading Volume Dries Out as USA Celebrates Independence Day

There have been fewer trading activities for Bitcoin (BTC) over the past few days. On-chain data shows that spot trading volume had been dropping towards the US Independence holiday. At the same time, Bitcoin inflows and outflows have declined, which suggests low transactions from whales.

Low Bitcoin Activity During US Holiday

Over the weekend, Bitcoin trading volume dropped significantly as there was also low exchange inflow and outflow activity. Recent data from Glassnode shows that only US$5.8 billion worth of BTC flowed into exchanges over the weekend, while US$6.4 billion was moved out within the same period, which accounted for a net flow of -US$593.1 million.

BTC spot volume has been trending downwards since 29 June; however, it took a more noticeable drop on 2 July. Many people believed the US Independence holiday was one factor that caused the low trading activity, as most traders in the US may have taken time off the market.

However, according to a crypto on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, it “seems like the whales are staying low without much actions” .

Bitcoin is at Key Level

At this current state, Bitcoin will likely be in consolidation, however buying pressure could mount well enough to keep price trending upward. 

A push to either side of the market would have a high possibility of triggering a relatively big reaction to the price.

CryptoQuant

Bitcoin was down by 3.89 percent over the last 24 hours to US$34,050 at the time of writing. Some indicators, including the Puell Multiple, show it will recover from the bear market soon. 

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Coinbase Crypto News Scams

Scam Warning – Coinbase Users Are Being Sent Fake SMS Confirmations

Scammers are sending out fake emails and confirmation messages to Coinbase users in an attempt to lure them into revealing their account details. The exchange users are advised to be wary of such phishing attacks. 

When a New Login is Not What It Seems

Coinbase users raised an alarm about the SMS phishing attack on Reddit. In one of the messages, the recipient was informed that there was a new login to their account and the message included a malicious link for the user to disable the login. 

Out of panic, unsuspecting users, especially newbies, would easily fall for this trick, given that the malicious domain looks almost the same as Coinbase’s official domain. However, on closer inspection, one could spot the difference as the letter “a” had an odd dot below. 

Also note that the fake SMS can come with different messages, as another Redditor shared:

Today’s text was: ‘Here is your Coinbase withdrawal confirmation cxe867zd92d0p. If you did not authorise this transaction, click here to verify your account’.

How to Spot Fake Coinbase SMS and Emails

To begin with, Coinbase has already warned that it doesn’t send out texts to verify transactions: “If you receive a text message reporting that you’ve received digital currency that you did not authorise, it is likely a phishing attempt,” Coinbase cautioned. 

Emails or SMSs that claim to be from Coinbase without its official domain are probably fake. Often, the links in the message will point to another web address when you hover over them.

Fraudsters can also claim to be from wallet providers, as seen in the case of Ledger last week. 

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Crypto News Ethereum

Important Milestone Reached as Ether Staked on Ethereum 2.0 Contract Nears 6 Million

Milestone: Ether Staked on Ethereum 2.0 Contract Nears 6 Million

Almost six million Ether (ETH) has been staked on the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract, according to data provided by Eth2 Launchpad. This milestone shows how confident Ethereum users are about this major upgrade, not minding that it could take years to be launched. 

Ethereum 2.0 staked ETH chart. Source: Eth2 Launchpad

Over $12.4 Billion ETH Staked 

At the time of writing, about 5,958,361 ETH was staked on the deposit contract, worth over US$12.4 billion at $2,090 per coin. In addition, the number of validators has increased to 180,873. 

Since the Beacon chain went live in December last year, the number of ETH staked on the network has been increasing at a notable pace. This is evident given more than 5.4 million ETH has been added to the network in that six-month period. 

At 6 million ETH, Ethereum 2.0 will account for over 5.1 percent of all ETH in circulation. 

Why Ethereum 2.0?

Ethereum 2.0 – also known as Serenity – is a major upgrade to the current Ethereum network. On several occasions Ethereum has suffered network congestion, resulting in slow transactions and expensive fees. This scalability issue led to the proposition of Ethereum 2.0, which will transition the mainnet from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus model to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

Most importantly, Ethereum 2.0 will remove the need for miners, since PoS runs with staking, meaning it will be greener. Serenity will bring a lot of improvements to Ethereum and will essentially address the issue of scalability that has been plaguing the network. This simply means it will be faster and cheaper to use the network when Ethereum 2.0 is finally deployed. 

Ethereum 2.0 is expected to follow four development phases before launch. We are currently in the first stage (ie, Phase 0 – Beacon Chain), left with the three other phases, which may take up to three years. 

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Bitcoin Crypto News Markets

Panic Selling Caused Record Bitcoin Weekly Losses of US$3.4 Billion

Up to US$3.4 billion in realised losses in Bitcoin were recorded last week, according to on-chain data by Glassnode. This is the highest capitulation ever recorded in the history of Bitcoin. 

Realised Losses Spike as Investor Uncertainty Rages

Losses in Bitcoin are realised when bitcoin bought at a higher price is spent or sold at a lower price. Last week’s panic selling indicates a high level of uncertainty in the market, especially among short-term holders. 

About 23.5% of Bitcoin in circulation is held by short-term holders and according to Glassnode, the majority is underwater (unrealised loss). This shows why the selling pressure is higher among short-term holders than long-term holders, most of whom are still in profit.  

Source: Glassnode

Despite that, some long-term holders sold during the week, their spending offset about US$383 million from the total realised loss of $3.833 billion in Bitcoin to US$3.45 billion. This is because most of them sold for a profit. Only 2.44% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply held by long-term holders is underwater.

Bullish Factors For Bitcoin

Bitcoin was trading at US$34,905 on 1 July and was down only about 4.18% over the previous 24 hours. Judging by Bitcoin’s market performance, this past month and the whole of Q2 were not exactly favourable for Bitcoin in terms of value. However, there have been a lot of indicators to suggest Bitcoin has not yet reached the top of the bull cycle.

On 29 June, the Puell Multiple signalled only the fifth buying opportunity in Bitcoin’s history. Crypto News Australia has also reported on the growing stablecoin reserves across all exchanges and the increasing rate of Bitcoin accumulation by long-term holders.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Markets

Important Price Indicator Provides the Fifth “Buy Signal” in Bitcoin’s History

For the fifth time, the “Puell Multiple” indicator has signalled another buying opportunity for Bitcoin, which raises traders’ hopes that the leading cryptocurrency may be set for another rally.

The Puell Multiple indicator calculates the ratio of daily coin issuance (in USD) and the 365 moving average of daily coin issuance. It examines the fundamentals of mining profitability on the view that the revenue miners generate can influence price over time.

Puell Multiple Flags a “Buy Signal”

Puell Multiple chart. Source: LookIntoBitcoin

As seen in the chart, this is the fifth time “the value of Bitcoins issued on a daily basis has historically been extremely low” . This indicates a buying opportunity for Bitcoin investors and traders. The indicator may be another bullish signal to hold on this week; however, the creator of the indicator, analyst David Puell, also warns investors to be wary due to the Bitcoin hashrate.

The last time the Puell Multiple signalled investors to buy Bitcoin was after the Covid 19-led market crash last year. 

More Factors Suggesting Bitcoin Recovery

Bitcoin has shed a lot of value since hitting an all-time high in April. This is bearish to the extent that this current quarter will be the worst ever recorded over the past eight years. However, there have been factors that suggest the leading crypto won’t be in this state for long.

Crypto News Australia recently reported that the number of stablecoins on all exchanges has been increasing, which suggests investors may be positioning themselves for another pump. These bullish indicators are becoming easier to believe, as Bitcoin has been holding on pretty well since the beginning of this week.

Bitcoin was trading at US$36,258 on CoinMarketCap, which accounts for a 5.87 percent hike over the past 24 hours leading up to time of publication. This is the highest level Bitcoin has reached in the past seven days.

Bitcoin Price Chart. Source: CoinMarketCap
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Crypto News Tokens

ICP Coin Crashes 95% Amid Claims the Development Team Have Dumped Their Coins

ICP Coin Crashes 95% Amidst Claims That The Development Team Have Dumped Their Coins

The price of ICP coin, the native cryptocurrency of the Internet Computer blockchain, has been nosediving since reaching an all-time high of over US$700 in the past month. 

Some ICP holders still believe in the tech, and they are ready to HODL regardless of claims that the development team might have caused it to drop over 95 percent from ATH by dumping a huge amount of the coin.  

ICP Coin Hits All-Time Low of US$20.08

A day after the ICP coin launched in May, it spiked to as high as US$737, according to CoinMarketCap. This momentum couldn’t last as ICP began declining soon after the ATH price, reaching an all-time low of US$20.08 per coin. 

The Internet Computer was designed by the Dfinity Foundation to serve as a decentralised layer of web infrastructure. The downtrend of ICP coins was quite disappointing, given that the network had an intriguing tech proposition and it attracted major VC companies.

Is Dfinity Behind ICP Coin Crash?

Many people have relayed several claims concerning the declining value of ICP coins. For the most part, the development team was blamed for reportedly dumping as much as 90 million ICP coins since its inception – nearly two months ago. 

Meanwhile, some prefer not to sell their holdings but accumulate more via dollar-cost averaging. This is mostly to do with the proposed tech of the Internet Computer. 

The head of research at Synergia Capital, Denis Vinokourov, thinks the Internet Computer still has a long way to go in proving its tech.  

As great as the tech is on paper, it is, to a large extent, unproven. Also, there is little evidence of teams actively building on the Internet Computer. 

Denis Vinokourov, Synergia Capital

At the time of writing, the ICP coin was trading at $43.73.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News Market Analysis Stablecoins

Stablecoins Held on Exchanges Hit All-Time High – Are They Getting Ready?

Stablecoins Held on Exchanges Hit All-Time Highs, Are They Getting Ready?

The number of stablecoins on all crypto exchanges has reached a record peak, which signals a likelihood of incoming buying pressure on the market again.

Stablecoin Reserve on Exchanges. Source: CryptoQuant

All Exchange Stablecoin Reserve Exceeds $16 Billion

Following the on-chain data from CryptoQuant, there is currently more than US$16 billion worth of stablecoin held in all cryptocurrency exchanges. 

Although USDC supply has been growing faster than Tether (USDT) since the beginning of this year, there’s a much higher number of USDT in exchange reserves than USDC. Over US$7 billion worth of Tether (USDT) is held in crypto exchanges. 

USDT Reserve on Exchanges. Source: CryptoQuant

At the same time, over US$6 billion BUSD and US$2 billion USDC are held in exchanges’ reserves, according to CryptoQuant.

Stablecoin reserves often serve as an indication for some analysts and traders to position themselves for market pumps. Thus, this latest massive increase in stablecoin reserve suggests the bulls are prepping for a comeback if these coins are being stored for buys. 

Bitcoin Liquid Supply is Declining

Bitcoin has been trading below US$35,000 over the past few days due to the bearish state of the market. However, Bitcoin’s liquid supply has been dropping for quite some time, which serves as another indicator that BTC is likely to resume an upward curve, especially in the presence of demand. 

Bitcoin’s liquid supply simply refers to the availability of Bitcoin on exchanges for easy buying and selling. A decrease in Bitcoin liquidity indicates that people are starting to move their coins off exchanges. This can result in a scarcity of BTC, which is probably bullish provided the demand increases. 

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Binance Crime Crypto News

Binance Assists International Agencies in Taking Down $500M Ransomware Gang

Binance Assists International Agencies in Taking Down $500M Ransomware Gang

Leading crypto exchange Binance has been commended for playing an active role in taking down a ransomware group known as “FANCYCAT“ which had reportedly laundered about US$500 million in cryptocurrencies. 

Binance Teams with International Agencies

Binance closely collaborated with international law enforcement agencies including the Ukraine Cyber Police, the Korean National Police Agency’s Cyber Bureau and US authorities to halt the operations of the notorious cybercriminal ring. 

According to the announcement, FANCYCAT was responsible for several high-profile attacks, which involved Cl0p and Petya ransomware. It was also alleged to have laundered money from the dark web and conducted a high-risk exchange. 

How Binance Identified FANCYCAT

The exchange said it employed a two-pronged approach in this case, which eventually led to the apprehension of FANCYCAT. The first involved Binance’s anti-money laundering and analytics program, which alerted it to the suspicious activities of the ransomware gang.

Upon detection of the group’s activity, Binance then worked with analytics companies TRM Labs and Crystal (BitFury) to further investigate the on-chain activities of the group, which led to its identification. 

We are continuing to investigate the FANCYCAT criminal syndicate across multiple jurisdictions and the connections associated with other cyber attacks.

Binance announcement

Curbing Illicit Flows to Exchanges

Crypto News Australia has previously reported several cases of Ransomware attacks, where ransoms were demanded in either Bitcoin or any privacy coin. Some cybercriminals have also opted to launder ill-gotten funds in cryptocurrencies, due to their anonymous property. 

This is a thorn in the side for the growth of the crypto space. However, these exchanges can help minimise crypto laundering by stepping up AML measures, as Binance noted.