Author: José Oramas

José is a journalist and translator with a keen interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

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Crypto News Cryptocurrency Law DeFi Uniswap

Class Action Lawsuit Launched Against Uniswap for ‘Promoting Scam Coins’

US-based decentralised exchange (DEX) Uniswap has been hit with a lawsuit that alleges the “sale of unregistered securities”.

The plaintiff in this case is Nessa Risley, a North Carolina resident who filed the class-action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. Risley claims to have purchased roughly US$10,000 worth of “fraudulent” ERC-20 tokens via Uniswap between May and June of 2021.

The lawsuit names Hayden Adams, Uniswap’s founder, as defendant along with his company Universal Navigation Inc (formerly Uniswap LLC). Co-defendants are venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Union Square, Ventures and Paradigm.

Guidance Lacking in Risk Assessment

The lawsuit states that having received the necessary disclosures, the plaintiff and other investors would have the necessary guidance to assess the risks of their investments.

Had the tokens been registered as required, the Plaintiff and other investors would have received necessary and meaningful disclosures that would have enabled them to reliably assess the representations being made by the Issuers and the riskiness of their investments. Without these disclosures, they were left to fend for themselves.

Risley v Uniswap lawsuit

Decentralised exchanges, unlike their centralised counterparts, don’t require AML (anti-money laundering) or KYC (Know Your Customer) checks to list tokens on their platforms. Risley claims that Uniswap failed to conduct proper identity checks before listing the tokens on its platform:

Not the First, Nor the Last

Lawsuits against crypto companies are not uncommon. A month ago, Crypto News Australia reported how Coinbase had been dragged into a class-action lawsuit which, among other things, claims that it sold 79 different digital assets that constituted unregistered securities.

Controversial tokens can also place exchanges on hot water. In November 2021, an Australian law firm filed an A$100 million class-action suit against the issuers of Qoin, promoted by the backers of 30-year-old trading exchange Bartercard.

Categories
Crypto News Metaverse NFTs

Hyundai Enters NFT Ecosystem with its Community-Based ‘Metamobility Universe’

Leading Korean car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company has released a short film announcing its NFT Universe concept. Dubbed ‘Metamobility Universe‘, it will be followed by a collection of 30 NFTs whose profits will be used to fund the project.

Hyundai has partnered with NFT brand Meta Kongz to launch the limited-edition collectibles, with a release date set for April 30:

As per a blog post, the carmaker will be focusing heavily on the NFT community, launching an official website and channels on Discord and Twitter:

The Hyundai NFT universe will extend the Hyundai brand experience, especially with MZ generation, in a completely new way, further reinforcing our commitment to innovation in both the real world and in the metaverse. We are extremely excited to introduce ‘Metamobility’ through our own NFTs and start this journey with Meta Kongz.

Thomas Schemera, global chief marketing officer, Hyundai

Hyundai Drives into the Metaverse

Other car manufacturers have entered the NFT space with only limited collections. But Hyundai is taking a step further by becoming the first (for now) to launch a community-based NFT collection for its own metaverse.

Two months ago, German prestige carmaker Mercedes-Benz partnered with Art2People to launch a digital collection of its signature car, the G-Class:

Another renowned German marque, Audi, was ahead of most car manufacturers when it launched a token collection last August in collaboration with decentralised protocol xNFT.

Categories
Crypto News Monero Tokens

Monero Holders Coordinate Mass Withdrawal to Highlight ‘Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins’

The Monero (XMR) community on Reddit has planned a bank run targeting numerous centralised exchanges (CEXs) in a response to a “lack of transparency” over the coin. The date of the run, April 18, coincides with the XMR anniversary.

Across social media, members of the Monero community have expressed their concerns over how CEXs are misleading XMR clients. Some of the allegations include that centralised exchanges are suspending XMR withdrawals and misrepresenting XMR reserves.

Customers Led Up the Garden Path

Security engineer and Monero holder Seth Simmons joined the list of users fed up with misleading statements from centralised exchanges. “Looking more and more like exchanges are paper trading Monero and lying about how much they have to customers,” he tweeted:

The event, called “The Monerun”, was thoroughly detailed on Reddit. Some exchanges have already disabled withdrawals, but to test the credibility of those who haven’t, are joining forces to pull off the liquidity:

Monero’s obfuscated ledger has enabled a number of exchanges to misrepresent their reserves and sell XMR that they don’t actually have, knowing that all too many of us will never withdraw, and no one can see onchain the evidence of their misdeeds.

‘The Monerun’, Reddit

Not a Good Recent Run For Monero

Two months ago, the dominance of Monero’s largest mining pool, MineXMR, dropped dramatically amid concerns of 51 percent attacks, raising criticism over its security aspects.

On December 8 of last year, XMR took a hit when it was alerted that the Monero multi-sig wallet code was compromised, not exactly affecting the temporary supporting multisigs but rather affecting the current wallet code implementing them.

Categories
Crypto News Ethereum

Ethereum’s Move to Proof-of-Stake Delayed as ‘Merge’ Postponed to Q3

Do not expect Ethereum to move to the PoS (Proof-of-Stake) system this June, as Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko recently tweeted that the “Merge” will have to be postponed to Q3:

‘Don’t Invest in ETH Mining Rigs’

The Merge – a stage in Ethereum’s transition from PoW (Proof-of-Work) to PoS – has been delayed again, even though the developer team announced it was moving forward with the transition after a successful test of the shadow fork.

In the Twitter thread, Beiko was asked by a user if there was any advice or info for miners who have been investing in rigs. Beiko replied: “I would strongly suggest not investing more in mining equipment at this point.”

Most people in the crypto community, of course, weren’t happy with another delay, which adds to a long string of holdups for a project that was originally intended to be completed as long ago as 2019:

The Ethereum Foundation has been working for the transition of Ethereum to a PoS consensus system in a project originally called ETH 2.0, since rebranded to “Consensus Layer”.

As is well known, network congestion and exorbitant gas fees are common pains for most people who frequently interact with the network. The upgrade will signify a higher throughput and reduce gas fees, though users will have to wait until they see the transition coming to life.

Categories
Coinbase Crypto News Ethereum Scams Tokens

Suspicions Raised as ETH Trader Buys $400,000 in Tokens Before Coinbase Listing

An Ethereum trader bought US$400,000 worth of tokens before being listed on Coinbase, raising suspicions of possible insider trading.

The ETH address, flagged by renowned crypto trader Cobie, was able to buy tokens due to be listed on Coinbase 24 hours before the Coinbase listing announcement. The wallet was created on April 11 and the tokens were transferred to different exchanges:

It seems the trader focused on six tokens – NDX, KROM, RADAR, RAC, DFX, and PAPER – which were under consideration for listing on the exchange, suggesting (s)he had prior knowledge before the list was made public.

After the list was published, the tokens increased dramatically in price, as usually happens with tokens listed on Coinbase. The address now has a balance of more than US$500,000, a return of over 40 percent in less than 24 hours.

Coinbase is yet to respond to any of the insider trading accusations.

Not the First Frontrunning Scandal on Coinbase

This is not the first time that Coinbase has been accused of frontrunning. In February, a trader created a fresh wallet and bought millions worth of $UPI and $AVT before Coinbase announced the listing:

Sometimes you have to take these events with a grain of humour, and that’s exactly what the crypto community has done:

Frontrunning is not uncommon in crypto companies. We’ve heard before of unethical employees buying digital assets shortly after being listed. Such was the case with Nate Chastain, a former employee at NFT marketplace OpenSea who got caught snapping some NFTs for himself in September last year:

In response to OpenSea’s centralised model and NFT frontrunning, renowned DeFi developer Andre Cronje created Artion, a decentralised and open-source marketplace built on Fantom Network.

Categories
Crypto News Metaverse NFTs Payments

Mastercard Files 15 NFT and Metaverse Trademarks

Mastercard has filed 15 NFT and metaverse trademark applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office, according to an April 11 report.

The 15 applications include several crypto-related technologies Mastercard plans to tap into. As per the report, the payments giant is looking to create a digital community for its users, NFT-backed multimedia, marketplaces for trading digital assets, e-commerce, virtual reality, and more.

An additional patent will add the Mastercard name to a wide range of social events in the metaverse and other virtual worlds, including concerts, sporting events, travel experiences, fine dining events and festivals, among others.

2022 Trademark Applications Exceed Past Two Years

Interestingly enough, the number of US NFT trademark applications filed this year has surpassed those over the past two years:

This is another forward step for Mastercard as it seeks to further expand its reach in the digital assets world. In February, the company announced it would offer crypto and NFT consulting services, and possibly help to develop CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies.)

Security Remains a Priority

Prioritising security for its users is a must for Mastercard – a reason why the company decided to acquire blockchain forensic firm CipherTrace to help keep users safe and enhance its operations in the digital assets space.

Mastercard is also looking to make NFT purchases as easy as buying on e-commerce sites. As Crypto News Australia reported in January, it has partnered with crypto exchange Coinbase to allow customers to use their debit/credit cards on Coinbase’s upcoming NFT marketplace.

Categories
Arbitrum Crypto News DeFi Ethereum NFTs

Ethereum Rollup ‘Arbitrum’ Releases Update to Reduce Gas Fees by 50%

Arbitrum, Ethereum’s largest rollup solution with over US$2 billion total value locked (TVL), has announced the launch of Nitro, a major update that reduces gas fees by half on Arbitrum’s network.

According to an official announcement from Offchain Labs – the company behind the rollup – Nitro is an advanced rollup stack that can do Arbitrum’s interactive fraud proofs over WASM (WebAssembly), an experimental low-level programming language:

The Arbitrum Nitro upgrade was under development in October 2021 by the Offchain Labs team. In essence, Nitro is a fully built-out scaling infrastructure that uses WASM instead of today’s custom-designed language and compilers.

Arbitrum is 90-95 percent cheaper and faster than Ethereum (gas fees on the rollup are usually around US$0.50 or $1). However, the integration of Nitro will further lower gas fees while increasing the throughput.

Today, we throttle Arbitrum’s capacity, but with Nitro we’ll be able to release those controls and significantly up our throughput. And while Arbitrum today is already 90–95 percent cheaper than Ethereum on average, Nitro cuts our costs even further.

Offchain blog post

Arbitrum Making Waves in DeFi Sector

Arbitrum is Ethereum’s largest optimistic rollup. Rollups are a technology used to scale the Ethereum network by taking the transaction data out of the mainnet to execute it on the rollup-specific blockchain. The transaction result is then bundled up and sent back to Ethereum, so Ethereum node validators can verify whether the data is valid.

Arbitrum has collaborated with a handful of high-performance DeFi protocols – a few months ago Crypto News Australia reported that Tornado Cash had integrated with Arbitrum to allow the Ethereum-based crypto mixer to enjoy Arbitrum’s cheap gas fees and high throughput.

Arbitrum also hosts NFTs (non-fungible tokens). A month ago, Crypto News Australia also reported that roughly US$1.4 million worth of Smol Brains – the most popular NFT collection on Arbitrum – had been stolen in an exploit, as confirmed by Arbitrum’s NFT marketplace TreasureDAO.

Categories
Crypto News Institutions Metaverse NFTs

HSBC Bank Launches Metaverse Fund For Wealthy Asian Clients

HSBC, a British multinational investment bank with assets worth over US$2 billion, has launched a metaverse fund for its wealthy clients in Asia, starting with Hong Kong and Singapore.

The Discretionary Strategy portfolio, to be managed by HSBC Asset Management, will reportedly focus on investing in the digital sector, particularly in five segments: infrastructure, computing, virtualisation, experience, and interface.

We see many exciting opportunities in this space as companies of different backgrounds and sizes are flocking into the ecosystem.

Lina Lim, managing dIrector, HSBC

HSBC is joining the NFT train, which now has top-notch passengers on board from all kinds of industries, especially in the tech field. Crypto News Australia previously reported how a US$69 billion metaverse deal would make Microsoft the world’s #3 gaming company in revenue terms.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time HSBC has pushed into the metaverse. A few weeks ago, Crypto News Australia reported that HSBC had bought a considerable amount of LAND in Sandbox – a blockchain-based metaverse – so esports and gaming fans can connect.

You’re Still Not Allowed to Buy Crypto

Crypto Twitter had a mixed reaction to the news. Some claimed it was a big move by the investment bank that could further expand adoption and awareness of blockchain technology and NFTs. However, some are still frustrated over HSBC’s deliberate decision of suspending the purchase and withdrawal of cryptocurrencies on crypto exchanges:

Categories
Banking CBDCs Crypto News

80% of Central Banks Are Considering Launching a CBDC

At least 80 percent of the world’s banks are considering launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to a report from accounting firm PwC conducted in accordance with the firm’s annual index of CBDCs and stablecoins.

The index evaluates the current stage of CBDC projects in each country and the level of maturity of their respective central banks in developing a national digital currency.

The report, led by PwC’s blockchain specialist Haydn Jones, also taps into the role of stablecoins, calling them an “emerging complement to existing payment ecosystems”.

Other analysts have added that one important factor for stablecoins is transparency as the asset class continues to grow.

The role of the stablecoin in the crypto markets has and will continue to evolve as adoption of crypto increases, forcing a more prominent role of stablecoins across the larger financial ecosystem. Regulation will only strengthen the importance and give credence to the role that stablecoins will play.

PwC report

Retail CBDCs Have a Higher Level of Maturity

Retail CBDC projects refer to digital currencies designed for public use, whereas wholesale CBDCs are used by financial institutions with accounts on central banks.

Thailand and Hong Kong were leading the wholesale category for their joint partnership to launch mBridge – a multi-country CBDC project that seeks to create a common platform to enhance cross-border payments.

Overall, retail CBDC projects [digital currencies designed for public use] have reached greater maturity levels than wholesale projects, but the past year has seen progress on a number of successful wholesale pilots.

PwC report

Another example of wholesale CBDCs is the combined efforts of the central banks of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa to launch Project Dunbar, which seeks to create two multi-CBDC platforms shared by multiple central banks to transact with each other using different digital currencies.

Retail CBDCs, however, have a far higher level of maturity compared to their counterparts, the report noted. For example, in October last year Nigeria became the first African country to launch its own retail CBDC, the eNaira, which received a score of 95 out of 100, making it the most developed project across both categories.

The Bahamas, Jamaica and China Taking the Lead

Other countries with a high level of maturity include The Bahamas, the first country to launch a retail CBDC, the Sand Dollar. Thailand and Jamaica are also testing their CBDC projects, which were announced last year.

China was the first major economy to test a CBDC pilot, in 2020, and it is now fully running in 12 cities as of March 2022. What’s interesting is that China is also rolling out its own state-backed blockchain, BSN, which will support the creation of China’s own version of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

Categories
Crypto News DeFi Stablecoins

Neutrino Dollar Stablecoin Loses Peg, Drops 15% Amid Manipulation Speculation

Neutrino Dollar (USDN), a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by the Waves protocol, has lost over 15 percent of its value due to accusations of market manipulation.

Not So Stable After All

USDN fell to US$0.82 on April 4, dragging down a large chunk of the currency’s market capitalisation – over US$200 million from its year-to-date high of almost US$1 billion.

USDN Chart. Source: CoinGecko

USDN is an algorithmic stablecoin whose supply can expand and contract by burning or minting WAVES (Waves protocol’s native token). Along with USDN, WAVES dropped nearly 50 percent from its all-time high of roughly US$64 on March 31; it is currently trading at US$30, as per data from CoinGecko:

WAVES Chart. Source: CoinGecko

When Did It All Start?

The massive sell-off began in response to concerns of manipulation, with the crypto community calling Waves “a Ponzi scheme” on Twitter. Pseudonymous analyst 0xHamz accused the project of borrowing USDC, another stablecoin, to buy the WAVES token, artificially pumping its price over 750 percent in the past two months (significantly, it surged 70 percent following the March 28 launch of Waves Labs).

As the price of WAVES increased, so did the interest earned by stakers, with 0xHamz breaking it down as follows:

  • the protocol collateralises USDN to borrow USDC on Vires.Finance, a liquidity protocol based on the Waves blockchain;
  • buy WAVES;
  • convert the funds to USDN;
  • use the proceeds to borrow more USDC on the Vires.Finance pool; and
  • repeat.

Waves CEO Dismisses Accusations

Waves CEO Sasha Ivanov dismissed the allegations and in turn accused Alameda Research – a quantitative crypto trading firm headed by FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried – of manipulating WAVES prices through a “hostile FUD campaign” fuelled by a “crowd of paid trolls” to ultimately trigger panic-selling:

0xHamZ also accused the project of pumping WAVES under a Russian ETH narrative, which Ivanov also dismissed, stating that neither he (Ivanov) nor the Waves team had any ties with Russia.

Peter Guo, a researcher at Hong Kong-based crypto fund Babel, noted that WAVES’ price surge coincided with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

In response, FTX’s Bankman-Fried dismissed Ivanov’s accusation, calling it an “obvious bullshit conspiracy theory”:

After the incident, Ivanov announced that Vires.Finance would be subject to a protocol change proposal under a new DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) to protect the protocol from market manipulation: