Author: Lauren Claxton

Lauren is currently a freelance writer with experience in finance writing. She has a growing interest in the metaverse and all things NFTs and expects to graduate in 2022 with bachelors degrees in creative writing and public relations.

Categories
Crime Crypto News

John McAfee’s Ex-Girlfriend Claims He’s Alive, Living in Texas

In a bizarre twist in the long and convoluted story of John McAfee, creator of the eponymous antivirus software, he is allegedly alive, well, and living in Texas.

The extraordinary claims are made by McAfee’s ex-girlfriend in an interview for a new Netflix documentary titled Running With The Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee, released this week.

https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-john-mcafee-not-a-bubble-2017-8
Did John McAfee fake his own death?

McAfee ‘Speaks’ Post-‘Suicide’

Central to the Netflix biopic is an interview conducted with McAfee’s former partner Samantha Herrera, who claims she had spoken with the disgraced software developer over the phone after his supposed June 2021 suicide in a Spanish jail.

While the director of the documentary, Charlie Russell, is sceptical, stating “I can’t work out whether [Herrera] thinks it’s real or not”, McAfee’s widow, Janice, isn’t having any of it. She believes that if McAfee were hiding out, it wouldn’t be in Texas, or anywhere else in the US considering he is wanted by the IRS.

Instead, Janice McAfee is circulating a petition for the release of her husband’s remains – and for an independent autopsy – as they are yet to be returned to her by Spanish authorities:

Regardless of the truth surrounding McAfee’s passing, he remains as curious in death as he was in life. The biopic was released by Netflix on August 24.

Death and Taxes

McAfee was arrested at Barcelona International Airport in October 2020 for tax evasion. Late on June 23, 2021, he was reportedly discovered dead in his cell in a Barcelona jail, only hours after the Spanish National Court had approved his extradition to the US, where he would have faced up to 30 years in prison.

According to McAfee’s lawyer, he had hanged himself, although there were several signs of foul play in connection with his apparent death. One of these was a tweet from McAfee which read: ‘I am content in here. I have friends. The food is good. All is well. Know that if I hang myself, a la [convicted sex offender Jeffrey] Epstein, it will be no fault of mine’.

This Netflix documentary isn’t the only analysis of McAfee’s life in current circulation. No Domain: The John McAfee Tapes, a new book published by biographer Mark Eglinton, details exactly how McAfee managed to lose his US$100 million fortune. The funds were reportedly spent on “bizarre” mansions and compounds across the globe. Perhaps there’s one in Texas we didn’t know about.

Categories
Crypto News NFTs

NFTs Good for Business: Nike and Gucci Rake in $260 Million in Sales

Dune Analytics has released data that illustrates the true revenue-earning potential of NFTs for prominent lifestyle labels, with Nike and Gucci alone reportedly raking in approximately US$260 million in sales between them.

Fashion and leisure brands Dolce & Gabbana, Adidas, Tiffany, Nike and Gucci are reportedly reaping the rewards of their NFT seeds, following the release of new NFT revenue data showing the total NFT revenue for 13 companies. Nike sits at the top of the board with a whopping US$185 million:

According to the data, Nike has generated almost US$1.3 billion in transaction volume from secondary NFT trading, which adds to its primary sales (US$93 million) and generated royalties ($92 million). Nike has more than 14 collections under its belt that are working to generate these funds, with a significant portion of these (such as CloneX) attributed to the company’s recent acquisition of RTFKT. This has enabled Nike to make 6,362 ETH in the past month alone, despite the crypto winter.

While many of the companies on this list seek to purely optimise ‘revenue per user’ through NFT drops and merchandise, others are using NFTs as an opportunity to establish deeper connections with their fans. Regardless of the motivation behind corporate involvement, the proof is in the pudding when it comes to the ongoing influence NFTs have on profits.

Almost $3B Spent on Minting in 2022

Not only has an extreme amount of money been spent on the purchase of NFTs, but also on the minting of them. A recent report from blockchain analytics platform Nansen found that NFT fans have spent US$2.7 billion solely on the minting of art in 2022 so far. The findings were based on product activity from over 1 million unique wallet addresses.

However, just a week ago a lengthy list of celebrities found themselves in hot water with US consumer watchdog group Truth in Advertising. The group sent warning letters to 19 celebrities, including socialite Paris Hilton and pop star Justin Bieber, regarding the alleged shilling of NFTs via social media.

Categories
Crypto News Metaverse

MTV Launches ‘Best Metaverse Performance’ Video Award Category

In deference to growing awareness of Web3, this year’s MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) will feature an exciting new category, ‘Best Metaverse Performance’, with K-pop sensations BTS, Canadian pop star Justin Bieber and American chanteuse Ariana Grande among the six nominees for their recent metaverse music projects:

Metaverse MTV Awards: Full List

Tune in to the VMAs on August 28 to find out who will take out the first ever ‘Best Metaverse Performance’ award. Voting closed on August 8 for the six acts in contention: Justin Bieber and Wave’s ‘An Interactive Virtual Experience’; Fortnite’s ‘the Rift Tour’ featuring Ariana Grande; YouTube and BTS collaboration PUBG Mobile and Blackpink’s ‘The Virtual’; and both Carli XCX’s and Twenty One Pilot’s collabs with Roblox.

MTV’s decision to broaden its categories was based on what it describes as the desire to recognise artists’ efforts to connect with their global fans via virtual metaverse experiences.

https://www.wallpapersin4k.org/images/7074

We saw the opportunity to highlight and honour some of the best, most impactful executions of this – and celebrate artists who have found creative ways to use these spaces – which led to the addition of a ‘Best Metaverse Performance’ category this year.

MTV spokesperson

The awards show also announced its maiden metaverse foray on August 12, with Paramount Game Studios releasing The VMA Experience to Roblox’s metaverse. The collaboration will be live until early September 2022.

What Else is Happening in the Metaverse?

Just this month, the metaverse real estate ‘bubble’ popped. As happens when the actual real estate bubble bursts, metaverse prices crashed by 85 percent. Beyond waning interest, the downfall of the sector was linked to a wider drop in the value of crypto and NFTs, alongside harsh macroeconomic conditions.

Prior to this, Animoca Brands, the company behind The Sandbox, launched a new decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) called OMA3, with hopes of developing the metaverse’s interoperability standards. Animoca has reportedly established an alliance with other prominent Web3 companies and plans to prioritise users’ asset ownership capabilities in its upcoming changes.

Categories
NFTs Sport and Leisure

Atlético de Madrid and STEPN Partner in New NFT Sneaker Collection

Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid announced this week that it will be forming a partnership with Web3 lifestyle app STEPN to develop a new NFT collection of sneakers:

These NFTs are Made for Runnin’

STEPN and Atlético de Madrid FC will collaborate with the WhaleFin exchange to release more than 1,000 pairs of digital football boots/sneakers, all compatible with STEPN’s run-to-earn app.

Those acquiring the footwear will receive exclusive access to physical Atlético de Madrid merchandise, WhaleFin airdrops, and in-person match tickets.

Over the previous year, STEPN has been prioritising the growth of its Solana-based fitness application, which reported healthy Q2 earnings of US$122.5 million. Currently, the NFTs STEPN requires for gameplay trade at a floor price of 1.58 SOL (US$65).

STEPN is now focusing on “creating win-win partnerships for partner brands and also the users through real-world rewards and perks”, according to chief marketing officer Shiti Rastogi Manghani.

Nike NFT Sneakers Already to Market

STEPN is not the only brand to launch an NFT sneaker collection. Nike launched the ‘CryptoKicks’ collection in April this year and the debut of its Ethereum NFT sneakers followed its December 2021 leap into the metaverse via the acquisition of digital art house RTFKT Studios. CryptoKicks can be modified via ‘Skin Vials’ for a unique range of styles and aesthetics.

Categories
Cryptocurrency Law Privacy Social media Tornado Cash

#FreeAlexPertsev Protest March Kicks Off After Tornado Cash Dev’s Arrest

A week after the arrest of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, public dissent has reached a crescendo. Crypto and privacy advocates are planning protest marches and a petition advocating for his release is now circulating on social media under the #FreeAlexPertsev banner.

Writers of Open-Source Code Treated as Scapegoats

Following Pertsev’s arrest in Dam Square, Amsterdam, 50 advocates organised a demonstration alongside Pertsev’s wife, Xenia Malik. The public is also getting on board with protesters arguing Pertsev should not be held responsible for writing open-source code, regardless of its users.

The protest is raising several questions in relation to whether these projects’ developers deserve such harsh punishments. Crypto mixers in themselves are not illegal, merely serving to allow users transaction anonymity. The problem comes when this technology is used to launder illicit funds.

A petition was organised on Change.org last week by Finnish product manager Daria Mironova, who hopes to further raise awareness of the circumstances of the arrest. In the petition, Mironova explains that open-source software can be “audited, fixed and improved by anyone”, yet a developer cannot control how this code is used, even with the best intentions.

If we don’t react now, in the future we might see many cases where innocent developers go to prison when someone misuses their code.

Daria Mironova, Finnish product manager

As it stands, no official charges have been filed against Pertsev; however, he has been interrogated about his involvement in the protocol’s development. By the end of last week, 1,015 signatures had been added to the petition. When that figure reaches 40,000, Mironova plans to take this proof of public dissent to the authorities.

How It All Started

On August 12, Dutch authorities announced they had arrested Perstev in Amsterdam for his supposed involvement in facilitating money laundering and concealing criminal financial flows through his work on the crypto mixing service. It was alleged that Tornado Cash enabled criminals to launder stolen assets by concealing their identities.

Yet it wasn’t all negative, as the platform also hid the identities of Ukrainian citizens receiving donated crypto from the public. However, the Dutch authorities maintain that those behind the company made a significant profit from these transactions.

Categories
Australia Crypto News Surveys

UN Urges Developing Countries to Curb Crypto Expansion

The United Nations trade body has urged authorities in developing countries to help ensure the prevention of widespread crypto use. The motivation? Vast crypto usage could jeopardise a nation’s monetary sovereignty:

‘Curb your Crypto’

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has asked that the governments of developing countries work to prevent widespread crypto adoption. This follows the explosion of crypto use during the Covid-19 pandemic, which also increased the social risks and costs of digital assets in developing nations:

Three related policy briefs were released between June and August detailing the high costs of unregulated crypto, the public payment systems responding to financial stability and security risks, and how crypto can undermine domestic resource mobilisation in developing countries.

While UNCTAD acknowledges that crypto can facilitate remittances, it highlights its role in enabling tax evasion via illicit flows. As a result, UNCTAD has published a set of policy actions and urged authorities to help “curb the expansion of cryptocurrencies in developing countries”.

Global Variations in Crypto Adoption

The adoption rate of crypto across the globe has been varied, to say the least. Some countries have embraced it wholeheartedly while others have slipped behind. Australia is in the latter category. Only 3.4 percent of Australians own crypto, according to new data from UNCTAD, placing the country last in a list of 20. Ukraine and Russia topped the chart with 12.7 percent and 11.9 percent respectively.

However, in 2021 global crypto adoption increased by 880 percent over the previous year. This data derived from a Chainalysis report that named Vietnam as the leader of the crypto adoption ‘race’. It also noted that the keenest adopters tended to be those in developing nations, suggesting higher crypto comprehension in such regions.

Categories
Bored Ape Yacht Club Crypto News Cryptocurrency Law NFTs Social media

Bored Ape Defies NFT Downturn, Sells for $1.5 Million

A cashed-up Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) enthusiast has just paid a huge 777 ETH (US$1.5 million) for a single Ape, defying the current market downturn.

Crypto millionaire and BAYC superfan Vis.eth purchased Bored Ape #5383 for its gold fur, after already spending millions on Otherdeeds:

https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xbc4ca0eda7647a8ab7c2061c2e118a18a936f13d/5383
Bored Ape #5383.

Median Price Hits Two-Month High

The Ape purchased this week by Vis.eth is the 285th rarest in the BAYC collection, notable for its gold fur and red checked shirt. The purchase pumped the median price for the collection, pushing it to a new two-month high of 441 ETH.

Vis.eth’s purchase of Ape #5383 netted a 500 percent profit for its previous owner, who originally bought it for 95 ETH. The “metaverse mogul” is no stranger to these purchases, having already spent millions on Otherdeeds from Yuga Labs’ Otherside project, and some CryptoPunks:  

The monthly volume for the NFT marketplace has been at abysmally low levels during the crypto winter. Total sales for July were a meagre US$675.53 million in comparison to January’s US$5.63 billion:

https://www.theblockresearch.com/data/nft-non-fungible-tokens/marketplaces
The difference a crypto winter makes to NFT sales.

Eventful Year for Yuga Labs

Yuga Labs has been stuck between a rock and a hard place of late, with both the media and the courts snapping at its heels. In late July, a class-action lawsuit was filed by international law firm Scott+Scott over allegations that it falsely promoted Bored Ape NFTs and ApeCoins as securities with guaranteed returns, despite their value actually plummeting in the subsequent three months.

Prior to the lawsuit, Yuga Labs faced damning allegations of racism which rocked the industry. Philip Rusnack, aka Philion, posted a lengthy YouTube video identifying supposed alt-right connotations among the memes, language and symbols used in Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collections. This led to the trending ‘BURNBAYC’ hashtag, which was circulating on Twitter at the time.

Categories
Crypto Art Crypto News NFTs

Justin Bieber and Paris Hilton Called Out for Shilling NFTs

US consumer watchdog group Truth in Advertising (TINA.org) has called out a list of 19 celebrities, including socialite Paris Hilton and pop star Justin Bieber, for shilling NFTs.

TINA alleges the promotion of NFTs on social media by big accounts creates a space that is “rife with deception”.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/celebrities-warning-letters-nft-ftc
Paris Hilton (above) is on the list of NFT-shilling celebrities warned by TINA.

TINA Warns of ‘Undue Influence’

All 19 celebrities on the list have now received a letter from TINA reminding them that failing to “disclose material connections” on their promotions is in violation of US Federal Trade Commission guidelines.

Only 17 of the letters were sent out this week. Paris Hilton was one of those 17, having been extremely active about her NFT-related ventures of late. However, actor/producer Reese Witherspoon and Justin Bieber, an investor in the inBetweeners NFT project, received their letters in June. Bieber’s legal team has since denied wrongdoing yet vowed to update the posts.

The point TINA is working to make is that celebrities can unduly influence the value of collections in pitching them to impressionable would-be investors.

https://truthinadvertising.org/team/bonnie-patten/

When it comes to NFTs, some celebrities are able to take financial risks due to their wealth, but many vulnerable consumers don’t have that luxury … Consumers deserve to understand the full picture behind a celebrity endorsement so they can make fully informed decisions on whether or not to invest in NFTs.

Bonnie Patten, executive director, Truth in Advertising

There is immense volatility and financial risk for fans of celebrities who choose to invest in speculative digital assets without knowing all the details, TINA says. While the 19 letters dispatched serve as a gentle reminder, TINA suggests it will take the matter further if celebrities are not more careful about how they promote their NFT interests.

Who Else Got Called Out?

Also on the list of celebrities who received the notice were rapper Snoop Dogg and pop culture icon Madonna, both of whom have been well immersed in the world of NFTs of late. In September last year, Snoop revealed that he owned US$17 million in NFTs when he announced he was the creative mind behind the Cozomo de’ Medici Twitter account, explaining his reasoning in creating an alter ego.

And who can forget Madonna’s recent collaboration with artist Beeple on a collection of NFT ‘soft porn‘? The series featured multiple animated videos of “Madonna-as-mother” in virtual-reality simulations in which she “births” robotic centipedes, butterflies, and even a tree. It was a collection that left nothing to the imagination.

Categories
ASX Australia Blockchain Crypto News

ASX Tokenised Asset Trading Inches Closer to Reality

At last, progress towards tokenised asset trading by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has taken a step forward rather than a step back. A test pilot has been successfully completed with the help of Zerocap, demonstrating how ASX-listed companies could store and trade on the exchange:

It’s Getting Closer

Thanks to Zerocap and its Synfini settlement project, the ASX was able to bridge its custody infrastructure to the platform for trial purposes. Doing so permits the trading and clearing of Ethereum-based tokenised assets.

This recent test pilot is only one part of ASX’s distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based settlement project. Synfini launched in November as a separate initiative from the blockchain-based CHESS (Clearing House Electronic Subregister System) replacement, an upgrade that has been the bane of the project’s existence for some time. The platform allows users access to DLT infrastructure, ledger services and data hosting, while also permitting them to build blockchain applications from it:

According to Zerocap CEO Ryan McCall, final legal approval has been given to launch Synfini asset tokenisation and trading services. He believes there is high interest from organisations who wish to explore tokenisation, along with trade bonds, carbon credits and funds.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanmccall1/overlay/photo/

Thinking beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum and other crypto assets, the tokenisation of bonds, equities, property, carbon credits, private equity, and anything that’s essentially illiquid, there’s a strong value proposition here that we can essentially tokenise any asset and bridge that into the ASX ecosystem.

Ryan McCall, co-founder and CEO, Zerocap

McCall also has faith that Synfini will be a popular tool among a wide range of firms due to the platform’s user-friendly interface and refined variables.

Plagued by Delays

The ASX’s immersion with blockchain has previously been delayed a whopping five times. The most recent of these delays was blamed on issues with blockchain replacement for the clearing system CHESS, and was awaiting an independent review. A spokesperson for ASX stated that “more development is required than previously anticipated to meet ASX’s scalability and resilience requirements for the application”.

The delay to CHESS prior to this was blamed on the firm building the software. At that stage, the project was believed to have already cost ASX A$187 million.

Categories
Crypto News Hackers Security

Security Firm Discovers Hackers Use Google and Microsoft to Steal Crypto

Online security company NetSkope has discovered a new crypto phishing scam that utilises Google and Microsoft Azure to trick users into handing over their information. The tactic involves using SEO techniques to distribute links to copycat pages.

https://africabusinesscommunities.com/tech/tech-news/netskope-extends-its-newedge-infrastructure-in-south-africa/
NetSkope has made a new phishing scheme discovery.

Other Big Names Not Immune

It’s been discovered that hackers have improved their strategies and are utilising specific SEO techniques to increase interaction with phishing sites for imposter wallet apps and exchanges impersonating notable names such as MetaMask and CoinBase.

These phishing sites are often built on Google Sites or Microsoft Azure and can take a user’s info in two ways. They will either acquire the private seeds of the user’s wallet by prompting data importation, or will pilfer info from the accounts of the exchanges being impersonated using error messages:

In this campaign, we found that the attackers are abusing Google Sites and Azure Web App to host the pages, likely due to cost, ease-of-use, and to slightly increase the victim’s trust.

NetSkope blog post

NetSkope has strongly recommended that “users never enter credentials after clicking on a link” and instead navigate directly to the site they wish to use, and that organisations should employ secure web gateways that can block these types of attacks.

Security Firms Have Their Work Cut Out

With crypto theft an ongoing concern on the radars of most investors and regulators, luckily security firms are keeping a watchful eye out. At the beginning of April, global cybersecurity firm ESET uncovered a criminal plot to steal users’ digital assets via apps impersonating popular cryptocurrency wallets. The plot involved more than 40 copycat crypto wallet sites intended to promote downloads of malicious apps.

Earlier in the year, blockchain security firm CertiK identified a US$10 million rug pull on Arbix Finance. The firm warned users who had engaged with the protocol to avoid it, along with its ARBX token. CertiK allegedly found several red flags in Arbix via its Skytrace tool, which analyses fraud risk.