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Binance Crypto Exchange Cryptocurrencies

1Inch Expands To Binance Smart Chain, Citing High ETH GAS Fees

One of the top Decentralized Exchange  (DEX) Aggregators, 1inch has expanded to Binance Smart Chain in an effort to expand their services. Anton Bukov – the CTO of 1inch – has stated that the reason for this is that “Ethereum miners killed the Ethereum network by not raising the block gas limit.”

A Bridge Between Two Networks

1Inch launched in 2019 and has facilitated countless trading orders, looking for better exchange rates across multiple exchanges. However, due to the recent increase in ETH fees, the company has decided to give users a new way to trade – and BSC’s protocol allows for 10 times more gas per minute.

The company also stated that Binance Smart Chain will be used as a bridge between the two blockchain favored by DeFi hotshots worldwide.

“The 1INCH token on Binance Smart Chain will be used for a bridge between the Binance and Ethereum networks. 1inch users will get access to PancakeSwap, BurgerSwap, StreetSwap, Venus, StableSwap, JulSwap, BakerySwap and other Binance-based DEXes and lending protocols.”

Anton Bukov stated that although the integration was paid out of pocket, Binance did participate in 1inch’s seed round that took place in August.

1Inch aren’t the only blockchain-based firms looking for alternative solutions – it turns out the current issues surrounding GAS prices and the like have convinced a few firms to at least look for alternatives, whether on Binance Smart Chain, Compound Chain and others.

It’s worth noting that the increase in GAS fees isn’t something new – but the problem has been exacerbated in recent months. With a bit of luck, 1inch’s expansion into BSC will be some sort of catalyst for a process that results in further diversification of DeFi and crypto options – instead of following the current one-size-fits-all approach.

Categories
Crypto Exchange Cryptocurrencies Hackers

Cryptopia Hacked Again While Under Liquidation

Back in January of 2019, Cryptopia was hacked — leading to losses worth $1.97 million. 

The New Zealand-based exchange has since started liquidation procedures —  but they’ve been hit yet again.

Losses From First Hack Still Not Recovered

Following the 2019 hack that cost them nearly 2 million dollars, their liquidator, Grant Thorton, has started allowing former users of the exchange to send them claims for cryptocurrency lost back in 2019.

This incident alone constituted a loss of 15% of their entire digital currency stash and is considered the most damaging incident of theft in the history of New Zealand — and the proceeds are worth far more now than at the time of the theft, due to the explosion of multiple cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin chief among them. 

Stakenet — a U.S.-based creditor — stated that $45k worth of XSN had been transferred out of its cold wallet on the 1st of February. 

However, Grant Thorton stated that the transaction was not authorized — which makes one wonder how the hack could have occurred, as an attack on a cold wallet is much harder to pull off than an attack on a hot wallet, due to its intentional lack of connectivity to the Internet. 

Stakenet commented that Grant Thorton should take responsibility for the incident, assuming it happened on their watch.

“If this unauthorized transaction has happened under Grant Thornton’s watch then they need to explain to the users why they failed to secure … [their] assets like they were supposed to do and how someone was able to access them.”

Although Grant Thornton did not make a public statement regarding the issue, it’s been understood that they have contacted the police about the security breach and are investigating it internally. 

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Crypto Exchange Swyftx

Swyftx Becomes the First Exchange in Australia to offer Debit Card Payments

Media Release – Brisbane, 5 February 2021 – Australia’s most progressive Cryptocurrency Exchange, Swyftx, has become the first exchange in Australia to offer credit/debit card payments on their platform.

This new feature will allow almost instantaneous AUD deposits for Swyftx users as it eliminates the need of waiting on lengthy bank transfers for those with Aussie banks that don’t support PayID and OSKO, our
other instant deposit options.

In order to make credit and debit card payments possible, Swyftx has partnered with an industry leading banking provider, Banxa, and will be providing some of the lowest rates available on the market.

This is an exciting time for Swyftx. We are committed to continuously improving our platform and releasing new features to give our users the most convenient & seamless trading experience within Australia.

Swyftx Co-founder CEO, Alex Harper

About Swyftx

Swyftx is Australia’s most trusted and progressive cryptocurrency trading platform with 230+ listed assets and 90,000 users in Australia. Offering low trading fees, layered security, instant verification and live chat support, Swyftx Cryptocurrency Exchange has become the highest rated Australian exchange on Trustpilot with a 4.9 star rating

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CoinSpot Crypto Exchange Crypto News Giveaways

CoinSpot Are Rewarding Their 1 Millionth User With 1 Whole BTC

Australian crypto exchange CoinSpot, recently announced their giveaway for approaching their 1 million users milestone.

The lucky new user will be awarded 1 BTC and the person who referred them, will also get 1 BTC. It’s great to see exchanges giving back to the community as they reach record numbers of users.

The giveaway is approximately valued at A$90,000 with Bitcoin currently valued at around A$45,000. They also mentioned that based on the current rate of sign ups, the big milestone could be hit any day now. Will you be the millionth customer?

How to Participate

All you need to do is ensure that whenever you’re telling your friends and family to sign up, they are using your unique CoinSpot referral code found here: https://coinspot.com.au/my/referral

About CoinSpot

CoinSpot is one of Australia’s largest & most trusted exchanges as rated 4.7 on Trustpilot reviews. Operating since 2013, the team at CoinSpot have rapidly grown and helping Australian’s to easily gain exposure to blockchain technologies and access cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and over 250 others.

Categories
Australia Crypto Exchange Crypto News

Australia’s Independent Reserve is Set to Delist Bitcoin SV and Related Pairs

Australia’s largest crypto-exchange, Independent Reserve, is set to delist Bitcoin SV from its platform, according to a recent announcement. Aussies will have until March 28 to trade the token, and additional six months to withdraw it.

The Independent Reserve is the latest exchange to delist Bitcoin SV in light of recent events that involved the Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, considered anti-ethical by many in the crypto community.

Following discontent and feedback from the community, the exchange stated that the token is not meeting the standards required for users:

In light of recent events and community feedback Bitcoin SV (BSV) and related trading pairs will be delisted.

Withdrawal requests after the six month grace period may be delayed and could incur additional processing fees. All open orders will be automatically cancelled after trading ceases on the 28th of March, 2021.

Bitcoin SV Fails to Meet the Standards

More users are starting to lose interesting in BSV as the trading volume in exchanges decreases with time. Many argue that is the start, and several other platforms will delist the token, as it doesn’t perform as expected.

It’s not the first time that the BSV token fails to meet the standards required on exchanges to be traded — in 2019, Binance delisted BSV on its platform following complaints from the community about the performance of the token.

Kraken, another popular U.S.-based exchange, followed Binance and delist the token as well, quoting “fraudulent claims” and “threats of legal action”.

Categories
Australia Crypto Exchange Crypto News Swyftx

Australian Based Startup Swyftx Has Record Breaking Growth in 2020

Since launching in 2017, Australian based Crypto Exchange Swyftx has seen unprecedented growth due to their innovative approach to business and fantastic user support.

The Swyftx platform currently supports over 60,000 users and has introduced heavy infrastructure optimisations to support expected growth in 2021.

We have seen an incredible amount of new users to the Swyftx platform in 2020 and judging by the early indications, we expect 2021 to be even bigger.

Chris Vanek – Swyftx Chief Marketing Officer

Excellent User Support

We believe one of the main reasons Swyftx has been so successful, is that they provide excellent user support (Trustpilot).

During the busy period in January 2021 we saw over 2,500 support requests in a single day!

Chris Vanek – Swyftx Chief Marketing Officer

It is quite impressive how they can maintain high support standards even under pressure as they scale up with thousands of support requests per day.

Swyftx is Innovating How Australians Buy & Sell Cryptocurrencies

With over 230 coins and tokens currently supported on the Swyftx platform (and more being added frequently), there is certainly no lack of buying options.

They are also constantly introducing new features for their platform to enhance the user experience. For example: Instant Deposits and Withdrawals, Crypto Bundles, Telegram Support Group, Low Market Volume Warnings, Dashboard Customisation and User Interface improvements.

Swyftx also have security very high on their list, and encourage all users to use cold wallets to store their crypto.

Be sure to check out our Review of Swyftx Exchange for more information and how to get started with them.

Categories
Binance Bitcoin Crypto Exchange Trading

Binance AUD Trading Volume Over A$130 Million In a Single Day

On January 11th, Binance saw 130M AUD (~100M USD) traded in just the past 24hr (across all AUD pairs). And 71M AUD (~55M USD) for the BTC/AUD trading pair.

Source: CryptoCompare

Binance Leading The Way In Australia

While we can attribute the massive uptake in crypto trading volume to growing positive sentiment and an increase in institutional investment, we can see Binance has leapfrogged other platforms as far as volume traded.

In our opinion, the user experience offered by Binance Australia platform is one of the smoothest available on the exchange market landscape. That is paired with low fees and PayID/OSKO capabilities, facilitating common operations of Australian crypto traders.

Binance Australia allows users depositing and withdrawing AUD directly from their bank account, making it easier than ever before to get involved in crypto.

Lastly, Binance Australia has played a major role in the development of the crypto community in Australia through meetups and events. It does not come as no surprise that Aussies seem to trust Binance Australia as a locally-based exchange registered with AUSTRAC.

Binance Australia in 2021

Launching in 2020, Binance Australia has achieved this phenomenal growth over the course of just 6 months by providing a platform focused on being comprehensive, minimising fees and offering the highest liquidity available on the market.

While we’re very pleased with this milestone, at Binance Australia we have our eyes set on the future and how we can continue to facilitate the investment into and adoption of cryptocurrencies in Australia.

Binance Australia’s CEO, Jeff Yew

Binance Australia’s CEO Jeff Yew also added that rapid growth of the market has seen significant support from institutional investment in 2020 and 2021. He looks forward to welcoming more Australian residents, businesses and SMSFs as they begin (or continue) their crypto journey with Binance Australia in the coming months and beyond.

See this article on how to get started with Binance Australia.

Categories
Crypto Exchange Regulation Ripple

XRP to be Delisted from Major Exchange Crypto.com, Down 27% in 24 Hours

Ripple’s XRP token has been announced for delisting from major cryptocurrency exchange, Crypto.com, following prior delistings from several other exchanges this week.

“Effective January 19, 2021, at 10 am UTC, XRP will be delisted and trading suspended from the Crypto.com App in the US. Customers based in the US won’t be able to deposit XRP into the Crypto.com App as of January 19th, 10am UTC,” the announcement states.

Following the recent US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against the blockchain-based international remittance company Ripple, XRP has been crashing in value. It has lost 27% of its value in just the past 24 hours and over 50% in the past seven days. Some crypto market analysis sites like OnChainFX have even moved XRP out of the top five coins, listing it below Litecoin (LTC) and Chainlink (LINK).  

Although the SEC ruling only applies to US-based investors, which make up a small percentage of XRP’s user base, the effects have been devastating. This is most likely due to Ripple being based in the US and foreign investors fearing that regulators in other countries may impose similar rulings. Following the ruling, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse criticized the SEC for stifling crypto innovation in the US and pouring favor on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). 

Why the SEC views XRP as a security

Since 2013, Ripple has raised over $1.38 billion in sales of XRP tokens that were never registered with the SEC. The SEC alleges that this amounts to the illegal sale of unregistered, non-exempt securities under Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933. Ripple, however, claims XRP is not a security and should therefore be exempt from the rules. 

In a new lawsuit filed by the Southern District of New York on December 22, 2020, the SEC specifically names Ripple CEOs Chris Larsen and Garlinghouse for aiding and abetting the sales of XRP tokens. Due to their highly decentralized nature, other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are not viewed as securities by the SEC.

“The network on which Bitcoin functions is operational and appears to have been decentralized for some time, perhaps from inception. Applying the disclosure regime of the federal securities laws to the offer and resale of Bitcoin would seem to add little value,” said SEC Corporate Finance Director Bill Hinman in 2018.

The ruling doesn’t necessarily mean the end of Ripple, as the company has recently been moving away from XPR as a means of liquidity for their operations. Many of Ripple’s most widely used products, like xCurrent, no longer require the use of XRP to facilitate cross-border payments. Whether or not XRP can survive the blow remains to be seen, as the token may become largely unusable if unlisted from all major exchanges.

Categories
Crypto Exchange Crypto News Ripple

Watch out for XRP Liquidity as Crypto Exchanges Begin Delisting

Many people in the cryptocurrency industry predicted an incoming gloom for XRP, after the blockchain company Ripple, revealed on Tuesday that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was preparing to charge them. The lawsuit was filed later that day, which saw the cryptocurrency shading massive price points. 

Aside from this, many cryptocurrency exchanges have already begun delisting XRP on their platform – which is not a healthy development for the cryptocurrency.

SEC Says XRP is a “Security”

As Crypto News Australia recently reported, the ongoing case with Ripple stems from the long-standing controversy about XRP being security. According to the SEC, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are not securities because they are decentralized and not controlled or issued by any company. XRP took the opposite side of this when Ripple issued billions of it in the past eight years. 

So, the US regulator accused the company and its executives of issuing unregistered securities to investors. Since the lawsuit was filed, the cryptocurrency has been taking massive hits.

At the time of writing, XRP trades at $0.33 on Coinmarketcap, which accounts for a -30 percent price change in a 24 hours count. Consequently, the cryptocurrency has also lost the position as the third-largest digital currency by market capitalization to Tether (USDT), the US dollar-backed stablecoin. 

XRP Might Face Liquidity Issues

Presently, about three cryptocurrency exchanges – Beaxy, CrossTower, and OSL – have discontinued support for the Ripple cryptocurrency, amid the development. This could be seen as an effort to run away from legal issues with the SEC, as exchanges that continued to support the crypto would likely be ordered to register with the SEC as a security exchange or face a fine – that’s if the SEC wins the case.

Notionally, more exchanges might delist XRP for the same reason, as the whole case unfolds. When this happens, XRP will fall into a liquidity crisis which isn’t a healthy sign for the crypto’s performance. “Many cryptocurrency exchanges would be forced to delist it, so liquidity would dry up,” said Ryan Watkins, a research analyst at Messari.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto Exchange

Major Crypto Exchanges Goes Down as Bitcoin Exceeds US$20,000

Two leading digital currency exchanges, Coinbase and Binance, reportedly went down following the latest Bitcoin (BTC) move to US$20,000. These exchanges usually face connectivity issues due to high demand and influx of traffic whenever there is a price rally in the crypto market. The new Bitcoin price holds quite an exciting time for Bitcoin investors as the leading crypto makes price discovery.

Coinbase, Binance Surfers Server Downtime

On Twitter, a crypto user noted that Coinbase was experiencing connectivity issues due to high traffic. A further glance at Downdetector showed a spike in new reports of downtime on the exchange at 3:17 PM UTC. This was after the cryptocurrency crossed the long-awaited US$20K level.

It’s worth noting that Coinbase also experienced a downtime last month during the market rally. At that time, the founder of the exchange, Brian Armstrong, assured that they will “add additional capacity (both in servers and customer support) to deal with increased traffic.” Judging by this, the exchange may have seen bigger traffic to cause another downtime again, same with Binance.

The largest exchange by market capitalization briefly went down amid the spike in Bitcoin. The downtime was also caused by massive traffic on the exchange, as CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) confirmed, saying that they are working to add more servers to handle the traffic.

Bitcoin at Over US$20,000

As Bitcoin broke through the US$20K resistance, a majority of addresses holding BTC were reported to be in a state of profit. At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency is trading at the price of US$20,644 on Coinmarketcap. The surge today also pushed the crypto’s market capitalization to another all-time high this year, thereby strengthening its position as the “king crypto.” At the moment, Bitcoin’s market capitalization sits around US$383 billion.