Category: Crypto News

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Australia Betting Crime Crypto News Gambling

Australian Serial Crypto Conman Will Strike Again, Warns Alleged Victim

A former commercial airline pilot defrauded of millions of dollars in Bitcoin has cautioned other cryptocurrency investors about notorious Australian serial scammer Peter Foster.

Peter Foster arrested by Queensland Police on Port Douglas beach, August 2020. Image: IFW GLOBAL/BLOG.IFWGLOBAL.COM

Konstantinos “Dino” Stylianopoulos, a resident of Hong Kong, claims he was defrauded of A$2 million in Bitcoin by Foster in an online gambling scheme, Sport Predictions, run by Foster under an alias.

Police allege bets made by Stylianopoulos and others participating in the scheme were never placed and instead diverted to Foster.

How a $2 Million Bitcoin Investment Ballooned Into An Estimated $8 Million Loss

“Getting anything back from somebody like this is very difficult,” says Stylianopoulos, who claims he lost an estimated A$8 million when the price of Bitcoin later soared. “The bigger objective is to stop (Foster),” he told The Australian newspaper. “In Australia, I don’t believe anybody else has hurt more people.”

“It’s like (the fable of the frog and) the scorpion … ‘Why did you bite me?’ ‘Because I’m a scorpion’.”

Konstantinos Stylianopoulos

Foster remains at large, released on bail in a jurisdictional mix-up between authorities in NSW and Queensland, where the Sport Predictions operation was based. He had been extradited to NSW as the operation’s Bitcoin transfers were made through a Sydney cryptocurrency exchange.

Police In Two States Lack Shared Jurisdiction

According to Stylianopoulos, NSW prosecutors contacted him the day before Foster was bailed by a Sydney court. “There was no chance for me to voice any opinion on it,” he told The Australian. “My biggest question is, why didn’t they coordinate with police in Queensland to just do a handover?”

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Crypto News Ethereum

5 Million Locked Up in ETH 2.0 Deposit Contract

Over 5 million Ether (ETH) has been sent to the ETH 2.0 deposit contract, surpassing the Ethereum community’s expectations by nearly 1,000% from its previous threshold.

According to data from Dune Analytics, there are now 27,132 “unique” depositors, and a total of 5,223,042 ETH — around US$14 billion at press time. This surpassed the original 524,000 ETH threshold by 996.22%.

Data from Dune Analytics

Community Optimism for a PoS Shift

The locked up amount shows optimism for shifting Ethereum to ETH 2.0 — a significant upgrade that not only lowers fees and increments scalability, but also implements Proof of Stake, a consensus algorithm where validators are responsible for transaction confirmation instead of miners.

Speaking at the StartmeupHK virtual festival, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin said Proof of Stake will shrink cryptocurrencies’ carbon footprint in the long run, besides providing other benefits to the blockchain.

“Proof-of-stake is a solution to the environmental issues of Bitcoin, which needs far less resources to maintain.”

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder

Those who want to stake can do so by depositing 32 ETH. By now there are 152,000 validators processing blocks on ETH 2.0, with a 99% success rate for blocks and 1% missed blocks.

Categories
Betting Crypto News Gambling

Asian Racing Federation To Counteract Illegal Crypto Betting

The Asian Racing Federation (ARF) warns that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are aiding illegal betting across the continent. This poses “several risks to legal betting operators and wider society”, according to a recent ARF report.

In its 12-page report, ARF asserts that legal betting is under threat, mainly due to the privacy feature of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and others. The anonymity associated with digital currencies enables many punters and betting operators to bypass regulatory restrictions, anti-money laundering policies and know-your-customers measures, the report says. 

Such sites and apps facilitate illegal betting by allowing illegal bookmakers and bettors to circumvent any restrictions on payment processors, and to move money instantly and anonymously.

Asian Racing Federation report

Over 780 Offshore Betting Platforms Accept Cryptocurrency

More than 780 offshore betting websites accept payments in one or more top cryptocurrencies. The report also claims that these platforms accept players from jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and Singapore.

ARF is concerned that the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies in the betting space could result in more illegal betting activities.

The rise of cryptocurrency and blockchain in the betting industry underlines a key point in the global anti-illegal betting narrative, which is that illegal betting operators will always be swifter and more agile to adapt to new technologies and regulatory loopholes/grey areas.

Asian Racing Federation report

Authorities in several Asian countries are cracking down on illegal betting sites. In April, Chinese law enforcement officers arrested a group of developers running an illegal decentralised gambling platform. 

Categories
Australia Crypto News NFTs

Art World Launches Australia’s First Physical NFT Gallery Exhibition

The popularity of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has surged in Australia, and traditional and digital artists are embracing the movement. 

Australia’s First NFT Gallery

Hobart’s Museum of Art & Philosophy (MAP) has launched Australia’s first NFT gallery in the Tasmanian capital, where digital and traditional artists from all around the world will display their creations later this month. 

The first exhibition is scheduled for the week of June 16-22, coinciding with Hobart’s annual Dark Mofo festival, and it will showcase the work of artists featured in the magazines New Philosopher and Womankind. Antonia Case, curator of MAP and editor of Womankind, says NFTs can bridge the gap between traditional and digital artists. 

NFTs enable digital artists to compete in the art world alongside fine artists in more traditional media.”

Antonia Case, MAP curator

Artists Making a Living out of NFTs

Case outlined the advantages of tokenising digital content and promoting it on decentralised marketplaces. For instance, NFTs have a certificate on its property — it can’t be destroyed, deleted or replicated. Besides, artists can make better revenues through royalties.

“In the past, digital artists whose work was emailed to publishers via JPEG, GIF, or TIF struggled to show ownership as digital files could be reproduced at will. If a JPEG of a digital work goes online, anyone can download it, which puts digital artists at a disadvantage compared to artists whose work is tangible, such as paintings on canvas, or sculpture.”

Antonia Case

NFTs are giving artists the opportunity to make a living with their work in a more free and decentralised way. An example is Lushxus, a Melbourne street artist famous for his controversial and unique paintings on walls across the city. As reported, Lushxus has earned over $500,000 by auctioning his work on marketplaces like Rarible. 

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Coinbase Crypto Debit Cards Crypto News Payments

Coinbase Enables Apple Pay and Google Pay For US Customers

As of June 1, the Coinbase Visa card can be linked with Apple Pay and Google Pay for US customers to make purchases and earn rewards when using the service.

According to an announcement from Coinbase, its crypto Visa card will be added to both payment services. While there is still a waitlist to get a card, Coinbase began inviting people on the waitlist along with selected Coinbase Card users from June 1. Users will be able to redeem up to 4% in crypto rewards, where they can earn either 1% back in Bitcoin (BTC) or 4% back in Stellar Lumens (XLM).

Millions of people around the world use Apple Pay or Google Pay for everyday purchases, from grocery deliveries to pet supplies to home office goods. Now you can earn up to 4% back in crypto rewards on this shopping when you use your Coinbase Card with Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Coinbase

Since payments by mobile phone have been steadily growing in the US (up 29% in 2020), Coinbase has added this new functionality to cater for that part of the market.

How The Service Works

Coinbase stated that it will automatically convert all cryptocurrency to US dollars and transfer the funds to a customer’s Coinbase Card (less conversion fees) for use in purchases and ATM withdrawals. Apple Pay and Google Pay use tokenization to keep card information safe and enable secure purchases.

“If you’re a Google Pay user, you can add your Coinbase Card from the Google Pay app,” according to the Coinbase statement, and the same goes for the Apple Pay app.

Coinbase blog

Users who have completed the application process will not even need to wait for their cards to arrive. As soon as customers are approved, they are added to Apple and Google Pay and can start spending immediately. 

Coinbase cards are not yet available for Australian customers and, according to the Coinbase website, the waitlist currently only applies in all US states except Hawaii.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News

Holdouts Are Not Stopping Bitcoin Taproot Activation

Taproot activation for Bitcoin (BTC) is likely to happen this year as over 90% of the 2,016 mined blocks have already signalled for it.

Yesterday was the fourth day of the two-week period for the Taproot activation, which follows the rules of the Speedy Trial — a deployment method merged into Bitcoin Core. The mechanism will allow miners and mining pools to coordinate the softfork deployment by signalling support in their mined blocks.

At press time, 97.63% of blocks had signalled for Taproot between May and August.

Source: Taproot.watch

One Holdout Remains

Mara Pool, a BTC mining pool operated by Marathon Digital Holdings, signalled for Taproot on May 31 after adopting the latest codebases offered by Bitcoin Core developers.

While not all of Mara Pool’s mined blocks have signalled, as the company upgrades its miners it may start signalling support in the coming week.

A Vital Upgrade for Bitcoin

Taproot is likely to mark 2021 as a historic year for Bitcoin. It would improve BTC’s network privacy by only revealing relevant parts of smart contracts when spending, besides providing scalability to the network, lower fees and faster transactions.

A week ago, 95% of major BTC mining pools briefly signalled for Taproot, but declined to almost 60% in a short period. The upgrade lock-in was unlikely at that stage, but if the current signalling ratio remains above 90%, then Taproot will be implemented in November.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News Markets Trading

Crypto Exchange Volumes Rise 37% In May 2021 To US$2.2 Trillion

Binance Adds Apple (AAPL) as Fourth Stock Token

Last month, major cryptocurrency exchanges recorded a massive volume of over $2.2 trillion USD, despite the recent drops in the price of cryptocurrencies.

The volume in May represents over a 37 percent increase compared to the previous month (April – $1.66 trillion USD), according to the data from TheBlock shown below.

Crypto Exchange Volume is up 132% YTD

Following the data, crypto exchange volume has increased by 132 percent compared to the January record of $977.79 billion USD, and over 2,000 percent compared to the record of $107 billion in May last year. In February, crypto exchanges made their first +$1.2 trillion volume, which has been on the rise for four consecutive months.

The leading crypto-to-crypto exchange, Binance, recorded over $1.5 trillion volume, which is about 66 percent of the total volume in May. Coinbase recorded the largest volume amongst fiat-to-crypto exchanges. Coinbase gained about $201 billion USD, which is approximately nine percent of the entire volume last month.

Judging by the growing trend, exchange volume is likely to increase further this month.

Bitcoin Futures Volumes Also On The Rise

Likewise, derivative exchanges also recorded an increase in Bitcoin Futures trading volume for the past month. The volume precisely increased by 48 percent in May, led by OKEx, which gained over 48 percent in BTC Futures volume, followed by Binance (+42%), FTX (+38%).

Huobi and Deribit gained about 36 percent in volume, while BitMEX lost four percent.  

At the time of writing, open interest in Bitcoin Futures totaled $11.25 billion USD, with the price of the underlying asset at $35,962 USD.

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Crypto News Events

Important Crypto Dates This Month – June 2021

In this article we take a look at important Crypto dates and events happening in this month.

The selected events include Hard Forks, Partnerships, Announcements, Rebranding, Exchange Listings, Releases, Token Swaps, Important Airdrops, Conferences and more.

Crypto News Partner Events and Announcements

DateEventNotes
1 JuneSwyftx dark modeSwyftx Dark Mode has been made to increase readability and reduce eye fatigue when viewing your portfolio at night.
2 JuneCoinJar Exchange launches 0% feesCoinJar is pleased to announce that they’re now offering zero-fee on all “taker” trades through their exchange platform.

Important Cryptocurrency Events

DateCoinEventNotes
3 JuneDLSA Protocol (DLSA)Mainnet on HarmonyDSLA Protocol and the DSLA.Network flagship application are coming to the Harmony network
8 JuneICON (ICX)Token swapAutomated swapping of your old ERC-20 (“ICO Tokens”) to native Mainnet $ICX will begin on June 8
10 JuneBitTorrent (BTT)SnapshotThe initial airdrop will commence after the snapshot on June 10, 2021
14 JuneVerox
(VRX)		Verox AI App releaseNo additional info
15 JuneKick Token (Kick)Token burnToken burn and staking
21 June Shiba Inu (Shib)Stakeprotocol AirdropEach holder will be given 1 STK for 1000 shiba, the snapshot will be ghost. Which will be taken between 21-22 June 2021.
26 JuneMultiVac (MTV)Mainnet LaunchMultiVAC Mainnet will launch on June 26th.
30 JuneSylo (SYLO)Smart Wallet StakingIn wallet Sylo staking,” during Q2 2021.
30 JuneDock (DOCK)Launch PoS MainnetLaunch PoS mainnet”, during Q2 2021.
30 JuneHorizen Protocol (HZN)Phoenix OracleWe plan to launch the initial [Phoenix Oracle] module in production-mode along with the Horizon Genesis Mainnet launch… in mid-June.
30 June Tenset (10SET)Mobile App ReleaseAlpha Mobile App Release and many other features planned around the same time.
30 June WinkLink (WIN)Decentralized Prediction Market DevWINK will vigorously develop the decentralized prediction market,” during Q2 2021
30 June Theta Network (THETA)Theta Mainnet 3.0Theta Mainnet 3.0 is going to be released at June 30 instead of 21 April 2021.
30 June StormX (STMX)StormX Debit CardStormX Debit card will be released during Q2 2021
30 JuneInjective Protocol (INJ)Mainnet LaunchIntended Mainnet launch in Q2

Upcoming Crypto & Blockchain Conferences

DateEventLocationNotes
June 14 – 10Defi Summit 2021OnlineThe free virtual conference contains 5 days of exclusive programming featuring live panels, fireside chats, Kickoff & NFT Stage, DeFi Demo Day, and more – in a global blockchain event unlike any other.
June 17Super Crypto ConferenceOnlineThe destination for thinkers and builders to discuss the latest news, applications and perspectives in the Crypto/Blockchain landscape.
June 17The Conference NFTOnlineDeep dive into the NFT world.
June 24Global Defi Summit 2021OnlineThe Global DeFi Summit is 2021’s leading annual gathering of DeFiers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency community.
Categories
Crypto Exchange Crypto News DeFi Regulation

Thailand’s SEC Seeks to Regulate Decentralised Finance Projects

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has flagged that decentralised finance (DeFi) needs to be regulated and future projects may require a licence to operate in the country.

The Bangkok Post reports that soon after Tuktuk Finance, a DeFi farming platform, had its coin and farming service debut on Bitkub Chain, the price quickly shot up to several hundred US dollars and then plummeted to US$1 in just a few minutes.

$TUK Stats [tuktuk finance]

Regulation Required For Safety of Investors

After this incident the SEC made its first official announcement regarding cryptocurrency, which stated that regulation is needed in order to safeguard potential investors. The SEC stated it would specifically look into DeFi protocols that issue coins.

The issuance of digital tokens must be authorised and overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the issuer is required to disclose information and offer the coins through the token portals licensed under the Digital Asset Decree …

SEC 

Dome Charoenyost, founder of security token service Tokenine, added that “we could see SEC-regulated DeFi platforms in the future”, which would be a major bonus for investors looking to use Thai DeFi platforms. These platforms would need to be vetted for the safety of consumers. Projects will also need to be compliant, which will reduce the risk for investors of buying into a fraudulent token, or one whose price can be easily dumped.

However, regulations such as these can be difficult to enforce since the majority of DeFi platforms operate outside Thailand, and if the creator of a DeFi protocol wants to remain anonymous it’s quite possible.

Numbers of Thai Crypto Users On The Rise

Data compiled by Thailand’s SEC and published by Bloomberg indicates combined volume across licensed Thai crypto exchanges increased from US$574.5 million in November 2020 to US$3.96 billion in February 2021, a jump of almost 600%.

Due to this boom, new know your customer (KYC) regulations will be implemented by September 2021 to block access by foreign investors to Thai exchanges. This will also reduce the number of accounts attached to those exchanges.

Banks have embraced DeFi in Thailand, with the Siam Commercial Bank announcing a US$50 million investment fund in February, and Kbank experimenting with DeFi services as part of its business expansion plan.

Categories
Blockchain Crypto News Digital Asset Mining

Daymak is Making Electric Cars That Can Mine Cryptocurrency With Green Energy

Canadian personal Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) manufacturer Daymak is building a unique series of electric cars dubbed “Spiritus” that can reportedly mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to a June 1 announcement.  

Daymak Spiritus is more than a car.

Aldo Baiocchi, President of Daymak

Even Parked Cars Will Be Able to Mine Bitcoin

As Daymak explained, Spiritus will be the first-ever electric car to incorporate a cryptocurrency wallet and mining hardware. Each electric car will function as a node on a blockchain, equipped with the company’s proprietary digital wallet and GPU miner. Spiritus will be able to mine cryptocurrencies with eco-friendly energy even when parked or plugged in. 

We envision a future where your highway tolls, your parking, and your drive-thru order will be paid directly on the fly with crypto. Your online bills and your banking can be handled through the same software platform paid in crypto.

Spiritus electric cars will be launched in the next two years and can be pre-ordered with popular digital currencies including Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum and Cardano. 

Auto Industry Slowly Warming to Crypto and Blockchain

The automobile industry has been advancing towards cryptocurrency recently, as seen with many dealerships and Tesla, which has previously supported Bitcoin payments for electric cars. However, Daymak’s announcement of Spiritus is probably the farthest an automaker has gone towards embracing the future of crypto technology.

Blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies, is also being used by automakers like Volvo to trace cobalt used in car batteries.

In February this year, the founder and CEO of Elrond, Beniamin Mincu, pitched to Elon Musk how Elrond blockchain networks could improve transactions involving self-driving Tesla vehicles.