YouTuber JJ Olatunji, better known as English rapper KSI, has gone public with the admission that the US$2.8 million he invested in Terra shrank to a mere $1,000 within 24 hours:
My 2.8 million dollars is literally worth $1000
HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah I’m packing this in 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/qeiVN5yG2w
The announcement has left onlookers and KSI’s followers questioning what compelled him to buy into LUNA’s crash in the first place.
Motivation to Invest Remains a Mystery
The reason KSI chose to invest in Terra is unknown, given that the company was, and still is, severely crashing. KSI did state earlier last week that he intended to hold his share long-term.
However, the LUNA token is of unlimited supply and suffering the effects of serious hyperinflation:
$LUNA supply is unlimited guys. It will trend asymptotically towards 0 but never hit 0
$100, $10, $1, $0.10, $0.01, $0.001, $0.0001 and so on, until the peg is regained or liquidity is 0.
Don’t buy at $0.01 thinking it will go back to $10. You’re getting hyperinflated
KSI has already lost a significant amount of crypto this year, and last week shared a tweet acknowledging the error of his ways:
Before crypto, money was a driving force in my mindset. During my time, I made a lot of money, and lost a lot of money. I went from euphoric to depressed. But soon I became numb to it all and realised that money simply isn’t everything.
Following the sudden de-pegging of TerraUSD (UST) and the subsequent decline of Terra (LUNA), there has been a significant knock-on effect on the wider DeFi market. The issue has extended beyond the borders of the Terra ecosystem and is impacting DeFi tokens across all blockchains, with the entire DeFi market dropping by 21 percent over the 24 hours of May 12.
YouTubers’ Dodgy Crypto Deals
Unfortunately, interaction with, and the promotion of, dodgy crypto deals seem to be a trend among famous YouTubers. Two of the most notable instances of this are:
Paul Denino’s (Ice Poseidon) admission that he scammed his fans out of US$500,000 thanks to a crypto pump-and-dump scheme. Denino offered little remorse on being called out.
Logan Paul’s promotion of the shitcoin ‘Dink Donk’ earned him a place at the centre of a pump-and-dump scandal as the coin crashed by 95 percent in just two weeks.
The back end of 2021 also saw Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) working hard to prevent hackers from hijacking YouTube channels to utilise them for the promotion of crypto scams. These phishing campaigns have reportedly been an issue since 2019.
Several popular crypto websites, including those of data aggregator CoinGecko and Ethereum block explorer Etherscan, were targeted by a large-scale phishing scam last weekend that displayed malicious pop-ups prompting users to connect their MetaMask wallets.
Security Alert: If you are on the CoinGecko website and you are being prompted by your Metamask to connect to this site, this is a SCAM. Don't connect it. We are investigating the root cause of this issue. pic.twitter.com/7vPfTAjtiU
The scam was linked to the now deactivated domain nftapes.win, which displayed the Bored Apes Yacht Club logo in an attempt to appear legitimate. At the time of writing, it was unclear how many users were affected and how much they lost.
🚨 We’ve received reports of phishing popups via a 3rd party integration and are currently investigating.
Please be careful not to confirm any transactions that pop up on the website.
According to CoinGecko, the scammers hijacked the advertising platform Coinzilla, which displays ads across a wide network of crypto-related sites, injecting malicious code that triggered the fraudulent pop-ups.
From there it was a relatively straightforward phishing scam leveraging the trust of the websites they exploited. The pop-ups would prompt users to connect their MetaMask wallets, and of course once they did their digital assets were immediately transferred to the scammers.
When the advertising code was identified as the root cause of the fraudulent pop-ups, it was deactivated on the CoinGecko website.
Advertising Code a Serious Vulnerability
Twitter user and blockchain researcher @CryptoShrine explained that this type of attack is quite common and suggests that Web3 site owners should look to move away from advertising as a primary source of revenue:
8/?
Ideally, the web3 related site owners should generate revenue through other means than just advertising
malvertising is a well-known tactic used by attackers in web2 space and can be extended to web3 space as well
Scams of this nature can cause significant losses because they can affect many websites at the same time by piggybacking on the advertising code, and because the malicious pop-ups can appear on trustworthy websites it increases the likelihood of users falling victim.
Lido Finance has warned leveraged traders they are at risk of liquidations as a surge in ‘Staked Ethereum’ (stETH) redemptions has caused it to lose its 1:1 peg with Ethereum:
Against a backdrop of wider market turbulence, the stETH:ETH swap rate has deviated from its 1:1 peg.
At the time of writing stETH is trading at a discount of 4.2% to ETH on the main Curve pool.
When Lido sent out its warnings, the discount was 4.2 percent and rose as high as 5 percent before dropping again. As it stands, 1 ETH can be exchanged for 1.0248 stETH through the Curve protocol, which means it is currently trading at a 3 percent discount relative to Ethereum.
stETH/ETH Chart, Source: Coinmarketcap.com
Terra should remain live for the weeks to come, nevertheless, it would be prudent to move your assets as soon as practically possible.
The StETH price surged as people who have staked it in the Anchor lending protocol, which runs on the Terra blockchain, rushed to retrieve it on May 13 after the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) lost its peg to the US dollar.
Terra had also been paused twice, signifying an attempt by the team to save the network’s native assets as UST lost its peg. The fall of Terra has had widespread effects on the entire crypto industry – in this case, while the network was halted it would have been impossible for Lido users to recover their stETH.
Until stETH is trading at a discount, holders can redeem their stETH for more ETH compared to their initial deposits, meaning there would not be enough ETH in the pool to back all holders’ stETH.
Let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoins showing breakout signals. We’ll explain what the coin is, then dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you decide.
1. Basic Attention Token (BAT)
Basic Attention Token BAT is the token that powers a new blockchain-based digital advertising platform designed to fairly reward users for their attention while providing advertisers with a better return on their ad spend. The Basic Attention Token itself is the unit of reward in this advertising ecosystem and is exchanged between advertisers, publishers and users. Advertisers pay for their advertising campaigns in BAT tokens. Out of this budget, a small portion is distributed to advertisers, while 70% is distributed to users – whereas the intermediaries that typically drive up advertising costs are cut out of the equation to improve cost-efficiency.
BAT Price Analysis
At the time of writing, BAT is ranked the 80th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.3963. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
BAT has dropped nearly 69% from its April 2022 high and 84% from its November 2021 all-time high.
Support might have formed last week from $0.3934 to $0.3665 and should hold if bulls are ready for a bounce. This zone overlaps with an inefficiently traded area on the weekly chart from $0.3863 to $0.3394.
If this level breaks, bears might target an inefficiently traded area on the monthly chart from $0.2907 to $0.2632. Below this level, $0.1745 to $0.1580 could provide support after a run on bulls’ stops under the Q4 2020 lows into an area of significant accumulation.
The closest resistance begins near $0.4283. This level has confluence with the 9 EMA and a brief consolidation before May 11’s spike downward.
A more significant rally might find resistance near $0.4940. This level is inefficiently traded and has confluence with the lows of last summer’s accumulation and the 18 EMA.
If the market becomes more bullish, $0.5946 may provide the next resistance. This level is slightly above the May monthly open, overlaps with multiple old lows and aligns with the 40 EMA.
2. Eos (EOS)
EOS is a platform designed to allow developers to build decentralised apps. The project’s goal is relatively simple: to make it as straightforward as possible for programmers to embrace blockchain technology and ensure the network is easier to use than rivals. As a result, tools and a range of educational resources are provided to support developers who want to build functional apps quickly. EOS also aims to improve the experience for users and businesses. While the project tries to deliver greater security and less friction for consumers, it also vies to unlock flexibility and compliance for enterprises.
EOS Price Analysis
At the time of writing, EOS is ranked the 46th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$1.33. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
EOS has plummeted nearly 66% from its March 2022 high and almost 93% from its May 2021 all-time high.
The closest resistance overlaps with the 8 EMA near $1.4544, where the daily chart shows inefficient trading. This level rejected the price’s first retest on May 13.
Slightly higher, $1.8152 offers the next noteworthy resistance. This area was inefficiently traded and overlaps with the last significant swing low in mid-March.
Last week, the price bounced from support near $1.1856, which could provide support again. This level shows inefficient trading on the monthly chart and is near the midpoint of September 2017’s accumulation.
If this support breaks, bulls could find support near $0.7229. This level is at the bottom of an inefficiently traded area on the monthly and weekly charts. It’s also the high point of October 2017’s accumulation range. However, eager bidders should be cautious as a move this low may be targeting bulls’ stops under the swing low at $0.4760.
3. Unibright (UBT)
Unibright UBT is a member company of SPO Consulting GmbH, which was founded in 1989. The cloud-based integration platform was released in 2011, while the cross-blockchain and cross-system business process integration of Unibright was launched in 2016.
Unibright’s unified framework has the goal of bringing blockchain technology and contracts to mainstream users. Unibright offers enterprise-level blockchain solutions, integration platforms, and an ecosystem centred on tokenised assets.
UBT Price Analysis
At the time of writing, UBT is ranked the 377th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.3877. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
UBT has dropped nearly 89% since its March 2022 high and 95% since its September 2021 high.
The price is currently testing probable resistance near $0.4029, which marks the upper half of last week’s rally before the last run downward and may soon overlap with the 18 EMA.
Just above, $0.4842 may also provide resistance. Sweeping this high would remove bears who trailed their stops too aggressively. It also overlaps with the lower half of early May’s consolidation.
Support may have formed near the recent swing low candle’s high near $0.3592, which should hold during a retest if the price is to rally further. This possible support formed after the price ran bulls’ stops under significant lows near $0.2361.
Further possible support below this level becomes difficult to determine due to a lack of precise historical price action data. Some charts suggest that an area near $0.18378 could be the next bearish target and possible support. Inefficient trading might have occurred here.
If this level breaks, the stops and inefficiently traded area under the significant swing low around $0.07358 may be the next target for bears and offers potential support for bulls.
These coins have high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on AUD/USDT/BTC pairs. And if you’re looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has gifted US$4 million worth of USD Coin (USDC) to Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) to support the development of an artificial intelligence-based pandemic detection tool:
— Kirby Institute, UNSW (@KirbyInstitute) May 12, 2022
Buterin’s donation will underwrite the Shiba Inu Open-Source Intelligence-based EPIWATCH tool, which utilises AI and open-source data to create early pandemic warnings.
It’s all part of what Buterin describes as his “moonshot anti-Covid effort”, in partnership with the Shiba Inu memecoin project and the Crypto Relief fund, which was launched during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India last year.
Tool Scans Online Data for Covid Updates
EPIWATCH is the brainchild of Raina MacIntyre, professor and biosecurity research head at UNSW’s Kirby Institute, based at the university’s Sydney campus. The tool can scan millions of items of publicly available online data, including social media and news reports, to detect any changes that could suggest increasing Covid-related health concerns.
Raina MacIntyre, biosecurity research head, UNSW. Source: sph.med.unsw.edu.au
MacIntyre says the aim was to make the tool accessible at a “grassroots” level and make sure it covers enough languages to reach “villages and small towns around the world”. MacIntyre also eluded that “Imagine if someone had detected Covid-19 before it spread around the world – that is our vision. Using AI and real-time open-source data, EPIWATCH does not depend on people making reports. It is a great equaliser and can overcome weak health systems and censorship.”
In announcing his donation to the project, Buterin stressed the importance of sharing data in a decentralised and open manner to speed up pandemic detection:
[It’s] an excellent alternative to more intrusive forms of monitoring, which are also often only available to governments and other high bidders but closed to the public. By contrast, an open-source and open-access approach that allows researchers to work collaboratively across the world can be more easily improved and scaled to detect new pandemics wherever they begin.
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder
Australian universities are at the forefront of crypto-related research designed to benefit humanity. Earlier this month, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University launched its Green Cryptocurrency Laboratory, which will focus on reducing crypto’s carbon footprint.
And last year, in response to an outbreak of fake Covid-19 vaccine certificates circulating on the web, Australian medical specialists called for a nationwide roll-out of a blockchain-based vaccine certificate system.
Let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoins showing breakout signals. We’ll explain what the coin is, then dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you decide.
1. Decentraland (MANA)
Decentraland MANA defines itself as a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain that allows users to create, experience, and monetise content and applications. In this virtual world, users purchase plots of land that they can later navigate, build on and monetise. Decentraland uses two tokens: MANA and LAND. MANA is an ERC-20 token that must be burned to acquire non-fungible ERC-721 LAND tokens. MANA tokens can also be used to pay for a range of avatars, wearables, names and more on the Decentraland marketplace.
MANA Price Analysis
At the time of writing, MANA is ranked the 33rd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$1.23. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
Like many other altcoins, MANA set a high during Q1 before retracing 65% to the low at $0.7530 last week.
The price broke through resistance near $1.20, which may mark an area of possible support on a retracement. If this support fails, bulls might also step in near $1.13. However, a drop this far increases the chances of a stop run to $1.05 and possibly into support near $0.9425. For now, continuing recovery market conditions could help $1.10 become support.
The swing high around $1.40 gives bulls a reasonable first target, with $1.48 also likely to draw the price upward. Higher-timeframe resistance beginning near $1.60 or $1.65 could cap the move or trigger consolidations. If bullish market conditions continue, bulls might test probable resistance near new monthly highs around $1.74.
2. Chainlink (LINK)
The Chainlink Network LINK is driven by a large open-source community of data providers, node operators, smart contract developers, researchers, security auditors and more. The company focuses on ensuring that decentralised participation is guaranteed for all node operators and users looking to contribute to the network. Chainlink allows blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events and payment methods, providing the critical off-chain information needed by complex smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital agreement.
LINK Price Analysis
At the time of writing, LINK is ranked the 25th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$7.59. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
LINK‘s early April trend retraced near $7.10 into the consolidation that began the impulse before bouncing to $7.66.
This consolidation could provide support again, although bears would first have to push the price through possible support near $7.05. The market’s structure may be shifting bearish, with $7.98 likely to provide some resistance if this is the case. A sustained bearish move could reach the swing low near $6.89 before finding support near $6.77.
However, the bullish higher-timeframe trend might prevail, with relatively equal highs near $8.79 potentially giving an attractive target to lure the price over the monthly open. If so, the price could reach for the midpoint of the Q1 wick near $10.58.
3. 1inch (1INCH)
1INCH is a decentralised exchange (DEX) aggregator, connecting several DEXes into one platform to allow users to find the most efficient swapping routes across all platforms. In order for users to find the best price for a swap, they need to look at every exchange – DEX aggregators eliminate the need for manually checking, bringing efficiency to swapping on DEXes. 1inch has launched its 1INCH governance token, and the 1inch Network began to be governed by a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO).
1INCH Price Analysis
At the time of writing, 1INCH is ranked the 98th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.9458. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
After breaking its Q1 highs, 1INCH began a range that has been whiplashing both bulls and bears.
Resistance beginning near $1.45 held the price down for the second half of April, although bulls have shown some strength near the 9 and 18 EMAs.
A quick push to $1.13, or into the zone beginning near $1.26, could give bulls the fuel to push through the nearby resistance. If this resistance breaks, the high near $1.34 provides a reasonable target.
A break of this level could move further into uncharted territory with the nearest probable resistances projected around $1.40 and $1.45.
More patient bulls might be waiting far below the 40 EMA with bids near the higher-timeframe range’s 45% retracement, near $0.8540.
These coins have high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on AUD/USDT/BTC pairs. And if you’re looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.
As the NFT garden continues to blossom, issues such as fraud and plagiarism are inevitably hindering trust in the space. To address this, OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, is putting measures in place to reduce fraud while improving authenticity:
2 – Reducing copymints: we’re rolling out an automated system to proactively identify, remove, and prevent copymints.
An updated verification and collection badging system will broaden the number of creators eligible for verification.
An automated system to aid in identifying, removing and preventing instances of “copymints” – copies of authentic NFT content – will also be put in place.
OpenSea says it will be implementing a new two-part detection system as copies make it more difficult to find authentic content on the platform. It will also use image recognition technology to scan NFTs on the platform and compare them with authentic collections, looking for flips, rotations and other variants.
Well, aside of the bad news regarding the #Cryptocrash , this for the #NFTs space is f*ing amazing!
According to one of its blog posts, OpenSea is “committed to threading the needle between removing copymints and giving space for those substantively additive remixes to prosper”. The marketplace has already started removing offending content and will scale up the removal process in coming weeks.
OpenSea in Troubled Waters
The changes OpenSea aims to implement come at a good time, as the marketplace has suffered various blows to its reputation in 2022. Earlier in the year, a former Bored Ape Yacht Club owner announced he would be suing OpenSea for US$1 million in damages after his Bored Ape was stolen from his crypto wallet. Mintable, another NFT marketplace, also recovered three NFTs stolen in a phishing attack on the OpenSea platform.
Nubank, Brazil’s biggest digital bank by market volume, now allows customers to buy and sell bitcoin and ethereum on its Paxos-supported trading platform, as per a May 11 announcement.
The fintech will allocate one percent of its equity to bitcoin through its parent company, Nu Holdings Inc, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Nubank said the move seeks to “strengthen the company’s conviction in the current and future potential of bitcoin in disrupting financial services”.
Deal Gives BTC Exposure to Warren Buffett
Nubank’s treasury allocation to bitcoin gives indirect BTC exposure to old-school investor and Bitcoin critic Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. The US holding company reportedly invested US$500 million in Nubank in June 2021, acquired 30 million shares for another $250 million as it went public in December, and recently doubled-down with a $1 billion investment in Brazilian fintech.
According to Paxos, users will be able to buy and sell crypto with Brazilian reals, but initially won’t be able to withdraw or deposit crypto. Until now, Nubank allowed users to invest in crypto only through exchange-traded funds available through its investment unit, NuInvest.
There is no doubt that crypto is a growing trend in Latin America, one that we have been following closely and believe will have a transformational impact on the region. Yet the trading experience is still very niche as customers either lack information to feel confident to enter this new market or just get frustrated by complex experiences.
David Vélez, CEO and co-founder, Nubank
In general, Brazil is experiencing major crypto adoption growth. Between January and November of 2021, locals reportedly traded US$11.4 billion in stablecoins, almost triple the amount traded the previous year.
In his capacity as Nubank boss, Vélez is clearly intent on demystifying crypto trading for the average Brazilian bank customer.
Do Kwon, founder of the Terra blockchain and the company behind its protocol, Terraform Labs, was allegedly the brains trust of another failed stablecoin project, Basis Cash (BAC).
According to a recent report from US-based crypto journalists Danny Nelson and Sam Kessler, Basis Cash was an Ethereum-based stablecoin meant to be pegged to the US dollar through code and not any actual collateral. The project was abandoned by its creators in early 2021 after it failed to reach parity with the dollar, in fact sinking below US$1:
Now we find out Do Kwon was behind another failed stable coin Basis Cash. What a sh*t show.. https://t.co/3czPMvd9Ro
As Crypto News Australiareported this week, TerraUSD (UST) lost more than 50 percent of its value in a single day after the stablecoin started de-pegging due to a series of significant withdrawals on the Anchor Protocol, a DeFi lending protocol that offers high yields in UST.
Kwon Outed as BAC Co-Founder ‘Rick Sanchez’
Now, new controversy surrounds Kwon as he was one of the two pseudonymous co-founders of BAC, going by the moniker “Rick Sanchez”.
Do Kwon, Terra founder. Source: Forbes
Looking at DefiLlama stats, we can see Basis Cash had a TLV (total locked value) peak of roughly US$175 million shortly before dropping to almost zero in December 2020. BAC’s current market price is 0.007.
Too Little, Too Late for UST
At the time of writing, UST had lost nearly 40 percent of its value in the past week, as per data from CoinMarketCap. The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), stewards of Terra’s UST, is looking to inject US$1 billion to save UST. However, the crypto community remains reticent and thinks it may already be too late for a bailout:
This advice honestly comes from a good place, if you need that money get it out of there soon.There's nothing preventing UST from going to $0.01, it's what happened to the last algo stable he made called basiscoin.Not trying to FUD, just honest advice. https://t.co/FuLS0vSDfL
Pop singer and cultural icon Madonna is well-known for her boundary-breaking love of all things risqué and has taken this to a new level. Partnering up with famous NFT artist Beeple, Madonna has released a series of NFTs that leave very little to the imagination when it comes to motherhood.
The series features three videos of Madonna-as-mother in virtual-reality simulations where she respectively “gives birth” to a tree, butterflies, and robotic centipedes:
Here's an NFT that Beeple and Madonna did, called Mother of Nature. Now you know. pic.twitter.com/I9kI2ksgvZ
Madonna sparked confusion and some social media dismay this week with the release of her NFT collection, called ‘Mother of Creation’. The series of three single-edition NFTs features the singer naked and in the act of “mothering” various forms of life.
It’s been an amazing journey building this from an intellectual idea to an emotional story, giving birth to art. I wanted to investigate the concept of creation, not only the way a child enters the world through a woman’s vagina, but also the way an artist gives birth to creativity. Most importantly, we wanted to use this opportunity to benefit mothers and children who are most in need right now.
Madonna, pop singer and cultural icon
The first, titled ‘Mother of Nature’, sees Madonna lying on a laboratory bed and “giving birth” to a tree that starts to blossom as it exits her body. The second, ‘Mother of Evolution’, depicts her recumbent on an abandoned vehicle in an almost destroyed city where she is seen “giving birth” to butterflies. In the final instalment of the series, ‘Mother of Technology’, the singer is seen lying in a forest and “birthing” a series of biomechanical centipedes.
Madonna commented: “When Mike [Michael Joseph Winkelmann, aka Beeple] and I decided to collaborate on this project a year ago, I was excited to have the opportunity to share my vision of the world as a mother and an artist with Mike’s own unique point of view.”
Proceeds Go to Three Worthy NPOs
Proceeds from the NFT sales will benefit three non-profit organisations that support women and children. These are the Voices of Children Foundation, the City of Joy Foundation, and Black Mama’s Bail Out.
The collection has been slated as “soft-core porn” and has upset many who took to Twitter to express their dismay, but Madonna is not the first to bring the porn industry together with NFTs.
Racy online subscription service OnlyFans announced in February that its users could use ETH NFTs as their profile pictures. Also, the original and biggest player, Playboy entered the space last year when it combined its 68-year legacy of arts patronage and progressive conversations on sexuality with an exhibit that invited the digital art community to create original works to celebrate what it called “sexual liberation, gender equality and representation”.
