Category: Crypto News

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Blockchain Cosmos Crypto News Tokens

Typo Sees $36 Million in Seized Whale JUNO Tokens Sent to Wrong Wallet

Typographical errors or a misplaced cut-and-paste are the stuff of nightmares in the journalistic profession, so imagine the horror for the Juno community when US$36 million worth of its tokens were sent to the wrong wallet address thanks to a programming mishap.

The community last week voted to seize the tokens from the wallet of a whale investor accused of gaming an airdrop. But instead of sending the funds to an address controlled by the Juno community, as originally intended, they were misdirected to another wallet because of a faulty software upgrade:

Juno Proposal 20, passed almost unanimously by the Juno community, was supposed to automatically run code to move funds “gamed” by Japanese whale Takumi Asano from his wallet into a “Unity” address controlled by the community.

Funds Wind Up in Blockchain Limbo

When the code was executed on May 4, a programming error moved three million revoked JUNO tokens to an erroneous address on the Cosmos-based blockchain to which neither Asano nor the Juno community had access.

Andrea Di Michele, a member of Juno’s developer team, attributed the glitch to a copy-paste error. “When I gave the [Proposal 20] developers the address of the [Unity] smart contract, I pasted the address of the smart contract and just underneath it put the transaction hash,” Di Michele said.

Developers then accidentally copied the transaction hash – which looked similar to the wallet address – rather than the address itself. As a result, the seized funds were moved to an unreachable sector of the Juno/Cosmos blockchain.

Of Juno’s more than 120 validators, none appeared to notice that the Unity address had been pasted incorrectly. One of them stated the obvious on behalf of the many: “We f..ked up big time.”

Asano Foreshadows Possible Legal Action

Asano has since indicated he may pursue legal action against the validators unless the confiscated funds are returned to his investors.

As mistakes go, this one is not quite in the league of the DeFi protocol bug that accidentally rewarded Compound users with US$80 million worth of COMP tokens last October. But it’s way bigger than the Mutant Ape NFT that sold for 17 USDC rather than 17 ETH in August 2021, the result of another unfortunate if equally amusing typo that in this case cost a mere US$54,000.

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Crypto News Economics Investing Markets

Crypto Markets Tumble Amid Worst Stock Market Sell-Off Since March 2020

Despite a short-lived rally mid-week, crypto markets have tumbled over the past few days as they follow the lead of the US stock market, which on May 5 recorded its single worst day of trade since March 2020.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, at the time of writing Bitcoin was trading at US$36,421, a 24-hour loss of 8.07 percent, while the overall crypto market cap was down 7.65 percent.


7-Day Total Cryptocurrency Market Cap. Source: CoinMarketCap

Financial Markets Plunge in Response to Rate Rise

The falls on the stock market that sparked the crypto losses were triggered by the US Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis points. 

On May 4 the news was initially welcomed by markets, as it was in line with what many expected, spurring the S&P 500 to its biggest daily rally in two years. The following day, however, traders reconsidered the implications of the rise and the market dumped: the S&P fell 3.56 percent, the Dow Jones was down 3.12 percent and Nasdaq plunged 5.06 percent – its largest single-day percentage drop since 2020.

Crypto Down Across the Board

In line with the traditional financial markets, crypto was down virtually across the board. In addition to Bitcoin’s almost 8 percent drop on May 5, most top 10 coins saw substantial losses: Ethereum fell 6.78 percent, Solana was down 10.75 percent and Cardano lost 12.09 percent.

Given the changed broader economic conditions, Bitcoin and the wider crypto market face an increasingly uncertain period. Rekt Capital suggested on Twitter that US$38,400 may mark the new line of short-term resistance, and the popular crypto market analyst believes that BTC will need to close the month above that figure to have much chance of a rally in the medium term:

So far, 2022 has been an unhappy year for crypto generally – this latest downturn, in addition to several other sharp declines, including major losses in January and again in April, have left the crypto market cap down over 20 percent since January 1.

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Australia Crypto News Superannuation

Australians Double Their Crypto Exposure in Self-Managed Superannuation

Australians have doubled their exposure to crypto as an asset class in self-managed super funds (SMSFs), according to the latest available figures.

The most recent SMSF statistical overview report released by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) shows 0.6 per cent of the SMSF cohort held cryptocurrency as at June 30, 2020, compared with 0.3 per cent the previous year.

Crypto Exposure in SMSFs Growing Fast

This equates to A$227 million of a total of $8.4 billion invested in SMSFs, with crypto held in about 3,600 funds out of a total 600,000. The average crypto investment component is $34,000, a small figure in relative terms but growing fast.

Comparing the 0.6 percent of SMSF exposure to the 18 percent of all Australians who hold crypto, there is a clear gap waiting to be exploited that only emphasises the vast potential of the self-managed superannuation space.

There are 597,000 Australian SMSFs, encompassing 1.1 million members, with total assets valued at $822 billion, or 25 percent of the $3.3 trillion invested in all Australian superannuation funds. A total of 25,300 SMSFs were opened last year (up to June 21), with the net number of funds quadrupling the previous year’s figure – making 2021 the biggest year for SMSFs since 2015.

About New Venture Wealth

Melbourne-based New Venture Wealth’s stated aim is to simplify investing in crypto through a self-managed super fund. Since it was founded in 2020, the company has specialised in the provision of crypto-based SMSFs and focuses on maintaining a high level of customer service, care and contact.
 
A convenient feature of New Venture Wealth is that customers can at any time talk directly to staff who are SMSF experts, chartered accountants or auditors. Customers can also rest assured that compliance requirements are upheld every step of the way.

Free Webinars This Month

New Venture Wealth is running free webinars during May with the focus on educating beginners about how they can get into crypto via an SMSF. Each webinar runs for about 30 minutes and covers topics such as:

  • what is an SMSF?
  • how does the ATO allow crypto as an asset class for an SMSF?
  • what are the steps to setting one up?, and
  • what are the auditing requirements?, and more.

The link to register is here: https://www.newventurewealth.com.au/free-webinar/

Categories
Blockchain Crypto News Markets Tokens

New Move-to-Earn Token ‘FITFI’ Explodes Over 243% in Just Seven Days

The move-to-earn project Step App ($FITFI) has bucked the downward trend of crypto markets over the past week, posting gains in excess of 250 percent in the week since April 28. 

According to CoinGecko, the token was trading at US$0.24 on April 28 before starting its upward climb, recording its recent peak of US$0.67 on May 5 – a seven-day increase of approximately 275 percent. At the time of writing FITFI had retraced some of those gains but was still up significantly, trading at US$0.63.

Step App Lets Users Earn From Exercise

Step App allows users to monetise their fitness, compete with other users, collect NFTs and socialise with other crypto-minded exercise enthusiasts. According to the Step App website, it achieves this functionality by taking advantage of “the leading technology in metaverse, augmented reality and blockchain”.

Step App has a somewhat complicated economy, using three separate tokens – FITFI, KCAL and SNEAK: 

  • FITFI is the app’s governance token, which can be used for a variety of purposes including staking, conferring DAO voting rights and providing liquidity incentives; 
  • KCAL is the in-game currency users earn through exercise; and 
  • SNEAK are NFTs users can mint or buy using using either KCAL or FITFI tokens.

Move-To-Earn Is Latest Crypto Investing Trend

Step App is a part of the fitness finance (FitFi) trend to have recently emerged in crypto, where users can earn crypto rewards by exercising. It seems to be following a similar trajectory to the DeFi and GameFi trends before it: a few innovative projects create a new market segment, and then many similar projects emerge to iterate on the theme and capitalise on the hype.

The current leader in the FitFi space is the Australian-based move-to-earn project StepN, whose GMT token has increased in value more than 200x since the start of 2022.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Joe Rogan ‘One or Two Orange Pills Away’ From Becoming a Bitcoin Maxi

Joe Rogan, host of the world’s most popular podcast, is no stranger to alternative perspectives. Despite first hearing about Bitcoin in 2014, he is yet to become a full-blown proponent, though recent signals suggest he is nudging ever closer to becoming “orange-pilled”:

‘Orange-Pilled’?

Becoming “orange-pilled” is to recognise the irredeemable flaws of the debt-based fiat system, central banking and how Bitcoin fixes it. To supporters, the orange pill is a financial off-ramp towards freedom and monetary sovereignty:

Dr Satoshi’s Orange Pill. Source: Bitcoin Magazine

The phrase originates from the The Matrix, where Morpheus offers Neo a choice between a red pill or a blue pill:

This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Morpheus, The Matrix

Rogan Staring Down the Bitcoin Rabbit Hole

With an average of 11 million downloads per episode, The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) is one of the more influential sources of media in the world today. Most recently, the show hosted mixed martial arts (MMA) star Khalil Rountree, who shared his “Bitcoin awakening” with the world’s most popular podcaster:

Rountree kicked off by describing his experience at the Bitcoin 2022 Conference, saying that Bitcoin offered hope for humanity and the future. Rogan appeared to agree with the sentiment, likening Bitcoin to the early days of the internet when governments demonstrated an express desire to control it, though in the case of Bitcoin:

They [the government] didn’t see it coming and now it’s a viable form of currency – you can actually buy things with it.

Joe Rogan, JRE

Without explicitly naming them, Rogan then hinted at the risk of CBDCs (central bank digital currencies), explaining that there will be a time when government “limits what you spend your money on”.

Interestingly, Rogan first spoke publicly about Bitcoin with Andreas Antonopoulos in 2016, saying he was “on team Bitcoin”. Despite later arguing it could fail, his most recent pronouncement suggests he is closer than ever to becoming a Bitcoin maxi.

Michael Saylor recognised the significance of Rogan talking about Bitcoin, saying:

Immediately, requests started pouring in for Rogan to host two of the best Bitcoin bulls – Saylor, of MicroStrategy, and Strike chief executive Jack Mallers. Memes starting popping up everywhere, almost willing it into existence:

Image
Mallers and Saylor “appearing” on the JRE. Source: Bitcoin Meme Hub

Rogan is not just a podcaster – he is a cultural phenomenon whose listeners appreciate his intellectual honesty and willingness to engage with new ideas. From an ideological perspective, he has all the makings of a Bitcoiner and appears to be staring straight down the Bitcoin rabbit hole. Was it Canada confiscating its citizens’ assets? Or the realisation that Bitcoin is unseizable digital property?

Either way, it seems likely that sooner or later he will come out as a full-blown Bitcoin bull.

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Australia Crypto News NFTs

Australia Zoo Launches NFT Project ‘Wildlife Warriors’ to Help Protect Wildlife

The world-famous Australia Zoo is collaborating with Meadow Labs to create a unique Australian-themed NFT collection built atop the carbon-neutral Algorand blockchain.

The collection is in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Queensland-based zoo’s Wildlife Warriors, and all primary proceeds generated from the project will be donated to Australia Zoo and its associated conservation organisation:

Established in 2002 by Australia Zoo co-founders Steve and Terri Irwin, Wildlife Warriors is all about the protection of injured, threatened, and endangered wildlife. The initiative boasts 11 conservation projects worldwide and three conservation properties. Wildlife Warriors’ flagship project, the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, has treated over 110,000 animals since opening its doors.

Sustainable Blockchain Placates the Naysayers

Created on Algorand, the world’s first carbon-negative blockchain with 0.01 gas and transaction fees, the series of NFTs celebrates the 20th anniversary of Australia Zoo’s Wildlife Warriors. By building the series on Algorand, hardline environmentalist naysayers on Twitter can be effectively shut down:


The limited set of NFTs is centred on raising awareness and funds to protect Australia’s wildlife and wild places. In partnership with Meadow Labs, an Australian-based technology start-up, this rare NFT collection will consist of a series of drops, each focusing on a different Australia Zoo Wildlife animal. Each NFT will be randomly generated, non-deterministic, utility-driven, and unique to each buyer.

Meadow Labs co-founder and CEO Martin Kelly said: “We’re really excited to partner with Australia Zoo in their first foray into Web3 and their mission of fighting for the planet’s wildlife and wild places, one NFT at a time. This is a sensational example of what innovative brands can achieve when they open themselves up to the endless possibilities Web3 has to offer. This is just the beginning of a long term-partnership to create an ‘NFT for good’ movement that builds on ensuring we all have a sustainable future.”

Robert Irwin, son of Steve and Terri, added:

At Australia Zoo we’re always open to new ways [to] help continue our Wildlife Warriors mission. Any innovation that can help our conservation efforts, particularly one that shares our vision of protecting the planet, is something we’re thrilled to support. This green chain and new technology allows us a new avenue to continue to fight for the protection of our wildlife and wild places.

Robert Irwin, Australia Zoo

Although an Australian project, the NFTs will be available globally and can be purchased with fiat (tangible currency) on-ramping via MoonPay, which will allow customers to buy cryptos directly from the bespoke webstore, thus simplifying the process and making the collection accessible to all.

Could NFTs Help With Wildlife Conservation?

A variety of different industries are incorporating the sale of NFTs to boost fundraising efforts, and why should wildlife be any different? Crypto News Australia has previously reported on the endangered Seychelles magpie robin NFT project. The magpie robin has been made available to purchase in digital form in a series of collectible NFTs, sales of which will help fund conservation efforts.

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Australia Crypto News ETFs Regulation

Senator Bragg Intervenes in Crypto ETF Race, Backing Local Investment Managers

Andrew Bragg, an Australian Liberal Senator and pro-crypto lawmaker, has requested that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) back local investment managers for the first Aussie crypto exchange traded fund (ETF).

Senator Bragg has addressed a letter to ASIC strongly recommending that the interests of Australian investment managers are kept in mind as the country’s first crypto ETF moves closer to fruition. The letter stated:

It would be a very regrettable outcome if foreign exchange-traded funds with direct exposure to cryptocurrency were widely available before domestic products.

NSW Senator Andrew Bragg to ASIC chairman Joseph Longo

While Bragg said he would not retaliate against the development of digital assets by foreign companies, he suggested that ASIC prevent them from capitalising on the delays that local firms are experiencing. The planned Aussie ETFs were supposed to have been greenlit a week ago, and Bragg expressed that he would be hesitant to see foreign products dominating Australian ones.

'This is a good and fair idea': Liberal senator Andrew ... https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/this-is-a-good-and-fair-idea-liberal-senator-andrew-bragg-backs-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-20190724-p52adz.html
NSW Senator Andrew Bragg backs local crypto ETFs.

Crypto ETFs: Momentum and Setbacks

April 2022 saw the Australian crypto ETF race heat up following the announcement of two more listings being ready to launch. These include the first Ethereum ETF and another Bitcoin ETF.

However, a week ago it was announced that the first crypto ETFs had been delayed due to an issue with an undisclosed third-party broker. This follows several tumultuous months. The hold-up was allegedly the result of standard checks prior to trading – no further information was given.

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Crypto News Hackers Reddit Scams Security Social media

Redditor Issues Warning After Phone’s Predictive Text Guessed His Seed Phrase

An IT professional from Germany has warned fellow Reddit users after discovering that his mobile phone’s predictive text feature enabled it to correctly predict his entire recovery seed phrase after typing in the first word.

Complete list of 2048 BIP-39 Seed Recovery Phrase Words
Example of BIP-39 recovery seed phrase list. Source: Bitcoin Safety

Guessing Seed Phrases: Impossible?

Seed phrases, a random selection of 2048 words originating from Bitcoin Enhancement Protocol (BIP) 39, enable users to back up or recover access to their crypto holdings. The prospect of correctly guessing the correct 12- or 24-word seed phrase is virtually impossible, even with quantum computing. To give a sense of how low the probability is, one Reddit user ran the numbers.

Imagine then the surprise of Andre, also known as u/Divinux on Reddit, when he noticed that his phone accurately guessed the 12–24 word seed phrase, in the right order. “First, I was stunned. The first couple of words could be a coincidence, right?” he said, adding:

This makes it simple to assault, get your fingers on a telephone, begin any chat app, and begin typing any phrases off the BIP39 record, and see what the telephone suggests.

u/Divinux on Reddit

However, being IT literate and recognising the risk, he decided it would be best to put word out to the community.

Different Keyboards, Different Results

To properly assess the risk, Andre decided to evaluate how a range of different keyboards performed. His findings revealed that Google’s GBoard was the least vulnerable, since it did not predict every word in the correct order. However, both Microsoft and Samsung’s keyboards were able to predict the seed phrase word-for-word by default.

He then proceeded to issue a warning to fellow crypto enthusiasts:

Not your keys not your coins, do your own research, don’t FOMO, never invest more than you are willing to lose, always double-check the address you are sending to, always send a small amount beforehand and disable your PMs in settings.

u/Divinux on Reddit

Perhaps more pertinently, he concluded that users should “do [themselves] a solid [favour] and prevent that [predictive text guessing the seed phrase] from happening by clearing [their] predictive type cache”. Others however, such as u/babaossa77, thought even that didn’t go far enough: “If you typed your seed phrase into your mobile phone I’d already consider that seed as unsafe and wouldn’t use it for any bigger funds, even after clearing the cache.”

Just two weeks ago, MetaMask issued a phishing attack notice to its users, suggesting that when it comes to security, it’s ultimately a matter of degree since one can never be truly immune to the risk of a breach.

Categories
Crypto News Crypto.com Tokens

Crypto.com Restarts Staking Rewards Following Brutal Community Backlash

Crypto.com has had to restart its staking rewards program after the community reacted harshly to the company announcing it would discontinue it.

Native Token Crashes 11% Amid Backlash

Revisions to Crypto.com’s staking rewards sent its native token CRO tumbling 11 percent as the community expressed its dismay. The exchange announced it would be reducing rewards on the usage of its Visa-enabled cards based on the tiers offered.

In a blog post, Crypto.com said lower tiers such as Midnight Blue and Ruby Steel would get 0 percent, while Royal Indigo and Jade Green would receive 0.5 percent and Icy White and Frosted Rose Gold 1 percent, while Obsidian, the highest tier, would get a mere 2 percent.

Revised CRO card rewards. Source: Crypto.com

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said the firm would continue to offer staking rewards to its card users just a day after eliminating the program. The decision has since been rescinded, with Marszalek subsequently tweeting:

Rewards are still less than those offered at the moment, to which the community reacted badly. Marszalek, however, said the changes were necessary to ensure “long-term sustainability” of yields offered on its card program:

Crypto.com had already slashed rates of returns offered on its token deposits this year. Cuts announced on March 26 reduced flexible returns offered by the firm on popular tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum to 0.5 percent from between 1.5 and 2 percent.

Crypto.com Gets Active in Sports Arena

Crypto.com is gaining increasing traction in the sports arena. Last year, the firm signed a US$35 million multi-year deal with renowned European football club Paris Saint-Germain. In January, it also clinched a five-year partnership worth A$25 million with the Australian Football League.

Categories
Australia Crypto News Fashion NFTs

Australian Fashion Week to ‘Take Crypto to the Catwalk’

Cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets has been announced as an official partner of 2022 Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (AFW), and will take to the runway across various venues in Sydney next week with a haute couture dress that doubles as an NFT.

Dress Buyable as an NFT or Actual Garment

The dress, designed by eponymous Australian label CCO (chief creative officer) and founder Daniel Avakian, will be displayed virtually in animated avatar form and buyable as an NFT. It will also be displayed physically during AFW, from May 9-13, and available for sale as a real garment.

Caroline Bowler, CEO of crypto exchange BTC Markets. Source: news.com.au

BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler will speak at AFW on May 10 as part of a series of panel discussions involving “notable” industry leaders. In a statement on its website, AFW organisers announced how one of those sessions would focus on crypto’s role in fashion:

Fashion has entered the metaverse, with NFTs and augmented reality gaining popularity among consumers who want more ways to shop and engage with brands. The session will break down the fashion-tech trends.

Australian Fashion Week website

Female Crypto Investors Outstrip Men: BTC Survey

Bowler says BTC Markets’ association with AFW will help the company connect with the crypto-savvy women of Australia, a smart move considering the number of females signing up for crypto trading accounts has risen by 128 percent compared to last year. (The corresponding figure for men is 83 percent, according to the company’s own research.)

Fashion houses including Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Victoria’s Secret are no strangers to NFTs and the metaverse. In March this year, Decentraland hosted the world’s first Metaverse Fashion Week, with the participation of Paco Rabanne, Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger and other elite brands.

And last year, Australian venture capital firm Morgans Financial staked US$9 million on a local NFT fashion app for virtual showrooms.