Crypto has officially overtaken conventional bank transfers when it comes to investment scams, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Losses to investment scams increased by 90 percent to A$103 million in less than three months this year up to March 20, with the ACCC confirming payments to scammers are most often made in crypto.
No Regulation, No Control
According to Rami Greiss, the ACCC’s executive general manager for consumer and fair trading, “Because [crypto] is an unregulated product, there are no controls. There are no institutions that can be roped in to assist.”
Greiss was also quick to point out that only 12 percent of scams are reported, and thus figures could not be taken as absolute gospel. Citing the ACCC’s current lawsuit against Meta for allegedly publishing scam advertisements featuring prominent Australian public figures without their permission, Greiss said people were falling for scams through multiple channels.
People might meet someone through a dating or friendship site and then be drawn into a crypto scam that way. So it’s really multi-channel; I don’t think there’s one particular area [where] they can target you; it’s across the board.
Rami Greiss, executive general manager for consumer and fair trading, ACCC
Investment Scams Double Year on Year
According to a 2021 report by the ACCC, 4,763 Australians lost more than A$70 million in the first half of last year with more than half of that figure attributed to crypto investment scams. That represented a 53.4 percent increase on the 3,104 scams reported in the first half of 2020.
The Australian government recently announced that it would create a crypto badge of approval to license intermediaries such as exchanges.
Digital Economy Minister Jane Hume said that the licence would include a “fit and proper person” test and could include anti-hawking measures to prevent cold calling.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy) and his co-producers have partnered with blockchain platform Secret Network to launch Smith’s latest project, a horror anthology titled KillRoy Was Here, exclusively as an NFT.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith. Source: JoBlo.com
This represents the first time a movie will be minted as a non-fungible token, though the news has been roundly greeted with derision from sections of the Twittersphere displaying obvious signs of NFT fatigue.
Is This the Real Kevin Smith?
“Unless I am wrong, NFTs are still bad and wrong and useless and a scam, and literally bad for the environment,” tweeted @SiggyRod. “Is this Kevin Smith posting or a representative from a contract he was unaware of?” Others were far less polite:
Man, seriously? You're jumping in on this NFT scam shit? Too many suckers out there and the sharks are fucking hungry.
Other, more succinct reactions included: “gross”, “no”, “please stop”, “this is the bad place”, “insanely disappointing”, “bad look, Kev” and the almost poignant “this makes me sad”.
A rare voice of reason amid the tumult – albeit suspiciously seeming to be aligned with the project – belonged to @TorBair, who tweeted:
On Twitter, we can expect animosity towards NFTs. If this is you – PLEASE look into this more deeply. Secret NFTs are NOT the same as any NFTs that have come before. We’re trying to establish a real connection for artists with audiences.
@TorBair via Twitter
Privacy Preserved on Secret Network
Secret Network, the first blockchain with data privacy by default for smart contracts, allows users to build and use applications that are both permissionless and privacy-preserving. This unique functionality protects users, secures applications, and unlocks hundreds of never-before-possible use cases for Web3.
However, Smith’s Secret NFTs won’t be based on dusty old film artifacts. Instead, the project will mint 5,555 NFT collectibles, each serving as an exclusive pass to watch the film and access bonus features. Secret NFTs are configured with hidden information that can only be viewed by each respective NFT owner.
The NFT launch will take place in Q2 on Secret’s Legendao platform. For further information, visit: legendao.io/artist/kevin-smith.
Following last month’s record-breaking hack of the Ronin network, responsible for Axie Infinity transactions, Binance has led a funding round to help reimburse affected users.
According to an announcement this week by Vietnamese gaming studio Sky Mavis, a funding round was led by Binance with other venture capital firms – including Animoca Brands, a16z, Dialectic, and Paradigm – to help reimburse funds lost in the US$625 million Axie Infinity hack.
Community to the Rescue
The hack is the biggest decentralised finance (DeFi) hack on record and has done a lot of damage to the Axie Infinity ecosystem Sky Mavis has created. Axie is the best performing blockchain game in the space, having processed 10 times more all-time volume than the next biggest NFT game.
We have seen the tremendous work and growth of the Sky Mavis team since working together on the Axie Infinity project on Binance Launchpad. We strongly believe Sky Mavis will bring a lot of value and growth for the larger industry and we believe it’s necessary to support them as they work hard to resolve the recent incident.
Proceeds of the funding round along with funds on the Sky Mavis balance sheet will be used to ensure that all affected users are reimbursed. According to the post, “The Ronin Network bridge will open once it has undergone a security upgrade and several audits, which can take several weeks.”
The post also stated that “the 56,000 ETH compromised from the Axie DAO treasury will remain undercollateralised as Sky Mavis continues to work with law enforcement to recover the funds”.
If the funds are not fully recovered within two years, it has been decided that the Axie DAO will vote on the next steps for the treasury.
Sky Mavis post
Increasing Ronin’s Security
Following the attack, Sky Mavis started the process of implementing rigorous internal security measures to prevent future attacks.
On March 23, Sky Mavis’s Ronin validator nodes and Axie DAO validator nodes were compromised, leading to the record-breaking hack. With the support of Binance, the Ronin chain has now been able to expand its validator set from 5 to 21 – increasing the security of the network – according to Sky Mavis CEO Trung Nguyen.
There have been only a few cases where affected users were reimbursed, especially in a case as large as this. With Axie being the biggest NFT game, major players have come together to help the project get back on its feet. Last year, Rari Capital also reimbursed up to US$25 million after being hacked.
HSBC, a British multinational investment bank with assets worth over US$2 billion, has launched a metaverse fund for its wealthy clients in Asia, starting with Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Discretionary Strategy portfolio, to be managed by HSBC Asset Management, will reportedly focus on investing in the digital sector, particularly in five segments: infrastructure, computing, virtualisation, experience, and interface.
We see many exciting opportunities in this space as companies of different backgrounds and sizes are flocking into the ecosystem.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time HSBC has pushed into the metaverse. A few weeks ago, Crypto News Australiareported that HSBC had bought a considerable amount of LAND in Sandbox – a blockchain-based metaverse – so esports and gaming fans can connect.
You’re Still Not Allowed to Buy Crypto
Crypto Twitter had a mixed reaction to the news. Some claimed it was a big move by the investment bank that could further expand adoption and awareness of blockchain technology and NFTs. However, some are still frustrated over HSBC’s deliberate decision of suspending the purchase and withdrawal of cryptocurrencies on crypto exchanges:
That's great. Can now #HSBC stop threatening customers who want to withdraw their money from crypto exchange?
Forbes’ crypto billionaires list has grown by seven this year, increasing to 19 members, though these new additions have not knocked Binance founder and CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao off the top spot.
Forbes releases its crypto billionaires list this week.
The Forbes list expanded by 58 percent this year. When it was first compiled in 2018, the bar to qualify was set at US$350 million. However, as the industry has since expanded exponentially, only billionaires qualify in 2022.
Binance founder and CEO ‘CZ’ Zhao is holding tight to his top position on the list for another year. Despite Forbes downgrading CZ’s wealth estimate from US$96 billion to $65 billion, he is still several lengths out in front:
Binance’s Changpeng Zhao went from zero to $65 billion in under five years, leaving Michael Dell, Charles Koch and 2,645 other world billionaires in the dust. #ForbesBillionaireshttps://t.co/fDdi3aCmpP
In second place is FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, with a current estimated worth of US$24 billion. Bankman-Fried has grand intentions to donate much of his wealth to charities, keeping only 1 percent of his annual earnings each year, stating “I don’t want a yacht”. Brian Armstrong, CEO and founder of CoinBase, took third place with a net worth of US$6.6 billion.
Among the handful of newcomers are FTX’s co-founder Gary Wang, OpenSea co-founders Alex Atallah and Devin Finzer, Song Chi-Hyung (founder of Upbit), Kim Hyoung-nyon (Upbit’s EVP), and Nikil Viswanathan and Joseph Lau, co-founders of Alchemy.
Crypto Billionaires Line Their Pockets
For a select few, crypto investments have paid off immensely. Aussie billionaire Alex Waislitz bought crypto investments that reportedly increased in value by 400 percent. Nicknamed “Australia’s Warren Buffett”, Waislitz invested through a pre-IPO (initial public offering), which turned out to be a very smart move.
Billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel, on the other hand, has stated that he is disappointed he didn’t invest more before the boom.
In a goal kicked firmly between the posts for the code’s ongoing NFT adoption, the Australian Football League (AFL) has struck a unique revenue-distribution deal that could see players get 20 percent of the spoils from the sale of non-fungible tokens associated with the sport.
Gillon McLachlan has revealed at @nxt_sport that the AFL has struck a deal with the @AFLPlayers for players to receive approx 20 per cent revenue around the future sales of NFTs. The League’s NFT partnership is with Animoca. @7NewsMelbourne
CEO Gillon McLachlan has revealed that the AFL has plans in place to team up with Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands, one of the world’s leading blockchain gaming and NFT studios, collectively worth more than US$5 billion.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan. Source: Fox Sports
McLachlan has also confirmed that a deal with the AFL Players Association will ensure that players receive a 20 percent cut of the revenue derived from the sales of official AFL NFTs.
And for all the fans out there still talking about the 1,000-goal milestone achieved by Sydney Swan Lance “Buddy” Franklin (pictured, below), there will be an NFT for that, and multiple other NFTs based around the March 25 event.
Buddy Franklin moment. Source: AFL
“There’ll be a Buddy 1,000 NFT,” confirmed McLachlan, adding: “The team is working on that at the moment. There’ll be lots of NFTs that come out of that because it was a pretty unique event. That was one that will have a lot of value.”
It looks like the Sydney star’s 1,000th-goal NFT will entail a range of different takes on his achievement, which could include animation or perhaps video footage.
“There’ll be one official NFT of him kicking that [1,000th] goal. Whether it’s animated [or not], there’ll be different versions of it,” McLachlan said. He also hinted that there will be plenty of other AFL NFTs to be sold at reasonable prices, and “some unique stuff that will be among some of the most expensive [NFTs] we do”.
AFL Approaches Mainstream Crypto Adoption
As Ben Simpson, CEO of Melbourne-based crypto research and education platform Collective Shift, has said, “I think we’re really starting to hit mainstream adoption in crypto and NFTs.” He pointed out that cryptocurrency companies now account for a significant percentage of the AFL’s major sponsors.
“What is most exciting in my opinion about NFTs in sport is that the players can take a share of the revenue of all sales of those NFTs forever. Lance [Franklin] will earn a direct percentage cut from that 1,000th-goal NFT,” Simpson said. He added that in the past, only the sporting organisations or governing bodies took revenue and profits, but NFTs and smart contracts can enable a percentage of the revenues to be distributed to players.
Matt Willemsen, head of research at Collective Shift, spoke in a YouTube video about the revenue-distribution aspect of the deal:
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. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Bitcoin Cash BCH is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that aims to become sound global money with fast payments, micro fees, privacy, and high transaction capacity (big blocks). In the same way that physical money, such as a dollar bill, is handed directly to the payee, Bitcoin Cash payments are sent directly from one person to another. As a permissionless, decentralised cryptocurrency, Bitcoin Cash requires no trusted third parties and no central bank. Unlike traditional fiat money, Bitcoin Cash does not depend on monetary middlemen such as banks and payment processors.
BCH Price Analysis
At the time of writing, BCH is ranked the 26th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$336.47. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
March marked a turning point for BCH, with the price rocketing up almost 45% from its lows to probable resistance beginning near $386.22.
The price is currently struggling with the area between $365.43 and $329.76. This region could provide support after a close above – or resistance after a close below.
A retracement could reach into the daily gap and possible support around $340.33. A more bearish shift in the marketplace will likely aim for the relatively equal lows near $336.21, and the potential support just below that begins around $330.64.
Continuation to the upside will likely target the monthly high near $375.30. However, probable resistance beginning at $390.55 and $420.05 could cap or slow down this move.
2. Internet Computer (ICP)
The Internet Computer ICP is the world’s first blockchain that runs at web speed with unbounded capacity. It also represents the third major blockchain innovation, alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum – a blockchain computer that scales smart contract computation and data, runs them at web speed, processes and stores data efficiently, and provides powerful software frameworks to developers. By making this possible, the Internet Computer enables the complete reimagination of software, providing a revolutionary new way to build tokenised internet services, pan-industry platforms, decentralised financial systems, and even traditional enterprise systems and websites.
ICP Price Analysis
At the time of writing, ICP is ranked the 36th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$19.16. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
During March, ICP also turned the corner, breaking a key swing high. This move could suggest a longer-term bullish trend.
The swing high near $26.24 stands out as a bullish target and marks an area of probable resistance. Further continuation could reach into possible resistance starting near $30.12.
Even if the bearish trend continues, a stop run at the recent swing low near $17.15 into possible support beginning near $16.50 is reasonable. If the price reaches further down, the swing low and possible support near $15.70 might provide another downside target.
The area near $14.55 could also provide support. However, a drop this far could suggest a stop run below the higher-timeframe relatively equal lows near $13.79 into possible support beginning around $12.90.
3. Gala (GALA)
GALA aims to take the gaming industry in a different direction by giving players back control over their games. Gala Games’ mission is to make “blockchain games you’ll actually want to play”. The project wants to change the fact that players can spend hundreds of dollars on in-game assets and countless hours playing the game, all of which could be taken away from them with the click of a button. It plans to reintroduce creative thinking into games by giving players control of the games and in-game assets with the help of blockchain technology.
GALA Price Analysis
At the time of writing, GALA is ranked the 67th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.2259. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
After setting a low last week, GALA kicked off a recovery trend to break the new monthly highs.
The following 55% plummet found support near $0.2076, sweeping under the 40 EMA into the 59.8% retracement level before bouncing to resistance beginning at $0.2430.
This area could continue to provide resistance, possibly causing a retracement to the 9 EMA and 18 EMA near $0.2712, where aggressive bulls might begin bidding. The level near $0.2950, which has confluence with the 40 EMA, may see more interest from bulls loading up for an attempt on probable resistance beginning near $0.3285.
However, if Bitcoin continues its sideways trend, much lower prices could be seen. The old support near $0.1980 could provide at least a short-term bounce. If this level fails, the old highs near $0.1754 might also give support and see the start of a new bullish cycle after retesting these support levels.
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.
At least 80 percent of the world’s banks are considering launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to a report from accounting firm PwC conducted in accordance with the firm’s annual index of CBDCs and stablecoins.
The index evaluates the current stage of CBDC projects in each country and the level of maturity of their respective central banks in developing a national digital currency.
The report, led by PwC’s blockchain specialist Haydn Jones, also taps into the role of stablecoins, calling them an “emerging complement to existing payment ecosystems”.
Other analysts have added that one important factor for stablecoins is transparency as the asset class continues to grow.
The role of the stablecoin in the crypto markets has and will continue to evolve as adoption of crypto increases, forcing a more prominent role of stablecoins across the larger financial ecosystem. Regulation will only strengthen the importance and give credence to the role that stablecoins will play.
PwC report
Retail CBDCs Have a Higher Level of Maturity
Retail CBDC projects refer to digital currencies designed for public use, whereas wholesale CBDCs are used by financial institutions with accounts on central banks.
Thailand and Hong Kong were leading the wholesale category for their joint partnership to launch mBridge – a multi-country CBDC project that seeks to create a common platform to enhance cross-border payments.
Overall, retail CBDC projects [digital currencies designed for public use] have reached greater maturity levels than wholesale projects, but the past year has seen progress on a number of successful wholesale pilots.
PwC report
Another example of wholesale CBDCs is the combined efforts of the central banks of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa to launch Project Dunbar, which seeks to create two multi-CBDC platforms shared by multiple central banks to transact with each other using different digital currencies.
Retail CBDCs, however, have a far higher level of maturity compared to their counterparts, the report noted. For example, in October last year Nigeria became the first African country to launch its own retail CBDC, the eNaira, which received a score of 95 out of 100, making it the most developed project across both categories.
The Bahamas, Jamaica and China Taking the Lead
Other countries with a high level of maturity include The Bahamas, the first country to launch a retail CBDC, the Sand Dollar. Thailand and Jamaica are also testing their CBDC projects, which were announced last year.
China was the first major economy to test a CBDC pilot, in 2020, and it is now fully running in 12 cities as of March 2022. What’s interesting is that China is also rolling out its own state-backed blockchain, BSN, which will support the creation of China’s own version of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
A new hardware wallet released by Ledger this week promises to let people securely explore more of Web3 by offering management tools for NFT collections and space to install up to 100 apps.
The Nano S Plus improves on the popular Nano S – released five years ago – by adding a larger screen that makes it easier to make transactions as well as more memory, enabling the installation of up to 100 apps to manage over 5,500 digital assets:
🔥 The Ledger Nano S Plus is now available! 🔥
It’s everything you love about the Nano S – and more:
💹 Manage 5500+ digital assets 🖼 Manage your #NFTs 📲 Bigger screen 🤳 Have up to 100 apps installed at once 🔐 Ledger’s top-level security
A Secure Wallet Designed to be DeFi and NFT-Friendly
Ledger said the new wallet provides offline security for investors’ crypto as well as the convenience to securely manage a range of other digital assets.
By pairing the wallet with Ledger’s digital asset management app, Ledger Live, users can display and manage their NFTs with their private keys, including securely sending and signing NFT transactions.
The Ledger Nano S Plus is a Nano S on steroids. It provides you with more space to freely enjoy the ever-expanding world of DeFi and NFTs. We keep improving our world-leading hardware devices to allow you to securely explore the Web3 ecosystem.
Pascal Gauthier, Ledger chairman and CEO
Nano S Plus is compatible with Desktop and Android Mobile with a USB cable, has a 128 x 64 pixel screen, a storage size of 1.5MB, and costs A$129.
Ledger has sold more than 3 million Nano S devices around the world. All signs point to Nano S Plus being in strong demand too – a limited-edition release of the wallet in March sold out 10,000 units in one day.
This is despite issues that call into question Ledger’s security, such as data breaches in June last year that resulted in sophisticated fake hardware wallets being sent to exposed customers’ addresses.
Building on the base established by Bitcoin’s latest protocol update, “Taproot”, Lightning Labs has announced a new protocol, “Taro”, to widen the range of assets supported by Bitcoin’s layer two protocol, the Lightning Network:
Today we're announcing Taro, a new protocol to issue assets on Bitcoin and Lightning, and our $70M Series B fundraise! 🍠
One small step for bringing bitcoin to billions. 🌍
Taro is an open protocol made possible by Taproot that allows developers to issue assets on the Bitcoin blockchain and then move them onto the Lightning Network for speed and scalability, making use of bitcoin liquidity to ensure interoperability between assets.
We see Taro as an important step in bitcoinising the dollar, getting the best of both worlds by: 1) issuing assets like stablecoins on the most decentralised and secure blockchain, bitcoin; and 2) allowing users to transact on the fastest global payments network with the lowest fees, Lightning.
Ryan Gentry, director of business development, Lightning Labs
In practical terms, this means that digital assets such as stablecoins or even NFTs could be issued using a taproot script on-chain and then transferred either on-chain or via the Lightning Network.
By leveraging the Lightning Network’s one million-plus transactions per second capacity, digital assets could, pursuant to Taro, be settled faster and cheaper relative to all other blockchains:
Transactions per second of other blockchains. Source: Saleswallet
The response from Bitcoiners proved to be enormously positive, with Marty Bent commenting: “If it [Taro] passes the peer review test – can bring the usecase of issuing and transferring digital assets that aren’t bitcoin UTXOs to the LNP/BP stack. If Taro is able to do this, it renders all of the competing altcoin narratives obsolete overnight.”
Taro's design is brilliant.
With it, you'll be able to issue assets on a ledger that is basically nested within a bitcoin-taproot transaction.
Unlike ERCs, issuers will have strong privacy assurances around the ledger itself and the scalability of Lightning (unbounded TPS). https://t.co/IuHyF0u68x
As reported by Crypto News Australia, between August and September last year Lightning Network growth more than doubled. In fact, over the past 12 months it has experienced strong growth from both a US dollar (blue line) and bitcoin (orange line) perspective:
As Lightning Labs drives to solve real problems for real people, part of the uptick in network activity has been attributed to the growth of bitcoin as a remittances and payment technology, particularly among developing nations.
As business development director Gentry concludes about the Taro protocol:
Bringing stablecoins to bitcoin via the Lightning Network is good for users who want access to financial services, good for app developers who want new tools, good for routing node operators who want more fees, and good for issuers who want a better experience for their users.
Ryan Gentry, director of business development, Lightning Labs
Price action aside, it’s difficult not to be bullish on Bitcoin with developments such as Taro that appear set to catapult Lightning adoption.
