Category: Cryptocurrencies

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Crypto News Crypto Wallets Cryptocurrencies DeFi Scams

New Malware ‘Babadeda’ is Targeting Crypto Users on Discord

A highly sophisticated and very dangerous crypter is loose in the crypto community. It has been named the Babadeda crypter and is targeting NFT and DeFi users.

Babadeda translates to “Grandma-Grandpa” – a Russian language placeholder used by the crypter itself, giving away hints to its origin. The malware is targeting cryptocurrency enthusiasts on the popular crypto community chat app Discord. Since May this year, bad actors have been fooling users into downloading Babadeda, disguised as a legitimate app.

The scammers are able to lure victims by taking over popular crypto channels in the NFT and DeFi communities on Discord, posing very convincingly as the official Admin. Users are being fooled into clicking on and downloading a malicious file that will install the crypter on their machine. The code is so sneaky that it is able to evade detection by most anti-malware software, successfully hiding within the computer’s files by masquerading as a known application.

Once on a victim’s machine, masquerading as a known application with a complex obfuscation also means that anyone relying on signature-based malware effectively has no way of knowing Babadeda is on their machine – or of stopping it from executing.

Morphisec blog

Links to Babadeda Posted as Official Announcements

The threat actor sends users a private message or posts a link through the Admin chat inviting them to download an application related to the channel. Below is an example of the Discord Channel for blockchain-based action-adventure game Mines of Dalarnia, where a link to Babadeda has been posted as an official announcement, appearing to come from the channel’s own Admin account.

If a user clicks on the provided URL, they will be rerouted to a fake decoy site whose branding is almost exactly the same as that of the project it is imitating. The attackers use very advanced measures to ensure the delivery chain looks legitimate, even to the most technically aware users. Through cybersquatting, they can make the URLs of the decoy websites resemble those of genuine ones. They even use SSL certificates generated by Let’s Encrypt to further appear completely legitimate and add to the deception.

When the user clicks on “download app” from the decoy site, the malicious installer embeds the Babadeda crypter onto the victim’s machine. Then it’s game over.

Discord is a Dangerous Place for the Average Degen

The takeaway: be careful and go slowly. Discord is rife with scams like this. You can have all the fancy malware protection money can buy, but if you accidentally click on a dodgy link and install a malicious application on your computer, you could leave yourself open to an attacker who can empty the contents of your crypto wallet quicker than you can figure out what happened.

In related news, two weeks ago Crypto News Australia reported on the Fake MetaMask Google Ad scam, a phishing/ad scam directing victims to the fake site maskmeta, instead of the official metamask.io url. It’s another cautionary tale.

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Blockchain Crypto News Cryptocurrencies DeFi

Elrond Up 60% in a Week Amid Liquidity Incentive Program Announcement

Elrond Gold is inarguably one of the best performers in crypto this year, especially in the past few months, the EGLD token has seen tremendous growth amid the company’s latest announcements with Maiar DEX.

The big price rally began on November 19 after the announcement of a US$1.29 billion liquidity incentive, launched by Maiar Exchange – Elrond’s native decentralised exchange. EGLD pumped from US$300 all the way to record a new all-time high of $545.64.

CoinGecko

Elrond Gold the New King of DeFi

Elrond is set to make its mark in DeFi with one of the largest incentive programs to date. The Maiar DEX will use its utility and governance token – MEX – to transfer funding to users of the exchange who provide liquidity in EGLD, MEX and USDC.

By distributing Maiar DEX ownership to the next billion users, we [are laying] the foundation for a truly global financial system that is accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Beniamin Mincu, founder and CEO, Elrond Gold  

Maiar DEX is a fully community-owned DeFi platform that has already distributed ownership to more than 60,000 accounts in the form of claimable MEX tokens.

In the first month of distribution the exchange will distribute US$282 million. The project will then have follow-up programs “aimed at the users of the largest DeFi platforms in the ecosystem”, according to Elrond CEO Beniamin Mincu. Customers could “claim MEX tokens proportionally to their activity involving products such as Uniswap, PancakeSwap or SushiSwap”.

Can Maiar DEX Drive DeFi Adoption and Bring Crypto to the Mainstream?

Maiar DEX has also released a highly intuitive, well-designed and extremely easy-to-use app that allows you to get a secure crypto wallet instantly with just a phone number. Perhaps this will be the product that will drive DeFi adoption and bring crypto to the mainstream?

Elrond Gold is incredibly fast: the PoS (proof-of-stake) network uses an adaptive state sharding technology that helps to improve speeds by slicing blocks into smaller pieces, or “shards”. The high throughput blockchain can scale beyond 100,000 transactions per second.

In February, Crypto News Australia reported on Elrond’s CEO tweeting at Elon Musk, explaining the technology of Elrond’s blockchain and how it could improve transactions for self-driving Teslas.

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Australia Banking CBDCs Crypto News Cryptocurrencies Regulation Stablecoins

Outgoing RBA Policymaker Thinks CBDCs and Global Regulation Will Undermine Crypto

Dr Tony Richards, the soon-to-retire head of payments policy at the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), has warned local investors they should be wary of speculating on digital currencies as regulation and CBDC development could threaten the crypto market.

Richards stated in his November 18 speech to the Australian Corporate Treasury Association that one of the topics that “generated the most discussion, conversation and debate in the nearly 10 years” of his time at the RBA was “the emergence of distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, and the prospective emergence of central bank digital currencies”.

Dr Tony Richards, RBA’s outgoing head of payments policy.

The Same Ol’ Strawmen

Richards warned of excessive hype around crypto, citing instances like Dogecoin “that was started as a joke in late 2013 [and] had an implied market capitalisation as high as US$88 billion in June this year”, fuelled mainly by “influencers and celebrity tweets”. The RBA has previously also discussed the risk of meme coins and DeFi in monetary policy meetings.

The RBA has signalled that if a regulatory crackdown should occur, thousands of private currencies that have emerged on the back of the soaring bitcoin price would become unnecessary. It has also targeted Proof-of-Work’s energy consumption and how crypto facilitates financial crimes and illegal activities such as ransom demands.

Additionally, after COP26, Richards warned: “The very high use of energy involved in mining proof-of-work cryptocurrencies could attract greater attention from governments and policymakers.” The combined energy use for the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks was estimated to be similar to that of the world’s 13th-largest economy, he said.

However, Jon Deane, chief executive officer of Trovio, a digital asset infrastructure adviser and asset manager, disputed Richards’ comments on crypto’s environmental impact, saying that 57 percent of bitcoin mining uses renewable energy sources.

Regulation Could Reduce Crypto to “Only Niche Use Cases”

“If there were to be global policy action to deal with some particular concerns about the use of cryptocurrencies, plus the arrival of new stablecoins and CBDCs, that could safely meet the needs of a wide range of users, existing cryptocurrencies might then have only niche use cases, at best,” Richards said, adding that “much of the official sector globally remains sceptical of developments in the cryptocurrency market”.

Reaction from the crypto community was swift and predictable:

Steve Vallas, chief executive of Blockchain Australia, retorted that “it continues to be our experience that hawkish views about cryptocurrency are driven by entrenched narratives around bad actors and financial crime, narratives that are not supported by the data”.

Could CBDCs Undermine the Use of Crypto?

Richards is of the opinion that the rise of crypto is not yet an issue threatening financial stability, but the RBA expects global central banks to move to assert control over digital finance and respond to the growth of bitcoin and other coins by issuing CBDCs.

He believes CBDCs “would be denominated in fiat currencies, be safer than existing stablecoins, and would likely have faster, safer and more efficient transaction verification mechanisms than most cryptocurrencies”, and would likely be “viewed as superior instruments for the settlement of transactions in tokenised assets on distributed ledgers”.

But according to Deane, “People buy bitcoin to move away from the devaluation of fiat currencies by central banks to a finite resource that acts as both a store of value and ultimate settlement layer”.

Dr Richards concluded that banks would continue to work with the private sector and international counterparts to ensure they stay abreast of innovations in the payments system, with the RBA even hiring CBDC researchers. There is significant work still to be done with the other financial regulators and the parliament to ensure that Australia has a fit-for-purpose regulatory framework for digital assets.

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Crypto News Crypto Wallets Cryptocurrencies Scams

Scam Warning: Another Crypto User Falls Victim to Fake MetaMask Google Ad

Scammers have struck again with a sneaky paid advertisement on Google for a fake MetaMask wallet that allows access to victims’ crypto. The scam has been running for the best part of a year but is still alive and well thanks to Google, with a new domain constantly being promoted via Google Search ads.

Just days ago, one Reddit user posted how his friend lost 38 ETH (US$163,000) to the scam. He also lost some altcoins, bringing the total crypto lost to approximately US$190,000.

MetaMask issued an official warning via Twitter last December about the phishing/ad scam. The domain being promoted by the Google ad reads maskmeta, not metamask.io (which is the official MetaMask domain).

Google’s Fake MetaMask Ad Promotion  

When a user searches Google for MetaMask, a fake ad for the MetaMask wallet comes up as the first listing, which leads the victim to the scammers’ domain, rather than the official MetaMask.io site. MetaMask alerted its community to the scam and recommended the use of direct links to ensure users are directed to the legitimate metamask.io domain.

Here are two rules to keep you safe:

  1. Never click sponsored or paid ad links to get to MetaMask.
Fraudulent MetaMask ad in Google Search

The fake MetaMask phishing page prompts users to install the extension, which gives them an option to either import an existing wallet or create a new one. It looks identical to the real MetaMask.

Fake MetaMask site
Legitimate MetaMask site

The only difference between the original MetaMask site and the fake one is unnoticeable for most users (the writing on the button for getting the fake extension says ‘Install now’, not ‘Download now’).

2. Question everything when asked to enter your seed phrase.

Fake MetaMask phishing page

If you click on the ‘Create Wallet’ button on the right, the fake ad sends you to the real MetaMask.io site as there is no crypto for the attackers to steal. However, if they click on ‘Import a wallet’, you will be asked to enter the key phrase of your existing wallet, which is then sent to the attacker. Never, ever enter your seed phrase into anything unless you are absolutely certain you are using the official MetaMask wallet extension.

MetaMask phishing form stealing wallet phrase

So remember: do not click on any Google ad search suggestions. Stay safe. Google Ad scams are everywhere.

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Crypto News Cryptocurrencies DeFi Payments Stablecoins

RBA Discusses Future of Payments in Australia and Cryptocurrency ‘Risks’

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has discussed the need to regulate stablecoin usage in the application of DeFi for payments, and also noted the “considerable risks” associated with meme coins during its November monetary policy meeting.

In the meeting’s minutes, the RBA acknowledged innovations such as distributed-ledger and smart contracts could change the face of the financial sector but that it would likely rely on the use of stablecoins or CBDCs rather than cryptocurrencies. The RBA said:

… if stablecoins were to be used widely, they should be subject to regulation that ensured they were safe for users and promoted financial stability.

Reserve Bank of Australia members

In considering the future of digital assets in payment, the RBA hit out at cryptocurrencies, which it described as having “numerous shortcomings as stores of value or means of payment”. 

The central bank said the risks and speculative nature of crypto investment was especially obvious when it came to “meme coins”, and noted warnings that investors caught up in the recent boom could experience large losses. 

Crypto Risks a Focus Even As Regulators Explore CBDCs

Australia’s financial regulators continue to warn investors about cryptocurrencies, even as they tentatively consider the possibilities of CBDCs. 

In August, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reiterated its warning for Aussies to be wary of investing in unlicensed companies – that is, companies that do not hold an Australian financial services (AFS) licence or an Australian market licence (AML).

The RBA also used its November meeting to express its support for CBDC-related initiatives including developing a proof-of-concept of a wholesale CBDC in 2019 and the recently completed Project Atom, which explored the potential use of a central bank CBDC using distributed ledger technology in collaboration with blockchain company ConsenSys.

In addition, the RBA recently advertised it was seeking to hire people for a new cross-disciplinary “CBDC Research Team” to support the evolution of payments in Australia.

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Bitcoin CBDCs Crypto News Cryptocurrencies

Hillary Clinton Thinks Bitcoin Could Undermine US Dollar Reserve Status

Former US secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton believes cryptocurrencies pose a serious threat to countries as they may “undermine” the US dollar and thus destabilise nations.

During Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum, Clinton addressed some of the challenges nations are facing, such as disinformation, advances in artificial intelligence, and the rise of cryptocurrencies. She said that while they look like a “very interesting and exotic effort”, cryptos can be “extremely destabilising in the hands of the wrong people”.

There’s a whole new layer of activity that could be extremely destabilising or, in the wrong hands or in alliances with the wrong people, could be direct threats to many of our nation-states and certainly to the global currency markets.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Of course, the crypto community took it all with humour and rather mocked Clinton’s claims, which go hand in hand with the Biden administration and its effort to undermine American crypto innovation with the US$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.

Russia-backed Hackers Using Bitcoin

With “the hands of the wrong people”, Clinton is referring to hackers and organised groups who receive donations in bitcoin to fund illicit activities, which, according to Clinton, are “backed by Russia and other nations”.

But the US dollar is still the currency of choice when it comes to funding illicit activity. While that happens, hedge funds and countries are exploring how to make use of blockchain technology and crypto. We can talk about central banks worldwide that are considering launching CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies), or reckless hedge funds like Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy buying hundreds of millions of dollars during dips.

An example of bitcoin adoption was shown by Central American republic El Salvador and its decision to make BTC legal tender in the country, allowing unbanked citizens access to digital wallets and to transact BTC seamlessly to reduce costs in remittances, as many individuals working overseas send money home to their Salvadorean families.

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Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Law Payments

Could Zimbabwe be the Next Nation to Adopt Bitcoin as Legal Tender?

The government of the southern African republic of Zimbabwe is closely examining the possibility of adopting cryptocurrency and blockchain technology after an ICT Summit last weekend.

According to a local news outlet, the Computer Society of Zimbabwe (CSZ) held an information communication technologies (ICT)-centred summit in Victoria Falls. At the summit, Cabinet Brigadier General Charles Wekwete, permanent secretary and head of Zimbabwe’s e-government technology unit, revealed that talks with the private sector were under way to discuss the possibility of using bitcoin (BTC) as a legal payment method.

Wekwete stated that Zimbabwe is in the process of weighing its options of possibly adopting cryptocurrency as a legal payment service in the country, which has been plagued by a financial crisis for more than a decade.

Government has put in place mechanism(s) to try and gather views from various sectors of society in order to eventually formulate policies. There have been pronouncements by the Minister of Finance and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and it’s such a complex area. Sooner or later government will make statements, but we have not gotten there yet, [though] the consultative process is already under way.

Brigadier General Charles Wekwete, head of Zimbabwe’s e-government technology unit

Policy Creation of Utmost Importance

During the summit, CSZ members asked what the government was doing to adopt cryptocurrency in light of new global trends where transactions are done online, on the blockchain, with low fees. Now Wekwete has invited private sector players who have ideas on how best to facilitate the technology, and how it can be structured to make presentations to government for further consideration.

Wekwete also said that cryptocurrencies are something many governments around the world are still not very clear on. However, more countries are starting to take the idea seriously, with nearly half of Brazilians voting “yes” in a poll to make bitcoin legal tender.

With Zimbabwe possibly following in the footsteps of El Salvador, Wekwete stated: “Governments are still trying to understand and properly trying to create policies on how to deal with it. In our case, initially we were trying to understand the implication [of cryptocurrencies] because they are a fundamental departure from previously known financial instruments.”

It is only a matter of time before Zimbabwe allows its citizens to use bitcoin as legal tender and begins to publicly buy and hold the asset in reserve.

Zimbabwe Should Look to Local Solutions

The Zimbabwe Blockchain Technology Think Tank has published a comprehensive study about the adoption of crypto in the country, titled Towards Virtual Assets Regulation and Adoption of Blockchain Technologies in Zimbabwe’s Context. The initial research has been done to start testing out cryptos, but for something so transformative the government is still in its “consulting phase”.

Golix, Africa’s cryptocurrency exchange, could have proven a test case in the Zimbabwean context, but at that stage crypto was banned in the country, leaving the project high and dry.

Another instance was Minister of Finance Mthuli Ncube stating that he had found a remittance solution in Dubai that could be used for Zimbabwe, while there is a local start-up called Uhuru that does exactly that. By empowering entrepreneurs in the country, the government can create a win-win scenario that can put Zimbabwe back on the economic rails.

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Australia Crypto News Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Law Regulation Superannuation Tokens

ASIC Shuts Down Gold Coast Crypto Investment Scheme ‘A One Multi’, $2.4 Million in Crypto Seized

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has obtained Federal Court orders to shut down unlicensed Gold Coast financial services business A One Multi for suspected unlawful activity.

Interim orders and injunctions have been filed by ASIC against the company and its directors, Aryn Hala and Heidi Walters, to protect investors.

Self-Managed Super Funds Misappropriated

It’s alleged that Hala misled investors by convincing them to loan their superannuation funds to A One Multi and receive annual returns of over 20 percent.

Between January 1, 2019, and June 30, 2021, more than 60 self-managed super fund investors deposited approximately A$25 million into A One Multi’s accounts. ASIC alleges Hala used more than A$5.7 million of those funds for his and partner Walters’ personal benefit, including acquiring real estate and luxury vehicles in their names, and that a further A$2.4 million was transferred from A One Multi to buy crypto-assets.

On October 21, the Federal Court in Queensland made the following orders to protect investors:

  • that A One Multi be placed in receivership;
  • that asset preservation orders be issued against Hala, Walters and A One Multi;
  • that Hala transfer crypto-assets in his name to the receivers;
  • that orders be issued requiring the disclosure of information to ASIC against Hala, Walters and A One Multi, including in relation to the crypto-asset holdings; and
  • that travel restraint orders be issued against Hala and Walters.

The first tranche of crypto-assets held in Hala’s name was transferred to the receivers on October 25, and the court has since ordered the defendants to attend an ASIC office to facilitate the transfer of remaining crypto-assets.

Busy Week for ASIC in Queensland

While the A One Multi case is ongoing, it follows action taken by ASIC against Gold Coast timeshare business Ultiqa earlier this week. It also imposed a three-year ban on Queensland investment adviser Keith Robert McDermott for similarly failing to provide advice in clients’ best interests.

In what was clearly a busy week for crypto-related financial activities in Queensland, an A$100 million class-action lawsuit was filed against the Gold Coast-based issuers of controversial token Qoin.

As Crypto News Australia also reported in July, ASIC’s then-incoming new chairman Joe Longo warned that crypto trading in Australia was becoming “a significant area of concern”. Just a month later, ASIC issued further warnings to Australian investors about using unlicensed crypto companies.

Last month, ASIC began monitoring social media and messaging platforms as an early warning against pump-and-dump schemes.

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Banking Cryptocurrencies

CBA Becomes the First Bank in Australia to Support Crypto Purchases

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) officially announced today, November 3, 2021, that it will be adding cryptocurrency services to its CommBank mobile app, which include the ability to buy, sell and hold crypto.

The CBA has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis to provide the infrastructure support needed to provide the exchange and custody services.

Australia’s First Bank to Support Crypto

Over the past couple of years, Australian banks have been trialling blockchain technology to ensure bank guarantees and cross-border payments, but as one of the ‘Big Four’ banks in Australia, the big move by the CBA to support cryptocurrencies is surprising.

CBA CEO Matt Comyn explains the dual reason for the move is growing demand from customers and the emergence of new competition:

The emergence and growing demand for digital currencies from customers creates both challenges and opportunities for the financial services sector, which has seen a significant number of new players and business models innovating in this area.

CBA CEO Matt Comyn

Comyn is also hosting a couple of events on November 9 and 10 where CBA customers can ask questions to get more information on the new services.

Up to 10 Cryptos Supported

As stated by the CBA: “The pilot will start in the coming weeks and CBA intends to progressively roll out more features to more customers in 2022.” The bank will provide customers with access to up to 10 selected crypto assets including:

  1. Bitcoin
  2. Ethereum
  3. Litecoin
  4. Bitcoin Cash
  5. Uniswap
  6. Chainlink
  7. Polygon
  8. Filecoin
  9. Aave
  10. Compound

Crypto Banking Controversy

Just recently we saw a local Bitcoin trader file a lawsuit against two of the Big Four Australian banks, claiming they terminated his banking services on the basis that he operated a crypto trading platform. One of them, the ANZ, has already settled.

Whilst this announcement from Commonwealth Bank is certainly a promising sign that Bitcoin is further establishing itself within the mainstream spotlight, there needs to be further education for users that taking control and ownership of your digital assets is still an incredibly important element of this technology. No longer do we need to hand over the keys to our wealth to banks or third-party organisations

Chris Pavlesic, CEO and founder, Coinstop

Today’s news raises more questions than answers. Will we now see a change in attitude from banks towards cryptocurrencies? Will the banks now control our private keys? What other banks might jump on the bandwagon? And what other services and coins will be introduced in the future?

With an expected five million Australians owning cryptocurrencies in 2021, it seems a timely move by the CBA to capture some of the capital and stop the huge outflow of money from bank accounts to crypto exchanges.

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Australia Bitcoin Mining Blockchain Crypto News Cryptocurrencies

Byron Bay to Host Renewable Energy Bitcoin Mine, Despite ASX Listing Refusal

Australia’s easternmost beachside town of Byron Bay in northern NSW will be the site of the country’s largest bitcoin mine, powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

Digital infrastructure provider Mawson Infrastructure Group has partnered with Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a Gold Coast-based investment manager with a track record in renewable energy infrastructure in the US.

The initial 20MW site, set to go online by the end of this month, will allow crypto miner and digital assets manager Mawson, headquartered in Sydney with operations in the US and Australia, to establish a strategic nexus with Quinbrook.

Byron Set to Become a Hub of Blockchain Technology

Mawson will deploy a new generation Modular Data Centre (MDC) specifically designed for Australian conditions at the Byron Bay facility, which will add approximately 0.4 EH (exahash, a measure of computing power) to global operations. The company’s charter is to match energy infrastructure with next-generation mobile data centre solutions, enabling the proliferation of blockchain technology.

According to Mawson CEO and founder James Manning, the company seeks to identify renewable energy projects, specifically sustainable bitcoin mining, in the transition to a decarbonised society.

Quinbrook’s deep experience in energy and focus on ESG [environmental, social and governance] investment principles made this first project an obvious choice. Our partnership reflects our joint view that renewable energy will be key to future data centre infrastructure.

James Manning, CEO and founder, Mawson Infrastructure Group

Quinbrook’s current portfolio exceeds 17GW of onshore wind, solar PV, reserve peaking power, battery storage projects, grid support and infrastructure, virtual power plants and community energy networks across the US, UK and Australia.

The company manages the Cape Byron Infrastructure Fund, which owns and operates a portfolio of biomass power stations near Byron Bay township. The Mawson mine is co-located inside one Quinbrook facility, and has been amended to satisfy Australian workplace health and safety standards. These standards differ from those in the US, where Mawson operates cryptocurrency mines in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

The two partners have negotiated a profit-sharing arrangement after direct operating costs.

ASX Refused to List the Company

Mawson listed on the NASDAQ earlier this year after raising $US37 million (A$49.6 million) at a $1 billion valuation. At the time, after a 12-month battle to list with the Australian Securities Exchange, the company said it was “saddened” by the ASX’s refusal to allow cryptocurrency-exposed businesses to list locally.

We just couldn’t get any certainty from the ASX that they’d actually list us. We were getting feedback like, ‘we don’t like your industry, it’s not mature enough, we don’t know about the underlying product’.

James Manning, CEO and founder, Mawson Infrastructure Group

At the time of writing, Mawson – formerly Cosmos Capital – was trading at $US9.50 a share, with a market cap of $US655.51 million. In August, Mawson bought 17,352 bitcoin mining rigs from Chinese manufacturer Canaan Creative.

A month earlier, as also reported by Crypto News Australia, Mawson had acquired a 90 percent majority stake in US bitcoin mining facility Luna Squares, pushing its hash power beyond 12MW.