Category: DeFi

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Crypto News DeFi Scams

Chainalysis Report Shows Scam Revenue Rose 81% in 2021

Cryptocurrency scams, particularly rugpulls – when a team behind a project cuts and runs with investors’ funds – have become the main issue for trusting the crypto space, especially for newcomers. Now a recent report from Chainalysis has revealed that crypto scam revenues have risen by 81 percent in 2021.

Crypto Scams Skyrocket in 2021

In 2020, the number of scams dropped considerably compared to 2019, but it appears that new forms of deceiving investors, such as rugpulls, are dramatically increasing, according to Chainalysis’ 2022 Crypto Crime Report.

Crypto scam value by year. Source: Chainalysis

Rugpulls accounted for 37 percent of 2021’s crypto scam revenues. Another factor that propelled scammers to deceive naive investors was the rise of Finiko, a massive Ponzi scheme targeting Russian-speaking countries. Finiko was shut down by authorities and its founders were arrested, but not before investors lost US$1.5 billion worth of crypto.

However, things aren’t as bad as they look, as Chainalysis has found a way to protect users from scams. Cryptocurrency platform Luno partnered with Chainalysis to help the blockchain to identify scammers’ addresses, thus halting users’ transfers before they were processed.

The other good news is that the average scam lifespan has been decreasing compared to previous years, starting from 2013.

Lifespan of scams by year. Source: Chainalysis

The Market is Maturing

Another glimmer from Chainalysis’ report is that the crypto market appears to be maturing, as the relationship between crypto prices and scam activity appears to have ended.

New scams by year and average victim transfer size. Source: Chainalysis

Chainalysis Makes Waves in the DeFi Ecosystem

Chainalysis is one of the most trusted blockchain data platforms in the space. Besides crypto crime reports, the firm also provides an annual Geography of Cryptocurrency report, outlining the fastest-growing crypto adoption rates in countries worldwide.

Last month the firm partnered with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, opening an office in Canberra to strengthen its presence in the Pacific region.

Categories
Crypto News DeFi Regulation Tokens

US Congressman Mentions ‘Mongoose Coin’, Hours Later It Moons 320,000%

After US Congressman Brad Sherman mockingly mentioned “Mongoose Coin” at a crypto hearing, it prompted a few crypto degens to launch a memecoin by the same name. Since its inception on December 8, the coin has shot up 320,000 percent and Sherman’s reference to the fictional token has spurred several others to pop up.

The Hamster, the Cobra and the Mongoose

California Democrat Sherman has become an overnight inspiration for token creators after denigrating the competitive world of cryptos. During a House Financial Services Committee hearing on crypto, the Congressman referenced a story of the old woman who swallows bigger and bigger animals to catch the previously swallowed animal, adding that “the number one threat to cryptocurrency is crypto”.

Sherman illustrated the point by saying that Bitcoin may be unseated by Ether, which in turn could be displaced by Doge, only to also be replaced by Hamster Coin and the Cobra Coin. He then added, by way of capping the rhetorical joke, “what could Mongoose Coin do to crypto coin?”

May this be a warning to all who dare to joke about crypto? Shortly after Sherman’s remarks, a token called Mongoose Coin ($MONG) was created and within just a few hours its market cap had ballooned to US$2 million, now up a massive 320,000 percent since launch.

$MONG up 320,000 percent. Source: Dexscreener

Since the December 8 hearing, Sherman-inspired coins have been created on the Polygon, Avalanche and Binance Smart Chain networks, each with differing token supplies, which have performed accordingly. Mongoose Coin, for example, had a listed market cap of US$9 million, while Mongoose Coin DAO has a valuation of US$914,000. Sherman Coin is at US$148,000, according to Dextools.

After Sherman’s remarks, Hamster Coin, which existed prior to the hearing, also spun its wheel off the chart.

Hamster Coin price chart. Source: Coinmarketcap

Although Sherman’s comments made for some light entertainment, his statements were jumbled and he just didn’t stick the landing. The point he was trying to make was, however, not entirely wrong. In the case of fiat money, the US dollar may be the standard global currency but national currencies of other nations will continue to hold values based on the very fact that they exist. As opposed to the real world, in crypto we see the cycle repeated time and time again – altcoins rise, flop, become worthless, and simply disappear.

Regulators Unsure How to Handle Cryptos

Right now, the US Senate House Committee on Financial Services is a source of entertaining meme-worthy moments but it remains one of the leading information disseminators regarding cryptos. In October, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler confirmed that the regulator had no intention of banning digital currencies, instead saying that any such ban “would be up to Congress”.

However, a month earlier the SEC announced it was investigating Uniswap Labs, parent company of Uniswap, the world’s largest decentralised exchange. Apparently, the SEC has DeFi insights and aims to bring forth some regulation.

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Crypto News DAO DeFi Hackers

DeFi Protocol BadgerDAO Exploited: $120 Million in Funds Drained

BadgerDAO is the latest decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol to be hit by hackers, draining US$120 million worth of cryptocurrencies. Hackers obtained the API key for the protocol and launched a front-end attack that had users making unwanted transactions.

On December 1, BadgerDAO received reports of unauthorised withdrawals from their users’ accounts. The team’s engineers responded by pausing all smart contracts to stop any further withdrawals. However, it turns out that the hacker(s) used malicious contract permissions to drain funds from the Badger DAO yield vault.

“It looks like a bunch of users had approvals set for the exploit address allowing [the address] to operate on their vault funds, and that was exploited,” Badger core contributor Tritium wrote on Discord.

A Compromised Third Party

The postmortem stated that the hack didn’t involve exploiting smart contracts but rather an attack that targeted the protocol’s front end. According to a BadgerDAO support team member, it appears the attacker injected a malicious script into BadgerDAO’s front end after somehow obtaining an API key for BadgerDAO’s Cloudflare account.

The malicious script basically tricked people into giving the address rights to send the tokens to the exploiter address.

Jonto, Badger core team member

The affected users are stirring on social media, with some believing this might have been a rug-pull effort organised by BadgerDAO itself. Until the official investigation is concluded, however, there will be no way of telling who the culprit is.

Security Still Needs Work in DeFi

The growing pains felt in the DeFi sector are mostly due to how new the field is and that there are still many best practices that need to be established. Earlier this month, US$31 million was stolen in MonoX’s DeFi hack, while October’s Indexed Finance ‘incident’ cost its users US$16 million.

Matthew Green, a cryptography and computer science professor at Johns Hopkins University, wrote on Twitter that “it’s funny how little computer security people know about the [decentralised applications] ecosystem. It’s like they’re living in the hotel from [Kubrick film] The Shining and they have no idea what’s going down in Room 237.”

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Binance Crypto News DeFi Gaming Metaverse NFTs

MBOX Token Explodes 138% as MOMOverse Becomes First Metaverse to Integrate with Binance

Amid a host of metaverse projects currently on the rise, one gaming altcoin is surpassing all expectations after it rallied 138 percent in a single day following the announcement of its integration with the Binance Smart Chain (BSC).

Mobox (MBOX), part of the GameFi sector, a combination of decentralised finance (DeFi) and gaming, combines non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and yield farming to create a play-to-earn ecosystem. The project aims to connect metaverses through NFTs, as well as achieve NFT interoperability across various platforms and games.  

Mobox has effectively launched its metaverse, MOMOverse, on the BSC, a cheaper alternative to the Ethereum network that is also compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). At the time of writing, MBOX was trading at US$10.04, according to data from CoinGecko, which represents a 164 percent increase over the past 30 days.

Million-Dollar Mobox(es)

According to the Mobox announcement, users will be able to create their own avatars to represent themselves in the MOMOverse. Avatars will also be able to mine MBOX, Mobox’s native token.

With the launch of the MOMOverse Phase One, the company is also giving away 5000 Mystery Boxes to the value of over US$1,000,000:

MBOX will allow its users to stake its native coin to earn rewards called Mystery Boxes. The MOMOs revealed from the Mystery Boxes will be mining the MBOX token [and will] increase the node hashpower so you can mine more MBOX tokens.

Mobox announcement

Metaverse Tokens Shoot to the Moon

As NFTs continue to boom, metaverse projects and tokens are also on the rise, with many new and exciting projects preparing to launch. For an in-depth look at four of these projects, check out this Crypto News Australia guide.

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Blockchain Crypto News DeFi Ethereum Scams

$31 Million Stolen in MonoX DeFi Hack

The decentralised finance (DeFi) market has been hit by yet another hack, with US$31 million in a variety of cryptos stolen from MonoX Finance in the latest episode.

MonoX released a statement in which it apologised to users and regretted its security measures had somehow been breached:

First, we want to extend immediate, sincerest apologies toward the incident and we assure you our entire team and partners are all working on this right now. Security of users’ funds is of utmost importance to us and we have had multiple security audits and a security adviser firm that work with us on an ongoing basis. However, unfortunately, we were still exploited.

DeFi Déjà Vu

The hacker attached MonoX Finance’s smart contracts, exploiting the single token liquidity platform and draining the funds of tokens across Ethereum and Polygon.

MonoX, which launched last month on Polygon and Ethereum, is a DeFi platform that offers liquidity pools in which traders can place their tokens and receive tokens in return. Rather than a standard pool model, MonoX pools function by grouping a deposited token “into a virtual pair with our virtual cash stablecoin (vCASH)”.

The hack netted US$18.2 million in wrapped ether (WETH) and US$10.5 million in Polygon (MATIC). Polygon, formerly Matic, is a proof-of-stake blockchain that helps take some of the load from the Ethereum blockchain. Other tokens taken included WBTC, LINK, GHST, DUCK, MIM and IMX.

In August, the largest DeFi hack on record took place on the Poly Network, a multi-chain platform that provides interoperability between blockchains. The attack, which took place on the Binance Smart Chain, Ethereum and Polygon, siphoned off a record-breaking US$600 million.

‘REKT By Their Own Token’

The hack was made possible via price manipulation of the project’s native token, MONO. The platform explained that the price of MONO tokens was artificially boosted, enabling the hacker to use tokens to buy the other assets in the pools at much cheaper rates.

Hacks, Hacks, and More Hacks

DeFi hacks have become increasingly prevalent, with devastating effects on a range of projects. Earlier this year, Zabu Finance, a DeFi project built atop the Avalanche blockchain, was exploited for around US$3.2 million worth of its native token, Zabu, plummeting its price to zero in minutes.

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DeFi Tokens

DeFi Analytics Platform DappRadar Set to Launch Own Token and Dapp Store

A leading platform to help people find and understand the market performance of decentralised applications (dApps) – DappRadar – has announced it will transition to a dApps store and launch a native token called RADAR. 

A go-to source for comparing the performance of dApps, DappRadar tracks and analyses market data (user numbers, activity, transaction volumes) for over 8,000 dApps used for gaming, trading, NFTs, finance and more – across 20 blockchains, including Ethereum. Users can easily find and track the most highly ranked dApps, and developers can use the platform to reach new users.

Towards Greater Self-Sufficiency

In its November 26 announcement, the crypto startup said that introducing a native token would support its aim to “become a community-curated project, with an ecosystem that is self-sufficient within the greater infrastructure of Web3 and the future of decentralisation”.

$RADAR holders will be able to take part in decision processes and be rewarded for their contributions within the DappRadar ecosystem. A launch date for the token has yet to be announced.

According to Skirmantas Januškas, DappRadar co-founder and CEO:

Decentralisation stands at the very core of our success and it’s only right to take it to the next level – true decentralisation of DappRadar. Bringing the community closer is the only way to keep ahead of the curve and remain successful in the years to come.

Skirmantas Januškas, CEO and co-founder, DappRadar

In addition to launching a native token, DappRadar signalled that its platform would now be known as “The World’s Dapp Store”, enabling purchases and providing a marketplace where dApps are curated based on quantitative methods. The marketplace will take zero commission from dApp creators. 

Launched in 2018, DappRadar is based in Lithuania and backed by Naspers Ventures, Blockchain.com Ventures, and Angel Invest Berlin.  

Growth of dApps Fuels Blockchain Networks

A growth in the creation of dApps is fuelling the growth of blockchain networks and the evolution of traditional apps.

Layer-2 scaling solution Polygon revealed in October that it was becoming less dependent on Ethereum due to the adoption of its network for natively launched dApps. 

Social media app Twitter announced a new hire in November to lead its ‘Crypto Twitter’ team to incorporate crypto, blockchain and dApps into the platform.

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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.

Categories
Blockchain Crypto News DeFi Gaming NFTs Solana

MonkeyBall Play-to-Earn NFT Game Set to Launch on Solana Blockchain

MonkeyBall, the next-gen esports metaverse that enables players to create, play, compete and earn, is ready for kickoff. Based on the Solana blockchain, the play-to-earn soccer game combines high-production values, multiplayer gaming, NFTs, and decentralised finance.

Monkeys are the teams’ players, introduced by NFT assets owned by game players. The Monkeys serve as an income generator, allowing a player to earn MonkeyBucks ($MBS) by winning matches.

MonkeyBall.com

The Three Modes of MonkeyBall

  • Player vs Environment: This is a training mode to increase your Monkey’s overall abilities and allow you to practise and develop your in-game Monkey’s soccer skills.
  • Player vs Player: This mode is the classic game where each player controls the entire team of soccer monkeys.
  • Team vs Team: In this mode, each team is being played and controlled by multiple players at a time.

MonkeyBall will do an NFT drop (of the game’s Monkeys) in December, with the in-game launch set for release in the first quarter of 2022. The IDO is currently open. Check the MonkeyBall website for more information.

MonkeyBucks ($MBS) is the in-game currency powering the game economy. Players can earn MBS by interacting in the game: completing missions, winning matches, watching games as spectators, or hosting games in their stadiums. You can also spend MBS to breed new Monkeys and buy consumable game items (NFTs) in the game’s store.

There is major hype surrounding the pre-release of this game, as you can see by the sharp increase in the price of the StarLaunch token, $STARS. Starlaunch is the launchpad for MonkeyBall.

STARS Price Chart. Source: Coingecko

Watch the video below to learn how to get into the MonkeyBall IDO, launching on StarLaunch next week.

As the NFT space continues to grow, and excessively high fees continue to plague the Ethereum network, we are increasingly seeing Solana challenge Ethereum for NFT project launches.

Categories
Coinbase Crypto Wallets DeFi Tokens

Breadwallet BRD Token Skyrockets 500% After Being Acquired by Coinbase

Breadwallet, an open-source digital wallet, has seen its native token BRD surge by 400 percent following its listing on Coinbase.

Following its November 24 announcement that crypto exchange Coinbase had acquired the BRD token, the Breadwallet team revealed it would be working with the firm to provide a more decentralised service and accelerate Web3 adoption:

Shortly after, the BRD saw a massive price boost of 500 percent. Data from Messari shows the token has returned more than 370 percent in a three-month period:

As per the wallet, the team said the listing won’t affect the BRD wallet app.

Nothing will change in the BRD wallet app and, as always, your funds are safe and secure. In the future, BRD wallet users will have an optional migration path to self-custody with Coinbase Wallet.

Breadwallet team statement

A Coinbase Listing Has a Massive Effect on a Token’s Price

Being acquired by Coinbase can be one of the best things that can happen to crypto and blockchain developers, as the firm is a well-known institution in the crypto industry. The BRD token is one of the many coins that have surged tremendously after getting listed on the exchange. An example is the Voyager token (VGX), an ERC-20 that soared 44 percent overnight after being listed on Coinbase Pro.

Another clear example is CRO, Crypto.com’s utility token. Earlier this month, Crypto News Australia reported that the CRO token had rallied 30 percent after being listed on the exchange.

Categories
Crypto News DeFi NFTs Sports

What’s Behind Manchester City and FC Barcelona Dropping Their Crypto Sponsors?

Two of the world’s most highly valued professional football clubs, Manchester City and FC Barcelona, have discarded their crypto sponsors in eyebrow-raising circumstances.

After just over a week, Manchester City has suspended its partnership with shadowy cryptocurrency start-up 3Key Technologies. On November 15, the company was named by City as an “official regional partner in decentralised finance (DeFi) trading analysis” as part of a commercial expansion by the English Premier League champions.

Manchester City/3Key deal is no more. Source: retailtechinnovationhub.com

However, that process has now been halted, with the decision believed to be based on 3Key’s lack of online presence and an apparent absence of due diligence, although a City spokesperson has denied the latter charge.

“Manchester City conducts due diligence in respect of all of its partnerships,” the spokesperson said. “[The club]’s partnership with 3Key Technologies has been announced but has not been activated in respect of any specific products or services in any part of the world.”

Manchester City will retain its deal with Socios Fan Token App, which it signed in March this year.

FC Barcelona Cancels Deal With Ownix

In the case of FC Barcelona, the Catalan club announced on November 19 that it had cancelled a deal with NFT marketplace Ownix after the arrest of one of its consultants, Moshe Hogeg, owner of Israeli football team Beitar Jerusalem.

Moshe Hogeg faces charges of crypto fraud and sexual assault. Source: Flash90

Police arrested Hogeg and seven other people this week on suspicion of involvement in an alleged massive crypto fraud running into “tens of millions of shekels”. Hogeg is also facing separate charges of historical sexual assault involving an Israeli model.

On November 5, Ownix announced it was partnering with FC Barcelona to launch NFTs that would have allowed owners to buy digital certificates of authenticity for virtual items linked to the team’s history. This week, the club issued the following statement:

In light of information received that goes against the club’s values, FC Barcelona hereby communicates the cancellation of the contract to create and market NFT digital assets with Ownix, with immediate effect.

FC Barcelona official statement

Ownix tweeted in response that it had terminated its deal with Hogeg to provide consultation services, saying the decision had been made at Hogeg’s request. Ownix also denied any connection to Hogeg’s arrest and that he held any shares in the company.

Lawyers representing Hogeg said in a November 25 statement that he “vehemently rejects” all charges and is “cooperating fully” with investigators.

FC Barcelona’s ‘Debt Crisis’ No Closer to Resolution

Earlier this month, FC Barcelona announced it would be auctioning NFTs of memorable moments from the club’s 122 years in the game. It was whispered at the time that the club was in the midst of a debt crisis, reportedly around US$1.57 billion in the red this northern summer. The club’s previous leadership was accused of reckless spending on players who have subsequently underperformed.

With the cancellation of its deal with Ownix, those purported NFTs may be some way off yet.