U.S. President Joe Biden instructed federal agencies to coordinate efforts in drafting cryptocurrency regulations through an executive order.
According to a fact sheet accompanying the order, this governmental effort to regulate the crypto industry focuses on consumer protection, financial stability, illicit uses, leadership in the global financial sector, financial inclusion and responsible innovation.
This executive order, which is the first to be solely focused on the growing digital assets sector, directs federal agencies in communicating their work better but does not specify the positions that the administration would like agencies to take.
The order also did not set out any new regulations that cryptocurrency companies must follow.
Senior administration officials spoke neutrally about digital assets, telling reporters that the growing cryptocurrency sector could threaten the U.S. financial system and national security. Criminals could use cryptocurrency to hide funds or avoid sanctions if there is not enough oversight.
The official stated that digital assets could also offer American innovation, competitiveness, and financial inclusion opportunities. “Innovation is key to America’s story, our economy, creating jobs and new opportunities, building new industries and maintaining our global competitive edge.”
The U.S. executive order that focuses on digital assets, has six key points:
protecting U.S. interests
protecting global financial stability
preventing illicit uses
promoting “responsible innovation,”
financial inclusion
U.S. leadership
Around 40 million Americans have reported to be trading or investing in cryptocurrency, which is 16% of the entire U.S. population.
An administration official cited crypto’s volatility as one reason that investors could be hurt. He pointed out that the price of bitcoin at the start of the COVID-19 epidemic was $10,300. The price reached a peak of $69,000 in November 2021, before plummeting again at the beginning of 2022.
The official stated that the President had proposed a whole-of-government holistic approach to understand not only macroeconomic risks but also the microeconomic risk to each individual, investor, and business that interacts with these assets.
The official stated that investor protection will be a key goal. Understanding the technology that underpins digital assets is one part of this effort. Part of this effort will also include understanding the weaknesses and areas that are not serving all consumers in the current financial system.
The official stated that the order recognises that the assessment of potential risks and benefits of digital assets must also include an understanding of how the financial system meets current consumer needs in an equitable, inclusive, and efficient manner.
The “antiquated” payment infrastructure could make it difficult for consumers to access services. This was especially true for cross-border payments, the official stated.
The future of money
A section of the order directs U.S. Treasury Department officials to prepare a report about “the future money and payment system.”
The effects of cryptocurrencies on economic and financial growth will be observed to the extent that technological innovation may influence that future.
Last November’s President’s Working Group report called for Congress to pass a bill that more clearly defines federal bank regulators’ oversight power over stablecoins. Moreover, the Financial Stability Oversight Council could act in place of legislation.
Yellen mentioned FSOC’s role, saying that the financial stability watchdog would examine any potential risks posed in the cryptocurrency sector and “assess whether appropriate safeguards” are already in place.
Digital dollar
In the executive order, the U.S. will ask agencies to assess how they could issue a CBDC (central bank digital currency).
This order is tied to the Federal Reserve’s ongoing efforts to study digital currency issuance. In recent months, branches of the central bank published numerous reports evaluating both technological and policy questions before a central bank digital money (CBDC).
According to the administration official, CBDCs are being considered by more than 100 countries. These use cases can include both domestic and international transactions.
The official stated that many of these countries were also working together to establish standards for CBDC design, and cross-border systems.
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed the $40,000 level on intraday charts, as the leading cryptocurrency rose more than 15% in one day, despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The two largest cities in Ukraine, Kyiv and Kharkiv, are under attack from the Russian side. However, the huge economic sanctions imposed on Russia seemed to have brought the largest single-day gain Bitcoin had seen in a year. Most of the crypto markets are green, and Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, has risen by more than 12%.
All banks worldwide have pledged to block SWIFT from Russia. The U.S. Treasury Department has placed a ban on U.S. entities interfacing with Russia’s central banks. Foreigners are prohibited from Moscow’s stock exchange for fear of stock-market sell-offs.
Financial markets and war in Ukraine
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, initiated the conflict in Ukraine. The entire world is watching, and most nations are sending humanitarian aid and military equipment. However, observers fear that the almost 200,000 strong invading force that was defeated by the surprisingly strong Ukraine resistance will resort to more brutal tactics. As sanctions from the United States and Europe began to bite into Russia’s economy, the Russian and Ukrainian delegations held an initial peace talk at the Belarus border during the fifth day of the conflict.
Although nobody had expected Ukraine to fight off the invading forces for so long, with each day that passes, more economic sanctions and escalations are taking place.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation asked that all major crypto exchanges block Russian addresses during the fifth day of the conflict.
The U.S. and the European Union have removed certain Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), a messaging network that supports global financial transactions. This is the system that both Ripple and Stellar are trying to replace with lighting speed networks and significantly lower transaction fees.
Is cryptocurrency a way to avoid sanctions?
These economic sanctions are without precedent in the modern economy, and some militate for adopting blockchain products to bypass some of these constraints. As investors see the potential for massive investments in decentralised finance (DeFi) after the Russian sanctions, Bitcoin and all other top altcoins are rallying today.
Due to the ban from the SWIFT payment system, Russian banks are now prohibited from interbank transactions with non-Russian entities. It is expected that the Russian banks will try to use crypto as a way of circumventing this sanction and other measures meant to isolate them from the global financial system.
Russian citizens are now unable to use their credit cards outside Russia, and the effects of the harsh sanctions on the Russian central bank had caused the ruble to drop 30% in one day, on February 28, when $1 was around 101 Russian Rubles. In an attempt to stop the price from plummeting even further, the Russian central bank froze the Russian exchange market and ordered Russian businesses to sell 70% of their foreign cash assets. Also, the central bank ordered brokers not to execute sell orders from foreign shareholders.
The DeFi space is still an innovation, but considering the strict Russian financial environment, it could help increase the number of people focusing on it. Military conflicts have always posed a huge threat to economies, and investors often wonder where else they can put their money. This looks like one of those smart bets, and DeFi could be one of the few solutions left to this fast degrading economy.
Without a doubt, the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western powers are biting hard on the country’s economic system. Russia’s ruble is sinking.
Did you know that you can claim Bitcoin hard forks coin if you owned Bitcoin at the moment of the fork?
Bitcoin, the first and most popular cryptocurrency ever created, has not been free from conflicts within the community. Over the years, many individuals and groups of developers have come up with ideas to make Bitcoin even better.
But most of these suggestions ended up dividing the community. That’s why over 100 Bitcoin hard forks have taken place since Bitcoin’s creation in 2009. Here’re the top BTC hard forks and how to claim them.
A Short History of Bitcoin
On October 31, 2008, a whitepaper was published that described the concept of Bitcoin ━ a trustless peer-to-peer system for digital currency to replace traditional money. The paper was published under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, but the author’s identity remains a mystery to this day. Many believe that the name is a pseudonym of one or a team of developers.
On January 3, 2009, the genesis block (block 0) was mined on the Bitcoin network, and the miner, the unknown Satoshi, was rewarded with 50 bitcoins.
From that point on, Bitcoin (BTC) was mined by other early contributors up to 2010. Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer, made the first commercial transaction using cryptocurrency by purchasing two Papa John’s Pizzas for 10,000 BTC.
Bitcoin has been traded many millions of times since then. The first major transactions were made in black markets. The largest was the Silk Road, an online black marketplace, which traded close to 10 million Bitcoin during its lifetime.
As Bitcoin grew more as a currency on different markets, regulations emerged from many countries. For instance, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) made the news headlines when they adopted these three separate actions and issued new regulations regarding cryptocurrencies.
December 2013. The PBC banned financial institutions from using Bitcoin.
September 2017. The PBC issued a total ban on Bitcoin use.
June 2021. PBC implemented a crackdown against major cryptocurrency miners.
The price of Bitcoin fell by half after each of these events. However, it always found a way to rise again to new astonishing values. This is because many countries and institutions allow cryptocurrency use. Also, as of September 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
Another aspect of what makes Bitcoin increase in price is the maximum supply. There can only be 21 million BTC. As more investors join the cryptocurrency market, the coin experiences scarcity and the Bitcoin (BTC) price surges as with any supply and demand market.
Additionally, Bitcoin is more transferable and divisible than gold or another material asset and can be stored more easily. It will cost you a lot to transport gold, as well as the cost of storage in secure facilities. However, investors can store Bitcoin on a USB stick, also known as a cold wallet or hardware wallet.
As Bitcoin gained more popularity, it inspired other developers to create other blockchain platforms, and subsequently, some created Bitcoin hard forks.
What is a Bitcoin fork?
Many of the cryptocurrencies that exist today use part of Satoshi’s technology. However, many others adapted the Bitcoin blockchain model or tried to improve it.
As more users joined the blockchain, it became increasingly difficult to update the network as no single person or group could decide on unanimous future development.
To modify the Bitcoin blockchain, all miners must agree on the new rules and what constitutes a valid block on the chain. To change the rules, you must “fork” it to change to indicate that something has changed from the original protocol. These situations are called Bitcoin forking.
Usually, forks are used to add new features or change some blockchain parameters. The forking process results in the blockchain being divided into two distinct blockchains after a certain point in time. Although there have been many forks since the inception of Bitcoin, only a few are viable projects.
Crypto forks can be either soft or hard forks. The main difference is that soft forks are not a fork that results in a new currency and new branches of the blockchain. Soft forks slightly modify the Bitcoin protocol, but the core Bitcoin blockchain remains the same. Soft forks are backwards compatible, which means that the upgraded chain can successfully share and use data from earlier network versions.
However, during a hard fork, the programming code of the Bitcoin blockchain and its mining processes are upgraded. Once a user has updated their software, it rejects transactions from any older version, creating a new branch to the blockchain. Users who keep the older software can still process transactions. This means that transactions are being processed on two separate chains, and two different currencies result from the hard fork.
This is how various digital currencies, similar names to Bitcoin, have been created. These include Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold.
While not many investors know, anyone who owns Bitcoin, during a hard fork, is entitled to the new cryptocurrency. That’s why some consider that there’s an obvious financial incentive to fork Bitcoin’s blockchain and made some investors sceptical of the necessity of these forks.
Since it can be confusing for casual investors to distinguish between these cryptocurrencies, we’ll be going through the top Bitcoin hard forks.
Bitcoin Forks History
Bitcoin has over 100 forks, but not all projects were further developed, and only a few remain functional today. You can find the complete list of Bitcoin forks on forkdrop.io. We’ll mention the most noteworthy Bitcoin forks here.
Bitcoin XT
Bitcoin XT fork took place on December 27, 2014.
Bitcoin XT is the first known Bitcoin hard fork. Mike Hearn incorporated some of his ideas into the Bitcoin blockchain and launched Bitcoin XT in late 2014. It is said that Hearn is one of the few to have contacted Satoshi Nakamoto via email.
Bitcoin XT was designed to allow 24 transactions per second. The previous version of Bitcoin could only handle seven transactions per second. It proposed to increase the block size from 1 megabyte to 8 megabytes.
Initially, Bitcoin XT was a success. In 2015, it had more than 1,000 nodes running the software. But, just a few short months later, investors lost interest, and the project was abandoned. Bitcoin XT has been removed from the internet, and its website is not functional anymore.
Jonathan Toomim launched Bitcoin Classic in early 2016 as some community members wanted to see block sizes increase after Bitcoin XT’s decline.
Bitcoin Classic, like Bitcoin XT, saw a lot of initial interest. In 2016, there were approximately 2,000 nodes in use. The Bitcoin Classic (BXC) fork proposed a smaller block size of 2 MB.
The BXC coin still exists, but it seems that the community has moved on. The website is no longer live.
Bitcoin Unlimited
Bitcoin Unlimited (BU) fork took place on March 11, 2016.
Bitcoin Unlimited has remained a mystery since its initial release in 2016.
Bitcoin Unlimited is unique because it allows miners to choose the size of their blocks. Nodes and miners can limit the number of blocks they accept up to 16 megabytes. The community behind Bitcoin Unlimited believes in market-driven decision making, emergent consensus, and giving their users choices.
Despite some initial interest, Bitcoin Unlimited has not been widely accepted. Only a few nodes are still online.
Bitcoin Cash fork took place on August 1st 2017 (BTC block 478,558).
Pieter Wuille, a Bitcoin Core developer, presented the idea for Segregated Witness (SegWit) in late 2015. SegWit is a project that aims to decrease the size of Bitcoin transactions, thus allowing for more transactions to occur simultaneously. Technically, SegWit is a soft fork.
In response to SegWit, some Bitcoin developers and users decided to initiate a hard fork to avoid the protocol updates it brought about. Bitcoin Cash was the result of this hard fork. It split off from the main blockchain in August 2017, when Bitcoin Cash wallets rejected Bitcoin transactions and blocks.
Bitcoin Cash allows blocks of eight megabytes and does not accept the SegWit protocol.
Bitcoin Cash remains the most successful Bitcoin hard fork, and it is backed by many in the cryptocurrency community. BCH can be traded on popular exchanges (Binance, Coinbase, Huobi, Gate.io).
BitCore (BTX)
BitCore (BTX) fork took place on April 24, 2017.
BitCore is an unspent transaction output (UTXO) fork of Bitcoin, and it was launched in 2017. BitCore used Bitcoin’s source code to create a new blockchain but updated the core to make the blockchain size smaller (which makes the network easier to scale). BitCore uses the MEGABTX consensus algorithm, which is ASIC-resistant.
Because anyone can become a BitCore miner, it is impossible to centralise mining power. BitCore also has a 10 MB Segwit-enabled block that allows it to handle 17.6 billion transactions per annum or 48 million transactions per hour.
The entire crypto community can mine BTX using PoW and Masternodes.
Bitcoin Gold fork took place on October 23rd 2017 (BTC block 491,407).
Bitcoin Gold is a hard fork that occurred shortly after Bitcoin Cash. The creators implemented this hard fork to restore mining functionality using basic graphics processing unit (GPU) because they felt mining had become too specialised.
The Bitcoin Gold hard fork featured a pre-mining of the Bitcoin Gold crypto. Pre-mining is when the development team creates the coin from the start. In this case, the Bitcoin Gold developers pre-mined 100,000 BTG. Developers said that these pre-mined coins will be used to grow the Bitcoin Gold ecosystem and pay developers.
Bitcoin Diamond (BCD) fork took place on November 24, 2017 (BTC block 495.966).
Bitcoin Diamond is a fork of the original Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin Diamond was created only two weeks after the Bitcoin Gold fork.
The BCD’s code allows for 100 transactions per second, increasing the block size to 8 megabytes, thus making it more efficient than Bitcoin. While this is an improvement, considering Bitcoin’s seven transactions per second, other cryptocurrencies have much greater transaction throughput, and that’s why some consider Bitcoin Diamond obsolete.
However, the first major Bitcoin hard fork, Bitcoin Cash, can process 116 transactions per second through its increased block size. Although these cryptocurrencies may not be the same, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Diamond are very similar. Some investors wonder if Bitcoin Diamond was a necessary hard fork.
Bitcoin SV hard fork took place on November 15th 2018 (BCH block 556,766). It is a fork from the Bitcoin Cash blockchain.
Bitcoin SV‘s goal is to realise the original vision and design of Bitcoin as described in Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper.
BSV is designed to provide stability and scalability while keeping Bitcoin a peer-to-peer electronic money system. It also aims to become a distributed data network that can support enterprise-level advanced blockchain applications.
It has also removed artificial block sizes limits, re-enabled script commands, and other technical capabilities that had been previously disabled or restricted by protocol developers on the BTC blockchain. The network can process thousands of transactions per second while keeping transaction fees low for micropayments. It also offers advanced capabilities like tokens, smart contracts and other use cases.
The block size of Bitcoin SV can go up to 2Gb and can process over 10,000 transactions per second. BSV reached over 50.000 TPS on the testnet.
BSV is unmatched in its ability to scale on-chain without any restrictions while being closer to the original Bitcoin design than any other blockchain.
Bitcoin Cash ABC (eCash)
Bitcoin Cash ABC fork took place on November 15, 2020 (BCH block 661648).
Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA) is a cryptocurrency that was created in 2020 as a result of a hard fork within the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. This split the original chain into two new ones called “Bitcoin Cash ABC” and “Bitcoin Cash Node.”
Amaury Sechet is the leader of the Bitcoin Cash ABC developers. They proposed an update to the Bitcoin Cash network. This update included a controversial new “Coinbase Rule,” requiring 8% of all mined Bitcoin Cash to be distributed to BCH ABC to finance protocol development.
Another group, Bitcoin Cash Node from the Bitcoin Cash community, opposed the upgrade. They removed the so-called “miner tax” from their source code.
In July 2021, Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA) was rebranded as eCash (XEC). With this relaunch, the team also announced their plans to integrate the proof-of-stake consensus layer Avalanche, which introduces great improvements to the network.
Three main improvements are:
Scaling transaction throughput to more than 5,000,000 transactions per second
Improve the payment experience by reducing transaction finality
The eCash (XEC) rebrand also decreases the coin’s decimal from eight to only two.
Beware of Bitcoin Forks Scams
You should also bear in mind that some Bitcoin forks were created as a scam. Bitcoin Platinum, for instance, was created to lower Bitcoin’s value. Other scams, such as the fake Bitcoin Gold wallet, were created to steal your real funds. That’s why it’s crucial to keep your crypto funds safe and don’t trust everyone you talk to over the internet.
At the same time, you should be aware that some developers just want to make quick money. While some Bitcoin forks seem to be similar, the primary reason for their creation is more marketing buzz. Many developers are looking for free coins, and Bitcoin forks have become the new ICOs. The team creates the fork only to sell the coins on crypto exchanges as soon as it starts trading.
To reduce your chances of losing any Bitcoin, you have to move your Bitcoin to a new wallet before claiming any coins.
How to safely claim coins from a fork
Before attempting to claim any Bitcoin fork coins, you should research the new project and the team of developers behind it to establish its legitimacy. They should also provide a clear and accurate roadmap for the project they want to build.
For instance, a Bitcoin fork coin should implement replay protection, to allow the new network to separate from its original.
Depending on the specific Bitcoin fork, you might need to perform certain risk actions such as exposing your Bitcoin wallet private keys, installing specific software or validating your identity on centralised crypto exchanges.
One of the easiest ways to claim Bitcoin fork coins is to use wallets that support them. Note that most wallets don’t support many of the Bitcoin forks simply because the process requires complicated technical developments, which is not feasible for most wallets. This is because most of the Bitcoin forks don’t have a great market value and lack a development team and community.
Bitcoin forks can have various aspects to consider:
Coin ratio. Depending on the Bitcoin fork, the new coins (forked-coins) can be claimed at a specific ratio (It’s mostly a 1:1 ratio, but it can vary).
Fork height. The Bitcoin block height at the time that the Bitcoin Fork took place. Bitcoin wallets that received BTC after that date are not eligible for the Bitcoin fork claim.
Crypto exchange availability. Minor and less successful Bitcoin fork coins will not be supported by a lot of crypto exchanges.
Before attempting to claim any Bitcoin fork coins, you should go through these simple (but effective against theft) steps.
Step 1. Move Bitcoin to a new wallet
For all Bitcoin fork claims and any forks in general, users need to provide the wallet’s private keys in which the Bitcoin was held at the time of the Bitcoin fork. You should never share the keys of an active wallet.
That’s why, for safety reasons, moving the crypto funds to a different crypto wallet should be performed first before revealing the private keys to any third party. By doing this, you eliminate any possibility of having your Bitcoin stolen.
If you still have a Legacy Bitcoin wallet with addresses beginning with 1, claiming these forks can be a great motivation to move your coins to a SegWit account. This will lower your transaction fees and allow you to use Lightning Network.
Step 2. Export private keys
Firstly, you will need to export your private key from the wallet that was used to hold the Bitcoin funds at the time of the fork. Most wallets are able to export a file containing all the addresses and private keys. However, hardware wallets don’t allow private keys export, and for such cases, you need to enter the seed phrase into specific claiming software.
You can import only private keys that have funds to save time.
Step 3. Check Bitcoin wallet address for available claims
Using your Bitcoin wallet address, you can check if your address is entitled to a Bitcoin fork claim on Findmycoins.ninja.
You should save all the claimable wallets’ addresses and private key combinations.
All valid addresses and private key combinations should be recorded in a spreadsheet or text file that allows you to copy, paste, or replace text. The recording format should include a private key followed by the address.
Each entry should be numbered and the amount of Bitcoin they contain at the time of the first fork. It will be helpful to number each key pair for ordering purposes. It may be useful to note the sizes. You can, for example, use the address with the smaller amount to test the process.
Step 4. Claim the Bitcoin fork coin using a crypto wallet
There are several secure crypto wallets that can help you claim some of the most popular Bitcoin forks, such as:
Coinomi. Supports Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin SV (BSV). Find the guide on how to claim Bitcoin forks on their support page.
BitPie & Bither wallets. These are two distinct mobile app Bitcoin wallets. BitPie is used to claim the coins, and then Bither can be used to sell them. Using the two wallets you can successfully claim Super Bitcoin (SBTC), BTW, BCD, BTF, BTP, BTN, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold.
While the BitPie and Bither wallets are the most common solution you can find on the web these days to claim your Bitcoin forks, the wallets do not support BTC fork claiming anymore. We tried this option without any success.
How to use Coinomi for Bitcoin fork claims
Step 1. Install and create a Coinomi wallet
Firstly, make sure you have the latest version of Coinomi on your mobile device. Afterwards, create a new wallet, and make sure to write down its seed phrase to recover your funds later, in case something happens to the mobile device. You will also be asked to set up a password for this specific wallet and device.
Step 2. Select the coins you want to add
Before claiming the Bitcoin forks in the Coinomi wallet, you need to select the specific coins as balances in your Coinomi wallet.
Click on the bottom-right plus sign and select Add coins. Select the Bitcoin forks you will be adding (e.g. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), BitcoinSV (BSV)).
Step 3. Claim Bitcoin fork coins
Select the coin you want to claim the Bitcoin fork for, and within that specific wallet, click on the top menu > Sweep wallet.
You will have to paste or scan the wallet’s private key that had the Bitcoin at the time of the fork.
After you get all the transaction details (The amount of Bitcoin fork coins you will receive, the value in USD, the transaction fee), review all the details and tap Confirm.
You will then see the updated balance for the Bitcoin fork coins.
Repeat this step for every address with a balance of the forked coin.
How to claim Bitcoin forks using Ymgve’s Fork Claimer
More advanced crypto users that do not want to rely on a specific Bitcoin wallet, can use Ymgve’s script to claim the most Bitcoin forks. This method will require some technical knowledge on the user’s side because you will need to run a Phyton script.
The Ymgve is open-source. It is available on GitHub, along with all the information about how to use the script. Ymgve supports standard P2PKH and Segwit P2SH-P2WPKH addresses.
Using the Ymgve fork claimer script is recommended if you want to claim most forks, although it’s riskier and mistyping any of the commands can result in a loss of funds.
How do Bitcoin hard forks influence Bitcoin holders?
By the end of 2021, there have been over 100 Bitcoin hard forks, and investors expect to see more soft and hard forks in the years to come. However, out of all the hard forks to date, only a few are still operational.
Long time investors are entitled to claim all of these Bitcoin hard forks. Luckily there are ways to do so, using the wallets described in this article. However, as of the beginning of 2022, no Bitcoin fork has raised more in popularity than the original Bitcoin.
Crypto.com has stopped withdrawals on the platform for a few hours to investigate suspicious withdrawals. Supposably, the stolen funds have then been laundered through the Ethereum coin mixer, Tornado Cash.
Crypto.com suspends withdrawals
On January 17, a new threat has been detected on one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the official Crypto.com Twitter account, the platform disabled withdrawals for all users, to investigate a suspicious activity reported by a group of users.
We have a small number of users reporting suspicious activity on their accounts.
We will be pausing withdrawals shortly, as our team is investigating. All funds are safe.
While the exchange didn’t give many details about the “unauthorized activity” that has been reported, it did mention that all funds are safe and that this is a mere safety precaution.
The exchange sent out an update several hours later advising users to sign back in and reset their two-factor authentication (2FA). A few hours later, at 4 pm UTC time, CEO Kris Marszalek tweets that final checks and that withdrawals will be resumed within the next 30-60 minutes.
At around 5:40 pm UTC, Crypto.com announced that users can now withdraw their funds and that all funds are safe, but some delays can be expected.
While safety is a big concern to custodial cryptocurrency exchanges, including Crypto.com, many investors are suspicious when it comes to such news. During periods of high volatility, crypto exchanges are known to suspend withdrawals or other services when there is a spike in demand. One such instance was in November 2021 when Binance stopped all crypto withdrawals because of a large backlog.
Were funds stolen from Crypto.com?
Dogecoin founder, Billy Markus, was the first to notice on-chain suspicious activity. In fact, there was a pattern in transactions with one wallet receiving multiple transactions. He also asked if the funds were secure and if it was an internal job.
While Crypto.com claims that all funds are secure, many users dispute this claim.
Ben Baller, a crypto enthusiast and famous jeweller, claimed his account was hacked and 4.28 ETH (~$15,000) were stolen. The theft occurred despite the fact that he had a 2-factor authentication. Others have had the same experience and many pointed out that they lost part of their assets from their Crypto.com accounts.
The users have claimed to be missing digital assets from their accounts, including Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, Ether and Bitcoin. Users also noted that even though withdrawals were halted, assets were still disappearing and transactions were being processed.
Customer support has been contacted by a user who claimed that he lost his Bitcoin during the event. However, the exchange has yet to confirm that some users were affected by the incident.
But none of the official channels mentioned anything about this and Crypto.com underlined that all funds remain safe but has introduced new procedures to increase security for all accounts. Users will now need to sign back into the Crypto.com App or Exchange accounts and reset their 2FA.
Crypto stolen from Crypto.com is laundered via Tornado Cash
According to on-chain data, the $15 million worth of ether (4600 ETH), stolen from Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, is currently being laundered by Tornado Cash, an Ethereum Mixer.
Tornado Cash, an Ethereum mixer protocol, was launched in 2020 and is a service that promises to increase transaction privacy by obscuring any on-chain link between source and receiver of ether. Mixer protocols or cryptocurrency tumblers are sometimes used to conceal identities. However, they are also used to launder funds related to organized crime.
Peck Shield first noticed on-chain data suggesting that the 4,600 ether is being sent through a mixer in batches of 100.
Roman Storm, Tornado Cash’s co-founder, previously stated that the protocol works with regulators. Tornado Cash V2 includes a cryptographic notice in the transaction history for ether sent through its pipes. This note can be used to establish fund provenance. Storm stated that it was very important for us to comply with the regulations and that they’re different from other crypto mixers – “We do what feels right.”
It has been speculated that the total value of lost funds is around $15 million, but some speculated that it’s probably much more. However, some of the funds seem to have found their way back to their owners.
We’ll probably have to wait and see if all was a big coincidence or if Crypto.com account really did get scammed.
Is an Ethereum investment good for your portfolio? According to the largest bank in the US, Ethereum, the second-most valuable cryptocurrency in the world, is a better option than Bitcoin when it comes to long-term gains.
Is an Ethereum Investment Better Than Bitcoin?
In a recent report, JPMorgan analysts, led by market strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, stated that Ethereum’s increasing number of uses, including peer-to-peer lending and NFTs, should help it retain its value in an environment of rising interest rates.
On the other hand, Bitcoin could be on the verge of a downfall.
The report states that the rise in bond yields, and eventual normalization of the monetary policy are putting pressure downwards on bitcoin as a digital gold form. This is the same pressure that higher real yields have put downwards on traditional gold.
Panigirtzoglou stated that the rise in bond yields, and eventual normalization of the monetary policy are putting pressure downwards on bitcoin as an alternative to digital gold. He also noted that higher real yields have put downward pressure on gold.
“With Ethereum deriving its value from its applications, ranging from DeFi to gaming to NFTs and stablecoins, it appears less susceptible than bitcoin to higher real yields.”
JPMorgan analysts also suggested that ethereum (ETH) might be a better investment over the long term because of the increasing importance of environmental issues in investing.
Both Ethereum and Bitcoin Consume Too Much Electricity
Both cryptocurrencies use an enormous amount of electricity for their security and validation systems. However, Ethereum plans to transition away from this system (proof-of-work) to one that is far less energy-intensive (proof-of-stake) by the end of 2022.
Analysts stated that investors have shifted their attention from the energy-intensive bitcoin blockchain to the more sustainable Ethereum blockchain due to a greater focus on environmental and social and governance investments.
JPMorgan, however stated that both cryptocurrencies appear to be overvalued as they are too volatile for institutional investors.
In an effort to reduce inflation, central banks all over the globe are cutting their support for countries. This means that interest rates and bond yields will rise.
At the beginning of November 2021, the Bank of England stated that interest rates would have to go up in the “coming months”. Afterwards, the Federal Reserve slashed its $120 million per month bond purchase.
JPMorgan believes that investors might be better off holding ether ETH (the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world), which is based on the Ethereum blockchain. It has more uses than bitcoin, so it should be held with greater interest.
The world of decentralized finance (DeFi) is a growing sector that relies on blockchain technology to perform traditional financial tasks like trading or lending. It is also the core of non-fungible tokens (or NFTs), collectable items that are traded and secured with crypto tech.
Although an Ethereum investment is “safer than Bitcoin”, this is crypto after all, and volatility is part of the game. However, there are ways to indirectly invest in Ethereum without buying ETH.
Coinbase
Coinbase, the US’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is well-positioned to take advantage of the rise in Ethereum investments and trading. They also earn a transaction fee for every sale and purchase.
Many of the cryptocurrencies that are traded on the exchange use the Ethereum blockchain. This means that a Coinbase bet is, in essence, a bet against Ethereum. Their futures are closely linked.
You want to see growth potential in any stock, and Coinbase does that. Coinbase saw 1.5 million monthly users in the second quarter of 2020. The number grew to 8.8 million a year later. In the same time period, their net revenue grew from $178 million to $2.03 billion.
Coinbase stock (COIN) is currently trading at $321. If you decide to invest in Coinbase shares, you don’t have to pay the full price per share; some investing apps let you purchase fractional shares.
Robinhood
Robinhood’s stock performance from July’s IPO launch may make you wonder if Robinhood’s meme stock juice is waning. It’s down more than 20% since July’s IPO launch.
Robinhood isn’t just a stock trading platform that doesn’t charge commissions. Since 2018, the discount broker has been facilitating bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) trading. It now allows users to purchase and sell litecoin (LTC) as well as bitcoin cash (BCH).
Robinhood’s cryptocurrency offerings have also been a success. The Q2 2021 crypto-generated revenue was $233 million, which is more than 40x the amount it was in the previous year.
HIVE Blockchain
HIVE Blockchain, a cryptocurrency miner, is one of many companies that convert huge amounts of computing power into crypto tokens. HIVE mines Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum Classic (ETC).
Among prominent investors, Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, is concerned about the impact cryptocurrency mining has on the environment. HIVE is focusing on green energy to power its mining.
HIVE plans to focus on other cryptocurrencies after Ethereum 2.0 is released, but the company’s business is still heavily dependent on Ethereum. This should allow HIVE to provide decent exposure for Bitcoin’s younger brother in the near and mid-term.
HIVE investors had a fantastic 2021. Since the start of the year, the stock price has more than doubled.
Crypto investing is risky
Cryptocurrency investing is not for everyone and for sure most investors won’t start with a big Ethereum investment. It is a risky investment because of the wild price swings and the many, many queries about its future as a currency.
If you feel the crypto market is not for you and the stock market seems ready to plunge, then it may be time for you to invest in real assets like commodities.
Contemporary art is another option, which has outperformed almost every year since 1995 by nearly doubling the S&P 500.
Modern masterpieces don’t need to cost millions. You can purchase shares in works that are rapidly increasing in value with a new app.
They won’t look as good on your wall but they should look great in your portfolio.
What is the best way to earn free cryptocurrency and free NFTs? We’ve all heard of airdrops and signup bonuses, as a way to earn cryptocurrency, but none of these methods gives you a significant amount of crypto to actually do something with it.
After some in-depth research of the current ways to earn free crypto, we can recommend a platform that doesn’t require any initial investment.
How to earn free cryptocurrency and free NFTs? Continue reading to discover how you, too, can make a monthly income from crypto and start earning.
Old Strategy to Earn Free Crypto
Giving away free crypto as a reward for performing an action has been one of the main drivers for adoption at the beginning of the crypto era.
Some of these methods are still used today, and anyone can use them to get free crypto. What are the old strategies you can still use to earn crypto and bitcoin rewards?
Crypto Giveaways
Just like traditional giveaways, crypto companies will sometimes organise a giveaway for their users to create awareness around their coin.
Most of these crypto giveaways will have specific rules to follow that may differ from one giveaway to another and in return, participants may earn cryptocurrency.
An example would be when an exchange when it lists a new coin on its platform.
That’s when they need more users and publicity to spike up the volume. By organising a giveaway, they ask users to share the news on social media, follow them on their socials, and sign up for a new account.
The prizes are incredibly enticing for new crypto enthusiasts, but the competition is also high.
Beware of the many giveaway scams on social media. Most of these scams require participants to send a specific amount of crypto to a given address. Don’t do it. You’ll lose your crypto.
Crypto Coins Airdrops
Usually, new cryptocurrency projects perform airdrops.
They give their cryptocurrency to new users in exchange for a small task, such as a share on social media.
Airdrops allow people to obtain free crypto and to become investors while the company gets free publicity and creates awareness around its product. Airdrops may also help users start learning about crypto and their project.
Signup Bonus
Platforms such as Coinbase and eToro are offering signup bonuses in crypto for new users.
The bonus is often received after a specific condition has been fulfilled, such as taking a quiz about a new cryptocurrency or deposing a specific amount of cash in your exchange wallet.
Note that some platforms ask for ID verification, and then they report back to the fiscal entities.
Crypto Stacking
Stacking is a way to support the security and operations of a blockchain by locking your funds in for some time and receiving rewards for it. Staking is one of the safest ways to generate a passive income from your crypto funds. It is much safer than crypto trading, although the rewards may be smaller.
Some platforms allow users to stack crypto directly from their crypto wallets, such as Trust Wallet. Exchanges also offer the option to stake your tokens by keeping the coins in the exchange wallet. PancakeSwap is famous for this practice.
Users who participate in staking contribute to the consensus mechanism of the blockchain by facilitating the Proof of Stake (PoS).
Unlike the Proof of Work used by Bitcoin’s blockchain, the PoS algorithm randomly chooses one of the staking participants to validate the next block.
Earn Xfc for Free Using Your Football Knowledge
Earning free crypto is awesome, but you need to signup to many different platforms to collect all the small bonuses.
What all of the ways mentioned above to get free cryptocurrency have in common is that you only get the bonus once, and after that, you need to trade or perform other actions that require you to spend money.
In this case, what’s the best way to get free cryptocurrency for an indefinite time?
We found a platform that rewards users with free cryptocurrency for staying active, and it doesn’t require you to spend any money.
It’s a fantasy football game on blockchain called FootballCoin.
Yes, you will need to know a thing or two about football, but you might get lucky anyway.
The win the game’s cryptocurrency, XFC, you need to create a valuable football squad.
Unlike real life, fantasy football gets really fun when choosing the lucky combination of 11 players.
What Is Fantasy Football?
The players from real football games all have collectable football cards in the game. According to their real-life performance, they get a score in the fantasy football game.
In FootballCoin, more points equal a higher chance of winning XFC prizes in the daily fantasy football contests.
That’s why you need to be intentional when choosing your team in fantasy football. The better the players play in real life, the better for your fantasy football team.
Daily Contest in Footballcoin
FootballCoin organises daily contests for the main European football leagues and tournaments. It also features the North American MLS league and the Chinese league CSL.
Contests in FootballCoin reflect the games played in real life.
FootballCoin players are called managers. The managers can choose the football players in their fantasy football team based on those playing in real life, in those particular football games.
The contests are free to join and have substantial prices in the game’s cryptocurrency, XFC.
The game’s mechanics also allow users to create their own contests, for which they can charge a participation fee. These are called private contests and are fun to play within a group of friends passionate about football.
Play for Free and Win Crypto
One of the best ways to earn bitcoin and free cryptocurrency is by joining a free blockchain game. What sets apart FootballCoin from other blockchain games is the free-to-play feature.
It’s free to set up an account. And it is free to play. There are free daily contests that anyone can join to win real crypto.
The free daily contests in FootballCoin are tournaments. There are two kinds of tournaments. The Double Up tournaments reward the first half of the ranking managers. The Top 30% tournaments reward the top 30% of managers.
After a contest is finished and all, the rankings are calculated according to the scoring system. The players from the contest are rewarded automatically with XFC, depending on their rank in the contest.
The free cryptocurrency is deposited automatically in your FootballCoin wallet, and you are free to use it however you want.
You can choose to invest in the game, get more NFT digital assets in the game, or you can simply send it to one of the crypto exchanges that accept XFC and trade it.
How to Get Free NFTS
By now, most crypto enthusiasts have been talking about and investing in non-fungible tokens and some big names in the industry have talked about acquiring NFT collections.
It’s important to note that FootballCoin supports non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In fact, its market for football player cards is actually an NFT marketplace.
NFT marketplaces are where the cards can be traded. In the FootballCoin market, the game’s users are able to freely buy, sell and lease non-fungible tokens and grow their NFT collections.
Furthermore, the player card tokens can be easily exchanged for another card, for a small fee. In this way, the game guarantees that users will always have cards that can be used in the game.
Assuming you start right now playing FootballCoin with a new account, you will get free crypto if you join the free daily contests. According to your real football knowledge, you will be able to create better fantasy football teams for free.
These teams that perform well will allow you to get the game’s crypto, XFC. You can later use that crypto to buy the game’s NFTs.
In FootballCoin, there are two different kinds of NFTs.
You can get football player NFT cards, which are usually for more famous players, such as Christiano Ronaldo. Having these cards will eventually help you rank better in the tournaments and earn even more XFC.
The other kind of NFT is the stadium card. These can be used to create your private contest, and you can earn a passive income from the fees that managers pay to join your contest.
By definition, NFTs come in limited supply and are often called collectable cards in the game.
While NFTs are a good way to store value and generate more income in FootballCoin, they are not required to play. However, it’s nice to know that you can buy them if you perform well in the free contests without investing your money.
No Investment Required
FootballCoin doesn’t require any investment to play or to win in the game.
Unlike the famous mobile games that are pay-to-win, which sell worthless assets, in FootballCoin, you own everything you collect and win.
The game has many different assets that might help you advance and earn even more crypto, but no investment is required.
Most players start with nothing, and after a few months, are able to trade or sell their assets for a profit.
It’s important to point out that regular players get a monthly income from the game without an initial investment.
