IDEX, a decentralized exchange, recently underwent a security audit by Quntstamp prior to the release of its 2.0 mainnet. The exchange’s CEO Alex Wearn emphasized the importance of security audits to Cointelegraph: Depositing funds into contracts that the authors themselves state are unaudited, and were rushed to market in a matter of weeks, is clearly a dangerous game. There have been quite a few hacks and instances of lost funds as evidence of these potential risks. Wearn was alluding to the fact that many popular DeFi projects have launch unaudited —…
Day: August 27, 2020
Another inside job at Shapeshift cost the company nearly $1 million
Following the theft and repayment of $900,000 in Bitcoin (BTC), Shapeshift is now pursuing damages in court against its former senior software engineer, Azamat Mukhiddinov. “There was significant time lost and legal costs associated with the clean-up,” Shapeshift’s chief legal officer, Veronica McGregor, told Cointelegraph, noting that customer funds were safe throughout the ordeal. “ShapeShift is non-custodial, so no customer funds were ever at risk,” she said. Working in a high level position for Shapeshift, Mukhiddinov allegedly used his access to the exchange’s backend to steal roughly 90 BTC, worth nearly…
US authorities go after 280 crypto accounts allegedly tied to North Korea
“The Justice Department today filed a civil forfeiture complaint detailing two hacks of virtual currency exchanges by North Korean actors,” said an Aug. 27 statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, or DoJ. “These actors stole millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency and ultimately laundered the funds through Chinese over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency traders.” The hackers allegedly utilized 280 different digital asset accounts, the statement detailed. The ordeal appears to be connected with previously reported thievery which occured earlier in 2020. This story is developing and will be updated. Original
African crypto exchange raises $1.5M from Andreessen Horowitz and others
Showing continued digital asset growth in Africa, Nigeria-based crypto exchange, Yellow Card, has secured over $1 million in investments from a number of players in the crypto industry, including venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. “Yellow Card has raised $1.5 million from investors to help further our expansion and solidify ourselves as the #1 place to buy and sell Bitcoin in Africa,” Chris Maurice, the exchange’s CEO, told Cointelegraph. Noting the seed round as finished, Maurice added: “We raised 1.5 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain, Celo and others. The goal of the…
Baseline Protocol brightens horizons for Ethereum enterprise adoption
As the blockchain space continues to mature, enterprises are starting to realize the technology’s capabilities. A major promise of blockchain is its ability to connect industries that typically operate in silos, bringing about new opportunities for data-sharing and increased transparency. While private blockchain networks are efficient for sharing sensitive data between network participants, public blockchain networks like Ethereum are gaining traction for organizations seeking data integrity. A report by Big Four firm Ernst & Young published in November 2019 found that the number one use case for enterprise blockchain adoption…
Switzerland’s top online retailer completes transaction with digital franc
Galaxus, the largest online retailer in Switzerland, could start accepting payments in a stablecoin issued by local cryptocurrency bank Sygnum. According to an Aug. 27 tweet by Sygnum, the companies have just completed an electronic commerce payment using Sygnum Bank’s stablecoin known as Digital Swiss Franc (DCHF). As officially announced, the e-commerce transaction was enabled by Denmark-based crypto payment processor Coinify. Launched in March 2020, Sygnum’s DCHF stablecoin is pegged one-to-one to with the Swiss franc, and intends to eliminate the need for card systems, reduce settlement costs and fraud,…
Belarus crackdown has tech firms restless
A political crisis, mass detention of peaceful citizens and internet blocking in Belarus are hitting the country’s IT sector hard. Amid this social turmoil, some companies are moving their offices and servers abroad, others are using VPN services, while some are advising their customers to buy cryptocurrencies. What is happening in Belarus, a country that just a couple of years ago was considered to be a favorable jurisdiction for IT and cryptocurrency projects? And how is digital technology helping its people regain their social and economic freedom? A failed Silicon…
Telegram supports protests in Belarus with new opposition flag emoji
Major encrypted messaging app provider Telegram has expressed support for the mass protests in Belarus against sitting President Alexander Lukashenko. On Aug. 25, the Telegram app introduced a new animated emoji to replace the national flag of Belarus with the white-red-white flag. Opposed to the official red and green flag of Belarus, the white-red-white flag is used as a symbol of the opposition to Lukashenko’s regime. With the new feature, the emoji of Belarus’ national flag automatically turns to the animated opposition flag when a single symbol is typed in…
Libra replaces general counsel Robert Werner after 3 months
Stevan Bunnel, former general counsel for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been revealed as the Libra Association’s new leading lawyer. Since leaving the Homeland Security Department in 2017, Bunnell co-chaired the data privacy-focused legal practice O’Melveny & Myers until joining the Libra Association this month. The association’s former general counsel, Robert Werner told Bloomberg Law that he chose to depart from the position after it became clear it meant he would have to relinquish an existing position on the boards of directors for Deutsche Bank Trust Co.…