Day: June 15, 2023

Here’s how hackers are using mining pools as mixers: Chainalysis

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While good actors within the crypto space channel their creativity toward building new things, bad actors use the same energy to devise more ingenious ways to hide their ill-gotten gains.  A new report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis shows how wallets involved in ransomware attacks are turning to crypto mining pools to launder the funds acquired through exploits. According to the firm, a highly active wallet address from what it described as a “mainstream exchange” has received funds from wallets and mining pools linked to ransomware. The deposit address received…

A PR expert’s tips for memecoin projects

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Popular culture depicts publicists as soulless spin doctors who will sell their mother if it means landing a feature in The Wall Street Journal. While it’s true that any serious PR pro is ambitious about earning coverage for clients, the idea that we are unshackled by ethics and objectivity is nonsense. PR is about connections, and integrity means lasting relationships with journalists.  That’s why the astronomical success of memecoins — most recently, Pepecoin — is so fascinating. Absent an actual product, structured business model and even sometimes public team, memecoins…

Polkadot Revamps Governance System, Removes ‘First Class Citizen’ Voting Groups

“The previous governance system could only take one referendum at a time with the default that each one lasted for 28 days, so you could only get 12 or 13 of these through a year,” Petrowski said in an interview with CoinDesk. “That pace makes sense for sensitive things like system upgrades, but not for when somebody wants to make a treasury proposal or start a new option for a parachain.” Source

Mining Pools Are the New Mixers For Cybercriminals: Chainalysis

Although the funds always came to the exchange via intermediary wallets, Chainalysis found instances in which the wallet receiving ransomware proceeds sent funds directly to the mining pool wallet, which then sent the coins to the exchange. This might mean that both the ransomware- and mining-related wallets belong to the same owner, who is using mining as a way to launder criminal funds, Chainalysis wrote. Source

Polygon Labs Rolls Out Open Database For Blockchain Use Cases

“This is just the beginning. It’s not like this is going to be a stagnant website,” said Rebecca Rettig, Chief Policy Officer at Polygon Labs in a pre-launch interview with CoinDesk. “It’s going to grow as people see it and say, ‘Oh, we want more applications that are on Solana to be listed on here. Please put them up on the website.’” Source link

BTC Price Plummets Below $25K as Fed Pauses Interest Rate

Following the Fed interest rate pause announcement, the price of BTC broke major price support, raising concerns about a continued decline. The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it would maintain its interest rate at 5.25%, marking the first time since January 2022 that the rate would remain unchanged. According to the Fed, the inflation rate appears to be decreasing, and it wants to see whether previous rate increases were sufficient to slow price increases. However, it was hinted that the rate could rise if inflation does not appear to…

Celsius Faces Creditor Pushback Over Bankruptcy Exit Plan

Some creditors are unhappy with the revealed plan and have expressed their opposition. Insolvent crypto lending platform, Celsius, has filed an updated plan to exit bankruptcy with the help of crypto consortium Fahrenheit. However, the plan faces opposition from creditors who are unhappy with the deal and want their money back. Celsius’ Journey Out of Bankruptcy Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2022, hoping to restructure its debt and find a buyer for its assets. In October, the company launched an auction for its assets. Following several…

Celsius seeks to convert alts to Bitcoin and Ether under reorganization plan

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Defunct crypto lender Celsius has revised its bankruptcy filing awaiting approval from a bankruptcy court in New York after a successful acquisition deal with Fahrenheit. The crypto lender filed its reorganization plan on June 15. Under the revised plan Celsius will be selling all altcoins from all customers except Custody and Withhold accounts and converting them into Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), starting from July 1. Celsius will be selling all altcoins from all customers (except Custody and Withhold accounts) starting July 1st and will be converting them into Bitcoin…