Month: August 2023

Celsius’ Mashinsky fraud suit is on, Tether class suit dismissed and more

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Celsius’ Mashinsky motion to dismiss denied The former chief executive of crypto lending platform Celsius Network, Alex Mashinsky is back on track to face a civil fraud lawsuit after a Supreme Court judge denied his motion to dismiss the case. A court order issued on Aug. 4 by New York County Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chan denied Mashinsky’s motion to dismiss the suit originally brought by New York Attorney General, Letitia James in January. Screenshot from denial filing. New York v. Mashinsky, New York State Supreme Court. No. 450040/2023. Source:…

Trader nabs 800 ETH by baiting a bot, NFT thefts slow and more

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NFT trader’s $1.5M bot chess move YouTuber and nonfungible token (NFT) trader Hanwe Chang said he scored 800 Ether (ETH), around $1.5 million, by tricking a rival trader’s bot into buying his own inflated NFTs. In an Aug. 5 X (Twitter) post, Chang said he noticed a bot was copying his bids on the NFT marketplace Blur and decided to trick them. An NFT-focused account A Raving Ape speculated that from a separate, anonymous wallet Chang purchased multiple Azuki NFTs sharing the same background color. Context on how @HanweChang executed a…

Bitcoin OG bets surprising sum on BTC hitting $100K before the halving

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Blockstream CEO Adam Back, one of the crypto’s early pioneers, is pretty confident Bitcoin will hit an all-time high of over $100,000 before Bitcoin’s halving in 2024 — and is willing to drop a million wagering on it. In an Aug. 7 conversation on X (formerly known as Twitter), Back agreed to a bet with pseudonymous X user @Vikingobbitcoin, that Bitcoin would reach $100,000 by March 31, 2024. Vinkingo however said they believe it won’t happen until 2025. The origins of the wager. Source: Twitter The wagered date comes in…

FBI warns of fraudsters posing as NFT developers to steal crypto

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently issued a warning to potential NFT buyers to beware of bogus websites that use “drainer smart contracts” to steal from crypto wallets. The advisory informs the public about a new crypto scam where the culprits masquerade as legitimate developers to target crypto users looking to buy non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The scammers either hack social media accounts belonging to real NFT projects or create near-identical profiles capable of misleading casual observers, the FBI says. They then use these accounts to promote fake NFT releases. The…

Controversy as MakerDAO’s Spark Protocol blocks users with VPNs

MakerDAO, one of the early pioneers of decentralized finance, has sparked criticism over its decision to block virtual private network (VPN) users from accessing its recently launched lending platform, Spark Protocol. At the time of writing, VPN users that attempt to access the Spark Protocol website will be met with an error: “Accessing this website via VPN is not allowed.” Cryptox tested accessing the site with Australian and Singapore-based VPNs and was met with the warning. Source: Spark Protocol The measure appears to be linked to Maker’s attempt to restrict…

Controversy as MakerDAO’s Spark Protocol blocks users with VPNs

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MakerDAO, one of the early pioneers of decentralized finance, has sparked criticism over its decision to block virtual private network (VPN) users from accessing its recently launched lending platform, Spark Protocol. At the time of writing, VPN users that attempt to access the Spark Protocol website will be met with an error: “Accessing this website via VPN is not allowed.” Cointelegraph tested accessing the site with Australian and Singapore-based VPNs and was met with the warning. Source: Spark Protocol The measure appears to be linked to Maker’s attempt to restrict…

Chinese regulators reaffirm ‘severe crackdown’ on overseas telecoms dealing in crypto, blockchain

China is warning telecom companies that are based overseas not to wield “new technologies” — digital assets, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse — for nefarious purposes. According to Global Times, citing a statement from the Chinese Central Political and Legal Committee, “entities operating from outside China have been using deceptive tactics such as posing as lucrative job opportunities to recruit unsuspecting victims.” “From the perspective of fraud methods, fraud groups use blockchain, metaverse, virtual currency, AI intelligence and other new technologies and new formats to continuously update criminal…

Curve Finance opens bounty after exploiter’s return deadline expires

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Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Curve Finance is extending a bug bounty offer to anyone who is able to identify the exploiter responsible for draining over $61 million from its pools on July 30.  Curve and other protocols affected by the attack offered a 10% bug bounty to the hacker on Aug. 3, totaling more than $6 million. Upon accepting the offer, the hacker returned stolen assets to Alchemix and JPEGd, but did not complete refunds to other affected pools. As the deadline has passed, anyone who can identify the attacker…

3AC-linked exchange bids $30m to acquire troubled Holdnaut

Founders of the defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) are actively promoting their newly launched digital asset exchange, OPNX, as they seek to acquire struggling cryptocurrency lender Hodlnaut. OPNX aims to rescue Hodlnaut with an infusion of funds amounting to $30 million in FLEX digital tokens traded on the CoinFlex exchange. Hodlnaut, which operates in Singapore and Hong Kong, has been undergoing a court-monitored reorganization due to financial troubles. The tokens, owned by OPNX co-founders Mark Lamb and Sudhu Arumugam, will facilitate a partial payout to creditors, effectively concluding…