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AnyExchange ✔️ · December 24, 2021

Only 3% of the total Bitcoin transfers account for illegal transactions

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, only 3% of all bitcoin transactions are somehow connected with criminal activity. This completely refutes the results of a previously published Oxford study. The share of illegal BTC transactions is 46%.

The authors of the study, finance professors Antoineta Shor and Igor Makarov, analyzed all BTC transactions since 2008. According to their estimates, 90% of transfers have nothing to do with buying and selling.

"Blockchain is a public registry, and all payment flows between addresses are perfectly visible. Therefore, many BTC owners purposely transfer their money between several wallets to make it difficult to track. This creates a large number of false volumes" the text of the study explains.

Among the remaining 10%, 75% of all transfers related to purchase and sale were made through exchanges, OTC, and trading platforms.

And only 3% of transactions are somehow connected with fraudulent schemes and the darknet. As the researchers noted, their Oxford colleagues deliberately excluded the data of cryptocurrency exchanges from the calculations, which account for the majority of volumes. The figure of 46% appeared because analysts focused only on transfers for goods and services. Therefore, the result of their research does not reflect reality.

AnyExchange ✔️ · December 27, 2021

In 2021, people were more interested in NFT than cryptocurrencies – Google Trends.

Over the past 12 months, people have started looking for NFTs more often than cryptocurrencies, according to Google Trends.

The growing interest in collectible tokens is associated with the fact that more and more media personalities and brands are issuing their own NFTs. Also, according to the report of the analytical platform Cointelegraph, the total volume of token sales increased 25 times in just a year. If in 2020 it amounted to $ 340 million, then in 2021 sales exceeded $ 9 billion.

The most frequently googled queries for "NFT" were in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. But in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Slovenia, the term "crypto" was of interest to users much more often.

In Ukraine, "crypto" is slightly ahead of "nft". Of the total number of searches, cryptocurrency accounts for 54%, and tokens - 46%. Among the queries related to NFT, the leading ones are "nft Binance," "nft is," and "nft token". Also, most often, Ukrainians were interested in the news of the cryptosphere and were looking for an application for visualizing the cryptocurrency market named "Crypto Bubbles".

AnyExchange ✔️ · January 4, 2022

Since 2017, North Korean hackers have stolen $1.7 billion from cryptocurrency exchanges

Over the past five years, North Korean hackers have hacked many exchanges worldwide, according to South Korean media outlets. They managed to withdraw about $ 1.7 billion in cryptocurrency.

Among the most significant cases of hacker attacks, hacking of the South Korean exchange Youbit in 2017. The cybercriminals withdrew about $ 1.5 billion. After the incident, the exchange filed for bankruptcy.

Hacks took place worldwide - in the USA, South Korea, Indonesia, Slovenia, India, Mexico, and other countries.

It is known that hackers do not withdraw stolen cryptocurrencies, storing them on wallets.

"Considering that the price of bitcoin had risen more than 60 times since 2017 when North Korean hackers began to seriously hack cryptocurrency exchanges, the country may consider cryptocurrency as a reliable long-term investment," explained Koh Myung-Hyun, a senior fellow at the Institute for Political Research in Asia. "For North Korea, cryptocurrency has become the only financial asset that can be acquired in the face of strong economic sanctions, as well as to avoid them."

Experts believe that some of the stolen cryptocurrency can be used to finance the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

Also, according to the US Federal Attorney's Office, North Korean hackers have repeatedly colluded with criminals from other countries, supported their activities, and conducted the training.

AnyExchange ✔️ · January 6, 2022

Bitcoin hashrate fell 12% amid protests in Kazakhstan

The global volume of bitcoin mining has dropped markedly due to the unstable situation in Kazakhstan. The country began to massively disconnect the Internet, which had a significantly negative impact on the production speed of new blocks.

It is impossible to mine without stable access to the network. Interruptions have actually stopped the work of many enterprises. According to the analytical portal NetBlocks, large Kazakhstani pools 1THash (a decrease of 82%), OKExPool (a reduction of 46.3%), and KuCoinPool (a decrease of 22.7%) were significantly affected.

The protests in the country began due to a sharp rise in gas prices for cars. In some areas, a state of emergency was declared. According to the laws of Kazakhstan, the state of emergency allows you to restrict access to the Internet.

This situation has noticeably affected global volumes because Kazakhstan is one of the world's centers for bitcoin mining. After the mining ban in China, enterprises began to massively transfer power to other countries. Kazakhstan has become one of the most popular destinations thanks to low electricity tariffs. In just two months, from June to August 2021, the hash rate increased from 8.8% to 18.1%. Thus, Kazakhstan became the second center for Bitcoin mining after the United States.

So far, the situation cannot be called catastrophic. But for now, it is difficult to predict anything because the protests in the country are actively continuing.

AnyExchange ✔️ · January 25, 2022

Uknown has hacked dozens of crypto bloggers' YouTube accounts to conduct fraudulent broadcasts.

Unknown persons have gained access to several popular YouTube channels dedicated to cryptocurrency. On behalf of the bloggers, they posted a video with a fake distribution of coins.

More than ten channels of analysts, investors, and traders were attacked. Among them: BitBoy Crypto – 1.4 million subscribers, The Moon – 553 thousand subscribers, and CryptoBanter - 538 thousand subscribers. Also, the attackers gained access to the account of the analytical platform CoinMarketCap.

Videos with the name “ONE WORLD CRYPTOCURRENCY” appeared on hacked channels. Hackers urged users to send Ethereum, Binance Coin, USDT, and USDC stablecoins. In response, potential investors were promised to send an equivalent amount of a new, and in fact non-existent, OWCY cryptocurrency.

It is known that as a result of the attack, hackers received a little more than two BNBs and less than $200 in tokens and stablecoins. This can only mean one thing — the crypto community is becoming more aware and is less likely to engage in such schemes.

To not fall for this bait, you need to remember only one thing. During open cryptocurrency giveaways, the organizers never ask participants to transfer money to them. Do not participate in such airdrops. You will not be able to return the money sent.

Interestingly, most of the hacked channels were protected using two-factor authentication. The owner of one of the attacked accounts reported that he found no traces of hacking or infection with viruses. And in the action log, I didn't notice any input from third-party addresses.

Most likely, the scammers gained access to the channels by replacing the SIM. Since the account is linked to a mobile number in most cases, you can bypass authentication by changing your SIM card. The old number will be blocked, and all messages and login information will be sent to the new one.

AnyExchange ✔️ · January 28, 2022

More than 70% of all losses from crypto hacker attacks are accounted for by hidden mining programs - Chainalysis.

Malware for hidden mining brought the most losses from 2021 to 2017, about 73% of the total. This is the conclusion reached by Chainalysis analysts in their new report.

Program for hidden mining or cryptojacking is an infected script that allows attackers to remotely use someone else's power to mine coins. Usually, the virus gets to the victim's device unnoticed, adding itself to the exceptions of the antivirus and protection systems. Because of this, it can be noticed far from immediately.

Due to uncontrolled mining, infected devices overheat and even fail. Also, the most unpleasant moment is the enormous financial losses due to the impressive costs of electricity.

Experts from Chainalysis believe that such software is the most common cryptocurrency malware. Cryptojacking programs are pretty easy to use and do not require special technical training. Also, a big plus for attackers is that usually, such a script weighs little. Because of this, the virus is easily embedded in any torrent or open file library while remaining almost invisible.

Most of the cryptojacking software is created for Monero(XMR) mining. It is believed that this is the high anonymity of this cryptocurrency. Unlike bitcoin, it is almost impossible to track who, when, to whom and how many coins were transferred. According to a report by Palo Alto Networks, 5% of all Monero was mined by cryptojackers. This amounts to more than $100 million.

To protect your devices from infection with this malware, you should follow a few simple rules. First, update your operating system periodically and install a good antivirus. Also, it is worth downloading a particular extension to block cryptominers on the Internet. For example, MinerBlock, No Coin, or Anti Miner. Carefully download any files from unverified sources and carefully check file extensions. For example, you downloaded a movie whose extension should be .mp4 or .mkv. The torrent file .exe is typical for a program but not for a media file. Thus, the attackers play on the inattention of the user.

AnyExchange ✔️ · February 1, 2022

Lost $200 thousand in BTC: a British man became a victim of fraud on a dating site

A resident of the UK lost 150 thousand pounds (about $200 thousand) after he transferred money to a fraudulent trading platform on the advice of a friend.

Tom (fake name) started chatting with a girl on a dating site. The fraudster, who introduced herself as Jiao from Hong Kong, pretended to be a successful investor. Winning the victim's trust, she talked about her future move to the UK and her desire to earn money on cryptocurrency together with Tom.

After a few days of communication, Jiao talked to the man about investments. The girl began to convince Tom that she had some insider information that would help them get rich quickly. She sent a link to the mobile application of a fraudulent trading platform.

Tom made several small investments and made a profit each time. "This whole situation seemed suspicious to me. But over time, I really believed that I had met someone with insider information."

Jiao encouraged Tom to keep investing. She said that if he doesn't act quickly, the profit will be lost. In the end, the man transferred 150 thousand pounds in bitcoins to the site.

Immediately after that, all his money disappeared from the platform's wallet. When Tom turned to the girl for help, Jiao said she was leaving to take care of an ill relative in Australia. And after that, she stopped answering his messages.

This situation is a vivid example of "romance fraud." The attacker registers a fake account on a dating site, after which he searches for the most vulnerable to manipulation victim. He does not disclose his intentions immediately, at first, without affecting the issue of finance or investment in any way. When the minimum trust is won, the fraudster will start begging for money for various reasons. This is not necessarily something related to investing or trading. He can put pressure on pity, begging for money for an operation or telling that he wants to pay a visit to the victim and ask to pay for his tickets.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau urges us to be especially careful when dating online. Do not tell about your financial situation and never send money to the interlocutor in the dating apps. Remember that the funds sent cannot be returned. Do not believe the promises of "incredible" profits. Do not continue to communicate if someone is trying to force you to transfer money somewhere.

The main sign of fraud is that the relationship develops too fast. Your friend may declare his love in a few days or even offer to marry.

Scammers often create an account of a non-existent person. If the interlocutor makes you suspicious, it is worth checking his profile. Browse through the photos and verify their authenticity with a reverse search. If the image was taken from someone else's account or downloaded somewhere on the Internet, then using such a search, it will be possible to find its origin. Also, ask your friend to send a selfie or invite him to talk in a video chat. The fraudster will most likely refuse for fear of being revealed.

Also, excessive interest in your personal information(employment, financial and marital status, investment experience, etc.) may be a bad sign. As a rule, the fraudster answers counter-questions about himself concisely or avoid the answer

AnyExchange ✔️ · February 3, 2022

A new virus that allows hackers to access browser wallets has appeared

The new Mars Stealer Trojan collects saved passwords, private wallet keys, autofill, search and download history, bypassing two-factor authentication. A digital security specialist announced this in his blog under the nickname 3xp0rt.

The virus targets open-source browsers: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera Neon, Chromium, Pale Moon, Vivaldi, and others.

Malware is distributed through infected software and archives. You can find it on free file sharing sites, unprotected sites, and torrent clients.

The main feature of this Trojan is that it was created specifically to steal the passwords of the crypto owners. Mars Stealer can receive data from more than forty popular plugins: Binance Chain Wallet, TronLink, MetaMask, Binance Chain Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, etc.

Also, malware can infect browser wallets that store confidential data (address, private key, password, etc.) in internal files. Among them are Binance, Electrum, Ethereum, Electrum LTC, Exodus, Electron Cash, MultiDoge, Jaxx.

Interestingly, the program does not harm devices from the CIS: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus. After getting into the system, the Trojan first checks the setting of the country and region. If it coincides with these six countries, Mars Stealer will delete itself.

The main danger lies in the fact that the virus is available to many attackers. They can freely purchase the full version of the program on the darknet forums for $140.

Experts from CoinDesk gave a couple of tips that will help reduce the risk of infection.

1. Update the system safely of your operating system on time, as well as the antivirus.

2. Do not download anything from obscure sites, and also use an antivirus to scan all files before launching.

3. Avoid unsafe sites. Check the protocol (a secure page has HTTPS) and a domain. Attackers can create exact copies of official web pages. But since it is impossible to register a valid domain twice, there will be spelling differences in the address.

4. Do not remember passwords in the browser and, if possible, store them in password managers.

5. Do not keep many coins in the browser and hot wallets.

AnyExchange ✔️ · February 8, 2022

Embedding a bitcoin wallet in the DNA of a mouse: a group of artists announced an unusual project

A group of anonymous artists is going to put bitcoin in mouse genes. Animal's photo will be put up for auction in the form of an NFT. After the mouse's death, its corpse will be sent to the auction winner.

The private key of a cold bitcoin wallet will be encoded in the DNA of a mouse and transferred to an animal using genetic engineering. Then, artificially inseminate the mouse. In an ideal scenario, it should give offspring whose genes the information about the key will be preserved.

“BitMouseDAO is an art project that will unite the crypto industry, art, and biotechnology together. We are not going to create some kind of monster. We just want to explore the possibility of art reaching a completely new level,” the artists said.

If the DNA editing plan fails, the key to the wallet can be planted through a safe virus. In this case, breeding this mouse will no longer give the desired results. The founders claim that this method is absolutely secure and will not affect the health of experimental mice in any way.

The authors of the project were inspired by the works of the famous artist Edward Katz. He is one of the first bioart representatives. It is some kind of art that combines science and creativity. A well-known example of bioart is the work of Katz “Alba.” The artist placed a jellyfish gene in the egg of a rabbit. As a result, an animal was born that glowed bright green in the dark.

Interestingly, the cost of the mouse will fluctuate depending on the bitcoin exchange rate. “Maybe in ten years, its price will exceed $100 million, or maybe it will drop to zero.”

Now the project is at the stage of finding investors. At the time of writing this article, 1.25 ETH (about $4 thousand) was invested in BitMouseDAO.

AnyExchange ✔️ · February 15, 2022

Hackers actively use NFT to steal cryptocurrencies

In 2021, collectible tokens were increasingly used in fraudulent schemes. With their help, hackers distribute malicious software, such as programs for crypto hacking and viruses that allow access to the victim's wallet. This was told by an ESET representative, an international computer security company.

Cryptojacking software (a virus that allows remote mining of cryptocurrencies using captured capacities) began to be distributed through infected applications and games related to tokens and trading. It can be either something original or a copy of an existing project. Once on the device, the virus runs a mining program in the background. Many malware immediately adds themselves to the antivirus exceptions and therefore can remain unnoticed for a long time.

Hackers are also taking advantage of the growing interest in NFT and "pay to earn" games. Images with a virus are uploaded under the guise of rare game tokens. When the user clicks on them, a window pops up asking them to connect to their wallet. If the victim logs in, all access to the wallet will go to the hacker.

For example, in September 2021, due to bugs on the most significant marketplace NFT OpenSea, attackers were able to steal accounts and cryptocurrency from users. Under the guise of tokens airdrop, images with a virus were uploaded to the platform. When a person received an NFT and tried to open it, a message appeared asking them to log in to the wallet. When the victim entered his data, the hacker could get full access to her account and withdraw money.

Earlier, the most frequent places for the spread of infected software were sites with torrents and resources with adult content.

AnyExchange ✔️ · February 17, 2022

Twitter Adds Ethereum Wallet Support to Tipping Feature

Twitter added the ability to donate Ethereum to other users.

The “Tips” service was launched in September 2021. But until today, it only supported fiat and bitcoin transfers.

The donation function allows you to support the creativity of other users, make donations, interesting finance startups, or simply congratulate your friends on an important date.

Twitter has integrated its own wallet, Strike, running on the Lightning Network to implement this project. This allows you to transfer money with minimal commissions and in a short time. Interestingly, Twitter itself does not receive any share of the tips.

You can enable this feature in the settings. In addition, you need to connect to one of the supported payment services or provide a wallet address.

Tips do not support literal ENS addresses. Also, this feature is only available to adults. Users under 18 cannot receive or send money to others.

AnyExchange ✔️ · February 22, 2022

The bear market will last until 2024 - The Huobi Global crypto exchange Director

A significant increase in bitcoin prices will occur only in 2024. This was stated in an interview with CNBC by the Huobi Global crypto exchange co-founder, Du Jun.

According to the businessman’s opinion, the BTC price always reacts to halving — a planned reduction in the reward for one block extracted by half. He noted that the first coin rate usually reached record levels the following year.

The last reduction of the award occurred in May 2020. And in November 2021, the price updated the historical maximum, reaching $ 68 thousand. The situation was repeated after halving in July 2016. The exchange rate rose to a record $20 thousand a year later, in December 2017.

It is impossible to accurately predict the state of the market in the long term because there are uncontrollable factors — war, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, or a bad political situation.