Wich puts the risk/reward on the third party processor, the link in the chaim most venerable to the risk and thus most likely to ***poof*** before everyone else gets their money.
What happens if that happens in the middle of the transaction when they (don't) have the money?
Until the speculators who make money on wild swings in value are run off from the mmarket and the value of the coins is both stable and reliable, they are essentially useless as a payment method. As I keep on saying, no rational company can accept payments in large amounts in a medium subject to 10%-15% swings in value over night.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:22 am
by neeneko
Which is why there are so many of these processors out there. Cheap to set up, high risk, high reward, and often shady as hell. It is also a difficult domain to get good neutral advice on which services to use since ungodly amounts of money flow into paid shills (influencers and forum posters) to convince people which ones to use. So unless you have personal trust networks to draw on, an outsider has pretty much zero tools for evaluating services.
Heh. And when I say ungodly amounts of money, a while back I saw someone break down just how much a single plug from a high profile influencer ran, and it was higher than paying for a superbowl ad.
I think one of the things that keeps the values so high is it is actually kinda difficult (and expensive) to 'cash out', so there is a strong incentive to pour money into the ecosystem and gamble from there, but getting it back out is a bother. Years ago I was into mining and I still have some wallets sitting around and struggle to figure out how to actually make use of them.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:39 am
by RTH10260
Panic as Kosovo pulls the plug on its energy-guzzling bitcoin miners Speculators rush to sell off their kit as Balkan state announces a crypto clampdown to ease electricity crisis
Daniel Boffey in Brussels and Jack Butcher in Pristina
Sun 16 Jan 2022 08.30 GMT
For bitcoin enthusiasts in Kosovo with a breezy attitude to risk, it has been a good week to strike a deal on computer equipment that can create, or “mine”, the cryptocurrency.
From Facebook to Telegram, new posts in the region’s online crypto groups became dominated by dismayed Kosovans attempting to sell off their mining equipment – often at knockdown prices.
“There’s a lot of panic and they’re selling it or trying to move it to neighbouring countries,” said cryptoKapo, a crypto investor and administrator of some of the region’s largest online crypto communities.
The frenetic social media action follows an end-of-year announcement by Kosovo’s government of an immediate, albeit temporary, ban on all crypto mining activity as part of emergency measures to ease a crippling energy crisis.
Cryptoland runs aground as $12m bid to buy Fiji island for resort falls through Plans by crypto-evangelists for the lavish hideaway have courted mockery and controversy, and now the island is back on the market
Ben Butler
Sat 15 Jan 2022 19.00 GMT
Widely mocked plans to establish a tropical haven for cryptocurrency enthusiasts have run into trouble after a contract to buy an island in Fiji for US$12m fell through.
A group of crypto-evangelists, led by Max Olivier and Helena Lopez, outlined plans for the island, Nananu-i-cake, in a lavishly animated YouTube video, featuring a wide-eyed crypto bro named Christopher landing by helicopter and being given a guided tour by a talking coin called Connie.
The full YouTube clip has been taken down, but cached copies show it touted the island as “an international hub for the community to come live, work and have fun and enjoy a first-class crypto lifestyle”, boasting “a complete ecosystem that represents the blooming crypto space” that was “a paradise made by crypto enthusiasts for crypto enthusiasts”.
Areas planned included Cryptoland Bay, Crypto Beach, House of Dao – a reference to decentralised autonomous organisations, a form of non-corporate structure promoted by crypto enthusiasts as an alternative to companies – and the members-only Vladimir Club, another crypto in-joke that refers to people who hold 0.01% of a given cryptocurrency.
Also on offer were 60 plots of land on what the video describes as “the Blockchain Hills” (Nananu-i-cake has only one hill). These were to be sold to “Cryptolander Kings” via non-fungible tokens – unique tokens that use the same blockchain technology underpinning cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
The project has been compared to the collapsed Fyre festival and the 18-minute video was greeted with scoffing on social media.
We Infiltrated a Crypto Scam Network That’s Hosted by Meta
After we notified the company of the scam, we spent the weekend watching live as users lost money in group conversations on Messenger.
Jordan Liles
Published 17 January 2022
Snopes uncovered a crypto scam on Facebook and Messenger on a page called Tina's Finance and Meta did nothing to stop it despite being notified.
On Jan. 14, 2022, a Facebook page named Tina’s Finance, which is not a real company, advertised a doctored picture of billionaire Warren Buffett supposedly holding a giant bitcoin logo that resembled a medallion. The ad appeared to invite Facebook users to learn more about bitcoin and perhaps other cryptocurrencies. Over the course of several hours, we slowly uncovered a series of crypto scams that had been hosted on Messenger for at least several weeks. Meta owns both Facebook and Messenger.
As we gathered evidence, we watched live in group conversations as money was lured out of the pockets of unsuspecting victims. At the same time, we attempted to contact several of the new arrivals into the scam in order to try to warn them. The scammers promised that their funds would be invested in a special app named “MetaEx” or “MetaEXC” before being returned. However, the money was never going to be sent back, as it was all part of the scam.
Also on Jan. 14, we contacted the tech giant’s media relations team before the close of business on the West coast. We included links to the scam and information so that they could take action. We did not receive a response.
Over the weekend, we continued to watch the scam operate unimpeded. It continued all weekend, despite the fact that Meta brings in billions of dollars in quarterly revenue and has tens of thousands of employees and content review workers on the clock worldwide.
According to details on the Tina’s Finance Facebook page, the scam was operated by users located in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Brazil, Cambodia, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and United Kingdom.
Aside from the Buffett ad, some of the other ads from the page tried to draw people in with pictures of Elon Musk, Stephen Curry, and Kanye West.
In our investigation, we infiltrated the scam, finding out information about its administrators and victims. Here’s how it all went down.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2022 6:26 am
by RTH10260
UK
Treasury plans crackdown on ‘misleading’ cryptocurrency ads Move to change law would see assets subject to the same FCA rules as shares and insurance
Mark Sweney
Tue 18 Jan 2022 15.44 GMT
The government has unveiled plans to crack down on misleading cryptocurrency ads by making them subject to the same regulations as marketing for other financial products such as shares and insurance.
The Treasury has responded to rising concern over a surge in ads promoting cryptoassets, which are unregulated in the UK, and the potential for naive investors to lose money given the highly volatile price swings of digital currencies such as bitcoin.
The move to change the law will see ads for cryptoassets become subject to rules governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to bring them “in line with the same high standard that other financial promotions such as stocks, shares and insurance products are held to”.
The Treasury said the aim was to strike a balance between allowing the booming cryptoasset market to flourish while protecting consumers by making sure ads encouraging investment were “fair, clear and not misleading”.
A SolSea-verified NFT project on the Solana blockchain, Doodled Dragons, touted that they would distribute all profits "straight to charities protecting animals on the brink of extinction". They announced on Twitter that they would be donating $30,000, "our first donation", to the World Wildlife Fund. Two hours later, they tweeted, "actually. fuck that. our charity will instead now be... my bank account. cya nerds." They deleted the Twitter account shortly after.
Tweet by CoinersTakingLs
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:00 pm
by Fortinbras
Today's news is that Bitcoin has crashed, trillions of dollars vanished from its peak in November, and other cryptocurrencies also in deep trouble. Those of us who stayed away from this funny money are unharmed but thousands of "investors" have been wiped out.
I always was suspicious of this form of "money" and especially its convoluted method of acquisition.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:04 pm
by neeneko
Heh. BTC crashes every other week, it is barely a story at this point even on sites that follow the cryptobro ecosystem.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 5:05 am
by Gregg
Fortinbras wrote: ↑Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:00 pm
Today's news is that Bitcoin has crashed, trillions of dollars vanished from its peak in November, and other cryptocurrencies also in deep trouble. Those of us who stayed away from this funny money are unharmed but thousands of "investors" have been wiped out.
I always was suspicious of this form of "money" and especially its convoluted method of acquisition.
Which consumes more energy and generates more heat than some medium sized countries.
Madness.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:52 am
by neeneko
Yeah, any project that starts with the requirement of making something as inefficient as possible is probably a bad idea.
Something I find esp comical is that BTC has gotten so slow at processing (you can bribe the network to go faster, and if you try to go free your transaction will simply never complete) that cryptobros have invented 'lightning', a reinvention of ACH. TBH, it is kinda fascinating to watch 400 years of banking history replay in only a few decades.
Fortinbras wrote: ↑Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:00 pm
Today's news is that Bitcoin has crashed, trillions of dollars vanished from its peak in November, and other cryptocurrencies also in deep trouble. Those of us who stayed away from this funny money are unharmed but thousands of "investors" have been wiped out.
I always was suspicious of this form of "money" and especially its convoluted method of acquisition.
Which consumes more energy and generates more heat than some medium sized countries.
Madness.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:37 am
by pipistrelle
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:27 pm
by Suranis
I loved that actor.
What gets me is that the way they run their network is to bribe people with A CHANCE to get a bitcoin. People can talk about "mining" all they want, but the only way it makes sense to me is that the miners are actually putting the computing power into running bitcoin transactions, and every so often Bitcoin central issues new Bitcoins to random computers as payment. Otherwise it makes even less sense than it makes already.
If BTC has gotten almost unusable as a transaction medium, then what the hell is the value in it? You might as well have Bernie Madoff running his pyramid scheme as a public Pyramid scheme and issue shares on that basis.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:38 pm
by Gregg
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 1:56 pm
by neeneko
Suranis wrote: ↑Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:27 pm
If BTC has gotten almost unusable as a transaction medium, then what the hell is the value in it? You might as well have Bernie Madoff running his pyramid scheme as a public Pyramid scheme and issue shares on that basis.
Yeah, the original 'this will help people in the 3rd world with small transactions!' has long since crashed and burned. Today it is better optimized for large transactions between traders. It is too slow and expensive to use for small things. Though within the community the standard response is either 'use lightning' or 'alt coins', with the idea that BTC is the first try and one of the alt-coins will be the one to win the future, so buy a bunch of your favored bet now and you will be rich when it wins.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 11:43 am
by RTH10260
Hackers steal almost $200 million from crypto firm Nomad
by Lance Whitney in Security
on August 3, 2022, 9:37 AM PDT
The theft of $190 million of cryptocurrencies owned by Nomad users highlights the challenges involved in securing digital assets.
U.S. crypto firm Nomad has been the victim of a digital theft that saw hackers make off with $190 million of cryptocurrencies owned by users of the service. On August 1, Nomad confirmed the theft in a tweet that said: “We are aware of the incident involving the Nomad token bridge. We are currently investigating and will provide updates when we have them.”
Tapping into the current cryptocurrency craze, Nomad develops software that connects different blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The goal is to help cryptocurrency investors securely swap their digital assets, or tokens, across the various blockchains without having to use a third party as a go-between. The token bridge referenced in Nomad’s tweet is a tool that helps users transfer their tokens across the disparate blockchains.
Token bridges: Blockchain security targets
Blockchain token bridges have been hit by several thefts in the past, with more than $1 billion stolen from such bridges so far in 2022, Reuters has reported, citing information from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. In June, U.S. crypto firm Harmony revealed that hackers grabbed around $100 million worth of tokens from its Horizon bridge product. And in March, hackers stole around $615 million worth of cryptocurrency from Ronin Bridge, a tool used to transfer assets in the game Axie Infinity.
These thefts point to the vulnerabilities of blockchain token bridges and the difficulties in trying to secure cryptocurrency transactions.
Coinbase employee mired in first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency Rohan Wahi, the brother of a former product manager at the company, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy charges
Reuters
Mon 12 Sep 2022 20.18 BST
The brother of a former Coinbase Global Inc product manager pleaded guilty on Monday to a wire fraud conspiracy charge, in what US prosecutors have called the first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency.
Nikhil Wahi, 26, admitted during a virtual court hearing before US district judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan that he made trades based on confidential Coinbase information.
Prosecutors say Ishan Wahi, the former product manager, shared confidential information with his brother and their friend Sameer Ramani about new digital assets Coinbase was planning to let users trade.
Nikhil Wahi and Ramani then allegedly used ethereum blockchain wallets to acquire the assets and traded at least 14 times before Coinbase announcements in June 2021 and April 2022.
Those announcements typically caused the assets to rise in value and generated at least $1.5m in gains, prosecutors said.
The guy who runs and owns Tether should be scared right now, I have read a credible theory that the rise in Bitcoin is largely a function of operations that are designed to prop up the value of the stablecoins that most Bitcoin to cash transactions rely on.
Its complicated, but the short version is, since Tether can control the floating supply of BTC they can actually influence the price in order to prop up their 1;1 ratio to the USD. If anyone ever made them provide a static balance sheet the whole thing would come crashing down and if they delay it long enough it might be big enough to screw up the real economy. You should be kind of freaking out that nobody knows this is even a problem.
Re: Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2022 11:09 am
by Azastan
Do Kwon, the South Korean founder of the failed cryptocurrency Terra wanted by police, has denied he was on the run after Singapore investigators said he was not in the city-state as had been believed.
Kwon’s whereabouts have been thrown into question after a statement from Singapore police late on Saturday, and his tweets did not reveal where he was.
Hidden Content
This board requires you to be registered and logged-in to view hidden content.
The Minneapolis StarTribune had an excellent article on Congress and cryptocurrencies. Tom Emmer, a U.S. Representative from Minnesota is the House Majority Whip. To give you an idea of how bat shit crazy he is, he represents the district formerly represented by Michele Bachmann. Anyway, here's a gift link to the article with a few paragraphs quoted -
The crypto industry's meltdown – punctuated by the bankruptcy of one of the industry's most prominent firms — has not shaken Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer's faith in private digital currencies.
"I still think for digital assets in general, they are the future, and the future has arrived," said the Delano Republican, one of Congress' biggest crypto boosters and now the third-ranking House Republican.
But the collapse of FTX Trading has sparked new tensions in Congress and in Washington about how to handle the industry — without clear agreement on a solution.
During an interview with the Star Tribune, Emmer focused on Congress' role in overseeing regulators, rather than in passing legislation to regulate crypto.
"Congress has to start doing its job in making sure by way of our oversight function that we make sure our regulators do the job," he said.
Emmer has been highly critical of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's handling of the crypto industry, saying the agency has been ineffective and opaque — and demanding that its chairman, Gary Gensler, appear before Congress.
Emmer's campaign and another arm of his political operation also received thousands of dollars from a leader of the crypto lobbying group Blockchain Association, according to federal records. His campaign also got donations from prominent people at companies with significant crypto investments: Digital Currency Group, Andreessen Horowitz and Blockchain Capital.
"I've been a strong believer in crypto's technology long before it was mainstream," Emmer said in a statement to the Star Tribune. "This issue is far too important to me to let any perception of self-interest get in the way, which is why I decided years ago to not buy crypto."
For Emmer, crypto is a cause. In a recent tweet, he said that "crypto is more than a financial investment: it's about restoring liberty and choice to individuals."
Cryptocurrency
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2023 2:04 pm
by Foggy
third-ranking House Republican
I know McCarthy is #1, and Stefanik is #2 (?) (I eschew the low-hanging but humorous scatalogical wisecrack there), isn't that right? And do we know who is #4 and #5? Just curious.
Cryptocurrency
Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:06 pm
by Gregg
All of that is just window dressing. EmptyGee is the top dog (sorry, for the libel, dogs) in the House how.
She keeps Kevin's testicles in a little candy dish on her desk.
