Nov 24, 2018
Cryptoblock News — November 23th, 2018
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I didn’t know anything about crypto until last year when I saw a random article about price and decided to finally learn what bitcoin was about. Price brought me in, but there’s *nothing* price can do to drive me out. I guarantee I’m not alone. The virus will keep spreading. 👊”
Jake Chervinsky, lawyer at Kobre & Kim, on the current state of cryptocurrency markets.
MARKET ACTIVITY
BTC (Bitcoin)
$4,269.59
-7.22%
XRP (Ripple)
$0.41
-6.90%
ETH (Ethereum)
$121.11
-11.58%
BCH (Bitcoin Cash)
$201.98
-14.74%
XLM (Stellar)
$0.18
-10.35%
* As of 8:45pm ET (11/22/2018)
MARKET RECAP
S.E.C. LAYS DOWN THE HAMMER AGAINST ICO OPERATORS 🔨
The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has been on a mission to regulate initial coin offerings (ICOs) within the crypto space.
Last week, the regulator made moves that will make any crypto project, looking to issue tokens via an ICO, think twice before going down that road.
Double dipping
In true Sopranos fashion, the SEC ordered Boston-based Airfox and L.A.-based Paragon to each pay $250K in fines, as well as ordering them to return millions of dollars — raised through ICOs — back to their investors. Both companies conducted their ICOs in 2017, with Airfox having raised $15M and Paragon raising $12M.
The settlement also requires both companies to register their tokens as securities and file periodic reports with the SEC.
Onward and upward
Jessica VerSteeg, CEO of Paragon — a cannabis-focused blockchain project — says the settlement will put an end to the uncertainties surrounding their PRG token, as well as ICOs in general:
“Working shoulder to shoulder with an amazing team of lawyers from Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, as well as an extremely knowledgeable team at the SEC, we have been able to reach this trailblazing deal that we expect will serve as the model for compliance for ICOs going forward.”
In a statement on its website, the SEC highlights some of its recent enforcement actions against several crypto-related companies, including Airfox and Paragon.
IN OTHER NEWS…
- The S.E.C. hints that smart contract developers could be held liable for providing a means of exchange through code — time to tighten your belts and secure those pocket protectors. 🤓
- Hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor issued a public service announcement after non-genuine (read: fugazee) copies of its Trezor One wallets have been spotted in the wild. Stay safe and buy direct from Trezor.
- Citing new processes, risks and the volume of interest, Bakkt delays the launch of its bitcoin futures trading platform until January 24th, 2019 — the market has everyone slowing down to take a deep breath.
- Kobe Bryant — yes, that Kobe Bryant 🏀 — will be a guest speaker at the TRON’s NiTRON Summit in San Francisco. Bryant will “share his thoughts and life experience to inspire young leaders and entrepreneurs,” according to a press release — riiiiiiight. 🙄
- Mythical Games, a blockchain gaming startup, raised $16M in a Series A funding round led by OKCoin, Noris Capital and Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. 🎮
- North Korea is set to host an international cryptocurrency and blockchain summit — we hear Dennis Rodman will “share his thoughts and life experience to inspire young leaders and entrepreneurs.”
- Australian crypto payments platform IvyPay launched this week, allowing Australians to pay bills and transfer money to their bank accounts — IvyPay currently supports BTC, ETH, LTC and XRP.
HACKER’S CELL PHONE HACK LANDS HIM $1M IN STOLEN CRYPTO
If the term “SIM swapping” is foreign to you, now might be the time to take a closer look. Robert Ross, a San Francisco resident, is the latest victim of cryptocurrency theft involving his cell phone number — without the phone ever leaving his hands.
“Can you hear me now?”
After noticing his cell phone signal completely drop on October 26th, Ross visited a nearby Apple Store to try to troubleshoot the problem — the good ol’ Genius Bar visit. 👨🏻💻
Ross later contacted AT&T, only to find out that his phone number had been assigned to another SIM card — and to a different phone. In the time that all of this took place, Nicholas Truglia, a 21-year old hacker from New York City, had already drained $1M from Ross’ cryptocurrency accounts — one with Coinbase, the other with Gemini.
Erin West, the deputy district attorney of Santa Clara County, told CNBC:
“It’s a whole new wave of crime. It’s a new way of stealing of money: They target people that they believe to have cryptocurrency.”
Keeping it SIMple
A SIM swap is performed by wireless carriers, mainly at the request of the customer. All that’s usually needed to confirm the swap request is personal information like a customer’s birthday or their Social Security number, which is a cakewalk for most skilled hackers to obtain online — looks like it might be time for wireless carriers to update their policies.
Ross says he was saving his money — in U.S. dollars, nonetheless — on crypto exchanges for his daughters’ college funds. Truglia has since been charged with 21 counts, including identity theft, fraud, and embezzlement and attempted grand theft in Ross’ case.
With most retail crypto investors keeping their funds stored on exchanges, now’s time for your friendly Cryptoblock News PSA: keep the majority of your crypto assets stored in cold storage — a hardware or paper wallet stored in a safe and secure place.
CRYPTOBLOCK NEWS HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
With the holidays approaching, you may be asking yourself, “What can I get for that crypto nerd — or nerds — I so dearly love?”
Well, we’ve got some suggestions that’ll make their hearts melt. Our Holiday Gift Guide is a list of products and services that we use here at Cryptoblock News — you could say these are our “favorite things”.
We’ve vetted the products* and can safely and happily recommend them to our faithful readers:
Hardware Wallets:
- Trezor Model T Wallet
- Trezor One Wallet
- Ledger Nano S Wallet
- Billfodl — Buy One, Get One 50% Off Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale
Crypto Trading Courses & Tools:
- Trading Cryptocurrency for Profit ($149 with promo code BLACKFRIDAY2018)
- Tradedash Crypto Trading Platform — FREE!
- Coinigy Trading Platform — they’re offering Black Friday deals today!
Books:
OUTRO
Stat of the Day
3.5 million — The number of successful transactions processed earlier this month on the Dash network (within a 24 hour period). According to Bitinfocharts, that number surpasses Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple Bitcoin Cash.
Name That Crypto
(Answer located at bottom of newsletter)
That’s a Wrap
We’ll be back next Friday with more crypto goodies. As always, email us with any thoughts, feedback or suggestions. We’d love to hear from you.
Peace out. ✌🏼
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Originally published at mailchi.mp.
