Anyone into Cryto currency?

[Crowfeather]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

Can't believe people are still hyping this after in 2021 it was confirmed to be a complete scam after Tether got fined by NYC with evidence showing that tether was not holding 1:1 to the dollar (Which basically everyone should have known anyway), which basically means that most of Bitcoin's value is ghost dollars; they are merely debentures on a ledger of the tether foundation which is acting like the Federal Reserve, apart from the fact that legal tender can actually be used as tender, while Bitcoin is a purely speculative "investment" (gamble).

Can we all just agree now that this large scale experiment is just one big money sink / ponzi scheme.

[copiertec]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

Be Careful who you purchase crypto from.SEC.gov | SEC Charges Eleven Individuals in $300 Million Crypto Pyramid Scheme

[slimslob]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

World’s Largest Crypto Hedge Fund Plunges Into Liquidation as Market Crash Takes Toll - Truth Press

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

U.S. competitiveness

Part of the language in the White House announcement focuses on giving the U.S. a competitive edge over other countries when it comes to crypto development. This is especially significant now that China has effectively banned cryptocurrencies.

Biden has tasked the Department of Commerce with “establishing a framework to drive U.S. competitiveness and leadership in, and leveraging of digital asset technologies.”

Several crypto industry figures have called for such action, including the bosses of Coinbase, Kraken and the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini exchange.

The Blockchain Association, an organization that represents multiple well-known crypto companies, said Wednesday that Biden “has the opportunity to ensure America remains the global leader for technological innovation for years to come.”

Digital dollar

Finally, the Biden administration also wants to explore a digital version of the dollar.

It comes as China has led the charge toward central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, with more and more people using smartphones to make payments and handle their finances.

Biden isn’t saying whether the U.S. should launch its own digital currency. Rather, he’s calling on the government to place “urgency” on research and development of a potential CBDC.

The Federal Reserve last year began work on exploring the potential issuance of a digital dollar. The central bank released a long-awaited report detailing the pros and cons of such virtual money, but didn’t take a position yet on whether it thinks the U.S. should issue one.

While CBDCs could rapidly speed up the settlement of payments, policymakers are evaluating a number of issues around financial stability and privacy.

‘Watershed moment’

Delivery of the new policy agenda removes a key source of uncertainty for an industry that has already been rocked by numerous regulatory hiccups and scandals.

Earlier this year, crypto start-up BlockFi was hit with a record $50 million fine by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations it violated securities laws with its retail lending product. The penalty was part of a larger $100 million settlement which included payments to 32 states.

Coinbase has similarly run into trouble with the watchdog, though it managed to avoid punishment. The SEC threatened Coinbase with legal action over a product similar to BlockFi’s which offered users interest payments on their crypto holdings. The company subsequently dropped plans for the service.

“This is a watershed moment for crypto, digital assets, and Web 3, akin to the 1996/1997 whole of government wakeup to the commercial internet,” Jeremy Allaire, CEO of crypto firm Circle, said on Twitter.

Crypto investors appeared to agree. Prices of bitcoin surged above $42,000 Wednesday on optimism over the U.S. executive action.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

President Biden just put out an executive order on cryptocurrencies — here’s everything that’s in it

• U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday calling on the government to examine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies.
• The measures focus on six key areas: consumer protection, financial stability, illicit activity, U.S. competitiveness, financial inclusion and responsible innovation.
• The Biden administration also wants to explore a digital version of the dollar.

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday calling on the government to examine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies.

It’s a long-awaited directive that has had the crypto industry on edge, not least due to growing regulatory concern around the world surrounding the nascent digital asset market.

There had been reports of a divide between White House officials and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen leading to delays in the policy rollout.

The crypto market got wind of the executive order overnight after the Treasury accidentally put out a since-deleted statement calling it “historic” and releasing some of the details ahead of time.

The order was finally signed Wednesday. It calls on federal agencies to take a unified approach to regulation and oversight of digital assets, according to a White House fact sheet.

Here are the key things to know.

Protecting consumers

The measures announced Wednesday will focus on six key areas:

• Consumer and investor protection
• Financial stability
• Illicit activity
• U.S. competitiveness on a global stage
• Financial inclusion
• Responsible innovation

Protecting consumers is an important part of the directive. There have been countless stories of investors falling for crypto scams, or losing huge sums of money through cyberattacks on exchanges or users themselves.

The Biden administration is calling on the Treasury to assess and develop policy recommendations on crypto. It also wants regulators to “ensure sufficient oversight and safeguard against any systemic financial risks posed by digital assets.”

While policymakers have been keen to downplay any systemic risks resulting from crypto, there have been increasing concerns over the role played by stablecoins. These are digital tokens that are meant to be pegged to the value of existing currencies like the U.S. dollar.

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin with $80 billion in circulation, has attracted the ire of regulators over claims its token is not sufficiently backed by dollars held in reserve. Tether says its coin is fully backed, however the makeup of its reserves includes short-term debt obligations like commercial paper, not just cash.
The topic of stablecoins was notably absent from the White House’s announcement Wednesday, though Yellen has made clear she wants to see Congress introducing regulation for the sector.

Illicit activity

Another key area Biden’s executive order focuses on is rooting out illegal activity in the crypto space.

The president has called for an “unprecedented focus of coordinated action” from federal agencies in mitigating illicit finance and national security risks posed by cryptocurrencies. He is also urging international collaboration on the issue.

Last month, U.S. officials seized $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin — their biggest seizure of cryptocurrencies ever — related to the 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, authorities are now also concerned about the possible use of crypto in helping sanctioned Russian individuals and companies evade the restrictions.

Proponents of crypto say it is highly difficult for funds to be laundered through digital currency, however, as all transactions are kept public on an unchangeable record-keeping system known as the blockchain.

Climate change

It’s a more subtle point, but Biden also dropped a mention of the sheer energy cost baked into digital currencies like bitcoin. He wants the government to study ways to make crypto innovation more “responsible,” reducing any negative climate impacts.

Bitcoin relies on a mechanism known as proof of work to confirm transactions and generate new units of currency. A decentralized network of computers competes to solve complex math puzzles in order to mine the cryptocurrency. The more computing power a miner has, the higher their chances of being rewarded in new bitcoin.


That has raised alarm bells for policymakers around the world, with China even banning crypto mining completely last year. That move led to an exodus of crypto miners from the country to the U.S. and other countries, such as Kazakhstan.

[slimslob]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

Biden signing cryptocurrency executive order that paves way for US government 'coin' | Washington Examiner

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

I've been on this whole topic for a long time. And at this point, I am interested in NFT, which means "non-interchangeable token. To understand tokens, you need to understand the environment in which they exist - in this case, blockchain. And lately, I've been studying NFT Promotion intensively. But to do that, you have to understand the whole subject. To put it very simply, a blockchain is a database stored simultaneously on a huge number of computers. In the traditional Internet model, all the devices are connected to centralized nodes. In contrast, all the devices simultaneously store all the information published in the blockchain.

... NFT prices have recently crashed amidst much corruption and criminal activity. You have to be a big believer in the Metaverse to invest in this space.

I do not even think you are defining NFTs correctly.

What is a non-fungible token (NFT)?

It's being offered as a "non-fungible token" (NFT), a way of owning the original digital image. Where Bitcoin was hailed as the digital answer to currency, NFTs are now being touted as the digital answer to collectables, but plenty of sceptics fear they're a bubble waiting to burst.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

Bitcoin jumps 12.5% as Russia-Ukraine conflict continues and U.S. imposes further sanctions

• Bitcoin jumped 12.5% on Tuesday continuing its sharp rebound as the Russian war with Ukraine continues and the U.S. ratchets up sanctions.
• Bitcoin proponents have seen bitcoin as a safe haven asset or “digital gold,” but that definition has unraveled recently. One expert said that is changing and bitcoin is having a “watershed” moment.
• Debate has also been raging over whether bitcoin could be used by Russia to evade sanctions.

Bitcoin jumped more than 12% on Tuesday continuing its sharp rebound as the Russian assault on Ukraine continues and the U.S. ratchets up sanctions.

Market analysts said there could be a number of reasons behind the big surge in bitcoin including investors buying the dip, attempts to evade sanctions and Ukrainians and Russians trying to get their money out of their respective countries.

Crypto to evade sanctions?

Bitcoin’s rally comes as the U.S. imposed further sanctions on Russia. Washington targeted Russia’s central bank, effectively prohibiting Americans from doing any business with the bank as well as freezing its assets within the U.S.

That comes on top of sanctions that have targeted oligarchs and Russia’s sovereign debt as well as moves aimed at cutting the country off from the global financial system.

Debate has been raging over whether bitcoin, which is not owned or issued by a single authority like a central bank, could be used by Russia to evade sanctions.

Veteran investor Mark Mobius said that could be one reason behind bitcoin’s rise.

“I would say that’s the reason why bitcoin has shown strength now — because the Russians have a way of getting money out, getting their wealth out,” Mobius, founding partner of Mobius Capital Partners, told CNBC on Tuesday.

But the amount of money that Russia would need to convert to and from bitcoin might be too much, according to Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs.

“You’re going to see Russia attempt to circumvent the U.S. financial system by turning to crypto. I think the issue is … the liquidity just simply isn’t there,” Redbord told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

But cryptocurrency could also be a way for regular Russians and even Ukrainian citizens to get their money out of their respective countries as their currencies remain volatile.

Bitcoin traded at a 6% premium on Binance exchange’s Ukrainian hryvnia market, according a note published by cryptocurrency research firm Kaiko on Monday. Kaiko also noted that it is “seeing a surge in both Russian ruble and Ukrainian hryvnia cryptocurrency transactions” on cryptocurrency exchanges.

“Until there were no heavy financial sanctions on Russia, bitcoin was moving in tandem with the U.S. stock indexes, but these reports, which confirmed real use case for cryptocurrencies in times of crisis, are pushing the price higher,” Yuya Hasegawa, crypto market analyst at Japanese exchange Bitbank, told CNBC on Tuesday.

On Sunday, Mykhailo Fedorov, vice prime minister of Ukraine, asked major cryptocurrency exchanges to block the addresses of Russian users.

Binance, the world’s largest exchange, said it would freeze accounts for any Russians on the sanctions list, but would not “unilaterally” block accounts of all Russian users.

Other cryptocurrency exchanges took a similar stance.

Bitcoin ‘watershed’ moment?

Over the years, bitcoin proponents have touted the cryptocurrency as “digital gold,” an asset that provides a safe haven for investors during times of turmoil or even as a potential hedge against inflation. But bitcoin has not performed that way. Instead, it has been more correlated to the movement of stock prices, even as inflation continues to hit multi-year highs and a military conflict plays out. That case for bitcoin as digital gold has unraveled in recent weeks.

Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, said that could be changing.

“Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are arguably having their watershed moment against backdrop of global uncertainty and tension related to the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” Ayyar told CNBC.

“Crypto is decoupling from traditional markets and can be clearly seen in the performance.”

People have been donating cryptocurrency to the Ukrainian army too, “proving that crypto is fundamentally a technology that cannot be ignored,” Ayyar added.

He also said that a bottom for bitcoin was already forming as the war was getting underway.

Michael Rinko, venture associate at AscendEx, told CNBC on Monday that $38,000 was a key level for bitcoin.

“More people bought at $38,000 than at any other level above or below for a good margin,” he said.

However, Bitbank’s Hasegawa warned of further volatility ahead.

“There still are a lot ... of potential risks up ahead for the market, like the Russia—Ukraine negotiation falling apart, even more huge air strikes on Ukrainian cities, nuclear threats, and U.S. jobs report on Friday, so it looks like the next couple of days are going to be a wild ride for bitcoin,” Hasegawa said.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

latest update... talked to my identity theft people... they will watch for any problems but can't recover cash... they said file a police report... and file a fraud alert on experian...
talked to local police... they said its not their jurisdiction and gave me fbi ic3 complaint website to file a report... experian fraud alert is basically just a reminder to anyone looking into my credit that this might not be me and think carefully before doing transaction...

on the flip side... cops told me that someone in my area last week just got the same thing done to them... and they were on the hook for 40k... so my 10k isn't that bad... when you compare...

so be aware the internet criminals are doing the rounds

... I read recently that the FBI does not bother to investigate any crypto currency theft under $250,000.00 USD.

... they will record your theft and that is it.

[n25an]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

latest update... talked to my identity theft people... they will watch for any problems but can't recover cash... they said file a police report... and file a fraud alert on experian...
talked to local police... they said its not their jurisdiction and gave me fbi ic3 complaint website to file a report... experian fraud alert is basically just a reminder to anyone looking into my credit that this might not be me and think carefully before doing transaction...

on the flip side... cops told me that someone in my area last week just got the same thing done to them... and they were on the hook for 40k... so my 10k isn't that bad... when you compare...

so be aware the internet criminals are doing the rounds

[copiertec]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

financially painful lesson... now all accounts are two factor authenticated...

Bummer, that is an expensive lesson.

[n25an]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

financially painful lesson... now all accounts are two factor authenticated...

[n25an]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

that negates the idea of a refund since it was my fault... now that begs the question what antivirus scans emails....???

[n25an]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

I received an email from coinbase... the hacker broke into my email account and then from there.... broke into my coinbase account and then tried to initiate a $25000 deposit into coinbase from my bank... that failed... then decided to go for my coinbase account outright... all of this was confirmed by my email account... all the proof was in the garbage... I changed my password on email and coinbase and bank account and am currently scanning pc...

[n25an]

Re: Anyone into Cryto currency?

had an interesting day...
finally saw that they enabled advanced trading on coinbase and saw that shiba inu began to go up... did a trade and was quite happy with myself... my day off and all...

woke up... checked my account... all shiba inu gone... all cash from sale gone...

long story short... when I enabled advanced trading... coinbase attached my regular account to a coinbase pro account... that account was empty and hacked... the hacker used that account to convert... convert to bitcoin and siphon off the profit from my shiba inu transaction and convert all of my shiba inu into bitcoin and transfer it to themselves in 10 minutes... I have 10 transactions from coinbase to coinbase pro and 7 pages of very small transactions going from coinbase pro to the hacker... all of this occurred between noon yesterday and this morning... gotta love it...

I would feel bad except that I have had similiar experiences with crypto exchanges before...
I locked my account and informed coinbase... could not find a way to lock coinbase pro... so I contacted coinbase to lock that one as well...

I tell this to you to let you know... crypto is the wild west... everything you do... you do at your own risk... thankfully this did not hit my bank account... I have lost money due to crypto exchange negligence before to get $10000 stolen even for me thats rich... and after I upgraded thats whats the funniest part...

well lets just say I am going to pulling lots of overtime lol