Category: Scams
-
ICO Firms Paid Themselves $24 Billion Absent of Accountability or Much Effort
A BitMex report highlights the egregiousness of the ICO craze of 2017. Cryptocurrency companies were able to raise millions absent of accountability and with little work, and at the expense of likely unsophisticated buyers. The scathing report, released on Jan. 16th by BitMEX, on the ICO market in 2017-18 concluded token startups raised over $24 billion during…
-
Cryptopia Suffers Catastrophic Hack, Evidence Suggests $2.5 Million Ethereum Stolen
New Zealand-based Cryptopia is the first cryptocurrency exchange to get hacked in 2019. Estimates of the damage range between $2.5 to $3.5 million; The attack was confirmed in the late hours of Jan. 13th after the company announced emergency “maintenance.” Cryptopia is a tiny exchange with daily trading volume averaging approximately $2 million. The evening of…
-
Crypto Impersonation Scammers on Social Media Raked in Millions in 2018
Over the last two years, as cryptocurrencies gained mainstream attention, scammers have become far more prevalent. One particular social media scam that can be found on prominent websites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram is the impersonation of well-known crypto industry executives and blockchain luminaries. Unfortunately even a verified account means nothing these days and these…
-
New Pirate Bay Malware Replaces Bitcoin and Ethereum Addresses, Alters Google Search Results
A new virus making the rounds is embedding nefarious code in a victim’s computer to extract cryptocurrencies, deceptively altering search results to scam users into parting with their digital assets. As reported by cybersecurity publication Bleeping Computer, the virus is embedded in movie files originating from torrent tracking service The Pirate Bay (TPB). While torrent…
-
Fake News: Russia’s Alleged $10 Billion Bitcoin Investment
Recent news that “Russia will buy $10 billion in Bitcoin and ditch the U.S. dollar” is backed by the flimsiest of evidence. Publications such as The Telegraph, Bitcoinist, and Decrypt Media may have been duped. The airwaves were abuzz when news that Russia would buy $10 billion in Bitcoin surfaced. Allegedly, that work was “underway”…
-
144 ICOs Launched During 2017 Failed Last Year
Coinopsy, a website that maintains an active catalog of “dead” cryptocurrencies, currently estimates that 264 altcoins failed to survive the 2018 bear market. Of the projects that did not survive to see 2019, more than half were launched in 2017 through an initial coin offering (ICO). Also Read: Last Year’s Altcoin Army Have Become This Year’s…
-
The Daily: Belgium Blacklists More Crypto Platforms, UAE Prepares ICO Regulations
In this edition of The Daily, Belgium’s financial regulator has expanded its list of fraudulent platforms offering cryptocurrency investments, while UAE has announced it’s working on new ICO regulations. We also look at the plans for a common digital currency in the Eurasian Economic Union and Abkhazia’s intentions to regulate its growing crypto mining industry.…