Category Archives: Cryptocurrency
Plynk Works with Paxos to Introduce Cryptocurrency Trading and Educational Resources – Business Wire
JERSEY CITY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PlynkTM, an investment app for new investors, announced the launch of Plynk CryptoTM, allowing app users to trade and hold Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) via Paxos Trust Company beginning today. As an app for novice investors, Plynk listened to customers as they showed interest in learning about and trading cryptocurrency. Through this relationship with Paxos, the new offering provides easy-to-understand educational guidance for crypto investing.
Crypto is consistently a point of interest among our customers, despite this period of heightened volatility, said Alicia Sundberg, head of Plynk. The reality is many beginner investors have already invested in digital assets, and we believe many more will do so in the future. This is an opportunity not only to help our customers gain access to digital assets through a third-party referral arrangement with Paxos, but also to provide them with easy-to-understand crypto education, which is what we believe sets Plynk and Plynk Crypto apart from other investing and crypto trading apps, respectively.
In addition to allowing customers to buy and hold digital assets, Plynk Crypto is dedicated to educating new investors and will actively work to remove barriers to getting started in crypto trading. In tandem with Plynk Cryptos launch, Plynk rolled out educational articles on crypto basics, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Bitcoin and Ethereum, to help customers become more informed on cryptocurrency. Plynk Crypto is dedicated to education and will continue to expand crypto educational materials.
Walter Hessert, head of Strategy for Paxos, commented, Blockchain technology and digital assets will revolutionize finance as it offers the opportunity for all to join an open, global economy. By working with a regulated Trust company, Plynk is helping ensure the security of its customers digital assets, while Paxos manages the underlying complexity. Were excited to join Plynk in helping new investors learn about and access crypto markets.
Plynk is specifically designed to help new investors gain education and confidence along the way. In the app, new investors can invest in a wide selection of stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds. Plynk assists new investors in this process by helping identify investments aligning with their interests by easily scrolling through brands they already love and trust. Also located within the app is an educational hub called Plynk Think, which teaches investing fundamentals and encourages a learn-by-doing approach through interactive lessons aiming to help users build sound financial habits.
The Plynk app is available to download now on iOS (through the App Store) and download for Android (through the Google Play Store). For more information about Plynk and Plynk Crypto, visit http://www.plynkinvest.com.
About Plynk
Plynk is a new investing app that helps make investing easier for new investors. Created by people who have a passion for making investing simple, Plynk makes it easy to get started, get comfortable and get the hang of investing. Plynk offers straightforward language, clear explanations and just a $1 minimum to make it easy to begin investing. Plynk also includes tips, how-tos and easy-to-understand educational articles that help beginners learn as they go. Plynk is a service of Digital Brokerage Services LLC, a registered broker-dealer by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is a member of FINRA and SPIC. Learn more at http://www.plynkinvest.com.
About Paxos
Paxos is a leading regulated blockchain infrastructure platform. Its products are the foundation for a new, open financial system that can operate faster and more efficiently. Today, trillions of dollars are locked in inefficient, outdated financial plumbing that is inaccessible to millions of people. Paxos is replatforming the financial system to enable assets to instantaneously move anywhere in the world, at any time, in a trustworthy way.
Paxos uses technology to tokenize, custody, trade and settle assets. It builds enterprise blockchain solutions for institutions like PayPal, Interactive Brokers, Meta, Mastercard, MercadoLibre, NuBank, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Societe Generale and Revolut. Paxos is a top-funded fintech company with more than $540 million raised from leading investors including Oak HC/FT, Declaration Partners, Founders Fund, Mithril Capital and PayPal Ventures. With offices in New York, London and Singapore, Paxos takes a global approach to modernizing the financial system.
Risks of investing in securities through Plynk: Before investing, consider the mutual fund or exchange-traded products investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Contact Plynk or visit the PlynkTM app for a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully. Keep in mind that investing involves risk. The value of your investment will fluctuate over time, and you may gain or lose money. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Stock markets are volatile and can fluctuate significantly in response to company, industry, political, regulatory, market or economic developments. Investing in stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs involves risks, including the loss of principal.
Risks of cryptocurrency trading through Plynk Crypto: Trading in cryptocurrency is especially risky due to its volatility and is only for individuals with a high-risk tolerance and the ability to withstand financial losses. Cryptocurrency assets held at Paxos are not protected by the SIPC or FDIC.
Plynk, Plynk Crypto, and the Plynk logo are trademarks of FMR LLC.
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Plynk Works with Paxos to Introduce Cryptocurrency Trading and Educational Resources - Business Wire
Cryptocurrency Market to Reach 32,530 Billion by 2028 Thanks to Rising Interest of Investors and Increasing Number of Countries Legalizing…
SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.
Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual tokens that use cryptography to secure their transactions and to control the creation of new units. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized, meaning they are not subject to government or financial institution control. This allows them to operate without the need for a third party. Considering current market conditions and future growth prospective, the global cryptocurrency market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 54.7% during the forecast period, 2022-2028.
Westford, USA, June 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Why is the Cryptocurrency Market Gaining All the Popularity?
One of the biggest advantages of cryptocurrency is that it is secure and anonymous. Transactions are processed through a network of computers and no personal information is required. This makes cryptocurrency ideal for online transactions and darknets. Additionally, cryptocurrency is immune to inflation and taxation, which makes it an attractive option for investors.
They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. As of June 2022, there are over 18,000 different cryptocurrencies in existence in the global cryptocurrency market. With each passing year, cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular, with many people looking to invest in them. What is behind this growing interest?
One reason might be that cryptocurrencies are not subject to government or financial institution control. They are also relatively new and offer a high degree of privacy. Another reason might be the potential for big profits. Cryptocurrencies have been on a tear in recent months, with some ETH (Ethereum) rising more than 1,000% in value over the last three years!
Current Developments in Cryptocurrency Market
Cryptocurrency market is witnessing a lot of volatility as investors react to recent events. The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has seen significant swings in value over the past few months. For instance, Bitcoin was trading at over $67000 per coin in November 2021 but has since fallen to around $20,000 in June 2022. Ethereum is also down about 80% in value over the past one year and Ripple is down about 70%. These are all major coins, so the falls have a big impact on the overall market value.
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Blockchain experts at SkyQuest Consulting Technology believe that these swings are due to news stories about government intervention or fraud. For example, China recently banned Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), which could be a reason why Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies are falling in value. However, other experts believe that this volatility is just part of the natural cycle of cryptocurrency markets. Cryptocurrencies are still very new and there is a lot of speculation going on. As more people invest in cryptocurrencies, there will be more volatility until those investments mature and become more stable.
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Key Factors Responsible for Growth of Cryptocurrency Market
Cryptocurrency market is on the rise and there are various factors that are responsible for its growth. Some of these factors include increasing popularity of digital currencies, regulatory ambiguity surrounding the industry and increasing investment opportunities.
The growing popularity of digital currencies is one of the key reasons behind their growth. Cryptocurrencies are gaining traction because they offer a new way of conducting transactions that is secure and anonymous. This has led to increased demand from investors and users, who see cryptocurrencies as a lucrative avenue for investment.
Regulatory ambiguity surrounding the industry is also a major reason behind the growth of the cryptocurrency market. Numerous governments are still unclear about how to regulate digital currencies, which has created an environment of opportunity for investors. In fact, some countries such as El Salvador, Central African Republic, Cuba, and Iran have even legalized digital currencies as a means of payment. This has helped increase demand for cryptocurrencies and made them more appealing to investors.
Another reason why the cryptocurrency market is on the rise is increasing investment opportunities. Several venture capital firms have begun investing in this space, which has led to an increase in investments in digital currencies. This has prompted several companies to start working on new projects involving cryptocurrencies. This has caused the cryptocurrency market to grow rapidly and expand beyond its traditional user base.
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Growing Demand for Mining Equipment to Drive Cryptocurrency Market
Cryptocurrency mining is the process of verifying and adding blocks to the blockchain. Mining is how new coins are created. Miners are rewarded with cryptocurrency for verifying and committing transactions to the blockchain. The more transactions a miner participates in, the more opportunities they have to earn rewards.
In recent years, cryptocurrency mining has become increasingly competitive. This is because cryptocurrency miners must use expensive hardware in order to verify and add blocks to the blockchain. As a result, demand for cryptocurrency mining equipment is high and growing.
The demand for cryptocurrency mining hardware is growing faster than ever in the global cryptocurrency market. This is because the value of cryptocurrencies is continuing to rise. As more people invest in cryptocurrencies, they need more mining hardware to help them earn profits. There are many different types of cryptocurrency mining hardware available on the market. Some of these include graphics cards, CPUs, and ASICs. Graphics cards are popular because they use a lot of power and tend to be affordable. CPUs are good for small-scale mining because they are cheap and relatively powerful. However, they have difficulty performing multiple tasks at once. ASICs are the most effective type of cryptocurrency mining hardware because they can solve complex algorithms quickly.
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US and China are Largest Cryptocurrency Market, but Future is Not So Bright
The US and China are now the two largest cryptocurrency mining markets in the world. The US accounted for 34% of global mining revenue in 2018, according to data from CoinMarketCap. China was second with a 22% share. However, recently in 2021, China banned the mining of cryptocurrency, but it did not stop the country from underground mining and has become the second largest mining hub. Earlier the ban was imposed, the country was accounting for between 65% to 75% of the total hash rate or processing power of the bitcoin network across the global cryptocurrency market. But it went on to almost zero as the government bodies started cracking down the mining facilities. However, it is not the case now and people have already started mining again with full capacity by hiding their operations underground.
This shift is likely due to the booming prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent years. The value of Bitcoin has surged more than 2,500% since 2017, reaching a peak of $68000 in 2021. This has caused miners to switch to more lucrative cryptocurrencies.
However, this growth of the cryptocurrency market is not without risk. As cryptocurrencies become more popular, they are at greater risk of being stolen or hacked. In 2018, hackers stole $532 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) from digital currency exchanges across the world. Overall, these trends indicate that cryptocurrency mining remains a lucrative business. However, it is important to be aware of the risks involved and to make sure that wallet is properly secured.
Related Reports in SkyQuests Library:
Global Crypto ATM Market
Global Crowdfunding Market
Global Neo Bank Market
Global Asset Management Market
Global Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Market
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Cryptocurrency Market to Reach 32,530 Billion by 2028 Thanks to Rising Interest of Investors and Increasing Number of Countries Legalizing...
Bitcoin bounces back after falling to new 2022 lows over the weekend – CNBC
Bitcoin rallied to a record high of nearly $69,000 at the height of the 2021 crypto frenzy. In 2022, it's moved in the opposite direction.
Nurphoto | Getty Images
Bitcoin jumped on Monday, after the cryptocurrency fell below its 2017 high over the weekend, but investors remained on edge thanks to a slew of negative crypto headlines and macro factors keeping pressure on sentiment.
The world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap climbed above the $20,000 mark for much of the day Monday. However, it last edged lower by less than 1% to $20,005.46, according to Coin Metrics. Over the weekend, bitcoin fell as low as $17,601.58. Meanwhile, ether inched higher by less than 1% to $1,102.86.
While investors will welcome the rebound, bitcoin still sits 70% below its all-time high, hit in November. It's down 57% year-to-date. Many have suggested a market bottom could be close, but with so much economic uncertainty remaining, bitcoin still has more downside potential, according to Yuya Hasegawa, a crypto market analyst at Japanese bitcoin exchange Bitbank.
"Bitcoin's weekend dip was, to put it simply, not deep enough," he said. "The macro environment has not really changed from last week's FOMC meeting: there still has not been a clear sign of inflation coming down and the Fed may still drive the economy into recession by raising rates too aggressively or simply by failing to tame inflation."
With bitcoin unable to hold convincingly above $20,000, industry watchers said the rally might be short-lived.
Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC that unless the price of bitcoin closes above $23,000 on a daily time frame basis, "the odds are this is a dead cat bounce."
"We're oversold, so a bounce was expected," he added.
The broader cryptocurrency market has been plagued by a number of issues in recent weeks, beginning with the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD and associated token luna.
Attention has now turned to crypto lending companies that promise users high yields for depositing their digital coins. Last week, Celsius, a company with 1.7 million customers and nearly $12 billion of crypto assets under management, paused withdrawal of funds for customers, sparking concerns that it is insolvent.
Cryptocurrency companies have announced rounds of layoffs amid the market downturn. Coinbase, a crypto wallet and exchange, said last week it will cut 18% of full-time jobs. A lending firm called BlockFi said last week it will lay off a fifth of its staff.
Macroeconomic factors including high inflation and upcoming rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve are also weighing on the market.
"When inflation is on the doorstep and with rate hikes in the offing, the risks of a recession round the bend are high," Charles Hayter, CEO of CryptoCompare, told CNBC via email.
"The push me pull you of higher rates sapping cash from mortgaged house owners means people are psychologically bracing and paring back and digital assets are suffering thus."
"Coupled with this, the pull back in the digital asset ecosystem has uncovered a number of systemic issues."
Given the big fall in cryptocurrency prices in the last few weeks, some observers said that a bottom to the market could be close.
Giles Keating, director of Bitcoin Suisse, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Monday that "we're close to a point where some of the real excess leverage has now been driven out of the system and a bottom can begin to be formed."
Leverage refers to trading in which investors effectively use borrowed money to make trades. That means investors can get larger exposure to positions with less initial capital. But that's seen as a risky means of trading as it requires investors to ensure they have enough capital to meet the so-called margin requirements. If they don't, their position is automatically liquidated. Those liquidations are seen as a big factor behind market moves.
Keating said there is still a risk of further liquidation, but he thinks the majority of the selling is over.
"Now some people are warning that we are still not yet there and that if we were to break significantly lower, that we'd see another wave of liquidations," Keating said.
"There's always that risk hovering there. But my feeling, given I think those very very big double digit rebounds we saw, in bitcoin, particularly in ether, I think to my mind that was a sign that a lot of those really big liquidations are now done and that the base really is being formed."
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Bitcoin bounces back after falling to new 2022 lows over the weekend - CNBC
What you need to know about staked ether, the token at the center of cryptos liquidity crisis – CNBC
Ether is the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world by market value.
Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto via Getty Images
Another controversial cryptocurrency is causing havoc in the digital asset market and this time, it's not a stablecoin.
Staked ether, or stETH, is a token that's supposed to be worth the same as ether. But for the past few weeks, it has been trading at a widening discount to the second-biggest cryptocurrency, fanning the flames of a liquidity crisis in the crypto market.
On Friday, stETH fell as low as 0.92 ETH, implying an 8% discount to ether.
Here's everything you need to know about stETH, and why it has crypto investors worried.
Each stETH token represents a unit of ether that has been "staked," or deposited, in what's called the "beacon chain."
Ethereum, the network underpinning ether, is in the process of upgrading to a new version that's meant to be faster and cheaper to use. The beacon chain is a testing environment for this upgrade.
Staking is a practice where investors lock up their tokens for a period of time to contribute to the security of a crypto network. In return, they receive rewards in the form of interest-like yields. The mechanism behind this is known as "proof of stake." It's different from "proof of work," or mining, which requires lots of computing power and energy.
To stake on Ethereum currently, users have to agree to lock away a minimum 32 ETH until after the network upgrades to a new standard, known as Ethereum 2.0.
However, a platform called Lido Finance lets users stake any amount of ether and receive a derivative token called stETH, which can then be traded or lent on other platforms. It is an important part of decentralized finance, which aims to replicate financial services like lending and insurance using blockchain technology.
StETH isn't a stablecoin like tether or terraUSD, the "algorithmic" stablecoin that collapsed last month under the strain of a bank run. It's more like an IOU the idea being that stETH holders can redeem their tokens for an equivalent amount of ether once the upgrade completes.
When the Terra stablecoin project imploded, stETH's price began trading below ether's as investors raced for the exit. A month later, crypto lender Celsius started halting account withdrawals, which saw stETH's value dropping even further.
Celsius acts a lot like a bank, taking users' crypto and lending it to other institutions to generate a return on deposits. The firm took users' ether and staked it through Lido to boost its profits.
Celsius has more than $400 million in stETH deposits, according to data from DeFi analytics site Ape Board. The fear now is that Celsius will have to sell its stETH, resulting in hefty losses and putting more downward pressure on the token.
But that's easier said than done. StETh holders won't be able to redeem their tokens for ether until six to 12 months after an event known as the "merge," which will complete Ethereum's transition from proof of work to proof of stake.
This comes at a price, as it means investors are stuck with their stETH unless they choose to sell it on other platforms. One way to do this is to convert stETH to ether using Curve, a service that pools together funds to enable faster trading in and out of tokens.
Curve's liquidity pool for switching between stETH and ether "has become quite unbalanced," said Ryan Shea, economist at crypto investment firm Trakx.io. Ether accounts for less than 20% of reserves in the pool, meaning there wouldn't be enough liquidity to meet every stETH withdrawal.
"Staked ETH issued by Lido is backed 1:1 with ETH staking deposits," Lido said in a tweet last week, attempting to calm investor fears over stETH's growing divergence from the value of ether.
"The exchange rate between stETH:ETH does not reflect the underlying backing of your staked ETH, but rather a fluctuating secondary market price."
Like many facets of crypto, stETH has been caught up in a whirlwind of negative news affecting the sector.
Higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve have triggered a flight to safer, more liquid assets, which has in turn led to liquidity issues at major firms in the space.
Another company with exposure to stETH is Three Arrows Capital, the crypto hedge fund which is rumored to be in financial trouble. Public blockchain records show that 3AC has been actively selling its stETH holdings, and 3AC co-founder Zhu Su has previously said his firm is considering asset sales and a rescue by another firm to avoid collapse.
Investors worry that the fall in stETH's value will hit even more players in crypto.
"In crypto there is no central bank," Shea said. "Things will just have to play out, and it will continue to weigh on crypto asset prices, compounding the negative impact from the macro backdrop."
Bitcoin briefly sank below $18,000 a coin on Saturday, pushing deeper into 18-month lows. It's since recovered back above $20,000. Ether at one point dropped below $900, before retaking $1,000 by Monday.
The stETH debacle has also led to fresh concerns over the security of Ethereum. About a third of all the ether locked into Ethereum's beacon chain is staked through Lido. Some investors worry this may give a single player too much control over the upgraded Ethereum network.
Ethereum recently completed a dress rehearsal for its much-anticipated merge. The success of the event bodes well for Ethereum's upgrade, with investors expecting it to take place as early as August. But there's no telling when it will actually happen it's already been delayed numerous times.
"The latest updates on Ethereum's testnets have been positive which brings more confidence to those waiting on the Merge," said Mark Arjoon, research associate at crypto asset management firm CoinShares.
"So, when withdrawals are eventually enabled, any discount in stETH will likely be arbitraged away but until that unknown date arrives there will still exist some form of discount."
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What you need to know about staked ether, the token at the center of cryptos liquidity crisis - CNBC
Cryptocurrency Bill Aims to Fix Scattershot Regulation, but Misses Mark – Heritage.org
Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., last week introduced theResponsible Financial Innovation Act, which seeks to remove some of the risk that regulators have created in the bitcoin andcryptocurrencyspace.
The bill aims to more clearly define which cryptocurrencies are securities subject to Securities and Exchange Commission oversight, and which are not, and hence subject to Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight instead.
Given the Securities and Exchange Commissionsknee-jerk hostilityto decentralized digital assets, that distinction is welcome.
The effort is important because inept regulators today have left crypto rife with scammers and Ponzi schemes, as legitimate actors fear the regulatory risk. If regulators hold out threats, then good-faith actors stay away, leaving the field to the scammers.
The bills delineation was welcomed by many bitcoin proponents, since it would exclude bitcoin from being considered a security. That could reassure financial institutions that have so far been wary of offering bitcoin products, potentially bringing more good actors into the crypto ecosystem.
In the altcoin community of newer cryptocurrencies, however, many were less enthusiastic, because the bill does little to rein in Securities and Exchange Commission overreach through its adventurous interpretation of definitions, giving the commission new powers it doesnt currently have.
Securities and Exchange Commission overreach could potentially strangle in the crib much of todays decentralized cryptoan industry that could dramatically empower individuals in the face of Wall Street incumbents, and thesurveillance,censorship, andcancel culturethose incumbents impose.
That said, the bill carries several major flaws that will hopefully be addressed as it makes the rounds in Congress. It must pass four committees, each with its own negotiations, so lots can still happen.
First, the bill retains requirements for crypto users to calculate and report their tax gains and losses on a transaction-by-transaction basis, with a very low reporting threshold of $200. Thats akin to tallying your line-item peso gains for each hotel, flight, or nice dinner on that Cancun vacation.
If such reporting is required, it should be raised to at least $10,000 to match the money laundering thresholds already widespread in the U.S. financial system.
A second flaw of the bill is a lost opportunity to rein in the Securities and Exchange Commission, rather than expanding its jurisdiction. The commission has been one of the most imperial, and destructive, of our alphabet soup of financial regulators.
The 2018 Initial Coin Offeringwipeout showed the Securities and Exchange Commission is all too happy to strangleinnovation in the crib, even while turning a blind eye to, or issuing slaps on the wrist for, widespread Wall Street abuses, such asinstitutionalized front-runningoroutright fraud. In contrast, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been much more aware of the importance of innovation and consumer choice, and the trade-offs involved.
By increasing Securities and Exchange Commission jurisdiction over crypto, particularly in the area of ancillary assets to decentralized networks, this bill risks making the problem worse.
Because the crux of the Securities and Exchange Commissions empire-building is the definition of a security, to fix this, the bill could clearly define a security to replace todays outdated test, perhaps to something like: an instrument that gives the owner the right to a return from a common enterprise, defined as an accounting entity.
A simple definition could cover commonsense securities without giving a green light to the Securities and Exchange Commission to go after anybody it wants to or claim any turf that tickles its fancy.
Despite these flaws, the bill proposes several important reforms. It clarifies and raises transparency on cryptocurrency exchanges, stablecoin reserves, asset custody by third parties, and cryptocurrency brokers, along with a more rational tax treatment of miner revenue in the cryptocurrency space.
These clarifications could rein in the increasing number of failed stablecoins, cryptocurrencies allegedly backed by dollars or other assets that in reality lack sufficient reserves or lack sufficiently liquid reserves.
Meanwhile, the exchange provisions could give more transparency on whether and to what extent exchanges or other cryptocurrency entities are manipulating prices to their advantage, which has been a stumbling block in the approval of a bitcoin spot exchange-traded fundan important vehicle for regular people to invest in crypto without having to learn to code.
Ultimately, the bill, introduced June 6, is a welcome first step to addressing a real concern about arbitrary regulators effectively enabling scammers while punishing broader innovation in private currencies and decentralized infrastructure that could protect Americans in this age of inflationary crisis and Big Tech domination.
Hopefully, what comes out the other end of Congress sausage factory will be an improvement on todays regulatory regime. If so, we can expect more good-faith actors to enter the industry to build bitcoin and other crypto products alongside their gold and dollar offerings.
That could give regular Americans more opportunity to protect themselves from inflation or a financial crisis, while improving Americans ability to invest and use decentralized protocols without having to beg a bureaucrat for permission or worry about scammers and frauds.
This piece originally appeared in The Daily Signal
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Cryptocurrency Bill Aims to Fix Scattershot Regulation, but Misses Mark - Heritage.org
FBI Warns of Cryptocurrency Scammers on LinkedIn – Decrypt
Cryptocurrency investment scammers on LinkedIn are a significant threat to user safety, FBI special agent Sean Ragan said Friday.
In an interview with CNBC, Ragan said he believes LinkedIn has a problem when it comes to investment scams.
This type of fraudulent activity is significant, Ragan said. There are many potential victims, and there are many past and current victims.
The Microsoft-owned social network claims to have 830 million members in more than 200 countries.
These scammers arent lazy either, so they might seem very convincing.
They are always thinking about different ways to victimize people, victimize companies, Ragan told the network. And they spend their time doing their homework, defining their goals and their strategies, and their tools and tactics that they use.
The FBI has seen an uptick in investment-related fraud, according to Regan. The Federal Trade Commission reported that U.S. cryptocurrency traders lost $575 million due to investment fraud from January 2021 until March 2022.
LinkedIn emphasizes business news and relationships, which may create a false sense of security against the backdrop of common romance and online scams. The CNBC report notes that fake profiles often claim to be associated with legitimate and successful companies, or to represent people with entrepreneurial spirit.
LinkedIns director of trust, privacy, and equity Oscar Rodriguez acknowledged the number of scammers increasing on its platform.
Over the last few months, weve seen a rise in fraudulent activity happening across the Internet, including here on LinkedIn, Rodriguez wrote in a blog post Thursday.
The company said it has a track record of proactively removing suspicious content and accounts it suspects may lead to fraud. In 2021, LinkedIn removed over 136 million instances of spam and scam content on its platform, according to a recent company transparency report. It also removed over 31.6 million fake accounts last year.
Rodriguez told CNBC that more proactive education on the risks of using LinkedIn is something hed like to see going forward.
LinkedIn does not currently offer profile verification for notable users, unlike Twitter and Instagram. But not even verification is foolproof: Twitter has also seen verified accounts abused by crypto and NFT scammers.
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FBI Warns of Cryptocurrency Scammers on LinkedIn - Decrypt
Cryptocurrency jobs jumped 15 times in 3 years with these roles in most demand – CNBCTV18
The demand for jobs in the cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain space saw a massive increase during the pandemic as technology adoption grew at a rapid pace across the country, a report said.
While job postings for cryptocurrency, blockchain, and NFTs jumped 804 percent between April 2020 to April 2022, there was a 15 times rise when compared with April 2019, according to job listings portal Indeeds report.
The data also shows an acceleration in the market's demand as in 2022, the increase in job postings was 315 percent.
This highlights the role of the pandemic in this sustained growth, the report said, adding, The COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked the adoption of technology across functions in India, hence technology professionals are more in demand than ever before, especially with expertise in newer areas like cryptocurrency, NFTs and blockchain.
Which profiles are in most demand?
The top job role across this field is application developer, followed by data engineer and full-stack developer, Indeed report says.
According to the portals data, crypto roles appear to be one of the biggest share of hires in overall technology job roles, increasing from 41.22 percent in 2019 - 2020 to 67.48 percent in 2021 -2022.
Looking for a crypto job? Heres where you may find it
Technology hubs like Bengaluru and Hyderabad continue to lead with hiring in the sector while the national capital region is also seeing a fair share of interest in the sector, the report said.
Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales for Indeed India said being a technology-first economy, Indian firms are rapidly investing in technologies that will put the country at the forefront of this new digital era.
Does an increase in crypto jobs imply a decline in security issues?
According to the report, the space still has scaling issues and security concerns although sectors such as finance, healthcare, and gaming are increasingly implementing decentralised finance, signaling the growing demand for jobs.
While blockchain development promises to be an exciting new field of work and offers tremendous scope for application, the sector is still very nascent,'' said Kumar.
First Published:Jun 21, 2022, 03:44 PM IST
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Cryptocurrency jobs jumped 15 times in 3 years with these roles in most demand - CNBCTV18
A crypto lending app tried to take over a ‘whale’ account to stop it from collapsing the system – CNBC
The logo of cryptocurrency platform Solana.
Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto via | Getty Images
Decentralized finance platforms are going to extreme lengths to limit the fallout from a sell-off in cryptocurrencies.
Solend, a lending platform built on the Solana blockchain, tried to gain control of its largest account, a so-called "whale" investor that it said could significantly influence market movements.
Solend's users have since voted to block the move.
Solend is a DeFi app that lets users borrow and lend funds without having to go through intermediaries.
Solend said a single whale is sitting on an "extremely large margin position," potentially putting the protocol and its users at risk. "In the worst case, Solend could end up with bad debt," the firm said. "This could cause chaos, putting a strain on the Solana network."
The account concerned had deposited 5.7 million sol tokens into Solend, accounting for more than 95% of deposits. Against that, it was borrowing $108 million in the stablecoins USDC and ether.
If sol's price sank below $22.30, 20% of the account's collateral about $21 million is at risk of being liquidated, Solend said. Sol was trading at a price of $34.49 on Monday.
On Sunday, Solend passed a proposal granting it emergency powers to take over the whale account, an unprecedented move in the DeFi world.
Solend said the measure would allow it to liquidate the whale's assets via "over-the-counter" transactions as opposed to on-exchanges trades to avoid a possible cascade of liquidations.
The move led to a backlash on Twitter, with some questioning Solend's decentralization. One of DeFi's core tenets is that it's meant to do away with centralized institutions like banks.
By Monday, however, Solend's users were asked to vote on a new proposal to overturn the earlier vote. The community overwhelming voted in favor, with 99.8% voting "yes."
The debacle is a sign of how DeFi a kind of "Wild West" where users take it on themselves to conduct trades and loans peer-to-peer has gotten caught up in the crypto meltdown.
MakerDAO, the creator of a dollar-pegged stablecoin called DAI, recently disabled a feature that allowed traders to borrow DAI against staked ether, a derivative token causing mayhem in the crypto market.
StETH is meant to be worth the same as ether, but it's been trading at a widening discount to the second-biggest cryptocurrency. Moving in and out of stETH isn't easy, and that's resulted in liquidity issues at large crypto lenders and hedge funds like Celsius and Three Arrows Capital.
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A crypto lending app tried to take over a 'whale' account to stop it from collapsing the system - CNBC
ProShares to launch bitcoin ETF aimed at shorting the cryptocurrency – Mint
Eight months after launching the first Bitcoin futures ETF, ProShares, a provider of bitcoin-linked exchange traded funds (ETF), announced on Monday that it plans to launch an ETF aimed at shorting the world's largest cryptocurrency.
Called the ProShares Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the fund will provide a way for investors to potentially profit from a decline in the price of bitcoin or hedge their cryptocurrency exposure with an ETF, the company said in a statement. It is further intended to address the challenge of acquiring short exposure to bitcoin, which can be onerous and expensive for many investors.
"As recent times have shown, bitcoin can drop in value," said ProShares CEO Michael Sapir, in a statement. "BITI enables investors to conveniently obtain short exposure to bitcoin through buying an ETF in a traditional brokerage account."
For investors who prefer a mutual fund, ProFunds, the affiliated mutual fund company of ProShares, plans to launch Short Bitcoin Strategy ProFund (BITIX) on Tuesday. The BITIX mutual fund will have the same investment objective as BITI. BITI will be the first ETF of its kind in the US.
BITI is designed to deliver the opposite of the performance of the S&P CME Bitcoin Futures Index and seeks to obtain exposure through bitcoin futures contracts, the company said.
In October last year, ProShares launched the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the first US bitcoin-linked ETF, attracting more than $1 billion in assets from the public in two days.
The crypto market, however, is currently in a free fall, with bitcoin leading the way. Bitcoin dropped below the key $20,000 level for the first time since December 2020. On Monday, it hit a session low of $19,616.10 and was last down 2.2% at $20,112.
Since the beginning of the year, bitcoin has lost 59% of its value against the US dollar. Digital assets have been selling off all year along with other risky holdings as global central banks have shifted to hiking interest rates to quell soaring inflation.
Developments like lender Celsius freezing withdrawals and decentralized-finance applications taking unprecedented measures to protect themselves against cascading liquidations have injected further uncertainty into the industry.
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ProShares to launch bitcoin ETF aimed at shorting the cryptocurrency - Mint
Cloudflare Outage Brings Several Cryptocurrency Exchanges And Websites To A Halt – TronWeekly
Cloudflare, a major internet infrastructure provider, recently encountered extensive issues, causing several crypto exchanges to go down.
The content delivery network (CDN) revealed in a Tuesday update that it is experiencing problems with its services and network and that a remedy is in the works. However, the company has yet to explain what went wrong, resulting in the suspension of services throughout the world.
The Cloudflare team is aware of the current service issues and is working to resolve as quickly as possible. Updates can be followed here. https://t.co/22Yiyu3lKJ
FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Twitter that many individuals would have difficulty accessing its platform and other sites, alleging that the exchange is currently in post-only mode. Bitfinex and OKEx, two cryptocurrency exchanges, also tweeted about the problem, with the latter inquiring whether there would be a Web3 option in the future.
Cloudflare, which went public around three years ago, provides businesses with a web network infrastructure that allows them to publish their content online. Security services, such as distributed denial of service protection, are also provided by the infrastructure (DDOS).
Binance seems to be unaffected, and one user asked CZ, Why are all exchanges down except yours? For this, CZ replied:
Not perfect, CMC is affected.
This isnt the only time a Cloudfare disruption has reverberated across the cryptocurrency community. A similar disruption pulled Bitfinex, Coinbase, and other big websites to a stop in August 2020.
Aside from crypto exchanges, additional sites and applications with 500 internal server errors are now unavailable, including Indian brokerages Zerodha and Upstox, as well as messaging platform Discord.
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Cloudflare Outage Brings Several Cryptocurrency Exchanges And Websites To A Halt - TronWeekly