Here are the major events happening in the crypto-verse, the news you should be aware of: price action, Bitcoin hits $15k in Lebanon, ETH mining becoming centralized, Lendf.me hack, and much more. Read on to find the latest and don't lose track of this ultra fast-moving industry.
BTC, ETH price action
Bitcoin slightly built on its gain from last week to close at around $7,600, gaining about $400 during the period. It suffered a dip at the beginning of the week before surging back up later on. The United States and other governments recently released stimulus packages to help alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their citizens. There is talk that some of the money went into cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum maintained its momentum from last week. It started the week in the $180s and is inching closer to $200 as the weeks' end.
Lendf.me hacked; stolen $25m later returned
This is quite funny.
Lendf.me, a protocol on a DeFi, dForce, was hackedlast weekend.
The hacker made away with $25m of investors funds. It seems the DeFi was lax with security.
However, two days later, the hacker miraculously returned the money. Word on the street was that they didn’t clean their tracks and left their IP address somewhere behind. Fear of being tracked down and prosecuted made them change their mind.
LOL.
Bitcoin hits $15k in Lebanon
Bitcoin traded for almost $15klast week in Lebanon as the country battles a currency crisis. The Lebanese Pound has crashed by almost 50% from its dollar-pegged value since October 2019, causing inflation and social unrest.
Figures from LocalBitcoins.com show people selling BTC for as high as 22,678,227.03 LBP per token, which roughly equals $15,000. That’s twice as much as its international rate of $7.5k.
In Venezuela, another country battling an economic crisis, Bitcoin is trading up to $8.5k.
$52m EOS exit scam
A Chinese-based EOS ecosystem wallet has suddenly shut down operations, in what looks like an exit scam. The wallet founder has disappeared, along with about $52 million worth of user funds.
The wallet grew by promising outstanding returns for prospective users when they make deposits.
Crypto world = Wild wild west.
Ripple is suing YouTube
Ripple has dragged YouTube to court after accusing it of tolerating videos of XRP scammers. These scammers have been impersonating Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse on YouTube of late.
Garlinghouse said these scammers are damaging his brand and is asking that YouTube not profit off of these channels, considering they likely pay the platform to promote themselves.
ETH mining getting centralized
The Ethereum mining ecosystem is getting centralized. According to recent reports, two pools - Spark Pool and Ethermine now make up over 50% of the hash rate on Ethereum.
This is a call for concern but then Ethereum is planning for ETH 2.0, an upgrade that will abolish the PoW mining system and establish a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism.
China unveils test phase for state-owned ‘crypto’
China is rolling out a pilot phasefor its aforementioned digital yuan initiative. State-owned commercial banks are also developing wallet applications for the digital yuan, also known as DC/EP.
19 restaurants, including Starbucks and McDonald's, and other retail outlets will be involved in testing the currency in the Xiong'An new district.
BTC: Scammer’s COVID-19 website frozen by US govt
A scammer who wanted to sell a fake COVID-19 website for Bitcoin has had the domain name frozenby the United States authorities.
The scammers were charging $500 payable in bitcoin for the domain (such domains are usually closer to $20).
News From
Emmanuel O.
