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Showing posts with the label users

Report reveals reason why wallet users lose crypto

Loading fake wallet apps on search engines is why many people lose coins. According to Bitrace, Telegram often implements malicious backdoors that identify surrogate addresses and cause funds to be sent to malicious addresses. The reason is that the anonymous nature of the blockchain network makes it difficult for ordinary investors and investigators to establish a connection between an on-chain address and a real person. Thereby, they miss the opportunity to freeze losses promptly. “Investors and investigators need to consider how to perceive threats before risky activity occurs, and monitor and promptly recover losses after they occur.” Bitrace Experts note that various search engines are fertile ground for the proliferation of fake websites. Fraudsters use SEO and SEM to promote phishing links online. You might also like: How blockchain security experts investigate hacks | Interview Clipboard hijacking is another classic attack method in which malware takes contro...

Friend.Tech hype dies down as transactions and users drop 90%

A few weeks ago, the BitClout-like Friend.Tech launched its beta on Coinbase ’s new blockchain, a corporate version of Ethereum’s Optimism roll-up called Base. Friend.Tech quickly picked up steam as social media influencers sold shares in their online profiles to early speculators. Although Friend.Tech renamed ‘shares’ to ‘keys’ a few days after launch, it communicated to users that they participate financially in the X (formerly Twitter) influencers in whom they own shares (keys). Referral codes posted on X were snapped up quickly as personalities included pro sports players and OnlyFans creators joined. Revealingly, adult performers and crypto promoters are the two most valuable categories of Friend.Tech profiles today. Friend.Tech registrants lose money and leave Base Creating a Friend.Tech account isn’t the same as becoming a regular user. Indeed, many registrants never advanced past the screen that required them to send ETH in order to buy shar...

Optimism transactions surpass Arbitrum, but what’s behind the uptick in users?

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Transactions on Optimism recently eclipsed the Arbitrum network, but do the project’s fundamentals support a sustainable growth trajectory? Optimism (OP) is a Layer 2 scaling solution, which operates as a separate blockchain built on top of Ethereum. Despite having a smaller total value locked (TVL) than its rivals, Optimism may still have the potential to thrive in the increasingly competitive DeFi landscape.  Being one of the pioneers in the DeF space, Optimism initially gained an initial but had to contend with fierce competition. The project has been trailing behind other scaling solutions in terms of daily transaction s for the past six months. However, in late July, the situation changed as Optimism finally overtook its main competitor Arbitrum and is showing signs of increasing demand from users . The rise of Layer 2 scaling solutions The increase in Layer 2 activity on Ethereum has been significant, surpassing mainnet activity by more than four times, according to data from L...

Seized exchange Bitzlato allows users to withdraw 50% of Bitcoin

Bitzlato is yet to resolve the issue with the remaining 50% of user funds and may eventually compensate using its own funds. Russia-linked cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato has managed to partly restore access to user funds despite being officially seized by European authorities. Bitzlato has enabled its users to withdraw up to 50% of assets that were stuck on the platform due to enforcement from the United States and Europol, the firm announced on its Telegram channel on March 20. According to the statement, Bitzlato users are now able to restore a half of their assets using the Telegram bot @bz_phoenix_bot, which allows users to move assets from the web Bitzlato account to an external wallet or an exchange . All withdrawals from Bitzlato are processed in Bitcoin (BTC) as the platform converted all altcoin holdings by users into BTC at the time the service was halted on Jan. 18. According to the firm, Bitzlato had to convert user balances into Bitcoin due to technical difficulties a...

Hope Finance exploit results in $2M stolen from users' funds

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An Arbitrum-based algorithmic stablecoin project has fallen prey to a smart contract exploit, seeing $2 million stolen from users. Prospective users of an Arbitrum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) project have been left out of pocket following a $2 million exploit . Web3 security firm CertiK flagged the incident on Feb. 21, following an announcement from the Hope Finance Twitter account notifying users that they had been scammed. #CommunityAlert @hope_fin have announced the community has been scammed for ~$2m making this the largest #exitscam on Arbitrum in 2023. $1.86m was transferred to @TornadoCash. Hope_fin have posted steps for user's to withdraw their staked LPhttps://t.co/hJbFXiKujt — CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) February 21, 2023 Details of the project are difficult to come by. The platform’s Twitter account was launched in January 2023 and outlined plans for an algorithmic stablecoin called $HOPE which dynamically adjusts its supply relative to the price of ETH....

Wyre imposes up to a 90% withdrawal limit for all users

Wyre imposed a daily withdrawal limit on its platform subject, citing “the best interest of our community.” Crypto payment platform Wyre modified its withdraw al policy to limit users from cashing out up to 90% of their assets just days after two former employees allegedly hinted the possibility of a shutdown. On Jan. 7, 2023, Wyre imposed a withdrawal limit on its platform, citing “the best interest of our community.” Following the policy modification, Wyre users can withdraw up to 90% of their crypto funds as the company explores strategic options to circumvent the prolonged bear market. We are modifying our withdrawal policy. While customers will continue to be able to withdraw their funds, at this time, we are limiting withdrawals to no more than 90% of the funds currently in each customer account, subject to current daily limits. — Wyre (@sendwyre) January 7, 2023 In addition, the company appointed Yanni Giannaros, Wyre’s chief risk officer and compliance officer, as the int...

New NFT private auction scam threatens OpenSea users

Phishing sites are making the private auction feature look like a way to log in, luring victims to give up their NFTs unknowingly. As nonfungible tokens (NFTs) became more popular, bad actors who constantly try to exploit users within the space have become more active. Now, a new hack involving a feature on the NFT marketplace OpenSea threatens NFT holders through phishing sites.  In an announcement, anti-theft project Harpie warned NFT users of a new hack involving gasless sales on the OpenSea platform. According to Harpie, hackers were able to steal millions in digital assets by exploiting the feature. When users want to conduct gasless sales within the OpenSea platform, they are required to approve a signature request with an unreadable message. With this feature, users are also able to allowed to create private auctions with unreadable signatures. Hackers have been able to steal NFTs like magic with a little-known OpenSea feature. It's the newest hack, and multiple millions ...