HACKS, CENSURE, CENSORSHIP IS RIFE — DECENTRALIZED SOCIAL MEDIA ARISING TO COUNTER CHAOTIC MAINSTREAM MEDIA

July 15th, 2020 will most likely go down in history as one of the worst days for Twitter in its 14-year reign as the platform that everybody who’s anybody has an active profile and trusts that their account is secure. It is known as the political discussion platform that world leaders use among other high-profile celebrities and apart from Twitter using its power to effectively flag and censor content they deem disinformation or not acceptable by their standards, it seems hackers can also mess with the accounts.   

An overwhelming hack that was reportedly taking advantage of internal tools by convincing a Twitter employee to assist in the hijacking of many high-profile accounts which enabled the hackers to take control and solicit Bitcoin donations. Among compromised accounts were those of U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden, former U.S. President Barack Obama, Google, Apple, Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, Kanye, and Kim West along with many well-known people in the crypto space. 

 

 

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The scale of the attack was enormous but apparently the financial reward was minimal. These hackers brought a $28 billion company to its knees but it seems they only collected a trifling $120,000 in Bitcoin. 

Twitter’s reputation is the real casualty as the impacts are multifold. It’s now evident the hackers had access to private communications for the accounts they penetrated and could’ve been used for much more destructive nature than just scamming crypto. Nevertheless, high-profile accounts were embarrassed, associated with scammers, and locked out of their account, regardless of any security measures they may have taken.  

Given the nature and standing of the users, it’s a mystery how and why it’s even possible for Twitter employees to usurp any account on the platform. While hacks of centralized services are quite common these days, they are rarely broadcasted in such a direct, explosive manner in real-time. 

This period of chaos and confusion went on for several hours and the hits on more accounts continued. Twitter’s response was slow and disorderly and although they must’ve been aware of what was happening, they were either unable or unwilling to shut down the platform during the pandemonium. If the report from vice.com Motherboard is accurate regarding the hackers having assistance from a Twitter employee on the inside, it makes Twitter’s controls look exceptionally weak. 

Accidental Reveal

Furthermore leaked screenshots revealed more information about Twitter’s secretive abilities to control accounts and narratives on the site. This is most damning as it is evidence that Twitter is aggressively deleting from the site and contains such keywords as ‘trends blacklist’ and ‘search blacklist’ which seems to show that Twitter does exercise some editorial bias at what content receives algorithmic boosting and what doesn’t.

This accidental reveal of Twitter’s deboosting tools will strengthen the critics’ view that Twitter is a partisan, editorializing service rather than the neutral one it claims to be. It has also been aggressively pursuing more controls alongside algorithmic, rather than chronological timelines. 

Fact-checking handled by the Moments team at Twitter is a bone of contention. It’s a challenge in areas like science and medicine, where respected authorities enforce established standards of knowledge, but it’s almost impossible in politics.

For instance, flagging President Trump’s Tweets was gutsy but seen as clumsy and although they may be experts on compiling social media posts arranging them into a narrative, it hardly qualifies them as master arbiters of truth.

Plus there’s more direct intervention in trending topics and when you consider that all of these measures make up an arsenal to control speech, it seems the perfect juncture for an autocratic oligarch to censure any discourse involving influential people. 

 

Time To Move On

We’ve come a long way since the first video of a day at the zoo on YouTube, another tech giant receiving bad press for its censorship, which has escalated into class-action lawsuits. What started out as a novel way to communicate, find friends, and deemed as “fun”, is now hazardous to our health, wellbeing, and privacy, even livelihood. 

We have been subject to numerous breaches of trust, and control by the centralized big tech platforms that have become commercialized and overtly politicized, and therefore intervene in political disputes by de-boosting particular topics and also selectively banning individuals, in some cases companies with a concept, idea or technology that threatens the status quo. 

There is growing unrest among users on these platforms that have an established model of total control, including ownership of all users’ content which retains the discretion to both monetize or “cash in” on user-contributed content and kick users off the platform for any reason.

Property rights of users’ content creation should extend to these social media platforms, however, given the current balance of power between the users and platforms, it’s not likely to happen within the current crop internet oligarchs still in the centralized Web 2.0 era. 

Instead, we are seeing a number of social media and video platforms that are censorship-resistant with a focus on privacy emerging.

 

Snapshot of LBRY.TV homepage

LBRY.TV, a video-sharing platform is decentralized with its neutral protocol that allows anyone to post content without reprisal, and stores this information on an immutable blockchain. According to CEO, Jeremy Kauffman, every time a crypto personality gets banned from a big tech platform LBRY has an influx of new users. He says, 

 “If platforms want to make the error of enforcing their political biases on their users, let the free market provide competitors like LBRY that make this problem obsolete. Innovations like LBRY make it so that the interference of Twitter and YouTube is technologically impossible.” 

Notably, LBRY specifies the wanton power to censor and deplatform that centralized platforms apply is one of its motivations for being here and is experiencing positive growth.

 

Snapshot of Minds.com newsfeed

MINDS.COM is a blogging platform that emphasizes its minimization of privacy concerns and self-described as a free “crypto social network” that upholds internet freedom. Founder and CEO, Bill Ottman aims to provide a spying free alternative to mainstream social media and pointed out that surveillance by default with little transparency into how a user’s data is used and sold. He says,

“The growth is typically a direct result of scandals with mainstream media platforms. Every day there’s a new scandal. People are looking for alternatives and want to diversify … The trend is towards open source. We’ve seen this happen in other areas already.”

The Minds platform has plans to add several new features this year and is researching the possibility of a decentralized reputation system. Meanwhile, its growth continues as it is currently trying to attract users from India where the government has banned 59 Chinese apps at the end of June this year. 

Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention

Since working and earning a living from home particularly online-based has become more popular and seen as a necessity in a growing number of cases, there is a platform focused on developing a complete self-sovereign ecosystem for the entrepreneur of all niches and individuals from all walks of life at any level of expertise. It does not discriminate. 

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Snapshot of Markethive.com newsfeed

MARKETHIVE.COM is the not-so-vertical social market network media broadcasting platform that encompasses all facets of inbound marketing and digital media, built on the blockchain and takes privacy, transparency, censorship, and the ability for users to attain financial freedom very seriously. 

With a built-in newsfeed and messaging system enabling users to collaborate, along with a philosophy, in which users can freely associate and disassociate with — but not ban — other accounts, allows for the coexistence of mutually acrimonious individuals without relying on censorship from management. 

Founder and CEO, Thomas Prendergast says Markethive is a sanctuary to the millions who struggle. Markethive is just getting started. People have been making money with Markethive for years as an inbound marketing platform and saving money from tools that elsewhere would cost a lot of money. Today it has evolved into so much more including storefronts enabling the users to establish or participate in cottage businesses under the Markethive umbrella. He says,

“Markethive is a philanthropic endeavor. To give, not take, to help not exploit. Markethive is a vision with a mission — To empower and bring prosperity to every living soul with a purpose…even if that purpose is only to be free from the shackles of the Social Media tyranny we all face.” 

Still, in BETA, the continuous growth of Markethive is noteworthy as all aspects of the free inbound marketing systems are currently operational along with the micropayment faucet system and airdrops, with the release of the wallets and messenger app just around the corner. Markethive is also preparing for its video platform, conference hub, and ecommerce APIs, along with numerous loyalty programs.

The image below is a comparison chart of leading platforms in the industry and what they offer.

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Problem Solved 

Each of these platforms has a monetary incentive in the form of their own cryptocurrency with its primary purpose to free and empower the people and with the politicization of Facebook, Google, and other social media giants, Web 3.0 with crypto is a sign of the times upon us. 

Although there is pressure on the tech giants from critics to stop their behavior and implement some form of decentralization, many say this would not be an easy task and not likely to happen. Even if they did, the way they behave in so many other ways is questionable. 

It has become evident that the solution to an overbearing problem is a social internet built on a decentralized blockchain where users can own and operate without the risk of losing their fundamental right to free speech, sovereignty with a capacity to prosper on all levels. 

This is a new era with the evolution of technology and the next generation. What would be even better is if these stand-alone vertical platforms work towards becoming interoperable thereby creating a collaborative network across the internet.

 

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Deb Williams
A Crypto/Blockchain enthusiast and a strong advocate for technology, progress, and freedom of speech. I embrace "change" with a passion and my purpose in life is to help people understand, accept, and move forward with enthusiasm to achieve their goals. 

How Billion-Dollar Crypto Scams Lure Victims

In the past week, reports emerged that some key members of the Onecoin scam were found dead in Mexico.

According to reports, the two Oscar Brito Ibarra and Ignacio Ibarra may have been kidnapped and murdered but the motives behind their murder is unclear.

Onecoin is one of the biggest cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes that creamed off billions from victims even as reports emerged that it was a scam. News.Bitcoin.com has extensively covered the story of Onecoin.

While increasing awareness about cryptocurrencies helps to reduce the chances of people falling for scams, it seems this alone may not be enough.

Sophisticated criminals are still able to package scams that will deceive even the smartest investors or individuals that should “know better.”

Besides Onecoin, there a few more crypto scams that took billions from victims. This article looks at some of the biggest crypto Ponzi schemes and how they lured millions without getting caught.

Billion-dollar crypto scams

In 2019 authorities in China apprehended individuals behind Plus Token as they took down one of the biggest crypto Ponzi schemes seen in Asia yet. Reports in the Chinese media suggest Plus Token promoters may have defrauded as much as $3 billion from unsuspecting investors.

A blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis corroborates the media reports although it settles for $2 billion as the total amount stolen. Chainalysis claims it tracked a total of about 180,000 bitcoin, 6,400,000 ethereum, 111,000 tether and 53 omisego.

Either figure still makes Plus Token one of the biggest crypto scam to date. Although the Ponzi outfit exit scammed, some the stolen funds are still stationed in wallets associated with the scheme, presumably waiting to be cashed out.

In June, reports surfaced that funds associated with Plus Token were moving to exchanges.

Another billion-dollar scam that stole funds from investors is Bitconnect. It is said that in just over a year, the scam had managed to propel itself from an obscure ICO to a crypto project valued at $2.6 billion.

Despite this, Bitconnect still had content with the ignominy of being labeled a scam even at its heyday. Still, promoters undeterred went on to create a media platform to counter negative stories that were circulating.

Finally, after facing relentless media scrutiny as well as growing pressure from regulators, Bitconnect abruptly shut down in January 2018. It blamed the “bad press” for its troubles. Investors lost savings.

Common methods used by scammers

The three billion dollar scams used methods commonly employed by typical large scale Ponzi schemes. Firstly, criminals prey on two inherent human flaws, greed, and lust for “easy” money.

For example, Bitconnect managed to keep new investors coming on board because it promised a rate of return of 0.25% per day.

While this promise might look surreal, it is also true that investors like “passive incomes” that reward with a high return on equity. Many did join and became affiliates of Bitconnect.

Ordinarily, a potential investor must conduct a due diligence exercise and the necessary research before committing to investing.

So while it may seem logical to invest in something that one understands, the reality is scammers count on people not doing any research.

Scammers know that the promise of a “significant return” is enough to attract hordes of new investors. Logic is usually sacrificed.

In-person meetups and crypto education campaigns

Meanwhile, the Plus Token scam, which also used similar tactics to seduce millions of unsuspecting investors, went a step further.

According to a report by Chainalysis, the scam’s ringleaders went the extra mile in their efforts to portray the scam as a legitimate investment business.

For example, Plus Token hosted several in-person meet-ups educating attendees on the company and cryptocurrency as a whole. It also took out ads in supermarkets and other physical spaces.

The Plus Token app itself was another marketing channel.

Perhaps the most brazen act by one member of the Plus Token team has to be the use of photos that feature Prince Charles of England, to bolster the public perception of the scam.

The use of prominent figures is indeed a growing tactic used by other scammers to woo new investors. The recent Twitter donation scam used a tactic known as trust trading to steal funds from unsuspecting individuals.

Supporting the notion that scammers prey on the lure of “high returns and zero risks” is Dmytro Volkov, CTO at CEX.io.

The lure of exceptionally high returns is enough to make investors ignore any negative reports about an investment opportunity they may have heard. In fact, it matters little that the organization in question has been flagged by regulators. As long as it promises big, investors will not be concerned.

Volkov gives an example of Onecoin which appears to be active despite the high profile arrests and court cases that made global headlines.

“Sometimes people even take risks deliberately, despite realizing that there is a danger of dealing with scammers. This is because the potential profit, as they see it, is worth it,” Volkov points out.

Aggressive recruitment of new affiliates

Multilevel marketing (MLM) is another strategy that is common with the three giant Ponzi schemes.

Marketers will shill the business opportunity and aggressively recruit new affiliates. Lies and misrepresentations are employed to entice investors to join. Social media channels are also used to recruit new affiliates.

Incoming affiliates are heavily encouraged to recruit soft targets like friends or family members.

That is how Aniekan Fyneface, crypto, and blockchain blogger from Nigeria, joined an infamous Ponzi scheme. Fyneface says he lost all his investment when the MMM Ponzi scheme collapsed in Nigeria.

Fyneface explains that in times of economic recessions, Ponzi schemes such as MMM and Onecoin were seen as legitimate income sources by many Nigerians. This perhaps explains the high number of people that still join Ponzi scams in that country.

However, Fyneface is also convinced that greed is a factor.

Associating legitimate cryptos with scams

In the meantime, Fyneface reveals another tactic employed by MMM scammers to lure unsuspecting victims.

“It is important to note that as bad as MMM was in Nigeria, it gave me and many Nigerians our first exposure to bitcoin. People were able to provide help with not only the Nigeria Naira but they could this with bitcoin which is denominated in US dollars,” explains Fyneface.

Associating scams with financial innovations helps to mask any telltale signs that might give away the con. MMM’s association with bitcoin helped to keep the scam going much longer.

Unless investors start learning these common tactics there will be no shortage of new scam victims.

What other methods do scammers use to lure new victims? Tell us your views in the comments section below.

 

South Korea to Charge 20% Tax on Bitcoin Profits Under New Law

South Korea will now tax profits made from buying and selling of cryptocurrency at 20% after the government agreed to the decision on Wednesday.

The decision was reached after months of debate. According to a taxation policy amendment notice released July 22, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said income from digital assets below 2.5 million won per year (around $2,000) will not be taxed.

Annual earnings above this threshold will be taxed at 20%, it said. This puts crypto tax at the same level as other taxable income in the Asian country, even though it is not necessarily viewed as capital gains. In Korea, profits from the sale of bitcoin (BTC) and other virtual assets are considered as ‘other income’, just as in Japan.

Under the new rules, investors residing outside of South Korea as well as foreign companies trading on local exchanges will be subject to the tax. Exchange operators are expected to deduct the tax from gains made from trading on behalf of the Korean tax agency.

The revised tax code now awaits parliamentary approval. Once approved, the tax will come into effect from October 1, 2021. Officials said in May that the changes to the tax law have been prompted by the idea of applying “tax where income is located”.

The Korean government has attempted to tax bitcoin and other cryptos in the past, most recently in January, but failed to enforce the regulations, reportedly because different government ministries could not agree whether bitcoin was an asset or not.

What do you think about cryptocurrency taxation in South Korea? Let us know in the comments section below.

 

As Analytics And Privacy Efforts Clash, Which Path Will Bitcoin Take?

Two pieces of Bitcoin news this week seemed to point toward conflicting trends that are central to this era of the technology. As Bitcoin becomes more popular, regulators are seeking ways to monitor its use while, at the same time, more development and user effort is being pointed toward obscuring that use. It’s a battle that is likely to escalate for some time, and Bitcoiners are optimistic that their privacy efforts will ultimately stay one step ahead of the gatekeepers.

Coinbase Is Giving Blockchain Analytics Tools To The U.S. Secret Service 

With some 35 million users and more than $7 billion in custody, Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Established in 2012 with a mission to offer bitcoin investment more widely than ever to that point, it also enjoyed a special prominence among new bitcoin investors thanks to its early entry in the space and relative ease of use — at least until the exchange market got a little more crowded.

It would be hard to call the exchange popular among Bitcoiners at this point. Its collection of user KYC data, listing of altcoins, and controversial acquisition of blockchain analytics firm Neutrino in July 2019 have led some prominent voices in the space to speak out against it.

Still, a public record that surfaced this week indicating that Coinbase is providing blockchain analytics software to the U.S. Secret Service signaled a surprisingly non-Bitcoin move from the exchange. The contract shows that the Secret Service granted a $183,750, four-year contract to Coinbase, effective in May 2020 and running until May 2024, to access its Coinbase Analytics software. It’s been rumored that Coinbase has been seeking such a contract ever since it acquired Neutrino and the exchange has said that Coinbase Analytics is separated from its internal data and that it’s fully sourced from what’s already publicly available. Plus, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has been vocal about defending it.

But this public record now makes it official: the very gatekeepers that many Bitcoin users seek freedom from are in business with one of the space’s largest exchanges.

Meanwhile, Darknet Transfers And Mixing Are Surging

It seems notable that, as news of Coinbase’s deal with the devil surfaced, so did a report that darknet bitcoin activity grew in the first quarter of 2020.

According to Crystal Blockchain, a blockchain analytics service developed by Bitfury, “the amount of bitcoin sent to mixers by darknet entities rose significantly this year — from 790 total bitcoin in Q1 2019 to 7,946 bitcoin in Q1 2020. The same growth was also observed in USD — an increase from $3m in Q1 2019 to $67m in Q1 2020. This indicates a rapid adoption of crypto mixing services by darknet entities.”

Bitcoin mixers are software or services that allow users to mix their bitcoin with others, thus obscuring where the bitcoin has come from, what it has previously been used for and, potentially, whether it was ever provided as payment for illegal services. Mixing has emerged as one of the premier methods for combating the rise in blockchain analytics development that is meant to track the use of bitcoin and flag any illegal activity. 

Though the report notes that the amount of BTC transferred between darknet entities declined in the first quarter of 2020, the value of that BTC grew by 65 percent — and not just because the price of bitcoin went up.

“If we consider the amounts in USD, we see that darknet entities received and sent an increased amount of money — from $384m in Q1 2019 to $411m in Q1 2020,” per the report. “This is partly explained by the growing capitalization of bitcoin, as well as further mass adoption of bitcoin. As it becomes increasingly easier to use cryptocurrency, the popularity of this payment method is steadily increasing.”

It should be no surprise that the increasing ease of use for bitcoin is leading to more darknet activity that leverages it. But it also seems that, despite the development and spread of blockchain analytics tools, users are going to find ways to leverage bitcoin in obscured ways.

In many ways, Bitcoin has moved far beyond the early narratives that it is simply “dark web drug money.” But as it becomes better recognized by mainstream investors and institutions, this ongoing battle between those who want to track its use and those who want to continue to enjoy its pseudonymous freedoms will rage.

 

Written by PETER CHAWAGA 
Peter Chawaga is a senior editor at Bitcoin Magazine. He HODLs BTC.

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/as-analytics-and-privacy-efforts-clash-which-path-will-bitcoin-take

 

Here's How to Check If a Bitcoin Address Is a Scam

 

With the rapid rise in the number of bitcoin scams, there are easy ways to check if a bitcoin address has been reported as being used by scammers, such as in fake bitcoin giveaways. You can also easily report any bitcoin address associated with a scam.

Check the ‘Bitcoin Abuse’ Database

The number of bitcoin scams has been rapidly rising. Many of them ask people to send bitcoin to the addresses they provide, such as bitcoin giveaway scams that promise to double the amount of bitcoin you send. The great Twitter hack last week, for example, had many high-profile accounts tweet about fake bitcoin giveaways.

Before sending your bitcoin to an address, you can check to see if that address has been reported as one being used in a scam. Bitcoin Abuse is a popular website with a public database of bitcoin addresses used by hackers and criminals. You can look up a bitcoin address, report a scam address, and monitor addresses reported by others.

If the bitcoin address you are searching on the site has been reported by others, the site will display information, such as the number of times the address has been reported, the last report date and time, the total amount of bitcoin it has received, and the number of transactions. There will also be a link to Blockchain.info for you to track the transactions for the address. The site will also display all the reports filed on the address.

Bitcoin Abuse’s entry for bc1qxy2kgdygjrsqtzq2n0yrf2493p83kkfjhx0wlh, a BTC address used in the great Twitter hack’s bitcoin giveaway scam.

The Bitcoin Abuse website also provides some statistics on the number of bitcoin scams reported. At press time, there have been 156 reports in the last day, 989 in the last week, and 4,112 in the last month.

Bitcoin Abuse’s chart of how many reports it received in the past 30 days.

Check With ‘Scam Alert’

Another website where you can easily look up a bitcoin address is Scam Alert, a recently-launched platform created by blockchain tracking and analytics provider Whale Alert. The site explains that its “mission is to make blockchain safer to use for everyone by exposing scammers and other criminals who abuse it.” Users are encouraged to “Report scams, thefts and fraudulent websites involving any blockchain or cryptocurrency.”

When inputting an address that has been reported as one used by scammers, the site will immediately pop up a message that reads: “Confirmed scam … This address has been confirmed by Scam Alert as a scam. Do not send any payments to this address.”

You can also view the scam report on the address that shows information such as a description of the scam, any associated websites, the number of times it has been reported, and the lifetime earnings of the address in U.S. dollars.

Scam Alert’s entry for bc1qxy2kgdygjrsqtzq2n0yrf2493p83kkfjhx0wlh.

The Scam Alert website also provides some useful information about different types of crypto scams, such as sextortion, ransomware, Ponzi schemes, giveaways, dark web, and theft. It offers some basic scam prevention advice, such as “don’t trust anyone” and “verify.” The site’s list of the top 10 scam addresses shows that the most successful scams based on funds received are Ponzi schemes, fake exchanges, and fake bitcoin giveaways.

Youtube also has plenty of bitcoin scams, particularly fake giveaways, both in videos and ads. Scammers would claim that famous people are giving away bitcoin, such as Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Virgin Galactic chairman Chamath Palihapitiya, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The fake Elon Musk BTC giveaway is one of the most successful bitcoin scams, having raked in millions of dollars.

 

Before last week’s Twitter hack, Whale Alert reported on July 10 that is had “been able to confirm 38 million US dollar in bitcoin alone stolen by scammers over the past 4 years (excluding Ponzi schemes, which are a billion-dollar industry on their own), 24 million of which during the first 6 months of 2020.”

There are many other schemes aimed at tricking you to send them your bitcoin. As news.Bitcoin.com previously reported, they include Bitcoin Trader, Bitcoin Revolution, Bitcoin Evolution, Moon Bitcoin Live, Bitcoin Loophole, Bitcoin Superstar, and Bitcoin Era. There are also plenty of bitcoin email scams. Many of them may even look legit, well-ranked by Google, with paid reviews on legitimate websites, such as the Associated Press. However, you are not likely to see any bitcoin returned if you send them your coins. One scam even leaked personal data of 250,00 people from 20 countries. Take caution and do your research before sending bitcoin to anyone.

What do you think about all these scams? Let us know in the comments section below.

 

WHAT MAKES MARKETHIVE GROUPS SO UNIQUE?

WHAT MAKES MARKETHIVE GROUPS SO UNIQUE?

MarketHive is a social marketing platform for entrepreneurs that has the combined power of Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketo and Amazon is the game changer in social Marketing network, the first of its kind in the industry, built on the block chain and made available 100% free to everyone.

Markethive Groups are somewhat similar to Facebook groups but can also be considered a self-replication system for capture pages, customized PDFs, video exchanges, training, autoresponder options, survey sites and capture forms customized exclusively for every member of the group. This is extremely powerful.

Integrated into Markethive Groups are the Capture Pages, Autoresponders with 98% deliverability, Blogcasting and a Blogging Platform where Blogs and Articles are easier to produce and more effective, integrated with Markethive SNAP Plugins creating incredible reach to potentially billions across the social media and blogging platforms achieving real SEO results. Also, Co-Op Marketing, and URL Rotators. This creates traction thereby yielding better results.

Plus, we are built on the Blockchain which allows Airdrops of 100 Markethive Coin (MHV) , upon joining and micropayments for using the tools mentioned above. This is all free to you.

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Blockchain analytics shows Twitter hackers are about to cash out Bitcoin proceeds

The attack on Twitter that took place earlier this week has once again made Bitcoin a topic of mainstream discussion — but not for a good reason.

A group of rogue hackers — who now appear to be a band of teenagers and 20 somethings who were just trying to make a quick buck, according to a New York Times report – took over the accounts of prominent individuals and companies, promoting a classic Bitcoin giveaway scam.

Despite wielding enough power to move markets, the hackers were only able to make away with just over $100,000 worth of Bitcoin — a testament to the spontaneous nature of this scheme.

It now appears that the ones who perpetrated this hack are in the process of laundering the Bitcoin proceeds, signaling that they are gearing up to cash them out via an exchange.

Twitter hackers receive a total of $121,000 worth of Bitcoin through 400 transactions 

Although the scope of the Twitter hack was massive and many compromised accounts shilled the crypto giveaway scam, the impacts were fairly minimal.

According to research from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the wallet addresses associated with the hackers only pulled in a total of $121,000 worth of Bitcoin from just over 400 payments.

This means that less than 400 people lost money as a result of the scams.
The analytics firm also revealed that the majority of the victims resided in Asia, followed by North America.

“Payments from Asia-based exchanges dominate, although this includes one single very large payment originating from a Japan-based exchange, worth $42,000. Other large contributions come from victims likely to be in North America — unsurprising given the Twitter accounts affected.”

 

Hacker’s BTC may soon be moved to exchanges

Naturally, the hackers needed to clean the stolen Bitcoin before moving it to exchanges.

Elliptic also revealed in its latest report that 22% of the obtained funds have now been moved to Wasabi Wallet — which is a type of wallet that hides transaction trails, making it difficult for the cryptocurrency to be traced.

“Elliptic has uncovered that at 3.39am UTC this morning 2.89 bitcoins, accounting for 22% of the funds obtained by the Twitter hacker, were sent to an address that we strongly believe to be part of a Wasabi Wallet.”

 
Once laundered through Wasabi or a mixing service, the next step will be to move the Bitcoin to exchanges to convert it to fiat currency.

CryptoSlate will provide any relevant updates once more knowledge regarding the whereabouts of the hacker’s Bitcoin is obtained.

Written by 
Cole Petersen
Journalist @ CryptoSlate

https://cryptoslate.com/blockchain-analytics-shows-twitter-hackers-are-about-to-cash-out-bitcoin-proceeds/

 

Report Shows Bitcoin’s Covid-19 Recovery Stronger Than Other Markets With Zero Intervention

The response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been ruthless on the global economy and during the last six months, traditional stocks and commodities have felt extreme market volatility. 
Coinshares published a comprehensive report this week in regard to how bitcoin performed during the coronavirus outbreak. The seven-page study highlights how bitcoin’s rebound to pre-Covid price levels has “unsurprisingly garnered attention amongst the investment community.”

Coinshares’ head of research Chris Bendiksen recently published a report that discusses how bitcoin (BTC) reacted to the coronavirus outbreak and the mid-March market volatility. Despite what critics like Peter Schiff say, BTC has outperformed a great number of global assets including gold since the March 12, 2020 (Black Thursday) market rout.

Gold’s price per ounce was $1,589, and the price has risen 13.90% to a high of $1,810 on July 17. Bitcoin (BTC) on the other hand slid to a low of $3,870 on Black Thursday sliding -49.39% that day. However, since then the price of BTC has increased 135% where it stands today at just above the $9,100 per coin region.

 

The report called “Understanding Bitcoin During the Covid Crisis” written by Bendiksen highlights “how resilient bitcoin can be.” Coinshares believes that the initial tumble on March 12 was “ignited by fear spreading from other markets.”

“It then became particularly severe due to bitcoin’s unique market structure,” Bendiksen’s report notes. “The overall usage of leverage in bitcoin spot and derivatives markets is generally large, but in the time leading into March 12 & 13, leverage levels were ​abnormally high,​ making them extra vulnerable to shocks.”

The report continues by adding:

"Interestingly, even after sustaining a drop of that magnitude, Bitcoin not only found a natural bottom, it vigorously rebounded over the succeeding weeks and liquidity levels have normalised. Not only does that demonstrate that what we observed was a market dislocation caused by exogenous shocks, not a broad revaluation, but it also shows that Bitcoin markets are highly resilient and self-correcting, even in the complete absence of external intervention."

 
Despite the swift rebound, the Coinshares researcher explained that due to “bitcoin’s market structure” not really changing, there’s little reason to doubt the March 12 volatility could happen again. Bendiksen says there were a number of things that happened prior to Black Thursday, which can be examined again for future volatility events.

 
The report details that traditional financial markets were on “shaky ground” in early March, and a “stampede for cash” took place after Europe and North America implemented the initial lockdowns.

But was really noticeable was the leverage levels in bitcoin markets prior to the Black Thursday fallout.

“In bitcoin markets, leverage had been building in various forms,” the report reveals. “USD lending rates on margin platforms were elevated, and Long/Short (L/S) ratios at spot exchanges such as Bitfinex were hovering at abnormally high levels. Having come down from twin peaks of almost 12x in late December and early January, L/S ratios spiked back above 9x in the weeks leading up to March 11. By March 17, the ratio had dropped to less than 2x.”

Bendiksen also stressed that the “situation on derivatives exchanges did not help” and the number of outstanding BTC-collateralized loans spiked to an all-time high before the March 12 event. Despite the -49.39% drop that day, Bendiksen said that BTC eventually found a bottom between $3,500 and $4,000 per coin.
 
Going forward, the Coinshares report said that monitoring leverage metrics will help gauge future volatility risk. Unlike traditional markets, BTC also didn’t get help from “external intervention” from organizations like the Fed, and “[bitcoin’s] recovery has been stronger and faster than almost all other markets,” the research paper highlights.

Bendiksen’s report concludes by saying:

"The continued and common usage of leverage in bitcoin markets means that the bitcoin price remains vulnerable to volatility spikes. If outside events of similar magnitude were to recur, it is not unlikely that bitcoin prices would behave in a similar way. Keeping an eye on these metrics should help in gauging ongoing volatility risk."

 

Article written by Jamie Redman

https://news.bitcoin.com/report-shows-bitcoins-covid-19-recovery-stronger-than-other-markets-with-zero-intervention/

 

Andries van Tonder

JOHN MCAFEE — A LIVING LEGEND NOW “GHOST”

John McAfee, founder of McAfee Associates and developer of the first antivirus software would have to be one of the most fascinating characters, principled but arguably has a unique set of values and jawdropping life experiences. In the eyes of some, he is a legend, for others, the most controversial figure that speaks his mind fervently. 

McAfee has had an eventful working life starting out as a door to door salesman, progressing to silicon valley working for numerous tech companies, and a software developer and cryptanalyst, with his biggest claim to fame being McAfee Software, among other things. With a fascinating life comes fascinating anecdotes, very outspoken, nothing is off-limits, and now an avid cryptocurrency supporter with a focus on privacy, not only talking about it but doing something about it. 

His life has also been filled with substance abuse, numerous lawsuits, and arrests including being involved and wanted for questioning in the murder of his neighbor in Belize in 2012. McAfee has incarcerated 21 times in 11 countries, albeit for non-violent crimes, always finding a loophole with the aid of his lawyers resulting in his release. On two occasions he faked a heart attack and a stroke to buy time for his defense. This guy is a regular Houdini.

McAfee tweets,

“My life has consisted of a series of close calls. Authorities call me "Slippery". I don't know. I only know that I will answer only to God. Not to man.”

Running For POTUS Twice — Why Not? 

In September 2015 he decided to start a new political party called The Cyber Party. He also ran for President in 2016, attempting to join the Libertarian Party, but he failed to win the nomination, with New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson winning it instead. 

With over a million followers on Twitter and just because he can, McAfee announced on June 3, 2018, via Twitter that he would run for president again in 2020, either with the Libertarian Party or under the banner of a party of his own creation. 

On January 22, 2019, McAfee announced that he would be continuing his campaign "in exile", following reports that he, his wife, and four of his campaign staff were being indicted for tax-related felonies by the IRS. McAfee indicated that he was in "international waters in his untraceable cage”

On March 4, 2020, McAfee ended his presidential campaign and endorsed Vermin Supreme, as he decided to run for the 2020 Libertarian Party vice-presidential race. The next day, McAfee tweeted that he was re-entering the 2020 Libertarian presidential primary after none of the other Libertarian candidates would “accept  him as their VP running mate.” At the 2020 Libertarian National Convention, McAfee was not nominated for president or vice-president.

In April, McAfee announced that he would be the running mate of Adam Kokesh, a competitor for the nomination, and also endorsed him for president, even though McAfee decided to continue his campaign for the presidency.

In May, Jo Jorgensen was nominated at the 2020 Libertarian National Convention, thus suspending McAfee's campaign.

The Reality

Too crazy to be elected, too rare to not be considered. The reality is McAfee doesn’t want the top job although he says would enjoy causing a stink and embarrassing the candidates on stage in the debates. He will also continue to challenge and debate on his Twitter feed. At his first AMA with the Libertarian Party, he says he does not consider himself a top presidential candidate, saying,

“I don’t want to be president. Who wants that job? We have bigger problems, people. The presidents’ lost their power back in 1960 and today they are called transients by the real manipulators and influencers who are the departments and agencies like the CIA filled with career people at the highest level who never retire…]” 

In addition to that, he says

“manipulation and influence have become institutionalized in our government”. Please people, if anybody out there thinks that I especially can ever be president of the United States, move, please, out of your mother’s basement and see the real world”. 

He goes on to explain what we as a nation can do. We can change the hearts, the minds, and the perceptions of the American public if we are realistic. Anyone can run for president and deservedly be in the spotlight but for a Libertarian to actually win the election, in a predominantly two-party preferred race it’s not realistic.   

“Victory is not winning the presidency, victory is being true to your beliefs and acting as you believe and letting the world see that. Please God, let us be real in this election”. 

  

Staying One Step Ahead Of The Feds

McAfee has been on the run from the US government for alleged charges of tax evasion narrowingly escaping arrest on several occasions. He admits he hasn’t paid income tax for 11 years, and the government actually ignored him for 8 of those years, until he was discovered giving talks about how to avoid paying income tax. In an interview with news.bitcoin.com, John McAfee believes and states,

“I’ve already paid over $50 million in taxes in my lifetime. I have not received $50 million in services. If anything I should be the one asking for a f*****g refund.”

He goes on to say that not filing a tax return is not an offense, but not being truthful about the ones you do submit is. McAfee has not filed a tax return and believes his arrest would be unlawful. 

He also says,

“Income taxes in my mind and heart, as I see the reality around us, are unconstitutional, illegal, and it pushed us back into a feudal society of over 1,000 years ago. Because what is a feudal society? One in which you belong to the king.”

McAfee and his wife Janice are staying one step ahead of the IRS and now also the SEC in light of McAfee DEX, his decentralized exchange which he launched last year, and according to McAfee are two of the most corrupt agencies of the US government. 

In a recent interview he explains that when he worked for MGT Capital Investments, a technology holding company, these agencies went after the $800 million company just to get him, which destroyed the company. They got wind of the fact McAfee was speaking out on international stages on how to avoid paying taxes by using cryptocurrency. Consequently, McAfee resigned amicably and was extremely apologetic to MGT. 

“They’re supposed to protect shareholders and just because they want me, thousands of stockholders lost everything. That’s corruption if you ask me.” 

 

We’re Not Where We Say We Are

Still underground where no one, not even family knows where they are, John and Janice McAfee post disinformation on his twitter feed so no one can track them. They may travel for a day, take photos, then come back to their hideout, post the photos saying "here we are.” He also claims to have 7 body doubles and Janice has 6. However, MacAfee makes no secret that they are in a Russian speaking country, but where that is exactly, is anyone’s guess.

 

About Face On Bitcoin Prediction

McAfee has changed his mind about his infamous bitcoin prediction and declaration that had the world talking, calling his previous prediction of Bitcoin hitting $1 million by the end of 2020 as total nonsense adding that people who believed in the absurd forecast should wake up. 

In a tweet, he stated correlating the entire North American continent GDP as an example to explain why his prediction was just a joke saying,

“If Bitcoin ever hit $1 mil, it's market cap would be greater than the GDP of the entire North American Continent.”

In another tweet, McAfee described Bitcoin as “ancient” tech and his prediction on the price going to $1 million was simply his trick to lure new users into the crypto space.

“Bitcoin was first. It's an ancient technology.  All know it. Newer blockchains have privacy, smart contracts, distributed apps and more.”

 

McAfee’s Latest Innovation

John McAfee, the cybersecurity mogul turned fugitive is still making waves and creating innovations that even have NASDAQ intrigued with his latest controversial project — the world’s first fully untraceable 4G data service titled “The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service.”  

This operates through electronic SIM technology, which allows phones to connect to a special data service network without the use of a physical SIM card. The special data service network is constructed from a number of technologies that make it impossible for connections to be tracked or traced.

Whilst only supported phones will be able to access the network, the offering is already poised to support some of the world’s most popular models, including a number of Google, Samsung, and iPhone handsets. 

                                                                                         

Phone owners will be able to access the service without having to supply any personal information. The service is prepaid, without any contract, and only requires users to scan a QR code supplied upon purchase to connect.

The service forms part of McAfee’s new Ghost ecosystem, which currently includes Ghost cryptocurrency and the GhostX Exchange. GHOST is a Proof of Stake privacy coin to help make you nothing but a "ghost" when transacting online!

McAfee is now reportedly looking for members of the mainstream media who are interested in the service to take part in the beta-testing stage, with global launch expected in September. 

Life In Exile

It seems that John McAfee always has something in the works including an autobiography that will be published next year and forthcoming movie. But according to him he and his wife now lead a boring life in exile watching the television for about 6 hours a day including the show, "The Family Guy". Now at 74 years old, still drinking like a fish and smoking like a trouper, so what’s his secret? 

McAfee describes himself as an explorer, an entrepreneur, lover of life, a lover of freedom, and very no-nonsense in spite of the absurdity of his colorful life. He just wants people to “wake up” and will continue to be outspoken on various issues, doing whatever he can to level the playing field, helping people to take back their freedom and fight tyranny and oppression. 

 

 

Deb Williams
A Crypto/Blockchain enthusiast and a strong advocate for technology, progress, and freedom of speech. I embrace "change" with a passion and my purpose in life is to help people understand, accept, and move forward with enthusiasm to achieve their goals. 

Twitter pages of Kanye West, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Apple share Bitcoin scam

Twitter has been ablaze over the past two hours as notable accounts within and outside of the crypto space have tweeted suspicious messages.

It began at approximately 12:00 p.m. (PST) when the accounts of a number of Bitcoin traders, cryptocurrency exchanges, and industry executives shared a scam called “CryptoForHealth.”
Most Bitcoin holders were immediately able to identify it was a scam.

But the scam quickly snowballed once the Twitter account of Elon Musk, followed by nearly 37 million users, tweeted out a Bitcoin address. Attached was ‘Musk’ promising to multiply coins sent to the address.

In the minutes after the account of Musk sent this tweet, the Twitter accounts of Kayne West, Apple, Uber, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates shared messages along the lines of the tweet above. No heads of states have been affected by this hack thus far, though Mike Bloomberg’s account was just affected.

The Bitcoin address included in the tweets sent from these other prominent accounts is the same as the one above.

As of this article’s writing, the primary address attached to this scam has garnered over six BTC, currently valued in excess of $56,000 according to CryptoSlate data.

The value of Twitter’s stock has dipped as this hack has ravaged some of the platform’s biggest accounts. TradingView data indicates that the shares are down 3.2 percent in after-hours trading.

Written by 
Nick Chong
Analyst @ CryptoSlate
https://cryptoslate.com/twitter-pages-of-kanye-west-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-and-apple-share-bitcoin-scam/