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Welcome to the United Kingdom — Please hand over your crypto
An April change to United Kingdom law will allow authorities to treat crypto like other assets by seizing it without accusing suspects of wrongdoing.
Most of us view it as tyrannical or indefensible when a government seizes someone’s assets without arresting them or even charging them with a crime. But thanks to a law that went into effect in April, that’s the new reality facing cryptocurrency owners in the United Kingdom.
The change, which came into effect on April 26, is the result of amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), which amended confiscation regimes in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA). U.K. police and the National Crime Agency (NCA) may now seize crypto assets from suspects without arresting them.
In simple terms, the change means that the authorities can seize crypto from those suspected of criminal activity. The authorities will also have the power to seize physical items related to crypto investigations, such as flash drives and written passwords, and to “destroy” a crypto asset if returning it to circulation is not considered to be conducive to the public good. Read More
What is phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) and how to defend against it?
Phishing is a prevalent hack that aims to trick people into disclosing private information, including credit card numbers, passwords and personal identities.
A staggering 300,497 phishing cases were reported to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2022 alone. These attacks resulted in victims losing over $52 million. Usually, it entails sending phony emails that seem authentic, duping recipients into opening harmful links or requesting sensitive information. Phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) is an alarming development in the world of cybercrime.
With the use of a subscription-based web service called PhaaS, even non-technical criminals may easily execute complex phishing attacks. These firms offer pre-made phishing kits, editable templates and server infrastructure to create fake web pages. Read More
Ethereum Co-Founder Joe Lubin: US Crypto Hostility Goes Beyond Biden, Gensler
In recent months, anger at the U.S. government’s increasing hostility to crypto has—perhaps unsurprisingly—taken on a partisan flavor, with many industry leaders laying blame at the feet of individual Democrats, including President Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.
But Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin sees things differently. To him, the root cause of crypto’s crisis in America may not be the fault of any individual political actor—or even one political party.
“It might go beyond that,” Lubin said in an exclusive interview with Decrypt. “There may be some entity—related, perhaps, to the banking lobby—that is behind this.”
Lubin believes that crypto and decentralization pose an existential threat to the global influence long enjoyed by the American state in cooperation with traditional finance. Thus, he figures, some nonpartisan element representing long-term American global interests may be behind the country’s accelerating crypto resistance. Read More
The Causation Of Financial Nihilism Is Globalization. Is This The End Of Globalism?
For die-hard cryptocurrency enthusiasts, the drive to invest often stems from a deep-seated conviction that it's the sole path to achieving financial success. This sentiment is widespread, particularly among younger age groups. An increasing number of individuals are convinced that the only route to accumulating substantial wealth is to take bold risks with their limited financial resources, and this mindset is gaining momentum. Interestingly, this mindset has a distinct label: financial nihilism. This trend has been gaining traction over the years and experienced a sharp surge following the pandemic, primarily due to the influx of pandemic-related stimulus funds.
The underlying principles of financial nihilism have the potential to impact societal dynamics and market performance significantly. In this discussion, we'll delve into the specifics of this mindset, its origins, the consequences of holding onto it, and the benefits of resolving it. We'll also suggest strategies for coping with these challenges in the meantime. Read More
El Salvador Launches Treasury Holdings Site, Confirms Daily Bitcoin Purchases
El Salvador, the first nation to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, has upgraded its transparency standards regarding its bitcoin holdings. The Bitcoin Office of El Salvador (ONBTC), an organization created to support the cryptocurrency efforts of the Bukele administration, launched on May 13 a site that offers details about the treasury holdings of the nation, and the transactions made involving El Salvador’s addresses.
The site, a custom instance of mempool space, a popular Bitcoin block explorer, offers insight into the recent bitcoin purchases that El Salvador has been executing. The site reports that the bitcoin holdings of the country reach almost 5,750 BTC, which at the time of writing, represents nearly $360 million. Read More
The Gaming Revolution – Why On-Chain Purchases Are the Future
So, what does the future of gaming look like with on-chain purchases?
For starters, we can expect to see a lot more cross-platform collaborations and integrations.
Developers will be incentivized to create assets that can be used across multiple games, creating a more interconnected gaming ecosystem.
We can also expect to see a rise in player-driven economies, where gamers have more control over the value of their digital assets.
With the ability to trade and sell items on secondary markets, players will be able to make real money from their gaming habits – something that’s already happening in the world of esports.
But perhaps the most exciting prospect is the potential for new types of gaming experiences that were never possible before. Read More
What is Notcoin (NOT)? The Viral Token Coming to The Open Network
The Open Network (TON) has been booming throughout the past year, becoming one of the largest projects in the industry by means of total market capitalization.
This has been attributed to its bustling ecosystem, with more developers and users turning their attention to the TON blockchain.
NOT started out as a viral Telegram game that was designed to onboard users into the realm of Web3 on the TON blockchain.
It takes a very interesting approach because the project’s official website only contains a prompt to join a Telegram community, as well as links to its social media accounts and whitepaper.
The project has introduced the so-called “tap-to-earn” mining mechanic, and it appears that NOT itself is widely a community token, where users are able to earn it through: Read More
The Dynamic Crypto Industry Building A Bitcoin-Backed Monetary System. Consider Banks Without Bankers
One of the main advantages of cryptocurrency is the independence it offers by enabling individuals to become their own bank. With cryptocurrency, you have complete control and ownership of your assets, whereas traditional banks have technical ownership over the assets you store with them. While the concept of being your own bank is impressive, critics argue that specialized crypto banks may be necessary for crypto to compete effectively with the established financial system.
This article summarizes a report outlining a method for establishing financial institutions without the need for traditional bankers. This method utilizes Bitcoin to achieve this goal, and the approach aligns with the broader aim of revolutionizing the financial sector by harnessing the power of cryptocurrency to replace the existing flawed monetary system.
Banks Without Bankers Prioritizing User Agency:
Today's summary is of a report called "Banks without Bankers," released by AxiomBTC, a venture capital firm focused on Bitcoin. The report starts with a powerful quote from Hal Finney, a pioneering Bitcoin developer who received the first Bitcoin transaction. In the quote, Hal Finney envisions a future where BTC is crucial in reshaping the banking system. Read More
MetaMask Deploys Smart Transactions to Reduce Fees and Improve Privacy
ConsenSys, the firm behind the popular Ethereum wallet MetaMask, has deployed a new feature called Smart Transactions.
On May 14, Ethereum solutions provider ConsenSys announced the deployment of Smart Transactions, a new technology rolling out to all MetaMask users globally as an optional feature.
Smart Transactions aims to offer better transaction success rates, reduce gas costs, and protect users from harmful MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) attacks like frontrunning and sandwiching.
MetaMask users have long lamented over high fees and spreads on token swaps and transactions within the wallet.
Smart Transactions enable transactions to remain private until confirmed on-chain, which means bots cannot front-run them. Their success rates are also improved because Smart Transactions undergo “pre-simulation using MetaMask’s just-in-time simulation service,” it stated. Read More
How to bridge to zkSync
Uncover the step-by-step process of moving cryptocurrency to and from zkSync, ensuring smooth and effortless transactions.
Ethereum, the leading blockchain for decentralized applications (DApps), faces a significant challenge with scalability. With increasing user adoption, transaction fees have skyrocketed, hindering mainstream usage. ZkSync has emerged as a promising solution, aiming to address this issue while preserving Ethereum’s security and decentralization.
ZkSync is a zero knowledge (ZK) rollup scaling solution built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. It leverages ZK-proofs, a cryptographic technique, to process transactions off-chain (layer 2 or L2) while inheriting Ethereum’s security features (layer 1 or L1).
ZkSync is the brainchild of Matter Labs, a team of passionate blockchain engineers and entrepreneurs. Alex Gluchowski, co-founder and CEO of Matter Labs, is a prominent figure in the Ethereum community recognized for his contributions to scaling solutions. The team’s strong technical expertise and dedication to decentralization are critical drivers behind zkSync’s success. Read More
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
