Recent political developments in the United States demonstrate the critical challenges that centralized technology platforms pose to democracy — in stark contrast to the powerful role social media played in pro-democracy movements in the Middle East and Hong Kong. U.S. election misinformation and disinformation, as well as white nationalism, spread throughout online groups, and prominent political and social leaders found means to amplify falsehoods through technology platforms. Within both the public eye and darker corners of the internet, organizers, including members of the Proud Boys, planned the storming of the U.S. Capitol to stop what they believed to be a …

During this first wave of decentralized finance projects and services, users have been more than willing to part with their funds. It is very similar to how decentralized exchanges work, as convenience seems to trump privacy and security in DeFi. Just because some platforms offer a high annual percentage yield does not mean anyone should give up control of their funds. Considering that DeFi is designed to be built on blockchain technology, there is no reason for go-betweens, intermediaries or fees. Unfortunately, these aspects are all present in a lot of solutions today. Regrettably, users have to pay to deposit …

Robbers posing as cryptocurrency buyers have stolen about 3.5 million Hong Kong dollars ($450,000) from a woman in Hong Kong. According to a report by the South China Morning Post on Tuesday, the Hong Kong police are currently conducting a manhunt for the gang. A spokesperson for the police revealed that the group operated by having one member complete multiple transactions with the victim, presumably to win the target’s trust. Indeed, an investigation into the matter showed three previous deals ranging between $77,000 and $90,000. On the day of the robbery, the other members of the gang rushed to the …

Are there any risks involved? DeFi protocols feature certain risks, such as third-party smart contract tampering and the risk of borrow APYs rising dramatically within a short time period. When compared with centralized finance, there are no practical dangers associated with DeFi lending. However, like anything else, DeFi, too, has risks associated with it. For example, there are certain smart contract risks that are present as well as the threat of APYs changing dramatically within a short time window. For example, during the DeFi craze of 2020 where “yield farming” became a rage globally, borrow APYs on certain cryptocurrencies rose …

Several members of Congress have voiced opposition to a rumored blockade on self-hosted crypto wallets in the works at the U.S. Treasury. In a Dec. 9 letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, four members of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus wanted answers for rumored Treasury rulemaking that would restrict self-hosted wallet usage in the U.S. The authors — Warren Davidson, Tom Emmer, Ted Budd and Scott Perry — argue that such limitations: "Would hinder American leadership and preclude meaningful participation in the technological innovation currently underway throughout the global financial system." Speaking to Cointelegraph, Davidson noted that Treasury rulemaking is likely …

Following the announcement of a disappointing closure of a Ugandan subsidiary in October, Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange — released a blog post yesterday indicating that another initiative, Binance P2P, is making strong inroads across the world’s second-most populous continent. Titled “P2P Merchants: Facilitating Freedom of Money in Africa,” the post highlighted the peer-to-peer trading program’s growth in the region throughout the year — most notably stating that Binance P2P has processed a total of $280 million equivalent local African currencies since March, when the program introduced coverage for the Nigerian Naira (NGN). Binance also claims that the …

Bitcoin (BTC) P2P marketplace Paxful has partnered with Spanish neobank Bnext to launch its first crypto debit card in Mexico. The partnership will allow Paxful’s Mexican customers to use their crypto funds to pay with a debit card in any national and foreign point-of-sale, or PoS, and even withdraw cash from ATMs without fees. Bnext customers will also have direct access to the P2P marketplace to buy and sell crypto. Paxful explained in the announcement that “strict banking regulations” in Mexico are encouraging people to focus on cryptocurrencies, and quoted figures from crypto exchange Bitso that revealed a growth of …

A report published by Arcane Research has revealed that nearly half of Paxful’s trade volume comes from trade between Bitcoin (BTC) and gift cards. The report found that, “purchasing Bitcoin with gift cards has been the preferred solution on Paxful each month throughout the five-year span analyzed,” and in June accounted for 48% of Paxful’s volume. Paxful processes nearly $40 million in weekly trade, which means up to $20M of BTC is exchanged for gift cards every week. Arcane highlighted the last week of June this year in the report, in which $16.2M BTC was sold for gift cards. Arcane …

The Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) has launched a global standard for integrating blockchain technology into a decentralized vehicle charging network. The storage of excess energy generated by wind or solar is a big problem for the renewable energy industry as batteries are very expensive. But electric vehicles already have significant storage capacity so there's been a lot of work around plugging them into decentralized energy grids to store renewable energy. MOBI’s Electric Vehicle Grid Integration (EVGI) Working Group's first design specifications seek to lay the foundation for decentralized charging networks that better utilize excess green energy, detailing systems for …

2020 has seen an acceleration in African crypto adoption, with the continent emerging as the second-largest region for peer-to-peer (P2P) trading, and two African nations ranking in the top eight of the Chainalysis crypto adoption index. However, the booming growth has caught the attention of Africa’s financial regulators, sparking concerns that a rush to introduce heavy-handed oversight could quell innovation in the local crypto industry. Nigeria has led the continent’s growth in 2020, posting weekly P2P volumes of between $5 million to $10 million, followed by Kenya and South Africa with between $1 million and $2 million a week each. …

I thought we were the good guys when I worked in operations security for the Austrian government. After I learned how trivial it was for certain institutions or people in certain positions to fetch all the data related to citizens, I quickly began to understand how privacy had been under siege for probably 100 years. In a post-COVID-19 world, I fear those attacks are getting worse. When I took the job as an OpSec specialist for the government, I would have never thought about what I think today: I became skeptical of the system. I question everything now. Initially, however, …

Due to the regulations and sanctions related to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, Paxful announced that they will no longer provide services in Venezuela, according to an announcement on September 14. In a statement sent to Cointelegraph, Paxful’s CEO, Ray Youssef, commented that they’ve tried for several months to find a way to maintain their operations in Venezuela, but “with current risks, we had no choice but to make this incredibly difficult decision.” Ray also told Cointelegraph how the wind down of his company’s services will work: “The roll-out of our impending closure in Venezuela will …