Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces should commit to combat fraudulent NFTs, but brands are far more responsible for protecting NFT investors, according to one industry executive. Brands that issue NFTs should be taking the first step to protecting themselves and potential investors from fraud, BrandShield CEO Yoav Keren said in an interview with Cointelegraph on Oct. 12. According to Keren, it’s more straightforward for a brand to recognize NFTs that were not released by the company itself rather than marketplaces like OpenSea or Rarible. NFT marketplaces usually have fewer insights into which brands are creating NFTs when they are launching and …

Tech giant Samsung announced it will utilize blockchain technology to upgrade security protocols for all of its smart devices. Knox Matrix is its new blockchain-based security solution for “cross-device experiences.” This means the security layer covers all Samsung devices, from smartphones to home appliances within the network. Samsung says Knox Matrix will work as an individual's “own private blockchain system,” with all of one’s interconnected devices equipped with the blockchain multi-layered monitoring. This includes electronics such as smartphones but also home smart TVs and air conditioners. The new security upgrade is intended to protect users from exploits of their credentials, …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) led cryptocurrency’s rapid growth in early 2021, but the crypto market has since plummeted in value. Global markets have played a role, but so has recklessness among developers when it comes to both cybersecurity and (often self-serving) inflationary token models. Too much DeFi has been based on tokens minted from nothing or tokens that finance other tokens at high interest rates, with no part of the entire activity having any real underlying economic activity to back the yields offered. Secondly, security issues, hacks and exploits of DeFi contracts and bridges have been widespread, and most notable DeFi …

On Monday, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Transit Swap announced that it had reached an agreement with its biggest hacker for the return of funds. Approximately one week prior, a hacker exploited an internal bug on a swap contract within the protocol and caused other individuals to imitate the security breach, leading to a loss of over $23 million in user funds. However, the main hacker has since returned approximately 70% of exploited funds thanks to the help of security companies such as Peckshield, SlowMist, Bitrace, and TokenPocket. They quickly tracked down the hacker by identifying their IP address, email address, …

BNB Chain, the native blockchain behind the Binance crypto exchange, is up and running as of Oct. 7 according to an update from the network. Activity on the network was briefly suspended after confirmed rumors of a cross-chain exploit. The blockchain reported that network validators are “confirming their status,” as well as upgrading community infrastructure. BNB Smart Chain (BSC) is running ok from 20+ mins ago. The validators are confirming their status and the community infrastructure are upgrading as well. — BNB Chain (@BNBCHAIN) October 7, 2022 A few hours prior to resolving the network suspension, BNB Chain updated the …

By 2030, Web3 is expected to reach a market size of $81.5 billion, according to Emergen Research, but the industry still has challenges to overcome, including security and interoperability, said players interviewed by Cointelegraph. Interoperability, in short, provides communication between blockchains, aiming to offer a similar experience to users as Web2, hiding infrastructure complexity away and ensuring they don't have to know what solution is powering the mobile app they use, explained Derek Yoo, CEO of PureStake, a development team for the layer-1 blockchain Moonbeam. However, interoperability also brings more moving parts to any system, and security is one of …

How does the hash rate affect Bitcoin price? The main drivers of Bitcoin’s price include computational power, mining profitability and network difficulty. Since miners are compensated in Bitcoin while incurring costs in local currencies, the hash rate follows the price. That said, the more computational power the Bitcoin network employs, the higher its value is. Moreover, rational miners are only willing to mine BTC if it is profitable, which implicitly means that any other cryptocurrency with no demand for it would have zero value and miners would redirect its resources elsewhere. Additionally, the network difficulty can be used as a …

The crypto community reacted with a mix of disbelief and amusement after reality star Kim Kardashian was fined for promoting the cryptocurrency EthereumMax (EMAX). The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined Kardashian $1.26 million on Oct. 3, for “touting on social media” about the EMAX without disclosing she was paid $250,000 to post about it. Kardashian has neither admitted to nor denied the SEC’s allegations, but settled the charges and agreed to not promote any cryptocurrency assets until 2025. SEC chairman Gary Gensler tweeted the fine was a reminder that celebrity endorsement of investment opportunities doesn't “mean those …

XRP are hoping that the token could see a massive price rally in 2022 based off the fingers-crossed assumption that Ripple will win its long-running legal battle against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Hinman documents to save XRP bulls? On Sep. 29, the district court judge in the case, Judge Analisa Torres, ordered the commission to release the documents penned by William Hinman, the former director of the corporation finance division at the SEC. Hinman may have written about Ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, not being a security in the concealed documents, believes Ripple. …

American socialite Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million in penalties for her involvement in the promotion of a cryptocurrency scheme called EthereumMax (EMAX). The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced the charges against Kardashian on October 3 for ‘touting on social media a crypto asset security offered and sold by EthereumMax’ without disclosing the payment received for her promotional involvement. Kardashian has agreed to settle the charges and pay $1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement and interest and is set to cooperate with further investigations by the SEC into the EthereumMax project. The announcement noted that Kardashian had failed to …

Terraform Labs, the company behind the development of the Terra (LUNA) blockchain said South Korea’s case against its co-founder Do Kwon has become political, alleging prosecutors expanded the definition of a security in response to public pressure. “We believe that this case has become highly politicized, and that the actions of the Korean prosecutors demonstrate unfairness and a failure to uphold basic rights guaranteed under Korean law,” a Terraform Labs spokesman said to The Wall Street Journal on Sept. 28. South Korean prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Kwon on Sept. 14 for violations of the countries capital markets laws, …

Kalin Metodiev, the co-founder and managing partner of crypto lender Nexo stated his firm was “surprised” by the way in which eight state regulators publicly took action against it for securities violations. Earlier this week the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (DFPI) filed a desist and refrain order against Nexo’s Earn Interest Product, claiming the company was offering a security product that had not been cleared by the government for sale in the form of an investment contract. The DFPI also stated that it was joining regulators from seven other states in taking action against the company, including …