With the Trade Ministry officially approving the use of cryptocurrencies for foreign trade, Iran will become the first-of-a-kind adopter in the world. The obvious problem with the news is that the country’s innovative policy obviously aims at circumventing financial sanctions that have been hampering its participation in the global economy for many years. These circumstances set an ambivalent tone for Iran’s experiment — while for some, it could prove crypto’s emancipating ability to shirk the all-too-real hegemony of the United States political will and international financial institutions that enforce it, hardline crypto skeptics could get the proof they need for …

Guidelines for security tokens in South Korea will be announced by the end of 2022. Simultaneously, the pilot market with a regulatory sandbox will be launched before the formal institutionalization. Chief South Korean financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), published the report with the results of a joint policy seminar it held together with the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea Exchange, Korea Securities Depository and Capital Market Research Institute on Sep. 6. The stakeholders gathered to discuss further national strategy on security tokens issuance and distribution. As the current capital market and electronic securities system in the country doesn’t include …

Today’s financial world is becoming increasingly digitized, and naturally, central banks want to adapt to the changing environment. The use of cash is rapidly declining. Globally, the rise of digital payment apps and COVID-19 have only accelerated the decline in cash usage, fueling interest in digital currencies and demand for easier payment solutions. As crypto adoption continues to expand, the idea of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) has also gained momentum. Governments across the world have been flirting with, and examining, the idea of issuing their own CBDCs, with a handful already launching. It isn’t clear when CBDCs will become …

A newly upgraded version of a banking and crypto app targeting malware has recently resurfaced on the Google Play store, now with the capability to steal cookies from account logins and bypass fingerprint or authentication requirements. A warning about the new version of the malware was shared by malware analyst Alberto Segura and treat intelligence analyst Mike Stokkel on Twitter accounts on Sept. 2, sharing their co-authored article on Fox IT’s blog. We discovered a new version of #SharkbotDropper in Google Play used to download and install #Sharkbot! The found droppers were used in a campaign targeting UK and IT! …

Decentralized identity protocols Several identity protocols, from crypto startups to big tech solutions, deal with decentralized identification, and each has its specifics and features. Though the decentralized identity technology is fairly new, initiatives and players in the decentralized identity space, software for implementing decentralized identity wallets and supporting services are plentiful. They range from the Hyperledger open-source developing community, through a range of decentralized identity protocols and startups, to some of the biggest names in the industry. Decentralized identity protocols and private identity stores such as uPort or 3Box are called identity hubs. Recently, the Ethereum-based uPort platform split into …

Many users on social media have been lambasting decentralized exchange dYdX over the identification verification process to receive a sign up and deposit bonus of $25. In a Wednesday blog post, dYdX announced that new users who deposited 500 USD Coin (USDC) for their first transactions could receive a bonus promotion of 25 USDC, provided they were willing to do a “liveness check.” According to the exchange, the verification process accessed a user’s webcam and “compares if your image has been used with another account on dYdX.” Though the giveaway was completely voluntary, many on Twitter implied the checks were …

Studies show that most people who attempt to wash trade nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are unprofitable. But that doesn’t stop them from trying, which makes it a glaring regulatory and enforcement issue for the industry. In wash trading, manipulators buy and sell an asset between themselves to create the appearance that the asset is in higher demand and, therefore, worth more than it would be otherwise. With NFTs, wash trading is fairly straightforward: Imagine an investor holds $1 million in Ether (ETH). The investor mints an NFT and proceeds to sell it to themself for all the ETH they own. The …

Regulators are tasked with balancing between protecting consumers and creating environments where entrepreneurs and the private sector can thrive. When markets face distortions, perhaps due to an externality or information asymmetry, regulation can play an important role. But regulation can also stifle entrepreneurship and business formation, leaving society and its people worse off. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has been particularly hostile against cryptocurrency companies and entrepreneurs. For example, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has remarked that he views Bitcoin (BTC) as a commodity but that many other “crypto financial assets have the key attributes of a security.” He …

The U.S Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a fresh warning for investors in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, which have been targeted with $1.6 billion in exploits in 2022. In an Aug. 29 public service announcement on the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, the agency said the exploits have caused investors to lose money — advising investors to conduct diligent research about Defi platforms before using them, while also urging platforms to improve monitoring and conduct m rigorous code testing. The law enforcement agency warned that cybercriminals are out in force to take advantage of "investors' increased interest in …

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse took to Twitter to deny recent explosive claims made by Crypto Leaks, an online publication focusing on corruption and fraud-related news in the crypto ecosystem. Crypto Leaks published a report on Friday containing a series of short videos from an unknown source. The report claimed that Ava Labs formed a secret pact with the law firm to use the American legal system “gangster style” to “attack and harm crypto organizations." The same report also alleged that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse funded a law firm to target competitor firms. The report claimed Roche, who founded Roche Freedman, …

How to keep your seed phrase safe A crypto seed phrase in the wrong hands can do damage, so it is advisable to always ensure it is safe. The following are some tips for ensuring your seed phrase is secure. Never share your seed with anyone else: It’s extremely important that you never reveal your recovery phrase to anyone. Why? Because if someone else finds out your recovery phrase, they will be able to access — and therefore control — your crypto funds. Make a note of it on paper and keep it in a secure location: This is the …

The rise of decentralized services and hardware security wallets means that we no longer need to rely on intermediaries to manage our financial assets and data, according to CEO Pascal Gauthier of hardware wallet Ledger, who has urged people to take on more responsibility. Speaking to Cointelegraph at Surfin’ Bitcoin 2022 on Aug. 25, Gauthier said that the recent collapse of centralized exchanges has showcased why investors shouldn’t rely on intermediaries to manage their digital assets. While most actors are well intended, Gauthier said “the [crypto] industry is too young”, the current state of the economy is “under stress” and …