The Securities and Exchange Commission sinks the firm behind another initial coin offering. Per a Dec. 21 cease and desist order, the SEC has determined that ShipChain's ICO for its SHIP Tokens was another example of an unregistered securities offering in disguise. Registered ShipChain raised $27.6 million from the end of 2017 through the beginning of 2018, at the high tide of the ICO craze. Registering in Delaware at the end of November 2017, the firm promised to enhance transportation and shipping transparency with its undeveloped blockchain platform. Unfortunately for the firm, it tied access to that platform to purchase …

While users affected by the Ledger data dump are threatening legal action, some wallet owners might be at the risk of being visited by criminals. According to a Redditor named "u/relephants," some users have begun receiving threatening emails demanding a $500 payment or else risk being attacked in their homes. This development opens up another risk factor for Ledger users whose private information has been leaked by the hacker. Apart from home invasions, the affected Ledger owners also have to deal with phishing and SIM swapping exploits, among others. Actual robberies connected to Bitcoin (BTC) are not uncommon, especially when …

The hacker that breached hardware wallet provider Ledger’s marketing database earlier this year has released personal data for thousands of users, prompting many to threaten the firm with a class-action lawsuit. According to a tweet from network security firm Hudson Rock's Alon Gal, a hacker allegedly behind the breach of personal data from hardware wallet Ledger in June has made all the information they obtained available online. This reportedly includes 1,075,382 email addresses from users subscribed to the Ledger newsletter, and 272,853 hardware wallet orders with information including email addresses, physical addresses, and phone numbers. ALERT: Threat actor just dumped …

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov believes that increasing the decentralization and scalability of oracle technologies are key to ensure trust in the DeFi ecosystem. Oracles play a key role in the correct functioning of DeFI protocols by connecting them to real-world data. However, the trustworthiness of oracles becomes compromised in instances where they rely on a single data source to retrieve information. For instance, according to Nazarov, excessively centralized oracles enabled five recent flash loan attacks, which resulted in DeFi protocols losing around $40 million. Flash loans, a form of loan that does not require any collateral, can be used to …

Institutional investors are paying close attention to digital assets as Bitcoin (BTC) continues to soar past record-breaking levels, almost reaching the valuation of $24,000 for the first time in its history. Recent findings from a Bank of America–Merrill Lynch survey conducted between Dec. 4 and 10 show that about 15% of fund managers with $534 billion under management believe Bitcoin to be the third-most crowded trade behind being long on technology shares and shorting the U.S. dollar. In addition, a recent Fidelity survey found that out of almost 36% of the respondents, or 774 institutional investors, own crypto assets. Yet …

An open-source blockchain protocol called the Secret Network is now offering privacy features for the Ethereum blockchain and 14 ERC-20 tokens. According to a Secret Network blog post, the protocol launched its Secret Ethereum Bridge on the mainnet today, which is designed to allow Ether (ETH) and all ERC-20 token holders to create programmable versions of their assets with privacy features. The Secret Network compared these “secret” tokens to privacy coins like Monero (XMR): "Secret Tokens combine the programmability of ERC-20s with the privacy of coins like Zcash or Monero. Interactions with Secret Token contracts are encrypted, viewable only to …

Nine members of congress have written a letter asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to get its security token guidance straightened out. In a Dec. 9 letter to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, several members of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus led by Tom Emmer (R-MN) asked the commission to verify rules as to which broker-dealers can custody digital securities. Broker-dealer licensing is required to sell securities in the U.S. The letter also addresses the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulating body that registers U.S. broker-dealers under SEC guidelines. Currently, the rules are unclear, which has resulted in a colossal hold-up …

As internet banking comes of age, so too do new ways of stealing funds. That makes cybersecurity central to modern banking, according to David Leach, JPMorgan Chase’s Asia-Pacific head of cybersecurity and technology controls. "It’s a competitive disadvantage not to have a robust cybersecurity capability that you can demonstrate,” Leach said during a BlockShow conference panel on Tuesday. Before the internet took over, customers mainly asked about banking and financial entities’ services, not about their security, according to panel moderator, Nasir Zubairi, CEO of the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology. Zubairi also holds experience in the banking industry. Leach said …

On Dec. 9, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies soared past $535 billion. This is a significant increase from last year, when the cumulative market capitalization of cryptocurrencies was just over $199 billion. With such impressive growth underway, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that companies operating in the cryptocurrency sector are taking additional measures to ensure trust among investors. For instance, some cryptocurrency platforms have begun to publicly announce audits to confirm the number of digital assets held under management. Most recently, the crypto lending and borrowing platform Celsius Network announced the completion of an audit of just over …

Dissolved limited liability company Crypto Traders Management is seeing its legal troubles multiply. Per a Friday legal filing in Utah, CTM and its former manager Shawn Cutting are trying to fight off a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC is apparently demanding financial data from Cutting — specifically, all of the transaction information from his Wells Fargo accounts as well as his communications with the bank. Cutting is trying to quash the SEC's request by pleading a right to financial privacy. Back in July, former investors in CTM filed a civil suit accusing the firm of selling …

A blockchain platform says big data has a big problem — and has launched cutting-edge nodes that aim to solve the issues associated with existing storage solutions. SINOVATE, a decentralized cloud data storage provider that is underpinned by blockchain technology, has created Deterministic Infinity Nodes (known as DIN) to deliver levels of security and scalability superior to what’s offered by rivals. According to the platform, major cloud computing networks are currently confronted by millions of unauthorized login attempts, some of which are successful. Data breaches have also resulted in sensitive data being compromised — undermining consumer confidence and damaging businesses, …

Cyber Security firm CipherTrace has issued a warning after noting a surge in reports over the past 24 hours of user funds being stolen by a malicious Chrome browser extension posing as popular crypto wallet MetaMask. The warning was issued under the headline, “ALERT: Malicious Crypto Browser Extension — Masked MetaMask” and reported the company had seen “an uptick of alerts and comments within the online cryptocurrency community of users’ funds being stolen.” In response to online criticism that MetaMask is not doing enough to steer its users away from potentially harmful websites and downloads, MetaMask’s chief product officer Jacob …