Whale Alert, a popular service dedicated to tracking major cryptocurrency transactions, is being negatively affected by Twitter’s anti-hack measures. In a July 16 tweet, Whale Alert said that the crypto bot can no longer tweet any transactions either automatically or manually “due to anti-hack measures taken by Twitter.” Whale Alert noted that posts are still available on their Telegram channel, and expressed hope that Twitter will resolve the issue soon. Whale Alert told Cointelegraph that they expect it to be a few days before posting on the platform returns to normal: “Last night's hack is the single biggest security breach …

Ripple’s former chief market strategist, Cory Johnson, says that cross-border payments are where blockchain technology can bring the most change. Johnson claims that speculation around cryptocurrency has slowed down the adoption of blockchain technology in traditional finance. He stated: “Blockchain seemed like a technology that drew volatility and speculation and Lambos (...) That's not an environment that conservative businesses like, say, banks want to get themselves involved in.” Innovation is still happening, however — especially in the field of cross-border payments. This is where Johnson believes blockchain technology can find its maximum utility. He elaborated that moving money across borders …

BitGo, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) transaction processors, is integrating a new API into its crypto wallet service to support the Financial Action Task Force’s travel rule. BitGo told Cointelegraph on July 14 that the company is the first wallet service to provide an in-house API solution for the FATF’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, known as the "travel rule." Specifically, BitGo is now extending its API endpoints to enable its clients to transfer additional transaction-related data required under the new rule. Intended to provide more transparency, the new tool is expected to enable the exchange of data about …

Torus, a Singaporean crypto key management platform, now allows users to send cryptocurrencies through social media platforms such as Twitter. With Torus’ latest update, v1.7.2, users can now send tokens to any Twitter or GitHub account, even if that account has never used Torus’ crypto wallet, the firm said. Torus publicly sends ETH to Buterin, Musk, and CZ on Twitter Announcing the news on Monday, Torus showcased a couple of Twitter transactions, featuring 0.01 Ether (ETH) transfers to major crypto figures such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao as well as Elon Musk. As of press time, …

Kirobo, a two-year-old Israeli blockchain startup, announced on Tuesday that it has found a way to tackle problems related to human error in cryptocurrency transactions. In a recent survey by the Fio Foundation, 55% of respondents reported experiencing stressful human errors when sending cryptocurrency, and 18% reported loss of funds due to such errors. As such, Kirobo has invented “Retrievable Transfer,” a way for senders to cancel a transaction that is sent to the wrong address. Kirobo provides a unique code to the sender and the receiver has to enter the matching password in order to receive the transfer. “Until …

LocalBitcoins, a major peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange, has purportedly managed to significantly cut the amount of criminal funds on its platform in 2020. The P2P platform has seen a decline of over 70% in transactions from darknet markets between September 2019 and May 2020, LocalBitcoins claims. Jukka Blomberg, chief marketing officer at LocalBitcoins, told Cointelegraph that the drop comes in response to Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations adopted by the platform in September 2019. The calculations are based on blockchain analysis by major crypto analytics firm Elliptic as well as LocalBitcoins’ own “clustering tools,” the firm said. The …

When markets are volatile, even the smallest delay in a crypto transaction can be exceedingly costly. And now, a cryptocurrency wallet says it has devised a solution that allows transfers to be completed in under three minutes — irrespective of how many transactions are in the queue. Freewallet has partnered up with Changelly for the new feature, and a grand total of 54 coins are supported by the technology, along with ERC-20 tokens. This includes the world’s biggest cryptocurrencies — Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), EOS (EOS) and Litecoin (LTC). The benefits Aside from the time savings associated with this technology, …

F2Pool, a Chinese mining pool that recently mined an Ether (ETH) transaction with an abnormal transaction fee of 2,310 ETH, has returned 90% of the fee to its sender. Announcing the news on June 18, F2Pool said that the MiningPoolHub, the original owner of the address behind the transaction, has received back 2,079 ETH, or about $480,000. The mining pool specified the transaction ID showing that F2Pool has returned the amount to its original owner. In order to complete the reimbursement transaction, the original address holder had to sign the new address using the private key of the original address. …

Blockchain analysis company Chainalysis is partnering with institutional digital-asset security specialist Fireblocks to integrate its Know Your Transaction (KYT) system to monitor crypto transactions within the platform. According to an announcement on June 15, the addition will strengthen Fireblocks' security standards and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance. Strengthening AML compliance KYT allows users to automatically screen transactions based on risk standards and ensure that non-approved trades aren’t executed without manual review. Speaking with Cointelegraph, Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov said: “Compliance and security are two of the most important pillars of storing and transferring digital assets today. By integrating with Chainalysis KYT, …

The average transaction fees for Bitcoin have dropped under the $1 mark, and are back to levels not seen since before the rewards halving. According to data from crypto analytics website BitInfoCharts, from May 20 until June 14, Bitcoin (BTC) transaction fees decreased by 91% from $6.65 to $0.56. This follows a post-halving peak, in which the fees increased more than 1600% between April 5 and May 20. Source: BitInfoCharts Transaction costs following 2016 halving The second BTC halving in 2016 saw fees increase 200% from $0.08 on May 1 to a local peak at $0.24 on July 31. However, …

A third intriguing transaction has taken place, this time with a 2,310 Ether (ETH) transaction fee valued at over $540,000 at time of press. Occurring less than 24 hours after the first two transactions with over $5.2 million (10,668.73 Ether each) in fees were processed on the Ethereum blockchain, this new transaction has raised the question of whether there is more than one person involved. Transaction details of the third unusual transaction. Source: Etherscan A surprise twist Unlike the previous two transactions, this one had a substantial transaction volume of 3,221 Ether with a value higher than the fee. Adding …

A second transaction of 350 Ether (ETH) (worth $86,000 at press time) with an incredible $2.6 million gas fee has just been confirmed on the Ethereum blockchain, less than 24 hours after the first transaction for 0.55 ETH ($130 at press time) with an identical fee amount was processed. Both transactions were processed with a fee of exactly 10,668.73 ETH. Transaction details of the second unusual transaction. Source: Etherscan Unlikely laundering These mysterious transactions have stumped the wider community with some suggesting money laundering or revenge from a disgruntled exchange employee. Both transactions originate from the same address, but the …