Cryptocurrency

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<div class="cryptonews"> 
 <p class="is-style-lead">This week, government agencies intensified their enforcement actions against fraudulent crypto activities, responding to a rise in hacking incidents, scams, and fraud.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>One notable case involved the hacking of CoinsPaid. Alongside these developments, regulatory initiatives remained in focus, with the passage of a pro-crypto bill in the US Congress garnering attention.</p> 
 <p>Crypto institutional adoption continued to show steady momentum. However, the launch of Worldcoin prompted discussions around privacy.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="crypto-hacks-scams-and-fraudulent-schemes">Crypto hacks, scams, and fraudulent schemes</h2> 
 <p>Blockchain security firm PeckShield reported on July 24 that the launch of Worldcoin, the cryptocurrency backed by OpenAI’s CEO, was&nbsp;affected&nbsp;by the deployment of fake tokens on Ethereum.</p> 
 <p>Two fake Worldcoin tokens were detected, and one displayed a suspicious 100% price drop, raising concerns about a potential rug pull scam.</p> 
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 <p>Additionally, after Twitter changed its iconic bluebird emblem to an “X” symbol, numerous “X” coins were&nbsp;launched&nbsp;on various decentralized exchanges (DEXs).&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>While some of these coins experienced significant growth, with one surging by 1,200% in a single day, many were not proven fraudulent.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>Nevertheless, this situation underscores the risks of bad actors capitalizing on trending themes to lure unsuspecting investors. As such, caution is strongly advised when dealing with such tokens.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="millions-lost-by-coinspaid-and-era-lend">Millions lost by CoinsPaid and Era Lend</h2> 
 <p>CoinsPaid, a crypto payment provider based in Estonia, was&nbsp;hacked, reportedly by Lazarus Group, on July 22, resulting in a loss of $37.3 million.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>The company has fortified its systems to prevent further damage and is currently investigating the extent of the hack.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>On July 25, Era Lend suffered a significant exploit resulting in estimated losses of $3.4 million, raising concerns about the security of decentralized finance platforms.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>CertiK&nbsp;issued&nbsp;an urgent Skynet Alert following the attack.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="increased-enforcement">Increased enforcement</h2> 
 <p>The US government has been cracking down on crypto-related scams.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>This week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)&nbsp;filed&nbsp;legal action against Michael and Amanda Griffis, EXIT Realty Screamin’ Eagle owners, accusing them of running a fraudulent <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="crypto" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/crypto.html">crypto</a>currency scheme.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>The couple allegedly scammed over 100 people, earning over $6 million through their crypto commodity pool, “Blessings of God Thru Crypto.”&nbsp;</p> 
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 <p>In a Bloomberg interview this week, the SEC chair, Gary Gensler,&nbsp;expressed&nbsp;concerns about fraud and non-compliance, warning investors of the risks associated with crypto investments.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>He raised concerns about whether crypto exchanges comply with regulatory standards, especially compared to traditional exchanges like NYSE and NASDAQ.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="south-korea-and-uk-step-up-efforts">South Korea and UK step up efforts</h2> 
 <p>South Korea has&nbsp;created&nbsp;a Joint Investigation Centre for Cryptocurrency Crimes to combat illicit activities in the digital asset sector.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>The unit comprises around 30 experts from various fields, including law, finance, taxation, and customs. It aims to protect investors from exploitation due to inadequate legal protections for virtual assets.&nbsp;</p> 
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 <p>The team is committed to fighting illicit trading, tax evasion, criminal profit accumulation, and money laundering schemes until comprehensive legislation and oversight measures are implemented.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>Similarly, the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the UK is&nbsp;hiring&nbsp;Digital Assets Cryptocurrency Financial Investigations Managers to combat crimes related to <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="crypto" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/crypto.html">crypto</a>currencies.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>These managers will work with law enforcement agencies to dismantle organized crypto crime syndicates that target unsuspecting investors, ensuring public safety and national security.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="sustained-adoption-among-private-and-public-institutions">Sustained adoption among private and public institutions</h2> 
 <p>Despite increasing hacks and fraudulent schemes this week, there were significant developments in <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="crypto" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/crypto.html">crypto</a> adoption.</p> 
 <p>The government of Palau&nbsp;partnered&nbsp;with Ripple to launch Palau Stablecoin (PSC), a USD-backed stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, with potential use cases in the country.&nbsp;</p> 
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 <p>This week also saw Amazon make a big announcement during the AWS Web3/Blockchain Summit,&nbsp;revealing&nbsp;its plans to enhance Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB) services to support web3 application development.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>The expansion includes AMB Access, which allows developers to interact with public blockchains like Bitcoin using standard remote procedure calls (RPCs) without specialized infrastructure.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="the-british-museum-and-hkma-foray-into-blockchain">The British Museum and HKMA foray into blockchain</h2> 
 <p>The British Museum has&nbsp;teamed&nbsp;up with The Sandbox and LaCollection to create digital collectibles inspired by the museum’s collection.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>This move is part of the museum’s foray into the digital realm.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>Meanwhile, Fubon Bank&nbsp;joined hands&nbsp;with Ripple for the e-HKD pilot program to explore innovative real estate tokenization solutions.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>The trial phase will see Fubon Bank digitize Hong Kong dollars at a 1-to-1 ratio using Ripple’s technology and CBDC platform to extend digital HKD loans to clients.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>It’s important to note that this pilot program doesn’t involve issuing real Hong Kong dollars.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="us-congress-pushes-for-crypto-regulations">US Congress pushes for crypto regulations</h2> 
 <p>Reports on July 26&nbsp;show&nbsp;that the US Congress is working on bills to establish regulatory clarity for the cryptocurrency industry.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>Proposed bills aim to categorize crypto assets and provide oversight for stablecoins.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act was&nbsp;approved&nbsp;by the House Committee on Agriculture, seeking to establish a regulatory framework and define jurisdiction for regulatory bodies, especially for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="davidson-is-against-cbdcs">Davidson is against CBDCs</h2> 
 <p>On July 23, US Congressman Warren Davidson&nbsp;raised&nbsp;concerns about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), calling for their prohibition and criminalization due to potential issues with authority and control.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>He compared CBDCs to the “financial equivalent of the death star” and worried about the potential for corruption.&nbsp;</p> 
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 <p>Davidson urged congressional action to outlaw CBDCs and impose penalties on any attempts to develop or implement them.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="worldcoin-triggers-privacy-concerns">Worldcoin triggers privacy concerns</h2> 
 <p>OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s Worldcoin&nbsp;launched&nbsp;on July 24, with some crypto exchanges announcing intentions to list the token.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>However, the broader crypto community, including Vitalik Buterin,&nbsp;questioned&nbsp;the project’s proof-of-humanity system, citing privacy, security, accessibility, centralization, and potential facilitation of illicit activities.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>Some also&nbsp;criticized&nbsp;the project for insider allocation and associated security risks.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="french-and-british-authorities-concerned">French and British authorities concerned&nbsp;</h2> 
 <p>On July 29, France’s data <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="privacy" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/privacy.html">privacy</a> regulator, the CNIL, said it was&nbsp;investigating&nbsp;the Worldcoin (WLD) project for data collection and biometric data handling <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="concerns" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/concerns.html">concerns</a>.&nbsp;</p> 
 <p>The CNIL is cooperating with German authorities. At the same time, Britain’s data regulator has also&nbsp;announced&nbsp;its intent to investigate the project.</p> 
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Scams surge, crypto regulation in US, Worldcoin’s privacy concerns | Weekly recap

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