Crypto and AML Adoption Reports Released, NFT Market Continued Growth, Blockchain Cobalt Pilot Project Progress, Crypto Exchange and DeFi Market Hacking | Baker

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[co-author: Lauren Bass]

Crypto Adoption Index Released, Regulators Tackle Crypto Across The Globe

By Joanna F. Wasick

The Chainalysis 2021 Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index was released on Wednesday, offering an in-depth look at cryptocurrency adoption around the world. Chainalysis ranked 154 countries based on three metrics: (1) the value of on-chain cryptocurrency received, (2) on-chain retail value transferred, and (3) volume of peer-to-peer exchange. The application of each measure was balanced with the country’s purchasing power parity per capita, so the importance of cryptocurrency use was assessed in the context of an individual’s wealth. people and value for money in general in this country. Vietnam received the highest overall ranking in the index, followed by India and Pakistan. The United States was eighth, down two places from last year. The index further shows that global cryptocurrency adoption has grown by over 2,300% since the third quarter of 2019 and over 881% in the past year.

After significant controversy over the wording of the infrastructure bill’s cryptocurrency tax reporting provision, a recent article reports that the U.S. Treasury intends to issue guidelines that only crypto companies -currency considered “brokers” under the tax code will be subject to reporting obligations, and not, for example, developers, stakers and miners. The forward guidance appears to be an effort by the Treasury to pass the existing bill through the House and the President, without further efforts by Congress to reduce the actual language of the bill, which could lead to delays.

Earlier this week, Spain’s National Securities Market Commission issued 12 warnings to companies, including the Huobi and Bybit cryptocurrency exchanges, for providing investment services without properly registering with the authorities. Three other crypto exchanges were also targeted, as was a token issuer. Likewise, the Dutch central bank said on Wednesday that the Binance cryptocurrency exchange had not properly registered to do business and was operating illegally in the country. Also on Wednesday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission issued a statement telling Australians to be wary of investing in financial products and services related to crypto assets when the provider does not have an appropriate license.

For more information, please see the following links:

Design, Data and Digital Platforms: NFT Market Dominance Continues

By Lauren Bass

Earlier this week, a major Italian fashion house announced the launch of its collection of non-fungible tokens (NFT). Reportedly, the collection, which marks the brand’s first foray into the NFT market, will include unique items intended to “bridge the physical and the metaphysical”. These specially designed digital looks will be available for auction through UNXD, an Ethereum-based luxury marketplace powered by the Polygon network.

After showcasing the work of a graphic designer on the cover of its August 2021 issue of cryptocurrency, a multinational business magazine reportedly decided to create the viral design as a limited edition NFT series. According to reports, each NFT will sell for a fixed price of 1 ETH and be offered to the public exclusively through the OpenSea marketplace.

In other news from NFT, a Chinese e-commerce platform announced the launch of a new integrated marketplace that will allow writers, musicians, artists and game developers to sell rights to their intellectual property through the blockchain. According to reports, NFTs will be issued through the New Copyright Blockchain, which is operated by the Copyright Committee of the Sichuan Blockchain Association. The digital tokens will be accessible to the public through a dedicated auction site on the e-commerce platform.

According to cryptocurrency analysts, last summer’s NFT sales “exploded” to higher levels than the previous NFT boom in March. One of the largest NFT markets is said to have exceeded $ 1 billion in sales this month, accounting for nearly 60,000 unique sales per day. According to reports, the increase in the market may have been fueled by recent purchases from CryptoPunks, Art Blocks, collections of social media profile pictures and other cryptoarts. The report also suggests that there could be a correlation between sales of NFT and the price of ETH.

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Launch of the Blockchain Cobalt Tracing pilot, merger of Ethereum-based networks

By Keith R. Murphy

According to recent reports, a well-known electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer has reported progress in piloting a new blockchain cobalt traceability solution that is supported by several large metallurgical and mining companies. The cobalt traceability pilot would currently be tested in real conditions, from the material’s sources in Africa to downstream electric vehicle production sites. The electric vehicle maker expects a final pilot across its entire supply chain by the end of the year, and the final industrial solution is expected to launch in 2022.

According to a recent press release, the team and technology behind a zero-knowledge cryptography-based scale-up project, Hermez Network, are merging into the Polygon Network ecosystem, resulting in a new network named Polygon Hermez. The statement says Hermez is a fully functioning decentralized rollup that processes thousands of transactions and verifies them on Ethereum L1, and that the planned combination will be the first full-fledged merger of one blockchain network into another.

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Bitcoin operator “Tumbler” pleads guilty, Crypto AML report released

By Jordan R. Silversmith

This week, an Ohio man pleaded guilty to running a money laundering program through Helix, a darknet-based cryptocurrency laundering service. According to court documents, the man admitted to operating Helix, a bitcoin “mixer” or “goblet” from 2014 to 2017. In total, Helix moved more than 350,000 bitcoins – valued at over $ 300 million at the time – on behalf of its customers. The man will be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of $ 500,000 or double the value of the property involved in the transaction, among other penalties. As part of his plea, he also agreed to give up more than 4,400 bitcoins, valued at over $ 200 million today.

A leading blockchain analytics company recently released its report on cryptocurrency crimes and anti-money laundering for 2021. According to the report, the $ 681 million stolen in major thefts, crypto hacks and frauds by the end of July 2021 represent a much lower amount than in previous years. ‘ the amounts. However, the report notes an alarming quarter-over-quarter increase in decentralized finance (DeFi) crimes. DeFi-related hacks already account for 76% of major hacks in 2021, a 2.7-fold increase from 2020. DeFi-related fraud accounted for 54% of the major crypto fraud volume this year, while related fraud DeFi accounted for just 3% of the 2020 total. The report also noted the continued growth in ransomware targeting critical national infrastructure this year.

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Cryptocurrency Exchange and DeFi Marketplace Hacked, Crypto Malware Reported

By Kayley B. Sullivan

According to recent reports, Japan’s Liquid Gold cryptocurrency exchange has been hacked and has since suspended deposits and withdrawals. Liquid did not provide an estimate of the loss’s value, but reports say it could exceed $ 90 million. In another recent hack, market maker DeFi Popsicle Finance was reportedly hacked in an attack that drained around $ 25 million of ether.

Late last week, a cybersecurity firm released a report on a recently discovered cryptomining scheme. The ploy would use malicious Docker images to hijack computer resources and mine Monero cryptocurrency. Docker containers, a way to electronically package software, are designed to resemble the organization’s Docker images.

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