Monthly Archives: January 2024

U.Today - , the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has slowed its decline since U.S. exchange-traded funds for the largest digital asset began trading on Jan. 11 and now faces a critical test if a bottoming signal on its charts is confirmed.

Bitcoin climbed over 4% on Wednesday, reaching a high of $40,527 before trimming its gains to trade at $40,091 at press time.

Given Bitcoin's recent bounce from lows of $38,501 on Jan. 23, Glassnode cofounder "Negentropic" on X wonders if it just bottomed in a "descending wedge with a classical throw-over."

Adding to that, if this is the case, Bitcoin may rally to $42,000 before retesting $40,500, after which it should skyrocket. The Glassnode cofounder added reassuringly that the "bigger picture still remains very bullish" for the Bitcoin price.

The digital asset markets observed an upswing in speculation leading up to the Bitcoin ETF approvals, with a general sell-the-news event playing out over the following days.

Bitcoin has fallen over 20% from an intraday high of $49,021 when the ETFs went live, as excitement over the products gave way to anxiety about the eventual extent of demand for them.

The latest sell-off marks the fourth time in the last year or so that Bitcoin has lost approximately 20%.

Elliott's wave theory claims that markets are prone to repeating wave patterns. Applying the approach to Bitcoin implies that the largest cryptocurrency will find a base between $36,000 and $38,000 before a fifth wave reignites last year's ascent.

According to cryptocurrency analyst Ali, historical patterns demonstrate that in bull markets, BTC price declines are consistently followed by further upside increases. This implies that declines could provide smart buying opportunities for investors eager to capitalize on Bitcoin's potential rise.

This article was originally published on U.Today

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Bitcoin Might Rally to $42,000 If This Rare Bottoming Pattern Validates By U.Today - Investing.com

Hackers siphoned $1.7 billion from cryptocurrency platforms in 2023 down by about $2 billion from a record high set the previous year, according to data collected by blockchain research firm Chainalysis.

Despite the drop in total money lost, the number of individual incidents targeting these platforms grew from 219 in 2022 to 231 in 2023 due in no small part to the collapse of several popular exchanges and the overall precipitous decline in value of cryptocurrencies.

Chainalysis experts also attributed the drop to a decrease in the number of cyber thefts targeting decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms which allow customers to borrow funds, speculate on prices and trade coins.

Hacks of DeFi protocols largely drove the huge increase in stolen crypto that we saw in 2021 and 2022, with cybercriminals stealing more than $3.1 billion in DeFi hacks in 2022. But in 2023, hackers stole just $1.1 billion from DeFi protocols, the researchers said.

This amounts to a 63.7% drop in the total value stolen from DeFi platforms year-over-year. There was also a significant drop in the share of all funds stolen accounted for by DeFi protocol victims in 2023.

In spite of the drop, several incidents drew headlines throughout 2023, including:

July 2023 alone saw 33 different hacks, the most of any month, the researchers explained.

Cybersecurity experts who spoke to Chainalysis said many of the hacks occurred because platforms are poorly built, prioritizing growth over robust security systems.

Historically, the majority of DeFi hacks have stemmed from vulnerabilities in smart contract design and implementation a large proportion of the affected contracts we examined had either not undergone any audit or had been audited inadequately, said Mar Gimenez-Aguilar, lead security architect and researcher at blockchain cybersecurity firm Halborn.

But Gimenez-Aguilar noted that things are improving, with many DeFi protocols increasing security measures.

Chainalysis said it is likely a mix of lower overall DeFi activity and better security practices that contributed to the decline in losses last year.

Although the total amount stolen from crypto platforms in 2023 was down significantly from prior years, it is clear that attackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and diverse in their exploits, Chainalysis said.

Over time, as these processes improve, it is likely that funds stolen from crypto hacks will continue to decline.

Image: Chainalysis

One important part of the crypto hacking ecosystem is the activity of threat actors from North Korea, which have pilfered billions from crypto platforms to help fund their government and its nuclear weapons program.

In 2022, North Korean cyber espionage groups like Kimsuky and Lazarus Group stole about $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency. That figure fell to $1 billion in 2023 but the number of incidents attributed to the nation grew to 20, the highest ever recorded.

About $428 million was stolen from DeFi platforms while exchanges, wallet providers and centralized services also saw hundreds of millions worth of losses.

Attacks on Atomic Wallet, Alphapo and Coinspaid were all attributed to North Korean hackers, according to U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Chainalysis said the hackers behind the attacks took great effort to obfuscate the funds, sending them to centralized exchanges and then to other platforms where they could be mixed with other funds and converted into other cryptocurrency.

The hackers used the now-sanctioned mixing service Sinbad to obscure the on-chain transactions. Several other platforms and services, like the Tron blockchain and Avalanche bridge, were used to further launder the money.

The United Nations Security Council recently asked researchers at cybersecurity firm Phylum to provide them with information on North Koreas efforts to use cryptocurrency thefts as a way to circumvent sanctions.

Louis Lang, co-founder of Phylum, told Recorded Future News that the UN was particularly interested in Lazarus Groups attacks and noted that they have seen multiple campaigns from the group.

DPRK cyberattacks account for nearly 45% of their military budget. If memory serves, $3.7 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen in 2023, nearly half of that was the result of DPRK cyberattacks, Lang said.

In the campaigns weve been monitoring, [Lazarus Group] is just different because the motivations are different. The group wants to obtain cryptocurrency, so they target financial and cryptocurrency institutions directly. Theyve been very successful in this case.

Recorded Future

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Jonathan Greig

Jonathan Greig is a Breaking News Reporter at Recorded Future News. Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since 2014. Before moving back to New York City, he worked for news outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia. He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.

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Cybercriminals stole $1.7 billion from crypto funds in 2023 as attacks proliferated - The Record from Recorded Future News

About Emily Jarvie

Emily began her career as a political journalist for Australian Community Media in Hobart, Tasmania. After she relocated to Toronto, Canada, she reported on business, legal, and scientific developments in the emerging psychedelics sector before joining Proactive in 2022. She brings a strong journalism background with her work featured in newspapers, magazines, and digital publications across Australia, Europe, and North America, including The Examiner, The Advocate, The Canberra Times, and... Read more

Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists.

Proactive news team spans the worlds key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth.

We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors.

The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies.

Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter.

Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows.

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Phunware adds cryptocurrency expert to board | NASDAQ:PHUN - Proactive Investors USA

A pastor inColoradowho's accused of stealing $1.3 million through acryptocurrencyfraud scheme claimed that God told him to do it.

The Colorado Division of Securitiesreleased a statement last weeksaying Eli Regalado and his wife promoted their cryptocurrency company, INDXcoin, to Christian groups in Denver while telling them the Lord told him his followers would become rich if they invested in his scheme.

The Securities Division stated that Regalado and his wife raised nearly $3.2 million through INDXcoin, and at least $1.3M went to the couple or was "used for their own personal benefit," according to a complaint filed Tuesday in Denver County District Court.

The two were charged with violating anti-fraud provisions under the Colorado Securities Act and are scheduled to appear in Denver District Court next week. In a video statement released to his congregation last week, Regalado said the allegations levied against them that they stole $1.3 million "are true."

"Out of the $1.3 [million], half a million dollars went to the IRS, and a few hundred thousand dollars went to a home remodel the Lord told us to do," Regalado said in the video.

The couple allegedly spent the money on a Range Rover, luxury bags, jewelry, trips and so much more.

Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan said she filed the civil fraud charges after those who invested and lost money through INDXcoinspoke to her about what was going on.

"We allege that Mr. Regalado took advantage of the trust and faith of his own Christian community and that he peddled outlandish promises of wealth to them when he sold them essentially worthless cryptocurrencies," Chan said in a statement.

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Pastor Accused of Stealing $1.3 Million in Cryptocurrency Scheme Says God Gave Him the Co-Sign - Complex

A Colorado pastor and his wife admitted online they scammed Christians out of $3.2 million worth of cryptocurrency, spending over a million on themselves.

Eligio Eli Regalado and his wife Kaitlyn releaseda YouTube video, in which they confessed to selling worthless cryptocurrency to 300 Christians recruited to invest in INDXcoin through an offering they called Kingdom of Wealth.

So the charges are that Kaitlyn and I pocketed $1.3 million. . . I just want to come out and say that those charges are true, says Regalado in the video, whichhas now been made private.

Last Tuesday, Colorado Securities and Exchange Commissioner Tung Chanfiled civil fraud charges against the Regalados in a Denverdistrict court. The complaint accuses the couple of raising nearly $3.2 million from investors by claiming that God would make them rich. Yet, the cryptocurrency the couple sold was illiquid, the complaint claims.

Regalado spent the money he got in the scheme on aRange Rover, jewelry, luxury handbags, cosmetic dentistry, boat rentals, snowmobile adventures, home renovations and an au pair, according to Commissioner Chan.

Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of The Great Dechurching: Whos Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham. To donate, click here.

Theres been $1.3 million thats been taken out of, I think it was, a total of $3.4 million, says Regalado in the video.But out of that $1.3, half a million dollars went to the IRS, and a few hundred thousand went to a home remodel that the Lord told us to do.

Regalado preaches at Victorious Grace Church in Denver.According to Chan, Regalado exploited his position to prey on a vulnerable congregation.

We allege that Mr. Regalado took advantage of the trust and faith of his own Christian community and that he peddled outlandish promises of wealth to them when he sold them essentially worthless cryptocurrencies, said Chan. New coins and new exchanges are easy to create with open source code. We want to remind consumers to be very skeptical.

Yet, inhis video, Regalado implied that officials dont understand the way God works.

Money would come in. Wed tithe. Wed sow, Regalado said. . . . We were just always under the impression that God was going to provide, that the source was never-ending, that God was doing a new thing and that we had nothing to worry about.We sold a cryptocurrency with no clear exit. We did.

We took God at His word . . .And so the prosecutors have to take that and say, These people willingly sold a cryptocurrency with no clear exit. What were praying for, and what were believing for still, is that God is going to do a miracle.

Julie Roys contributed to this report, a version of which originally appeared at CHVN Radio.

Sylvia St. Cyr is an on-air radio host at CHVN, a Christian outlet in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

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Pastor Couple Charged with Fraud After Selling Millions in Cryptocurrency - The Roys Report

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Get Your Free r/CryptoCurrency Moons $MOON Tokens Today: The Wealth Path - Medium

U.Today - Samson Mow, major evangelist and boss of the Bitcoin-oriented company Jan3 that intends to help nation-states with Bitcoin adoption, has published a Twitter/X post in which he stressed the role of Bitcoin in the success of such major companies as MicroStrategy and .

At the same time, he took a dig at the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, .

MicroStrategy has been adding large BTC chunks to its balance sheet regularly since August of 2020, and Tether holds Bitcoin among the assets that back the USDT supply issued by it. Michael Saylors business intelligence giant now holds an astonishing $8.7 billion worth of Bitcoin, and this, surprisingly, exceeds the companys market capitalization by $1 billion.

Earlier this week, by the way, Michael Saylor called on the cryptocurrency community not to sell their Bitcoin, despite the continuous BTC price plunge that is taking place despite spot ETF approval by the SEC regulatory agency.

As for Tether, last quarter, it acquired another Bitcoin stash amounting to $380 million worth of Bitcoin. At the time of this writing, Tether holds 66,465 BTC.

Mow stressed the importance of the global flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin as opposed to the second largest one by market capitalization value Ethereum.

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Mow has recently been tweeting about his expectations for Bitcoin to reach $1 million. Elaborating on that forecast in one of his tweets, the Bitcoiner explained that this prediction should not be expected to be fulfilled instantly, like after the spot Bitcoin ETF was greenlit. What he meant was that the overall market fundamentals for Bitcoin have changed compared to how they stood before.

In a tweet published earlier today, Mow stated that the Bitcoin price does not depend on the ETF approval, and it rises of its own accord and at its own pace.

This article was originally published on U.Today

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Major 'Secret' of MicroStrategy Revealed by Bitcoiner Samson Mow By U.Today - Investing.com

Noah Michael Urban, 19, was briefly held at the Volusia jail after his arrest before his transfer to federal custody, where he remains.

A federal judge in Jacksonville on Monday signed an order to have former Palm Coast resident Noah Michael Urban held in prison until his March trial, and finding him at risk of fleeing if he were released meanwhile.

A federal grand jury in late December indicted Urban, 19, who went by aliases such as Sosa, Elijah, Gustavo Fring and King Bob, on one charge of wire fraud conspiracy, eight counts of write fraud, and five counts of aggravated identity theft. He is alleged to have stolen virtual currency from five victims accounts by fraudulently obtaining their personal identifying information, managing to take control of their cell phone numbers, and gaining access to their online accounts and cryptocurrency exchange accounts.

The alleged fraud took place between August 2022 and March 2023, according to the indictment. On Nov. 2, 2022, for example, Urban transferred 182.1991 Ethereum, a cryptocurrency, or the equivalent of $294,797, from one cryptocurrency account to his own computer. On Nov. 21, he transferred 1.29 bitcoin worth $21,952 from a second victims account to his computer. Subsequent transactions, or thefts, followed, for amounts of $37,742, then $107,230, and in February 2023, a transfer of $374,614.

Noah was arrested on Jan. 9 in Deltona, where Urban was known to have a residence, according to his drivers license (on Glenwood Plantation Road). He was booked at the Volusia Branch Jail and transferred the next day to federal custody.

Urban tested positive for Covid soon after his arrest and sought to have his detention hearing delayed past Jan. 16, through a motion filed by his attorney, Assistant federal Defender Kathryn Sheldon. Judge Joel Toomey granted the motion. He was arraigned on Jan. 19 and pleaded not guilty on all 14 counts. The prosecution moved to keep Urban in prison, citing various reasons.

Urban had no fixed address at the time of his arrest and was using an alias to stay at Airbnbs, all the while aware that he was under investigation. In March 2023, when a search warrant was executed at his home, he was downloading software to delete computer files. He has never been employed but appears to be self-supportive, the order states. In May 2023, he told authorities that he would no longer have contact with co-conspirators, some of whom are overseas. But he did so anyway. Taking those reasons into account, along with the likelihood of a lengthy period of incarceration if convicted, the judge agreed to keep Urban in detention.

Urbans trial is scheduled forMarch 4 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger.

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Palm Coast's Noah Michael Urban, 19, Faces 14 Counts of Cryptocurrency Fraud in Federal Indictment - FlaglerLive.com