Category: Cryptocurrency

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You may have probably encountered Bitcoin ATMs at various establishments like convenience stores, gas stations, and malls. 

While they may resemble traditional ATMs, these kiosks enable customers to purchase, and sometimes sell, cryptocurrency tokens using cash.

The history of Bitcoin ATMs is relatively short, but it reflects the rapid growth and evolution of the cryptocurrency market. Here are some key points:

Early Beginnings

• October 29, 2013: The world’s first publicly available Bitcoin ATM, a Robocoin machine, opened in Vancouver, Canada, at the Waves Coffee Shop.

• December 8, 2013: Europe saw its first Bitcoin ATM installed in Bratislava, Slovakia.

• February 18, 2014: The first Bitcoin ATM in the United States went live in a cigar bar in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but it was removed a month later.

• May 2014: The first licensed Bitcoin ATM in the US, developed by Coinme, was installed at the Spitfire Grill in Seattle, Washington.

Growth and Challenges

Since the early days, the number of Bitcoin ATMs has grown significantly. According to data from CoinATMRadar, Bitcoin ATMs surged in popularity during the peak of the crypto bull run between 2020 and mid-2022, reaching up to 38,800 installations across the US at their peak.

• However, the industry has also faced challenges, including regulatory scrutiny and the volatility of the cryptocurrency market.

• In February 2023, a major Bitcoin ATM operator, Cash Cloud, filed for bankruptcy due to its exposure to the cryptocurrency crash and financial difficulties. 

• Regulatory efforts have also emerged, with some cases like the arrest of three individuals operating unlicensed Bitcoin ATMs in Ohio in March 2023.

Looking Forward

Despite the challenges, the presence of Bitcoin ATMs reflects the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies and their integration into traditional financial systems.

How Do They Work?

Unlike traditional ATMs connected to your bank account, Bitcoin ATMs connect to cryptocurrency exchanges to facilitate buying or selling Bitcoin (or other supported cryptocurrencies) using cash or sometimes debit cards. They do not dispense Bitcoin directly but rather transfer it to your digital cryptocurrency wallet, which is where you store your Bitcoin.

Steps

1. Locate a Bitcoin ATM: Use a service like Coin ATM Radar to find one near you.

2. Choose the “Buy” option: The ATM interface will guide you through the process.

3. Provide your wallet address: You can either scan a QR code linked to your wallet or manually enter the address.

4. Insert cash: The ATM will specify the amount based on the current exchange rate and any fees.

5. Confirmation and receipt: Once confirmed, the Bitcoin will be transferred to your wallet, and you’ll receive a receipt.

Additional Points

• Transaction fees: Be aware of the fees associated with using a Bitcoin ATM, which can be higher than those on online exchanges.

• Two-way vs. one-way machines: Some ATMs are bidirectional, allowing both buying and selling Bitcoin, while others are unidirectional, supporting only one function.

• Security: Always ensure you’re using a reputable Bitcoin ATM operator and exercise caution when handling cash and your wallet information.

How Do Bad Actors Use Crypto ATMs To Commit Fraud?

While Bitcoin and crypto ATMs offer an easy way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, they have become a primary medium for bad actors due to the relative anonymity surrounding them. Here are some ways criminals are exploiting these machines to commit fraud:

Social Engineering Scams

• Impersonating authority figures: Scammers pose as investment advisors, tech support, or other trusted individuals. They convince victims to send cryptocurrency through ATMs as part of a “secure” transaction, often targeting vulnerable populations unfamiliar with the technology.

• Fake investment schemes: Criminals lure victims with promises of high returns by directing them to purchase cryptocurrency via ATMs and transfer it to their wallets, ultimately stealing the invested funds.

• Romance scams: These scams involve building online relationships and manipulating victims into sending cryptocurrency through ATMs for fake investments or fabricated emergencies.

Exploiting ATM Vulnerabilities

• Skimming: Criminals install hidden devices on ATMs to steal user information like PINs and card details, allowing them to withdraw funds or sell stolen information on the dark web.

• Malware injection: Malicious software can be installed on ATMs to manipulate transactions, redirecting funds to the criminals’ wallets.

• Phishing attacks: Fake ATM interfaces or websites can trick users into entering their credentials and personal information, leading to stolen funds or compromised accounts.

Facilitating Illegal Activities

• Money laundering: Criminals use crypto ATMs to convert illegally obtained cash into cryptocurrency, making it harder to trace and hindering law enforcement efforts.

• Funding illegal purchases: Crypto ATMs can be used to anonymously purchase illegal goods or services on the dark web, bypassing traditional financial systems.

Challenges In Combating Fraud

• Anonymity: Cryptocurrency transactions are often pseudonymous, making it difficult to track down criminals and recover stolen funds.

• Regulation: The evolving regulatory landscape surrounding cryptocurrencies can create loopholes that criminals exploit.

• Consumer awareness: Many users are unfamiliar with the risks associated with crypto ATMs, making them more susceptible to scams and social engineering tactics.

It’s important to be cautious and exercise due diligence when using crypto ATMs. Here are some safety tips:

• Only use reputable and well-maintained ATMs from established operators.

• Be wary of anyone urging you to use a specific ATM or invest in cryptocurrency through sudden, unexpected opportunities.

• Never share your PIN or personal information with anyone, even someone claiming to be from technical support or law enforcement.

• Educate yourself about cryptocurrencies and the risks associated with using crypto ATMs.

By being informed and vigilant, you can help minimize your risk of becoming a victim of fraud involving crypto ATMs.

Final Thoughts

As we reflect on the role of Bitcoin ATMs and the broader crypto landscape, it is clear that they represent both an opportunity and a challenge for the industry’s maturation. Bitcoin ATMs have played a significant role in making cryptocurrencies more accessible to the masses, offering a tangible bridge between the digital realm of blockchain and everyday cash transactions. However, as with any emerging technology, there are inherent risks and challenges, particularly when it comes to addressing criminal activities.

The prevalence of cryptocurrency investment and financial fraud poses significant challenges to victims, often leaving them unable to recover defrauded assets even after cases are solved. In a groundbreaking collaboration, Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), the Judicial Reform Foundation (JRF), and blockchain-enabled financial institution XREX have successfully cracked down on a cryptocurrency fraud case, setting a remarkable legal milestone in Taiwan’s judicial history. 

Using advanced blockchain intelligence tools and on-chain tracking technologies, XREX’s anti-money laundering (AML) and information security departments proved the flow of illicit funds and the owners of cryptocurrency assets, even when there were no identifiable suspects or accused, assisting Taiwan’s law enforcement agencies in returning defrauded Ether (ETH) to the victim.

The uniqueness of this investigation lies in the following:

• The attacker phished the Taiwanese victim while he was using the decentralized wallet MetaMask, resulting in his ETH being stolen from the wallet. Since MetaMask is a self-custodial and decentralized wallet, there was no customer service to assist the victim.

• The perpetrator likely belonged to a criminal organization overseas. Taiwanese law enforcement could not know the perpetrator’s identity when processing this case. Therefore, the prosecution lacked a suspect.

• The attacker moved the stolen cryptocurrency assets into an account with OKX, an exchange that operates outside of Taiwanese jurisdiction.

• Multiple parties collaborated to seize almost all of the illicit assets and return them to the victim.

The victim, Mr. Wan, is a professional trader and has been active in cryptocurrency communities. 

“I never expected the fraud group to impersonate a Forbes ‘media interview’ to phish and send web pages with malicious programs to steal my cryptocurrency assets, all under the guise of filling out information on the website,” Wan said. “I appreciate the help and support from the CIB, the JRF’s advocate Miffy Chen, XREX, OKX, and SlowMist. I hope my case can serve as a cautionary tale and convince law enforcement agencies that fraud cases involving such decentralized wallets outside our jurisdiction can be handled and resolved.”

The attacker phished Wan while he was using his Metamask wallet to access a decentralized social platform, Friend.tech, on the Base blockchain network. The attacker drained his wallet and transferred the stolen funds to OKX. Upon realizing the fraud, Mr. Wan immediately shared his experience on social media and gained the attention of Web3 communities. Within six hours, SlowMist contacted OKX and intercepted the stolen ETH. According to OKX’s compliance policies, they can only implement a temporary seizure of 72 hours, within which Taiwanese law enforcement must intervene.

On-chain analytics tracked the bridged assets to the attacker’s wallet, then to OKX.

Miffy Chen from JRF assisted in organizing and compiling documents detailing the cryptocurrency’s flow, assisting the victim in filing a report, and cooperating with the CIB and prosecutors to apply to the court for a seizure ruling.

But how can funds be legally returned to the victim if the case lacks an accused? 

To solve procedural problems in the law, law enforcement agencies requested the intervention of a professional and neutral third party. XREX, an international crypto-fiat exchange, played a key role in verifying Mr. Wan’s ownership of the attacked wallet, as well as re-verifying details of the cryptocurrency flow. XREX’s security and AML teams used TRM Labs and SlowMist’s MistTrack to cross-analyze blockchain asset flows, and identify the flow of funds, submitting a complete cryptocurrency flow report with reliable evidence.

Chen stated, “This case relies on the mutual trust of multiple agencies to act quickly and effectively. It demonstrated that even if criminals have transferred the stolen assets to overseas exchanges, the assets can still be tracked and recovered. This case serves as a great encouragement to all law enforcement units and experts involved. I hope this unprecedented case is not just a stroke of luck, but an important reference for future cases.”

The case’s in-charge, Detective Hsieh Rui Xuan from the CIB’s Sixth Investigation Corp, remarked, “Scam syndicates are extending their reach globally through the Internet and emerging technologies like blockchain technology. This has become a serious social issue in Taiwan. While Taiwan’s ability to combat overseas crime remains limited, seizing and returning fraudulent proceeds holds significant meaning for victims.”

He added that while law enforcement continues to enhance cryptocurrency tracing techniques, this has to be done within existing regulatory constraints.

“I hope this case is an important foundation, not only for remotely seizing cryptocurrency assets, but also for promoting collaborations between law enforcement agencies and experts in blockchain, law, and cybersecurity to combat the misuse of blockchain technology for fraudulent activities,” Hsieh said.

Sun Huang, XREX’s Chief Security Officer and General Manager, has over 15 years of international experience in cybersecurity and possesses both offensive and defensive capabilities recognized globally. He said, “This cooperation with law enforcement highlights how it is more difficult to launder money via a transparent and open blockchain network. All transactions are permanently recorded on-chain and cannot be tampered with or erased. The current difficulty lies in introducing and effectively using blockchain tracking and analysis tools. We believe XREX is already a leader in this regard and can be a partner trusted by law enforcement agencies.”

XREX has integrated top-tier blockchain analysis technologies and monitoring tools such as JPMorgan’s portfolio company TRM Labs, Mastercard’s CipherTrace, Chainalysis, and MistTrack. XREX continues to fulfill its corporate social responsibility by assisting investigations to analyze illegal currency flows, disclose scam tactics, and produce forensic reports, pro bono.

XREX is also the first company in Taiwan to be audited by the British Standards Institution, attaining the latest version of ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Information Security Management System certification. XREX Taiwan is listed on the Financial Supervisory Commission’s list of virtual assets service providers that have completed anti-money laundering compliance statements.

Sun Huang urged, “All cryptocurrency users must be vigilant and careful to verify. If one becomes a victim of scams, immediate action should be taken, such as transferring assets to a new wallet, filing a report as soon as possible, and preserving evidence. All these help in reducing losses. Be mindful to avoid follow-up scams targeting victims and claiming they can help recover assets. Always seek assistance from qualified operators and law enforcement agencies.”

XREX, co-founded by internationally-renowned cybersecurity expert Wayne Huang, is the first cryptocurrency company in Taiwan to obtain an in-principle approval for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and has completed anti-money laundering statements to the Financial Supervisory Commission. Its predecessor, security software startup Armorize, specializes in vulnerability analysis and advanced persistent threat (APT) network attacks.

About XREX

XREX is a blockchain-enabled financial institution working with banks, regulators, and users to redefine banking together. We provide enterprise-grade banking services to small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in or dealing with emerging markets, and novice-friendly financial services to individuals worldwide.

Founded in 2018 and operating globally under multiple licenses, XREX offers a full suite of services such as digital asset custody, wallet, cross-border payment, fiat-crypto conversion, cryptocurrency exchange, asset management, and fiat currency on-off ramps.

Sharing the social responsibility of financial inclusion, XREX leverages blockchain technologies to further financial participation, access, and education.

This press release was originally published on this site

The crypto scene keeps on changing, ya know? New coins and tokens pop up all the time, keeping things interesting. In the last seven days, two coins that have been making waves are Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Pepe Coin (PEPE). They each bring something special to the table, and in this piece, we’ll dig into what makes them tick. Let’s take a look at this Shiba Inu vs PEPE coin article in more detail.

Shiba Inu vs PEPE Coin: How has the price moved in the recent days?

As of today, the price of Shiba Inu stands at $0.00001053, with a trading volume of $545.17 million over the past 24 hours. Its market capitalization sits at $6.20 billion, with a market dominance of 0.29%. Over the last day, the price of SHIB has gone up by 9.53%.

Shiba Inu hit its peak price on October 28, 2021, reaching an all-time high of $0.00008819. Its lowest recorded price was on November 28, 2020, when it traded at its all-time low of $0.000105637. Since reaching its all-time high, the lowest price experienced was $0.000055821 (cycle low), while the highest SHIB price post-cycle low was $0.00001168 (cycle high). Currently, sentiment around the Shiba Inu price prediction is bullish, and the Fear & Greed Index indicates a reading of 79 (Extreme Greed).

On the other hand, as of now, the price of Pepe Coin stands at $0.000002105, with a trading volume of $905.91 million over the past 24 hours. Its market capitalization is recorded at $882.22 million, with a market dominance of 0.04%. Over the last day, the price of PEPE has surged by 41.27%.

Pepe Coin hit its peak price on May 5, 2023, reaching an all-time high of $0.000004310. Its lowest recorded price was on April 14, 2023, when it traded at its all-time low of $0.00000000001057. Since reaching its all-time high, the lowest price experienced was $0.0000006111 (cycle low), while the highest PEPE price post-cycle low was $0.000002286 (cycle high). Currently, sentiment around the Pepe Coin price prediction is bullish, and the Fear & Greed Index indicates a reading of 79 (Extreme Greed).

Shiba Inu vs PEPE Coin: What’s the current developments?

Shiba Inu, that big-time meme coin rollin’ on Ethereum, just did something wild today, February 27th—they dropped a zero from their token value! Talk about a hype boost! And alongside this crazy jump, Shiba Inu’s SHEboshi got some serious attention, thanks to none other than Shytoshi Kusama, the main brain behind the project.

Now, after Sheboshi made its debut not long ago, it went through a dry spell in terms of availability, proving just how big of a deal it is in the crypto world. And get this, Shytoshi Kusama himself spilled the beans on a major SHEboshi listing announcement over on CoinW, a popular crypto exchange. Things are heating up!

Even though the listing happened on February 23, Kusama’s repost is just another sign of how hot this project is and how the community keeps pushing to boost SHIB tokenomics. And hey, speaking of boosts, SHIB token made some serious gains today, riding the wave of the community’s recent progress and a big jump in burn rate. Things are really picking up steam!

So, here’s the scoop from CoinW: on February 23, they rolled out the SHEB/USDT trading pair in their MEME & NFT trading zone at 13:00 UTC. The very next day, February 24, they opened up deposits and withdrawals for it at 6:00 UTC.

But wait, there’s more! CoinW sweetened the deal by announcing extra rewards for folks depositing over 50 USDT worth of SHEB. They scrapped the idea of random airdrops and instead promised a prize pool of 1,000 USDT worth of SHEB, given out on a first-come-first-serve basis. Plus, users trading with a volume of over 100 USDT also get a piece of a 3,000 USDT equivalent prize pool in SHEB tokens, according to CoinW’s statement.

These perks are meant to draw more folks into Shiba Inu’s world and give a boost to SHIB tokenomics, like we mentioned earlier. And speaking of boosts, Shiba Inu has been making major moves lately, from teaming up with K9 Finance to talk of a potential SHIB ETF, not to mention burning through hefty amounts of SHIB tokens. Things are definitely heating up in the Shiba Inu crypto world!

On the other hand, Pepe hit its all-time high of $0.000001438 just six hours back, showing some ups and downs throughout today. It seems like Pepe is staging a comeback after a whole year, and if this momentum keeps up, it could mark another big moment in the history of meme coins.

The crypto market is currently in the greed zone, sitting at a score of 75, and the big players are doing pretty well. Bitcoin has crossed the $57,000 mark, while Ethereum is cruising above $3200, which bodes well for investors.

#Binance Simple Earn launches a new $PEPE promotion!

Complete a quiz to earn 700,000 #PEPE in rewards and up to 9% bonus tiered APR 🤝

Get involved ⤵️

— Binance (@binance) February 23, 2024