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#How do hackers withdraw crypto
qsexcoin · 6 months
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QSCHAINCOIN Upgrades Selection and Application Options
QSCHAINCOIN Upgrades Selection and Application Options
What Is a Crypto Exchange? A crypto exchange is a marketplace where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin, Ether or Dogecoin. Cryptocurrency exchanges work a lot like other trading platforms that you may be familiar with. They provide you with accounts where you can create different order types to buy, sell and speculate in the crypto market. Some crypto exchanges support advanced trading features like margin accounts and futures trading, although these are less commonly available to U.S.-based users. Others have features like crypto staking or crypto loans that allow you to earn interest on your crypto holdings. The best exchanges offer educational offerings to keep you up to date on all things crypto.
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How Do Cryptocurrency Exchanges Work? Crypto exchanges work a lot like brokerage platforms. Each offers a portal where you can create different order types to buy, sell and speculate on cryptocurrencies with other users.
Different Types of Crypto Exchanges Broadly speaking, there are two categories of crypto exchanges: centralized exchanges and decentralized exchanges. Each category comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Centralized Exchanges Centralized crypto , or CEXs, are managed by one organization. Centralized exchanges make it easy to get started with cryptocurrency trading by allowing users to convert their fiat currency, like dollars, directly into crypto. The vast majority of crypto trading takes place on centralized exchanges. The major concern with centralized exchanges, however, is hacking. With a CEX, the exchange holds the crypto traded on its platform — at least in the short term, while trades go through — raising the risk of hackers stealing assets. To address this risk, centralized crypto exchanges have beefed up security over recent years. Among other strategies, they now store most customer assets offline and take out insurance policies to cover crypto losses in the case of hacking. If you like the convenience of a centralized exchange, you can reduce your risk by transferring crypto to a separate, off-exchange hot or cold wallet. Decentralized Exchanges Decentralized crypto exchanges, otherwise known as DEXs, distribute responsibility for facilitating and verifying crypto trades. Anyone willing to join a DEX network can certify transactions, much like the way cryptocurrency blockchains work. This may help increase accountability and transparency as well as ensure an exchange can keep running, regardless of the state of the company that created it. The trouble is that decentralized exchanges are much less user friendly, not only from an interface standpoint but also in terms of currency conversion. Decentralized exchanges, for instance, don’t always allow users to deposit dollars and exchange them for crypto. This means you either have to already own crypto or use a centralized exchange to get crypto that you then use on a DEX. Global Crypto Exchanges There are nearly 600 cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide inviting investors to trade bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets. But costs, quality and safety vary widely. Crypto Exchange Fees You pay two types of fees when you buy and sell crypto: trading fees and withdrawal fees. Trading Fees Withdrawal Fees Other Fees
How To Choose a Cryptocurrency Exchange Beyond fees, when choosing the best crypto exchange for your needs, consider things like: Security Trading volumes Educational resources If the exchange lists the cryptocurrencies you’re interested in buying Security As crypto has grown more popular and valuable, it’s become a big large target for hackers. Leading exchanges like Binance and KuCoin have been hacked, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in losses. While exchanges often reimburse those whose coins are stolen, nobody wants to be in that position in the first place. You can minimize your risk by spreading your crypto purchases across multiple exchanges. Alternatively, make it a habit to move your crypto holdings out of an exchange’s default wallet to your own secure “cold” wallet. These are storage options that are not connected to the internet, making them nearly impossible to hack — although you’ll need to carefully record your passcode or you could lose access to your crypto forever. Available Coins Carefully consider the cryptocurrencies available on a given exchange. You might be perfectly fine using a crypto exchange that only trades a few coins. Conversely, if you’re a crypto fiend, you may want access to all of the more than 600 available on Gate.io. Trading Volume The availability of coins alone isn’t sufficient if there are no trades happening. You’ll ideally want to verify that there’s sufficient trading volume in your target coins to ensure liquidity, so you can easily trade your coins and dollars. Low-volume markets could cost you on sales. If there’s not a lot of volume and you put an order in, that’s called slippage. You could end up buying at a higher price or selling at a lower price than you’d want. If you’re an advanced crypto trader, you may want to make sure your preferred exchange offers the trading types — like limit orders, which can prevent slippage by setting a hard price — and margin you want. Remember trade types involving the latter are still evolving in the U.S., so different exchanges’ offerings may vary over time. Educational Resources If you’re just getting started with cryptocurrency, look for an easy-to-use platform with plenty of educational resources to help you understand this complex, rapidly developing market. Accessibility Finally, don’t assume that an exchange is available in your country, or even state, just because you can access its website. Many state and federal governments are still figuring out how exactly they want to treat cryptocurrencies from a legal and tax standpoint.
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gandercoin123 · 1 year
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What are the latest updates and news about Gandercoin?
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Did you just hear the latest news about India’s First Digital Coin? If not, let me introduce you to India’s first digital coin, Gandercoin! The coin has its ecosystem, discovered by a crypto exchange company named CoinCRED. It’s just not a coin, it's a revolution that has started to change how we trade, sell, buy, deposit, and withdraw coins. whether they are novice or expert traders. There are many digital coins and assets on the market right now, but Gandercoin has its ecosystem with advantages like a 0.25% daily return on your investment. Because of this feature, it is the most significant cryptocurrency in India for democratizing access to the digital revolution and changing how we view and interact with trading. Gandercoin aims to equip traders with the knowledge and resources they need to thrive in the competitive world of cryptocurrency trading.
GanderCoin is unique as the first cryptocurrency since it will transform how we transact business, make investments, and safeguard our financial assets. The GanderCoin Ecosystem offers several advantages, including
Staking income
Referral income
Gandercoin was developed to provide a great experience with blockchain technology and digital currencies to Indians as it is based on the Scrypt blockchain. Its web platforms adhere to various guidelines and policies for the users. Gandercoin has several features, including 
P2P transactions: Peer-to-peer networks are one of the essential foundations in the cryptocurrency sector and are the foundation upon which GanderCoin is built. A peer-to-peer network is built on the idea of decentralized communication, allowing users to conduct transactions with one another without the necessity of a central server. Every node on the P2P network can conduct cryptocurrency transactions anywhere.
High speed: The decentralized P2P Gandercoin payment mechanism makes a smooth currency transfer possible. With a low transaction fee economic model, it can manage high transaction speeds. As a result, customers may utilize one of the fastest and safest cryptocurrencies to complete their transactions in a couple of minutes. 
Scrypt cryptography: The safest hash algorithm, known as the Scrypt Algorithm, is used in developing GanderCoin to provide better security. Scrypt Algorithm is a type of cryptographic algorithm used in cryptocurrency mining as an encryption technique. This password-based feature aids in the protection of cryptographic data from hackers, cyber attackers, and specialist miners.
Mighty security: It is easy to use and safe to be protected. All the data and transaction information may be readily saved, highly protected, and end-to-end encrypted in each block since it is based on blockchain technology. The data is encrypted, and the central server is eliminated via the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) function. In other words, GanderCoin transactions do not involve any third parties like banks or financial institutions. 
Gem value: GanderCoin's users receive highly precise gem values through the platform. Customers or cryptocurrency users would have the chance to benefit from huge potential profits. Additionally, GanderCoin is accepted worldwide in markets (for buying, selling, trading, and investing).
Low processing fees: With a very cheap transaction/gas charge, cryptocurrency users may rapidly settle their GanderCoin exchanges and transactions. Additionally, it gives its users a variety of bonuses and offers, including airdrops, prize-winning opportunities, reduced transaction fees, and other gem values.
Tokenomics:
Gandercoin's total supply is ten thousand crores, based on the Scrypt blockchain. The coin's exchange rate is thirty INR, and the minimal transaction is zero point one grand. The coin price is ten INR. It also serves three distinct purposes:
Governance over the network.
Bonding.
Staking. 
Conclusion:
With those features and benefits, it will soon be known as India’s best digital currency. This digital coin will provide a great experience to Web 3 users. It will improve and guide us to do better with better technologies and innovations. For more details, check the official website and other official social media handles.
Written By-  Manmeet Kaur
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ailtrahq · 1 year
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Mike Belshe, chief executive of BitGo crypto exchange and major US crypto custodian, has shed light on the recent exploit of Fortress Trust, a company recently acquired by Ripple. The fintech giant owning the company has admitted that a breach did occur, while Fortress has not so far.What is more, it has published a tweet to maintain that no funds were lost. Belshe has dispelled allegations that BitGo was somehow involved in this.Fortress breach has nothing to do with BitGo, Belshe statesFortress Trust used BitGo as a platform for crypto custody. Belshe cited an X post of Jameson Lopp, who stated that funds were lost indeed. What Fortress has admitted so far is that four of its clients was affected by an attempt of a breach last week, however, as mentioned above, they insist that no funds were lost.“When Fortress lost funds, they chose to omit facts about what happened, downplay the event, and conclude, “most importantly, no funds were lost,” Belshe stated.I can’t express enough how upsetting this Fortress Trust episode is to me. I really don’t want to talk about it at all, because it actually has nothing to do with BitGo. But because Fortress was not forthcoming about what actually did happen, we are now indirectly affected -… https://t.co/jXZYGBt93B— Mike Belshe (@mikebelshe) September 11, 2023 Mike Belshe insists that BitGo has nothing to do with this breach as he shared he chronology of what happened to the above-mentioned company that was recently bought by Ripple crypto giant.The CEO here added that this is a blend of what is already known publicly and extra details BitGo is willing to share.Chronology of events in Fortress breach, per BitGo CEOBelshe said that the breach suffered by Fortress was made not via BitGo but through another third party integration. The hacker managed to withdraw funds from the system of hot wallets of Fortress.The CEO continued, saying that Fortress used Fireblocks and not BitGo to support its system of hot wallets. After noticing the issue had emerged, the company claimed they had fixed the problem with the third party. As for BitGo itself, even though it did store some bitcoin and other cryptos for Fortress, the custodial platform itself did not suffer any damage. All the Crypto Assets held by BitGo for Fortress remain safe, according to Belshe.The CEO claims that as soon as Fortress contacted BitGo about what happened, the exchange immediately advised that they disclose the News about the breach to the community. However, Fortress chose to act in another way.The breach took place before Fortress announced that Ripple was buying it. Now, the San-Francisco-based crypto company will compensate the lost funds to those clients.“Decentralization is necessary”, Belshe concludesThis case proves that the crypto space desperately needs decentralization, Belshe wrote, since “We can’t continue to be dependent on the honesty of custodians, bankers, or “trusted third parties” acting with integrity when bad things happen.”“Bad things” will continue to happen, he stressed, and the majority of people in the crypto community are not brave enough to speak openly about it.Here, Belshe emphasized that BitGo is a “decentralized wallet platform and also a centralized custodian”, promising to “ensure that our financial system is not dependent on any one person’s integrity, and to provide transparency wherever possible.”
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cryptoxcenter · 1 year
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How to Buy Crypto in India?
Approximately 20 million Indians have joined the cryptocurrency bandwagon, making it one of the most well-liked investments for 2022. Here's how to buy crypto in India if you want a piece of the Bitcoin pie. Get the information you require for your taxes.
Know how to buy crypto in three easy steps
As cryptocurrencies get closer to being accepted by the general public, purchasing them is now simpler than ever. In actuality, buying cryptocurrency involves only three easy steps:
Locate a reliable exchange.
Select a cryptocurrency.
Buy cryptocurrency.
Let's have a closer look.
How to Choose a Crypto Exchange?
There are a tonne of cryptocurrency exchanges in India, but not all of them are created equal. So how do you decide which cryptocurrency exchange to use?
Generally speaking, when selecting a crypto exchange, you should pay attention to the following:
Available cryptocurrencies, security, and fees
Fiat and cryptocurrency withdrawal and deposit services
First off, hackers frequently target cryptocurrency exchanges. Thus, you must be certain that your cryptographic assets are secure. Selecting a secure cryptocurrency exchange is necessary, and we can actually assist with that. You can find a list of some of the reliable Indian crypto exchanges to investigate in our guide to the safest and best cryptocurrency exchanges in India.
Check to see if the exchange provides the cryptocurrency you're interested in investing in after making sure you've selected a safe and secure crypto exchange. The market's top cryptocurrencies are typically available on exchanges, but if you want to invest in a less well-known altcoin, you'll need to find an exchange that carries it.
Last but not least, you should look at the exchange's fees. Although there are exchanges that fall on the higher and lower ends of the norm, most exchanges have similar investment costs. These costs, which are often a % of your total purchase price, can be pretty significant, especially if you're investing a lot of money.
How to Buy Crypto basically?
The only thing left to do is purchase your coin now that you are aware of the exchange and cryptocurrency you want to buy. For the sake of time, we won't cover all of the processes for each exchange, but here are some step-by-step directions on how to buy for some of India's most well-known crypto exchange apps, including Binance, KoinBX, and BitFinex.
How to buy crypto on KoinBX Crypto Exchange?
Step 1: Account Registration
Once you have chosen a crypto exchange, the next step is to register and verify your account. You will need to provide personal information, such as name, email ID, and phone number.
Step 2: KYC Verification
As per the regulatory norms, you will also need to upload a copy of your ID proofs, such as an Aadhaar card or PAN card, and a selfie. Once after successful verification of your account, you can deposit funds into the account and start buying crypto.
Step 3: Deposit Funds
To buy crypto on an exchange, you will need to deposit funds into your account. Most of the Indian crypto exchanges accept deposits in INR through bank transfers and UPI payments.
To deposit funds, log in to your account and click on the deposit button. You will be provided with a bank account number and IFSC code to transfer funds to the exchange. Once the funds are transferred, they will be credited to your account.
Step 4: Buy Crypto
Once after depositing funds in your account, you can buy crypto. To do this, log in to your account and click on the buy button. Select the crypto you want to buy and enter the amount in INR that you want to spend.
The exchange will show the current price of the crypto and the total amount of the crypto you can buy, including transaction fees. Once you confirm the transaction, the crypto will be credited to your account.
Step 5: Withdraw Crypto
Once you have bought crypto, you can withdraw it to a wallet used to store your crypto. To withdraw crypto, log in to your account and click on the withdraw button. Enter the wallet address and the amount of crypto you want to withdraw. The exchange will deduct the withdrawal fees, and the remaining balance will be credited to your wallet.
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cyphershieldtech · 2 years
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Common NFT Scams and Security Tips
With NFT scams becoming more sophisticated, it's easier than ever for anyone to fall prey to them. In this article, we focus on NFT scams, so you don't lose your digital collectibles before you make a profit.
NFTs have taken the world by storm, disrupting the art world and many other industries. While cryptocurrency enthusiasts see this as an exciting sign that crypto adoption is starting to catch on, it's hard to tell who is a trustworthy creator and who is acting in bad faith in the new space. 
The growing widespread interest in NFTs has made many popular NFT project communities subject to phishing attacks. This has led to active discussions on how to best protect your NFT assets. 
Since the NFT space is still in its infancy, it is very important to stay on top of common scam tactics and the latest in NFT safety and security .
Read on to learn more about how you can spot red flags and keep your NFTs safe. 
NFTs are attractive to many, including scammers
With the use cases of NFTs increasing significantly, these digital assets point to a new era of the digital world. The potential of NFTs has piqued the interest of many, including major tech companies and celebrities.  
However, because the NFT space can still be considered to be in its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) stage, the framework on which it is based remains vulnerable to those acting in bad faith and looking to take advantage of new trends. and emerging technology.  
But what is it that gives value to an NFT? Paying five or six figures for a JPEG sounds like a lot, but what makes NFTs valuable is their utility and uniqueness. NFTs basically create a permanent digital record of your sole ownership of the asset on the blockchain and guarantee authenticity.
For some, owning a digitally tokenized piece of art can serve as a ticket to exclusive online communities , chat rooms, and interactive experiences.
However, there are some common scams to watch out for:
The 7 most common NFT scams
1. Fake markets
If you are thinking of investing in your first NFT, the first thing you should do is find a platform where you can buy and sell NFTs. A quick Google search will return millions of results, but sadly there are many fake NFT markets among them. These fake sites do not have legitimate NFTs, so if you buy one of them, the site will record your credentials from your transaction details. Furthermore, these sites may even request your private keys or 12-word security seed phrases and use them to withdraw all your assets from your digital wallet.
To avoid these scams, always choose legitimate NFT exchanges, such as Binance NFT , for your cryptocurrency transactions, and never enter your information in links, pop-ups, or emails. 
As a general rule, you only need your seed phrase when creating a hardware backup of your crypto wallet or to recover your wallet.
2. Fake offers
NFT scammers often pose as legitimate NFT trading platforms and send you fake emails claiming someone has made an offer on your NFT. These phishing emails aim to get you to click on the link included in the message that takes you to a fake NFT marketplace.
Like all other phishing scams, the link takes you to a fake page where you will be asked to link your digital wallet and submit your seed phrase, which will allow hackers to access your wallet. 
To avoid these types of NFT scams, always check and verify the sender address of any email received from an NFT exchange.
3. Fake Tech Support
Another common scam is messages from Customer Service or Technical Support representatives. For example, say you're having technical difficulties on a popular NFT marketplace and you ask for help on a public forum like Discord. Someone who claims to represent that market offers to help you. 
The fake support agent might ask you to share your screen to verify what's going on, causing you to inadvertently reveal your cryptocurrency wallet credentials. 
By doing this, the agent can take screenshots of your seed phrase or QR code linked to it. The scammer could also redirect you to a website that looks almost identical to the original one. It would then convince you to enter your personal information, such as your seed phrase. This leaves your digital wallet vulnerable to theft. 
How do you avoid these types of scams and keep your NFTs safe? Just ask for help through the official NFT marketplace and double check the domain of the site. Some scammers might send you fake security alerts about your NFT account or collection, but the tactics are similar. Do not click on anything before verifying its legitimacy.
4. Fake gifts
Scammers may self-identify as employees of popular NFT platforms and contact you via social media to ask you to join their NFT giveaway campaign. They might promise you a free NFT if you spread the word about the giveaway and sign up for an account on their website, a phishing site. 
And once they've got you to link your digital wallet credentials to receive your gift, they'll record what you type, gain access to your account, and potentially steal your NFT library. 
To avoid falling for this type of NFT scam, be sure to check that person's social media accounts and verify that the link you received from the person matches the company's legitimate domain name.  
5. Rug pull scams
Rug pull scams occur when a person or a group of people releases a preliminary collection of NFTs to start a large project that the team supposedly plans to develop over time with a video game component, merchandise, or event. Rug pull occurs when these people disappear with the millions of dollars raised before any of the promised actions can take place. In many cases this happens quickly, but there have also been cases of slow rug pulls where the project is gradually abandoned, with a lack of updates and new development.
The best way to avoid falling for a rug pull scam is to do your own research (DYOR). Research the team behind the project and assess their long-term business plans. 
Follow the project on Twitter, Discord or other public forums, because for an NFT project to have good liquidity or lasting artistic value, there should be a sizable active community of committed investors. 
6 . Counterfeit NFTs
Coining a digital file as an NFT does not make it a new piece of intellectual property or give you ownership of the file. This simply turns a digital file into something you can store on the blockchain.  
Fraudsters can easily steal a digital creator's work and open an account on an NFT marketplace where they post the counterfeit piece up for auction. 
If you buy the counterfeit NFT, this would make your NFT worthless once the community realizes that it is not the real NFT, and there would be no way for you to get your money back. 
How can you avoid this scam? Before bidding on an NFT, check the seller's Discord or social media profile for a check mark for added credibility.  
Also, instead of searching for a collection directly on an NFT marketplace, use the creator's official social media account link and bookmark the page to prevent phishing. The potential problems you face from not doing your own due diligence are many, and a simple web search will help you uncover numerous scam stories.
7 . Inflation and sale schemes
Another thing to keep in mind are the so-called inflation and sale schemes. 
The term refers to when a person or a group aggressively buys a ton of NFTs to artificially boost demand. 
They do this within a short period to make the NFT appear popular, and once it gets noticed, they make a profit by selling it at a price they are happy with. They leave the highest bidders with assets that are worthless. 
That being said, always check the transaction history of the NFT you wish to purchase. Multiple transactions made around the same date could indicate a sell-off scheme.
How to protect yourself from NFT scams?
Now that we've covered some of the most common NFT scams, here are five tips you can follow to protect your NFT collection online.  
Don't click blindly: Never click links or attachments from unknown sources. And when it comes to seeking help regarding issues on an NFT platform, always go to the official customer support on official NFT exchange sites for assistance, rather than responding to someone who contacted you via other platforms, such as social networks.
DYOR on NFT Projects: Do a thorough review of the project website, roadmap, social media channels, and creator bios before investing in your NFTs to assess long-term value of your investment.
Check the contact address: The address should specify where the NFT was minted. If you're not sure, check the creator's website to make sure the information is genuine.
Be smart with your wallet credentials: Keep your seed phrase in a safe place and don't share it with anyone or keep a picture of it on your phone. Also, use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to enhance the security of your accounts. 
Use legitimate wallet apps and browser extensions: There are plenty of rogue apps posing as official ones. Download your wallet app or browser extension from the legitimate official site to avoid falling victim to phishing.
In conclusion
Although it is clear that the technology behind NFTs has the potential to revolutionize the digital world, the NFT space is still at an early stage. All the hype in the space can make it difficult to determine who is a trustworthy creator and who is looking to act in bad faith. So stay alert and always do your DYOR before investing in a digital asset. Our NFT audit services include a structured audit process where our industry-leading security experts scrutinize your smart contracts. We provide thorough analysis of your NFTs and certify them for the public through a report.
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bitcofun · 2 years
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After Ethereum's long-awaited Merge, it's a perfect time to consider how we can likewise enhance wise agreements. Basically apps that work on blockchains, wise agreements are an essential part of our Web3 applications. Engaging with them stays rather harmful, specifically for non-developers. Much of the occurrences where users lose their crypto properties are triggered by buggy or destructive wise agreements. As a Web3 app designer, this is an obstacle I consider typically, specifically as waves of brand-new users keep onboarding into different blockchain applications. To completely trust a wise agreement, a customer requires to understand precisely what it's going to do when they make a deal-- due to the fact that unlike in the Web2 world, there's no client assistance hotline to call and recuperate funds if something fails. Presently, it's almost difficult to understand if a clever agreement is safe or reliable. Related: Liquid staking is essential to interchain security One option is to make wallets themselves smarter. What if wallets could inform us if a wise agreement is safe to communicate with? It's most likely difficult to understand that with 100% certainty, however wallets could, at minimum, aggregate and show a great deal of the signals that designers currently search for. This would make the procedure easier and more secure, particularly for non-developers. Here's a much deeper take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of wise agreements, why they appear like the Wild West now, and how we may enhance the UX for utilizing them. The pledge and hazard of clever agreements For designers, utilizing a clever agreement as the backend for their app has huge capacity. It likewise increases the capacity for bugs and exploits. It's excellent that clever agreements can be produced by designers without asking anyone for approval, however that can likewise expose users to significant threat. We now have apps negotiating numerous countless dollars without any security assurances. As it stands, we just need to rely on that these apps are bug-free and do what they guarantee. Many non-developers aren't even familiar with the security problems included and do not take the suitable preventative measures when communicating with blockchain-based apps. The typical user may sign a deal believing it's going to do something, just to find the clever agreement does something else completely. It's why harmful wise agreements are a main attack vector for bad stars. Why are clever agreements the Wild West? When a Web3 app makes a wise agreement call, you do not understand precisely what the deal will do till you really do it. Will it mint your nonfungible token (NFT), or will it send your cash and tokens to a hacker? This unpredictability holds true of any online application, obviously, not simply Web3 apps; forecasting what code will do is really difficult. It's a larger problem in the Web3 world because many of these apps are naturally high stakes (they're developed for managing your cash), and there's so little defense for customers. The App Store is mostly safe due to Apple's evaluation procedure, however that does not exist in Web3. If an iOS app begins taking users' cash, Apple will take it down immediately to reduce losses and withdraw the account of its developer. Related: Latin America is all set for crypto-- Just incorporate it with their payment systems Malicious clever agreements, on the other hand, can't be removed by any person There's likewise no other way to recuperate taken possessions. If a destructive agreement drains your wallet, you can't merely contest the deal with your charge card business. If the designer is confidential, as is normally the case with destructive agreements, there frequently isn't even an alternative to take legal action. From a designer's viewpoint, it is better if the code for a wise agreement is open source. Popular wise agreements do normally release their source code-- a substantial enhancement over Web2 apps.
Even then, it's simple to miss what's actually going on. It can likewise be really hard to forecast how the code will run in all circumstances. (Consider this long, frightening Twitter thread by a knowledgeable designer who nearly succumbed to an intricate phishing fraud, even after checking out the agreements included. Just upon a 2nd closer assessment did he observe the make use of.) Compounding these issues, individuals are frequently forced to act rapidly when engaging with clever agreements. Think about an NFT drop promoted by influencers: Consumers will be stressed over the collection rapidly offering out, so they'll typically attempt to make a deal as quick as they can, disregarding any warnings they may experience along the method. In short, the extremely exact same functions that make clever agreements effective for designers-- such as permissionless publishing and programmable cash-- make them rather harmful for customers. I do not believe this system is essentially flawed. There is a heap of chance for Web3 designers like me to offer much better guardrails for customers utilizing wallets and wise agreements today. The UX of wallets and clever agreements today In lots of methods, wallets like MetaMask seem like they were developed for designers. They show a great deal of deep technical information and blockchain minutiae that work when constructing apps. The issue with that is that non-developers likewise utilize MetaMask-- without comprehending what whatever implies. No one anticipated Web3 to go mainstream so rapidly, and wallets have not rather overtaken the requirements of their brand-new user base. Related: Learn from Celsius-- Stop exchanges from taking your cash MetaMask has currently done a terrific task of rebranding the "mnemonic expression" to "secret expression" to avoid customers from unsuspectingly sharing it with hackers. There's plenty more space for enhancement. Let's have a look at MetaMask's interface (UI), followed by a number of mock-ups I developed detailing some prospective enhancements that might assist customers into the " pit of success" (By the method, MetaMask here works as a referral because it's greatly utilized throughout the Web3 world, however these UI concepts ought to likewise use to basically any wallet app.) A few of these style fine-tunes might be developed today, while others may need technical bear down the clever agreement side. The image listed below screens what the existing MetaMask wise agreement deal window appears like. We see the address of the wise agreement we're communicating with, the site that started the deal, and after that a great deal of information about the funds we're sending out to the agreement. There's no indicator of what this agreement call does or any indication that it's safe to engage with. Potential options to enhance wise agreements What we 'd truly like to see here are signals that assist us as end users to figure out whether we trust this wise agreement deal or not. As an example, think of the little green or red lock in the address bar of contemporary web internet browsers, which suggests whether the connection is encrypted or not. This color-coded indication assists guide unskilled users far from possible threats, while power users can quickly disregard it if chosen. As a visual example, here are 2 fast user experience (UX) style mock-ups of MetaMask deals-- one that's most likely to be safe, and one that's less particular. Here are a few of the signals in my mock-up: Is the agreement source code released? Open-source agreements are usually more trustable due to the fact that any designer can read them to discover bugs and destructive code. MetaMask currently consists of different links to Etherscan, so this would be a basic and hassle-free signal to include. Audit rating. A third-party audit is another signal that can figure out credibility. The primary application concern here is how to identify this rating. Exist any accepted requirements
for this currently? If not, an easy method might be to utilize Etherscan, which supports submitting audits. MetaMask, in this example, might likewise keep its own list of auditors, or count on a list of 3rd parties. (From what I can inform, MetaMask currently does this for NFT APIs and token detection.) In the future, it's simple to envision a decentralized self-governing company for figuring out audit ratings in a more decentralized method. What can this deal do? Can it call external agreements, and if so, which ones? This would be really challenging to figure out completely, however I question if an easy variation for open-source agreements would be practical. There are currently a lot of automated smart-contract vulnerability scanners out there. If this isn't possible for Solidity, I question if we might develop a wise agreement shows language that does permit this level of fixed analysis. Possibly private functions might state the consents they require, and the compiler might ensure conformance. Security suggestions and education. If a clever agreement does not have numerous signals of dependability (see mock-up above on the right), the UI might suggest a proper set of safety measures to take, such as inspecting if the agreement address is right and utilizing a various account. These are tips made in the orange text, instead of red, given that an absence of signals isn't always hazardous; here, we're merely suggesting that users decide to be a bit more careful about their next actions. Like numerous existing functions in MetaMask, these proposed functions might be switched off in the settings. Toward a much safer future In the future, there will likely be numerous safety-focused tools developed on the primitive elements that blockchains supply. It's most likely we'll see insurance coverage procedures that safeguard users from buggy wise agreements end up being commonplace. (These exist currently, however they're still relatively specific niche.) Related: What will drive crypto's most likely 2024 bull run? However, customers are currently utilizing Web3 apps, even in these early days, so I 'd like to see the dev neighborhood include more defenses for them now Some easy enhancements to wallets might go a long method. A few of the abovementioned concepts would assist safeguard unskilled users while all at once enhancing the deal procedure for Web3 veterans. From my point of view, anything beyond trading crypto possessions on Coinbase (or other huge business) is still far too dangerous for the typical customer. When loved ones inquire about establishing a self-custody crypto wallet to utilize Web3 apps (let's face it-- generally, in order to purchase NFTs), constantly begin by alerting them of the threats. This frightens a few of them away, however the more determined individuals wish to utilize them anyhow. When our wallets are smarter, we'll have the ability to feel far better about onboarding the next wave of brand-new users to Web3. Devin Abbott( @ dvnabbott) is the creator of Deco, a start-up gotten by Airbnb. He focuses on style and advancement tools, React and Web3 applications, most just recently with The Graph. This post is for basic details functions and is not meant to be and ought to not be taken as legal or financial investment suggestions. The views, ideas, and viewpoints revealed here are the author's alone and do not always show or represent the views and viewpoints of Cointelegraph. Read More
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With Hacks at a Record High, Crypto Needs to Find Better Ways to Keep Users Safe
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The figures are in: October was the busiest month for crypto protocol exploits this year, with some $760 million stolen. The cumulative total for crypto hacks in 2022 is now at least $2.98 billion, already more than double the amount stolen through exploits in 2021, according to blockchain security firm Peckshield. Peckshield released those figures on Halloween night, giving credence to the term “Hacktober” some industry participants have taken to using. Not a week has gone by without some exploit in crypto making the news. Peckshield estimated there were at least 44 exploits involving some 53 protocols in October. November, too, is already off to a rocky start. Wednesday, Deribit closed customer withdrawals from the derivative exchange so it could patch a bug in its hot wallet that led to a loss of $28 million in bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and stablecoin USDC. Then Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Solend announced a $1 million exploit. Meanwhile, a new Lightning Network bug has been discovered that can cause transactions to fail on the Bitcoin scaling and payments layer. That some $100 million of funds stolen in October have so far been returned is cold comfort. Crypto has become a den of liars, thieves and exploiters – in a way that has may have permanently stained the industry's reputation. Also of little relief is the fact that crypto, once thought to be the den of illicit dark net behavior, is just a fraction of global crime. That may be because open, verifiable blockchains are bad places to do bad things. But even with just a small percentage of total crypto transactions being tied to criminal behavior, hacks will continue to tarnish the industry's reputation. Apart from scaring potential participants, hacks have real consequences for how authorities will regulate the industry. The $625 million Ronin bridge exploit in March, the second-most lucrative month in 2022 for hackers, was thought to have been perpetrated by North Korean keyboard warriors and eventually led to the sanctioning of the Ethereum-based crypto mixer Tornado Cash by the U.S. Treasury Department. Exploits come in all shapes and sizes. Bridges, the communication portals between different blockchains that often require users to park collateral before getting on, seem like particularly vulnerable targets. It’s clear today that crypto needs more resilient infrastructure if the “multi-chain” world will ever become a reality. Some schemes are exploits of crypto and DeFi’s fundamental design. In 2020, amid the rise of DeFi, the industry saw the rise of the “flash loan” attack. Instead of exploiting buggy code, flash loans are actually a desirable (for some) financial mechanism that allows people to borrow significant amounts of crypto and pay back the loan within a single block – sometimes manipulated so that users can walk away with the money without having paid more than a few transaction fees. Another increasing area of concern are protocols that use blockchain oracles to feed them real-world data. Last month, a hacker manipulated price feeds to take out a $116 million loan on Mango Markets, draining the protocol’s liquidity. That attack, one of three that occurred on Oct. 12, seems to have been replicated again with Wednesday’s Solend breach. It’s hard to stop attacks that seem to rely on DeFi’s core functions and promise: permissionless transactions. This is an echo of crypto’s long-running problem with rug pulls, which at one time seemed to be the source of most stolen funds. According to a report by the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute initially published in early 2022 and recently updated, some 97% of token listings were connected to “malicious” activity. Experts have criticized that data, which analyzed 27,000 tokens, saying that not every low-effort phishing or pyramid scheme has takers. Some, like  Mark Zeller, vice president of the DeFi committee at L'Adan, a French digital asset industry group, said crypto users know the risks when they decide to get involved. That’s likely the case for people who know how to bridge crypto across blockchains or provision liquidity in decentralized money markets. But that argument is less convincing for crypto platforms like lenders Celsius Network and Voyager Digital which advertised to the masses and had user experiences similar to legitimate banking and trading apps. DeFi, too, is moving to professionalize and polish its on-ramps. Maybe it can clear out the bugs. Original Article Here: Read the full article
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weepiner · 2 years
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Microsoft outlook hacks
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I think Microsoft talks way too lightly about this leak. “I feel Microsoft is trying to cover up and is not taking this seriously. Moreover, he plans to hold Microsoft accountable for the financial damage he suffered and the leak of sensitive personal information as a direct result of the tech giant’s alleged negligence. Jevon Ritmeester says he’s planning to file a police report. Dutch engineer: Microsoft is trying to cover this up When confronted with evidence that email content was also compromised, Microsoft backpedaled and sent breach notification emails to victims admitting its screw-up. When TechCrunch reported on the Outlook data breach two weeks ago, Microsoft claimed it only affected “email metadata and customer information, such as subject lines and the names of other email addresses users communicated with.” But they’re even more incensed at Microsoft’s apparent cover-up of this screw-up and their lax reaction in the aftermath. The victims are understandably outraged at having their crypto stolen and the violation of their privacy. | Source: screenshot Microsoft initially downplayed Outlook hack Crypto users were targeted.” A Reddit user says he lost 25,000 in crypto as a result of Microsoft’s data breach. “Do I have recourse against Microsoft? I am sure I am not the only one. Want to add 2fa, so the real owner can’t get in and you can do fast 2fa withdrawals? Click.” Any confirmation they needed they had access to.” They just had access to the content of my emails. He’s disgusted at how easy it was for a hacker to illegally gain control of his Microsoft account. Other victims have also come forward to recount their harrowing experiences.Ī Reddit user called Shinratechlabs says he lost “25,000 in crypto,” as a result of the Microsoft data breach, but did not provide further details. | Source: screenshot Victim: ‘Crypto users were targeted’ Engineer Jevon Ritmeester says hackers stole his bitcoin by infiltrating his Microsoft Outlook email account. Ritmeester recounted what happened on the tech forum Tweakers, where he lamented that he’ll probably never recover his stolen bitcoin. Ritmeester says the hackers devised a forwarding protocol so that anytime one of his emails mentioned the word “Kraken,” his Microsoft Outlook would automatically forward that email to a secret Gmail account controlled by the hackers. “The hackers also had access to my inbox, allowing them to password-reset my Kraken account and withdrawal my bitcoin,” Ritmeester told Motherboard via email. So far, Ritmeester says he only lost one bitcoin (roughly equivalent to $5,200). Crypto theft was apparent motive for hacks Ritmeester is furious at Microsoft’s casual reaction to this egregious negligence. The hacker used this information to pore through Ritmeester’s Outlook emails to reset passwords and withdraw bitcoin from his accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges. One victim is Dutch engineer Jevon Ritmeester, who says a hacker gained access to Microsoft customer support workers’ login credentials. The scope of the cyber-theft is still as-yet undetermined, but it appears to be more expansive than first thought. By CCN.com: Hackers infiltrated Microsoft Outlook email users’ accounts in order to steal crypto, including bitcoin.
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primorcoin · 2 years
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/acala-resumes-operations-after-printing-over-3b-in-stablecoins-by-mistake/
Acala Resumes Operations After Printing Over $3B in Stablecoins by Mistake
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Some blockchain projects have to deal with hackers, and others, like Acala, have to deal with their own developers. A “human error” a few weeks ago almost killed the whole project. Still, thanks to the mutual effort of the community and the developers, the problem has been solved —kind of.
On September 26, Acala network announced the reactivation of its operations after having recovered $2.970 million in aUSD of the $3.022 million its teammistakenly printed in August.
The community referendum for Stage 1 of resuming Acala operations has passed and been executed.
LPs who choose to unstake LP tokens or withdraw liquidity on Acala now have the option to do so. https://t.co/yzvOz7zwxT
— Acala (@AcalaNetwork) September 26, 2022
According to Acala, the community voted to resume network operations after burning almost the totality ($2.7 billion aUSD) of the printed tokens.
A Very Costly Mistake
On August 15, The DeFi platform Acala published a report explaining how they mistakenly printed over 3 billion of its aUSD stablecoin, causing its immediate collapse. At that time, aUSD plummeted more than 99%, hitting a price of less than $0.01 per coin.
2nd batch trace results + summary below. A total 3.022B aUSD error mints were claimed by 16 addresses. Acala referendum #21 burned ~1.292B. 1.682B aUSD error mints in iBTC/aUSD LP tokens, obtained after the incident happened, remain on 16 Acala addresses. https://t.co/8MTBinhrVP
— Acala (@AcalaNetwork) August 17, 2022
Due to the failure, the network decided to stop swap operations, inter-chain communications on Polkadot and oracles, among other considerations. The team also said operations would be resumed “in a safe and gradual manner” once the error was solved and parity with the U.S. dollar was restored.
“To contain the erroneously minted aUSD, urgent governance votes were passed to pause horizon protocol, xtoken (xcm transfer out), EVM, non-ACA token transfer, oracle pallet, and LDOT instant redeem.”
Since then, the network went into maintenance mode freezing user funds to recover unsecured tokens. The community later voted to identify and destroy erroneously printed tokens, which helped restore operations despite the fact that aUSD remains at $0.77 which is far from the adequate $1 reference.
Alcala And The Status Of aUSD As Of Today
According to Acala’s latest report, the network has a total circulating supply of 10,961,589, aUSD. Of that, a total of 5,837,712 aUSD were recollateralized by the Acala Foundation.
In addition, the protocol has already managed to recapitalize and rebalance Acala Swap’s liquidity pools to pre-incident levels, thanks to the support of the Alcala foundation, which donated 2,489,614 ACA, 80,853 DOT, 0.164 iBTC, 995,020 INTR, 530,700 LDOT.
“As all aUSD in circulation have now been re-collateralized and liquidity pools are re-capitalized and rebalanced, the Acala network is in a state ready to resume normal operations.”
However, some assets are still frozen by community vote, while others are locked in a number of centralized exchanges (CEX) that supported the aUSD recovery effort. Acala is even offering rewards of up to 5% to users who return the funds involved in the incident.
Centralization vs. Decentralization
Even though the Alcala team acted quickly, they had to freeze users’ funds to control the situation. This contradicts the censorship-resistant decentralized nature of the protocol.
Although Acala’s decision was criticized by some users on social networks, the collapse of another stablecoin, such as aUSD, could have been chaotic for the crypto market, considering the precedents of UST and LUNA.
I think it would have to go to Governance to be “decentralized” finance (DeFi). If Acala centrally controls that decision is this really DeFi?
— Gr33nHatt3R.dot ⭕ (@Gr33nHatt3R) August 14, 2022
Although Acala has resumed its network operations, it must now work to regain the trust of users. And that sometimes is harder than coding a smart contract.
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#Binance #BNB #CryptoExchange #DEFI #DEFINews #DOT #NFT #NFTNews #Polkadot
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Crypto Hack - What Causes It | List Of Blockchains/Exchanges That Have Been Hacked!
Crypto Hack - What Causes It? - Understand crypto hack and how to keep your funds safe - See how much exchanges have lost to thieves - how to prevent a crypto hack #crypto #hack #Solana #Audius #Binance #OKx #Bitcoin #Polygon $MATIC
On the 2nd of August 2022, Solana was trending on Twitter because close to $8 million was stolen from its wallets. Barely a week before then, the Audius platform was reported to have lost $6 million to a crypto hack. Sadly, the list does not stop there. Although cryptocurrencies have grown rapidly and with more sophisticated security systems, hacks have continued to happen. Keep reading this…
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31 Days of Apex Legends
Little bit behind, but I combined Days 1 & 2 (Pride & Friendship)
Chapter 1 of an upcoming fic I am still writing.
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Title: Pride & Assumed Prejudice
Chapter 1: Masks
Something sour lingered on the tip of his tongue, on the razor’s edge of every thought; like a granule of poison sinking slowly into a beverage, unseen as the hapless victim takes a sip. Unnecessary, unnerving, and oddly enough, inducing a curiously debilitating sensation of anxiety for the first time in well over a decade. An emotion long-ago thought cordoned off, and utterly aggravating in its resurgence.
One could theoretically shut it out with enough mental fortitude and regimented distraction, but this tended to only provide short-term relief, for it always returned; faster, stronger, more pervasive than the last time. A creeping sense of wrongness that seemed to seep through every vein, clutching tightly to each breath as it worked to enter his lungs, twisting his stomach at random intervals, and reigniting old memories best left buried in unmarked graves. Unmourned and unwelcome.
At least, that is what Caustic tells himself.
There seems to be some level of psychological impairment at work, he rationalises in the depths of the night when he can barely think for the voiceless fears that make his heart race and air withdraw from ravaged lungs before it can fully impart its gift. The only hypothesis that makes even the vaguest sense is that there is likely a chemical agent of some kind, a poison, being introduced into some facet of his daily routine that is affecting his mental faculties?
Caustic is perplexed to find that his bloodwork runs clean each time, as do random samples of his food stores, lab equipment, clothing, cleaning products, furniture, air filtration units, plants and even toothpaste. Though he runs them often, at random, in hopes of locating the culprit for these uncomfortable sensations, these distractions from his research. Randomising events on his mental schedule each day in order to avoid any other human or non-organic being from identifying his routine again; if they ever even had. And yet, it persists.
Denial is perhaps the only shield that he will not admit to using, in this instance. Though for all his great logic, his knowledge and emphatic belief in the fundamental laws of science… there is still a strange feeling that persists in coursing through his veins. If he would allow himself but a moment to acknowledge it, to let it in and experience the sensation then it may lead to a breakthrough… but at what cost? If the facade falls, then who would he be?
Yet still his whole body feels electrified from within; as if sensing a change coming, like the increased atmospheric pressure before a thunderstorm. Everything that had been built was starting to decay, and it was not clear why now, why this year… why this ridiculous event was the catalyst. Even though such an obvious connection between this heightened emotional state and the particular time of year never actually occurred to the unnaturally overwrought man.
As the days between the present and the event grew shorter, and the other Legends began to ramp up their ridiculous displays of personal expression, the odd physiological effects increased exponentially, until simply existing in the same dwelling had become almost unbearable. It was merely because the others were younger, more prone to ludicrous displays of ebullience, constantly impeding his research with their tomfoolery… yes, that must be it. The reassurances ring hollow, even to his own mind.
Yet still the simple fact remained… that the year previous, as a new Legend, this whole event had been laughably easy to ignore. So why did it bring such distress, such melancholy? What variable had changed between these two points in time that was bringing this insidious juggernaut of disruption to his mind, body and experiment schedule?
Despite what he, at the time, perceived as his best efforts to provide a front of general indifference and borderline contempt for the ‘nonsensical festivities’ of the majority of the other Legends; it became apparent that these actions were not nearly enough to stave off the eyes of the irritating coworkers. Without even realising, Caustic was shrinking away, becoming distant once more and this, in turn, naturally raised a few eyebrows.
Certainly, he was not the most extroverted or beloved amongst their ranks, but at the insistence of Miss Pacquette, that damnable Gibraltar, and the unerringly difficult to evade Salvonian he had been making small forays into socialising in the name of increasing battle compatibility with the others. In the name of increasing battle efficiency, of course.
Caustic’s sudden detraction from even the few low-key communal activities he had begrudgingly begun to attend on a generally regular basis in their shared lodgings, such as the occasional movie night or weekly shared meal, was a blatant signal to the more empathetic and suspicious of the Legends that something was not right here. Some moved immediately to paranoid delusions, others queried if the scientist was unwell or had been caught up in work and forgot; Caustic could always feel Miss Pacquette’s eyes on him these days. Waiting for him to do something she could no longer forgive.
The sting of her derision only made matters worse, silencing all explanations he might give to the others when they arrived at his assigned room; so that all any who arrived saw was a brief silhouette before the door slammed shut in their faces. Assuming hostility, when the words were simply trapped inside; not wanting to admit this disgusting weakness that clawed, bit and screamed every moment of every day.
However, it was the unintended actions that gave rise to what came next; and he could blame none other than himself. For, as the foolish often do, a handful of those in the complex began to conjecture… rumour, if you will, and they spread like an unchecked wildfire. Caustic was not able to tell if they had been an errant thought turned unintentionally malicious or the deliberate attempt of one of his detractors like Loba or Crypto; and as much as he wished to close off the side of himself that felt anguish at these new beliefs swirling between his coworkers… he could not.
To say the rumours were incorrect would be an understatement, but even he could see how the gossip-mongers amongst their ranks had extrapolated a tenuous but alluring hypothesis that slandered his character, from such limited data points as were available. Especially after their foray to… the planet of his youth, most recently.
It seemed wherever he went, that blasted Crypto seemed to be hovering nearby with a smug look on his face; as if waiting for the opportune moment to mention a few inconvenient truths. Did the younger man realise what was happening to him? Could he use that drone of his to deliver a toxic compound into Caustic’s chambers when the scientist was absent? No, no of course not. Mystik would never forgive him… unless he could provide a plausible alibi. Even that particular train of thought was beginning to wear on him, feeling more tangible each time his brain brought the concept up. Actual poison was not the hacker’s style; but social poison, the slow and cruel kind that seeped from mouth to mouth, assassinating without a blade… that might be plausible.
These days, Caustic found his pulse always quickened when he caught sight of the hacker in the living complex, the anxiety making his mind rush through the worst possible scenarios of his secret being openly divulged to the masses without warning; even though some seemed utterly ridiculous. What would happen, after all? The worst case scenario? Repulsion from the others would be one thing, a natural consequence of their newfound awareness of his misdeeds and discovering the depths of his past, somewhat less than legal, activities. A strong possibility that perhaps the Legends would take the rash step of immediately contacting authorities to attend the Legend dwellings; something even Caustic would understand as rational.
Yet still, with his normally formidable intellect being absolutely and utterly subsumed under false assumptions and fallacies; the kind only a mind shuddering on the verge of collapse could generate… far worse fates arose like apparitions behind his eyelids. Such as the bizarre and somewhat infuriating insistence of his anxiety-ridden mind that the other Legends could hear of his past and simply decide to take matters into their own hands; pretending all is well until an opportunity arose to publicly execute Caustic themselves, mid-match with his beacon deactivated, for all the world to see. To denounce him in such a way that none could ever assume they had kept his secret; the disgust on their faces as they would wipe his blood from their skin would be proof enough.
Often in the depths of night Caustic muses on this highly improbable outcome. Yet, he finds that the variable of the scenario that keeps him awake is simply that, in this outcome there was the uncomfortably very real possibility of his Mother inadvertently bearing witness to the second death of her son; a thought that makes his chest constrict with a nameless horror. She loved to watch the games, according to that brat she favoured so much… and he could not put her through that grief again.
No matter how nonsensical, the idea and an uncountable number of similarly impossible scenarios would repeat over and over again every waking moment of the day. And again throughout every second of sleep he managed to wrest from this endless void of uncertainty, until it felt like the only true outcome. Caustic was aware he was not thinking logically, or even assessing all the variables… but his mind clouded it all out with whispered worries to distract, to isolate and distress.
These imagined ends and their outcomes added an almost unfathomable heaviness to his existence; adding unearned gravitas to the myriad of little concerns, worries and secret guilts until they felt like a thick fog that obscured all rational thought. Every little concern, so often hidden from his own conscious mind by a never-ending series of experiments and day-to-day tasks he employed to quiet the thoughts he did not wish to entertain, was now screaming inside. Some days he felt not unlike a speaker, reverberating from the harsh beating of his heart, and almost surprised none other than himself could hear.
No, this was ridiculous. He could not allow this to continue, not if he wished to remain Caustic. As a Legend, as a researcher with endless funding as long as he gave the right results in battle, as a scientist seeking additional data, and… as reluctant as Caustic was to admit it, as a member of the rag-tag team that shared the Apex-funded lodgings. A collective, almost like a-...
The thought always shut off there, twisting to a rapid mental analysis of the other Legends for the sake of anything else to focus on. Certainly some of the other ‘champions’ were irritating and he found it difficult to deal with them for long; but others he had to concede were fascinating, and startlingly brilliant in their fields, many of whom were willing to engage in discussions about their expertise and experiences. Even with mild distrust guarding their words to begin with, until passion for the subject overtook their misgivings.
But, as loathe as he was to admit this to even himself; to Caustic... the legends themselves were something he was starting to feel part of. Somewhat like they were a-... the word lodged in his chest like a blunt knife, something that could cause harm if he ever admitted how far he had fallen into the illogical void of social intelligence. He railed against the term, but logically it was the only apt one available to describe this group of strange people; and that was… family.
Bile scorched the back of his throat as he allowed the thought to flow through him like a soundwave, the sentiment of it far more distressing than the physical sensations; as Caustic been under the strong impression of having successfully managed to cut off all sense of sentimentality, along with his fingers, on Gaea. This feeling, this potential vulnerability, was therefore repulsive.
However… it could not be denied that recently the increased socialisation had brought out some surprising connections and insights with the others. Even simple interactions such as providing a gruff thank you to a teammate for pinging a weapon component whilst looting was noted by the others; and the way that Caustic made certain to inoculate his squadmates before a match. Inconsequential activities, but seen… apparently. He had never noticed their eyes on him during these moments before… and now he felt as if they never ceased their burning gazes on his every breath, every twitch and thought.
As it stood, he was closer to some Legends than others; and had forged several, somewhat tenuous but holding, connections he was not wholly ashamed to admit.
For example, Caustic found Horizon’s expertise on astrological matters an excellent way to pass sleepless nights, when both found themselves in the kitchen for coffee at 2am. Minds full of half formed ideas, or regrets, and unable to speak them aloud to anyone; there was an odd companionship between the Legends, so close in age and so vastly apart in lived experiences. Or, at the least, the experiences of their alibis.
Even through the distress he felt, Caustic could not help but smile as he recalled that their first two meetings at such a location and hour had not gone quite so well as in recent times. For the good Dr Somers had been blissfully unaware that a rather prominent side effect of Caustic’s initial and continued toxin exposure often expressed itself as a bright green glow about his irises; therefore the first time they had met in the pitch-black kitchen at an ungodly hour, the astrophysicist had said some truly profane things and thrown a mug of hot coffee in his direction. Lifeline had not been pleased to deal with burns at that time, no matter how Horizon had insisted they needed a proper assessment of the damage, but the young woman seemed to have found the whole situation quite humorous in hindsight. Often making smart ‘Be careful, Doctor, that’s hot!’ quips when she caught either of them holding coffee.
Ah, but their second meeting of this nature had been different. Caustic had merely been resting his eyes at the kitchen island when Horizon had carefully crept inside the darkened room, footsteps barely audible, and proceeded to make herself coffee on the quietest setting possible. It was, in fact, the sound of her sipping the beverage that had roused Caustic, and Horizon had promptly performed an almost perfect spit take in shock at his ‘sudden appearance’. The stain in the wall had never quite come out and neither of the older Legends had bothered to inform the younger Legends how it had manifested. Though some had their suspicions...
There was a calming energy to Dr Somers, and she seemed to have a distance in her eyes that he could relate to without ever broaching the subject. When they spoke of stars, of technology to traverse the time and space between the worlds, there was a communion of unspoken camaraderie there that soothed in an inexplicable manner.
Of the others, Caustic had occasionally found himself ensconced in fascinating discussions and discourse with Mirage when the pair had found themselves trapped in a social setting, such as lunch in the common area, fumbling for topics. Or more accurately, Mirage visibly sifting for a safe topic to be polite, and Caustic pointing at whatever the man was tinkering with at that moment, in silent question. It was rather intriguing how the younger man’s stutter settled when he was intensely focused on a subject he enjoyed. Although it must be said that now the scientist knew entirely far too much about holographic projection technology, and he was hard pressed to find an application for just such knowledge in his research.
On a more irritating note, was Gibraltar’s continued attempts to convince Caustic that attending events such as karaoke night or some roleplaying adventure evening with the rest of the Legends would be fun, positive, and a good bonding experience; and not at all humiliating, bizarre or definitely subjecting himself to the mortifying ordeal of being known by the other champions. Disgustingly, Makoa Gibraltar was a weapons-grade optimist with a sharp mind behind that disarming smile of his.
Recognising that the current stratagem was not working as it allowed the subject too much free will, Gibraltar had added additional variables to his socialisation experiments with Caustic. Even since, Gibraltar had been occasionally dropping by with a small portion of some homemade meal or other; often with one of the other Legends as an unspoken form of backup. More often than not, in recent times, Fuse would be the person of choice.
The rescue specialist was a very large, very polite man who had gracefully accepted the times Caustic would shut the door in his face to avoid allowing anyone to breach his inner sanctum of isolation and research. Walter Fitzroy was decidedly not.
Fuse was a very charming man, but he genuinely believed that any closed door was an invitation to trial his knuckle clusters on it, ‘in the name of friendship’. The pair would then invite themselves inside, and somehow a conversation would occur about the most randomised of topics, amidst the hidden garden-like interior of Caustic’s quarters. After weathering the scientist’s myriad of multisyllabic protestations about property damage and right to privacy, with mildly amused expressions on their faces, of course. Now that he thought about the subject in detail, the visits had been increasing in duration rapidly in the past two months or so; detracting from his research, yes, but at the same time… Caustic had begun to find himself not wanting to reduce this contact in the slightest.
Rampart had recently asked Caustic, in a quiet moment, if he wanted something strong enough to withstand a knuckle cluster barrage whipped up, because he was more often without a door than with one these days. Caustic had found himself smiling under the mask as he declined; not catching her sly grin of understanding in response. “It’s your funeral mate…” she teased as she left. He still had not had a chance to analyse her meaning or motives in relation to that interaction.
Still skeptical of his motives, but warming, was Lifeline. On the odd occasion, the healer would simply come into the common area to ‘hang out’ with whomsoever was present, and initially this had been a frustrating strain on his limited social endurance. Especially if the runner joined in, or she decided that the volume was far too low for her chosen programs at the time. They had engaged in arguments, which tended to resolve when he left, seeking solitude and silence in his own quarters.
Although, to review the past month or so in subjective data; Caustic was intrigued to find himself less irritated by Lifeline’s choice of audible and visual entertainment than previously.
However, the woman’s unerringly pleasant but smug grin as she would turn and catch Caustic’s fingers tapping the datafile laden table in subconscious adherence to the rhythm of the background music, was still a nuisance. At present, if he attempted to tell her so, Lifeline would laugh or roll her eyes and throw a quick, ‘Whatever yuh say, Doctor…’ in his direction.
Caustic believed that the newfound camaraderie between Lifline and himself was either in relation to a number of recent matches wherein he had had to shield her bodily from a hail of incoming fire while she revived a teammate; or pertaining to his begrudging assistance in formulating an altered version of stim for Octane, with lower health impacts. While it seemed counterintuitive to his stated goal of wiping out humanity; the challenge of forcing a volatile substance into a different composition to improve health on use rather than detract from it, had been exhilarating. While the current formula, Stim 2.3, was by no means perfect, it could always be improved in future testing. In fact, Caustic had been surprised to find himself looking forwards to improving upon the newly created formula with Miss Che in future. Her mind was agile, quick and experienced around medical, political and Octane-related matters. Verbal sparring with Miss Che was akin to mainlining caffeine, and possibly her persuasive arguments may have something to do with how thin his facade was feeling at present. How he was starting to regret his actions, when previously they were buried deep, untouchable, as Lifeline skillfully pointed out fallacies in his logic and ideologies.
Of all the Legends, the hunter Bloodhound, he hunter, was a mystery that continued to intrigue and distract from his research. Caustic had honestly been certain that there it would be highly improbable for the pair to have anything in common; given they were from a world that despised the very technology that his homeworld had embraced with open arms.
He had also felt that perhaps the hunter would avoid him, given Gaea’s reputation around such things as diversity in attraction and gender identification; he knew what was said and not all of it undeserved.
Somewhat surprisingly, it was a shared interest in plants that began their interactions; as the hunter had peered from their room at the right moment to catch Caustic returning home with a new specimen of unknown origin. The GAVN 1.2 bot stationed at the nearby Solace City plant nursery had no knowledge of what species it may be of, but the important matter was that the machine had recalled Caustic’s request to contact him if anything ‘interesting’ came through. Bloodhound had stopped him to ask how a Crentular Vynth bush had made its way to this planet; and Caustic had been so distracted by the conversation that followed that he did not realise they had moved to Bloodhound’s room until his second cup of herbal tea.
That had been the oddly auspicious beginning of… whatever this was. Whether they were now coworkers, or something slightly below comrades in arms, their companionship had been cemented nearly a full three months later on Olympus, when a bullet shattered Caustic’s mask mid-match.
Things had not been going optimally at the time. Their third squadmate was dead; some nameless human who had dreamt of glory and fame, and was now likely in a respawn pod beyond the arena commiserating their loss with the other failures.
Bloodhound was in the process of scouting for activity within and without the building they were currently camping inside; at the far end, if the faintest of footsteps could be believed. Skirting carefully about Caustic’s traps despite the pre-match inoculation provided that assured temporary immunity for the other two.
He had been calculating the potential ring trajectory of the next round, and automatically reloading the mozambique in his hands mechanically, when a careless step had placed him directly before one of the many damnable slatted windows of the building. The first he became aware was a crack, and a split-second realisation that made him jerk back just in time for the kraber shot to hurl his mask clean off and away.
Ducking automatically, not risking a second looking for the person who was definitely chambering a new round in anticipation of taking him out, Caustic had snatched the shattered mask up and slid through the rails to the floor below. Landing with a jarring impact that raised dust, forced air from his lungs, and inspired a violent coughing fit. Panic began to stir, as the reality of his vulnerability became apparent.
To counter this, Caustic set off a nearby gastrap deliberately, obscuring himself amidst the swirling green smog; allowing a moment to focus purely on the issue at hand, and forestall the intense anxiety that the cameras could be observing his features or condition too closely. He could already see the mask was beyond repair, the hoses hissing upon his shoulders as his filtered supply fed into nothing; despair was starting to claw at his chest, tightening it until it burned...
And then Bloodhound was there. Without a word, those impassive goggles took in the scene in its entirety as they crouched down by his side; pulling a small spare mask from one of the many pouches on their belt, without the slightest hesitation, and pressing it to Caustic’s face. “Here, breathe easy felagi fighter.” they said, nothing more, nothing less.
The filtration hoses hissed a moment more before the hunter had them shut off at the valve, so as not to waste more of the carefully balanced components. The mask adhering quickly and filtering the more violent components out of the air automatically; as Bloodhound needed, given their own damaged airways. Caustic may not believe in their All-Father, but he could almost admit to himself that it was very fortuitous they had been there that day.
When the smog cleared, vanishing as it dispersed to a minimal level, the crisis was over and his panic subsumed. Bloodhound clapped a hand to his shoulder and rose, making a statement of thanks in relation to receiving ammunition. A weak cover, but one they hoped viewers would be satisfied with; feel no great desire to dig for more information on this brief ‘green-out’.
“Come, there are three squads remaining, we have foes to slatra.” they offer, and he rises quickly to follow. Win or Lose, Caustic had felt confusingly like he had already received some small victory that day; though to put it in words was beyond even his skill.
Unfortunately, the downside of increased awareness of other human beings was that they tended to request opportunities to strengthen the bond. Of all things, the Hunter and the Salvonian now wished Caustic to go camping with them; in Kings Canyon or some equally feral locale, where they may all die of undercooked food or rabid wildlife. As disagreeable as he found the idea, Caustic found himself rapidly running out of excuses as to barriers that would forestall his presence on such an experience. And just the other day, before this intense sensation of dread descended, he found himself considering purchasing a prowler-proof sleeping bag… which had been a definite call for self-reflection at the time.
Indeed, when he thought back over the past few months… Caustic found that he had had at least one small interaction of moderate-to-positive success with all of the other Legends. Even with that know-it-all Crypto. Though Caustic strictly maintained that the whole scenario had been pure happenstance; and not any display of coworkerly or implied sibling affection.
If the young brat had just so happened to be tinkering with his little drone at the kitchen island and required a tool that Caustic, also present and working on his own project, had just so happened to have on him at the time… so be it. Truly, Caustic was not even certain if Park had realised who had supplied the multitool that had readily slipped into his grip on request; although, the fact that it had been returned nonetheless to his quarters, possibly by drone through a window he had forgotten to close overnight, gave a different impression.
Ironically, whenever Caustic finds himself thinking about the other Legends recently, shades of distress, distrust and uncertainty began to fill his limbs with lead and his mind with a million illogical questions. Did Loba’s smile at breakfast mean she was intending to out him to the others? Was it normal for Revenant to ask to view his research on gases with compounds that could corrode organic metals? Was the laughter between Wattson and Wraith about him? What made Bangalore watch him instead of the screen during the movie night two weeks before? Why did so many whispers stop when he moved closer? When was the last time Gibraltar had used the phrase ‘hey buddy, you doin’ okay?’ with any other Legend?
Who. When. Why. How. What. An endless merry-go-round in a carnival of horrors, all of his own devising… and there was no way to signal to the ride operator that he wished to exit. What was wrong with him?
Or, was there something wrong with him, at all?
Perhaps this was normal, for someone whose life was close to its ending. Didn’t people feel distress over regrets and mistakes in their life?
Desperate for a concrete reason, Caustic ran diagnostics on his blood and biometrics at least twice a day, and yet felt disappointed to find no significant progression in the disease. For if not the disease… then what was this?
Days wore on as he remained confined to his quarters for all but the most necessary outings. He did not see or hear how the household was becoming more and more colourful and the Legends pre-celebrating. Glancing out his window at the billboards in the city beyond, his lip curled derisively; ah, the corporations became more sycophantic as time wore on, disgusting. But all he could focus on was the manner in which this swelling sensation of anxiety was drowning him; Caustic was awash in a sea of tumultuous negative emotions with no sign of rescue. Quietly hoping that none would come.
It felt, constantly, as if he had an anchor bound to his ankles; the chain a cruel twisting thing, cold and rattling in the currents, always just long enough so he could bob above the despair for short periods of time before another wave crashed down. Caustic was beginning to wonder if it was worth trying not to drown at all...
Unbeknownst to the scientist, his absence was noted, and some were more concerned than others. The sudden withdrawal from household life drew attention from concerned parties with irritating accuracy; and he found himself subject to gentle half-questions that sent his blood pressure skyrocketing, his hands balling into fists to hide their shaking, and his mind racing to decode the hidden trap within the questions. Overwhelmed, Caustic responded by pulling back from the internal life of the Legends with greater fervour, trying to handle this situation himself; hating that it had come to such a ludicrous turn of events as this.
It was only when he was in the depths of despair and fighting to hide this from himself, that Caustic himself began to hear the rumours swirling about. Abhorrent, pervasive, and inaccurate… but easily believable if you lacked critical thinking skills. They made him feel more vile and misrepresented than the original advertisement campaigns for his arrival as a legend ever had. All that fabricated nonsense about being a verified and diagnosed sociopath; when it was only partially true, mixed with showman’s flare for the sake of selling him as the villain to the public. But these rumours… gossip rag conjecture, utter debasement and filth. Easy to believe… and in the mouths, hearts and minds of the people he had somewhat began to trust.
~)0(~
“It ain’t his fault, he’s from Gaea, yuh know?” whispers one legend to another, in a tone so casual that the sentence was doubly alarming to have come from seemingly out of nowhere. Caustic nearly drops the mug he is holding, mind shocked into momentary pause, at the statement. At the implication behind it.
The other sighs, “I know they’re, uh, different about things… but I thought that being in Solace City this whole time might have…” There’s a pause. “Well, you know, shown him a different reality… he’s already made progress in being an okay human, or something like it. Thought things were going okay, caught him smiling at one of Rampart’s jokes the other day… ”
“Yuh best keep it quiet though, don’t want the media gettin’ wind of this or it’ll be a problem.” hisses the first, acutely aware of how the media at large takes any vague hint of something, right or wrong, and runs with it. For the last six months magazines had been declaring that she was ‘going to propose to Wraith anyday now’ because they’d been snapped shared a sandwich at a Legend event a while back. The online forums were a constant minefield, even if some of the fanart was well-done.
“Oh yeah, I’m not going to put anyone through that deliberately, my dearest fiance-to-be…” the other laughed back. “You think surprise-portalling him into the middle of the parade would help? Or do Gaeans drop dead if confronted with new ideas without any warning?”
Just as despair was filling his heart like a lead weight, the rumours like tiny knives in his heart, filleting the memories he held about someone now lost… another combatant enters the ring. So to speak.
“Enough!” snaps a third, highly unexpected but nonetheless welcome, voice. The word hissing between what can only be clenched teeth, in a normally serene face.
Caustic finds himself holding his breath as he presses close to the kitchen wall nearest the common room entrance; desperate to hear more, despite his stomach churning, wanting him to flee this whole situation. It boggled the mind, after all he had done… Miss Pacquette, coming to his defence? How could she find it in herself to speak on the behalf of such as him?
“Listen to me, and hear me when I say that not all of Gaea’s citizens think in such a backwards manner… you cannot assume because people are poor, from a small place on their world, or work on farms that they all perceive things so narrow-mindedly. There is acceptance on Gaea, in much the same way that there are pockets of intolerant people on Psamanthe and Salvo who believe that robots are not sentient, or people of different races cannot be allowed to love one another. There are good people there too...” Wattson says, voice rising with the internal fervour of righteous anger. She was so very like her father, unable to allow someone she cared about to go undefended when people brought slander to their doorsteps. If someone raised a knife to his back, she would put up a fence to bar their way, and then continue to tell him off for his inappropriate actions from the months before.
In the brief silence following her statement, shuffling is heard, and it is clear something is happening though he dare not attempt to see in. He would be sighted for certain.
In a calmer tone, almost too soft, Wattson continues. “I once knew a man from Gaea when I was very small. He was… very important to my Papa, and to me. They worked together for many years, and I believe that they loved each other just as deeply as Papa and Mama did. He was always very kind to me, like a father you could say, even on his darkest days he was always ready to make me feel happy.” She took in a shaky breath. “Many of my youngest memories involve him, from my first baking soda volcano, to my recovery from the ‘ghost’ incident; not to mention the first attempt to create my sparks… and then the hour or so we spent resetting the powergrid for the whole map due to the short we made. He was a good man, if very obsessed with his work; as Papa was. Driven, you could say.” She sighed sadly, in a way that made even Caustic’s shaking arms want to wrap around the younger woman in comfort. “But he was forced to go home many years ago because he was having a disagreement with the company overseers about a new project they assigned to his research team. He was so angry when he left, and I wish I could have had a happier memory to keep of him. I only discovered later why he was so… you see, Papa mentioned that his team was assigned the goal of manufacturing a way of purging unwanted biological urges through aerosolised disbursement in the general population, and, well… he did not agree.”
There’s a sharp inhalation of breath from a few too many voices for simply two other people to be present in the common room. Given what the ruling bodies of Gaea were known to stand against, it did not take much guesswork around the applications of such a project.
Caustic had always liked to break accepted ethical conduct on the odd occasion to get breakthroughs that pushed science to the edge of a new frontier, but even he had been abhorred by the very concept. Caustic closed his eyes, recalling the very arguments he had had with his then-superiors about the situation; and how he had even held out the ‘impeding human rights’ card as a final way to thwart the project. The cold smirk on thin lipped faces as he was informed that none who would be affected could be counted as a true human until they were cured of their odd notions… it was a miracle he had restrained from using his fists there and then.
His ‘compliance’ was bought with a simple reminder of how very important the company’s healthcare policy was to Caustic’s mother, at the time, and how it would be a shame to have it terminated alongside his employment. Feigning defeat, and hating himself, he had made a show of deferring to their wishes. Those pompous, self-inflated fools had taken him at his word. That was their first mistake.
Caustic jerks slightly, as if he has fallen out of his own memories and back to the present, bodily. Finding Miss Pacquette still speaking, her voice growing ragged with emotion.
“He… he died shortly after leaving us. I was devastated that he was gone, but even more so for the way it had happened. I could not imagine the fear and sadness he must have felt as the lab burned around him, with his entire research team. All they ever found was a charred corpse and two fingers that had enough DNA remaining to confirm his identity.” A soft sob shocked out, before she masterfully pushed it back. “U-Unfortunately for the company it seemed that all of his research and specimens on the topic burned with him; and some kind of alternate chemical residue coating the lab after the fire made the building unusable. Sometimes… I wonder if it was deliberate, for him to have taken it all with him. To be honest it would not surprise me in the least, he was as stubborn as Papa…” Natalie trailed off, clearly upset by the recollections. “Oh mon dieu, I do not mean to be so silly… I just miss him and Papa so much! And now you are all being so awful about the only person who… who reminds me of them, and I know he is difficult but there is good there, somewhere.”
Caustic’s teeth grind until it is agony. He longs to comfort her, even now as a full fledged adult and not the doe-eyed little girl who always wanted his attention... but how would that look to their comrades? Would she accept it after what he had tried to do? The anxiety wrings his stomach out like a wet rag, and locks both legs firmly in place. The scientist is disgusted with his weakness, debasing himself internally even as he countered with the simple truth of not being able to fight your own brain when it had decided on a Freeze response to distress.
He can clearly hear Lifeline and Wraith providing quiet soothing statements to Miss Pacquette, and it lessens his own distress over hers. Until he hears the one voice he would prefer never have been party to the conversation, speak up. “What was his name?” A general query, curiosity and a hint of foreboding there, as if the puzzle pieces were sliding together in the younger man’s mind.
Caustic’s heart freezes in his chest. Of all the Legends, why must Park be the one to overhear this tale? He who knows too much already...
There’s a soft muffled sniffle, muted most likely by Wraith’s shoulder, before Wattson replies; utterly unaware of how she was putting the final nail in his aliases’ coffin. “Oh, did I not say? His name was Alex… or I suppose Alexander. Dr Alexander Nox…”
The sound of Crypto’s drone clattering to the floor almost swallows the high pitched shattering of the ceramic mug meeting the kitchen floor. Almost, being the operative word.
By the time anyone has a chance to check the kitchen, Caustic has long since made a tactical retreat to his room. The racing thoughts feel like they are wrapped about his throat, constricting his chest until he can barely breathe. Hoping that none saw his frantic flight back to the safety of familiar walls.
~)0(~
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askcryptos-blog · 3 years
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Cryptocurrency is a highly popular investment, particularly among younger people, but much of the terminology may confuse off-putting beginners. It might be difficult to get started with cryptocurrency if you don't know what gas is, what is HODL, who a whale is, or what the disparity between Bitcoin and blockchain is.
 Cryptocurrency is more than simply a different investing choice; it reflects a whole other universe than traditional equities and bonds. Even for experienced traditional investors, understanding the basics takes time due to unfamiliar jargon, developing technology, and keeping up with memes and tweets.
 Before investing in cryptocurrency, we advise building an emergency fund, paying off high-interest loans, and establishing a standard retirement savings plan. And, as previously said, you should only invest what you are ready to lose in cryptocurrency, with experts recommending that you allocate no more than 5% of your portfolio to these digital assets.
 However, another item you should include on your checklist is at least a basic grasp of what you're getting into, such as how crypto differs from conventional investing methods and the many factors that can impact the market value.
  Before you begin, like with any investment, it is critical to understand exactly what global asset you are investing in. This is especially true for a speculative — and continuously evolving — asset like cryptocurrency. It is much easier to do this if you are familiar with the words often used in this world. Whether you want to acquire cryptocurrencies now or later, knowing the terminology is a smart place to start. To make sure you don't be left out in the cold, here's a beginners guide to getting started with cryptocurrencies.
 Crypto Terms:
Here are some terminology and jargon to assist newcomers in grasping the world of cryptocurrency investment.
 Mining:
This phrase can be a little perplexing at times. It looks like exploding mountains create the coins. No, they are not. Mining is the process of creating and distributing new crypto coins. Solving complicated mathematical problems necessitates the use of powerful computers. Users who complete this task get coins as a consequence. They may then trade the coins directly with their peers or through internet exchanges.
 Of course, most traders do not mine or create new coins. Instead, much like any other asset in your financial portfolio, you may purchase and sell tokens from other individuals.
 Whale:
Whale accounts are those that possess a huge amount of a coin and have the ability to affect the market on their own. Most well-known and popular cryptocurrencies have a slew of whales that can truly throw their "weight" around.
 Indeed, there are prominent websites that follow the activities of whales to increase transparency in the bitcoin market.
 Many whale accounts are early investors or huge money, and following what they're doing is a good method to predict how the cryptocurrency market will move.
  Blockchain:
The bitcoin transaction relies heavily on a peer-to-peer network. Blockchain is a digital database that records each bitcoin transaction. There is no risk of a hacker gaining access and corrupting the information kept on the blockchain because there is no central database, and everyone may view the blockchain facts from anywhere.
 Gas:
It is the charge of completing a bitcoin transaction. The fee covers the expense of paying a "miner" (the person who solved the equation and earned a coin) to search for and receive cryptocurrency on your behalf. Its size is determined by how soon you want the transaction to be completed.
 Address:
It is the precise location to which bitcoin is transferred. It functions similarly to a bank account but solely contains cryptocurrency. For maximum security, each address, which consists of a string of alphanumeric characters, is used only once to store crypto assets. This address also assists a receiver in proving ownership of the bitcoin that has been delivered to them.
 Fiat:
This phrase is most commonly used to contrast cryptocurrencies with normal currency (fiat), which is backed and issued by the government. It provides central banks with greater influence over the economy. Currencies, such as the US dollar and the Indian rupee, are examples of fiat money.
 Altcoin:
It is basically anything or any other coin that isn't Bitcoin. Altcoins can range from the second-most popular coin, Ethereum, to any of the hundreds of coins with extremely little market value. According to experts, you should primarily invest in the larger, more popular cryptocurrencies.
 Block:
These are the data sets within a blockchain. Blocks on cryptocurrency blockchains are made up of transaction records created when users buy or sell currencies. Each block can only store a certain amount of data. When it hits that limit, it creates a new block to continue the chain.
 Crypto Wallet:
A wallet is where you keep all of your bitcoin currencies. It is encrypted, and if you forget your password, you will lose access to your wallet. Because cryptocurrency is founded on the concept of decentralized distribution, the only way to do so is to hold individuals accountable for their passwords.
 Wallets are classified into two types: cold and hot. While a hot wallet is stored online and facilitates online trading, a cold wallet is similar to an offline safe to keep your valuables secure.
 Hot Wallet:
A bitcoin wallet that is software-based and connected to the Internet. While digital wallets are more convenient for immediately accessing your crypto, they are more vulnerable to hacking and cybersecurity threats than offline wallets, just as data stored on the cloud may be more readily accessed than those kept in a safe at home.
 Cold Wallet:
This is a safe way to keep your Bitcoin offline. Many cold wallets (also known as hardware wallets) are physical devices that resemble USB drives. This type of wallet can help secure your cryptocurrency from hackers and theft, but it also has its hazards, such as losing it along with your cryptocurrency.
 Decentralization:
The distribution of power away from a central location. Blockchains have typically been decentralized since they require the majority permission of all users to function and make changes rather than a centralized authority.
 Decentralized Applications:
These are the developer-created applications installed on a blockchain to carry out operations without the use of mediators. Decentralized finance operations are frequently carried out with the help of decentralized applications. Ethereum is the primary network that supports decentralized finance activity.
 Fork:
When its users change the rules of a blockchain, changes to a blockchain's protocol frequently result in two new paths: one that follows the existing regulations and another that branches off from the prior one. (For instance, a Bitcoin fork resulted in Bitcoin Cash.)
 HODL:
Though the word began in 2013 as a user mistake on a Bitcoin forum, it now stands for "Hold On for Dear Life." It refers to a passive investing technique in which investors acquire and hold cryptocurrencies rather than trade them to expect their value to rise.
 Market Capitalization:
In the context of cryptocurrencies, the market cap refers to the total value of all coins produced. The market cap of a cryptocurrency may be calculated by multiplying the current number of coins by the current value of the coins.
 NFTs:
NFTs or Non-fungible tokens are value units used to represent ownership of one-of-a-kind digital objects such as art or collectables. NFTs are often stored on the Ethereum blockchain.
 Public Key:
It is the address of your wallet, which is comparable to your bank account number. You may provide people or institutions with your public wallet key so they can send you money or withdraw money from your account when you approve it.
 Private Key:
The encryption code allows you to access your cryptocurrency directly. Your private key, like your bank account password, should never be shared.
 Smart Contract:
A computational software that automatically enacts the conditions of a contract based on its code. The capacity of the Ethereum network to execute smart contracts is one of its primary value propositions.
 Token:
A value system on a blockchain generally has a value proposition other than merely a value transfer (like a coin).
 Final Words
Those considering investing in cryptocurrencies should understand that acknowledging industry terms can be advantageous. Would-be traders can enhance their chances of reaching their investing objectives by conducting the appropriate study and understanding this knowledge. 
Interesting in learning more about cryptocurrency? You can visit AskCrypto, a cryptocurrency forum where you can get more info about all the callouts, crypto trading, daily updates for the crypto market, and much more.
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dexterous-world · 3 years
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Can we earn money from CryptoTab Browser?
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CryptoTab Browser Review: Is CryptoTab Legit?
CryptoTab browser is a legit form of business.
It is the world’s first online browser that mines Bitcoins.
Earning with the CryptoTab browser is possible via the BTC mining & referral program.
Online community warns of the CryptoTab browser virus.
CryptoTab is an internet browser with a built-in mining function. “With CryptoTab you earn cryptocurrency just by visiting your favorite sites, watching videos, and chatting online”, claims the official website.
The idea sounds beautiful and exciting. But isn’t it too good to be true? Is CryptoTab legit or is CryptoTab a scam? Dexterous-World takes the challenge and explores the promising browser. Follow this CryptoTab browser review to know more about its usage, pros & cons, and, finally, is CryptoTab worth all the efforts?
What is CryptoTab?
CryptoTab is the world’s first browser, created specifically for mining Bitcoins. It has a built-in mining algorithm, that allows users to earn Bitcoins when web-surfing, watching movies or doing any other activity online.
Besides that CryptoTab acts as a referral program. This means the browser offers to earn Bitcoins for promoting CryptoTab on social media and inviting friends to join it. Launched as an extension a few years ago, CryptoTab already has over 10 million users for the time of publishing.
So, let’s have a look at how it works, and how could you earn with the CryptoTab browser?
CryptoTab browser mining
Despite payments in Bitcoins, the CryptoTab browser does not mine Bitcoin directly. Indeed it’s software mines Monero (XMR) privacy coins and converts them later to Bitcoin at the current exchange rate. This means why Bitcoins are the only currency displayed in user balances. The website though plans to add additional digital currencies someday in the future.
Meanwhile, if you are familiar with Monero mining, you know that XMR is only mined by using a Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm called CryptoNight. This algorithm requires access to devices’ memory and to increase in latency dependence. This allows CryptoNight to resist powerful mining hardware like ASIC and offer equal possibilities for all the miners.
As it is known, each new Monero block is minted every 2.01 minutes and offers around 1.4 XMR coins as a reward at the time of writing.
According to CryptoTab, its mining algorithm uses only the unused computer resources and does not interfere with normal computer usage. This suggests that mining on a browser does not slow down the device.
How do you use CryptoTab?
Basically, there are two ways to earn Bitcoins with the CryptoTab. The first includes mining via the browser. The second involves affiliate marketing and offers rewards for referring new users.
Speaking of cryptocurrency mining, CryptoTab supports browser mining both for Windows and Mac OS. CryptoTab Browser is available as well for Android and iOS devices.
Let’s quickly run through the step-by-step instructions of how to mine Bitcoins via the CryptoTab browser.
How to mine with CryptoTab on Windows and Mac OS
Download the CryptoTab browser installation file from the official website. Click here to Download.
Install it. Run the setup file, complete, and confirm the installation.
Start the CryptoTab browser. You can make it a default browser and add a shortcut to your taskbar for more convenient usage.
Set up the account. Open Settings in the drop-down menu on the right side. You may use your Google account or social media account to log in. This will help you to make sure no data will be lost if you reinstall the browser or log in by using other devices.
Activate mining. Open the CryptoTab browser, click the CryptoTab icon in the right upper corner, turn the mining mode On, adjust your mining speed.
Since you have installed the browser, activated the mining mode, and adjusted the mining speed, you will be mining digital coins anytime when the CryptoTab browser is open.
How to mine with CryptoTab on Android and iOS
Download the CryptoTab app from Google Play or App Store. You may choose among the free Basic option and paid Pro option ($1.19 on Google Play, $1.99 on Apple Store). The Pro version is more advanced and includes multiplied speed mining, server-dependent mining that does not drain the battery, an unlimited number of connected remote devices, and other features.
Click here to Download the Pro version APK for free.
Install the CryptoTab app.
Set up the account. Open the CryptoTab app to set up an account. You may use Google or social media to log in.
Activate mining. Turn on the mining mode and adjust your mining speed.
NOTE: DOWNLOAD THE DESKTOP VERSION FIRST AND SIGN UP WITH YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT.
AFTER THAT YOU CAN DOWNLAOD THE MOBILE VERSION AND DOWNLAOD THE APK FROM MY GIVEN LINK.
CryptoTab referral program
In addition to cryptocurrency mining, the CryptoTab browser allows earning Bitcoins via its referral program. Referral programs offer a reward for sending new customers. This means users may benefit from promoting CryptoTab and inviting their friends to it.
The CryptoTab referral program works as an ordinary affiliate marketing scheme. It offers a 10-level earnings pyramid, which means the more affiliates you have, the higher commissions you get.
The principle of a referral program is simple. Imagine, you invite one friend to start mining with a CryptoTab browser. CryptoTab then gives you 15% of the Bitcoins that your friend has mined. If your friend persuades his friend to use CryptoTab, you get another 10% from your 2nd level affiliate. And when that friend invites his acquaintances, the process goes on and on and on to the level 10.
The main way to catch new users comes from actively promoting on social media. CryptoTab even provides the free branded material to make your post more compelling.
Moreover, it encourages buying traffic to boost earnings from mining. This is a highly risky activity, especially for the new ones. Have in mind that the return of investment might not be significant and only come in the form of Satoshi, which is the 100 millionth part of a Bitcoin.
Is it possible to earn with CryptoTab?
Following the quick online search, CryptoTab user experiences are different. Some of them claim they struggle to earn above $15 to $25 per month. Others share earnings of over $69 (time period not specified), most probably generated from the referrals, that included over 5211 other miners.
Despite the fact that the referral program plays an important role in generating a higher profit on CryptoTab, the mining speed is also important. CryptoTab allows users to choose the mining speed option. Although keep in mind, that mining at the maximum speed may affect the device by slowing down its performance and making it heat up.
In order to withdraw your earnings from CryptoTab accounts, you first need to have your own cryptocurrency wallet for Bitcoins. The minimum amount of withdrawal is 0.00001 BTC.
At the time of publishing CryptoTab provides payments manually twice a day and aims to switch into automated-mode someday. CryptoTab, however, shares the history of its users’ withdrawal transactions in the payments journal.
Is CryptoTab safe?
Is a crypto mining browser safe to use? Is CryptoTab legit? To be honest, there are various criteria to evaluate before making your own decision. And they both need your attention and consideration.
Form of business
First, CryptoTab is based on a business model that is legitimate. Officially referral programs are a legal form of business. However, there is a fine line between legal and illegal ones.
Referral programs that require financial commitment before you are involved, are considered illegal. And as far as CryptoTab doesn’t ask you to invest funds to start crypto mining, it is a legit form of business.
The team
The team behind CryptoTab is anonymous and there is little information about them online.
DailyCoin has found out that CryptoTab is developed by CryptoCompany, a private limited company based in Estonia. The only board member of the CryptoCompany and also of CryptoTab is Vadim Tuulik, the mysterious man with a scarce online history and 5 Linkedin connections.
Listing on app stores
Respectively, the CryptoTab app is available to download from Google Play and Apple Store. Apps listed on both of these stores must go through thorough tests. They have to be verified to be free from viruses and malicious software.
As you may know, both Apple and Google Play banned the cryptocurrency mining apps on their platforms back in 2018. The move was mainly based on the explanation that cryptocurrency mining apps cause battery draining, generate excessive heat, affect device resources, and finally damage the devices. Both companies only allowed crypto mining apps that mined digital assets outside of the device (e.g. cloud-based mining).
Being available on both Google and Apple platforms suggests the CryptoTab browser is safe. However, it does not guarantee CryptoTab is profitable.
Click here to Download the Pro version APK for free.(Mobile Version)
Otherwise it will charge you 0.99$.
Click here to Download the Desktop Version.
Warning of virus
On the other hand, there are warnings online of the CryptoTab browser virus. According to them, the virus may infect the computer and extract sensitive information from all the browsers on it.
The warning also claims that CryptoTab’s software may not be malicious by itself. However, lots of hacker-made versions of it are easily available on the internet (data of May 2020). They may be rebranded versions of it or direct fake copies.
The website that has announced the warning is an online blog and forum, that covers malware attacks, data breaches, and privacy-related stories. It also has no reputation for being a scam.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Free
Payment Journals
Supports Android & iOS
Supports Windows & Mac OS
Cons
Low earnings
May affect device performance
Unknown founders
Virus warning
So finally, is it worth using?
Well, it’s for you to decide. Answering the question of is CryptoTab legit, we can say yes, it is. The business model of CryptoTab is legit, but it does not mean it is profitable. The amount of earning with CryptoTab mainly depends on the number of affiliates you have in a referral program. The more you invite, the more you get back.
CryptoTab claims the browser runs on unused resources of your computer. However, users share opposite opinions and blame crypto-mining apps for affecting the performance of their devices. Besides that, you need to be extra cautious of not infecting your computer with infected options of the mining browser.
So in summary, what our recommendations will be? Try it if you think small earnings will be enough. But better stay cautious and first experiment not on your best devices.
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opedguy · 3 years
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Colonial Pipeline Pays for Ransomware
LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), May 13, 2921.--When the Russian-speaking Darkside cyber-criminal syndicate shut down the Colonial Pipeline May 8, it disrupted about 50% of the gasoline, diesel fuel an jet fuel to the South and East Coast, causing shortage and spiraling prices.  Options for restoring the supply chain were limited, given alternative methods like tanker trucks or trains to re-supply the 2.5 million barrels of fuel lost a day.  Working feverishly to restore service the FBI working with Colonial agreed to pay Darkside about $5 million to provide decryption software needed to get Colonial’s systems up-and-running.  Colonial announced May 13 that it would be back up-and-running by the weekend, meaning that the worst of supply shortages was over.  President Joe Biden, 78, discouraged Colonial from paying a ransom to get their operations back in business, something Colonial ignored paying the $5 million.         
    Working with the FBI cyber-crimes division, Colonial did a clever thing paying Darkside in crypto-currency to meet their demands to restart the 5,500-mile pipeline fuel supply, running from Houston through the South to the Northeast.  Speaking on a cyber-crime forum, the Darkside admitted that Colonial’s $5 million payment has suddenly disappeared, claiming their crypto-currency account had been drained.  “Servers were seized [country not named] money of advertisers and founder was transferred to an unknown account,” read the crypto-crimes forum.  “A few hours ago, we lost access to the public part of our infrastructure,” the message said.  “Also, a few hours after the withdrawal, funds from the payment server [ours and our clients] were withdrawn to an unknown address,” showing that the cyber-crimes division of the FBI outsmarted Darkside to get the cash back.        
     Darkside knows that the FBI cyber-crimes unit is hot on their trail, capable of exposing their cyber-criminal network.  When it came to Colonial Pipeline paying ransom, it was a calculated ploy to trace the funds to specific bank accounts, giving investigators the best possible way of exposing the cyber-crime gang.  Darkside announced its was disbanding its network, now that the FBI was hot on its trail, something that can’t be trusted.  Cyber-criminal gangs don’t throw in the towel easily, they simply morph into a different form to conduct their criminal activity.  As long as they can collect hefty sums of cash, they’re likely to continue extorting money from government and companies.  Disbanding a cyber-criminal group is the group’s way of going stealth because they’ve exposed themselves to possible detection.  Cyber experts believe cyber-criminals don’t really disappear, they just go more stealth.      
       Biden administration officials have been mum about the role the FBI played in entrapping Darkside into taking the bait, the $5 million in order to go hot on their trail.  Biden announced yesterday in a lengthy executive order that the government will no longer buy software from companies that don’t have a proven track record of good cyber-security.  Last year’s SolarWinds alleged Russian hack showed that the government spends billions on software that isn’t properly encrypted with effective cyber-security protection.  If SolarWinds or Colonial taught the government anything it’s that all government software programs should be protected from ransomware attacks.  How Colonial Pipeline or SolarWinds software will protect their products in the future is anyone’s guess.  Biden’s executive order made clear that the government shouldn’t buy anything unless it’s cyber-security proof.  
           Working with the FBI, Colonial did the right thing paying the ransomware then letting the FBI trace the origin of the bank transfers.  Admitting that they’ve been emptied out, Colonial clearly played along with the FBI releasing $5 million in funds. Normally you’d expect paying ransomware would increase cyber-crime because they know crime pays.  But with Darkside admitting their accounts were emptied out, there’s little doubt that cyber-criminals are on the run.  FBI investigators have made no comment whether or not the Kremlin was involved.  Biden certainly blamed Kremlin-backed hackers for the SolarWinds hack, not specifying whether or not the Russian government was involved in the Colonial Pipeline attack.  Biden strongly discouraged companies from paying ransomware to restore their computer networks.  Don’t expect to the FBI to divulge its secrets anytime soon.      
       Working with the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies, Colonial Pipeline paid $5 million in order to trace the transfer of funds into various overseas bank accounts.  Darkside’s response suggests that things didn’t work out the way they hoped, with cash extracted from their accounts by some unknown source. Criminal cyber-gangs like Darkside are about extorting as much cash from companies or government that leave themselves vulnerable with poor cyber-security software.  “Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society,” said Darkside’s website.  If Darkside could get the governments nuclear codes they would do it, creating a much disruption  and cash as possible..  Colonial Pipeline exposes the extreme vulnerability of critical U.S. infrastructure, needing better cyber-security to stay one step ahead of the cyber-criminal gang industry. 
About the Author  
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  Reply  Reply All  Forward
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