INDIAN CRYPTO EXCHANGE BUYUCOIN HACKED

Indian cryptocurrency exchange Buyucoin has reportedly been hacked and sensitive data of about 325,000 users has reportedly been leaked onto the dark web. According to reports, the leaked data includes personal information, encrypted passwords, user wallet details, order details, bank details, PAN numbers, passport numbers, and deposit histories.

Sensitive Data of 325K Users Reportedly Leaked

Buyucoin, a Delhi NCR-based cryptocurrency exchange, has reportedly been hacked. The exchange has more than 350K registered users and has facilitated over $500 million in cryptocurrency trades, according to its website. Several local news outlets reported that sensitive data of about 325K customers has been dumped onto the dark web. IANS publication detailed on Friday:

The data leaked include names, e-mails, mobile numbers, encrypted passwords, user wallet details, order details, bank details, KYC details (PAN number, passport numbers) and deposit history.
Independent cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia explained to the publication that the 6GB file on MongoDB database contains three backup files with Buyucoin data.

The researcher also found his own information that he used to create an account on the platform last year among the leaked data. “This is a serious hack as key financial, banking and KYC details have been leaked on the dark web,” Rajaharia was quoted as saying.

On Twitter, a number of users said that their information was leaked. Rajaharia tweeted: “Trading in cryptocurrency? 3.5 Lakh Users data including me leaked from Buyucoin. The leaked data contains name, email, mobile, bank account numbers, PAN number, wallets details etc. Again didn’t informed to affected users by company.”

Buyucoin is the latest victim of the infamous hacker group Shinyhunters, which has been leaking databases for free on well-known English-speaking forums, according to the Economic Times. The group also leaked data of e-grocer Big Basket, educational technology platform Unacademy and payment aggregator Juspay.

Israel-based darknet threat intelligence provider KELA confirmed the leak to the publication. The firm’s threat intelligence analyst Victoria Kivilevich explained that “These records are now circulating on the dark web and available for use by other cyber criminals.” She added that they can use the data for anything from “phishing scams to gaining admin privileges and access into corporate networks if corporate credentials have been leaked.”

Buyucoin Is Investigating the Breach

Since reports of the security breach emerged, Buyucoin has released two official statements on the matter. The first was written by its CEO, Shivam Thakral. He wrote: “In the mid of 2020, while conducting a routine testing exercise with dummy data, we faced a ‘low impact security incident’ in which non-sensitive, dummy data of only 200 entries were impacted. We would like to clarify that not even a single customer was affected during the incident.”

Rajaharia responded to the exchange’s official statement in a tweet:

“Such an irresponsible statement by Buyucoin. I am your registered and KYC verified user. You leaked my own data too. Please change your statement asap. What if someone used my account in any illegal activity. Please inform your users right now.”

 The Buyucoin CEO’s message was subsequently replaced with a different one by the exchange. “Regarding the media report,” Buyucoin wrote: We are thoroughly investigating each and every aspect of the report about malicious and unlawful cybercrime activities by foreign entities in mid-2020....

ETH SEES NOTABLE RECOVERY AMIDST NEW GAINS

Ethereum’s performance is impressive, especially in a period where traders are selling off at an alarming rate. The digital asset, which declined alongside Bitcoin and other altcoins, struggled to return to its new high during that period. Not surprisingly, exchanges recorded higher activities linked to the selling actions during the few days of its decline.

Investors don’t want to lose out on all the gains that the new year gave digital assets globally, hence the high sell-offs. Fortunately, even after nearing the $1000 range, it surged to above the $1200 level.

The new gain clearly shows that Ethereum was recovering and might be moving to retake its all-time high. Recently, the crypto community keeps hinting at the emergence of the altcoin season. The digital assets will attract major investors and assure new gains when it finally gets a loyal audience.

Ethereum’s current situation

Amidst hitting the $1,200 level, ETH would likely face some resistance around the $1,250 area. The coin’s previous action caused a decline, which saw the currency moving towards to $1000 range, but fortunately recovered before that mark.

Looking at charts, if the digital asset loses its prominent support, it could become bearish and continuously decline within a short period. The crypto currency’s most significant resistance now is around $1400, $1500, and $1600. In comparison, its significant support holds at $900 $800 $700.

If ETH sell-offs increase, the price might go back to its closest support, the $900 mark. If it should drop below that, $800 would likely hold it up, being the nearest support within that range.

The bull market needs to utilize the current structure to push it above its $1,230 resistance in a bid to record new gains. The analysis shows that the price can hit a new high if the bull’s momentum moves upward. On the flip side, if the technical indicator penetrates under, the digital asset could see an unexpected crash.

Market bulls gaining momentum

Based on the analysis, the market bulls might be gaining momentum due to the decreased sell-off and the new buying pressure coming into play. The market bulls can reclaim ETH’s peak if they remain consistent with the upward pull.

Unlike BTC, ETH recovered significantly since its price correction, which attracts more investment with the assurance of new gains. The digital asset might have to face bear action, threatening to return it to the $800-$909 ranges.

Other altcoins are performing well as Litecoin struggles to take the $500 range. Like other assets, LTC also gained immensely, and if it overcomes the $500 resistance, it could surge into a world of new highs. Years ago, no one would have predicted that altcoins would attract investors and surge beside crypto giant Bitcoin.

Still, BTC remains the world’s largest crypto, but recent losses resulted in a significant shrinking of its cap. The digital asset shows new signs of recovery as it records further gains in the $30,000 range after hitting the $28,000 mark. The decline could mean that BTC would see more falls in the future....

SEC LISTS 28 SUSPICIOUS CRYPTO COMPANIES IN ITS WATCH LIST

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been monitoring the cryptocurrency industry since its inception and it has successfully managed to mitigate illicit activities and fraudulent business. As such, the SEC often tends to list these businesses on its watch list. Recently, the regulator has added 28 unregistered cryptocurrency companies that are apparently duping international investors with misleading information.

Among the 28 firms flagged by the regulator on Thursday, eight of the companies seem to target future cryptocurrency investors. Some pretend to be trusted trading platforms for new investors entering the crypto market, while others try to trick retirees.

One of the firms even described itself as a law firm that helps against crypto fraud.

Some of the companies, namely, xTrading-Investment, Passive Trade Plan, RetireWell Investors, Reclaws International Inc. and SmartCoins24 offer crypto and blockchain-based services on their website. Meanwhile, Flagged companies BitminingFX, Cryptobravos, and FXBitcash had their websites down.

These companies make claims that are too good to be true, but seem legitimate at the same time. Passive Trade Plan fashioned itself as “a trusted authority on digital currency investing” while Smartcoins 24 promised investors to “trade the hottest coins of 2018.”

AxTrading-International’s website read:

“Our bitcoin trading services is suitable for those who are new to the world of cryptocurrencies, as well as for bitcoin experts and large-scale bitcoin investors.”

The SEC has added that several investors have filed complaints regarding all the 28 firms that were added to its watchlist. These firms “use misleading information to solicit primarily non-U.S. investors,” SEC said. The regulator stated that it added the firms to its warning list, called PAUSE, to help investors “avoid being a victim of fraud.”

The SEC has been periodically warning the public about opportunities that seem too unreal in the cryptocurrency space. Previously, the SEC has cracked down on several fraudulent cases involving Initial Coin Offerings, and cases of Public companies manipulating the price of its ICO.

New SEC Chief incoming

As previously reported by The Daily Chain, the SEC is also set get a new leader as reports have emerged that President-Elect Joe Biden has nominated former CFTC Chief Gary Gensler as the new SEC Chairman.

Gensler is a well-known figure in the crypto space, especially in the academic area. With his experience with digital currencies, these warnings from the SEC might soon take a sharper form....

RESIDENTS IN CUMBRIA ARE LOSING OVER $270K IN INVESTMENT SCAMS

Bitcoin became an attention-grabbing asset following the recent parabolic rise of the value from below $20,000 to as a high as $40,000 within a period of one month. However, this has also provided scammers an opportunity to rip-off people interested in Bitcoin investment. According to a report on Thursday, residents in Cumbria, United Kingdom, are losing thousands of dollars for a new Bitcoin scam circulating in the region.

Bitcoin scams are ripping off Cumbria residents

Within two days, the UK Action Fraud, the national fraud, and internet crime reporting center received about 400 reports about the Bitcoin scam circulating in Cumbria, according to the Cumbria Trading Standards. The victims of the investment scam reported losses of about $273,000 (£200,000). This prompted quick action from the Cumbria Trading Standards to the warned resident not to invest in such crypto investment schemes.

According to the report, the scammer promoted links to their fraudulent websites on social media platforms like Facebook, including Yahoo, MSN, and AOL. In most cases, the scammers made fake webpages that resembled popular news platforms like BBC. They promoted the links using fake content and celebrity endorsements in order to lure in unsuspecting investors. 

The victims were redirected to the fraudulent websites where the scammers would steal financial and personal information. 

The UK moves to curb crypto scams

Last year, several fraudulent investments surfaced in the UK during the severe times of the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the scammers claimed to have a vaccine for the virus, which they offered for sale in Bitcoin. However, the government stepped up its moves to combat these Bitcoin scams by reaching a partnership to create a system that can detect and alert fake advisements calling for investments in the crypto and forex space. ...

FRENCH CENTRAL BANK COMPLETES CBDC PILOT ON PRIVATE BLOCKCHAIN

France’s central bank announced on Tuesday that it has successfully completed a pilot transaction with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) last month that has captured the full settlement cycle.

Banque de France collaborated with London-based SETL, a settlement and payments infrastructure provider, to receive the necessary distributed ledger technology (DLT) and also the infrastructure for the issuance and redemption of the digital currency. 

SETL’s IZNES team was responsible for facilitating the transaction.

“The successful completion of a central bank digital currency live experiment with BDF confirms that SETL is uniquely positioned to help transform Financial Markets,” SETL Chairman, Sir David Walker, said in a statement.

In the experiment, the central bank simulated cash transaction worth over €2 million using the digital currency. Shares of the money market fund ‘Groupama Enterprises’ were subscribed and redeemed. Other participants of the experiment include Citi and CACEIS, which additionally acted as the custodian of the funds; both purchased the CBDC from the central bank.

Digital Euro Soon to be in Circulation?

Several central banks in Europe are now in the race to develop a digital currency, and the French regulator is at the forefront. The complete CBDC pilot happened after the French central bank named eight private partners for interbank settlements. It also tested the digital euro under real-world circumstances with Société Générale.

“Further to the successful delivery of our two market infrastructures – the Fund Platform IZNES and the ID2S Central Securities Depository, we are now excited to take our Payments offering to the next level. Together with our proven track record in delivering regulated Market Infrastructures, this further strengthens SETL’s strategic capabilities,” SETL CEO, Philippe Morel said.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is evaluating the importance of the digital euro, and its president Christine Lagarde earlier said that the regulator might launch a digital currency in the next two to four years....