On Monday, Tim Sweeney tweeted that Epic isn’t touching NFTs, in a public response to what was presumably an NFT pitch. He cites the space’s problem with scams as the reason for his hesitancy, which sparked some discussion in the comments (as strong statements about crypto tend to do). Sweeney has since clarified his views on NFTs a little, saying that, to him, owning an NFT is about as valuable as liking an image on Twitter and calling into question whether NFT ownership is actually non-fungible.

While Sweeney’s publicly made his position clear, it’s not likely to stop him from getting a wave of NFT pitches, which you can see for yourself by searching “@TimSweeneyEpic nft” on Twitter. It’s understandable why people try, though — Fortnite has made billions through the sale of virtual objects, and there’s been a lot of discussion around using NFTs in video games (not that Epic and Sweeney were small fries before Fortnite took off).

While the NFT space does have fake art and shady goings-on at major companies (along with the various other scams that have taken off as NFTs rocketed to prominence this year), that’s probably not why we aren’t seeing V-NFTs take the place of V-Bucks. A more likely answer is that, so far, Epic doesn’t need to use blockchain tech to make money, and NFTs aren’t ready to solve problems like its fight with Apple over what’s allowed in the App Store. It’s not like scams are stopping other well-known companies from diving into the space — the NBA-licensed Top Shots has operated without incidents raising too many eyebrows.

Interestingly, Sweeney also retweeted part of a semi-viral thread about “Web 3,” or a popular concept in the crypto community of rethinking the web, focusing on…

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s central bank will decide in early 2022 on a strategy for the potential roll-out of its own digital currency, the bank’s president said on Monday, as policymakers worldwide seek to keep pace with fast-spreading cryptocurrencies.

Regulators globally are cracking down on digital coins, alarmed at a rapidly expanding market that exceeded a record $2 trillion in April. China on Friday said it was banning all crypto trading and mining.

In a presentation before legislators, central bank president Mario Marcel said he had formed a high-level working group to study a medium-term strategy for minting a “digital peso” in a bid to meet the needs of an “increasingly challenging payments industry.”

“From objectives linked to the needs of the public, financial stability and effectiveness of monetary policy, the Central Bank will define, at the beginning of 2022, a proposal with options and requirements for a eventual issuance of a digital peso in Chile,” Marcel told lawmakers.

The use of digital payments has soared in Chile, Marcel said, with more than 40% of household consumption channeled through credit cards or similar systems, as well as digital transfers.

Global regulators worry the rise in privately operated currencies could undermine their control of the financial and monetary systems, increase systemic risks, promote financial crime and hurt investors.

Marcel said the working group would critically evaluate risks to Chile’s banking system and the efficiency of its monetary policy.

Chile, a comparatively wealthy South American nation, has for decades boasted one of the region’s most stable banking and financial industries.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Certain altcoins in the market alienated their price action as they continued to record depreciation in prices, on their respective charts over the last 24 hours. Litecoin was trading laterally with a loss of 0.3% while eyeing to dip near its closest support level.

For Cosmos, depreciation owing to its loss of buying strength over the past day can push the coin to trade near its one-week low. Lastly, Terra lost 4.1% of its value, although the buying pressure was still positive on its chart. 

Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin flashed signs of consolidation over the last 24 hours with a minor loss of 0.3%. The coin was valued at $151.15 and a loss of momentum would push Litecoin to trade at its immediate support level of $147.98. Additional price floor rested at $135.61 which also marked its almost two-month low price. Technical charts indicated Litecoin’s negative price momentum. 

Buying pressure remained low as the Relative Strength Index was below the half-line. Awesome Oscillator flashed a red signal bar as the last trading session was in the red. Parabolic SAR also displayed dotted lines above the candlestick which indicated that LTC was on a downtrend. 

On…

Kenya is among the top three countries on the African continent with the most crypto activity. The others are Nigeria and South Africa.

Nevertheless, hardly any Kenyan store accepts crypto payments. 

That is what a crypto debit card fixes for you.

What exactly is a crypto-funded debit card, though?

A crypto debit card is a Visa or Mastercard debit card that you can top up using your Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other cryptocurrency. The card issuing company or entity acts as an exchange and converts your crypto into the currency that the merchants you shop from accept.

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SEE ALSO: Selected Kenyan Banks Are Sending Cautionaries to Users Trading on Crypto Exchanges via Bank Cards

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With a crypto debit card, the places in the Kenyan cities and towns to spend your crypto become almost limitless. Every shop and store that takes Visa, Mastercard, or UnionPay accepts your crypto without even knowing it.

With pressure from the Central bank of Kenya on commercial banks and mobile money services not to facilitate crypto-related transactions, a crypto debit card has become a welcome solution to many Kenyans who trade and use cryptocurrencies.

With that being said, what options do crypto holders in Kenya have?

Globally, the number of crypto debit cards is growing. However, in Kenya, there are three major crypto debit cards that you can apply for and have shipped to you. All of them are based outside the country. 

Given that the cards are either Visa, Mastercard and Unionpay, you don’t have to worry about where the company issuing the card is headquartered. As long as they are willing to ship it to you, you can use it as you do locally issued cards.

ClubSwan

This card issuer is very different from the others in the market. Most of the others are mostly companies with the…

With eight of its past 11 Scotiabank CONCACAF League matches having taken place away from home, Forge FC is all too familiar with playing on hostile ground.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Premier League champions find themselves in Panama City, looking to dispatch Panama’s Independiente in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie at Estadio Rod Carew. The teams drew 0-0 last Tuesday at Tim Hortons Field.

“This isn’t our first rodeo,” said Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis.

“We enjoy every aspect of it,” he added. “We’d rather be here than not be in the competition, of course. We’ve had some success and want to keep on going. So we can’t let the little things of travel, of different things, be anything of an issue for us. Especially coming off a match Saturday night. We just relish the moments and keep on going.”

The first-leg result means CPL champion Forge will advance with a tie or win Tuesday.

“We need to go out and play,” said Smyrniotis. “One thing’s for sure, we know our opponent a lot better now than we did last week having played that first leg.”

Forge, third in the Canadian Premier League at 10-7-1, is coming off a 2-1 home win Saturday night over league-leading Pacific FC. Former Independiente striker Omar Browne (pronounced brow-knee) came off the bench to score the winner in the 80th minute in his Forge debut.

“He’s looked sharp in training,” Smyrniotis said. “He’s picking things up very well on the tactical side and what we’re asking from the players. So we’re happy in where he is with his progress.”

Added Forge captain Kyle Bekker: “He’s a great player and we’re happy to have him, especially for competitions like this. Obviously he knows this (Independiente) team very well and hopefully can give us a little bit of insight on how we can kind of get the better of them (Tuesday) night.”

The CONCACAF League is a feeder tournament that will send six clubs to the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, the flagship club competition in the region that covers North and Central…

Meet the social media sensation that is taking the world of crypto trading by storm: his name is “Mr. Goxx” and he is a hamster from Germany. You can stream his trades on Twitch.

Named after Mt. Gox—the notorious Bitcoin exchange that closed in 2014 after a reported $460 million of holdings went missing—the hamster has been making a big splash in the world of investing, largely with the help of his “human business partner.” Said anonymous pet owner has facilitated much of the hamster’s rise to fame and fortune and presumably operates all of his social media accounts. “World’s first crypto asset trading hamster!” the critter’s Twitter account proudly proclaims. It also provides regular updates on the status of his financial activity.

You’re probably wondering how a hamster makes trades. According to a video on his YouTube account, the whole thing works like this: Goxx occasionally enters his “office” (also known as the “Goxx box”), which is replete with a hamster wheel (dubbed the “intention wheel”) and two separate tunnels, respectively labeled “buy” and “sell.” Running on the wheel initiates a transaction: an automated, rotating Rolodex of 30 different cryptocurrencies is tied to the wheel’s motion (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other prominent coins are included). After Goxx exits the wheel, whatever tunnel he runs through subsequently initiates a “buy” or “sell” position on that particular token.

This whole setup has apparently been delivering big wins for the tiny rodent. Actually, reports show that Goxx has been outperforming Warren Buffet, the NASDAQ 100, and the S&P 500—with his portfolio up about 20 percent since he first started trading in June. Granted, he’s been moving a much smaller amount of capital around (his account holdings have reportedly grown from the Euro equivalent of $381 to $498)…but still! Way to go, buddy.

Since he burst…

Zheng He and the Great Treasure Fleet. Painting by Michael Boss. 

History Doesn’t Repeat Itself But It Rhymes

Our fellow ZeroHedge contributing editor “Quoth The Raven” suggested in a recent post that China’s crackdown on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and other cryptocurrencies is motivated by her desire to avoid a “cataclysm” in crypto. Our correspondent Anatoly Karlin offers a different interpretation. First, a bit of historical background, then we’ll repost Karlin’s thoughts here. We’ll close with a brief update on our “Swinging For The Fences” post. 

China Whiffs On World Domination

The current age of globalization–and centuries of European dominance–essentially began in the late 15th century, with Columbus’s discovery of the New World in 1492, and Vasco da Gama’s discovery of a sea route to India in 1498. But it might have gone a different way. 

When da Gama got to India, some of the Indians first thought he and his men were from China. They had heard tales from their elders about foreigners who arrived in giant ships in the early decades of the century. Between 1405 and 1433, China had sent “Treasure Fleets” led by a eunuch admiral named Zheng He across the Indian ocean, from Southeast Asia, to India, and to the east coast of Africa.

Image via Wikipedia Commons.

Zheng He’s ships were actually much larger than the Iberian ships of the Age of Exploration. Below is a scale model comparison of one of Zheng He’s ships and Columbus’s Santa Maria. 

Image via Imgur.

In the end, though the Ming Dynasty shut down the Treasure Fleets, and Spain and Portugal ended up discovering and colonizing much of the rest of the world, with other European empires following in their wake. 

China Whiffs On Crypto 

Anatoly Karlin sees parallels between China turning away from the sea in the 15th Century, and China cracking down on crypto (and gene-editing) today. From his blog (China Isn’t Going To Make It): 

I have been a long-term China bull since I began…

At a glance.

• UN cyber norms under discussion.
• Hostage diplomacy and the deferred prosecution agreement of Ms Meng.
• China’s ban on cryptocurrency transactions.
• Japan’s national strategy identifies Russia, China, and the DPRK as major cyberthreats.

UN cyber norms negotiations stall? 

In March, as we saw, UN members hashed out further agreement on cyber norms, but the substance and procedures of the next phase of diplomacy remain up in the air, the Wall Street Journal reports. Participating countries still need to work out how to enforce the nonbinding norms, and have not yet decided on a forum for doing so. “There’s a total confusion as to where the next step is and what this process leads us to,” commented Zurich university security studies scholar Stefan Soesanto.

Hostage diplomacy.

Law360 says the US Department of Justice dropped conspiracy, wire fraud, and bank fraud charges against Huawei CFO and first daughter Meng Wanzhou following almost three years of house arrest in Canada in exchange for an admission that she concealed the company’s connections to Tehran. In return, CNN reports, Beijing “dropped any pretense” that two Canadians detained in China shortly after Meng’s arrest were anything other than “political hostages,” and has repatriated the gentlemen (without tendering legal justification, the Guardian notes). 

Chinese state media are celebrating Meng’s arrival and passing over her admission of guilt while social media censor mentions of the Canadian hostages. Beijing’s foreign affairs spokesperson called Meng’s arrest “an incident of political persecution…with the purpose of suppressing China’s hi-tech enterprises.”

Effects of China’s cryptocurrency ban.

In addition to barring offshore exchanges from hiring residents, the CCP’s latest crypto crackdown has resulted in Bitcoin giant Huobi blocking signups using mainland phone numbers, according to Bloomberg. CNBC notes that all “services offering trading, order matching,…

More recently Binance Security has been taking part in an international investigation with Ukraine Cyber Police, Cyber Bureau of Korean National Police Agency, US Law Enforcement, Spanish Civil Guard, and Swiss Federal Office of Police, among others, in apprehending a prolific cybercriminal ring. The group — also known as FANCYCAT — has been running multiple criminal activities: distributing cyber attacks; operating a high-risk exchanger; and laundering money from dark web operations and high-profile cyber attacks such as Cl0p and Petya ransomware. In all, FANCYCAT is responsible for over $500M worth of damages in connection with ransomware and millions more from other cybercrimes.

Operation FANCYCAT

Over the past year, Binance has expanded its in-house AML detection and analytics capabilities. Based on research and analysis, as well as an understanding of cybercriminals’ history and cashout tactics, Binance arrived at the conclusion that the biggest security problem in the industry today is money connected to cyberattacks being laundered through nested services and parasite exchanger accounts that live inside macro VASPs, including exchanges like Binance.com. These criminals enjoy taking advantage of reputable exchanges’ liquidity, diverse digital asset offerings and well-developed APIs.

In a majority of the cases associated with illicit blockchain flows coming onto exchanges, the exchange is not harbouring the actual criminal group themselves, but rather being used as a middleman to launder stolen profits. Figure 1 shows an example of the money laundering process on an exchange in relation to cyber attacks:

Blockchain analysis shows a network of money launderers living inside macro exchanges which deposit and withdraw to each other to wash the money. Understanding this diagnosis, Binance is taking the necessary steps to prevent illicit activity. They apply a two-pronged approach: 1) implementing detection mechanisms to identify and offboard suspicious…