Study Shows Unregistered Exchange Market Manipulation

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>Study Shows Unregistered Exchange Market Manipulation</strong>

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), more than 70% of transactions on unregistered exchanges correspond to money laundering operations.

At least three out of four transactions made on unregulated exchanges could be fake. The assertion arises from a recently published study, whose title is “Crypto Wash Trading.”

Since the FTX collapse, centralized exchanges have been increasingly challenged in the cryptocurrency market. Thus, a study of economists further discredits them.

According to researchers from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), more than 70% of transactions on unregistered exchanges correspond to commercial laundering activities.

Exchanges will have to do more to earn user trust in the cryptocurrency universe. For those who are not yet registered, the task promises to be even more difficult, based on the recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on the crypto laundering trade.

In fact, according to the Center for Economic Research, most of the activity on unregistered exchanges is related to laundering business transactions.

Unregistered Exchanges Behind Illegal Market Transactions

NBER researchers used statistical techniques and behavioral finance to categorize transactions in the crypto market. When analyzing those carried out on unregistered exchanges, that is, platforms that do not have a license from the financial or stock market authorities, they found that more than 70% of the transaction volumes correspond to wash trading.

“We found out that the volume of commercial laundering transactions averages 77.5% of the total volume of transactions in unregulated markets, with a median of 79.1%,” NBER informed.

On who is likely to engage in the illegal practice, the researchers noted the following:

“Wash trading is most likely to be conducted using automated programs or bots, taking into account efficiency and the number of trade orders required. Strong evidence suggests that most laundering transactions are performed by bots, which can be easily added to the scripted business structure using simple Python programs.”

It should be noted that wash trading is defined as an illegal practice in which traders and brokers agree to manipulate prices in the markets, with the aim of making more profit. Within the study carried out by NBER, $4,500 billion in the spot markets, as well as more than $1,500 billion, are affected by wash trading.

For What Purposes?

According to the researchers, unregistered exchanges have short-term interests in wanting to do laundering. Specifically, these manipulation activities allow them to have a better classification in data aggregators such as Coinmarletcap or Coingecko.

Moreover, economists have noticed that when cryptocurrency brokers indulge in wash trading, it has a huge impact on the prices of the coins offered on their platform. The researchers allege that this high flow of irregular operations artificially inflates crypto prices within these platforms.

Following the FTX collapse, dozens of exchanges began giving proof of the funds they held as a way to restore confidence in the industry, and to their businesses in particular.

In any case, this report will give stock authorities one more argument to speed up regulation in the cryptocurrency market.

By Audy Castaneda

Anfaco Will Use Blockchain to Verify the Origin of Fish

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>Anfaco Will Use Blockchain to Verify the Origin of Fish</strong>

The project is projected to prevent possible fraud caused by the substitution of species of lower quality by up to 35%.

UREFISH reported that it will harmonize and validate analytical methods to guarantee the authenticity of the fish with the aim of increasing consumer confidence and ending false news. In particular, consumers will be provided with a mobile application that will collect reliable information on the traceability of fish in the Mediterranean, providing detailed information on the different species, their geographical origin, and production protocols. This will be combined with the harmonization of analytical control methodologies.

The National Association of Canned Fish Manufacturers (ANFACO) announced that it will use blockchain technology to achieve improvements in the fishing value chain. ANFACO-CECOPESCA participates in the international SUREFISH project, in which a global Blockchain solution is developed to track the origin of fish.

The Surefish Project

The SUREFISH project aims to implement and demonstrate a global Blockchain solution to ensure fish authentication. The solution proposed by the project is based on the use of ICT technologies, radio frequency identification (RFID), and Blockchain technology. In this way, it is possible to validate it throughout the supply chain of four fish species.

To this end, four pilot cases of use are being developed in Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, and Spain on different species of fish. The selected species are fresh and marinated anchovies, fresh farmed tilapia fillets, fresh groupers, and bluefin tuna, respectively.

Avoiding Trade Frauds with the Help of Blockchain

SUREFISH stated that it will harmonize and validate analytical methods to guarantee the authenticity of the fish, with the aim of increasing consumer confidence, as well as ending fake news. In particular, consumers will be provided with a mobile application that will collect reliable information on the traceability of fish in the Mediterranean.

“Blockchain technology is used to add value to state-of-the-art traceability systems, since it allows efficient and transparent access to information by the different actors involved, generating innovative possibilities. In addition, ANFACO-CECOPESCA is working on the creation of the International Network of SUREFISH Laboratories, a list of external laboratories that can be part of the Network and participate in the solutions developed as level playing field tools.”

Regarding the expected impact, the project is perfectly aligned with the PRIMA Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, which requires a sustainable Mediterranean agricultural and food value chain that guarantees logistics infrastructure for safety, quality, and traceability standards.

The project seeks to avoid possible fraud caused by the substitution of species for others of lesser quality by up to 35%, as well as improprieties with fishing and aquaculture products from non-Mediterranean fishing areas, up to 25%. All this will contribute to an improvement in the commercialization of their fisheries, fishing control, and consumer confidence.

By Audy Castaneda

3Commas Acknowledges Leak of 100,000 API Keys

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>3Commas Acknowledges Leak of 100,000 API Keys</strong>

The Estonia-based company today asks its users to reissue their keys on crypto exchanges.

After 2 months of denying a possible data leak from his platform, Yuriy Sorokin, the CEO of 3Commas, had to admit that his clients’ API keys are indeed compromised. However, the origin of the breach remains unclear.

The CEO tweeted that “We saw the hacker’s message and can confirm that the data in the files is true. As an immediate action, we have asked that Binance, Kucoin, and other supported exchanges revoke all the keys that were connected to 3Commas.”

In said tweet, Yuriy Sorokin refers to a Twitter user who shared part of the 3Commasque database, in particular, it contained user API keys for the platform.

Chronicle of an Announced Breach

Unsurprisingly, the responses to the 3Commas CEO’s statement were particularly vindictive. In fact, it’s been around 2 months since an increasing number of platform users have complained about unexplained actions on their accounts, to which 3Commas continues to deny any liability.

The head of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, had warned about the leak of API keys for users of the 3Commas algorithmic trading platform for digital assets. He tweeted that “I am reasonably sure there are widespread API key leaks from 3Commas. If you have ever put an API key in 3Commas (from any exchange), please disable it immediately.”

3Commas noted that it had conducted an investigation into possible insider activity, but found no evidence of this. According to the statement, “a limited number of employees” had access to the infrastructure. Since November 19, 3Commas has been systematically revoking its permits. The platform team clarified that the leak occurred before November 16. After this date, API keys were “not at risk”.

Losses That Could Have Been Limited

Several users have started complaining about outside actions on their cryptocurrency trading accounts. However, on many occasions 3Commas denied the facts in lengthy blog posts, explaining that the evidence and other screenshots of possible vulnerabilities in its database were fabricated or falsified. 3Commas has also placed the blame on its users, accusing them of being duped by phishing attempts.

Additionally, a survey conducted by @ZachXBT, revealed on December 20, reported $14.8 million stolen from 44 victims. It should be noted that these are only those who have reported the event and that the total number of victims is undoubtedly much higher. @ZachXBT tweeted the following:

“Users have made complaints across different exchanges. It’s clear this is not phishing and api keys were stolen. 3Commas and their founder have chosen to blame its users. Delete the api keys if you haven’t already and stop using 3commas.”

However, now that the data leak has finally been admitted, it remains to be seen what will happen to the affected users. For now, it appears that some of them have come together to take class action in court.

By Audy Castaneda

Avalanche (AVAX) Price Prediction for 2023: Will AVAX Hit $45 Soon?

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>Avalanche (AVAX) Price Prediction for 2023: Will AVAX Hit $45 Soon?</strong>

The AVAX price bullish prediction for 2023 is $16.42 to $30.72, while the bearish prediction is $11.57.

In the Avalanche (AVAX) Price Prediction for 2023, statistics, price patterns, RSI, RVOL, and other information about AVAX were used to analyze the future movement of the cryptocurrency.

As of the Avalanche (AVAX) current market status, CoinGegko’s data shows the current price at $11.32, the 24-hour trading volume at $108,577,396, the 24-hour price change at 2.4% less, the circulating supply at 311,582,142, and its highest point at $144.96 (on November 21, 2021).

Avalanche (AVAX) Price Prediction 2023

Avalanche (AVAX) is ranked 20th on CoinGecko right now. Currently, Avalanche (AVAX) is in the range of $11.63. If the pattern continues, the AVAX price could reach the resistance levels of $14.61, $20.59, and $30.14. If the trend reverses, then the price of AVAX may drop to $11.41.

Avalanche (AVAX) Support and Resistance Levels

Statistical data show that Avalanche (AVAX) has been on an uptrend for the past month. If this trend continues, AVAX could follow the bulls by breaking above its resistance level at $28.96.

Consequently, if investors turn against cryptocurrencies, the price of Avalanche (AVAX) could plummet to almost $11.57, a bearish sign.

Avalanche Price Prediction (AVAX) 2023: RVOL, MA, and RSI

The relative volume (RVOL) of Avalanche (AVAX) is an indicator of how the current trading volume has changed over a period of time from the previous trading volume. Currently, AVAX’s RVOL is below the cutoff, indicating weak participation in the current trend.

Moreover, the price of Avalanche (AVAX) is below 50 MA (short term), so it has a bearish trend. Currently, AVAX has entered a bearish state. Therefore, there is the possibility of an AVAX reverse trend at any time.

Meanwhile, the relative strength index (RSI) of the AVAX is 37.37. This means that Avalanche (AVAX) is almost in an oversold state. However, this means that a major AVAX price reversal may occur in the coming days. Therefore, traders must exert caution.

Avalanche (AVAX) Price Prediction 2023 – ADX, RVI

Investors need to consider the Avalanche Average Directional Index (ADX), an indicator that helps gauge the overall strength of the trend. This system tries to measure the strength of the price movement in the positive and negative directions using DMI indicators with ADX.

Currently, the AVAX ADX is in the 28.55 range and therefore indicates a strong and weak trend.

In addition, the Avalanche Relative Volatility Index (RVI) is taken into account, which measures the constant deviation of price changes over a period of time. AVAX’s RVI is above 50, indicating high volatility, thus confirming a potential buy signal.

In conclusion, with continued improvements to the Avalanche network, 2023 will be a good year for AVAX. For this reason, the bullish price prediction for Avalanche in 2023 is $30.72.

AVAX’s performance is expected to help break its current all-time high (ATH) of $144.96 very soon. However, it could also go as high as $45, if investors believe that AVAX is a good investment in 2023.

By Audy Castaneda

Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies in our Lives: Survey Results

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies in our Lives: Survey Results</strong>

The survey was conducted by Forklog, the leading Russian-language media outlet on cryptocurrencies and Blockchain tech.

In 2022, 1,627 people participated in the survey conducted by ForkLog. Here are the results. Reference is made to the investment portfolios of readers, and their attitude toward mining, staking, and other segments of the industry.

Readers’ Profile

Most of ForkLog’s readers are men between the ages of 26 and 35 and live in Russia. Female readers represent only 8.4% (last year it was 6.6%), and a quarter of them live in Ukraine (25.1%).

Almost twenty percent of readers are involved in the Blockchain and cryptocurrency business, and 18.2% plan to do so. 21% of those surveyed are entrepreneurs in another area.

Only 5.5% learned about cryptocurrencies in the first years of their existence. Most (34.2%) of readers were introduced to the industry during the 2017-2019 bull market, and slightly fewer (24.8%) during the 2014-2016 bear market.

Another 21.7% learned about digital assets in the last three years when Bitcoin hit an all-time high and then quadrupled in price.

Readers’ Portfolio

A significant percentage of respondents (33.7%) purchased or received crypto for the first time in 2017-2019. Almost a third (31%) in 2020-2021, and another 13.9% in 2022.

Among the readers who responded, only 27.2% noted the performance of the portfolio in the outgoing year.

Mining and Staking

Among the survey participants, 11.8% are mining cryptocurrencies, and the majority (72.1%) have never been a miner. Almost half (46.1%) of the respondents are involved in staking.

NFTs

Less than a third (29.5%) of ForkLog readers own NFTs. The majority (56%) do not have non-fungible tokens and do not plan to purchase them. OpenSea remains the most popular NFT marketplace (20.3%), followed by Binance NFT (9%).

DeFi

The majority (34.9%) of those surveyed invested in the DeFi sector in 2022. Another 27.1% plan to do so in the future. The most popular services among the magazine’s readers were PancakeSwap (21.3%) and Uniswap (18.7%).

Only 7.2% of those surveyed participate in the management of the DAO, but another 24.4% plan to do so. The most popular DAOs among readers were Polkadot (2.7%), Uniswap (1.8%), and BitDAO (1.2%).

Trade

Most ForkLog readers trade cryptocurrencies. 35.7% of all those surveyed described it as a lucrative occupation.

More than 40% of respondents prefer centralized to decentralized platforms, another 19.7% combine types of platforms to trade.

The undisputed leader among centralized exchanges among those surveyed was Binance (63.9%). In second and third place are Bybit (19.9%) and Huobi (13.9%), respectively.

Wallets

The most popular wallets were MetaMask (49.8%) and Trust Wallet (43.8%). Over two-thirds (68.4%) of respondents do not use hardware wallets. In general, ForkLog readers prefer Ledger.

Crashes and Hacks

Only 7.9% of users reported losing funds as a result of hacker attacks. About 18% lost money due to the collapse of Terra. Only 2.5% lost assets as a result of CeFi platform bankruptcies.

By Audy Castaneda

Big Cardano Price Prediction: Will ADA Hit $1 Soon?

Audy Castañeda
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0
<strong>Big Cardano Price Prediction: Will ADA Hit $1 Soon?</strong>

Rising prices are expected to return to the market in 2023.

Cardano has had a difficult year in 2022, since the ADA token has suffered significant losses in the last year, mainly due to the bear market, which lowered the prices of cryptocurrencies.

In 2022, the Cardano price crashed dramatically. due to the bear market, which caused the price of the token to drop substantially. The ADA token has suffered losses as compared to other cryptocurrencies. However, in bear markets, this is reasonably normal for Cardano.

ADA price losses were especially severe in the first half of 2022. By July, the price had dipped to US$0.41. The price was still $1.60 at the start of the year, and it managed to hit an all-time high of over $3, in September 2021.

The price stabilized slightly in the second half of the year. The ADA has dropped from $0.41 in July to $0.26 in recent days. In the current bear market, the price is lower than ever.

Why was the ADA Price Forced to Accept Such Significant Losses?

Cardano and other altcoins are extremely vulnerable to market interaction. In a bull market, the ADA price can often shoot through the roof, and Cardano experiences a positive buzz, which was the most recent situation in the third quarter of 2021. However, in a bear market, these cryptocurrencies lose much more money than Bitcoin.

Additionally, concerns about the Cardano network have been raised repeatedly in recent months. Rumors spread specifically about the network and its CEO, Charles Hoskinson, who denied any problems in future development and highlighted the excellent track record of his network. Furthermore, growing in a bear market is challenging.

Will the ADA Price Get to $1 Soon?

Despite the difficulties in 2022, a positive Cardano prediction for 2023 is not off the topic, as the price rise can be bigger and more powerful in the second year of a bear market. For example, during the previous bear market in 2019, the price of Bitcoin rose from $3,500 to $10,500. As a result, altcoins saw substantial gains in mid-2019.

Something similar could happen in 2023, as almost all cryptocurrencies currently have a very low price, due to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, which solidifies the US dollar, as well as the backlash from the FTX crash. As a result, Cardano’s prediction for 2023 could be assumed as positive.

In general, a rally is possible if market confidence returns in the coming weeks and prices rise again. The Cardano price should be able to rise again in the next few days. In this case, a 10 to 20% rally seems feasible. So right now, $1 is a long way off.

Developments on the Cardano Blockchain have an extremely large potential to see the price increase sustainably in the medium to long term. Even so, the bear market is not favorable for Cardano currently.

By Audy Castaneda

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