Money laundering and theft, besides counterfeiting, are the primary crimes that grew with the sale of NFTs. The English researchers say that some hackers also use those files to send encrypted information.

Allison Owen and Isabella Chase are researchers at the Royal United Institute Services (RUSI) Research Center for Financial Crime and Security. They recently published an article describing the possibilities NFTs have uncovered in the art world.

Owen and Chase explain that those tokens represent a seal of authenticity that what buyers are acquiring is unique, original, and theirs.

Artists also see NFTs as ways to generate value with the sales of their works, besides the original, as happens with physical art.

Crimes that the Sale of NFT Contributes to Committing

Besides mentioning the potential of that technology for the artistic community, the researchers analyze the possible crimes it could originate or enhance.

The expansion of those methods of producing and trading goods can include bad uses, as has happened in the history of humanity. The crimes mentioned are not unique to NFTs, or not all are.

The Use of NFTs to Commit Money Laundering

Many token development companies and auction houses, among other actors, are concerned about money laundering.

In October, recognized NFT developer Dapper Labs and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis signed an agreement to create monitoring tools. They aimed to establish when the funds used for purchasing digital work are illicit.

A growing number of criminals could be using ill-gotten money to purchase NFT, almost in line with the popularity of those products. Investors have paid multi-million-dollar sums for some of them, setting off alarms in the public and private sectors, governments, and the companies involved.

The Sale of NFTs Could Involve Counterfeiting and Theft

Traditional art is full of stories about theft and counterfeiting of very famous pieces, which the world of NFTs is beginning to see.

Owen and Chase indicate in their article that there were sales of fake NFTs, implying they were authentic this year. For example, a hacker breached the website of English street artist Banksy and placed a link to a supposed original token.

Sending Encoded Information Through NFTs

According to those English researchers, the third crime hackers could commit through NFTs is sending information encoded in those files.

They argue that those cybercriminals could hide data about a vulnerability in a security system and send it to another person in an NFT format.

How Users Can Avoid Those Crimes with NFTs

Owen and Chase outlined some solutions to reduce the risks from that new technological way of marketing artwork.

First, they recommend applying a form of registration, such as KYC (Know Your Customer), of users already using cryptocurrency exchanges. That implies requesting the personal and verified data of the person accessing the platform.

Second, they propose creating a register of fraudulent purchases, in which they list the NFTs that could be counterfeit or stolen. That already happens with physical art through the Art Loss Register.

Finally, they suggest using security features like two-factor authentication and other platform-specific measures to protect themselves from hackers.

Those alternatives could help prevent many crimes that obstruct the potential of NFTs. Furthermore, the authors point out that those solutions would not curb the growth of that market.

By Alexander Salazar

The businessman and friend of Buffett showed his support to China on its measures against cryptocurrencies and reiterated that he would never purchase Bitcoin.

Charlie Munger, the billionaire vice president of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, has again lashed out at Bitcoin.

At 97 years old, Munger is a celebrated investment legend, also the right-hand man of renowned businessman Warren Buffett. But in the digital currency space, Munger is famous for being a longtime naysayer, as is Buffett. Both billionaires have never been fans of Bitcoin and have openly shared their skepticism of crypto.

In an interview this week, the Berkshire Hathaway vice president reiterated his stance against the first digital currency. In general, though, he spoke out against the entire crypto environment. He said he wishes they never existed and praised the Chinese government for banning them.

Munger Praises China for Banning Bitcoin

Munger spoke about his stance on cryptocurrencies in the Sohn Hearts & Minds 2021 Investment Leaders Conference.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted the businessman’s words. He said he celebrated the actions led by China to curb the growth of the crypto industry.

The Chinese state has imposed harsh measures against cryptocurrencies, banning their trade and attacking crypto mining operations. The investor spoke out in favor of the procedures taken by the Asian power. They said they think China was right to cut back on some exhilaration that comes along with capitalism.

The billionaire also presented his views on the current investment landscape in the markets, which he described as more extreme than anything he had seen. The dot-com boom was more deranged in valuations than ever, but the billionaire thinks this era is even crazier than the dot-com one.

The chairman also added that he wishes cryptocurrencies should not exist. He also assured that people in the cryptocurrency business do not show interest in improving customers’ finances. He said these businessmen only think about themselves.

Billionaire’s Position Come without Surprises

Munger has been a cryptocurrency detractor for years, and this 2021 he has been particularly emphatic with his criticism. At the beginning of the year, the investor negatively described Bitcoin as an “artificial substitute for gold” and assured that his company would not follow Tesla’s footsteps to add the asset to its balance sheet.

A few months later, in May, he said that cryptocurrency was disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization. He argued at that time that Bitcoin facilitates illicit activities for malicious actors.

While Munger’s most recent comments didn’t cause too many surprises, they did generate multiple reactions within members of the crypto community.

Many users and bitcoin enthusiasts even ridiculed his stance, pointing out that the inability to understand new technology was not a surprise considering his age. Meanwhile, others don’t see why people should bother about the billionaire’s attitude.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Some companies have taken cryptocurrencies as payment for their goods and services to include them in their balance sheet. The CEO of ConsenSys said that institutional adoption had grown fast, showing a paradigm shift towards decentralized protocols.

Joseph Lubin, the founder of ConsenSys and co-founder of Ethereum, recently gave his opinion about the adoption of cryptocurrencies by financial institutions. He also expressed that he believes that old/fiat money would disappear as cryptocurrencies occupy a growing number of spaces.

The executive commented that a retail community had led the cryptocurrency space significantly. He recalled that there were initially some small hedging institutions that could make riskier decisions quickly. He noted that some of them dabbled with cryptocurrencies for some time, accepting them as payment for their goods and services.

However, the idea was to win business that allowed trading through crypto assets quite rapidly. In that sense, Lubin said that people can now see that institutions are taking cryptocurrencies as part of their balance sheet.

A Growing Number of Institutions Adopt Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies

Lubin explained that an increasing number of traditional companies could join to use cryptocurrencies in their daily activities. In that way, they would also add cryptocurrencies to their balance sheet.

The CEO of ConsenSys pointed out that the pace of adoption among companies has grown very fast. He stated the paradigm shift towards a world working with decentralized protocols such as Bitcoin accelerated.

He considers that Michael Saylor has done an excellent job promoting the uses of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Besides, he believes that this has favored the adoption of crypto assets among many people. For that reason, even some institutions are planning to invest in them to include them in their balance sheet.

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs Are in Line with Cryptocurrencies

Joseph Lubin thinks that entities like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs seek to enter the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Nevertheless, he stressed that they would not be able to do that easily since there is massive regulation on banking institutions. For that reason, the former has already said no to purchasing crypto assets, arguing that investing in them would be a mistake.

However, Lubin believes that the cryptocurrency fever is still underway, and new institutions emerge. That is especially true now that that old money is dying or disappearing quite significantly, as cryptocurrencies occupy a growing number of spaces. In addition, he said that this new and more solid money would be ultrasound, and its value would grow exponentially.

The co-founder of Ethereum stated that this is the end of a cycle of significant monetary debt and a regime going along with old/fiat money. He said that it is not performing well, and there are many reasons to stop trading with it.

In September, Joseph Lubin expressed pride in Bitcoin and Ethereum since he considers their conception immaculate. He agreed that those cryptocurrencies are different but go in the same direction: decentralization.

Bitcoin is trading at around USD 53,504, while Ethereum is worth approximately USD 4,227. They reached their respective all-time highs of USD 69,044.77 and USD 4,878.26 on November 10^th, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

There will be volatility, but the businessman recommends keeping Bitcoin a hedge against inflation. MicroStrategy has doubled its Bitcoin holdings and now owns 121,044 BTC, equivalent to around USD 7 billion.

The CEO of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, considers that Bitcoin has replaced the US dollar as the global store-of-value asset.  He said that the cryptocurrency is the best hedge against inflation but not good enough to pay for a cup of coffee.

In that regard, Saylor stated that Bitcoin aims to save and preserve the value of money over time, not to pay for small products.

He highlighted that viewing Bitcoin as an asset rather than a currency simplifies life from a regulatory point of view.

The executive commented that those regulations seek to restrict the use of cryptocurrencies as payment methods instead of a property. He explained that, by recognizing that, it would be easy to see that the industry has a bright future.

Saylor faced inflation problems in the country, and he believes that Bitcoin would provide the best hedge against inflation.

He is aware that there will be volatility, but he thinks the world understands the need to hedge against inflation. For that reason, the businessman recommends keeping Bitcoin rather than selling it.

The Relationship Between Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy, and Bitcoin

In June, Michael Saylor said that he was ready to retire quietly. Before getting into Bitcoin, he had not posted anything on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for four years. However, he noted that he returned to the fray after his first contact with the pioneering cryptocurrency.

The fundamentals of MicroStrategy, founded in 1989, have been the same for years until August 11^th, 2020. That year, Saylor decided to convert practically all their cash into Bitcoin. In the following months, he doubled and even tripled his bet.

Saylor predicted billions of people would eventually have digital properties and expressed that MicroStrategy wanted to be there before they did.

Saylor Recommends Increasing BTC Holdings

Michael Saylor has made acquiring Bitcoin a second rule for his 32-year-old company.

In its fourth fiscal quarter, MicroStrategy has doubled its Bitcoin holdings. They now own 121,044 BTC, which Saylor says they will probably keep forever.

The business intelligence software company MicroStrategy announced that it bought another 7,002 BTC for around USD 414 million.

Saylor tweeted that they invested USD 59,187 per Bitcoin, for a total of USD 414.4 million.

Curiously, the CEO of MicroStrategy stated that they committed themselves to buy more Bitcoin. And he has no plans to sell it. Saylor called Bitcoin an excellent long-term investment for shareholders.

What has happened to Michael Saylor with MicroStrategy and Bitcoin is not luck but one of the best financial decisions in the 21^st century.

Bitcoin is trading at around USD 56,180 and has accumulated a loss of 0.8% in the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 33.31 billion, and its market capitalization is about USD 1.06 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

The value of the holdings acquired by MicroStrategy is equivalent to about USD 7 billion.

If people want to be like Michael Saylor, the only thing they need to do is take a chance on Bitcoin.

By Alexander Salazar

There could be a reduction in Bitcoin mining difficulty by 1.29%, suggesting it will not reach its all-time high of May. In the last weeks, the hash rate of Bitcoin has fallen slightly to 157 Eh/s.

For the first time in five months, the difficulty of mining Bitcoin fell by 1.5%. The adjustment, occurring every 2,016 blocks, only rose nine times in a row and recently fell slightly; ending its streak.

Bitcoin mining difficulty rose by 52.48% for 18 weeks, marking the longest streak of positive adjustment in three years. The highest increase was 13.24%, while the lowest was 0.95%.

The upcoming change on December 12^th could reduce the difficulty of mining Bitcoin by 1.29%. It is not much, but it means that it will not reach its all-time high of 25 T of May for now.

In July, when the repression by the Chinese government was in full swing, Bitcoin mining difficulty fell to a low of 13.67 T. The difficulty on the network is currently 22.34 T, lower than in the last weeks.

It Is Easier to Mine Bitcoin Thanks to Low Difficulty

All seems to indicate that it will remain low until late in December. That means that miners can mine coins more simply, as the price of Bitcoin drops below USD 57,000.

In the last weeks, the hash rate of Bitcoin has also fallen slightly and is currently at 157 exahashes per second (Eh/s). According to BTC.com, that is a pullback after hitting a high of 178 EH/s on November 24^th. However, it continues to be well above the low that the Chinese repression against the mining business induced.

The hash rate of Bitcoin fell to 65 Eh/s in late June, following the bans against cryptocurrency mining in the Asian country. However, it has been able to recover to the point of tripling its previous level.

There Is a Growing Correlation between Bitcoin and Traditional Assets

The organic decrease when reaching an all-time high contributed to the drop in the price of Bitcoin, said eToro analyst Simon Peters.

The fear of new restrictions due to a new variant of COVID-19 also motivated the decline in the price. Shares and traditional indexes also suffered the fall that Bitcoin experienced last week, reflecting a growing trend towards correlating the pioneering cryptocurrency with those assets.

In addition, Jerome Powell, president of the Federal Reserve, announced that they would remove the qualifier of transitory from inflation. That led to a temporary decline in the price of Bitcoin.

The Price of Bitcoin Reaches Its Highest Monthly Close in October

The monthly close of Bitcoin in October was the highest in its history, ending the month at USD 61,309. Its latest record occurred in March, as Bitcoin peaked at USD 58,763. In October, it reached a 40% return, the highest this year and the highest since December 2020 when it was 47%.

The bullish momentum in October included a new all-time high of the value of Bitcoin close to USD 67,000. The opening price of USD 43,823 surged by USD 17,483 during the month, representing a record monthly increase.

Bitcoin is trading at around USD 56,607 and has accumulated a loss of 2.4% in the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 33.31 billion, and its market capitalization is about USD 1.06 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar