Chainalysis Data Indicates Decentralized Exchanges Grew Faster than Centralized Exchanges

User interactions on DEXs have continually increased, with traditional centralized exchanges falling behind. Cryptocurrency exchanges must reach a mass audience or a small audience of large-scale traders to continue trading.

Amid numerous user interactions, cryptocurrency market platforms have been gaining volume and influence. Although decentralized exchanges have grown faster than centralized ones, the latter still retain their relevance.

Unlike centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges fulfill functions that go beyond the control of a central authority. That means that the nodes (or computers) and the developers distributed in different places make the decisions together.

Cryptocurrency Exchanges Have Grown Quickly

Data from Chainalysis reveals that the evolution of cryptocurrency-related platforms has been exceptional in the last two years. The participants in both large purchases and retail investments have influenced the observed growth.

The events earlier this year suggest that cryptocurrency exchanges have gained relevance by up to more than 100% in some particular cases. That happened with decentralized exchanges (DEX), which have achieved an average growth of over 200%.

User interactions increased somewhat continuously to the point where traditional centralized exchanges (CEX) fell behind. From that perspective, the rise registered by those platforms reached 120%, while they could not maintain the percentage, which returned to 100%.

CEXs Maintain Their Space Despite the Superiority of DEXs

The growth of DEXs exponentially outpaced that of centralized exchanges, which have not disappeared. On the contrary, they retain an influence on the operations of the markets and have grown recently.

The popularity of DeFi technologies has overshadowed the strengthening pace of CEXs, in terms of their role as exchange platforms. However, that situation does not imply any significant pullback among centralized exchanges, which have gained more attention.

The Largest Cryptocurrency Exchanges Achieve Greater Reach

The comparison between DEX and CEX seeks to determine which of them will dominate the markets. The hasty expansion of both types of platforms is a pattern that has repeated itself in recent months. When new decentralized or centralized exchanges with greater reach have emerged, the smallest ones have remained outside.

According to data from Chainalysis, cryptocurrency exchanges must reach a mass audience or a small audience of large-scale traders. That would help those platforms to continue operating in the long term.

Decentralization Offers More Advantages to Cryptocurrency Investors

Decentralization in the field of cryptocurrencies means there is greater confidence in trading those assets. People seek to decentralize processes to make them more efficient and transparent than if a single entity controlled them.

The situation is the same when it comes to decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges, as transactions occur efficiently. However, although blockchain technology allows the high decentralization of the financial system, it has not yet had its counterpart in those platforms.

Exchanges are essential to the world of cryptocurrencies since all the factors in the community can communicate through them. Traders can conduct their transactions freely, allowing the value of crypto assets to fluctuate thanks to supply and demand.

By Alexander Salazar

Elon Musk Believes Dogecoin Is Better than Bitcoin and Shiba Inu

Markus compared the cost of Dogecoin to that of Bitcoin and Shiba Inu, saying that the former had lower transaction fees. Musk’s posts on Twitter caused DOGE’s popularity to soar and other meme cryptocurrencies to emerge.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes that Dogecoin is superior to Bitcoin and Shiba Inu, regarding its use as a form of payment. DOGE co-creator Billy Markus shared on Twitter a comparison of the cost of transaction fees for those cryptocurrencies.

Markus said that Dogecoin is the best cryptocurrency to conduct transactions thanks to its low network fees. He noted the charges for trading DOGE are close to nothing, while those for Bitcoin and SHIB are around USD 3.50 and USD 38.00, respectively. It is so expensive to send Shiba Inu because that token is on the Ethereum network.

Dogecoin recently released a new update that made it cheaper to send securities through the network. Likewise, Elon Musk shared his thoughts on Dogecoin’s latest software update on Twitter, describing it as crucial.

The billionaire businessman made that comment shortly after the announcement of the launch of Dogecoin Core 1.14.5. This long-awaited update allows the reduction of rates for all users.

The developers introduced the default values in the previous minor version of the software, the first phase. In doing so, they sought to prepare the network for the latest network upgrade.

Elon Musk Confirms He Does Not Own Shiba Inu

Although Musk confirmed that he did not own any SHIB tokens, that did not stop the second canine cryptocurrency from growing. The crypto meme managed to reach record highs and briefly exceeded Dogecoin.

DOGE’s popularity soared as a result of Musk’s posts on Twitter. After that, a large number of dogecoins and other meme tokens joined the industry. One of them was SHIB, which has achieved a market capitalization similar to that of DOGE. Furthermore, the team behind SHIB also developed what they called the Doge Killer (LEASH).

Another token, called Dogelon Mars (ELON), is trying to capitalize on the current hype of meme cryptocurrencies. Its developers drew inspiration from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his love of space travel.

The relevant role of social networks in the growing adoption of meme tokens and Dogecoin is undoubted. Musk is one of the market forces that have indirectly influenced DOGE’s price movements the most. He has managed to increase his value significantly through his sporadic posts on Twitter.

Musk’s passion for the Dogecoin meme cryptocurrency has led him to purchase a Shiba Inu breed dog. However, that show of love has already sparked the creation of other currencies on the market. That proves the enormous influence that the posts of renowned figures have on the prices of those assets.

DOGE is trading at around USD 0.26 and has accumulated a 0.8% profit in the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 1.6 billion, and its market capitalization is approximately USD 35 billion. The cryptocurrency meme occupies 9th position in the cryptocurrency ranking, preceding SHI, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

New Bitcoin Mining ‘Paradise’ in Kazakhstan is Now Receiving Back-up by their Government

The miners promised to operate without threatening Kazakhstan’s energy security. The Kazakh government official acknowledged the “high potential of the blockchain industry.”

Kazakhstan seems to be moving towards a healthy coexistence with Bitcoin (BTC) mining, an activity that has increased significantly since May in that region. The government highlighted that miners who comply with the policies would not suffer any power restrictions and disconnections.

This situation is relevant because that Asian country concentrates 18% of the global hash rate due to the prohibition of activity in China, which generated a significant exodus of BTC miners.

During a meeting between the Minister of Electric Power of Kazakhstan, Magzum Mirzagaliev, and various representatives of the cryptocurrency environment, the government officially recognized the high potential of the blockchain industry, for which he saw it necessary to join forces for its further development.

Mirzagaliev said he is a supporter of dialogue, so he encouraged the miners to jointly search for solutions to ensure the reliability of the power system. According to the minister, the miners promised to carry out their activities without threatening the energy security of Kazakhstan.

According to the miners, they reported that some might consider purchasing electricity from the Kazakh state. This decision got added to the intention to invest in generating new energy sources to mine cryptocurrencies.

The miners also proposed to the Ministry of Electric Energy new changes and additions to the local legislation related to the requirements and criteria for those who mine cryptocurrencies, allowing them to find and act against the so-called grey miners.

In that country, grey miners are the most vital operators that hide the electric consumption by mining and get settled in farms located in places where the growth in energy use is unpredictable, such as the towns in the south of that country. These miners, according to the law, must register with the government and legalize their business to continue their work.

With such grey miners, of course, it is necessary to fight with the combined efforts of state bodies and associations. So we can achieve results, “said Salzhanov.

The parties highlighted their intention to continue their joint work, to stabilize the electricity market and create the proper conditions for the development of digital mining as a new industry.

There Are Contradictions About the Situation

This meeting and support for bitcoin miners in Kazakhstan come just days after the Senate approved a bill that sets up the regulation of this activity and others related to cryptocurrencies because they think that financial crimes would take part in these activities.

For the deputy Olga Perepechina, the people who issue, organize the trade of digital assets, and exchange them for fiat money, securities, and other properties, are out of financial monitoring, which leads to possible money laundering and terrorism.

The law even intends to classify all those who operate with bitcoin as subjects of financial monitoring, being obliged to notify the Ministry of Digital Development, Aerospace Industry, and Defense of the start or end of activities.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Hacker Demanded $ 50 Million in Bitcoin from Media Markt to Free up Servers in Europe

The ransomware attack would have aimed at 3,100 Media Markt servers. Operations in stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and some in Spain got affected by the criminal act.

A group of hackers had launched a ransomware (data hijacking) attack against a multinational chain of stores with high participation in Europe called Media Markt. The crime arrived along with the most relevant commercial season of the year on the horizon.

According to the information revealed on the case, the hackers are currently demanding at least USD 50 million (about 756.5 BTC) from the company to release the stolen data.

Media Markt, of German origin, is the largest electronics retailer in Europe as it counts on more than 1,000 stores in 13 countries and some 40 years of activity. Reports also indicate that the attack, which began this Monday, November 8, is still active. Hackers would have taken control of some 3,100 company servers and encrypted the data to prevent access to it.

The action generated the failure of IT systems and the interruption of operations in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. In Spain, many stores got also affected and now are unable to process online transactions.

On the other hand, they had to limit themselves to selling only products that appear physically in each store. The company sent emails to the entire staff requesting that they not use the network, reboot every single system, and disconnect the cash registers from the network.

Hackers Requested USD 240 Million

It turned out that the hackers initially demanded a sum in bitcoin equivalent to USD 240 million, but after negotiations with the company, the amount got raised to USD 50 million.

The BleepingComputer portal highlighted that it managed to confirm that the Hive Ransomware operation would be the sole responsible for the attack. According to the report, it is an operation that got launched in June of this year, and that violates the IT security of organizations using phishing campaigns with malware.

The BleepingComputer also noted that Operation Hive attacks often include theft of unencrypted files, which hackers use to blackmail those affected by threatening to leak the stolen data.

Media Markt did not specify whether the attack included this kind of theft. Media Markt did highlight that it reported it to the legal authorities and is working hard to identify the affected systems and fix the damage caused as soon as possible.

Regarding these types of attacks, the US Government recently announced that they would pay a million-dollar reward to people bringing information about hackers involved in ransomware.

The initiative started by offering USD 10 million for the identity and instant location of the leaders of the DarkSide group. This group is the one that attacked the Colonial Pipeline, a fuel distribution center for aircraft and vehicles on the southeast coast of the United States of America.

By: Jenson Nuñez

A Leader of Cyberattacks with Bitcoin got Arrested in Poland

The alleged hacker got arrested in Poland by police forces. The US identified another top REvil member named Yevgeniy Polyanin.

Cybercrime is a serious problem to the country and threatens the health of the US economy, and it is a national security issue. These were the words of the US Attorney General, Merrick B. Garland when he revealed to media outlets the capture of a leader of the hacking group known as REvil.

The prosecutor highlighted that the Polish police forces arrested Yaroslav Vasinskyi, who would be one of the first members of REvil, at the request of the United States of America on October 8.

Vasinskyi received charges of conspiring, intentionally damaging protected computers, and extorting money in connection with that damage, as well as conspiring to commit money laundering.

Additionally, Garland highlighted that they had already requested the extradition of the alleged hacker to the United States, based on an agreement they have with the European country.

Cybercriminals Always Aim at Bitcoin

Ransomware attack groups such as REvil carry out their illicit activities with various methods. One of these methods consists of extorting and requesting payments in bitcoin (BTC) or privacy-based cryptocurrencies.

One attack of this type happened to Miami-based tech company Kaseya on July 2. On that occasion, the REvil group requested at least USD 70 million in bitcoin to release the stolen information.

Days later, an announcement came to light and revealed that the company received a universal key to decode the data of the companies and public organizations that got affected by the attack.

The advance of the United States of America against cyber-criminal groups gets framed in a decision by the current president of that country, Joe Biden, giving a priority similar to that of terrorist activities.

The US authorities also opened a rewards program offering up to USD 10 million for information that leads to the identification or location of any person who occupies a key leadership position” in the hacker group.

The US Seized $ 6 Million Ransomware Attacks

Prosecutor Garland said his country not only persecutes the people that carry out the attacks. They would also work hard to recover the funds stolen by the hackers to return them to their rightful owners.

In that sense, the representative revealed that they identified another alleged member of REvil. The Russian citizen Yevgeniy Polyanin, from whom USD 6 million got confiscated during the proceeds of the ransom for an alleged ransomware attack, is the identified member of REvil.

According to the United States Department of the Treasury, the seizure happened after the sanction of the cryptocurrency exchange Chatex, with roots in Latvia. Chatex is the exchange that helped to launder digital assets from attacks with many ransomware variants.

There is already a formal accusation by the United States of America against Polyanin. The alleged hacker got blamed for carrying out 3,000 ransomware attacks, affecting companies and entities in that European country.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Colombia and Honduras Join Efforts to Fight against Crimes with Cryptocurrencies

Prosecutors from both nations would apply new technologies to counteract the advance of drug trafficking. They also observed the excessive use of cryptocurrencies in crimes in various Latin American countries.

Francisco Barbosa, the attorney general of Colombia, observed an increase in crimes with cryptocurrency technology. These crimes include the drug trafficking industry in Latin America, which, according to him, expands to Honduras, Panama, Mexico, and the United States of America, among other countries.

The announcement appeared in an interview with the Proceso Digital news agency on November 10. After a meeting in the city of Tegucigalpa with his counterpart from Honduras, Oscar Fernando Chinchilla, he communicated the alliance of the countries to fight against crimes with cryptocurrencies.

The Colombian prosecutor explained that organized crime is gaining ground regarding the use of cryptocurrencies to commit cybercrimes. He precisely highlighted that these digital assets serve as tools to launder money from drug trafficking and migration. Therefore, these are the two main situations on which they will focus to fight.

Drug Trafficking Uses Cryptocurrencies as Money Laundering from Mexico and the United States of America

The official believes that organized crime works with the newest technologies, so the prosecutors must do the same to fight against it. The officials also explain that security forces must work together using strategies designed to reduce cybercrime networks.

The report also points out that drug trafficking groups use technology to have international reach. The report says that large drug plantations, such as cocaine, reside in Colombia, and they are now expanding to Central America, Mexico, and the United States of America. Recently, a case of narco money laundering with bitcoin that also involved Peru and Bolivia got stopped.

The trafficking of illegal migrants from Panama that Colombia fights is often related to the drug trafficking industry. The report states that the leaders of these criminal groups use people in need to lead a drug trafficking aimed at the United States of America, which can then get paid for with cryptocurrencies to launder money.

Recently, Colombia’s drug trafficking problem got satirized in digital artwork. The artist Camilo Restrepo launched a non-fungible token (NFT) like a bag of cocaine for sale to ironize the drug trade in the South American country.

In any case, the Colombian attorney general does not present figures or statistics on drug trafficking cases that use cryptocurrencies.

A report from the World Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) indicates that the number of money laundering operations in digital currencies is small compared to those that use traditional ways with fiat money.

SWIFT is the organization that leads the interbank messaging system used by almost all banks worldwide to transfer funds between them; it is a daily used system that allows achieving transfers of billions of dollars between banks.

By: Jenson Nuñez