Tag: Cryptocurrency

Squid Game cryptocurrency scam, investers lose over Rs 15 Crore

 Squid Game cryptocurrency scam, investers lose over Rs 15 Crore

Netflix’s hit show, Squid Game inspired Cryptocurrency value turns zero many people lose their money because it was a scam.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Squid Game cryptocurrency turned out to be a rug pull.
  • Creators of the crypto took the currency off the exchange in just about two weeks.
  • They are estimated to have made around Rs 15.3 crore.

Squid Game turned out to be a scam, after all. I am not talking about the blockbuster Netflix show that had the world hooked to it for weeks. I am referring to the eponymous cryptocurrency inspired by the series. The Squid cryptocurrency collapsed on Monday, but the hucksters who leveraged the popularity of the show managed to make off an estimated $2.1 million (roughly Rs 15.3 crore). After reaching a peak value of $2,861, according to CoinMarketCap, the currency tanked to just $0, and the investors lost all their money. Anonymous scammers made over $2.1 million before shutting the crypto project.

The SQUID crypto coin now trading at $0.003203, as reports CoinMarketCap.

The developers behind the crypto project have left the project after the price of its affiliated token crashed to nearly zero.

They claimed on its official Telegram channel that its developers do not want to continue running the project due to the stress of dealing with scammers.

Cryptocurrency simplified

In the simplest of terms cryptocurrency is a digital currency used to make transactions. It is currently not being used to make transactions but can be potentially used to do so. Before jumping to cryptocurrency let’s clear our basics.

Understanding currency 

Think of cryptocurrency as any other currency, we use currency to fulfil our needs and we exchange currency because we are aware that we will be provided with goods and services in return. Now, this currency is not limited to just notes or coins but can be anything. Like in olden times barter system existed where people would exchange goods and services for other goods and services in return but this concept had a lot of limitations so currency started evolving. We moved to commodity money i.e., gold, silver then to metal money then paper money then plastic money(cards) and now we are moving towards crypto. These currencies evolved because the previous methods of transaction had their own drawbacks.

Like any other method, the method of transaction that the world operates on now also has drawbacks like centralisation, elasticity, the ease with which it can be issued to name a few.

Need for Crypto

Now, this is where cryptocurrency comes into play. It is a virtual form of currency that uses blockchain technology. Blockchain technology is a virtual decentralised ledger that keeps a record of transactions. Cryptocurrency is secured by cryptography which is a secure communication technique.

Now, keep in mind that it does not physically exist, one can’t hold up a bitcoin because it is based on a network distributed across computers. So you don’t have to carry it around, kind of like net banking or online transactions but online transactions are made through banks and can be monitored by any authority. Now, imagine you want to transfer your friends 5 bitcoins. You can do it without a bank or an intermediary interfering. It can be done anonymously with your privacy being protected. And since no authority controls it, that currency cannot be altered either. 

With paper currency, the government can print as much money as they want because they control it and printing a lot of money causes inflation but that is not the case with cryptocurrency because  only a limited number exists. 

For example, only 21 million bitcoins exist on the web. Bitcoin is a form of cryptocurrency created allegedly by a Japanese fellow Satoshi Nakamoto. Now , this could be a pseudonym or perhaps more than one person was involved in the development of said currency. However, for the most part that person’s identity still remains anonymous.  

Now,  this number of 21 million cannot be changed, it is constant. There will always exist 21 million bitcoins and can be found out through miing. This is done by solving puzzles. The more puzzles you solve, the more bitcoin you get. As more and more bitcoins are mined, the puzzles get tougher. These bitcoins are not easy to find and it is definitely not easy to solve the puzzles. Perhaps, that is why Bitcoin is so valuable. 

It is possible that somewhere in the not so far future we would not be using paper currency but crypto. For now, cryptocurrency is highly volatile and is used only for investing money.

The Ultimate Guide to Cryptocurrency

 

Want to be
a crypto expert? Well, I have got your back. Cryptocurrency is something that
everyone wants to talk about. But only a few of them know. So, let’s discuss cryptocurrency.

                                                              (Photo: The Economic Times)

Since man
evolved, the currency has become a part of our lives. Before the caveman used
the “Barter System”. In the barter system, a commodity was exchanged
for another commodity. However, the barter system fell out as it had some
flaws. Then the modern currency as we know it came into existence. In 110 BC,
an official currency was minted. In 1250 AD, gold-plated florins were
introduced. And in 1600 AD – 1900 AD, the paper currency gained popularity.
This is how modern currency came into existence. There’s a centralized
regulatory authority to limit the modern currency. Now imagine the scenario of
doing an online transaction. This transaction takes place successfully but
there are several ways this could have gone wrong like a technical issue,
account hack, or the transfer limit must have exceeded. This is why the future
of currency lies with cryptocurrency. 

Imagine a
transaction between two people in the future. One of them has the bitcoin app
and there’s a notification asking whether they are ready to transfer 5
Bitcoins. If yes, then processing takes place. All of this happens in a matter
of seconds. This in return removes all the flaws of modern banking. There’s no
limit to the funds which you can transfer, your accounts cannot get hacked and
there’s no central point of failure.

So,
cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by
cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit. There are
thousands of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency is quite similar to any physical
currency, it’s just that it does not has any physical embodiment.

Features of
Cryptocurrency:

1. There’s
a limit to how many units can exist.

2. Easily
verifies the transfer of funds.

3.
Operating independently of a bank.

4. Working
in a decentralized manner.

5. Allows
new units to be added only after certain conditions are met.

So, what
makes cryptocurrency so special?

1. Little
to no transaction cost.

2. 24/7
access to money.

3. No
limits on purchases and withdrawals.

4. Freedom
for anyone to use.

5. International
transactions are faster.

What’s the
“CRYPTO” in cryptocurrency?

Crypto
refers to cryptography. It is a method of using encryption and decryption to
secure communication in the presence of third parties with ill intent.
Cryptography usually requires a computational algorithm (like SHA256), a public
key (that the user shares with everyone), and a private key (which acts as a
digital signature of the user).

Now let’s
talk about a normal bitcoin transaction. First, you have the transaction
details. Now, these details who you want to send to and how many bitcoins you
want to send. Then it’s passed through a hashing algorithm. For Bitcoin, we use
the SHA256 algorithm. The outcome which you get is passed through a signature
algorithm with the user’s private key. This is used to uniquely identify the
user. This output is then distributed across the network with the sender’s
public key. The people who verify the transaction to check whether it’s valid
or not are known as MINERS. Now after this is done, the transactions are added
to the blockchain where they cannot be changed again.

Now let’s
talk about the biggest cryptocurrency. Not every crypto coin is good. The top
two are Bitcoin and Ether. The similarities between these two are:

1. They are
the biggest and most valuable cryptocurrencies.

2. Both of
them use blockchain and mine currency using proof of work.

3. Widely
used across the globe.

The
differences between these two are:

1. Bitcoin
is used to send money to someone. Ether is used as a currency in the Ethereum
network.

2. Bitcoin
transactions are manual. Ether transactions are manual or automatic.

3. Bitcoin
is slow. It takes 10 minutes to perform a transaction. Whereas, Ether is fast.
It takes about 20 seconds to perform a transaction.

4. Bitcoin
is used as money for real-world transactions. Ether is used to power the
Ethereum network and power real-life transactions.

5. Bitcoin
is used for transactions involving goods and services. Ether uses blockchain to
create a ledger that triggers a transaction when a condition is met.

6. Bitcoin
uses an algorithm known as SHA256 for hashing. Ethereum uses the Ethash
algorithm for hashing.

How to
invest in cryptocurrency?

Everything
in life involves risk and so does crypto. One needs to have proper knowledge to
start investing. The first thing which we need to do is to find a crypto
exchange. We need to do a detailed background check. Some of the popular
exchanges in India are Wazir X, Coin DCX, and Coin Switch Kuber. The next step
is to create an account. Once it gets created, we need to deposit the amount to
buy bitcoins. Then pick a crypto coin. And then you can get started.

The Future
of Cryptocurrency

Before
people used to invest in gold and real estate. With time, the return decreased.
It was only after this when cryptocurrency started rising. This digital coin has
very fast gained popularity mainly because of the support from billionaire
tycoons like Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Michael Novogratz. More and more
people are getting drawn towards it especially after the pandemic. It has
gotten so high after the COVID happened. Lots of countries printed trillions of
dollars. Investors have doubled their amount. However, cryptocurrency is
predicted to face a conflict between regulation and anonymity. Futurists
believe that by 2030, cryptocurrencies would occupy 25% of national currencies.
There have also been demands to classify Bitcoin as an asset class in India.
India is currently on the cusp of the next phase of the digital revolution. And
blockchain and cryptocurrency will be an integral part of it.

 

 

 

 

Cryptocurrency Heist

Programmers behind one of the greatest ever advanced coin heists have presently returned about all of the $610 million (generally Rs. 4,530 crores)-plus they stole, Poly Organize, the cryptocurrency stage focused on prior this week by the assault, said on Thursday. The stage, which was small known some time recently Tuesday’s heist, pronounced the programmer on Twitter as a “white cap,” alluding to moral programmers who by and large point to uncover cyber vulnerabilities, upon the return of the reserves.

Poly Arrange, which encourages peer-to-peer token exchanges, included that the tokens were exchanged to a multi-signature wallet controlled by both the stage and the hacker. The as it were remaining tokens however to be returned are the $33 million(roughly Rs. 245 crores) in tie stablecoins solidified prior within the week by cryptocurrency firm Tie, Poly Organize said.

The reimbursement prepare has not however been completed. To guarantee the secure recuperation of client resource, we trust to preserve communication with Mr. White Cap and pass on precise data to the open,” said Poly Arrange on Twitter. A individual claiming to have executed the hack said Poly Organize advertised him a $500,000 (generally Rs. 3.7 crores) bounty to return the stolen resources and guaranteed that he would not be responsible for the occurrence, agreeing to computerized messages shared on Twitter by Tom Robinson, chief researcher and co-founder of Elliptic, a crypto following firm. Poly Arrange, which permits clients to exchange or swap tokens over distinctive blockchains, said on Tuesday it had been hit by the cyberheist, encouraging the guilty parties to return the stolen stores

The still as however unidentified programmer or programmers show up to have misused a powerlessness within the computerized contracts Poly Arrange employments to move resources between distinctive blockchains, agreeing to blockchain forensics company Chainalysis. On Wednesday, the programmers begun returning the stolen coins, driving a few Blockchain examiners to guess that they might have found it as well troublesome to wash stolen cryptocurrency on such a scale. Later on Wednesday, the programmers said in computerized messages moreover shared by Elliptic that they had executed the assault “for fun” and needed to “uncover the defenselessness” some time recently others could abuse it which it was “continuously” the arrange to return the tokens.

At $600 million (generally Rs. 4.460 crores), in any case, the Poly Organize burglary distant surpassed the record $474 million (generally Rs. 3,520 crores) in criminal misfortunes that were enrolled by the whole decentralized fund (DeFi) division from January to July, concurring to crypto insights company CipherTrace. The burglary outlines the dangers of the for the most part unregulated DeFi segment, said crypto specialists. DeFi stages permit clients to conduct exchanges, more often than not in cryptocurrency, without conventional watchmen such as banks or trades.