Hacker Attempts Cryptocurrency Fraud with Verified Account
An anonymous erson took control of the official twitter handle for Almost Human today, an America science fiction crime series that aired on Fox from November 2013 to March 2014. It had an average viewership of 9 million viewers per episode. It also had 19,000 followers on Twitter when the hacker took control of it.
The hacker used the account to advance a cryptocurrency fraud. The fraudster promoted cryptocurrency giveaways while impersonating Justin Sun, founder and CEO of TRON. In similar schemes, fraudsters convince people to send some cryptocurrency coins in return for a tenfold increase. Then they disappear with the coins that people had given them.
This hacker used Sun’s name which obviously gave him credibility online. Using a verified account and having thousands of followers helped him gain the trust of many people as well, so be careful out there.
China Releases Cryptocurrency Rating
The Center for Information Industry Development (CCID) released its third Cryptocurrency Rating Index where it listed thirty-one cryptocurrencies. The latest virtual currency to make it on this list was GXChain. The Center added it in mid-June, which is barely a year after the cryptocurrency first launched in June 2017.
EOS topped this list followed closely by Ethereum. Interestingly, EOS’ score had dropped from 161.5 in June to 145.6 this month. In contrast, Ethereum’s score had jumped from 129.4 in June to 137.3 in July. Nebulas, GXChain, and NEO coins were at 108.8, 108.3, and 107.4 respectively. Bitcoin occupied the sixteenth position on that list while Ripple ranked at thirteenth.
The CCID is a 20-year-old research institute that falls under the Ministry of Industry & Information Technology in China. It updates this index every month having published the first one in May this year
Cryptocurrency Market to Hit $800 Billion by January 2019?
The market capitalization of cryptocurrencies surpassed the $700 billion mark on January 3, 2018. Now Mike Novogratz, founder of Galaxy Digital, believes that it will add $100 billion in value by the end of the year. Novogratz made this assertion during an interview in South Korea for a show known as Crypto Trader. The show airs on Wednesdays on CNBC Africa.
Novogratz’s bank is a merchant bank that focuses on cryptocurrencies. Recently, the bank led a fundraising effort for a crypto-lending firm known as BlockFi. This fundraising campaign raised more than $52.5 million cementing Novogratz position as an influential player in the cryptocurrency industry.
Other market players in the cryptocurrency industry are optimistic as well. Jess Powell, CEO of Kraken, believes that the cryptocurrency market will hit $1 trillion by December. Kraken is a Bitcoin (BTC-USD) exchange platform based in San Francisco, California.
PwC to Act as the External Auditor for the Tezos Foundation
The Tezos Foundation released a statement early this week announcing that it had hired PwC Switzerland to act as its external auditor. the accounting firm will conduct an audit of its operations and finances. The Foundation also claimed that it is the first large-scale blockchain institution to have had an accounting review carried out by PwC.
This announcement is a significant win for PwC as well because the Foundation has an extensive portfolio in a relatively new market. Tezos raised $232 million in its ICO (Initial Coin Offering) in July 2017. That was the most significant amount ever raised in an ICO at that time. PwC is also making other moves in this market as well with a recent acquisition of a Chinese blockchain known as VeChain.
VeChain specializes in supply chain management, IoT (Internet of Things), and anti-counterfeiting. This acquisition and its contract with Tezos result from the firm’s announcement in March that it will launch auditing services for blockchain businesses.
Here is the market price list for popular cryptocurrencies today.
| Name of Coin | Current Price ($) | Change Last 24 Hours (%) |
| Bitcoin | 8,314.77 | 4.10% |
| Ethereum | 476.12 | 1.76% |
| Bitcoin Cash | 852.34 | 1.62% |
| XRP | 0.4586 | 1..01% |
| Litecoin | 87.07 | -0.171% |
| EOS | 8.67 | 7.97% |
| Cardano | 0.1717 | 2.32% |