According to The New York Times, billionaire investor Mark Cuban learnt a crucial lesson about cryptocurrencies the hard way.

The Shark Tank star and crypto guru recently claimed that he had dabbled with yield farming, in which he purchased a cryptocurrency called titan and lent it back to the platform, basically providing liquidity and profiting from interest. The token then crashed.

In retrospect, he told the New York Times, "As a liquidity provider, I made money, but as a speculator, I lost money. I should've done more research on it."

Insider reported in June that the DeFi token dropped from $60 to zero in one day as crypto whales liquidated their holdings, causing panic selling. Cuban tweeted at the time, "I was struck like everyone else," but he didn't say how much. The Times has since learned that he sustained a nett loss of around $200,000.

According to the story, his takeaway from the episode is that investing in a cryptocurrency that doesn't have a reason to exist is a bad idea. When the coin crashed, Cuban told Bloomberg that he was "rugged," a reference to a crypto scam known as a rug pull, but that it was his fault since he was "lazy."

"The trouble about de fi plays like this is that it's all about revenue and arithmetic, and I was too lazy to do the math to figure out what the essential KPIs were," he explained to Bloomberg in an email.

A rug pull is a swindle in which the creators of a token pay out their profits after launching the cryptocurrency project. The number of scams has increased in tandem with the growth of the cryptocurrency sector. According to one estimate, rug pulls, which are primarily tied to DeFi tokens, will cost investors roughly $3 billion in 2021.

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What occurred?

An anonymous cryptocurrency wallet with $43,173,937 in Bitcoin BTC just transferred their cash to Coinbase. The bitcoin wallet address associated with this transfer is:

17TskokCqB7EgLVFUkStzmKvo3SSh6fa7c

Why does it matter?

Transferring cryptocurrency from wallets to exchanges is often a pessimistic indication. The majority of high-net-worth bitcoin traders keep their assets in a hardware wallet, which provides greater protection than cryptocurrency exchanges. Hardware wallets keep investors' private keys offline, preventing online hackers from accessing their digital funds.

When whales deposit bitcoin on an exchange, it is usually because they are looking for liquidity. The investor is unlikely to store their cryptocurrency on Coinbase since the security hazards of storing big quantities of cryptocurrency on an exchange outweigh the benefits of storing these assets in a hardware wallet. This Bitcoin whale is most likely preparing to sell Bitcoin or trade it for other altcoins.

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Putin is apparently in favour of crypto restrictions rather than a ban.

According to media reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin supports crypto mining regulation.

Putin is in favour of mining regulations

According to a recent Bloomberg story, Russian President Vladimir Putin may be in favour of taxing and regulating crypto mining in the country. This is in contrast to the Bank of Russia's suggestion last week for a blanket ban on cryptocurrency mining and trade.

According to anonymous sources acquainted with the situation, Putin is supporting a new government proposal to control mining—an energy-intensive activity that requires specialised computing processors to process transactions on a Proof-of-Work blockchain like Bitcoin.

The allegation comes only one day after President Putin was cited as suggesting Russia has "advantages" in cryptocurrency mining. Putin stated during a government meeting on Wednesday that "we also have significant competitive advantages here, especially in the so-called mining." Putin alluded to the country's surplus in electricity generation, which can be used to boost cryptocurrency mining.

As a result, according to Bloomberg, a new President-backed proposal may allow crypto mining activities to take place in Russia's energy-rich regions such as Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Karelia. Neither the government nor the central bank have issued an official statement on the subject.

Russia is the third-largest country in terms of Bitcoin mining, based on its proportion of the Bitcoin hashrate, a unit of processing power on the network.

According to Cambridge University data as of the end of August 2021, the United States holds the largest share of the worldwide Bitcoin hashrate. China, which had previously led the mining sector, put a blanket ban on cryptocurrency last year, prompting larger mining operators to depart and allowing American enterprises to seize the lead.

In the same Cambridge analysis, Kazakhstan was classified as the second-largest Bitcoin mining nation; however, the situation may have altered in the recent week, after its government temporarily prohibited mining due to an ongoing energy crisis.

If the current claim is correct, Putin's support may help to develop regulations that will legalise Russia's crypto mining business. It can also help to boost the country's global position in the mining sector, which is now headed by the United States.

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In the last 24 hours until Thursday morning, the trading volume of the Decentraland (MANA) cryptocurrency increased by more than 57%, while its price increased by around 1%.

Decentraland (MANA) is a concept that has recently gained popularity.

Decentraland is an Ethereum-powered virtual reality platform. It enables users to create, use, and monetise content and apps. Users purchase virtual land parcels in order to develop and monetise them. In 2017, Decentraland was established. In the same year, it raised $24 million through an initial coin offering (ICO).

The virtual world's closed beta was released in 2019 and will be made public in February 2020.

Since its inception, users of Decentraland have built a wide range of interactive games, huge 3D scenes, and other interactive experiences on their land parcels.

MANA and LAND are the two tokens used in Decentraland. The former is an ERC-20 token that is burned in order to create the non-fungible ERC-721 LAND token. Furthermore, the MANA token can be used to pay for avatars, wearables, names, and other items in the Decentraland marketplace.

Decentraland was co-founded by cryptocurrency enthusiasts Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano. They are currently serving as company advisers.

The MANA token has a total quantity of 2.19 billion, with 1.82 billion in circulation. It can be traded against Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) on exchanges such as Binance, OKEx, and others. It can also be purchased with fiat currency such as KRW, USD, and so on.

Price and Performance of the MANA Token

At 11:03 a.m. ET on January 27, the MANA token was priced at $2.25 USD, a 1.22 percent increase. Its trade volume increased by 57.70 percent in the last 24 hours to $998.77 million on Thursday morning.

It has a market capitalisation of $4.10 billion, with a fully diluted market capitalisation of $5.00 billion. In the previous 52 weeks, the MANA token reached a high of $5.90 and a low of $0.1416. On November 25, 2021, it hit an all-time high of $5.90.

Bottomline

Over the last 12 months, the MANA token has increased by 1311.69 percent. Before investing in digital assets, investors should conduct a thorough market analysis.

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It's difficult to keep up with digital and crypto jargon. However, if you are interested in cryptocurrency, you should be aware of rug pulls. What exactly is a rug pull, you ask? "A rug pull is a fraud plan that fools individuals into spending money in a bogus product," writes blogger Migi Delfin. In this situation, an investor is lured to deposit their hard-earned money (or, in certain circumstances, Bitcoin and other cryptos) into a token by a promise for an unbelievable deal. Essentially, the token developers exit the project, taking their investors' funds but leaving little to no trace—thanks to the anonymity provided by the exchange."

Delfin presents a beautifully straightforward description of how a crypto rug pull might occur and what warning signals to look for to avoid being duped.

According to a new Check Point Research report, cryptocurrency rug pulls appear to be becoming increasingly common (CPR). According to CPR, "hackers misconfigure smart contracts to create fake tokens." CPR explains how hackers achieve this and offers advice on how to avoid scam coins, such as:

* Wallets with different designs.

* Ignore advertisements.

* Run transaction tests.

* Pay extra attention to security.

If you're interested in cryptocurrency, do your homework on rug pulls to understand how hackers are misconfiguring smart contracts and take security precautions to avoid being defrauded. Keep in mind that some offers ARE TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

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More evidence showed that cyber scammers are active in social media and dating apps.

The Sunshine Coast RCMP have reported two recent thefts.

In the first case, a person was pushed to share intimate photos to someone she met on a popular social media app.

When the suspect obtained the images, he informed the victim that they would have to pay money or the photos would be disseminated to all of the resident's friends and family. The victim transferred a considerable number of money to the suspect, as well as purchasing a gift card and providing the activation code.

The RCMP ordered them to stop communicating. They think it's doubtful the client will be able to get their money back.

In the other case, a man used a famous chat and messaging app to ask a query about accessing his cryptocurrency wallets.

The resident was swamped with answers and received a phone call from someone who allegedly offered the resident a website that would help him with this problem.

When the link was clicked, the homeowner unintentionally granted the suspect access to his security questions and answers, resulting in the theft of a huge amount of cryptocurrency from his crypto-wallet.

The RCMP recommends that people learn more about how to navigate the online world safely by visiting sites like www.cybersavvy.com.

To understand more about the red signs to look for in the most prevalent forms of scams, visit sites like the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.

You can receive a copy of the very useful Little Black Book of Scams from the Competition Bureau at www.competitionbureau.gc.ca.

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Above the $0.40 price level, the price of Crypto.com remains challenging. Strong selling versus the Tenkan-Sen at $0.40 puts buyers' faith to the test; failure to break above the Tenkan-Sen implies further decline.

Unless bulls rally, the price of crypto.com will continue to fall

If Crypto.com price movement is to return to an uptrend that targets new all-time highs, it will have a rough road ahead of it. Buyers will attempt to push above the Tenkan-Sen for the third day in a row during the intraday session, but will fail to close above it. The oscillators aren't very helpful in predicting a move, but selling pressure pointing lower is the most likely outcome.

The discrepancy between the candlestick chart and the Composite Index is the greatest reason for another downswing, or at least a return to the 2022 bottom of $0.32. On the candlestick chart, the arrow pointing down indicates lower highs, whereas the arrow on the Composite Index indicates higher highs. This type of divergence is referred to as a hidden bearish divergence. Hidden bearish divergence is only relevant if something is already in a downturn — Crypto.com is unquestionably in a downtrend – and serves as a warning that the current uptrend is likely to cease and rejoin the preceding downtrend.

Bulls, on the other hand, have the ability to invalidate a downtrend continuation position by erasing the hidden bearish divergence. To do so, the price of Crypto.com must close above the $0.46 mark on January 16. This would result in a breakout over the present bull flag (blue diagonal linear regression channel) and the Kijun-Sen. The price is anticipated to rise to $0.50 from there.

If the CRO price fails to break above the Tenkan-Sen, it will very certainly test the bottom of the bull flag and the 2022 low.

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According to reports, Facebook's — now Meta's — attempt to get into the mass crypto market is finally done, in a surprising bit of bad economic news for the social network firm.

Meta launched the Diem Association in 2019, with the goal of creating a futuristic crypto payments network. The objective appears to have failed, with the company selling its technology to a small bank in California that serves bitcoin and blockchain startups for about $200 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The information is offered by an unknown source who is reportedly familiar with the situation.

The Libra project, which debuted in 2019 as a means for Facebook users to send money to each other as easily as sending a text message, was intended to be a method for users to send money to each other as easily as sending a text message. Although this is already a function of the Messenger app, the new platform would have incorporated bitcoin payment possibilities.

Purchases could have been made on Facebook as well as the rest of the internet, potentially revolutionising how cryptocurrencies are transacted in everyday life.

Libra was able to attract large online transaction giants such as PayPal, Visa, and Stripe as investors, but due to heavy regulatory investigation, some significant members withdrew before completely committing. The plan was for Meta to mine stablecoins while Libra governed their management and use. Almost immediately, the project was greeted with opposition.

Government Officials Question Zuckerberg on Privacy and Security Concerns

Government officials were afraid that the project could jeopardise consumer data privacy and that Libra could be readily abused by money launderers and terrorist organisations. Mark Zuckerberg was even brought before Congress to testify about what Meta was doing to guarantee security mechanisms were in place and to protect against illicit behaviour. The scrutiny was too much for investors, and after several high-profile corporations backed out, the project's days were numbered.

The proceeds from the present selloff will ostensibly be used to repay investors. The revelation is also a setback for cryptocurrency aficionados who were hoping to bring digital currency into the mainstream. However, without Federal Reserve permission, integrating private crypto payments into ordinary mobile messaging apps may remain a distant dream.

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This year has seen a drop in the value of the stock market. So, too, has bitcoin. Gold, on the other hand, has had a relatively strong start to the year. The yellow metal's price has been relatively stable, hovering just about $1,800 per ounce.

Gold prices have risen modestly over the last three months as well. So, will the commodity's ascension gain traction? Could it revert to its all-time high of more than $2,000 during the early stages of the pandemic in the summer of 2020?

Gold is sometimes regarded as a good hedge against rising interest rates and inflation since, unlike paper currencies and cryptos, it should, in principle, retain more of its value.

According to some analysts, the return of market volatility this year, which has harmed meme stocks and bitcoin in particular, could lead to additional increases for gold.

"Cryptos took all the air out of gold last year, and people get into crypto for many of the same reasons as gold," said Robert Minter, director of ETF Investment Strategy at abrdn, saying that bitcoin bulls had argued that cryptos should be a decent hedge against inflation.

This year, however, has demonstrated that this is not the case.

"Investors are beginning to recognise bitcoin as a more risky asset. It is more of an energy drink than a portfolio diversification tool "Minter was referring to crypto prices' massive highs and similarly massive pullbacks in comparison to gold's significantly more stable swings.

Gold is likely to remain a superior bet for investors seeking security from interest rate hikes as the Fed battles rising consumer prices.

"There is a lot of inflation hedging going on. Gold and gold miners have done well "Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio manager at New York Life Investments, agreed. "Concerns about inflation could cause them to rise. Gold should be part of a well-diversified portfolio."

Top miners Newmont and Barrick Gold have been flat this year, moving in lockstep with the price of gold. That's far better than the S&P 500's 9% decrease and bitcoin's more than 20% drop.

Some experts believe gold will gather up pace and set a new record high later this year, especially if fears about increasing interest rates around the world and what will happen to oil prices if Russia-Ukraine tensions do not ease.

"Gold remains a safe haven and an insurance against geopolitical concerns, and the prospect of chronically rising inflation is also beneficial for gold," said André Christl, CEO of Heraeus Precious Metals, in a report.

According to Christi, gold might rise to over $2,120 per ounce later this year, surpassing its all-time high of around $2,072 in August 2020.

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MoonPay, a cryptocurrency infrastructure payments provider, is creating a checkout feature that provides customers with numerous cash payment alternatives that its NFT clients can offer users to purchase digital art and collectibles.

NFT Checkout accepts debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, SEPA, Faster Payments, wire transfers, open banking payments, and ACH transfers as payment methods. Customers interested in purchasing NFTs would typically need to load bitcoin into a blockchain wallet before making a transaction.

"Efforts to streamline the NFT purchasing process have been made, but they have not gone far enough." "It's our opinion that purchasing an NFT should be as straightforward as possible," Lead Writer Geoffrey Lyons stated in a MoonPay blog post on Thursday (Jan. 27).

MoonPay's new solution is currently available, and the business believes it will treble sales for NFT vendors while also providing a smoother, faster checkout procedure. Big brands and NFT marketplaces are among MoonPay's clients.

With MoonPay's plug-and-play offering, buying and selling NFTs no longer necessitates the purchase of cryptocurrency first. Card payments can be accepted by anyone who has an NFT collection. The new checkout tool accepts NFT payments on any blockchain, including Ethereum, Flow, Solana, Tezos, and Polygon.

"At the moment, the amount of people with direct access to crypto (that is, those with wallets) is a minuscule fraction of the internet population," Lyons added.

"By broadening the reach of NFTs to anybody who can pay with a card, we're not only substantially boosting NFT adoption: we're also opening up new income streams for companies, new royalty sources for artists, and extending the advantages of NFTs to a much broader brand ecosystem," Lyons continued.

The checkout tool significantly simplifies the KYC procedure by allowing customers to skip the lengthy ID verification process for NFT purchases up to $7,500. Settlements are automatically paid on a daily basis.

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