On the basis of the documentation sorted out by Adaptiv, confidential info was revealed regarding bitcoin. Scammers made the use of the name of Chief Executive Officer of Tesla Incorporated, Elon Musk, in order to gain 2 million USD in Bitcoin in two months.

Details on the Incident

At press time, Justin Lister, who is the CEO of the cybersecurity firm, spoke out to ZDNet that they kept an eye on 66 so-called Bitcoin “vanity addresses” that put the name of the billionaire entrepreneur to wrong use.

Since receiving the spreadsheet from Justin Lister earlier that week, a 67th Elon Musk vanity address was also submitted to the BitcoinAbuse website. He also added that this vanity address held an extra 13.9 Bitcoin, which made a total of 214 bitcoin. It carried the value of a little more than 2 million USD.

However, the investigation was not a Tough One

If it is considered the low effort needed to process one of these scams, the amount of 2 million USD is huge. The investigation of some of these rackets’ sources became way easier because BitcoinAbuse also asks the users to input a brief description of where they first encountered the Bitcoin address.

ZDNet also made the report on this that the vanity addresses have phrases that contained “Elon Musk” or other words that sounded similar. For instance, “1ELonMUsKZzpVr5Xok8abiXhhqGbdrnK5C.”

Even YouTube Accounts were not Spared

The complaints studied by Adaptive also led to the belief that the scammers make the use of live streams at Alphabet Incorporated’s video platform on YouTube. The motive behind this was simple, persuading in unsuspecting users.

In order to accomplish the scams against various odds, they used well-known accounts on YouTube with a large following. They changed the account names and graphics for bearing a resemblance to those of celebrities, here like Elon Musk.

This is an Important Revelation

If you think that this must be something huge in the wrong way, you may get surprised to know that this is not the first time. Even before this muddling incident, a group of scammers has made the use of Tesla’s CEO to bring in a profit in cryptocurrencies.

As a matter of fact, the very own post on Elon Musk on the popular social media platform of Twitter sees “giveaway” scams in top replies on a number of occasions.

Unauthorized Access was Even Seen Before

In 2018, the verified Twitter account of the world-famous celebrity chef Tyler Florence was hacked in October. They used to promote similar cryptocurrency scams in the name of Elon Musk. This is completely based on the verified report made by The Next Web.

In July 2018, Tesla’s CEO went along with the scams in one of his tweets. In his tweet, he said particularly admiring the ones pulling off scams related to the second-largest cryptocurrency of the world called Ethereum.

Price Action

Tesla shares shut down 0.3% lower at $1000.90 on June 19, 2020 (Friday). The shares marketed another 0.9% in the session after the licensed opening hours at $991.90. Bitcoin was mostly kept unaltered for more than 24 hours at $9360.32 at press time on June 22. That was all about the scam regarding Bitcoin that unluckily involved Musk. Hopefully, you got all the points you were looking for.

During March 2020, ATO, who is held as the responsible entity for administering all the tax-related transactions in Australia, just like the IRS operating in the United States. The ATO was found active in starting the crackdown process to cover all the tax liabilities. With the news update and other notifications, it was heard that ATO is set to send tax warning letters at the homes of about 350,000 Aussie people engaged in cryptocurrency usage.

ATO (Australian Tax Office) is coming up with a notification regarding 350,000 notices which intend to notify the investors involved in the crypto market as a reminder to submit the due tax amounts. As a tax obligation, it is set to make the crypt investors recall their duty to fulfill the tax amount paid to ensure further presence in the crypto market. Seeing from the past, nothing such big has ever been coming into action. It is one of the biggest acts implemented by the ATO so far under the crypto investment compliance norms. If you’re also standing in one such position, then soon, the letter will be outside your doorstep.

All the Australian investors involved in crypto trading from the last few years need to abide the lawful conduct. When falling into a part of tax obligation, one needs to fulfill it or else face the adverse results.

Warnings set to be released for crypto investors:

One of the spokesperson from ATO came up with certain comments over the set of notices released for crypto investors as a warning- “In the last year’s April month, ATO came up with a publishing stage of Cryptocurrency Data Matching Protocol. Using this program, all the information regarding the transactions involving cryptocurrency, including exchange on the investors liable for the tax that made an investment or sold up cryptocurrency. With all this data, it is found that many of the cryptocurrency users are unaware of the legal obligations to pay taxes. This is why the campaign came into existence to create such taxpayers avail about the legal obligations to pay taxes and spread awareness among taxpayers to rectify past mistakes.” 

Australia’s cryptocurrency tax fundamentals:

In the tax warning letters, it is mentioned that the ATO considers cryptocurrencies to be similar to Bitcoin, which is under the category of investments used to get settled in terms of taxes. As of now, it can be said that all the capital loses or gains applicable rules do hold a validity when someone makes a transaction whether sale or purchase using crypto. Seeing such a thing, it becomes crucial to consider reporting all such gains or losses as a part of your tax liability.

In all these letters, it is framed with the sole purpose of aware of the crypto users about the taxpaying report requirement. The ones who get the notice hold a chance to cover up the mistake and make payment for the taxes applicable on crypto usage in the past years. To know how do these letters look like, one can refer to IRS Letter 6174 & 6174-A letters. These letters are the ones that were sent to about 10,000 taxpayers in the United States.

What actions can be taken to get out of it! If you’re already making the entire cryptocurrency trade reporting and duly participating in tax payments from the past years, then you need not think about it. On the contrary, it is important for the ones who didn’t make the applicable tax payments to rectify the mistakes. You need to go back and make all your record for the gains or losses in the past years and take a step ahead to file the respective amendment regarding the past year’s returns. This can help you get saved from the ATO’s eye.

Japan is considerably opening its digital wallet in this era when almost every financial system is digitalized. Due to technological development, the currency in the digital form can be easily used in different ways and transferred with a single click. There are ample benefits associated with the use of digital currency, and that is why people prefer to use it instead of physical form. Many people are now comfortable with using digital currency. In this regard, cryptocurrencies like BitFlyer are gaining excellent traction in the market. The market has got various digital currencies, and there are impressive features associated with each of them. Recently, they have started an aggressive campaign across Japan to attract new traders and consumers towards cryptocurrencies. In this regard, they have roped in Asuka Saito of Nogizaka 46 idol group as the brand ambassador. The television commercials featured Asuka Saito which was telecasted recently across Japan.

How big is Nogizaka 46?

For different societies, there are various people who can influence the mass and Nogizaka is one of such influencer who can easily appeal a mass to follow specific systems. The idol culture is very popular in Japan, where film stars, singers, musicians, and other popular celebrities are considered idols due to their popularity in the region. The Nogizaka 46 is an all-girl band that consists of 46 girls. They made their debut in the year 2011 and have won several awards in this decade. Most recently, they got the Japan Record award in the year 2018, which is one of the biggest awards in Japan for musicians. The group is trendy among youth in the country, and they have millions of followers.

The first collaboration of its kind in Japan

This is the first collaboration of its kind in Japan. Till recently, cryptocurrency companies and exchanges did not bother too much about marketing activities. This recent collaboration with the country’s most popular all-girl band is likely to benefit the company in many ways. It has brought a lot of attention to the company among the youth, and this can improve the overall prospects of the exchange.

BitFlyer’s aggressive marketing campaign

BitFlyer is the leading cryptocurrency exchange in the country. They have started an aggressive marketing campaign in recent months to boost participation in the market. By way of hiring the Nogizaka 46 band, they have struck the right chord as it is likely to attract lots of young traders into the market.

How does this help BitFlyer?

This move is likely to benefit BitFlyer in many ways. The first thing is that it is expected to bring in new traders into the cryptocurrency market. Apart from that, it re-establishes the brand value of this cryptocurrency exchange in the market. Recently, the exchange which tops in trading volumes has started advertisements across Japan. These television commercials will also encourage people to get familiar with cryptocurrency concepts and develop more customers in the future.

Future of cryptocurrency in Japan

There is a lot of scope for cryptocurrency in Japan, as it is still in the early stages of development. With reliable exchanges like BitFlyer, there is no problem for novice investors as they get good growth in the long run. The exchange is also ramping up its marketing activities to boost the volumes in this segment. The BTC spot price is also trading on the higher side this year, even though things are not looking rosy with other stock markets. In this regard, the exchange is likely to attract more customers and traders towards cryptocurrencies in the future.

The cryptocurrency is gaining its popularity day by day. It is climbing the avenues and is now going to enter the stock exchange. The price of bitcoin is climbing up every day, with its value closer to USD 9000. Many traders are looking forward to its next big move.

The German Digital Stock Exchange is now ready to list the Bitcoin ETP. Xetra is the digital stock exchange company that is in Germany wants to list the Bitcoin ETP. It is introduced first by the ETC Group, an investment company based out of London.

Bitcoin ETP

Bitcoin ETP is coming with a significant force in June on Xetra. ETP would be the first-ever exchange-traded product that is going to get listed on the German digital stock exchange. The investors and traders operating in the UK, Italy, and Austria would have access to the stock exchange.

Based on the information that is given by ETF Stream, it is clear that the Bitcoin Exchanges Traded Crypto is going to get launched on June 09. This product will be launched on Deutsche Börse Xetra after getting all the required approvals from the German financial regulators. The product is based on the digital currency. The best thing about this product is that it will send you a minute to minute update on the price of the bitcoin in the market. The bitcoins that are using this product would be in the custody of crypto custodian BitGo, a kind of cold storage.

The ETC Group, C level executive, named Bradley Duke, stated that the cryptocurrency sector is gaining its boom in different industries. However, there are many complications, accessibility issues, and governance concerns that are stopping its growth. By using the BTCE, it has become easier to move bitcoins into the mainstream and regulate the financial markets. Many investors can reap huge profits by trading bitcoins and ethically buying them. Moreover, investors also have an option to redeem the bitcoins.

Not exactly ETF

ETC Group product would be using the exchange trade, but it won’t be thoroughly implementing the ETF. The ETC group clearly stated that it is an excellent opportunity for the people to carry out the trading process through bitcoins and by using the ETP structure. This type of structure is different from that of the conventional ETF structure. However, the hybrid ETP product would not meet the specifications of the ETF that are set by the EU regulations.

However, the worst thing is that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved any of the bitcoin-related products, especially the bitcoin ETF, though many companies are evincing interest in using this cryptocurrency. There is a huge demand to buy the bitcoin ETF by the crypto entities. The main thing that is concerning the regulator is the validation of the assets and the issues related to the manipulation of the market.

There is a watchdog called BaFin, which has come up with the standards. These standards must be followed by the local businesses that are offering the crypto custodial services.

Many benefits are offered by the ETP that is holding the cryptocurrencies.

Standardize the product

The ETP allows the investors to go through different investment options that have the same kind of metrics. It costs you a very small fee when compared to the legacy style of investment products.

Maintain transparency

This is the heart of the ETP structure. Due to high transparency, the investors are confidently logging into the issuer’s website to see how many coins are available and how they are showing up for the fund shares. It is the common practice that is carried out in Gold ETPs every day. It offers a lot of transparency that every investor wants. The best thing is that it allows investors to regenerate NAV values. With clarity, it gives confidence to the investors that what they are planning to buy is represented in the portfolio of products. The openness in the portfolio also has a significant impact on the fund shares. The volatility depends on the unpredictable effect on the market.

ETPs are the wrapper used for assets, equities, bonds, commodities, and currencies. The assets would hold the value and set the trading price in the market. It is pretty clear for the investors that the underlying assets and transaction expenses in gathering the assets or disbursing them would determine the price.

Liquidity

The liquidity of ETP is not sustainable and may result in the market to take a mysterious turn. There are four key components with which the cryptocurrency ETP is made. There are trading volumes of the underlying assets, trading volumes of the ETP, and trading volumes of derivatives available for the asset classes that are underlying and potential liquidity.

Conclusion

Germany is adding Bitcoin Exchange Traded Crypto into the exchange-traded products list and is going to launch on the stock market with the financial regulators’ approval. This BETC will track the bitcoin value. The asset-backed by the bitcoin would be stored safely in a cold wallet.

The National Student Clearinghouse announced a partnership with Velocity Network Foundation and 14 other entities specializing in education, HRD and Human Capital Management. They are launching a blockchain network that will transform the way students and employees manage and store their educational and career information.

Clearinghouse and Velocity Career Labs, a well-known developer of blockchain technology, will join hands to launch the Velocity Network Foundation. This Foundation will allow all the 15 partners, namely Clearinghouse, Cornerstone, Aon Assessment Solutions, HireRight, Cisive, Korn Ferry, Randstad, SumTotal Systems, SAP, SHL, Unit4, Ultimate Software, Velocity Career Labs, Unit4, Upwork, and ZipRecruiter, to manage the educational and work-related credentials of their students and workforce. At the same time, they will also give employers access to accurate employee information for recruitment and hiring.

The Velocity Network- More Power to the Student and Workforce

According to the Velocity Foundation, the Velocity Network will provide an open-source network that can be accessed globally. It will also be blockchain-powered and entirely trustworthy ‘Internet of Careers,’ if you will.

This network will be a great help to the employees and students as it will help them manage their educational and employment credentials. It will also help them maintain their privacy and security. 

How Will the Internet of CareersWork?

The student or the employee will be given a permanent identity that only he or she can access fully by the blockchain technology. While only he or she can fully access the data, portions of this identity can be shared with individuals or organizations during job interviews or talent recruitment searches. 

This means that you have full control over your privacy, and you and only you decide when, how and what data is shared with others. While you as an individual exercise self-sovereignty, this is reciprocated by universities and prospective employers too.

This blockchain network benefits employers, too, as they now have access to verified candidate data, which helps reduce hiring risks and allows increased overall compliance with hiring regulations.

The Velocity Network Foundation: Benefits    

The Velocity Network Foundation will see the Clearinghouse bring its expertise to prevent fraud and misrepresent educational degrees and professional certifications.

This will be done in the following way- 

The Clearinghouse will leverage its degree verification database to do an online verification of attendance and the degrees and certifications of all the candidates.

This stringent screening and verification will go a long way in assuring employers that candidates have the certifications and degrees for the jobs they seek.

The National Student Clearinghouse also claims that they are involved with many other initiatives like the Velocity Network Foundation because they feel that these will help students and job-candidates control their academic, employment, and work-related data. It will also empower them to take ownership of their life journey.

The Clearinghouse will use this partnership with blockchain technology to give students and learners a way to control who accesses their education and professional data. 

But will the Velocity Network become the next big thing in career credential checking, and will it promote greater student and employee empowerment? 

We don’t know yet. We also don’t know whether students will be confident about its security and effectiveness in their career journey and whether prospective employers trust its accuracy? 

These are things that remain to be seen. For now, the Velocity Network Foundation is bringing a new blockchain, open-source resource to the table. It may revolutionize how the human capital management industry works, and we, of course, wish it does!

Whether it does so or not, one thing is clear: it promises to transform students’ ability, employees, and workers to take stronger control of their careers.