Welcome to another cryptocurrency news roundup. This week we will present the latest news from across the world country by country. Next up is South America.
Brazil
Brazilian Cryptocurrency FoxBit Sees Users Loose 58 BTC Due to a Known Bug
Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Foxbit has announced that its updated login process has now been updated even though reports show that hackers have taken advantage of this situation and stolen about 58 BTC from the wallets of users.
The 58 BTC figure was not announced by the FoxBtc officials but is an independent estimate from Cybersecurity expert Leandro Trindade who had warned FoxBtc of a possible breach as far back as March 29 2018. Trindade realized something was wrong when he noticed that local Brazilian complaint centre was full of FoxBtc complaints around the timeframe. The loophole was found to be a login issue in which users could change their 2FA settings through one password alone.
Trindade went as far as to say:
“I could be rich right now. But my code of ethics won’t let me.”
FoxBtc has updated the login issue and its statement is roughly translated into English to be:
“The company was informed of the first occurrences in December and has since worked with BlinkTrade to strengthen security and guide users, as shown in our blog post in this regard.”
Users have claimed varying amounts stolen from their wallets upto $10,000 in some cases. This isn’t the first time FoxBtc has faced issues with a previous bug issue that allowed double withdrawals resulting in $270,000 dollars.
Brazilian Cryptocurrency Exchange CriptoHub Aims Capturing 40% of the Market
Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Cripto has set ambitious targets according to a recent statement with its eyes set on attaining 40% of all trading volume in the country which is a big ask considering the overall trading volume in Brazil right now is 5000 BTC per day and increasing. The exchange is also going to undergo an Initial Coin Offering with a hard cap of $10 million.
126-member Banking Coalition in Brazil Testing Blockchain Technology
The federation of banks in Brazil the Febraban with over 126 associated banks is testing Blockchain technology in their fiat system. A proof of concept algorithm is being tested and this system could eventually be integated into the national system once the test project and its details have been published.
The proof of concept system known as FINGERPRINT was developed by Brazilian banks Itau, Bradesco and B3. The tests were done in R3’s cloud lab using fictitious financial personal records and Brazilian documents of identification in the document storage. In layman terms, the FINGERPRINT will allow multiple banks to guarantee immutability of the shared data while at the same time increasing privacy and traceability of information.
Another digital startup e-Wally is also collaborating with Febraban to test Blockchain applications in Paraisopolis which is one of the smallest low-income regions in Sau Paulo, Brazil.
Venezuela
Bolivar-Bitcoin Trading Reaches Record $1 Million Volume Per Day
Rampant hyperinflation in Venezuela is forcing many residents to flee while the ones remaining have little option but to turn to less deflating options that than the stricken Bolivar currency. According to latest data from VeneBloc, the daily Bolivar-Bitcoin market recently reached a new record with more than $1.009 million being traded every day despite inflated price of Bitcoin being offered on sites like localbitcoins.com.
According to Jorge Farias, co-founder of cryptocurrency brokerage Cryptobuyer:
“The transaction takes a few minutes, our commission is three to seven percent lower than the banks, and our exchange rate is regulated by supply and demand, making it more realistic than the official”
This volume is expected to increase in the future according to latest reports.
Chile
Chilean Anti-Monopoly Court Orders Banks to Re-Open Cryptocurrency Accounts
In a major victory for the cryptocurrency exchanges in Chile, Chile’s top competition court has ruled that the two major Chilean banks who closed their accounts for cryptocurrencies had to re-open them. The country was rocked by an impasse in recent weeks when the top two fiat banks Banco del Estado de Chile and Itau Corpbanca had closed down their accounts which was followed suit by 10 other small and medium enterprises. Buda, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the country was targeted first and the move was eventually challenged in the anti-monopoly court. According to reports, they may have done it under pressure from the central bank but there have been on confirmation in that regard.
