🧘‍♂️Have You Heard?

Another $70m+ Hacked in New Attack

Dear Meditators

? Hackers the word today. We’re seeing headline after headline about stolen, reclaimed and half-way reclaimed funds: 

• Poly Network Hacker Refusing to Return Remaining Stolen Funds

• Japan’s Liquid Exchange Suffers Attack Today; Over $74 Million in Crypto Stolen 

• Darknet Crypto Mixer Operater Pleads Guilty To Laundering $300 Million in BTC 

Let’s take a look at these criminal operations and how they happened. 

⚠️ Importantly, we share our top tips and tricks to best protect your own security.

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⏰ In A Rush?

Here’s 5 things you need to know about the crypto markets today: 

• ? Poly Network Attacker Threatens to Delay Return of Funds

• ? Coinbase amasses a $4B war chest so it can outlast ‘crypto winter’

• ? Bloomberg and Galaxy team up on decentralized finance index

• ? 62% of Robinhood’s Q2 crypto revenue was from Dogecoin trading

• ?? Coinbase is launching crypto exchange in Japan with financial giant Mitsubishi

Our Market Meditations are longer format educational segments. Each letter features a Market Meditation which will deep dive and analyse a relevant crypto event, theme or tool. 

? ALERT: Your Security Has Been Compromised

Earlier today, we learnt that Japan’s Liquid Global Exchange was hacked. One of the benefits of crypto is the speed at which market participants are updated. Compared to legacy markets, where an update has to make its way from a corporate to a major news reporter and finally to retail investors, crypto twitter means information can be shared instantly. The announcement came directly from Liquid Global’s profile:

Shortly after Liquid’s tweet, Bitcoin’s price started to drop below $45,000.

What we know so far: 

• The total amount stolen is yet to be determined. The Block reported earlier that the value of bitcoin, ether, XRP, and tron could be upwards of $74 million. 

• “We are currently investing and will provide regular updates… In the meantime, deposits and withdrawals will be suspended” – Japan’s Liquid Global Exchange

• Liquid Global is working with other exchanges to freeze the funds. 9 wallet addresses have been identified so far as where the hacker is depositing stolen funds.

These events are powerful reminders of the importance of security. Consider this your MINIMUM security checklist:

• ✅ Defence Software: Antivirus (e.g Bitdefender), Antimalware (e.g MalwareBytes) and Firewall (e.g ZoneAlarm, Comodo).

• ✅ VPN e.g. Nordvpn.

• ✅ Crypto-currency Storage: Hardware Wallets (Tier 1) such as Trezor and NGRAVE ZERO, Paper Wallets (Tier 2) and Desktop Wallets (Tier 3) such as Exodus or Metamask.

• ✅ Two-Factor Authentication (2fa): Dedicated Cold 2fa Device (Tier 1) which ZERO can double up as or Yubikey is another option or Dedicated 2fa Phone or Tablet (Tier 2). .

• ✅ Separate Computers: High security computer for handling cryptos and low security computer for all other activities.

• ✅ Password and Data Storage: Examples include ZERO, GRAPHENE and Dashlane. 

• ✅ Emails: You can see if your email is compromised here. Similar to separate laptops, you can have separate emails for exchanges and then less sensitive accounts. Emails can be created swiftly using ProtonMail.

• ✅ Exchanges: Always make sure you use reputable exchanges. We recommend FTX.

Don’t have one of these systems in place? Then review our Security Guide. You want to avoid finding out the importance of security measures the hard way.

Do you want more tips and tricks to improve every aspect of your crypto journey? If yes, consider becoming a FREE subscriber to stay ahead of the market. 

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?‍♀️ NFT Celebrity Fans 

Which celebrity explained NFTs on the American TV show “The Tonight Show”?

1. Mila Kunis

2. Paris Hilton 

3. Lindsay Lohan

? Another One Bites The Dust 

It seems that every couple of weeks, there is some report outlining some sort of hack or illegal activity connected with cryptocurrency. This news often gets picked up by mainstream media and sometimes leads to government representatives running with the news. They then attempt to tie Bitcoin to something that must be “stopped” or “controlled.” Recently, Larry Dean Harmon pleaded guilty to laundering more than $300 million in Bitcoin. Let’s take a look at what exactly Harmon was doing: 

• He was laundering money through a “mixing” service called Helix from 2014 – 2017. 

• For a fee, customers would send BTC and Helix would hide its origin. 

• Harmon laundered money from customers of AlphaBay – one of the largest darknet marketplaces for guns, drugs, and other illegal items. 

He was caught when an undercover FBI agent transferred BTC from AlphaBay to Helix. He now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $500,000. This story should demonstrate that those on the darknet are not free of consequence. There are many mainstream media stories that directly tie crypto to the dark net. Despite horror stories, this story proves that oversight for illegal activity is not impossible in the crypto world. 

While stories such as this one may scare people from using crypto because “crypto is connected with crime,” we should take a step back and think through a critical lens. We should notice that, for example, crypto’s blockchain allows for much more access than the current banking system. While there are some giving crypto a bad rep, we should look toward innovative projects and see that the good far outweighs the bad!

2. Paris Hilton

Whilst on the show Paris Hilton explains to host Jimmy Fallon that an NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token and is a “digital contract that’s on the blockchain so you can sell anything from art, to music, to experiences (and) physical objects”. Paris even jokingly suggested that Jimmy make an NFT to sell one of his jokes. To which Jimmy responds “I couldn’t even do that to my audience tonight” which the audience responds to with laughter. It’s fantastic to see such well known shows bringing more attention to NFTs and on a globally watched show like The Tonight Show.

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??‍♂️✍️ Stories in this newsletter were written by Misael Calleja, Nick T., Max P., Kimia K., Ellen B. and Koroush AK. Graphics were produced by Gerasimos P.

Not financial or tax advice. The content in this newsletter is for informational purposes only. Nothing in this email is intended to serve as financial advice. We are not financial advisors. Every investment and trading move involves risk. Do your own research when making a decision. See our important security disclaimers here. 

Disclosure. Some of the links we’ve included are affiliate, they give you rewards and discounts and earn us a commission. Additionally, the Market Meditator writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here.