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Telegram has become the go-to app for heroin, weapons and everything illegal. Can cryptocurrencies save him?
“Nothing near the standard you expect. Strong smell of ammonia. Very nervous. One star,” writes one customer unhappy with his $240 Colombian cocaine purchase. Another reviewer reported a better experience, leaving a five-star rating and enthusing, “Better than the street stuff around me! Advised.”
This is not a South American drug market or even an obscure dark web market. His Telegramone of the top five in the world the most downloaded app and the go-to communications platform for everyone from activists to cryptocurrency enthusiasts. A recent Fortune tour of Telegram channels that function as stores revealed that it’s quick and easy to find everything from jars of heroin to stolen stimulus checks to AK-47 machine guns.
Telegram’s end-to-end encryption means that no third party can access your data. As a result, it has failed to build an advertising-based economy and regulate content. So, to keep the lights on without selling user data or enduring the regulatory oversight required by going public, the app launched its own blockchain, TON (The Open Network), and native token Toncoin.
If successful, Telegram could become a “excellent app” without needing to clean up his act. But the implications of this are deeper than simply bringing the dark web to the masses: Extremists and criminals running popular channels could earn cryptocurrencies for their content.
“Creating a Telegram is easier than creating a Facebook account,” says David Maimon, a professor of criminal justice and criminology at Georgia State University who has monitored thousands of illicit groups and channels on Telegram since 2019. For criminals, “Telegram is now the place to go.”
The dark web in your pocket
Telegram’s philosophy is rooted in its political origins. CEO Pavel Durov created Russia’s most popular social network, VKontakte. In 2014 he was forced to flee after refusing to share his Ukrainian users’ data with the government. Before his expulsion, he had developed Telegram to communicate with his brother, and now CTO, Nikolai, for fear of government espionage.
With over 900 million active monthly users, Telegram has nearly doubled in size since 2021 and aims to reach 1.5 billion by 2030. Headquartered in Dubai, has “disclosed 0 bytes of user data to third parties, including governments.” As a result, it is difficult to regulate and monetize, generating a boom in illicit channels. (Fortune sent messages to Telegram’s PR channel seeking further comment but received no response.)
The dark web itself is slow, requires the Tor browser, and its complex URLs change often. Telegram can easily be found in the App Store. And if someone can imagine something they want, Telegram almost certainly has it. LSD and OxyContin. Cloned credit cards. Stimulus checks. Winding paragraphs by stolen identities, with victims reduced to names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, emails, passwords, home addresses and card numbers. Typing some vaguely related jargon into the app’s search engine gives you dozens of channels, many with tens of thousands of members competing to give you the best deal.
Channels feature drop-down menus, shopping carts, wishlists, and reviews. One “exclusively for card industry members” offers free tutorials on how to commit fraud, before customers move on to purchasing CVV codes and card clones. “Our hundreds of satisfied customers will attest to the fact that we offer only the highest caliber supplies for your project. We appreciate your company!” writes the administrator in a broadcast to over 50,000 members. In the most mundane corners, discounted gift cards, flights and hotel stays are exchanged. “It’s really crazy what’s going on. The spectrum is really broad,” says Maimon.
Therefore, attracting large advertising dollars has proven to be a challenge. “If you protect data and privacy, you can’t sell ads,” Cosmo Jiang, portfolio manager at Pantera Capital, tells Fortune. “They were really bad at monetization.”
Telegram launched an advertising platform in 2021. Advertisers can publish text messages of 160 characters or less in channels with at least 1,000 subscribers. Telegram channels generate 1 trillion views per month, but only 10% of these are monetized with advertising, Durov She said in February.
Moving on to cryptocurrencies
An alternative option for Telegram to accumulate money is cryptocurrency, which promises “the greatest potential to maintain control and monetize,” says Pantera’s Jiang, who has invested in Telegram’s blockchain, TON. The financing comes from Pantera “the biggest investment ever,” and earlier this month, the company revealed that it is adding to its initial sum, according to a letter shared with investors and seen by Fortune.
Launched in 2018, TON was abandoned in 2020 following a court battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But now, in a more favorable regulatory environment and better market conditions, the company is diving headlong into cryptocurrencies in a desperate attempt to monetize without bowing to the authorities.
TON, Jiang notes, is Telegram’s “largest liquid asset on their balance sheet.” Accumulate staking rewards from transaction fees and protocol issuance. Additionally, there are “commercial deals” whereby it earns more TON over time based on certain performance criteria, Jiang adds.
Telegram launched a self-custodial TON wallet in September that lets users send USDT, its native Toncoin, and Bitcoin to other users. Most illicit payments are made outside the app via cryptocurrency, Maimon says, though he has seen “some mentions” of TON wallet payments starting to appear on Russian-run channels. But with the wallet still in its infancy, TON transfers for illicit goods could become more widespread.
Building on this momentum, Telegram announced in March that channel owners would start receiving 50% of all ad revenue generated on their channels, with all payments settled in TON. It also revealed its Mini App feature, which allows users to create apps within Telegram, in an effort to become more like the super app WeChatwhich boasts over 1.3 billion users, mostly Chinese.
Recently, while scrolling through some illicit channels, the only advertisements that appeared were links to rival stores. So, at least for now, criminals running shops and extremists broadcasting propaganda will be paid in Toncoin for advertising on their channels.
So far, Telegram’s crypto-centric move is working. According to data from CoinGecko, Toncoin has nearly tripled since March, trading around $7. The same month as the revenue sharing announcement, Durov revealed the company is “getting closer to profitability.”
“If TON really takes off, it will never have to go public,” Jiang says. In a channel dedicated to stolen stimulus checks, a seller quotes Lil Wayne: “Fear money don’t make money.” In another, a store of stolen bank information broadcast to more than 27,000 subscribers, are the words: “Put food on the table.”
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Cryptocurrency Price August 1: Bitcoin Dips Below $65K; Solana, XRP Down Up To 8%
Major cryptocurrencies fell in Thursday trading following the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep its key interest rate unchanged. Overnight, the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate at 5.25-5.5% for the eighth consecutive time, as expected, while also signaling the possibility of a rate cut at its next meeting in September. The unanimous decision by the Federal Open Market Committee reflects a continued wait-and-see approach as it monitors inflation trends.
CoinSwitch Markets Desk said: “Bitcoin has fallen below $65,000 after the US Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates unchanged. However, with markets now anticipating rate cuts at the next Federal Reserve meeting in September, the outlook for a Bitcoin rally by the end of the year has strengthened.”
Meanwhile, CoinDCX research team said: “The crypto market has plunged after the Fed decision. Tomorrow’s US unemployment rate announcement is expected to induce more volatility, with the ‘actual’ figure coming in higher than the ‘expected’ one, which is positive for cryptocurrencies.”
At 12:21 pm IST, Bitcoin (BTC) was down 3.2% at $64,285, while Ethereum was down nearly 4.5% at $3,313. Meanwhile, the global market cryptocurrency The market capitalization fell 3.6% to around $2.3 trillion in the last 24 hours.
“Bitcoin needs to clear its 200-day EMA at $64,510 to consolidate further. Otherwise, a retest of $62,000 could be in the cards,” said Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus.
Altcoins and meme coins, such as BNB (3%), Solana (8%), XRP (5.7%), Dogecoin (5%), Cardano (4.6%), Avalanche (4.3%), Shiba Inu (3.8%), Polkadot (3.4%), and Chainlink (4%) also saw declines.
The volume of all stablecoins is now $71.64 billion, which is 92.19% of the total cryptocurrency market volume in 24 hours, according to data available on CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 54.99%. BTC volume in the last 24 hours increased by 23.3% to $35.7 billion.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, opinions and views provided by experts are personal. They do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
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Altcoins WIF, BONK, RUNE, JUP Down 10% While Bitcoin Drops 4%
Altcoins dogwifhat, Bonk, THORChain, and Jupiter have suffered losses of more than 10%, while Bitcoin is down 4% in the last 24 hours.
After a period of relative calm yesterday, July 31, Bitcoin (BTC) price action has seen a drastic change as the cryptocurrency dropped by more than $3,500, bringing its value to $63,300. At the same time, altcoins mirrored this trend, with the total value of liquidated positions rising to nearly $225 million over the course of the day.
Initially, the week started on a positive note for Bitcoin, which reached its highest point since early June, hitting $70,000. However, this peak was short-lived, as it was quickly rejected, leading to a substantial decline, with Bitcoin falling below $65,500.
The cryptocurrency managed to regain some stability, trading comfortably at around $66,800. However, following a Press conference According to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the value of Bitcoin has fallen again to $64,300, down more than 3% in 24 hours.
BTC Price Chart 24 Hours | Source: crypto.news
The recession coincided with a relationship from the New York Times stating that Iran had called for retaliatory measures against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, increasing the risk of further conflict in the region.
Meanwhile, on the economic front, the Federal Reserve decided to keep its benchmark interest rates in place, offering little information on a planned September rate cut. Powell also hinted that while no concrete decisions have been made on the September adjustment, there is growing consensus that a rate cut is likely.
Amid Bitcoin’s decline, altcoins have suffered even more significant losses. For example, dogwifhat (Wife) saw a 12.4% drop and (DISGUST) has suffered a 10% drop. Other altcoins such as THORChain (RUNE) also fell by 10%, while Jupiter (JUPITER) and the Ethereum naming service (ENS) decreased by 8% and 9% respectively.
Among the largest-cap cryptocurrencies, the biggest losers are Solana (SOL) with a decrease of 8%, (Exchange rate risk) down 6%, Cardano (ADA) down 4%, and both Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE) recording a decrease of 4.4%.
Data from CoinGlass indicates that approximately 67,000 traders have been negatively impacted by this increased volatility. BTC positions have seen $61.85 million in liquidations, while ETH positions have faced $61 million. In total, the value of liquidated positions stands at $225.4 million at the time of writing.
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Riot Platforms Sees 52% Drop in Bitcoin Production in Q2
Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms has released its second-quarter financial results, highlighting a decline in cryptocurrency mined due to the recent halving.
Colorado-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Riot platforms revealed its second quarter financial results, highlighting a significant reduction in mined cryptocurrencies attributed to the recent halving event that took place in early April.
The company reported total revenue of $70 million for the quarter ended July 31, a decline of 8.7% compared to the same period in 2023. Riot Platforms attributed the revenue decline primarily to a $9.7 million decrease in engineering revenue, which was partially mitigated by a $6 million increase in Bitcoin extraction income.
During the quarter, the company mined 844 BTC, representing a decline of over 50% from Q2 2023, citing the halving event and increasing network difficulty as major factors behind the decline. Riot Platforms reported a net loss of $84.4 million, or $0.32 per share, missing Zacks Research forecast a loss of $0.16 per share.
Halving increases competitive pressure
The Colorado-based firm said the average cost of mining one BTC in the second quarter, including energy credits, rose to $25,327, a remarkable 341% increase from $5,734 per BTC in the same quarter of 2023. Despite this significant increase in production costs, the firm remains optimistic about maintaining competitiveness through recent deals.
For example, following the Recent acquisition Cryptocurrency firm Block Mining, Riot has increased its distributed hash rate forecast from 31 EH/s to 36 EH/s by the end of 2024, while also increasing its 2025 forecast from 40 EH/s to 56 EH/s.
Riot Platforms Hashrate Growth Projections by 2027 | Source: Riot Platforms
Commenting on the company’s financials, Riot CEO Jason Les said that despite the halving, the mining company still managed to achieve “significant operational growth and execution of our long-term strategy.”
“Despite this reduction in production available to all Bitcoin miners, Riot reported $70 million in revenue for the quarter and maintained strong gross margins in our core Bitcoin mining business.”
Jason Les
Following its Q2 financial report, Riot Platforms shares fell 1.74% to $10.19, according to Google Finance data. Meanwhile, the American miner continues to chase Canadian rival Bitfarms, recently acquiring an additional 10.2 million BITF shares, increasing its stake in Bitfarms to 15.9%.
As previously reported by crypto.news, Riot was the first announced a $950 million takeover bid for Bitfarms in late May, arguing that Bitfarms’ founders were not acting in the best interests of all shareholders. They said their proposal was rejected by Bitfarms’ board without substantive engagement.
In response, Bitfarms She said that Riot’s offer “significantly understates” its growth prospects. Bitfarms subsequently implemented a shareholder rights plan, also known as a “poison pill,” to protect its strategic review process from hostile takeover attempts.
News
Aave Price Increases Following Whales Accumulation and V3.1 Launch
Decentralized finance protocol Aave is seeing a significant spike in whale activity as the market looks to recover from the recent crash that pushed most altcoins into key support areas earlier this week.
July 31, Lookonchain shared details indicating that the whales had aggressively accumulated Aave (AAVE) over the past two days. According to the data, whales have withdrawn over 58,848 AAVE worth $6.47 million from exchanges during this period.
In one instance, whale address 0x9af4 withdrew 11,185 AAVE worth $1.23 million from Binance. Meanwhile, another address moved 21,619 AAVE worth over $2.38 million from the exchange and deposited the tokens into Aave.
These withdrawals follow a previous transfer of 26,044 AAVE from whale address 0xd7c5, amounting to over $2.83 million withdrawn from Binance.
AAVE price has surged over 7% in the past 24 hours amid buy-side pressure from these whales. The DeFi token is currently trading around $111 after jumping over 18% in the past week.
Recently, the price of AAVE increased by over 8% after Aave founder Marc Zeller announced a proposed fee change aimed at adopting a buyback program for AAVE tokens.
Aave v3.1 is available
The total value locked in the Aave protocol currently stands at around $22 billion. According to DeFiLlamaApproximately $19.9 billion is on Aave V3, while the V2 chain still holds approximately $1.9 billion in TVL and V1 approximately $14.6 million.
Aave Labs announced Previously, Aave V3.1 was made available on all networks with active Aave V3 instances.
V3.1 features improvements that are intended to improve the overall security of the DeFi protocol. The Aave DAO governance has approved the v3.1 improvements, which also include operational efficiency and usability for the network.
Meanwhile, Aave Labs recently outlined a ambitious roadmap for the projectwith a 2030 vision for Aave V4, among other developments.
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