👋 Hello December! Happy to have you! We bet many of you have a certain feeling of relief realizing that 2020 is living its last weeks. Well, it’s been a hell of a year, but haven’t we learnt and achieved a lot? For that, we say, “Thank you, 2020”. Let’s be nice. 😇 But 2020 is still here, so is our regular monthly news recap from CEX.IO experts. In this edition:
- CEX.IO news and achievements
- Security of funds — can’t too much of it
- DeFi — what’s in it? Looking under the hood
- Crypto and traditional markets analytics
and some more trending industry news. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
📰 CEX.IO news and achievements
🔶 You heard that yet? CEX.IO turned seven years in November. Seven years of challenges and achievements, seven years of transformations and innovation, seven years of being true to our mission of being a guide to the open financial system. Read the interview with Oleksandr Lutskevych, founder and CEO at CEX.IO for the perspective on the company’s trajectory and outlook. CEX.IO: 7 Years of Navigating an Evolving Crypto Space 🔶 We had one more reason to celebrate in November. CEX.IO Limited has received the Money Lender License granted by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. This license allows CEX.IO customers to instantly borrow funds against their cryptocurrency holdings without credit checks via the new CEX.IO LOAN service. Read more why it’s so important in the news below.
- CEX.IO LIMITED LAUNCHES NEW SERVICES, INCLUDING CRYPTO-BACKED LENDING, FOLLOWING APPROVAL FROM GIBRALTAR AUTHORITIES
- CEX.IO Limited Launches New Services, Including Crypto-Backed Lending, Following Approval From Gibraltar Authorities
🛡 Security of funds (it’s always actual!)
🔶 Crypto scams and attacks are on the rise once again as the broader sector breaks out of a nearly three-year-long bear market. The process is usually as follows: Scammers target sites like YouTube, Twitter, and Google searches to trap unsuspecting users and create either fake advertisements — such as alluring giveaways — or even create a fake website using domains similar to the original — using “0” instead of “o” or a sneaky misspelling. Such an attack vector saw millions of XRP stolen from a fake Ledger site, with the attackers using a fake domain name and successfully swindling funds. Dmytro Volkov, CTO at CEX.IO, told how such hacking attacks against crypto wallets can happen. 1.1m XRP stolen in phishing scam on crypto wallet Ledger lookalike 🔶 2020 has been a year filled with threats for crypto owners, not the least of which were frauds and hacking attacks that exploited vulnerabilities of browsers. When it comes to cryptocurrency theft attempts, criminals almost always focus on the browser most users use to access exchanges to buy or sell crypto assets. How can you protect your crypto assets? Dmytro Volkov shares the tips on that. 5 Tips to Protect Your Cryptoassets by Securing Your Browser 🔶 Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Pickle Finance was hacked for $19.7 million of the stablecoin DAI, as the DeFi industry appears to be turning into a hackers paradise. Dmytro Volkov, chief technology officer at CEX.IO, told what the main drawback in DeFi protocols that let such attacks happen.
- Hackers Paradise: Yet Another Defi Protocol Exploited for Nearly $20 Million in DAI
- No, Ethereum dApps have not suffered the most crypto hacks (it’s EOS)
🔶 Providing new use-cases for digital assets, cryptocurrency lending is more popular than ever. Crypto lending is one of the major forces driving the fast-growing DeFi industry, but institutional service providers are also gaining a foothold on the market. Compared to the general market’s asset-backed loans (e.g., property- or gold-backed loans), cryptocurrency-backed loans have some features that make them unique. Anton Chaschin, a commercial director of CEX.IO Loans tells more of them. Crypto Lending Has a Much Higher Demand Than We First Expected 🔶 While Bitcoin’s price was rallying on the price charts, DeFi tokens were adding TVL in both BTC and ETH. While the top 15 DeFi tokens based on performance included Alpha, Yield Farming DAI, EASY, XOR, and HEGIC, tokens like SUSHI, AAVE, and YFI have offered double-digit returns of over 70%. Anton Chashchin, Commercial Director at CEX.IO Loan, told about the drivers behind DeFi double-digit gains. Three reasons why DeFi’s performance will overshadow Bitcoin’s soon
🧐 DeFi — what’s in it? Looking under the hood
🔶 A recent report by Consensys says the surge in decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes in Q3 of 2020 is down to their adoption of the automated market maker (AMM). According to the report, DEXs that use AMM, a software that algorithmically creates token trading pairs, now represent 93% of the market. The Consensys Defi report asserts that the increase in use of AMMs is largely down to them being “seen as a valuable way to reduce the chances of human error or manipulation and also to leave a clear audit trail for regulators.” However, many within the Defi community space are making the argument against AMMs despite the embrace by DEXs. Expounding on this is Dmytro Volkov, the CTO at CEX.IO. Decentralized Exchanges That Use Automated Market Makers Now Represent 93% of the Market 🔶 It has only been 12 years since Satoshi Nakamoto published a nine-pager in late October 2008 describing what could be the internet of money. Dubbed “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” the whitepaper detailed a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash that would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without the use of a third party. Konstantin Anissimov makes a recap of the Bitcoin history and shares his views on the prospects of the pioneer cryptocurrency. Read on! The Rise of Internet Money
📊 Crypto market analytics
🔶 The global economical and political events — like the US presidential election, Covid-19 vaccine progress, economic hardship, closer attention from institutional investors, and so on — have reflected on the cryptocurrency market. Read already traditional cryptocurrency market analytics from Konstantin Anissimov, the executive director at CEX.IO.
- Bitcoin to Resume Uptrend Despite Election Eve Sell-Off; Analyst Explains Why
- Weekly Recap: Bitcoin and Ethereum Resilience Mark the Beginning of New Bullish Cycle
- BITCOIN NARROWLY ESCAPES SELL-OFF AFTER DRUCKENMILLER’S ENDORSEMENT
- Bitcoin Dominance In Cryptocurrency Market: Is There Any Competition for It?
- Bitcoin rally will smash through former highest price as ‘the whole industry piles in’
- Bitcoin surge escalates as market ‘recognises it’s superior to gold as a store of value’
- BITCOIN COULD HIT $300,000 IN 2021, LEAKED CITIBANK REPORT STATES
- Vaccine Progress Stalls Bitcoin Uptrend Near $18.5K
- BITCOIN PRICE – LIVE: CRYPTOCURRENCY VALUE STEADIES AFTER SPECTACULAR ‘COOLING OFF’ CRASH
📊 Traditional markets analytics
🔶 Are you interested in how the traditional market — Pound Sterling, in particular — reacts to global political and economical events? Read the expert views and analytics from Konstantin Anissimov, our executive director.
- Technical Analysis: Pound Sterling Rises On Joe Biden’s Presidential Election Lead Vs Trump
- Pound Sterling Technical Analysis: GBP/USD Eyes 1.3200, GBP/EUR Finishes At 1.1150
- Pound Sterling Technical Analysis: GBP/USD Steadies Above 1.3300, GBP/EUR Dominated By Brexit Rhetoric
- Pound Sterling Technical Analysis: GBP/USD Steadies Above 1.3300, GBP/EUR Dominated By Brexit Rhetoric
🤓 Will do for now. Hope we’ve given some useful “food” for your mind with these pieces. More is yet to come, of course. But we’re looking forward to talking about the topics that YOU are interested. Let us know – drop us a line in our Telegram channel. Still not there? Here’s the link: 👉 https://t.me/CEX_IO We’ll be thrilled to see you there. Meanwhile, have an amazing remaining couple of weeks of 2020. Be healthy and see you next year! 🤗 Your CEX.IO Team