TronWeekly

Crypto World News

You are here: Home / Search for "apple"

Search Results for: apple

Apple’s NFT Transactions Gain Clarity: App Store Reviews Guidelines

by

Recent revisions to Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines have been made public. The same included a section devoted to explaining Non Fungible Tokens, or NFTs.

NFTs are thus permitted to be present in apps on the App Store. They are unable to access any extra features or content, though. The recently announced rules stated,

“Apps may use in-app purchase to sell and sell services related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as minting, listing, and transferring. Apps may allow users to view their own NFTs, provided that NFT ownership does not unlock features or functionality within the app.”

Additionally, developers are not allowed to make “buttons, external links, or other calls to action” that direct users to other platforms in order to purchase NFTs instead of the App Store. The App Store prefers that customers buy things inside of apps.

Additionally, it forbids apps from utilizing tools like “QR codes, cryptocurrencies, and cryptocurrency wallets” that might be used to unlock content or functionality within an app.

A request to exempt NFTs from its “Apple Tax” on purchases was also rejected by the American multinational technology company. This indicates that the usual 30% commission charge on NFT purchases will be in effect.

Social media sites often saw a range of community responses. Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, noted both extreme viewpoints in a tweet:

It’s important to remember that Magic Eden just deleted its service from the App Store due to its rules and excessive commission. The executive voiced his opinion on the subject, saying Apple should be restrained from “killing” another emerging technology.

Here’s How Apple’s New Update Affects Crypto Exchanges

Along with NFTs, the big-tech firm gave clarity regarding crypto exchange apps. The guidelines stated,

“Apps may facilitate transactions or transmissions of cryptocurrency on an approved exchange, provided they are offered only in countries or regions where the app has appropriate licensing and permissions to provide a cryptocurrency exchange.”

However, Apple did not respond to the comments, according to sources.

Ripple(XRP) Can Be Purchased Using Apple Pay; Thanks to onXRP’s New Partnership

by

One of the XRP (Ripple) Ledger’s fastest-growing projects, onXRP, announced the integration of the Banxa fiat on-ramp technology into its ecosystem. Users of onXRP may now purchase XRP via bank cards or ApplePay thanks to this invention.

Customers from all continents may currently access the new service, except for those who live in Russia, Canada, New York, or Hawaii. As per a tweet from onXRP, making it possible for Americans to purchase XRP with a credit card was the first objective while creating the invention.

onXRP currently supports only Ripple (XRP) purchases for fiat

It’s also crucial to remember that only XRP may be bought with fiat on onXRP. If future OXP or OVX purchases of ecosystem tokens would be available in the same manner, the developers have not yet stated this. On the onXRP DEX, these and other XRPL blockchain-based tokens may be bought for XRP.

The XRP-Avalanche bridge, the DeFi or onAVAX area, which was just created, and the Cash section, where users may buy XRP with fiat, are all currently included in the DEX component of the onXRP website.

However, there is still another portion that is not yet accessible but, based just on its name, appears to be highly fascinating. It is a Swap area, about which nothing is currently known, but given the onXRP platform’s quick rate of growth, it appears that users will soon have access to a new tool for managing their XRPL assets.

At the time of writing, Ripple (XRP) is trading at $0.345156, a 4% increase in the last 24 hours. XRP has also displayed a 5% and 3% gain in the last 7 and 14 days respectively.

Apple Users Warned by MetaMask as iCloud Phishing Attacks Increase

by

MetaMask, a crypto wallet company owned by ConsenSys, has issued a warning to the public about Apple iCloud phishing assaults.

The vulnerability affects iPhone, Mac, and iPad users since default device settings save a user’s seed phrase or “password-encrypted MetaMask vault” on the iCloud if the user has allowed automatic backups for their app data.

Users risk losing their assets if their Apple password “isn’t strong enough” and an attacker is able to phish their account credentials, according to a Twitter thread posted on April 18.

To ensure the safety of the wallet, MetaMask released a tweet detailing the instructions:

Warnings from a MetaMask user who fell, victim

The MM warning came in response to allegations from an NFT collector known on Twitter as “revive dom,” who reported on April 15 that this precise security problem deleted his whole wallet, which included $650,000 worth of digital currencies and NFTs.

DAPE NFT project founder “Serpent” – who also helped capture the attention of MetaMask by sharing the news with their 277,000 followers – presented a synopsis of what occurred to the victim in a different thread earlier today.

The victim got repeated text messages urging him to change his Apple ID password, as well as a phony call from Apple that was ultimately a faked caller ID, according to him.

“revive dom” gave over a six-digit verification number to establish that he was the owner of the Apple account, despite the fact that he was apparently unaware of the caller. The fraudsters then hung up and used data from his iCloud account to get access to his MetaMask account.

“revive dom” expressed his displeasure with MetaMask after the warning was issued today, saying that:

“I’m not saying they shouldn’t do it; I’m just saying they should inform us about it.” Don’t tell us we should never keep our seed phrase online, then go ahead and do it behind our backs. If 90% of people were aware of this, I’m willing to bet that none of them would have the app or iCloud turned on.”

Apple Store Takes Down Trust Wallet From Its Store

by

On March 22, 2022, the Trust Wallet team declared that the iOS version of their app was no longer available and swiftly informed all of its users on all social media platforms that the matter was being rectified.

The notice adds, “On March 21 at 1 pm PST, the Trust Wallet iOS app became inaccessible on the Apple App Store.” “Our staff was notified right away, and we’re trying to remedy the problem as quickly as possible.” We are optimistic that this problem will be fixed quickly.”

The Trust team assured its customers that their funds would not be lost. There’s no need to be concerned because a user’s crypto holdings are held on-chain, with the app serving solely as a portal to one’s assets. The Android version of Trust Wallet is still accessible on the Google Play Store as of this writing.

03 22 trust wallet is unavailable on play store 1 01 7f3af69fcc
Apple Store Takes Down Trust Wallet From Its Store 2

App store scares have a long history

Last June, the Trust team made significant financial concessions to Apple’s changing criteria. Trust disabled the dApp browser functionality for iOS customers due to Apple’s tight stance on third-party payment interfaces.

Customers using iOS could only utilize the dApp browser functionality on the web. Despite concessions to Apple’s regulations, the Trust Wallet app was eventually kicked off.

Several high-profile apps have been removed from the App Store in recent years. Similarly, Apple removed the popular game Fortnite from its app store when it established its own in-app payment mechanism.

Like recent evictions from the App Store, most of the applications concerned, such as Atomic Wallet and Trust, violated Apple’s third-party payment rules.

Last December, an Atomic Wallet spokeswoman claimed, “Apple chose to delete the app because the wallet uses 3rd party for exchange.” “We’re looking into it.” We’ll announce as soon as the app is available again on the App Store.” Atomic Wallet has yet to return to the iOS store as of March 2022.

What should you do if you’re affected?

iOS users may not be able to access the removed applications for a while, user money is still accessible and secure.

This is due to the fact that tokens are stored on the blockchain rather than in the program itself. As long as a user has a recovery phrase and private keys, they have complete control over their assets.

What should you do if the Trust Wallet app on your iOS device is no longer accessible? Transferring your keys to a non-custodial wallet accessible on the App Store is a straightforward approach.

In this situation, a non-custodial wallet is ideal since it does not keep your private keys and offers you complete control over your cash.

Apple’s upcoming tap and pay feature will allow merchants to accept crypto

by

Apple has revealed plans to provide Tap to Pay on the iPhone, a new feature that transforms the smartphone into a point-of-sale device for companies and merchants. So, what does this mean for cryptocurrency?

According to the statement, owing to near-field communication technology, or NFC, iPhone-owning shops may accept contactless payments by utilizing their mobile devices as a point-of-sale system.

Apple’s soon-to-be-released Tap to Pay feature will support “Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets,” according to the company. Customers who have a Coinbase Card, Crypto.com Visa Card, or a similar payments card will be able to use their crypto holdings to make payments unless Apple puts a direct obstacle in the way.

Apple announced Stripe as their payment partner. In 2018, Stripe stopped accepting bitcoin payments. However, the CEO stated in late November 2021 that the firm is open to taking cryptocurrency payments.

Apple to take a bite of crypto

Coinbase, a prominent crypto exchange, merged with Apple Pay and Google Pay in August 2021, allowing customers to buy crypto assets on its platform. It allowed users in the United States to purchase cryptocurrency with bank-issued debit and credit cards through Apple Pay.

To bring Tap to Pay to millions of retailers in the United States, Apple will collaborate with major payment systems and app developers in the payments and commerce sector. Contactless credit and debit cards from prominent payment networks, including American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa, will function with Tap to Pay on iPhone.

Apple CEO Tim Cook stated last year that he owns cryptocurrency. He admitted that he owns cryptocurrencies as “part of a diverse portfolio.” Cook noted that he had been eyeing cryptocurrency and had been interested in it “for a while.”

He stated that his interest stemmed from a “personal standpoint.” He also dismissed the speculations that Apple may accept cryptocurrency as money in return for products or purchase it with company assets. “I’m not giving anyone investment advice by the way.”, he added.

Recently Cash App, a mobile payments app developed and owned by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s Block, has announced support for BTC transactions over the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

Crypto will be outlawed if it goes mainstream: Apple’s co-founder

by

The crypto industry is over a decade old now. Bitcoin [BTC] along with an array of assets managed to garner the attention of the entire globe. The crypto industry went from being closely related to the dark web to becoming a $2 trillion market. This journey was certainly impeccable and was lauded by many. While the involvement of governments was minimizing the essence of the industry, the co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak suggested that regulators would drive the market out if it went mainstream.

The crypto market gained fame following its unique aspects. The fact that the industry had nothing to do with centralized markets was a huge selling point. However, now, the industry was seen being extensively scrutinized by regulators across the globe. The Ripple vs. SEC case, the delay, and cancellation of Bitcoin ETFs in the US, China’s latest crypto takedown have been proof enough on how regulators were taking over the industry.

While the industry was just being recognized and making progress, Steve Wozniak suggested that this could soon end.

Crypto to be banned if it becomes too big?

Appearing in a recent interview, the co-founder of Apple expressed his views about the digital asset industry. While he spoke about an array of things, he clearly pointed out that the government wouldn’t allow cryptocurrencies to grow beyond the reach of centralized systems.

Noting that this could lead to the ban of these assets he stated,

“Trouble is that the government will never allow it to be out of their control. If it got to the point that everything was being done with crypto and it didn’t pass through governments for observation and taxation and all that…governments would just disallow it. They wouldn’t give up their power.”

Elon Musk and several others had previously suggested that China could have initiated its massive crypto takedown due to the industry’s level of decentralization.

Turns out, Wozniak wasn’t the only one who felt this way. Back in March, Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates noted that governments could ban Bitcoin as things could get out of hand.

Binance Announces Stock Tokens For Microstrategy, Apple, Microsoft

by

Cryptocurrency exchange, Binance announced support for three stock tokens of industry behemoths – Microstrategy [MSTR], Apple [AAPL], and Microsoft [MSFT] today.

The stock token for business intelligence company, Microstrategy [MSTR/BUSD] will be listed on the 26th of April while that of American multinational tech firms Apple [AAPL/BUSD] and Microsoft [MSFT/BUSD] will be made available on the 28th and 30th of April respectively.

The stock tokens on Binance’s platform are shares of public companies that trade on traditional stock exchanges. The Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange had previously detailed that each Stock Token represents one ordinary share of the relevant stock which is completely backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities maintained by its partner CM-Equity AG, Germany who are tasked with monitoring all trading activity for compliance.

Binance competitors such as FTX as well as Bittrex Global also offers trading in stock tokens through CM-Equity.

The Founder and CEO of the platform, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao had recently asserted that the latest move was the indication of seamless democratization of value transfer by reducing friction and costs to accessibility, without bargaining on factors such as compliance or security.

The latest development comes around two weeks after Binance announced venturing into the space of tokenized stock trading with the listing of Tesla stock tokens, which allowed the exchange’s users to buy Tesla tokens representing its shares.

Binance’s Stock Token Raises Red Flag

Binance had come under the scrutiny of the European watchdogs including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] for its stock token offering that was launched earlier this month. According to reports, the regulators were now probing whether it adhered to security rules before rolling out.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority was quoted saying to the Financial Times that it was working with Binance to examine the product, “the regulations that may apply to it and how it is marketed”. It also went on to add that,

“..firms and their senior management teams are responsible for determining whether their products and services fall within the remit of the FCA.”

Hong Kong Newspaper Apple Daily Carries Full Page Bitcoin Advertisement Few Days After CEO Was Arrested

by

Bitcoin’s reach has gone far and beyond what people expected when it first came to the forefront more than a decade ago. From being considered as a niche virtual asset that would die out quickly to become one of the largest disruptors of the financial market, Bitcoin has certainly pulled its weight over the past few years.

The cryptocurrency’s mainstream appeal has sparked a global interest that has transcended the standards set by traditional banking institutions. Bitcoin’s popularity has surged so much that an advertisement for it was even spotted in a major Hong Kong daily.

Today, on August 24, citizens of Hong Kong spotted a full advert for Bitcoin in the Apple Daily, a popular daily publication in Hong Kong. The advert carried the message ‘Bitcoin will never ditch you, which was probably a rebuttal to major banks who are mired in controversies. The newspaper also printed out Satoshi Nakamoto’s name underneath the quote which has not provided any other leads as of yet.

The advertisement also came with an excerpt stating:

“Bitcoin is digital money. It is not issued or controlled by any government or corporation. Nobody can stop you from transacting on the network and it cannot be shut down. Bitcoin is available to anyone regardless of their nationality, gender, or beliefs. Bitcoin began with the GENESIS BLOCK during the financial crisis of 2009. No, its time is coming.”

https://twitter.com/namshik/status/1297730388798746626?s=20

Despite the size of the ad in the newspaper, it did not inform the users on how and where to procure Bitcoins. The only technical term that was mentioned throughout the ad was related to the genesis block. There were also a few mentions in Cantonese, with a major line saying “Banks, you’re not ditching me today – I’m ditching you.

This was not the first time that Apple Daily has made stirred up so much heat as its CEO Jimmy Lai also played a part in it a few weeks back. On August 10, Lai was arrest by the Hong Kong authorities for allegedly violating the country’s National Security Law. Lai’s arrest led to massive protests by supporters in the streets of Hong Kong, many of them condemning the curbing of the freedom of speech and expression. In the midst of all this controversy, Apple Daily’s stock price shot up by a whopping 1100 percent.

Apple Accused of Being “Hostile and Restrictive” by Coinbase CEO; Epic Games Files Lawsuit

by

Cryptocurrencies have faced a lot of restrictions and criticism from big tech-firms over the years. While these digital assets continue on their pursuit to innovate payments and transactions, its new direction hasn’t always taken flight with other major corporations.

Now, one of the major organizations that have been rigid towards certain innovations over the years has been Apple, and in a recent conversation, the entities’ “rules” were under the spotlight.

In response to this thread on Twitter, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase also raised his voice and suggested that Apple hasn’t been very cordial about cryptocurrency transactions as well. according to Armstrong, Apple has been very “restrictive and hostile” towards digital assets over the years as the CEO suggested that the company has been repetitively blocking some of the major crypto functions.

He added,

“They’re still blocking some functionality right now, including the ability to earn money with cryptocurrency by completing tasks, and unrestricted dApp browsers.”

Armstrong was probably talking about the Coinbase Earn exchange, an initiative that allows its users to earn cryptocurrency like Bitcoin by learning about it. Coinbase also cited its reasons back in December 2019 that it had to comply with the AppStore rule and hence removed the functionality of the dApp browser from their application.

Back then, Armstrong suggested that the decentralized form of innovation was an important move in the world of finance and a majority of early adopters had millions of dollars worth of crypto tied to these financial applications.

Apple’s long-legal problems with other organization

For Apple, their restrictions currently go far beyond in-app functionality. A week earlier, Epic Games filed a legal suit against Apple Inc. for allegedly monopolizing third-party payments markets and making innovations such as BTC payments impossible.

According to the lawsuit, Apple had imposed “an oppressive” 30% sales tax on application sales with the game and also made third-party payments redundant.

Epic Games had put forward a request in front of the U.S District Court of Northern District California to force Apple to not act in an an-competitive manner and let go of their hold over the in-app payments system.

Infamous Apple Mac Hack that Won North Korean Spies $7 Million in Cryptocurrency

by

North Korea hackers are using fake software to breach cryptocurrency wallets of  MacOS users. 

The entity responsible for the hacks is the same group believed to have conducted the Sony Pictures system breach. Lazarus Group, as  US intelligence and cybersecurity firms, have come to identify the group as is sponsored by the  North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB).

A Chainalysis report revealed how the hackers pose as legitimate Linkedin and Telegram profiles, only to execute clean phishing schemes targeting apple devices. 

It isn’t the first time that intelligence firms are linking the Lazarus Group with a cybercrime incident. Following the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack, a Google researcher Neel Mehta posted two code samples. 

One from the Lazarus Contopee Cyber Weapon and another one from the WannaCry ransomware.

Additionally, another analysis during that year linked the North Korean team of hackers to the 2014 Sony Pictures hack and the $81 million Bangladesh bank heist. 

The hackers are attempting to penetrate Mac computers using fake cryptocurrency software designed by the front firm. Forbes reported how in 2019, DragonEx lost at least $7 million to the hackers.

This was after the team of cybercriminals created a fake business with a professional website and Linkedin profiles. The fake business dubbed WFC wallet a legitimate version of bitcoin trading software but one infected with malware.

Installed versions of the software would open up backdoors on Apple computers. Hence, creating a loophole for the hackers to potentially siphon private keys of cryptocurrency wallets. Moreover, the alleged software had key-logging features for phishing data such as usernames, passwords, and security questions.

The hackers then went on to contact a DragonEx senior executive officer via Telegram. They asked her whether they could do business and requested that she download the WFCWallet. Nevertheless, the executive showed no interest in the partnership but the hackers kept persisting for weeks.

Meanwhile, an unnamed employee at DragonEx employee downloaded and installed the malicious wallet on a company MacBook.

No one knows the reason for the employee’s action but as it would turn out, the MacBook happened to have private keys for exchange client accounts. This gave the hackers an important piece of data, critical to accomplish their mission.

From hence, they took control of several cryptocurrency wallets and stole Bitcoins, Litecoins and Ripple. The lazarus hackers were so thorough to not leave even a single trace of their attack. 

Well, the use of front companies during crypto campaigns in North Korea was initially spotted back in 2018. However, it is until the DragonEx hack that experts noted juts how effective the companies were in closing phishing attempts. 

DragonEx described the attack as one of the most elaborate phishing campaigns it had witnessed in history. While recruiting Chainalysis to aid them in investigating the hack, the firm said it was one attack “on another level of sophistication.”

Most sources including Forbes believe that the Lazarus Group has been conducting top-notch hacking schemes for at least one decade now. At the beginning of the month, Kaspersky Lab researchers identified a barrel of malware that the group was deploying through telegram.

Meanwhile, it seems that the group was luring telegram users towards direct installations instead of online target diversion.

Data from Chainalysis showing how hackers have been executing crypto exchange attacks over the decade 

Scam Analysis
Chart Credit: chainalysis.com

According to the above Chainalysis report, the amount of cryptocurrency exchange hacks surged in 2019 than in other years. A total of eleven cyber attacks valued approximately $283 million. However, the total amount of funds lost in 2019 did not surpass figures from 2018. This is because of the massive Coincheck breach in 2018 amounted to approximately $534 million. 

US intelligence believes that North Korea will continue stealing money to drive the manufacture of weapons. In fact, the US treasury noted about the Lazarus group that: 

“It was  perpetrating cyberattacks to support illicit weapon and missile programs.” 

Source: Forbes