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COVID-19

Justin Sun Donates 2M TRX To India’s COVID Relief Fund

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As the COVID crisis in India continues to worsen, the country is receiving support from all around the globe in order to survive this phase.

Justin Sun, the CEO of the cryptocurrency firm Tron, has joined a group of many well-known personalities in the crypto community who have come forward to contribute to a fund created to provide relief to COVID-19 wreaked India.Sun announced donating 2 million TRX [worth approximately $227,980 at the time of writing] to a COVID-19 relief fund for India that was recently set up by Sandeep Nailwal, the Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of Polygon.

The Tron exec’s tweet read,

“I’m in! I have donated 2 million #TRX to the India Covid relief campaign lead by Sandeep Nailwal. Join me, Vitalik Buterin, Balaji Srinivasan by donating at the addresses below. Please help spread the word. For every RT, I’ll donate another $100 to the fund, up to 100k.”

Sun also asserted that he would contribute another $100, up to $100K for every retweet of his appeal.

TWJ had recently reported that the executive of the scaling platform had urged the global crypto community to help the country ravaged by the second wave of the pandemic as a result of the government’s failure that has led to the deepening crisis.

Nailwal had also stated that he would take full responsibility for transparency, funds usage, as well as regulatory compliance. The funds collected with be deployed for the purchase of oxygen, food, and even cover the cost of vaccines for poor people in the country.

Taking in to consideration, the risky campaign especially under the India law, the Polygon COO had appealed several crypto exchanges in the country to help convert the COVID donations into fiat currency.

Buterin, Srinivasan Donate to India’s COVID Relief Fund

Soon after Nailwal tweeted his intention for a fund for the purpose of COVID relief, Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated more than $600,000 to the campaign. He posted the transfer receipts of 100 ETH and 100 MKR, on the social media platform. Balaji Srinivasan, the former Coinbase CTO and board partner at VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, also reportedly donated $50,000 in ETH and urged others to contribute as well. He also pledged up to $100,000 more.

Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Donates Over $600K To India’s COVID-19 Relief Campaign

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India continued to reel under the severe second wave of COVID-19 that has crippled the already crumbling health sector of the country. In the wake of massive resource-starved conditions brought upon by public laxity and government negligence, social media platforms have become helplines and saviors to the ones in need.

The cryptocurrency community is doing its bit to provide necessary aid to the country. Sandeep Nailwal, the Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of Polygon had announced a COVID-19 relief fund and asked the global crypto community to help. Nailwal asserted that he would take full responsibility for transparency, funds usage, and regulatory compliance.

Nailwal plans to pour the funds collected to purchase oxygen, food, and even cover the cost of vaccines for poor people in the country.

The multisig address to donate in ETH/ERC20 to this address: 0x68A99f89E475a078645f4BAC491360aFe255Dff1

At press time, around $154 ETH has been deposited to the address.

Weighing down upon the lack of regulatory clarity around the space in India, the exec noted,

“I already got a few people pinging me that Regulatory things would be tough on this, it’s not easy to give money, even for social causes. My Answer “Our Hows should not affect our Why”. Whatever happens we will handle it, lets not let it stop us from doing what is right.”

Indian crypto market scene is worth billions of dollars, but these digital assets cannot be used to directly fund relief efforts as they’re not widely accepted as fiat. To overcome this barrier, the Polygon COO urged Indian crypto exchanges such as WazirXIndia, CoinDCX, and Bitbns to help convert the COVID donations into fiat currency.

COVID Donations From Ethereum Community

One of the many to donate was Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin who reportedly donated more than $600k India Covid Relief Campaign. Buterin posted the transfer receipts of 100 ETH and 100 MKR, worth roughly $606,110 for use in relief in the country.

Ethereum Foundation’s Hudson James also donated 138,000 MATIC [approximately $49K]. Indian-origin technology investor and entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan vouched for the Polygon exec and revealed his intentions to donate.

Pandemic Forces Bithumb To Pull The Plug On Few Of Its Offices

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The pandemic had caused abject disruption around the world. The coronavirus put the entire world in shackles. While the economy staggered and several lost their jobs, COVID-19 was taking over the world. Several prominent platforms pulled the plug to depreciate the spread of the virus, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange seemed to be aiding this move and has planned to put a hold on its services.

Pandemic Staggers Growth Of Several Platforms

A small yet deadly virus caused the death of many across the globe. While mankind remained indoors, the streets of the earth were ghosted. Several markets went on to record major slumps and have been trying to recover from their losses. The crypto-verse, however, seems to have picked up its recovery phase as it has been reaching new highs. Even though the recovery rate of COVID-19 has surged, the cases seemed to have decreased. Yet, certain platforms continue to go the extra mile to remain unfettered by the pandemic. South Korea’s Bithumb is the latest crypto platform to do so.

South Korea has been known for its impeccable pop culture. With South Korean movies, shows as well as music taking over the world, the country has been working on exercising soft power through the same. The country’s interest in crypto is also highly touted. In light of the ongoing pandemic, Bithumb revealed that it would shut down a few of its offices.

In a blog post, Bithumb wrote that it would be momentarily suspending its Gangnam center that acted as an offline support platform to its users. The blog post read,

“As the number of domestic confirmed cases of Coronavirus Infectious Disease-19 (hereinafter referred to as Corona 19) has increased and social distancing in the metropolitan area has been upgraded to stage 2, we intend to temporarily suspend the operation of Bithumb offline Gangnam Center to prevent the spread of Corona 19.”

The platform mentioned that it would suspend its service from 24 November 2020 until further notice. A safer and convenient option in replacement of the offline platform would soon be rolled out.

While several countries have been easing the laws that were put in place during the peak of the virus, South Korea seems to be prolonging the same. As per worldometer, a covid-19 tracking website, the total number of cases were at 31,353 with over 510 deaths. The number of recovered individuals stood at 26,722. Additionally, the daily new cases in the country were seen increasing significantly.

Pandemic

Brazil Embraces Blockchain Tech In The Battle Against COVID-19

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Disrupting the entire course of the globe, COVID-19 put every human being in shackles. Spreading like wildfire, the virus caused the destruction of life and the economy. While several governments are working towards rolling out a vaccine at the earliest, Brazil seems to be steering towards a more technologically advanced way of incorporating the vaccine into the world.

Blockchain Tech To Disrupt COVID-19

Even though China paved the way to the virus, the country is back on track. However, other countries went to be immensely affected by the virus. While the United States of America is considered the worst-hit country with over 6 million COVID-19 cases, Brazil stands not far behind with over 4 million cases. As the entire globe is in a battle with the virus, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security carried out a meeting to address various prospects of blockchain technology.

In the webinar on YouTube, the Ministry went on to suggest the incorporation of the National Health Data Network or RNDS, which are blockchain-based systems, to keep track of the COVID-19 vaccine. While the country previously revealed that it hopes to release a vaccination by 2021, the inclusion of blockchain technology would reportedly keep a check on those who have acquired the vaccination.

Elmo Raposo Oliveira, the Coordinator of systems development at the Ministry of Health elaborated on the employment of blockchain tech and suggested that the system would acquire information pertaining to the individuals that were vaccinated and would be uploaded on the blockchain. All of this is said to take place post-vaccination. He further added,

“RNDS ‘objective is to promote the exchange of information between the points of the Health Care Network, allowing continuity of care in the public and private sectors.”

While blockchain technology has its own fan base across the globe and has dipped its toes in many sectors, this isn’t the first time that blockchain technology has been adopted in the medical world. Brazil’s latest decision exhibits the adoption of technology in the medical field. Elaborating on the working of the entire project, Oliveira said,

“So the Covid-19 vaccine will already be within our RNDS structure. So, when you get the vaccine you will already hit the RNDS here and we will already know who took it.”

Deputy Prime Minister of Japan Tips Blockchain Technology As A Possible Solution In Combating Rampant Covid-19 Pandemic

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Deputy Prime Minister of Japan Taro Aso has come forward and tipped Blockchain technology as a vital tool in global efforts to counter the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Aso, who also serves as the finance minister of the country, talked about this during the Blockchain Global Governance Conference held in Tokyo, the nation’s capital, on 24 Aug. 2020.

Aso, believes that Blockchain technology can precisely be effective during the process of contact tracing.In addition, he adds that the technology could ensure that the privacy of the user is maintained for anyone found to be COVID -19 positive after contact tracing.

Blockchain technology can provide containment measures directives

The outspoken politician also insists that Blockchain technology can help the relevant authorities to have access to the necessary measures that need to be taken to stem the outbreak of COVID-19 in the future. Nevertheless, Aso asserts that any rising differences that may occur between technology users and regulators need to be resolved first to ensure that this venture is effective.

He added that it is worth noting that certain users of Blockchain technology are very unfriendly to regulators. Many of them assume that regulators lack a clear understanding of the technology, and any innovations that may arise may be impeded. Aso also acknowledges the fact that the rate of Covid-19 infections will not subside soon, so a need for a realistic blockchain-based contact tracing solution might be considered as immediate emergency.

The technology adoption is fast gaining popularity across the globe

Many countries around the world are now working towards the integration of Blockchain technology. Nations such as Colombia, through the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, are integrating their 10 sectors into technology. The Ministry believes that the country can benefit greatly from this action when fully integrated. Also in May 2020, the Colombian government joined various nations in signing favorable bills to the law in support of the adoption of Blockchain. They recently signed the ‘Blockchain bill of rights’which will set favorable conditions for the passage of the tech.
Finally, nations such as Estonia, the U.A.E, the U.S. and Canada have all made significant progress following the adoption of Blockchain technology.

Here’s How Blockchain-Based ICONLOOP is Helping in Secure COVID-19 Tracing

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COVID-19 has affected all sorts of countries, communities as well as businesses in countless ways. Over the last few months, several initiatives have come up in aid and help deal with the global health crisis. One of the many industries that have been able to master new opportunities to help amid the pandemic is the blockchain technology.

In a bid to revitalize the stagnant economy and help tourism, South Korea-based leading blockchain technology firm, ICONLOOP.Inc announced that it is all set to help in providing private, secure COVID-19 contact tracing. The company will be mainly targeting the country’s most popular domestic tourist destination, Jeju Island, which has nearly 15 million visitors every year.

In the first of its kind initiative, ICONLOOP and the island’s Special Self-Governing Province have signed a cooperation agreement to introduce the COVID-19 disease prevention system.

As per the official document, the visitors will use a mobile app called ‘Zzeung’ and verify their identity using a Korean telecom service which can also be used to check into tourist destinations and businesses on Jeju Island using QR codes in the app. All the data will be kept private unless a COVID-19 case is discovered, in the event of which the island’s crisis response team will conduct “rapid epidemiological investigation” and tracing.

Talking about the latest development, Jong-hyup, Kim, CEO of ICONLOOP stated,

“This cooperation with Jeju Island is opening new possibilities for real-life application of blockchain DID authentication in the post-COVID-19 era. As more users directly experience safe and convenient DID service at scale, we will realize many more new ways that blockchain technology can be applied to their daily lives.”

Blockchain to the rescue

Blockchain can not only help in tracking public health data surveillance for infectious disease outbreaks by helping the agencies to keep track of the virus activity, of patients, suspected new cases, and more, it can also solve major issues pertaining to donation at a grim time such as current one.

Blockchain can further help in assisting global organizations such as WHO and other health organizations to come together and update each other about the current situation, tackling methodologies, breakthroughs and work towards a common goal to prevent it from worsening further.

The World Health Organization was reportedly working on blockchain and other tech companies on a program to help forward data about the ongoing pandemic, named MiPasa. Built on top of Hyperledger Fabric in partnership with IBM, computer firm Oracle, MiPasa is expected to help with early detection of the virus as well as identify carriers and hotspots.

Even cryptocurrency firms were not far behind. Binance was the first crypto-exchange to respond to the global outbreak. The CZ-led platform launched the “Binance for Wuhan” project and committed to a donation of medical supplies worth $1.4 million.

Following its suit was BitMEX’s operator HDR Global Trading Limited, which announced a grant of $2.5 million to help fight the virus. The grant was reportedly directed towards Gates Philanthropy Partners, Nuclear Threat Initiative, OpenMined, and Our World in Data.

The Stellar Foundation, as well as its rival Ripple Labs, announced donations worth millions for the cause.

Additionally, a decentralized AI hackathon launched by the Decentralized Artificial Intelligence Alliance [DAIA] in a bid to support the medical community in providing solutions and brought together global AI and blockchain projects and developers to create intelligent decentralized tools to combat the pandemic and reduce risks from future infectious outbreaks.

Unregistered Crypto Firms Flagged by Philippines Financial Watchdog

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The financial regulator of the Philippines, Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has warned investors to be on alert to three unregistered crypto firms. The authority warned that the three companies might be potential scams, as they are not yet registered with appropriate government agencies.

Forsage among unregistered crypto firms flagged

Three flagged cryptocurrency firms are Forsage, RCashOnline, and The Saint John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta Foundation of the Philippines, Inc. The securities regulator warned the public that none of the above-mentioned firms had secured the relevant operating licenses or submitted documents for registration, leaving investors susceptible to fraud.

In its statement, the Philippines SEC asked investors to remain cautious when investing in companies with cryptocurrency. Notably, the Securities Regulation Code states that any individual engaged in illegal investment projects will face up to 21 years behind bars, in addition to P5 million ($100,891) in fines.

Forsage cryptocurrency firm, which Lado Okhotnikov created, is not listed with any relevant authority. It does not, therefore, have the lawful right to implore investment or sell crypto products. Moreover, the watchdog said the other unregistered crypto firm, RCashOnline, is not recognized as a partnership or a corporation.

Crypto scams on the rise amid COVID-19 pandemic

On the other hand, Saint John’s license was revoked as far back as 2003 due to refusal to report obligations. The warning by the Philippines SEC is the latest of caution to investors on blacklisted companies. In particular, investors have been warned to remain more careful than before when handing out their money during this coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) warned that crypto-related scams are surging due to the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. Besides, the government of Singapore revealed that the nation had seen a substantial rise in ransomware attacks in 2019. 

South Korean NGO Developing Digital Healthcare Platform on Blockchain

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South Korean non-governmental organization, the Commons Foundation, has announced its project to develop a digital health platform on the blockchain to combat pandemics following the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Digital Today report, the NGO will use blockchain public services to develop an epidemiological research system that matches the upcoming post coronavirus age.

Digital healthcare platform to use a public blockchain

Notably, the report cites the concerns expressed by the chairman of the Commons Foundation, Choi Yong-gwan, about the infringement of personal information as a result of the emergency COVID-19. This has led the South Korean NGO to develop a digital solution to the situation. As per Choi, a blockchain-based digital healthcare platform will help prevent future pandemics from having such an effect in South Korea.

According to the Commons Foundation, a public blockchain called MicroBitcoin will be used to set up a research system. The NGO noted that the robustness, security and state-of-the-art technology of MicroBitcoin were the primary considerations to prevent hackers from compromising the digital health platform.

In particular, the healthcare system will encrypt all personal data on the public distributed ledger platform in order to avoid forgery and to boost the authenticity of the data. As per the NGO, the system will provide a private key through cell phone verification and record the motions of users in the city on the blockchain-based platform.

Monitoring confirmed coronavirus cases through blockchain technology

If individual Y is confirmed to have contracted coronavirus, they can directly feed their encryption key value on the blockchain-based healthcare system and provide information that cannot be altered to an epidemiologist. Research experts can afterward plan to visit person Y and ascertain a better method to ensure a fast examination is carried out. Choi stated:
“It is important to quickly overcome the pandemic, but it will become more important in the post-corona era to protect the individual’s freedom and human rights while wisely overcoming the pandemic.”

Furthermore, Korea’s second major city, Busan, recently developed an identification system on a public blockchain to authenticate citizen information. Moreover, Korea’s Suseong University partnered with the Korea Artificial Intelligence Association, or KORAIA, to develop an AI blockchain-based campus in Daegu

Coronavirus Pandemic to Trigger CBDC Development Globally

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The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) anticipates the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on retail payments to trigger positive development of CBDC globally. BIS is a Swiss-based international organization comprised of 60 central banks. The organization has released several reports centered on decentralization, cryptocurrencies, and central bank digital currencies (CBDC). CBDCs refer to state-issued cryptocurrencies, whose legal tender depends on the regulatory structure of a government.

Coronavirus impact on global payments

BIS ‘latest June 24 report suggests that the coronavirus pandemic has inflicted extreme changes in retail settlements. In addition, the report outlines the advantages and disadvantages of the current payment systems.

The report, for starters, highlights the rapid deterioration of fiat payments due to the risk of transmitting the virus between traders and consumers. And the economic uncertainty has caused “precautionary holdings” in fiat, leading to a decline in daily cash transactions.

Around the same time, restrictions levied by national governments, such as closing down tangible shops, have contributed to a steady decline in payment settlement on e-commerce. Besides, the fall in travel has led to a decrease in international visa transactions, and a substantial decline in remittances from migrants.

BIS says both of these changes show the benefits and limitations of the current payment system. Digital payment systems, on the other hand, have made it possible for many commercial operations to operate given the great disruption to daily activities.

“The crisis has amplified calls for greater access to digital payments by vulnerable groups and for more inclusive, lower-cost payment services going forward.”

Opportunity for CBDC development globally

In this regard, the BIS report outlines that CBDC development is globally at the frontier of policy opportunities “for central financial authorities;” could amount to a sea change. ” It notes that a successful CBDC could provide” a new, secure, trusted, and widely accessible digital payment method.

The BIS also noted that it would continue to offer its assistance to central banks worldwide in CBDC research and design. The organization has demanded global cooperation to ensure that post-COVID-19, future changes in international payments will be less split, more comprehensive, and more productive.

Report: North Korea Hacking Group Targeting Government COVID-19 Stimulus Checks

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Popular North Korea hacking group, Lazarus Group, is preparing to launch a massive cyberattack this weekend. According to a report by the Internet security company Cyfirma, the infamous North Korean hacking group, the attack will take place after the government distributes the COVID-19 stimulus checks.

The notorious hacking syndicate may target Americans who are recipients of government stimulus checks, and all the recipients of stimulus checks worldwide. The group has planned a phishing strategy according to the report, targeting some specific 5 million individuals and companies, bridging across the United States, UK, Japan , India, Singapore and South Korea.

North Korea hacking group plans to impersonate government officials

The internet security firm anticipates the group to launch the attack this weekend for two days, impacting small, medium, and large businesses, on top of individual people. The plan is to lure these individuals by mimicking a government official, or the governing body in the victim’s country.

According to Cryfirma, if the individuals fall for the trap, they may then disclose information that the North Korea hacking group can use to access vital accounts. The report reads: 

“The hacking campaign involved using phishing emails under the guise of local authorities in charge of dispensing government-funded Covid-19 support initiatives. These phishing emails are designed to drive recipients to fake websites where they will be deceived into divulging personal and financial information.”

Massive phishing strategy

Every nation included in the report is undertaking some stimulus, either for businesses, its citizens, or even both of them. All the strategies outlined by Cryfirma in the report involve luring the victims by extra payouts, to squeeze out more private information, maybe to sell on the dark web.

Furthermore, the internet security firm has highlighted some emails that are likely to be used in the phishing plan. Cryfirma has identified the following emails as impersonator accounts:

covid19notice@usda.gov;

ccff-applications@bankofengland.co.uk;

covid-support@mom.gov.sg; 

covid-support@mof.go.jp; 

ncov2019@gov.in; 

fppr@korea.kr.