Last Monday, I scheduled tasks and articles for the next five days. I put enough room just in case there was breaking news. And what a breaking news it was. 

It wasn’t really crypto related, but GCash’s “hacking” incident was relevant to our audience because, we are assuming, every reader of this website holds a GCash account or at least familiar with it (and who isn’t).

Elsewhere, memecoins went and gone, but the entire market is experiencing a downturn. Let’s check out the news for the week. Here’s the top news:

GCash Thwarts Hacking Attempt

On May 9, 2023, unauthorized transactions alerted several GCash customers, who immediately posted on social media about the said issue. What followed was an entire day dominated by GCash-related news. 

• Unauthorized transactions on GCash accounts, involving transfers to specific EastWest Bank and AUB accounts, have alarmed users.
• Several victims, including popular video creator and film director Chad Kinis, have reported significant losses due to these illegal transactions.
• By around afternoon, GCash said it had adjusted all funds.
• Full story here.

May 12, it appeared that GCash actually foiled a ₱37 million peso hacking attempt:

• GCash made it clear that no hacking occurred.
• They stopped a potential theft of funds after noticing a pattern of small withdrawals from multiple users all going to just two recipients at another bank.
• The transactions first appeared to be genuine but later found out to be authorized by hackers using data obtained through phishing methods.
• A resolution was filed before the Philippine congress to investigate what happened.

Regulation and Policy

Binance Says Goodbye to Canada

On the global front, Binance announced its exit in Canada amid regulator issues. 

• Binance said it is joining “other prominent businesses in proactively withdrawing” from Canada.
  • From the tweet, Binance said the new guidance around crypto in Canada made no longer “tenable” for the company.
• Canada is a small crypto market, but it’s noteworthy because CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is a Canadian citizen and he considers it a place that holds sentimental value for him. 

Do Kwon is out, for now

Next, Do Kwon is out of jail after paying a six-figure bail in Montenegro where he was arrested.

• He tried to flee using a Costa Rican passport.
• The U.S. and South Korea are both trying to extradite him.

Some more indictments

• Found Guilty: One former employee of Opensea used insider knowledge, basically they know when a particular asset will be featured on OpenSea’s homepage, so they bought them before they do get highlighted.
  • The person involved was Nathan Chastain, whose insider trading first came to light in September 2021. He was charged in June 2022 and is set to be sentenced in August 2023.
  • The government said Chastain made $57,000 in profit based on the above scheme. Chastain argued he never realized gain because he never converted. He also argued that NFT’s are not securities or commodities, and that he did not commit money laundering because all the transactions are public.
• A Coinbase employee was engaged in a crypto-tipping scheme, he was sentenced to two years in jail.

Industry Developments

Wei Fast

On the local front, Coins.ph is really getting fast in putting up trading pairs for new tokens. 

• Last week, Coins listed Pepe and Floki, two popular memecoins.
• Coins listed the two memecoins just one day after Binance did.
• CEO Wei Zhou was quoted “It (listing new tokens) will only get faster from here.”

Also with Coins.ph, it has set up a RON validator node together with entrepreneur and online personality Kookoo Crypto TV.

Wins and Updates

• Finblox is launching “Finlaunch” which will enable entrepreneurs to launch their blockchain projects.
• Binance Academy has completed its first university tour in the Philippines.
• YGG Pilipinas (which joined Binance in one of the university tours) is set to host a web3 community summit this July.
• Blockchain Network Philippines is joining the Inter BPO League, the only blockchain company to be part of it. 

Market Trends

It’s still memecoin season, but not in a good way. Meme darling Pepe lost 60% in a span of 7 days. Bitcoin meanwhile is holding on to $26,000 levels.

• It appeared the “top” for Pepe and Floki happened immediately after Binance listed the two memecoins in its “innovation zone” (where riskier coins are listed).
• The listing was first postponed but still went smoothly. Binance has also put Floki and Pepe trading pairs on its margin products.

Things to Note: AI

AI is here. Luis Buenaventura, author of Crptoday, wrote about how to prevent AI from taking over our jobs. Here are some more articles on BitPinas:

Things to Note: Crypto

What’s Next?

We are excited to announce that exactly one year after his first interview on BitPinas, Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, will join us again for another conversation about the future of Coins.ph.

The interview will be held on May 17th, with the final time to be confirmed on Monday.

For more on the latest news on cryptocurrency in the Philippines always check out BitPinas.

This article is published on BitPinas: GCash Hacking Attempt | Weekly Crypto News Roundup May 14, 2023

Disclaimer: BitPinas articles and its external content are not financial advice. The team serves to deliver independent, unbiased news to provide information for Philippine-crypto and beyond.

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• Source: https://bitpinas.com/feature/philippines-crypto-news-roundup-may-14-2023/