North Korea-based cybercriminals are suspected to be using untraceable alternative cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, to convert stolen funds into cash. According to an NK News report, an unpublished United Nations Panel of Experts report states that North Korea-backed hackers have stolen approximately $1.5 billion in cryptocurrencies and they were converting a portion of that amount into cash. Using altcoins, mixers and loosely regulated exchanges The hackers deliberately transact using privacy-focused altcoins as they are hard to trace and track, moving the stolen assets to loosely regulated cryptocurrency exchanges that have minimal customer identification requirements. The U.N. experts reportedly state that the …

COVID-19 is the most devastating plague to ravage humankind this century. Every day, the number of patients infected with the coronavirus is rising globally and taking the highest human toll in the United States. The highly infectious virus was first contracted in November 2019 in Wuhan, the capital city of China’s Hubei province, through horseshoe bat-to-human contact at the Huanan seafood market. Many of the initial COVID-19 patients were either stall owners, market employees or regular visitors of the market, who rapidly developed a severe respiratory illness. Despite the market being shut down on Jan. 1, 2020, the virus has …

The popular ‘.io’ domain name has become part of a complaint against the United Kingdom for alleged human rights violations tied to its continuing administration of territories in the Indian Ocean. Sales of the ‘.io’ domain name are being contested as a part of a complaint filed by former islanders of the Chagos Archipelago, which has been at the center of a territorial dispute between Mauritius, a former British colony, and the U.K. since the 1980s. Now highly popular with numerous crypto, blockchain and other tech companies — not to mention various scams — ‘.io’ was formally the country code …

One of the linchpins of the internet is the ability to access and share data seamlessly. Whether it’s financial metrics for an institution or something as innocuous as a meme, the internet’s distinct pathways of protocols and standardization are the ideal medium for exchanging information. That transmissibility of information has not translated well to specific industries, however. Regulatory moats, cumbersome and outdated database architecture, and poorly designed user interfaces are a hindrance to major industries — particularly healthcare. Even in the United States, where healthcare standards are high, onerous regulatory processes inhibit the ability of doctors to adequately share patient …

Blockchain has become one of the most discussed technologies in relation to supply chain management, given its ability to provide transparency and traceability within a number of value chains. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently published a report titled “Blockchain Application in Seafood Value Chains” to raise governmental and international awareness on the role of blockchain in the seafood industry. Key points highlighted throughout the document point to regulatory concerns that arise with global trade, appropriate use cases for blockchain and challenges — such as scalability and interoperability — that need to be addressed in order …

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the world both economically and socially, serving to aggravate political tensions while driving nationalist protectionism. Despite the full extent of the pandemic being not yet fully known, COVID-19 has reignited a conversation among media and academia regarding the fate of neoliberalism and globalization. If we were to extrapolate based on recent data, it would appear that de-globalization is accelerating. Major indicators of globalization, such as global trade and foreign direct investments, started plateauing a decade ago. Facing challenges of diminishing returns and an ever-widening wealth gap, various developed democracies seem to …

Could this be the year the world gets serious about cryptocurrency taxation? The coronavirus pandemic, after all, could cost the global economy as much as $4.1 trillion — or almost 5% of global gross domestic product — according to the Asian Development Bank. Governments will soon be looking to tap all possible income sources to balance their budgets, including crypto, say tax experts. “At some point, somebody is going to have to pick up the bill” for the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic stimulus packages, Peter Brewin, a PwC tax partner in Hong Kong, told Cointelegraph, adding: “We can …

According to NASA, the World Meteorological Organization and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce, the last 10 years leading up to the end of 2019, as well as the last winter, has been confirmed as the warmest decade on record. Yet, nature produced another warning for humanity in Australia with the severe 2019–2020 bushfire season that led to the burning of 21% of the country’s forested area. With the devastating coronavirus pandemic spreading across the globe and disrupting the way we live our lives, this gives us an indication of …

Newly released Blockchain 50 list by major finance publication Forbes features some new entrants like major international association, the United Nations. Shortly after including six blockchain-focused firms into its Fintech 50 list last week, Forbes has released another compilation of 50 global enterprises actively embracing blockchain technology. Newcomers include the United Nations, China Construction Bank, Square and others Published on Feb. 19, the new Forbes’ Blockchain 50 list is the second release of its annual Blockchain 50, which was first introduced in April 2019. Similarly to last year’s edition, the new compilation includes industry giants like Amazon, Microsoft, JPMorgan, Google, …

Every week sears a new image of climate change into our collective consciousness. A few decades ago, we heard about ozone holes and ice melting at slightly higher rates than anticipated. Today, the reminders of climate change are more visceral and immediate: California’s hills and forests burn, Venice’s city council chamber floods, and Iceland holds a funeral for a glacier. The United Nations held a global Climate Summit at the end of September last year, though there were real disappointments — with the United States notable for its silence. Political and business leaders alike agreed that more needed to be …

Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith entered a plea of not guilty Thursday afternoon in a Southern District of New York courthouse. Griffith is charged with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after traveling to North Korea (DRPK) in April 2019 to attend a cryptocurrency conference. If convicted, Griffth, who once called himself a “disruptive technologist” whose aim was to “make the Internet a better and more interesting place,” could face up to 20 years in prison. He traveled up from Alabama to attend the arraignment and appeared composed throughout, answering with a firm “Innocent” when Judge Castel asked …

On Jan. 15, the United Nations warned that attending North Korea’s cryptocurrency conference in February will likely constitute a sanctions violation. According to Reuters, this notice was issued in a confidential report that will be submitted to the U.N. Security Council later this month. The warning comes after a series of events sparked suspicion around North Korea’s growing interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency. In August, a panel monitoring the enforcement of U.N. sanctions reported that North Korean agents have generated about $2 billion by stealing money from financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges. The leaked report notes that North Korea is …