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If you take a look at the MNO monitor then you will see the only paying program featured there at the moment is ShuttleRent. And that is because over the last year or so all the professional admins seem to be rare to find – they have either retired, or just suspended their HYIP activities hoping for brighter days to come at some time in the future. In fact, the post-pandemic world wasn’t the best time to start a HYIP at all, and that is why we are facing so many fast scams from all types of chancers rather than dealing with the utmost professionals we got used to in the past. Yet, MNO is still on the lookout for such admins and won’t be listing any junk simply for the chance to earn ref commissions. In fact, even listing such an impressive program like ShuttleRent which has been paying for three years already (and without any issues at all) is enough for me for the time being.

ShuttleRent, if you forget, allows you to earn 3% daily Monday through Friday while the interest reduced to 1.25% on Saturdays and Sundays. That gives you the chance to earn a decent 125.5% return over the period of 50 calendar days. At the moment, ShuttleRent only accepts deposits via Tether USD and Tron, but more cryptocurrencies will be available soon, so stay tuned for more announcement about that on the MNO blog when it happens!

While speaking of the cryptocurrency market, it seems to be stalling at the moment since recording another upward trend earlier last week. Still, the outlook is quite positive and the latest news from the wider world economy should add to those optimistic views and expectations from investors preferring riskier options to diversify their portfolios. The latest news from the crypto market and the surrounding areas will be in the focus of today’s Weekly CryptoNews Digest on MNO. And the last seven days from January 23 to January 29 will be the dates I’ve been covering. Let’s start, shall we?

WHITE HOUSE CALLS FOR FURTHER CRYPTO REGULATION

The White House has published a statement urging Congress to step up its efforts to regulate the cryptocurrency market with a wish list of actions the administration would like to see taken. The letter discourages Congress from giving a green light to mainstream institutions like pension funds to dive headlong into cryptocurrency markets, warning that it deepens ties between cryptocurrencies and the broader financial system.

A statement issued jointly by several policy advisors representing such fields as national security, economic policy, and science and technology urged Congress to expand regulators’ powers to prevent misuses of customers’ assets and to mitigate conflicts of interest. Other suggestions for Congress in the statement included strengthening transparency and disclosure requirements for crypto companies, strengthening penalties for violations of illicit-finance rules, and working more closely with international law enforcement partners. Failure to do so, the officials warned, would be a grave mistake that deepens ties between cryptocurrencies and the broader financial system. Though the spectacular collapses of neither the ill-fated LUNA Stablecoin nor the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX were directly named in the statement, the effects of both loomed large over the officials’ guidance, which called 2022 “a tough year for cryptocurrencies” plagued by the implosion of “a so-called ‘stablecoin’ prompting a wave of insolvencies” and the subsequent downfall of “a major cryptocurrency exchange.” “Some cryptocurrency entities ignore applicable financial regulations and basic risk controls … In addition, cryptocurrency platforms often mislead consumers, have conflicts of interest, fail to make adequate disclosures, or commit outright fraud,” they wrote.

BINANCE ADMITS TO MIXING CLIENT FUNDS

Binance has admitted to mixing client funds with reserve crypto assets meaning there was no segregation between client assets and its collateral accounts. A spokesperson for the company said the funds were mixed in error and maintained that its clients’ assets were backed by enough collateral to meet any withdrawal claims.

The exchange issued 94 so-called Binance-peg tokens (B-Tokens), and reserves for almost half of those are stored in a cold wallet called Binance 8. The wallet contains more tokens than required for the number of B-Tokens issued. Since the tokens are supposed to be backed 1:1, the excess indicates the collateral is being mixed with customers’ tokens, according the explanation.

A statement offered by Binance went on to say “Collateral assets have previously been moved into this wallet in error and referenced accordingly on the B-Token Proof of Collateral page. Binance is aware of this mistake and is in the process of transferring these assets to dedicated collateral wallets.”

Assets held with the exchange “have been and continue to be backed 1:1,” the spokesperson said. When collateral is pooled together and used for trading, it’s locked up, and clients or holders of assets may not be able to withdraw if the pool is reduced, or in layman’s terms meaning that there is no segregation of assets between clients’ funds and any collateral used. This could lead to the rightful owner of the funds not being able to withdraw due to lack of reserves or liquidity by the exchange. This could resonate like what FTX and Alameda did on a daily basis. An audit would generally highlight such shortcomings and ask to remedy it immediately. If Binance was regulated, this would be an essential part of their internal controls.

Binance has faced scrutiny since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and FTX’s affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research. As a result, Binance sought to boost confidence in its platform by issuing a “proof-of-reserves” report from accounting firm Mazars in December. The report showed that Binance’s customer bitcoin (BTC) reserves were overcollateralized. In a further statement from the company it was clarified that “Binance holds all of its clients’ assets in segregated accounts, which are identified separately from any accounts used to hold assets belonging to Binance. Binance does not invest or otherwise deploy user assets without consent under the terms of specific products.”

US BANKS PLAN A DIGITAL WALLET TO RIVAL PAYPAL AND APPLEPAY

Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and four other banks are close to debuting a digital wallet, according to reports on Monday. Though some of these financial institutions have been in the game for literally centuries, they now find themselves struggling to keep up with evolving technology and compete with the likes of Apple Pay, PayPal, and Venmo.

So what exactly is the big idea behind old school Main Street banks getting into this area now? Convenience and security. To put it simply. To paraphrase the old American Express ads, folks today don’t leave home without their phone, but carrying both that and a wallet can get annoying. Plus, digital wallets are a lot quicker for online shopping. While phones can be just as easily stolen as real physical wallets, the digital wallets within phones often come with extra layers of security like facial recognition. They’re also highly encrypted, meaning thieves won’t get your info even if they hack your favorite coffee shop. Still, not every place accepts digital payments just yet, so you might want keep carrying cash for smaller “walking around” type expenses.

The yet-to-be-named digital wallet would be managed by Early Warning Services, the same company that handles Zelle – a money wiring platform that’s restricted to specific bank accounts. It’s set to release in the second half of the year with Visa and Mastercard already on board, sources told the WSJ. Executives like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon have long been fintech doomsayers and claimed that traditional banks, are right to be scared by companies like Paypal and Square. So the digital wallet is the latest step by banks to at least put up a fight against their Silicon Valley rivals. Big Tech companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon already have built-in customer bases, so getting those same people to start using digital wallets isn’t a big stretch. By 2019, 64% of the globe was using at least one fintech app, according to some stats, and that market is expected to reach $10.3 trillion by 2028. For the fintech sector, digital lending funding was down 53% year-over-year, falling to $11.5 billion in 2022, according other news reports, but then traditional banks were hit even harder. Globally, banking funding fell by 63%.

Beating competitors is no doubt very satisfying, but buying them outright is so much easier. In the past few years, traditional banks have invested heavily in fintech firms that could pose any threat. In September, JP Morgan purchased the cloud payment firm Renovite. In 2022 Truist acquired Long Game, which is like a gamified version of banking, to appeal to a younger demographic. In November news reports said that fintech valuations have plunged, and now is a good time for banks to pounce on them to bolster their tech and digital payment departments.

BLOCKFI REVEALS DEPTH OF CONTAGION FROM FTX BANKRUPTCY

Bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi had over $1.2 billion in assets tied up with Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX and Alameda Research, according to financials that had previously been redacted but were mistakenly uploaded on Tuesday without the redactions. BlockFi’s exposure to FTX was greater than prior disclosures suggested. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in late November, following the collapse of FTX, which had agreed to rescue the struggling lender before its own meltdown. The balance shown in the unredacted BlockFi filing includes $415.9 million worth of assets linked to FTX and $831.3 million in loans to Alameda. Those figures are as of January 14. Both of Bankman-Fried’s firms were wrapped into FTX’s November bankruptcy, which sent the crypto markets reeling. Lawyers for BlockFi had said earlier that the loan to Alameda was valued at $671 million, while there were an additional $355 million in digital assets frozen on the FTX platform. Bitcoin and ether have since rallied, lifting the value of those holdings. The financial presentation was assembled by M3 Partners, an advisor to the creditor committee. The firm is represented by law firm Brown Rudnick and is entirely composed of BlockFi clients who are owed money by the bankrupt lender.

SOUTH KOREA TO ESTABLISH CRYPTOCURRENCY TRACKING SYSTEM

The Ministry of Justice in South Korea announced plans to introduce a crypto-tracking system to counter money laundering initiatives and recover funds linked to criminal activities. The “Virtual Currency Tracking System” will be used to monitor transaction history, extract information related to transactions and check the source of funds before and after remittance, according to local media sources. While the system is slated to be deployed in the first half of 2023, the South Korean ministry shared plans to develop an independent tracking and analysis system in the second half of the year. The South Korean police previously established an agreement with five local crypto exchanges to cooperate in criminal investigations and ultimately create a safe trading environment for crypto investors.

UK COURT GIVES A 4 ½ YEAR SENTENCE FOR CRYPTO THEFT

Finally for this week’s news digest, if you are one of those people who think cyber criminals remain anonymous and always get away with what they steal, think again. It took a five year investigation but a man with the unlikely name of Wybbo Wirsma (who’s actually a Dutch native) was convicted of stealing $2.5 million in cryptocurrencies last week. He picks up a four and a half year prison stretch for his troubles, ridiculously lax considering the scale of his crime (imagine what you’d get in the US prison system for stealing the same amount from a bank let’s say) and even softer considering the UK policy of releasing all prisoners after not more than 50% of their sentence. But still, at least he was investigated, arrested, tried, and convicted.

News reports did not detail how, or even if, the more than 100 victims worldwide can have their funds returned. Considering that many of these people lost their businesses which consequently led to others with no connections to the fraud itself losing their jobs, plus others losing their life savings, it isn’t really that much of a deterrent for other criminals to try their luck. The risk versus reward ratio still seems very much stacked in their favor, but at least this case is a start. I imagine the courts are inclined to be even more lenient than usual if most of the victims are located outside the UK jurisdiction and judges might not get to hear proper impact statements from thos affected.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the most important events that happened in the crypto world over the last seven days. As for what might happen in the upcoming business week, you will read more on that in next Monday’s Weekly CryptoNews Digest on MNO. Stay tuned for that, guys!

GET PAID REPORT FOR 30/01/2023

Here is the list of the programs from my monitor that paid me for the last 168 hours:
From MNO Sticky list: –
From MNO Premium list: –
From MNO Standard list: –
From MNO Basic list: ShuttleRent.

That’s about all I have to report on the MNO blog tonight, guys. Please remember that the poll on the MNO TalkBack page is still open for your votes for another week, so take a moment and click here to take part! Thanks in advance for your participation, guys. Have a successful week ahead of you and talk to you again soon on MNO – For Money Lovers!