ZachXBT, a well-known on-chain investigator, claims that Monkey Drainer, a phishing scammer, has stolen over 700 ETH (equal to $700,000) worth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens in the last 24 hours, amounting to about $1 million.
How did the Monkey Drainer Scam?
According to ZachXBT, the two biggest victims, 0x02a and 0x626, lost a total of $370,000 after approving transactions on phishing websites controlled by the serial fraudster. A total amount of $150,000 worth of non-fungible tokens (NFT) were apparently lost by 0x02a, including 1 Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection, 1 CloneX, 36,000 USDC, and 12 additional NFT.
In the last few weeks, the suspected scammer has been successful in tricking several victims. The researcher claims that the amount of money stolen in the scam has exceeded $3.5 million and is continuing to rise.
Over 7,300 transactions have been performed by the hacker throughout his several months of operation.
APY, BMI, SHOPX, XED, and PMON, among other low-cap projects, were allegedly promoted by well-known crypto influencer Lark Davis before being dumped on the community's uninformed users, according to ZachXBT. He allegedly earned $1 million as a result.
Both of these victims were only a few of the numerous people who had their money taken by Monkey Drainer. According to a tweet from ZachXBT, more than $3.5 million has been stolen in total, and the figure is growing daily.
ZachXBT advised to the users to exercise "extreme caution" before linking their wallets to untrusted websites and signing transactions.
However, ZachXBT discovered a new phishing scheme in August when victims lost more than $2.5 million worth of NFTs. Five individuals associated with the BAYC collecting scheme were indicted in Paris earlier in October.
Phishing scams sometimes include criminals disseminating links to websites that pose as legitimate initiatives or businesses to trick users into divulging private information by promising a thrilling purchasing opportunity or a no-cost promotion.
The Monkey Drainer has been associated with four specific addresses, including the monkey-drainer.eth address.
Web3 Security Community Wallet Guard Responded
The blockchain-based Web3 security network Chainabuse now displays a lengthy series of reports about airdrop frauds, NFT scams, and phishing assaults when searching these addresses.
A handful of the reported cases are phony Aptos Airdrops, a false Wolf Game, Bored Ape Yacht Club marketplace, and airdrop frauds via the Astrobot Society discord channel.
ZachXBT's Twitter thread received a response from the Web3 security community Wallet Guard, which claimed to have "seen multiple additional mint sites recently constructed" with Monkey Drainer on the backend, including a bogus Garbage Friends whitelist link that led to a phishing website.
In the last few years, ZachXBT has established himself as a reputable independent blockchain investigator and exposed numerous instances of criminal activity in the industry.
Christophe Durand, the deputy head of France's national cyber unit, even acknowledged ZachXBT's efforts earlier this month for aiding authorities in locating five people accused of using phishing to steal NFTs valued at $2.5 million.
Conclusion
Even though 2022 has been a challenging year for the cryptocurrency market, phishing attempts continue to target cryptocurrency on social media. Phishing attacks rose from 106 to 290 in the second quarter, a 170% rise, according to blockchain analysis company CertiK.
The Coin Rise claimed that in a more recent event, hackers chose to target several FTX users and were successful in obtaining cryptocurrency worth $1.26. In previous incidents, hackers have taken control of Gate.io, an exchange platform's official Twitter account. The three biggest social media hubs for cryptocurrency frauds are now Discord, Telegram, and Twitter.
The Merge, an upgrade to the Ethereum [ETH] network that has been much awaited, has piqued the curiosity of many individuals. The proof-of-work (PoW) phase of the network's development will come to an end as it makes preparations to transition to the proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol. As a direct consequence of this, the network will almost certainly be upgraded, and it will also be greatly affected by the shift.
The Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm is being replaced with the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm with the Merge update (PoS). In addition to this, it will change the role of miners to that of stakers, who will be responsible for verifying transactions on the blockchain.
Sharding is another essential part of the Ethereum ecosystem, which became an important part after the Ethereum Merge. The blockchain will be made more robust as a result of sharding, which is a crucial component of Ethereum 2.0.
What is the Ethereum merge?
The Ethereum blockchain, which powers the second most valuable cryptocurrency and many other technologies in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, such as non-fungible tokens, will get an update in the form of The Merge (NFTs). It's anticipated to take place in September.
The proof-of-work paradigm is now used to power the Ethereum blockchain, much as it is used to power the Bitcoin blockchain. This approach requires nodes, which are individual computers that are connected to a larger network, to compete with one another to solve difficult mathematical problems. Those who are successful are then able to mine the subsequent block of a transaction and produce additional currencies.
The update will move Ethereum toward the proof-of-stake paradigm, which is a system that is both more ecologically friendly and efficient in terms of the use of energy. It involves selecting nodes via the use of an algorithm that gives precedence to nodes that possess a greater amount of a network's money than any other nodes.
What exactly does "Ethereum Sharding" mean?
The word "sharding" is a fundamental concept derived from the field of computer science. It refers to the practice of horizontally slicing a database to help distribute the workload more evenly. Sharding Ethereum will be an update implemented in stages, each of which will contribute to scaling Ethereum and increasing its capacity.
The task of separating and equitably dispersing the load of a huge quantity of data may be simplified with the help of the sharding technique. Because of this distribution, the load will be less, there will be less congestion in the network, and the processing of transactions will go more quickly.
The blockchain will eventually break into shards, each of which will be able to operate independently of the others. Sharding will enable safe data storage needs distribution, make rollups cheaper, and make it simpler to operate nodes. It will also simplify the operation of nodes.
Through the use of sharding, the hardware requirements for operating a node may be reduced. Because it will allow users to operate the network using a laptop or even a phone, it will also help to increase the number of people who participate in the network.
When is it going to be available?
According to the statement made by the Ethereum Foundation, the first implementation of sharding will take place sometime in 2023. It relies mostly on the amount of development that may be made after the merger. Depending on how swiftly development develops after The Merge, the release of Sharding is projected to take place sometime in 2023. The capacity of Ethereum to store and retrieve data will be increased thanks to these shards; nevertheless, these shards will not be utilized for the execution of code.
On Tuesday, the inventor of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, said that the Ethereum merge is projected to take place "around" September 13 to September 15 and that this date is now on schedule. This is the day at which the proof-of-work consensus technique that requires a lot of energy will be abandoned by the second biggest cryptocurrency in the world.
The market shifts
The merging is only the most recent improvement to the Ethereum blockchain, which is being done in the interest of establishing a trustworthy decentralized environment for the future of money. The transition to proof of stake delivers several advantages, one of which is the alleviation of worries around energy use.
Block transactions are validated using proof of stake by validators who have bet a certain amount of their tokens on the outcome of the transaction. The greater the number of tokens that a person has linked to the blockchain, the greater the likelihood that they will be randomly selected to serve as a network validator.
In contrast to this, proof of work is an energy-intensive technique that depends on computers to solve mathematical formulas to mine tokens. This rate of energy consumption is a key critique of proof of work, which will remain the basis of Bitcoin mining when Ethereum abandons the procedure. Despite this criticism, proof of work remains the foundation of Bitcoin mining.
Apart from the problem with energy, and on top of the recent meltdowns of crypto lenders, the cryptocurrency sector as a whole is facing a multitude of macroeconomic issues. These concerns range from political tensions to high inflation rates to hawkish national monetary policies. These large-scale variables are generally regarded as the spark that ignited the latest bear market.
Price pressures are seen lately
In November of 2021, the price of a bitcoin hit an all-time high, which was $69,000. Since then, the price of Bitcoin along with the rest of the market has suffered as a result of the challenging economic circumstances. The short-term price forecast for the most popular cryptocurrency is still unclear as Bitcoin's price continues to fluctuate and encounters some resistance near $20,000.
It is not apparent what type of event or change may assist Bitcoin is making a comeback. As the volatility of leading cryptocurrencies continues to worry mainstream investors, they may become more critical of the fundamentals of Bitcoin. Furthermore, the network upgrades that Ethereum is planning to implement to position its ecosystem as the currency of the future could place even more pressure on Bitcoin's usability.
Vitalik Buterin voiced his worries about Bitcoin's proof-of-work issuance model during an interview that took place one week ago with the journalist Noah Smith on the topic of security, governance, and consensus mechanism models. Buterin is concerned not just about the amount of energy that is being used in the present, but also about how the continuous issue of a proof-of-work token may impact future validation.
Following China's crackdown on cryptocurrency mining, which resulted in a large reduction in the proportion of renewable energy sources that power the network, the study was strengthened. Alex de Vries, a researcher and skeptic of cryptocurrencies, observed that "Bitcoin became dirtier following the Chinese mining crackdown in 2021."
Is the event being hyped unnecessarily?
However, not everyone is persuaded that this will result in Ethereum being the dominant cryptocurrency. The majority of the current narrative has been driven by the fact that analysts such as Glen Goodman from eToro have pointed out how the price of Ethereum has outperformed the price of Bitcoin in recent weeks. In the end, it is unclear what the future of Bitcoin will be like following the integration. There are several issues at play, including regulation, worries about energy use, and competitiveness. Inventors are apprehensive of the possible economic dangers at a time when their greatest rival is ready to claim a major technological advantage.
The cryptocurrency market is subjected to various changes and reformations since the time it was introduced into the financial system. Since then it has been adopted by many companies and organizations as their mode of payment. There have been various kinds of crypto that have gained real fame over time and the Ethereum community is one of them. As the merge has taken place, the Ethereum community has been keeping a watch over it very much proudly. Ethereum has taken its first steps or has started a new venture as a proof-of-stake consensus.
Let's talk about the much-awaited merge
The much-awaited merge has filled them with a lot of eagerness and the community has not been able to keep its calm since then. This event has been termed quite historic even by many. Moments following this event one of the users even minted the first ever nonfungible token. It was consensuses of the proof-of-stake. The merge took place quite recently and various changes have followed it.
This merge took place on the 15th of September. It took place in the block of 15537393. The announcement regarding it came right after it the decision about the mint as well as the sale of the NFT. The NDT has also been referred to as a time capsule. It is specifically for a time capsule of the first NFT mint as well as the iconic panda face. This particular NFT was purchased very recently as well as very quickly for 36 ether.
This event was even tweeted by various trustworthy crypto information sources. It was a much talked about event to have taken place.
A look at all the tweets that followed and the information they contained
After the announcement about the PoS NFT was made, several tweets followed it. It was so much that it almost exploded on Twitter. There on been various positive as well as critical comments on the same. There have been some users who questioned the decision made by the authorities, whereas there were some who thought of it as the best decision ever made. There have been various other users who have even questioned whether the Merge panda is going to become the new ape.
This comment was made in the context of the iconic Bored Ape Yacht. With the emergence of the new system, a series of new somethings also appeared on the blockchain system. The authorities from different trusted sources such as Sheldon Evans, who is the founder of the Web3 lifestyle brand bloom, have also tweeted that this particular brand has formed the first ever official NFT collection to mint on the PoS network.
What the Ethereum community is boasting about?
There have been various users who have been seeking out different ways to showcase their achievements. While some have been showcasing their first ever minted digital assets there have been some who have been showing off their first purchase of the same. These purchases have been made on the very new system.
Conclusion
Consensys, another blockchain software company has also been trying to get more and more users to make their transactions on the PoS by the process of minting one of their NFTs. These commemorative NFTs are there to celebrate the Merge. This merger has also become the factor responsible for instigating various creative endeavors from different well-known and well-established companies. There have been various other displays of creativity one example of which is the Ethereum community coming together and creating a song for the event.
ETC Group has participated with a series of entities that have announced goals to support a potential proof of work (PoW) version of the Ethereum network.
The upgraded chain, should it finally appear following the network’s switch to a proof-of-stake (PoS) system, was earlier called ETHPoW and now it doesn’t exist.
All About ETP :
Though, the London-based crypto firm ETC Group aims to write down a new list of exchange-traded products (ETP). That is based on the native asset of the ETHPoW chain. It is issuing holders of its existing Ethereum ETP (ZETH) units of the new security at zero cost on a 1:1 unit basis.
This new ETP will be known as ETC Group Physical EthereumPoW (ETHWetc). It will be registered on Deutsche Borse’s Xetra under ticker ZETW, which is based on the imminent hard fork of Ethereum. The firm said that the official listing is expected to be held on September 16 this year which is shortly after the Beacon merge event.
What Is ETP?
An ETP is a kind of security. An ETP can be traded on a stock exchange. It must include its value tracking underlying security. For instance, an Ethereum ETP tracks the price of Ethereum. During that process, it allows investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency without the requirement to physically hold the asset.
The founder and co-CEO of ETC Group, Bradley Duke, noted in a statement, “When we launched ETC Group, we determined to holders of our digital asset-backed securities that the holders would profit from hard forks to the underlying digital assets and cryptocurrencies." He further added, "We believe that it is the only right that investors in our products and services should receive the profit of this fork."
Already Existed Token :
The Ethereum merge was resisted
Last month. A gang of crypto miners backed by Chinese entrepreneur Chandler Guo introduced a campaign to resist Ethereum’s upcoming transition to PoS by forking the network and developing an alternate form of Ethereum minable via the proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism.
Mainly, a version of the ETHPoW (ETHW) token is denoting a debt relationship between two parties. The token is already traded on multiple crypto exchanges such as Poloniex, MEXC,Gate.io, and Digifinex.
The largest crypto exchange in America, Coinbase recently stated that it will consider listing ETHW or other forked Ethereum tokens following the merge. But Binance did not abandon the possibility of eventually listing ETHW either.
On the other hand, the largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, OpenSea, said that any Ethereum forks will not be available on the platform. The platform is committed to only supporting NFTs on the upgraded Ethereum PoS chain.
At the beginning of August, A version of ETHW touched $141 amid an initial round of buzz in the spotlight. However, it has dropped heavily since then. The token has decreased 17.35% over the past 24 hours. It is now trading at $39.
Notably, Ethereum fell 7% recently. The token currently sits nearly at $1,544.
Conclusion :
Mentionable, the Ethereum merge is now the most anticipated upgrade in the market. It is about to launch between September 13 to 15. The merge is promised to enhance the main nets' performance through the PoS consensus mechanism. While the BTC is still running at the PoW mechanism. But the second top currency, ETH, believes to be more advanced in this competitive market. The upgrade will increase the transaction speed and reduce the fees. It will be a less energy-consuming service. The stakers are going to get a massive opportunity through this merger. Investors are getting their way back through this upgrade.
