With the first month of 2022 almost done and dusted, it certainly has been an eventful start to the New Year, with some fascinating developments setting the tone for what promises to be a bumper year. NYC mayor converts first paycheck to cryptocurrency; Ozzy Osbourne falls victim to crypto scam; JPMorgan Chase clamps down on crypto users with account closures; and Trump family distances itself from “fraud” TrumpCoin.
NYC mayor converts first paycheck to cryptocurrency
New York City mayor, Eric Adams, has made good on his promise to convert his first paycheck to cryptocurrency. The newly sworn-in mayor who took office on 1 January 2022 announced back in November 2021 – after winning the mayoral race – that he would take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin and Ether.
In a tweet on 5 November 2021, Adams said, “NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!” Crypto exchange – Coinbase – confirmed that Adam’s first paycheck was credited through a deposit service on 21 January 2022, although they did not reveal details of the split between ETH and BTC.
With the crypto industry – and Bitcoin in particular – taking a massive hit in recent weeks, it is estimated that Adam’s lost around $1,000 in value based on his first bi-weekly paycheck of $9,924.66, assuming there was an even split of Ether and Bitcoin deposited.
It remains to be seen if the new NYC mayor has the last laugh with this decision. Wisly will keep you up to date with the latest on this.
Ozzy Osbourne falls victim to crypto scam
Black Sabbath legend, Ozzy Osbourne, has fallen victim to crypto scammers who targets his exciting new NFT art project – CryptoBatz. Fans of the rock star were duped out of thousands of pounds in cryptocurrency after a phishing scam was shared by CryptoBatz official Twitter account.
In this elaborate scheme, hackers used an old URL on the CryptoBatz Twitter account and created a fake Discord chatroom with it. Links to the fraudulent URL were left on both CryptoBatz and Ozzy’s personal Twitter pages, adding credibility to it.
Fans flocked in their droves to the link’s destination, thinking that it was trustworthy, with many suffering devastating consequences as a result. The dodgy link on the CryptoBatz account received more than 4,000 retweets while over 1,300 people signed up for the fake Discord.
Suspiciously, each user was asked to connect their cryptocurrency wallets to the link’s destination for “verification” purposes. The scammers are thought to have got away with close to 14.6 ETH or £29,000, leaving investors in a tailspin.
The company collaborating with Osbourne on the CryptoBatz project – Sutter Systems – laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of Discord, saying, “Although we feel sorry for the people that have fallen prey to these scams, we cannot take responsibility for the actions of scammer exploiting Discord – a platform that we have absolutely no control over. In our opinion, this situation and hundreds of others that have taken place across other projects in the NFT space could have easily been prevented if Discord just had a better response/support/fraud team in place to help big projects like ours.”
As always, Wisly will keep you in the loop with the latest on this.
JPMorgan Chase clamps down on crypto with account closures
JP Morgan Chase has been actively targeting individuals and companies involved in the crypto industry by closing their bank accounts. In the latest case, Hayden Adams, founder of the biggest decentralised exchange protocol – Uniswap Protocol – had his accounts closed by the bank, much to his dismay.
Revealing the news on Twitter, Adams said that the US banking giant had suddenly closed his bank accounts without any explanation or prior notice. He tweeted, “This week @JPMORGAN @CHASE closed my bank accounts with no notice or explanation. I know many individuals and companies who have been similarly targeted simply for working in the crypto industry. Thanks for making it personal.”
While it may sound preposterous for a bank to suddenly close accounts because a person or company is involved in the crypto industry, analysts suggest the move is a display of power by financial institutions who want to make their sentiments towards the crypto market known.
Other customers have also fallen in the same boat as Adams, with the bank closing their accounts due to their dealings with cryptocurrencies and flagging those accounts for suspicious activities. Wisly will inform you of the very latest with this.
Trump family distances itself from “fraud” TrumpCoin
A meme coin dubbed “TrumpCoin” has grabbed the attention of members of the former US president, and they have not taken lightly to it – labelling it a fraud. TrumpCoin’s website indicates that it launched on 20 February 2016 in honour of former President Trump and described itself as the #1 Patriot Cryptocurrency on its Twitter account.
Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, appeared livid and said that TrumpCoin had no association with the Trump family and mentioned that legal action would be forthcoming. In a tweet released on Monday, Eric said, “ Fraud Alert: It has come to our attention that someone is promoting a cryptocurrency called ‘TrumpCoin’ (Symbol: TRUMP). This has NOTHING to do with our family, we do not authorize the use and we are in no way affiliated with this group. Legal action will be taken.”
TrumpCoin’s market cap is around $1.5 million and has a circulating supply of over 6.6 million coins – seemingly targeting right-wing Trump supporters. For the creator’s part, an FAQ on TrumpCoin’s website confirms that “TrumpCoin is not owned, operated, endorsed by, or otherwise affiliated with Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, Donald J. Trump for President, or any other organization owned and/or operated by Donald J. Trump or any of its affiliates.”
However, Eric Trump’s tweet did TrumpCoin a world of good as its trading volume spiked by 350% afterwards. Interesting times, indeed, and Wisly will let you know of the very latest developments.
