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UK Finance, Which?, City of London Police Sign Letter Asking Government to Add Online Scams to “Online Safety” Bill

UK Finance (a trade association for the UK banking and financial services sector that represents around 300 firms in the UK providing credit, banking, markets and payment-related services), Which? (an organization that reviews products and services, so that you “make the best purchase decisions” for your requirements) and City of London Police are among several other organizations that have signed a letter asking the UK government to add online or Internet scams to its latest “Online Safety” bill.

The new “Online Safety” bill will require companies  – through the threat of huge fines – to enhance Internet safety in key areas like terrorist content, child sex abuse, hate crimes, cyber-bullying and the circulation of fake or misleading news updates.

But financial fraud has not been added to the bill – which may be announced in the upcoming Queen’s Speech – leading 17 organizations (representing civil society and business) to ask the Home Secretary Priti Patel and Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden to include online scams on the list.

As stated in the letter:

“Online platforms play a pivotal role in enabling criminals to reach and defraud internet users through the hosting, promotion and targeting of fake and fraudulent content on their sites, including adverts that they make significant profits from. Yet platforms have very little legal responsibility for protecting their users, despite often being the best placed to tackle harmful content.”

The letter has now been signed by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, Carnegie UK Trust, PIMFA, MoneySavingExpert and Age UK, among several other organizations.

The letter also states:

“We believe that fake and fraudulent content that leads to scams must be included in scope of the proposed Online Safety Bill. This would require online platforms to identify, remove and prevent fake and fraudulent content from being hosted on their sites, putting in place incentives for platforms to work together with the telecoms, banking and finance sectors to tackle economic crime.”

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Move over DOGE as Tiger King star launches CAT

Dogecoin’s status as the top memecoin may be (but almost certainly isn’t) under threat following the news that controversial Tiger King star Carole Baskin has launched her CAT coin.

In a blog post via Baskin’s non-profit Big Cat Rescue on May 4, she revealed her social token had been launched on Rally, an open network that enables creators to launch their own coins on the Ethereum blockchain. However, she emphasized her coin is not an investment tool, it’s actually a terrible pun:

“Our new $CAT coin is not a currency for investment, but rather is a purr-ency of our fans to show their love for the cats and to reap the benefits of being our most forward-thinking partners in creating a world where all wild cats live free.”

However Baskin’s interest in cryptocurrency seems to have some basis to it, with the reality TV star explaining she had concerns surrounding money printing fueled inflation and that: “I like the idea of putting the power of money in the hands of the people, rather than banks and governments.”

Despite her newfound bullishness, Baskin appears to have misunderstood the different attributes of Bitcoin versus many altcoins as she said: “At this point, both the USD and Bitcoin are fiat currencies, but at least Bitcoin and other altcoins have scarcity built in and now there is much more broad adoption of them in our everyday lives.”

Baskin’s CAT currently has 123,600 coins in circulation and is sitting at a price of $8.20 per coin. Since launch, $CAT has seen 492 transactions, with a total USD support volume of $206,000.

Holders of CAT will be eligible for rewards such as “elite access to LIVE walkabouts and conversations with Carole Baskin and her crew of big cat lovers and keepers, discounts and first access to new merchandise and activities.”

Baskin has teased future plans for the CAT community, which include shared access to big cat metaverse world called ARzoo, a virtual reality collectible game called Big Cat Rescue VR and a new set of unspecified, but presumably cat-centric NFTs set to drop in two weeks.

This is not Carole Baskin’s first move in crypto. In April last year, she began accepting donations in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum via Bitpay.

It is yet to be seen if her arch-nemesis Joe Exotic or better known as the Tiger King has woken up to the significance of blockchain technology behind bars.

Move over DOGE as Tiger King star launches CAT

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Your future at stake: Uni of Wyoming allocates $4M to staking three coins

The University of Wyoming is allocating $4 million to running nodes and staking at least three cryptocurrencies.

The news was shared to Twitter on April 28 by Caitlin Long, a Wyoming Blockchain and Fintech Select Committee appointee and founder of Avanti Bank & Trust — a local bank servicing the digital asset sector.

The documentation posted by Long notes the University appropriated $4 million from the state’s strategic investments and projects fund to establish, operate, and maintain “nodes and staking pools for no less than three publicly tradable cryptocurrencies.”

The revenues generated by the University’s staking pools will first be mobilized to cover operational costs, and then to repay the $4 million to the state’s investment fund. Once the investment has been repaid, profits from the University’s staking will be distributed “to support blockchain programs and activities at the university and community colleges throughout the state.”

The expenditure of profits generated through staking is conditional on the University matching every $1 appropriated from the investment fund with at least $2 in either private donations or from the campus’ reserve accounts.

Chris Rothfuss, the senate minority leader of the Wyoming Legislature and Chairman of the state’s Blockchain and Fintech Select Committee, praised the committee’s “herculean effort” in getting the legislation passed.

Many Twitter users have responded to Long’s post with speculation that Cardano (ADA) may be one of the assets the University is intending to stake.

One commenter shared a link to information on a staking pool identified by CardanoStaking.info as being operated by the University of Wyoming’s Advanced Blockchain Lab. As of this writing, the pool has minted less than 10 blocks, and has pledged roughly $60,000 worth of ADA.

In February 2020, IOHK, the company behind Cardano, donated $500,000 worth of ADA to the university’s blockchain lab to advance its research.

Your future at stake: Uni of Wyoming allocates $4M to staking three coins

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Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction: BTC/USD Pauses Above $62,000 Support As Bulls Prepare For The Next Round Of Upside Momentum

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction – April 16, 2021
Bitcoin price now fluctuates between $62,000 and $65,000 as bulls struggle to break above the $65,000 resistance. For the past three days, the BTC/USD price has been in a downwards correction above the $62,000 support. Bitcoin will attain a new high above $70,000 if the bulls clear the resistance at $65,000.

Resistance Levels: $65,000, $70,000, $75,000
Support Levels: $50,000, $45,000, $40,000

BTC/USD – Daily Chart

It is no longer news that buyers have overcome the $60,000 ad $61,825 resistance levels after one month of price struggle. The breakout above the resistance levels propels the price to rally to $65,000 high. Nonetheless, for the past three days, buyers are still struggling to overcome the new resistance level at $65,000. After its initial fall to $61,306 low, BTC price resumed fluctuation between $62,000 and $64,000. Buyers have not been able to retest the $65,000 resistance as price consolidates above the $62,000 support. On the upside, if buyers breach the $65,000 resistance, Bitcoin will rally above the $70,000 psychological price level. On the other hand, if sellers break the $62,000 support, the king coin will decline to $60,000 low.

Europe’s Second Largest Insurance Firm, AXA Begins Acceptance of Bitcoin as Payment
AXA has become Switzerland’s first all-line insurer to offer its customers to pay their bills with Bitcoin. Bitcoin payments will be accepted for nearly all AXA products, except for life insurance due to regulatory barriers to the latter. This new policy arrangement has been facilitated through a partnership with the established cryptocurrency broker Bitcoin Suisse. The accelerated digital transformation of the global economy during the coronavirus pandemic has been the main reason for the adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment. Another reason is that market research conducted by AXA showed that a third of respondents aged between 18 and 55 are interested in Bitcoin. According to AXA Switzerland, “the acceptance of Bitcoin payments is AXA’s response to growing demand from its customers for alternative payment solutions, with new technologies playing an ever greater role.”

BTC/USD – 4 Hour Chart

Bitcoin price is consolidating above the $62,000 support as it prepares for the next round of upside momentum. According to the Fibonacci tool indicator, Bitcoin will rise to the next psychological price level. Meanwhile, on April 14 uptrend; a retraced candle body tested the 50% Fibonacci retracement level. The retracement implies that Bitcoin will rise to level 2.0 Fibonacci extension or the high of $70,057.50.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction: BTC/USD Pauses Above $62,000 Support As Bulls Prepare For The Next Round Of Upside Momentum

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Zimperium and Ping Identity Extend Zero Trust Controls to the Most Vulnerable Endpoint: Mobile


Integration of Zimperium’s mobile device risk attestation into the PingFederate platform enables real-time Zero Trust authorizations and access to corporate resources

Zimperium is excited to announce a partnership with Ping Identity, enhancing Zero Trust architectures by delivering comprehensive mobile risk posture data to enable joint customers to implement more robust controls and policies to provide end-users with clear, actionable alerts directing them to resolve security or compliance issues. With the real-time mobile threat detection, notification, and response from Zimperium and the PingFederate architecture and enterprise workflows, security teams can ensure mobile endpoint coverage is an integral part of their Zero Trust security posture.

The established perimeters around corporate devices have faded away, replaced by an ever-mobile distributed workforce with global access into enterprise assets. Increased connectivity and data availability enable organizations to grow and evolve beyond a physical location’s confines while minimizing the friction an employee would typically experience in this new, spread-out workspace. For enterprises to securely enable employees to access the data they need on the devices they use the most, Zero Trust must be enabled with advanced mobile threat defense.

Ping Identity, the Intelligent Identity solution for the enterprise, believes zero trust technology is essential to securing business and consumers in an increasingly connected world. And Zimperium’s integration into the PingFederate platform provides joint customers with enhanced controls, addressing the mobile device’s security posture by providing the granular telemetry data back to the Ping Identity Zero Trust architecture.

Using Zimperium’s patented on-device, machine learning-based mobile security technology, the integration enhances Ping Identity’s existing mobile endpoint identity management and access controls. Joint customers will be protected against targeted mobile risks and attacks and will immediately experience the benefits of enhanced Zero Trust capabilities and workflows, such as:

  • Broadest range of mobile risk and threat-based detection in the industry;
  • Real-time conditional access across all mobile devices and accounts across a broad range of apps and services;
  • Direct user feedback on detected risks within the protected app (where applicable)
  • Defined access policies best suited for the environment; and
  • Reduced attack surface through mobile endpoint access and authorization controls.

“Due to the rise in distributed work and bring your own device policies, the average enterprise is not securing 60% of the connected devices in their network – mobile endpoints,’ said Jon Paterson, CTO of Zimperium. “The integration between Zimperium and Ping Identity not only brings those devices into the security fold, but it also enhances mobile Zero Trust controls, minimizing mobile risks and attack surfaces.”

This integration between Zimperium and Ping Identity enables enterprises to evolve and scale without sacrificing their security posture. By enhancing existing mobile endpoint identity management and access tools, security operations teams can understand their whole risk posture and raise their mobile security confidence on managed and unmanaged mobile devices.

“Identity is the new perimeter that enterprises need to secure, and the best way to effectively do that is to leverage a zero trust approach that unifies mobile threat defense with strong authentication,” said Loren Russon, vice president of product management at Ping Identity. “Our integration with Zimperium will make zero trust implementation easy for security teams to deliver a more seamless and secure user experience.”

For More Information

Attend our webinar on April 29th at 11am EDT to see a how Zimperium enhances Zero Trust architecture on mobile endpoints.

About Zimperium

Zimperium, the global leader in mobile security, offers the only real-time, on-device, machine learning-based protection against Android, iOS and Chromebooks threats. Powered by z9, Zimperium provides protection against device, network, phishing and malicious app attacks. For more information, visit www.zimperium.com.

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Zimperium and Ping Identity Extend Zero Trust Controls to the Most Vulnerable Endpoint: Mobile

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