White label solution is a great way to get your online gambling (iGaming) business started. As the popularity of online gambling continues to grow across the Asian region, so will the need for iGaming platforms. Entrepreneurs and businesses who see the potential are filling that demand by launching their own iGaming platform. Like with every untapped opportunity, time is always of the essence, which is why white label solutions can provide an edge in getting ahead of the game.

Ready to take a step into the iGaming market? Find out all about white label solutions and the benefits you can reap from taking the white label approach to build your iGaming platform. 

What exactly is a white label solution?

An iGaming white label provider offers a software (the product), and a range of their services which cover everything you need to launch your own iGaming platform. A white label package typically includes a front-end site, with features such as language options, payment methods, multi-currency support, a variety of games or betting events portfolio of games to offer players on your site as well as all other features on the back-end to operate your business, including payment provider and gateway readily set up, tech support, and customer service representatives, security for your site, hedge monitoring and risk control, and so much more.

For instance, if you have decided on Thailand as your target market to launch your iGaming business, you can start by focusing your efforts on designing a brand look which will appeal to its mostly youthful population, and then engaging with a white label provider who will take your brand look and apply it to a ready-to-market iGaming platform. 

Some providers even offer a suite of tailor-made solutions for your target market, such as the Thailand White Label package by Kzing, which can offer a Thai interface and popular games like baccarat, along with payment gateway accepting Thai Baht through digital wallets and more.

The white label approach means launching your own iGaming platform without the high costs and long timeline required if you were to build from scratch.

To help you better visualize the speed and efficiency of setting up an iGaming platform with a white label provider, here is a quick look at the process involved in creating your own iGaming platform with a white label provider like Kzing.

iGaming White Label Process

Step 1: Entering an agreement
This typically involves you (platform provider) entering an agreement with the white label provider. The agreement outlines the terms of the provider’s products and services, including how much customisation of your platform is possible, game types and offerings to choose from, payment methods (ie. credit card, digital wallet, even cryptocurrency), and even tech and customer support.

Cost aspects will also be discussed and laid out in the agreement before engaging the provider, with confirmation on matters such as upfront payments or deposits (if required), monthly maintenance fees, and profit-sharing ratio.

Step 2: Provide your brand material
Once the terms of service (such as payment of deposit by operator) is met, the next step is to provide your brand material, including logo, brand colors, and everything else you might typically need in a corporate identity. This will help the white label provider design your platform specifically for your brand look. Before this stage, you should have a clear idea of your platform’s positioning and corporate identity designed.

Step 3: Development

At this point, the white label provider should have what they need to create your iGaming platform, with a front-end site which will act as the ‘space’ where users will enter and interact with, and a management system on the back-end which you and your partners or team will access to run the business. Different white label providers may have different features included, such as tiered membership system, rewards system, and even a rebate system for affiliate marketing partners.

Step 4: Testing

Once the platform is ready with your brand look and specifications, it should be tested to ensure that all your needs are met and that everything from the front-end to the back-end runs smoothly. At this stage, any issues should be brought up and resolved, and the platform made ready for launch.

Step 5: Launch

If everything works out in the testing phase, your iGaming platform is now ready for launch! White label providers like Kzing are aware that technical problems and user issues might come up during launch, and if not resolved quickly, can lead to loss of users. Which is why ‘after-sales’ services like tech and customer support are part of the package. So be sure that whichever provider you go with, your package includes these key services.

Sounds easy enough? That is because it can be! When considering creating your iGaming platform, white label providers such as Kzing can be valuable partners in turning your iGaming brand and business into reality.

Benefits of a white label solution

Quick and easy – White label providers have products, games, and software which are ready-to-go. These packages commonly include a website front-end, which acts like your casino floor where players navigate, a selection of games and offerings (whether it is slots, roulette, live casino games like Baccarat, or sports-betting events such as football or horse-racing), and a platform management, which is the back-end for operations. As an operator, all you have to do is select from the white label provider’s range of products and services to build your platform and bring your business to market in a matter of weeks.

Engaging an established white label provider also means that you can cut down on the time needed for you to build a team and devote resources into research and development of your business. Aside from some basic groundwork to creating your own iGaming platform, such as deciding on a target market and how you want to position your platform, white label providers such as Kzing have a wealth of knowledge, experience, and resources on their hands to quicken the process for you by picking from their custom Asian packages.

Which brings us to the next point of why go the white label way in building your iGaming platform.

Leverage their experience and expertise – white label providers have put in the time, research, and resources to develop their range of products and services. In order to appeal to various clients, reliability and reputation are the name of the game. Poor product and services can lead to clients terminating providers, which is why a white label provider like Kzing has to stay ahead – constantly improving their product with features like data reporting system to monitor and make forecasts on user behavior, and providing expert consultation from their years working with game developers and operators in the iGaming industry.

Engaging a white label provider to launch your own iGaming business can be like having a partner with a rich pool of data, information, experience, and insights in the iGaming industry.

Like Kzing, a white label provider catering to operators focused on the Asian market. With their years of experience and data gathering, they can provide great insight into what your business needs to penetrate your target market.

For example: developing a ‘lite version’ iGaming platform for the Indonesian market due to slow internet speed in 3rd and 4th tier cities, and even observing that Thai users have a tendency to ask more questions and including helpful, 24/7 online customer. 

Lower startup costs – With any business, starting requires capital. Hiring a software developer to custom build your platform, including website, games, back-end management system from scratch are typically costly, starting from up to US$ 200,000 to US$ 300,000. White label providers are a one-stop service provider where you can get your iGaming platform ready within a feasible budget, starting from even US$1,000 to US$ 10,000.

Not to mention all other costs associated with running your platform, such as hiring a dedicated customer support team, and monthly payment fees when you engage a payment provider. In the end, expect to spend up to US$340,000 or more to build your platform from scratch, with monthly operations potentially running you between US$ 56,000 to US$61,000 monthly, including marketing and advertising.

White label providers not only provide the software, but also have ready infrastructure like payment gateways (some even including cryptocurrency payment), while also supporting you and your business with services like round-the-clock tech support, multi-language customer support, and even assist with setting up your overseas operations.

Tech and customer support covered – Keeping your players happy will be key to your success. This means ensuring that your website functions smoothly and issues are solved immediately. Poor user experience like slow loading pages, bug-ridden games, and even payment failures are sure ways to players leaving your platform. White label providers commonly offer tech support, maintenance, and security, along with customer support in their package or offerings. With that, you can focus on marketing and advertising to grow your platform.

White label providers like Kzing are well-equipped to provide on-time tech support and great customer service, offering multi-language support for whichever target market you choose to launch your iGaming business.

Comprehensive platform features – Some may think that a designed-to-fit-all approach means that you have less to offer, the reverse is true. A white label iGaming platform can actually offer a wide range of platform features. Such as selection of themes or layout options, to multi-language options, payment methods, currency, and even localized games fit for your target market.

Take a look at the all-encompassing range of products and services offered by white label provider, Kzing:

• Partnership with game providers to bring a wide portfolio of games and offerings for international and local markets
• Readily integrated payment gateways, with various payment methods: credit card, e-wallet, cryptocurrency etc.
• Ability to receive and make payments is multiple currencies
• Multi-language options according to your target market and users
• Selection of themes and customisable front-end design to suit your brand
• Management system for effective back-end operations
• Customer relations management (CRM) system
• Reliable security and risk management system
• Customer support
• Tech support
• Mobile-focused website design and mobile app

With a good ready product, repackaging it into your own brand can enhance and highlight its great features and save you the time and costs of building and marketing a product from zero.

Rich selection of games and events to offer – White label providers do not develop the games or sports betting events offered with their packages. It is common for white label providers to work with game providers who are specialized in the design and development of the games you can offer on your platform. The advantage of this method is that white label providers can provide you with a large variety of games for your platform, including live casino plays, sports betting events, lottery, esports, and even card games specific to your target market.

Support user attraction and retention – Getting players to your platform and keeping them coming back for more will be the key to your platform success. The white label approach can give you the luxury of time to focus on marketing to potential users, and even the unique selling points (USP) required to attract them. White label providers such as Kzing, understand the importance of this and have systems like tiered membership, rewards, and rebate, which are great features to attract and keep users.

These systems are designed to help you manage players and platform partners effectively, all while keeping users motivated to continue playing or sharing with others in their circle or audience, which will in turn attract new users. These features and the experience of your white label partner can be beneficial in planning marketing campaigns.

For example, white label provider Kzing has gathered information from user behavior in the past that Thai players respond well to discounts. With that information and the rewards system, you can run discount campaigns for users, and work with affiliate partners to spread the word, all while monitoring the results of your campaign behind the scenes, and ensure automated and accurate distribution of rewards. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS: BENEFITS OF WHITE LABEL APPROACH

1. Quick and easy implementation with no requirements to have your own tech team to get started.
2. Experience and expertise in the iGaming industry, with systems like data reporting and monitoring to provide advantageous insight.
3. Lower startup costs to get a stunning, effective, and powerful iGaming platform, equal or even better compared to building one from scratch.
4. Tech and customer support are key services offered by white label providers which is imperative in making sure your platform runs smoothly.
5. Comprehensive platform features which cover everything from the interface and games that players will interact with, and management system for effective operations.
6. Wide variety of games and sports betting to offer on your platform.
7. Platform designed with user attraction and retention in mind, helping you gain users, and more importantly, returning users.

CONCLUSION – WHY KZING WHITE LABEL

Having been in the industry since 2012, Kzing has been focused on helping operators gain access to the iGaming markets, especially in the Asian region. Kzing offers white label iGaming packages which are designed specially to fit each locality, from China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Japan and South Korea.

Despite some unique features for different markets, every package comes with powerful features and reliable services, including:

• Payment system
• Affiliate system
• Intelligent risk control
• Tiered membership system
• Rewards/Events system
• Rebate system
• Multi-language support
• Data reporting system

On top of that, Kzing also offers:

• Assistance in setting up overseas operations points
• Back office training
• Training

Building your own iGaming platform does not have to be difficult, costly, and time-consuming. White label solutions can offer a quick and hassle-free way to get into this exciting industry. If you are ready to take on a new venture with a reliable partner in great products and services, contact Kzing for a free professional consultation!

The post iGaming White Label | Kzing appeared first on Crypto Insider.

It was previously reported that Hoeptner left the company in October 2022.

Former BitMEX CEO Alexander Hoeptner has sued the cryptocurrency derivatives platform for $3.4 million for breach of contract and wrongful termination, a court filing shows.

Hoeptner joined the Seychelles-registered exchange in January 2021 at a time when top officers at HDR Global Trading Limited, the owner and operator of BitMEX, were embroiled in a lawsuit that accused the founders of facilitating unregistered trading.

It was previously reported that Hoeptner left the company in October 2022, without further details. Hoeptner now claims that he received a letter of termination citing misuse of funds and failure to perform duties, among other things.

“Such termination is wholly wrongful and without basis,” the court filing said.

According to Hoeptner, BitMEX owes him a total of $3.4 million, including $2.4 million for his second year bonus and smaller amounts for remaining wages, relocation expenses and housing, the court filing shows.

“At the direction of the founders and the board, I put my personal and family lives on hold in order to be on the ground managing operations in Singapore and Hong Kong,” Hoeptner told CoinDesk. “I’m disappointed that it has gotten to the point that legal proceedings are necessary, but I’ve been left with no choice.”

Hoeptner relocated several times during his time as the CEO of BitMEX, filings show, and split his time between Hong Kong, Germany and Singapore.

“There were no objections and/or concerns raised as to the Claimant’s relocation and/or the costs that was to be incurred by the HDR Group in respect of the same,” the filing says.

But sometime in July 2022 to August 2022, he was informed by the company that there was a possibility he wouldn’t receive his second year bonus or any reimbursement for his relocation, citing “extensive cost-cutting and restructuring program which involved numerous layoffs.”

His relocation expenditures at that point had amounted to $230,000, according to the filing. A few weeks later, he received a termination letter.

“We had made tremendous progress – hitting every milestone we set out – which made my wrongful termination even harder to understand,” he said.

The crypto exchange recently cut its workforce by 30% as it tries to pivot back to its initial focus on derivatives trading. Earlier this year, BitMEX’s former CEO Arthur Hayes was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to charges of willfully failing to implement an anti-money laundering (AML) program at the exchange.

The post Former BitMEX CEO Alexander Hoeptner Sues Exchange for Breach of Contract and Wrongful Termination appeared first on Crypto Insider.

With the advancement of time and the rapid development of the Internet, the number of iGaming white label service providers multiplied in countless numbers, making it difficult for customers who intend to invest in iGaming platforms to choose an excellent gaming white label service provider.

No matter is from the early-developmental stage support, or the mid-term website launching stage, or even the technical support in the later stage, the payment system, and the abundant supply of games. Every iGaming white label service provider supplies an all-encompassing service, all of the mentioned have become the primary conditions for setting up an online gaming platform.

However, there are not many online gambling white label companies that can fulfill all the requirements, especially when there are companies that pass off the sham as the genuine in the market. Therefore, it is considered rare, when a white label company can stand out from the fierce competition, while meeting the excruciating requirements of investors at all levels and even exceeding customer expectations.

What are the requirements for building an iGaming platform?

First, find a reliable white label service provider

We usually do some research before buying products, so when looking for a one-stop service gaming platform white label service provider, we must do proper research too!

1. a) The question is, how to distinguish whether the white label service provider is reliable? If white label companies can be ranked…

• Bronze: A white label company that has just been founded or is still undergoing business development.
• Gold: White label company that has been operating for more than 1-2 years, the back-end system may still not be stable enough, and there is very little company-related information can be found online.
• Diamond: There is a certain customer base size within the company, and has APP configuration as a product to leverage the services for the customers. The system development can keep up with the market demand, and it may have a reputation in the industry.
• Starlight: Already possesses stable backend system and a strong technical team, and the new functions developed are always at the forefront of market demand (such as APP interactive experience, access to cryptocurrency, supporting different national languages ​​and currencies), providing mobile APP and Sports APP configuration, and at the same time, investing a lot of money in advertising to build brand awareness.

Finding Out Information About the White Label Provider from Your Circle

A provider that has been operating in the white label industry for a substantial amount of years will eventually earn a considerable high reputation. Therefore, any clients who have intentions to invest can conduct some research to get the relevant information from peers.

Research in iGaming forums for white label information

Alternatively, white label companies will also publish their information on the internet especially on iGaming media sites. For example, obtaining official verification or recommendations from iGaming forums, aiding clients in developing a deeper understanding of their white label services and operations. We suggest that one should browse more gaming forum websites before making the final decision to discover white label companies that are actual gems.

Next, check the languages, currencies, and game varieties that are supported by the company’s backend system

1. a) An outstanding gaming platform must have the most popular games in the region, Kzing White Label updates the latest and hottest games and provide a wide variety of games frequently to attract more players (lotteries, card and board games, eSports, sports events, and many other game varieties)
2. b) In order to match demands from different countries, Kzing White Label can support multiple languages, e.g. Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, and many more to build a closer connection with local players, and consequently increasing players’ betting amount.
3. c) Kzing White Label also provides multiple categories of currencies, cryptocurrencies and payment methods (Bitcoin BTC, Tether USDT, Ethereum ETH) and third party payment platforms hugely raised the convenience of betting, allowing players to complete payment and in-game betting no matter where they are!

 Stable Security System 24/7

1. a) Equipped with a high intelligence risk controlling system, ensuring the interests of clients and protecting the safety of players at all costs, IP address and VPN data that allows real-time analysis, and also utilizes big data for real-time monitoring to prevent hackers from breaching the system.

Use The Best Server Bandwidth and CDN

1. a) Slow loading of websites will make client’s online gaming platforms lose a lot of visitors, especially those platforms that embed large amounts of live videos and live streaming! Kzing White Labels’ servers and bandwidth both use the highest quality and can therefore effectively solve loading or delay problems, resulting in increasing the response speed and successful rate for users to access the website.

Strong Back End System

a) Agent & Affiliate Management System

• Includes both single-tier and multi-tier models that cover bonuses, rebates, commissions, and many other functions to support client’s operations. No matter which model is being used, all will aid agents in simplifying work to earn lucrative commissions as returns!

b) Player Management System

• Effectively manages player information, allowing clients to view player’s details, transaction history, rank setting, etc.

c) Big Data Analysis

• Allowing clients to quickly learn the trends among players through big data and analysis, and taking corresponding action plans or switching to alternative strategies to improve profitability. Other than that, Kzing White Label also provides fully automated report generation to reduce human errors.

d) Promotion System

• Popular in-system features like Angpau (red packet) Rain, Rebate Systems, Sign-in Rewards, and many more are constantly being researched and developed to attract players to continuously revisit the sites.

e) Report Centre

• Clear and easy to understand reports of different categories allows clients to fully grasp win-lose situations at any point of time, providing a comprehensive analysis of the gaming market, in order to allow clients to have an in-depth understanding of the trend now and in the future so that losses can be prevented in time.

Outstanding products and services capture the hearts of clients, satisfied customers are the best testimonials, the true strength and credibility of Kzing White Label need not be questioned!

What are the fees to build an iGaming platform?

There are many examples that illustrate the costs related to building an online gaming platform. Different packages have different quotations, including early-stage development to post-development maintenance costs, the game loyalties, and many more. The below shows an estimation of costs needed to build an online gaming platform for reference:

White label companies operate as a one-stop service platform that provide site building, payment interfaces, domain names, servers, defense system, back-end systems, and many other services related to gaming operations. Costs that need to be incurred are monthly maintenance costs, gaming profit loyalties payouts, and manpower costs for operations and management. The costs quoted and suggested by most of white label companies are more or less similar, the difference lies in their ability to ensure smooth and stable operations of their platform, facilitating in creating a high reliability platform. Our professional team will select the most suitable iGaming white label solution according to your proposed budget.

We will also take the opportunity to remind all that there are many white label companies with unidentified origins on the internet. They may be able to provide you a white label solution at a very low cost, but one should always conduct thorough background checks on the company because white labeling means a long-term partnership and we should not risk losing even more because of short-term gains.

Kzing White Label is one of the largest white label companies in the iGaming industry, we have worked with more than 1000 clients within the few years of our operations, we also enjoy great reputation within the industry. Other than that, Kzing White Label also possesses experience and resources from the industry, tailoring to the needs of players and businesses for their online gaming platform at all costs. A white label company that is able to persevere for many years is not only supported by long term clients that grow together, the company should also be good at what they’re doing, otherwise who would stay on a sinking ship?

It’s time to put your heart’s desires into action! Want to be the leader among online gaming platforms? Contact our business manager ASAP!!

If you have any inquiries about our products or services, please contact the business manager for more information

• Lion lionel.chin@kzing.com  +63 917 121 2777  Telegram : @KzingSales1
• Patrick patrick.lim@kzing.com  +63 917 171 2888  Telegram : @KzingSales

At the same time, don’t forget to follow the official

• Website: https://kzing.co/
• Demo station: https://kzingdemo88.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kzingofficial
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kzingwhitelabel/?hl=en
• Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQso0Xct-YIsBFIxFAyzWiA

The post iGaming platform setup requirements and costs appeared first on Crypto Insider.

• Ever since establishment in 2012, Kzing White Label has become one of the Top 5 white label companies within the industry with the constant effort and professionalism in serving the clients.
• With the trust & long term collaboration of over 1000 clients, Kzing White Label has successfully helped clients to build gambling/ betting websites, and also strengthen product, technology & services in order to be competitive in the market.
• Throughout the years of experience, Kzing White Label acknowledged clients’ pain points and able to cater personalized solutions according to clients’ needs & problems.

Do you wanna standout as the best in the industry?
To have a great betting website, you will need:

1. A well designed template that is universally applicable to PC version, H5 version, Mobile Version, iOS & Android.
2. A fully automated CDN system to ensure the platform will operate stably.
3. A backend system that supports multilingual, multi-currencies & also multiple payment gateways (including Cryptocurrencies)
4. A fully ergonomic & user-friendly system to run promotional activities, betting events and so to optimize the UX.
5. Agent/affiliate system which you can choose between the Traditional (Single-Tier Structure) or Multi-tier Structure to suit your different needs.
6. Intelligent risk control management to protect your interests
7. Simple & clear reports and data analysis system.
8. Business partners to assist in setting up an operation office.
9. A professional team to provide one-to-one consultation service.
10. A 24/7 operation & maintenance team to support technical issues & customer inquiries
11. We can provide everything stated from 1-10.

In simple words, Kzing White Label is your one stop service provider. Our services cover all the necessaries from front-end template design, games plugin & back-end technical support (APP programming) and so. It allows the client to shorten the time & hassle to create a new betting website/ platform. If you’re looking for a reliable white label service provider, that’s us! Let us help you in building your own betting empire!

We’ll cater to your requirements & market need to design a personalized template & game choice. Simultaneously, we will continuously enhance our back-end support to serve our clients better.

What’s in it for the market?

China Market

The China market has slowly grown into a much-saturated market whereby the competition is much stronger among the betting platform. Therefore, it is important to position your brand successfully in the market.

SEA Market

We already have business partners in South East Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia & so) & we understand player preferences in the markets, hence we are able to promote the local hottest games. Furthermore, we have abundant resources for South East Asia, including payment gateways for fast& safe transactions.

India Market

It’s undeniable the Indian Market is one of the most potential markets. But having said that, do you have the resources, information & technology to penetrate the market? Taking that into consideration, through countless technical adjustments & content optimization, Kzing White Label has successfully developed products that suit & attract the liking of the local market. With that being said, we have full of resources to get you ready to penetrate the Asian market.

What’s in it for the players?

How should we attract more players? Other than game choices & promotions, it’s important to understand players preference in order to attract more players. Therefore, Kzing collaborated with game provider IM to develop an APP specialized in sport betting, namely “Sports APP“.

Sports APP

• Simple & smooth UI which is very easy to use
• Live Stream, Betting, Sports Tournaments & Events all in one APP to be enjoyed by the user
• Real-time risk control monitoring, to protect your interests

Website Platform Setup Process

1. Mutual agreement & upfront payment
2. Client to provide information & contents
3. Start to develop website & technical support by us
4. Website must go live within 1 month of UAT. Amendments request must be consolidated and only accepted once. Then, final payment to be made.
5. Boom, go live!

*For huge amendments, additional fees may apply*

Competition in the iGaming industry is getting more and more challenging as day goes by. Kzing White Label is constantly maintaining efficiency in building new sites, backend support & also strong operational management to stand firm in the iGaming industry. We also consistently promote our brand in the social media platforms such as Telegram, Facebook, Instagram & Youtube to have continuous presence in the industry. Besides that, Kzing also invests money, time & talent to improve the back end system.

We are able to cater to the client’s ideas & thoughts with a more flexible VIP premium personalized solution to ensure the client’s maximum interest.

In order to leverage our own brand name, we will not stop improvising our services & products to bring our clients, partners & merchants to a higher level in the iGaming industry.

For any product inquiries, please feel free to contact our Business Manager for more information.

If you have any inquiries about our products or services, please contact the business manager for more information

• Lion lionel.chin@kzing.com  +63 917 121 2777  Telegram : @KzingSales1
• Patrick patrick.lim@kzing.com  +63 917 171 2888  Telegram : @KzingSales

At the same time, don’t forget to follow the official

• Website: https://kzing.co/
• Demo station: https://kzingdemo88.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kzingofficial
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kzingwhitelabel/?hl=en
• Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQso0Xct-YIsBFIxFAyzWiA

The post What to know about Kzing White Label appeared first on Crypto Insider.

Sam Ikkurty and Ravishankar Avadhanam are accused of using YouTube videos to dupe would-be clients into investing in various crypto funds.

Two U.S. residents have been charged with running a crypto Ponzi scheme that allegedly defrauded hundreds of investors out of a collective $44 million.

Officials with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) allege Sam Ikkurty (also known as Sreenivas I Rao), of Portland, Ore., and Ravishankar Avadhanam of Aurora, Ill., as well as several corporate entities controlled by the defendants, worked together to convince their victims to invest in a “so-called income fund invested in digital assets.”

The defendants have also been charged with operating an illegal commodity pool and failing to register as a Commodity Pool Operator with the CFTC.

Beginning in 2017, Ikkurty and Avadhanam allegedly told would-be investors in Ikkurty Capital, Rose City Income Fund and Seneca Ventures that the pair would use their funds to invest in various cryptocurrencies, promising very high returns – some as high as 62% annually. According to the complaint, the pair advertised via a website as well as videos posted on YouTube.

Instead, the CFTC said, Ikkurty and Avadhanam pooled the investor funds and “distributed the majority of those funds as profits to other participants in a manner akin to a Ponzi scheme.”

Additionally, the CFTC said Ikkurty and Avadhanam kept $18 million for themselves, transferring the funds to “other participants” and off-shore entities under their control.

A federal court in Illinois has issued a restraining order that freezes the assets in question, preserves documents relating to the alleged scheme, and appoints a receiver for investor funds.

The CFTC is seeking restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, and permanent trading bans and injunctions against future violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

The post CFTC Charges 2 Men With Running a $44M Crypto Ponzi Scheme appeared first on Crypto Insider.

Traders are losing big money on the recently-issued token.

Traders of futures tracking ApeCoin (APE) lost over $4.5 million in the past 24 hours as prices surged by 13% amid a broader market jump, data from tracking took Coinglass show.

Some 66% of all APE futures traders were short, or betting against higher prices, the recently-issued token. These accounted for $2.81 million of all losses, while $1.44 million were long, or betting on higher prices.

APE traded at the $13.88 level on Sunday night, surging over $15.44 in early Asian hours on Monday. APE was issued on Mar. 17 and saw listings on several influential crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase. Prices were volatile in the days afterward, rising as much as 90% after sinking 80%.

APE is the governance token of the ApeCoin DAO, a community-led organization to manage the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) ecosystem. BAYC is one of the most popular NFT projects with a market capitalization of over $3.4 billion.

Crypto exchange Binance processed over $1 billion in volume on APE futures, the most among all crypto exchanges. Bybit, however, saw the most losses on APE liquidations at nearly $1 million. Liquidation happens when a trader has insufficient funds to keep a leveraged trade open.

Prices of APE fell since Monday’s highs to $14.83 at writing time as traders took profits.

The post BAYC’s ApeCoin Jumps 13%, Causes $4.5M in Futures Liquidations appeared first on Crypto Insider.

The macroeconomic situation parallels that of the 2001 Afghan war, when a post-invasion rally in the U.S. equity benchmark paved the way for a deeper slide.

Bitcoin bulls betting on a prolonged rally are likely to be disappointed, if previous wars’ impact on the S&P 500 is any guide, according to QCP Capital.

A study published by the Singapore-based crypto trading firm shows that in four of the previous five wars involving a superpower the S&P 500, Wall Street’s benchmark equity index, dropped on early headlines anticipating a military conflict only to chalk up lasting rallies in the months following the outbreak of hostilities.

The exception was during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. Then the S&P 500’s post-invasion rally peaked within three months and resumed a decline related to the dot-com bust before setting new bear market lows. QCP expects risk assets to chart similar moves this time, saying the macroeconomic conditions today are similar those of 21 years ago.

“Given the historical pattern, we expect global markets to remain supported in the near term,” it wrote in a research note published on Monday. “With that said, we remain very cautious in light of the prevailing macroeconomic headwinds.

“The closest parallel to the present situation is the 2001 Afghan war given the similarities: 1. Markets were under pressure from the dot-com deleveraging. 2. Impending stagflation with inflation at a then decade-high level of 3.5%,” QCP said. “In the Afghan war, markets saw a relief rally that lasted three months before resuming the downtrend and eventually breaking below the post-invasion lows.”

While many in the crypto community consider bitcoin a digital equivalent to gold, historical data shows it is a risk asset. The cryptocurrency’s 60-day correlation with the S&P 500 increased last week to a record high.

Since mid-November, markets mostly have been on the defensive, predominantly due to concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve would close the liquidity tap sooner than anticipated to contain inflation. Bitcoin was already down over 35% from the record high of $69,000 reached on Nov. 10 when Russia-Ukraine tensions began escalating two weeks ago.

With the West imposing stricter punitive sanctions on Moscow over the weekend, analysts are worried that Russia’s exports of all commodities, including oil, metals and wheat, will take a hit, pushing the global economy into stagflation – a combination of low or stagnant growth and high inflation.

That may put even more pressure on the Fed and other central banks to withdraw liquidity. The Fed is expected to raise borrowing costs by 25 basis points this month and deliver at least five more quarter-percentage-point hikes by year-end. Goldman Sachs foresees the Fed raising rates four times next year, as mentioned in Monday’s First Mover Americas.

“One critical difference between the Afghan war and the current war is that interest rates were at 6.5% back then. This gave Alan Greenspan’s Fed a lot of room to ease rates all the way down to 1%,” QCP said. “This time, markets are under similar pressure, but the Fed has run out of easing options. Interest rates can only go higher and the Fed balance sheet can only shrink from here.”

Thus, the odds appear stacked against bitcoin and S&P 500 charting lasting gains in coming months. “If markets follow the same pattern as the Afghan war, any relief rally in the next few weeks or months will be a good opportunity to square up longs and initiate downside hedges,” QCP Capital noted.

Bitcoin was trading near $43,600 at press time, having printed one-month lows under $34,500 last Thursday, after Russia invaded Ukraine. The S&P 500 has bounced to 4,373 from Thursday’s nine-month low of 4,114, according to chart platform TradingView.

The equity index saw a prolonged bull run following the beginning of the Vietnam war (1964), Gulf war (1991), Iraq war (2003) and Crimean crisis (2014).

The post S&P 500 Conflict History Points to Short-Term Bitcoin Bounce, Sell-Off in H2: QCP appeared first on Crypto Insider.

Jay Freeman stopped a potential $750 million vulnerability from being exploited on three of Ethereum’s layer 2 networks.

This past weekend at ETHDenver, Jay Freeman took the stage to highlight his nearly billion-dollar bug discovery within the core code of Optimism, Boba and Metis, which he dubbed “Unbridled Optimism.”

Freeman has a history of software development and hacking, notably playing a critical role in the development of software for jailbreaking iOS. His experience has proven to be priceless within the Wild West, open-source crypto industry. Just two weeks ago a smart contract vulnerability left the Wormhole bridge with a $350 million hole to repair – and that wasn’t even the largest exploit in recent history. However, Freeman mentioned that bridge exploits are often found quickly as they are used often and watched over constantly by the teams responsible for maintaining them.

During the first week of February, Freeman discovered a critical bug within Optimism’s virtual machine – one that developers might not have been ready to patch quite as quickly. The bug was rooted in Optimism’s selfdestruct function that allows contracts to be destroyed and sends any remaining ether balance to a designated address.

It sounds dangerous, so why do blockchains contain the selfdestruct function? The function allows for obsolete or dangerous contracts to be removed from the chain while returning the ether balance to the rightful owner.

Unless there is a bug, of course.

Optimism’s selfdestruct function returned the ether balance to the designated address without ever burning the balance within a contract. According to Freeman, “This means that, when a contract self-destructs its balance is BOTH given to the beneficiary AND ALSO KEPT.” If attackers were able to successfully call the contract, they could create a loop that doubles their OETH balance until noticed and patched by Optimism developers.

Freeman noted that he was not the first person to find the bug after scanning previous selfdestruct calls on Optimism and tracking one wallet back to an employee of Etherscan. The employee had found and tested the bug, but apparently hadn’t understood the severity of the situation and let it be. The vulnerability had gotten worse over time as more funds were bridged to Optimism and other layer 2 systems copied the code Optimism had put in place. Layer 2s are companion networks connected but functionally separate from the base layer.

Consequently, Freeman noted, had he not found the bug, a minting vulnerability would have allowed an attacker to double their funds every time the selfdestruct function was called on Boba and Metis as well.

White Hats and DeFi

Even if the Optimism team had noticed and temporarily paused bridge transactions via the sequencer during a theoretical attack, an attacker could have still wreaked havoc on layer 2 decentralized finance (DeFi). Using the falsely minted OETH, any attacker would be able to drain decentralized exchanges and exploit lending platforms with useless collateral. The exploit would have likely caused irreparable damage within the Ethereum ecosystem and layer 2 users could have had all of their funds rendered useless, with no assets left on the other end of the bridge. Combined, Optimism, Boba and Metis had around $750 million locked in DeFi the day the vulnerability was reported, almost all of which was at risk.

The need for friendly adversarialism

Decentralized finance continues to be a vulnerable industry with anonymous founders, open-source code and billions of dollars looking to take on risk. This enormous amount of capital has created an incentive system aligned with teams that build fast and release tokens.

Conversely, caution and professionalism are a lot less exciting to traders and investors. The world economy has seen over and over again the effect of incessant risk taking, even though the market eventually punishes shortcuts. There is no reason to think this same outcome won’t continue to play out in crypto and decentralized finance, with only the most meticulous protocols coming out alive in the end.

Freeman has also contemplated where the middle ground between “Code is Law” and third-party trust falls. He raised the point that bug bounties are essential in incentivizing good actors to seek out and find vulnerabilities. By setting the reward for being a good actor on a similar scale as the payout for being a bad actor, that scale suddenly tilts the incentives toward white hatting.

Conversely, caution and professionalism are a lot less exciting to traders and investors. The world economy has seen over and over again the effect of incessant risk taking, even though the market eventually punishes shortcuts. There is no reason to think this same outcome won’t continue to play out in crypto and decentralized finance, with only the most meticulous protocols coming out alive in the end. 

Freeman has also contemplated where the middle ground between “Code is Law” and third-party trust falls. He raised the point that bug bounties are essential in incentivizing good actors to seek out and find vulnerabilities. By setting the reward for being a good actor on a similar scale as the payout for being a bad actor, that scale suddenly tilts the incentives toward white hatting.

As Freedman put it, this sort of “friendly adversarialism” can encourage ecosystem participants to be more open, honest and even pessimistic about new ideas.

That pessimism is key. Today, the environment is perhaps overly optimistic, getting investors and DeFi users excited about protocols that could never work or might even be dangerous. This lack of oversight, combined with the nature of open-source code, creates the perfect environment for hackers and scammers, an issue much of the crypto industry does not seem ready to admit.

The post Why White Hat Hackers Are Vital to the Crypto Ecosystem appeared first on Crypto Insider.

With the fast advent of cryptocurrency taking the world by storm, it is no surprise that crypto has worked its way into almost every industry. And one that certainly isn’t exempt from this is the online casino market.

As expected, the merger of crypto and online casinos comes with several great advantages. In this article, we will very briefly go over the history of crypto casinos and look at what the advantages of playing on them are.

History of Crypto Casinos

Before looking at their advantages, it is important to understand that all crypto casinos are relatively new. In fact, the first crypto casino only went live between the end of 2013 and early 2014.

This may not seem too new, but considering some other betting and casino sites have been active since the late 90s, it shows the youth of these crypto casinos.

However, as cryptocurrencies grew and more trust was placed in their value, casinos realized that there is a market for an anonymous, secure, and innovative type of online casino. And so, crypto casinos, with all their unique pros, began appearing all over the internet.

Advantages of Playing on Crypto Casinos

There are many great advantages to playing in a crypto casino. However, some of these advantages hold more weight than others. Below, we have outlined all the best parts of what you get from playing on these casinos:

Unregulated Authority and Full Control

Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies are decentralized and not issued by a central authority. These cryptos also get monitored significantly less than traditional fiat currency.

Because of this, the chances of having your crypto account frozen by authorities or having any of your transactions blocked from going through are zero. Instead, you have full and unbridled control of your money.

Completely Secure

All crypto transactions are processed by a public ledger called the blockchain. While it sounds strange that all the millions of transactions are handled in one place, this guarantees that any payment made will reach its destination.

The ledger keeps track of all incoming and outgoing payments and makes sure there is a record of every transaction made. This ensures complete security over every transaction made using any form of crypto.

Complete Privacy

As one of the biggest advantages of crypto, privacy is something that is becoming more and more important in today’s times.

Crypto never requires the divulgence of any personal information or knowledge of who you are. This means that you can deal in crypto with complete anonymity and without worrying if somebody is tracing you.

While some crypto gambling sites still enforce a KYC (Know Your Customer) policy that requires you to verify your identity, some allow you to remain almost entirely anonymous.

Fast Payments

Because crypto doesn’t have to go through any approvals, servers, or anything else, payments are usually almost instant. This is because crypto only exists on the internet. Therefore, as soon as the blockchain has processed your transaction, the funds are available immediately.

The advantage to this is that you don’t have to worry about waiting periods when trying to credit your player account. Instead, you’ll be able to start playing with almost no delay.

Better Promotions and Bonuses

While it may seem like a strange advantage, crypto casinos usually offer better welcome bonuses and promotions to players. When it comes to dual crypto casinos (ones that accept crypto and fiat currency), players depositing in crypto usually also get greater benefits than those using fiat currency.

This advantage is because crypto is a more convenient way to transact—even for the online casino. Therefore, these casinos go out of their way to reward players who use crypto and incentivize players who don’t.

Cheap Transaction Fees

Cheap is a relative term when speaking of crypto casinos. This is because most crypto casinos don’t charge any transaction fees at all—something very far removed from traditional online casinos.

This is because there is generally no fee when dealing with crypto aside from the very small network fee charged by the blockchain. Due to this, and the fact that the casino attracts more players that want to play with crypto, these casinos never charge you ridiculous fees to transact.

And if you do come across a casino that does, these fees are usually significantly less than normal online casinos.

Conclusion

Crypto casinos may be new, but the advantages they offer to players are hard to ignore. Therefore, if you are looking to experience the perks of crypto, make sure to give crypto casinos a try.

The post Everything you should know about Playing on a Crypto Casino appeared first on Crypto Insider.

Mr. Musk, a celebrity in the universe, tweets about it frequently; It was parodied on the popular TV show “Saturday Night Live”; Collins Dictionary chosen NFT as its word of the Year for 2021.

Exchanges boom and flourish in 2021.

According to a cryptocurrency research institute, The Block Research, as of December 24, global cryptocurrency trading volume exceeded $15 trillion, nearly seven times more than last year.

The bustling 2021 has finally ended, and the cryptocurrency world will usher in new challenges and chances in 2022.

01 The Year of Booming Cryptocurrencies

The Virtual world seems to extract more attention from people.

On Christmas Day last year, the NO.1 download in Apple’s APP Store in the US was a VR app: Oculus.

As a software used to pair with Oculus VR glasses, its hit also means that Meta (formerly Facebook)’s VR glasses have been widely popular over the holiday season.

In addition to this new gift craze, other facts prove the point, such as the cryptocurrency trading volume is seven times more than last year, and Sotheby’s sold more than $100 million of NFT this year.

NFT sales totaled about $14.1 billion in the past year, up from $65 million in the previous year, according to nonfungible.com.

About 16% of Americans hold or once held cryptocurrencies, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2015, the proportion was just 1%. The number of people holding cryptocurrencies worldwide has doubled this year to about 220 million, according to Crypto.com.

Decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges saw an 858% jump in trading volume but accounted for just 6% of cryptocurrency trading volume at $1 trillion.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase successfully listed on Nasdaq in April with a valuation of $86 billion on its first day of trading. The Capital was bet on cryptocurrencies. In the US alone, venture capital funds invested $7.2 billion in cryptocurrencies in 2021, according to PitchBook. Globally, venture capital invested $29.4 billion.

Cryptocurrencies experienced many twists and turns in 2021. Concepts such as NFT, DAO, metaverse, and Web3 have emerged, and those who can predict the correct trend will withstand the trend, no matter it is institutional investors, retail traders, or practitioners. This is almost a general rule.

02 Challenges And Chances For Exchanges

About 45% of cryptocurrency owners are millennials born between 1980 and 1996, according to a recent survey commissioned by a venture capital giant a16z, a consulting firm.

After the birth of Web3, some organizations claimed that Web3 would have 1 billion users in the next five years, and most of those billion users would be made up of people born after 1980.

Guy Hirsch, Executive Director of eToro USA, said the market was witnessing a generational shift of trust from traditional stock exchanges to digital currency exchanges.

For cryptocurrency institutions, the favor of the millennials is half the battle. In other words, whoever can win over these young people will hold the initiative.

Millennials are statistically more likely to emphasize an investment philosophy that enriches both themselves and the world around them. They prefer cryptocurrencies to gradually solidify real estate and stock markets.

The competitive landscape of cryptocurrency exchanges is not set in stone, and the selection and anticipation of new cryptocurrencies, as well as compliance operations, will be key indicators to distinguish the strengths and weaknesses of cryptocurrency institutions including exchanges.

MEXC started its global compliance operation in 2020, and during this process, it became known for its fast and prescient layout of the cryptocurrency track, which is now among the world’s top 3 spot trading volume after two years.

According to relevant data, MEXC’s overseas users increased by 1,100% in 2021. The annual growth rate of trading volume exceeded 700%, and overseas users accounted for 70% of the total users.

According to MEXC Research and the data source of CoinGecko, the top 10 cryptocurrencies with gains in 2021 are all from MEXC debut projects, and the track mainly covers the two sectors of metaverse and blockchain underlying infrastructure, so it can be seen that the right track is of paramount importance to investment.

It is also worth noting that the top gainer SHIB from MEME registers a surprising 106,363,536% increase. The influences of MEME exerted on the cryptocurrency market defy description.

03 2022 Cryptic Prediction

Looking ahead to 2022, what will happen to the cryptocurrency world?

1. More Capital Than Ever Before

 Since this year, capital giants that have entered the cryptocurrency world include Sequoia Capital, a16z, Coinbase, and so on. In June last year, a16z announced that it had raised $2.2 billion in cryptocurrency funds, which together with its first two early-stage cryptocurrency funds totaled $825 million, bringing its cryptocurrency assets under management to more than $3 billion. On November 15, Paradigm announced it would launch $2.5 billion cryptocurrency investment funds to bet on the next generation of leading cryptocurrency projects.

Beyond that, with millennials entering this field, cryptocurrencies will continue to astonish and enrich the world in 2022.

2. More Design Space  

Ethereum created many innovative models in its early days, such as NFT, DAO, and chain games, which are becoming a reality. Their possibilities are endless.

A large number of DAO teams came into being in the second half of 2021 and then got to grips with the stagnant growth, which was resulted from project mismanagement, brain drains, slow decision making, and misallocation of capital by raising significant amounts of capital. Just like how OpenSea suddenly became a major market for NFT, there will be a winner in the DAO space next year.

3. Arrival Of New Regulations

At a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on December 8, executives from six cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase and Circle, called on Congress to make clearer rules for the burgeoning $3 trillion industry, but they also warned that too severe restrictions would push industries overseas.

In October, one executive of a16z travelled to Washington DC to lobby for the regulation of Web3. As a policymaker, a16z has been trying to come up with a potential solution for Web3 network regulation.

It is believed that by 2022, the US government will come up with clear regulations on cryptocurrencies. Globally, “cryptocurrency unicorns” are more likely to emerge among cryptocurrency exchanges and institutions that operate in compliance.

Recently, Ark Invest Founder Catherine Wood released the year-end summary and outlook for the future. Unlike the previous stage of the Internet bubble, whose reappearance seemed to worry us all, (1) today’s technology companies have real market demand, not concept; (2) Investors have taken the potential risks very seriously. Therefore, considering a five-year investment term, the following five fields that Ark focuses on in the future, including DNA sequencing, robotics, energy storage, AI, and blockchain technology, will generate 3-5 times the return on investment.

Anyway, 2022 is bound to be another amazing year. No matter what happens in the market, cryptocurrencies will continue to improve and move toward the inevitable future of the entire world.

The post Cryptic Narrative 2022: Challenges And Chances appeared first on Crypto Insider.