Terraform Money Trail Leads to Swiss Bank

One Store’s App Market to Support Polygon-Based dAppsSouth Korean native app market One Store said Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Polygon Labs, the operator of the Polygon blockchain network, to provide robust support for Web3 games and decentralized applications (dApps) as part of its upcoming global service expansion.The signing ceremony for the MOU took place on Thursday at One Store’s headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Peter Chun, CEO of One Store, and Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, were in attendance.Polygon is a layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum, with numerous domestic and international gaming companies already partaking in the Polygon ecosystem for a variety of purposes, such as Web3 game development and technological collaborations.Elevating user experienceThis new partnership is part of One Store’s efforts to offer enhanced choices for mobile users worldwide, setting its sights on overseas expansion and the creation of a global platform. With a focus on supporting Web3 games, the platform aims to cater to the blockchain gaming and app user base on an international scale, thus contributing to the expansion of the Web3 gaming ecosystem.Photo by Jonas Leupe on UnsplashAccording to the agreement, One Store will support marketing for Web3 games that have onboarded the Polygon platform, while Polygon Labs will encourage game developers that use its platform to enter One Store’s global market.“Through the upcoming global One Store platform, we will connect with users worldwide who are eagerly anticipating Web3 games and apps,” CEO Chun said.This marks a significant step towards the realization of a vibrant Web3 gaming and dApp landscape on a global scale. The collaboration is expected to bring about new opportunities and experiences for users seeking innovative and engaging digital content.Polygon’s collaboration with Korean industry leadersPolygon Labs has been teaming up with other Korean companies as well, including the telecommunications giant SK Telecom, in efforts to further nurture the ever-growing Web3 ecosystem.

In a recent announcement on Facebook, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has raised alarm bells about a new form of cyber scam that exploits deep-fake technology. Deep-fake technologyThe Prime Minister highlighted the emergence of deceptive videos utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to create false portrayals of him endorsing cryptocurrency scams. This development underscores the escalating sophistication of online scams and the deployment of advanced technology to mislead the public. Deep-fake technology has emerged as a powerful tool for scammers, enabling them to manipulate genuine footage to produce highly convincing yet entirely fabricated content. In the latest incident, a deep-fake video features Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong endorsing a nonexistent crypto investment platform purportedly associated with entrepreneur Elon Musk. This video, a manipulated version of an interview on CGTN, showcases the concerning level of realism achievable with deep-fake technology. The incident emphasizes the growing trend of utilizing AI in perpetrating scams. Prime Minister Lee underscored the deceptive nature of these videos, articulating the potential damage they could inflict by leading unsuspecting individuals to invest in fraudulent schemes. The Singaporean government maintains a vigilant stance on such scams, consistently urging citizens to exercise caution and verify information from official sources.Photo by Guo Xin Goh on UnsplashPrevious issuesThe exploitation of public figures in financial scams is not a new phenomenon. Prime Minister Lee has been a recurrent target of such scams, dating back to 2018. At that time, the government issued public warnings about Bitcoin investment scams falsely claiming the Prime Minister’s endorsement. More recently, in July, another fake video featuring Lee Hsien Loong surfaced, prompting renewed public warnings. In 2021, the Prime Minister’s name and photograph were used without his consent in an effort to sell cryptocurrency. The data was taken from his X (formerly Twitter) profile. At the time, Lee wrote:“The site’s creators are anonymous, but I have sent an open tweet out to ask that my name and photo be removed from the site immediately, as I have nothing to do with the platform. I urge everyone to remain vigilant when dealing with cryptocurrency platforms.” That was a much less sophisticated identity-related scam. More often than not, scammers and fraudsters tend to be early adopters of technology. That’s proving to be the case with the use of deep-fakes in this instance. A need for cautionAs he did in 2021, Prime Minister Lee has urged the public to exercise caution in light of this more recent incident. He advises against responding to scams promising guaranteed investment returns or giveaways. There’s every sign that the Prime Minister’s warning is warranted. In September it emerged that six Singaporeans lost more than $100,000 when a scammer tricked them into buying tokens on a cryptocurrency trading platform. More recently, five Americans were conned out of $10 million in a scam that involved a spoofed domain of the former Singapore International Monetary Exchange (Simex). This call for public vigilance is part of a broader government effort to address the surge in cyber fraud. These repeated incidents underscore the challenges posed by digital technologies in spreading misinformation and financial fraud.   

Singapore-regulated Telcoin, a developer of financial applications for mobile users, has successfully restored user balances following an exploit that saw approximately $1.2 million worth of funds transferred from affected accounts.Photo by Martin Sanchez on UnsplashUnauthorized withdrawal of assetsThe incident, which occurred in late December, was attributed to an error in the interaction between Telcoin's digital wallet and a proxy contract on Polygon. In a blog post which was published on Wednesday, the company shared a full post-mortem analysis report which it commissioned Hong Kong-based blockchain security firm BlockSec to carry out, relative to the exploit. The fault in the proxy contract's implementation caused a technical conflict that allowed for the unauthorized withdrawal of assets. Fortunately, no admin keys were compromised, ensuring that the broader Telcoin ecosystem remained unaffected. In response to the security breach, Telcoin took action by immediately freezing the use of its application as a precautionary measure. The team initiated an investigation and committed to releasing updates promptly to address the issue and restore normalcy. The identified address associated with the exploit was 0x35d2775e5f95596509951b140d68fc5b9185ff98. TEL token freefallDespite the initial market turbulence, with the price of the Telcoin (TEL) token plummeting, the cryptocurrency has demonstrated resilience. On Dec. 25, TEL fell from a peak price of $0.00235146 to $0.00122535, representing a 48% decrease. At the time of writing, the price has slightly rebounded, trading at $0.001335. Nevertheless, it's still down 40% over the course of the past month's trading. In a social media direct message to CoinDesk recently, Telcoin's founder and CEO, Paul Neuner, expressed pride in how his team responded to the issue, stating: “Making the decision to preemptively restore affected user wallets from our company treasury was a no-brainer, and I’m proud of the team for making that happen in record time.” Regulatory standingTelcoin's regulatory standing played a crucial role in instilling confidence during this challenging time. Although headquartered in Tokyo, the company is regulated in Singapore as a Major Payment Institution (MPI) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The firm is also registered and regulated in other global markets, including Canada and Australia. Telcoin maintains offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai and Los Angeles. The company had been active in trying to shape regulation in the United States in 2023, with company executives having made repeated visits to Washington D.C. to meet with Financial Services Committee members and staffers on Capitol Hill. In April of last year, the company extended its service offering to the European market, starting out initially in Lithuania.It appears that the restoration of Telcoin's application services led to a significant boost in user confidence. The company reported a 400% increase in deposits compared to the previous month. Users responded favorably to Telcoin's swift resolution of the security breach, with a ratio of $3.60 being deposited for every $1 withdrawn in the first day since the service restoration. Telcoin's measures, collaboration with security experts and the surge in user deposits appear to have resulted in a resilient recovery. The saga highlights the importance of prompt and transparent responses in maintaining trust in the face of crypto security issues.