Shopify merchants will soon be able to accept USD Coin (USDC) payments through Solana Pay. The FBI has identified six Bitcoin wallets linked to North Korean hacker group, Lazarus, and has warned crypto firms to be vigilant. Meanwhile Binance.US tapped MoonPay to restore some U.S. dollar ramps for users after being crypto-only for the past two months.
Shopify merchants will soon be able to accept USDC payments: Report
E-commerce juggernaut Shopify will soon enable its merchants to accept USD Coin (USDC) payments through Solana, potentially opening the door to wider stablecoin adoption.
On Aug. 23, it was reported that Shopify will provide the USDC payment option through Solana Pay, a peer-to-peer payment platform that gives merchants he ability to accept crypto transactions.
According to Josh Fried of Solana Labs, the intersection of digital assets and payments represents the next “killer app for crypto.” Fried said Solana Pay can signficantly reduce transaction costs compared with credit card processing. The Solana network currently charges an average of $0.00025 per transaction.
Shopify says that roughly 10% of all e-commerce transactions in the United States are facilitated through its platform. In dollar terms, that amounts to $444 billion. The company has been expanding its reach into Web3, having recently launched a suite of blockchain commerce tools.
FBI flags 6 Bitcoin wallets linked to North Korea, urges vigilance in crypto firms
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has flagged six Bitcoin wallets linked to North Korean state-backed hacking group Lazarus. The six wallets contain 1,580 BTC worth $40 million believed to be hoarded from various cryptocurrency hacks over the past year.
The FBI in its investigation found that Lazarus Group moved approximately 1,580 BTC linked with several crypto exploits. These funds are currently sitting in the following Bitcoin addresses:
3LU8wRu4ZnXP4UM8Yo6kkTiGHM9BubgyiG
39idqitN9tYNmq3wYanwg3MitFB5TZCjWu
3AAUBbKJorvNhEUFhKnep9YTwmZECxE4Nk
3PjNaSeP8GzLjGeu51JR19Q2Lu8W2Te9oc
3NbdrezMzAVVfXv5MTQJn4hWqKhYCTCJoB
34VXKa5upLWVYMXmgid6bFM4BaQXHxSUoL
The FBI warned crypto companies that the movement of funds linked to the infamous North Korean hacking group could be a sign that they are looking to sell. The federal investigation agency advised crypto companies to keep an eye out for the six BTC wallets and use blockchain data to keep track of any movement of funds.
“Private sector entities should examine the blockchain data associated with these addresses and be vigilant in guarding against transactions directly with, or derived from, the addresses.”
The North Korean hacking group has been actively involved in multiple crypto-linked exploits over the years, stealing billions of dollars worth of crypto assets. A recent report from TRM Labs suggests that the North Korean hackers have stolen nearly $2 billion in crypto since 2018. The group was most active in 2022, having stolen nearly $1 billion worth of crypto assets last year alone.
2022 saw some of the biggest decentralized finance (DeFi) exploits, and Lazarus Group was identified as the mastermind behind Harmony’s Horizon bridge and Sky Mavis’ $625-million hack on Ethereum-linked sidechain Ronin Bridge last year.
Although crypto-linked exploits due to code vulnerabilities in platforms and protocols have increased due to the sophistication in methods used by these hackers, blockchain technology still makes it problematic for exploiters to launder or move their ill-gotten gains due to the public ledger that makes it possible to track the movement of funds.
Law enforcement agencies like the FBI, along with crypto companies, have worked together on several occasions in the past to freeze funds linked to such exploits. Earlier in February this year, Huobi and Binance froze $1.4 million worth of crypto assets linked to North Korea. Similarly, $63 million worth of assets linked to the Harmony Bridge hack was also frozen by crypto exchanges.
Binance.US taps MoonPay in bid to restore USD ramps
Crypto exchange Binance.US announced a partnership with crypto payments firm MoonPay on Aug. 22 allowing users to buy the stablecoin Tether (USDT) with U.S. dollars.
It’s been around two months since Binance.US became a crypto-only platform due to its banking partner relationships breaking down — which saw fiat deposits on the exchange halted as of June 9.
The exchange blamed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “aggressive and intimidating” tactics — which sued the exchange and its affiliates four days prior — as the reason for the disruption.
Today, we’re excited to introduce a new $USD on-ramp!
✔️ Buy $USDT on https://t.co/AZwoBOgsqS through payment partners like @moonpay, which supports debit & credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
✔️ Sell USDT for USD to withdraw via bank transfer.
Learn more & get started ⤵️
— Binance.US (@BinanceUS) August 22, 2023
USDT will be the new “base asset” for all exchange transactions and the MoonPay partnership allows a path for users to deposit and withdraw with Binance.US using dollars.
Direct bank deposits remain disabled but MoonPay offers Binance.US ramps that support debit and credit cards along with Apple and Google Pay.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
