Vitalik to "Reinvent" Tornado Cash

GM Readers!📪 It's BitDegree Insider, and here's what's up.

⭐️Today's selection:

• 🌪Vitalik Buterin's Tornado Cash Alternative
• 🐥Important Mini News
• 🎣Crypto + Phishing = $24M Loss
• 🧩️Thursday Quiz
• 👌Selected Meme of The Day
• 📰Bite-Sized News

VITALIK UNVEILS TORNADO CASH ALTERNATIVE

Specifically, Vitalik Buterin, The Ethereum-Man, has put his intellectual weight behind an article about a new privacy protocol called Privacy Pools.

Vitalik, together with co-authors (A. Soleimani, J. Illum, M. Nadler & F. Schär), argue that financial security can indeed coexist with regulation.

They describe this new platform as a "smart contract-based privacy enhancement protocol that remedies the shortcomings of Tornado Cash."

For background, Vitalik Buterin and other authors have previously acknowledged Tornado Cash as a useful tool, but also highlighted its potential for abuse.

For even more background: In August 2022, U.S. authorities banned the use of the crypto mixer Tornado Cash. A year later, the founders were accused of laundering $1 billion and having connections to North Korean hackers. One of the founders, Roman Storm, has recently been released on bail.

In contrast to Tornado Cash, Privacy Pools will make use of zero-knowledge proof technology (zk-rollups). The authors believe this will help pinpoint the origin of funds without exposing an individual's complete transaction history.

"The main idea is to allow users to publish zero-knowledge proofs, thereby showing that their funds originate from legitimate sources, without revealing the full scope of their transactions," states the paper's abstract.

The Privacy Pools protocol aims to Filter out funds associated with criminal activities, thereby striking a balance between user privacy and regulatory compliance. Well, maybe this was the missing secret ingredient?

TL;DR: Vitalik Buterin and co-authors have introduced Privacy Pools, a smart contract-based privacy protocol aimed at addressing the limitations of Tornado Cash, emphasizing the coexistence of financial security and regulation.

IMPORTANT MINI NEWS!

Here it goes:Google to Permit Advertising for NFT-Based Games

One small step for Google, one giant leap for NFT-Based Games.

Starting on September 15th, Google will allow advertisers to promote games that are based on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), as long as these games are not related to gambling.

To provide some context, Google had already updated its policies in July to permit apps on Google Play that allow users to earn money through cryptocurrencies, and we described it here.

TL;DR: Google to permit advertising for NFT-based games.

HOW TO LOSE $24 MILLION IN CRYPTO

Hint… It sounds rather similar to… Fishing. Have you guessed it yet?

That's right, phishing is on the news again.

An unidentified user accidentally authorized a malicious transaction that allowed for the spending of tokens (related to transactions with the "increaseAllowance" function, which grants the right to claim funds).

As a result, the user lost 9,579 $stETH and 4,850 $rETH, totaling approximately $24 million.

The perpetrator hasn't been immediately identified, but their scam address is linked to other phishing resources. Specifically, these are sites with fake airdrops that also lure victims into giving out their personal information.

Be cautious! Double-check the transactions you're authorizing, use bookmarks for trusted crypto sites, and, when possible, interact with crypto through separate devices.

TL;DR: Scammers tricked their victims into sending them crypto worth around $24 million.

THURSDAY QUIZ

It's Thursday, it's time to think, ponder and mind-wrestle.

One of the following statements is a complete lie:

3 Statements. 2 Facts. 1 Fat Lie.

What do you think, which one of these is complete baloney?

And yes, it's not just a random question with random possible answers. You'll see why we asked you such a mildly specific question in tomorrow's newsletter.

SELECTED MEME OF THE DAY

BITE-SIZED NEWS

• Incorrectly Tagged Wallets Stir Controversy Around Polygon and Binance. Polygon executives claim that wallets that transferred MATIC tokens were mislabeled.
• EU Commissioner Cautions Against Rushing Digital Euro Ahead of EU Elections. McGuinness believes that the digital euro plans should be overviewed by the new European Commission.
• Grammy Awards Welcome AI as Drake Track Contends for Nomination. An AI-generated vocal track featuring rapper Drake is making waves in the music industry.

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