Bitcoin Daily: LoopX’s Exit Scam, BitGrail’s Suspicious Nano Hack

Some of America’s leading universities are adding a new course to their roster – call it Bitcoin 101. Graduate classes at schools such as Duke and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will address bitcoin and the blockchain, The New York Times reported.

“There was some gentle ribbing from my colleagues when I began giving talks on bitcoin,” David Yermack, a New York University professor, told The Times. “But within a few months, I was being invited to Basel to talk with central bankers, and the joking from my colleagues stopped after that.”

And, in cryptocurrency technology news, users of bitcoin cash can make transactions through SMS, Finance Magnates reported. Users of CoinText can easily make the transactions with text commands, such as balance, deposit, ‎send and withdraw. And, in comparison to other wallets, CoinText doesn’t require its users to register, or store private keys or passphrases. As a result, the wallet doesn’t store any transaction data.

In other news, there is now a forked version of MyEtherWallet called MyCrypto.com, Finance Magnates reported. The wallet was created by MyEtherWallet co-founder Taylor Monahan, who made the surprise announcement in a Medium post on Friday (Feb 8). “I was terrified – am terrified – at the potential harm this change will have on myself, the team, and/or the Ethereum community but ultimately, the risks created by continuing down the road we were on are greater than the risks of splitting to a new brand, new company, new name and new domain,” she wrote. Not all users supported the decision – or the handling of the announcement.

And three top European financial regulators are warning investors about the volatility and lack of legal protection afforded by cryptocurrencies, Financial News reported. The European Securities and Markets Authority, European Banking Authority and European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority issued a joint statement, which said: “Virtual currencies can be extremely risky and are usually highly speculative. If you buy VCs [virtual currencies], you should be aware that there is a high risk that you will lose a large amount, or even all, of the money invested.” Their warning comes as watchdogs in China, the U.S. and South Korea have expressed concern over investments in digital coins.

Their concern comes just as investors might have become involved in two so-called crypto “exit scams.” BitGrail reported that 17 million Nano coins have been stolen through unauthorized transfers, RT stated. But the announcement comes as BitGrail stopped all withdrawals and deposits of Nano, Lisk and CryptoForecast in January – and introduced new verification and anti-money laundering measures even though the exchange had said it doesn’t work with banks or governments. As a result, some users said the exchange was planning an “exit scam.”

In another potential “exit scam,” LoopX, an investment platform that attracted investors with its trading algorithm, has suddenly gone offline after raising millions from investors in another situation, The Next Web reported. After a $4.5 million initial coin offering (ICO), the company’s site went dark –  as did its social media accounts.