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Vital lessons we can learn from crypto heists

Kay Khemani

@KayKhemani

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This article was contributed by Kay Khemani, managing director of Spectre.ai

When you look around the public sphere — billboards, buses, subway stations, and your very smartphones — it’s clear from the barrage of cryptocurrency advertisements that the industry has officially gone mainstream. In fact, since 2019, global crypto adoption has skyrocketed 2300%, up 881% in the last year alone.

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As astonishing as this growth is, it has also opened up new avenues for criminals to exploit loopholes and flaws present in various protocols and consensus mechanisms. Figures from Crypto Head show that 32 hacks and incidents of fraud amounting to $2.9 billion have occurred in 2021. In the U.K. alone, the amount of money reportedly lost to cryptocurrency fraud in 2021 amounts to over £146M — a 30% jump from 2020.

Incidents like these crypto heists do nothing for building trust amongst the uninitiated. Considering these events, it is increasingly essential that both companies and regulators attempt to learn from these misfortunes to improve their policies and project development going forward.

Re-evaluating crypto heist priorities

Despite being a nascent industry, the competitive nature of the crypto space often forces organizations to cut corners to achieve incredible growth. This method often leads to long-term endangerment, as we’ve witnessed with Binance Europe’s recent suspension of futures and derivatives products across Italy, Germany, and The Netherlands.

Such setbacks might present more uncertainty for the entire industry, which could lead to less investment appetite from institutions and consumers — further hampering progress.

Instead, companies need to sacrifice immediate growth prospects for a law-abiding (albeit slower) long-term growth strategy. This would focus on meaningful and measured development to prove that crypto investments are legitimate.

The devil is in the details

In 2021, the crypto world was left reeling by an attack on Polynetwork, a platform connecting separate blockchains to facilitate easier transactions. The hacker made off with over $600 million in funds, making the attack the largest crypto heist in history.

In addition to their increasing frequency, the scale of crypto heists has surged at a startling rate over the past year. Data from Comparitech demonstrates that five of the ten largest heists have occurred in the last 12 months. Based on the evidence of previous attacks, criminals tend to focus their efforts on DeFi services and crypto exchanges, as witnessed in the cases of Bitmart, Badger DAO, AscendEX, Coinbase, ChainSwap, and more.

The open-source and public nature of blockchains presents a vulnerability that hackers can exploit, no matter how rigorous the audit. Any and all potential system liabilities are visible on the open-source blockchain. This was the situation with Cream Finance, where hackers took advantage of a kink in the platform’s lending solution to steal their assets.

Similarly, criminals have also been exploiting flaws in smart contracts, most recently with DeFi protocol MonoX which saw hackers escape with $31 million. While a recent survey discovered that the popular blockchain, Ethereum, harbors several vulnerabilities through its smart contracts. As such, preventative measures and deterrents for hackers typically rely on making the cost of an attack disproportionate to the reward.

Tragically, the decentralized nature of crypto exchanges and blockchain platforms ensures consumers are stranded without a suitable safety net in the event of a hack or crypto heist, leaving them at the mercy of the hackers or companies to get their money back. This, however, shouldn’t come as a surprise, because blockchain technologies prevent the reversal of fraudulent transactions, as is the norm with centralized financial institutions like banks.

The motivation for carrying out hacks and crypto heists can vary, with some being executed non-maliciously as was the case for the Poly Network hacker, who claimed to go through with it “for fun” (and did, in fact, return the stolen funds in full). However, most are conducted with the intention of permanently siphoning off funds, leaving enduring damage and a lasting bad taste in the mouth of the consumer. As such, crypto companies should be invited by regulators to collaborate on remedies for security flaws. Strategic initiatives against cybercrime should be developed in unison between the public and private sector, investing in mutually beneficial solutions so the whole industry can mitigate the impact of cyberhacks.

Crypto heists: It takes two to tango

Having said all that, regulators’ responsibility is paramount in this conversation. The fast-paced growth of the crypto industry has left several regulators scrambling to decipher its potential, utility, and risks. Most regulators are acting with the intent of protecting consumers and draft guidelines accordingly. While necessary, this could potentially inflict more harm than good if conducted without due diligence and industry correspondence.

Regulators need to understand that not every player is a bad actor operating with malicious intent. Policymakers will greatly benefit from consulting with influential crypto corporations to draft clearer regulations, just as Capitol Hill and White House regulators did with Andreessen Horowitz earlier this year. This collaboration would in turn mitigate the very scams and hacks they’re attempting to protect consumers from.

In addition, ignoring companies who are actively seeking resolution and clarity on regulatory matters remains unproductive. If regulators insist on arbitrary or lackluster laws, investors and startups will have no choice but to relocate their projects to a jurisdiction with progressive regulations, as we’ve seen in the case of firms leaving China in the wake of the country’s crypto crackdown.

Additionally, there is often confusion as to which regulatory body within a given country has the power to govern the industry. Crypto assets oftentimes have various models or classes, and can sometimes behave as a commodity and as a security. It is also worth noting that regulations drafted by influential nations, such as the U.S. and China, will likely be emulated in emerging markets, which puts a greater impetus on the former to draw up suitable guidelines and set the stage for the industry’s future prospects.

Vast potential to be unlocked

Regulations are designed to protect both companies and investors: if they’re not accomplishing this, then they’ve most likely been improperly drafted. A well-regulated market should eliminate fake buy and sell orders, making ‘pump and dump’ actions harder to get away with and helping ensure an accurate valuation of a cryptocurrency’s worth.

There’s undoubtedly a fine line between protecting consumers from the volatility and risk associated with crypto, while also encouraging innovation, adoption, and entrepreneurship. The nascent crypto landscape could be likened to the early years of smartphone adoption: when former Apple Co-Founder and CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone in 2007, many people were dismissive and critical of the device. And look where we are now. Apple unlocked a new ecosystem and devised novel use-cases centered around the smartphone, and it’s now difficult to imagine our lives without these devices.

While nobody can accurately predict how the crypto markets will play out, there is an argument to be made that we are yet to see the best iteration of the technology. The implementation of measured crypto regulations will enable innovative companies to move to the next phase of legitimacy and adoption. Ultimately, the ball is in the regulator’s court.

Kay Khemani is managing director of Spectre.ai

The Top 4Cryptocurrency apps (Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Shiba Inu, Gaming coins) in Canada and Beyond Raheel Awan 1 day ago·2 min read If you’ve never heard about crypto, mining, staking, rewards, Facebook Meta, or any of these terms before: you are too late in this early mass adoption of cryptocurrency as a normal medium of exchange. Let me tell you what is crypto: These coins may include BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, Shiba Inu, Binance Coin, Tether (USDC, USDT), EOS, Cardano(ADA), XLM (Stellar), IOTA, NEO, BAT (Basic Attention Token). To put it in simple terms these coins are an Web medium of exchange that is slowly changing the world, 1 second at a time. Sooner or later there will be mass adoption, I’m talking about it being a worldwide $ trillion(s) worth of it! To get these coins, one needs to have a wallet. The Top 5 apps to exchange these coins include (but not limited to): 1. Binance Binance is one of the top 3 exchanges in the world. it is simply Invest safely and securely in crypto with Gemini. Gemini makes buying Crypto simple, safe & secure. Amenities include: Free Account, Bitcoin Bonus, Mobile Friendly, Safest Exchange. 2. Crypto.com Crypto.com is a complete, all-round cryptocurrency platform, where ANYTHING crypto is done. It sure is one of the most safest. Plus, it even has its own Visa card. 3. Coinbase I’m sure you (and most) people have already heard of Coinbase. It is an easy to use app and a wallet for any beginner. Features Make it the Best & Easiest Place to Start Trading Crypto. Our 68M+ Users Think the Exchange is Extremely Easy-to-Use & Secure 4. Wealthsimple Although Wealthsimple is a Canadian country, it also has recently added cryptocurrency to its portfolio of business ventures. It is “a Canadian online investment management service focused on millennials.” Note: This post may include referral links.

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Crypto vs. Banking: Which Is a Better Choice? Cryptocurrencies should go beyond what traditional banking institutions offer. Tanveer Zafar, Entrepreneur.com Dec. 26, 2021

The past few years have seen the launch and blossoming of blockchain technology. This technology also harbors other innovations like cryptocurrencies, DeFi, NFTs, and other digital assets. These innovations are mostly solving the concurrent problems caused by centralized monetary systems.

Blockchain technology dates back to the 2007 economic decline that saw the world suffer from poor central banks management. Many banks were already in debt, and they were also minting excess fiat currency that raised inflation rates in the world. Satoshi Nakamoto made a digital currency, BTC, as a remedy. This currency has a design to solve this issue and avoid such mistakes since it is fully decentralized. Nakamoto also made his source code an open resource for other developers to make similar innovations and solve the banking issues.

As a result, Cryptocurrencies were born, and now they function more efficiently than the banking systems. They also offer even better financial systems than banks. Currently the biggest drawback of cryptocurrencies is its volatility, as seen in the crypto fear and greed index. This makes cryptocurrency unable to be used in daily day to day transactions. This issue is widely expected to be resolved once cryptocurrency gains widespread popularity. Read on to learn why cryptocurrencies should strive beyond what banks can offer in the financial scope.

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Cryptos Vs. Banking Systems

Related: How Blockchain-Based Firms Are Taking Over Banking and Public Sector Roles

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that function like traditional money and can serve as means of exchange. They are usually bought through crypto exchange platforms and stored in safe crypto wallets. These digital currencies are decentralized, and they operate in a very secure way with minimal human interactions. As a result, many now classify them as the future of the finance sector.

Banks are the current financial systems in the world. They offer financial support like loans, savings, and other transactions. However, unlike cryptos, they have many setbacks since they are centralized and subject to biases. They are also relatively slower than cryptos, and some charge too high interests on loans and some transactions.

What Are The Main Drawbacks Of Banking Systems?

Related: 8 Ways Digital Banking Will Evolve Over the Next 5 Years

Below are some of the main drawbacks of banking systems that cripple the financial system.

Accessibility

The banks are usually not available during the weekend. Therefore, people usually encounter many problems when expecting to complete essential transactions on weekends and holidays. The banks also require people's physical appearance to complete huge transactions, which takes up too much time.

Financial Inclusion

The traditional banking systems use different techniques to market their work. They set aside some projects for select groups of people which cannot be available to the others. These groups get some favors like soft loans, prolonged payment durations, and lower interest rates. As a result, the systems end up being unfair and devoid of financial inclusion.

Security Issues

Skilled technicians can hack many mobile banking apps. As a result, some people end up losing large sums of cash fom their accounts. The systems are also prone to fraud and money embezzlement. These occurrences may result in loss of hard-earned money.

Extra Fees and Slow Transactions

Banks come with extra fees and taxes during transaction periods. For example, the sending and receiving banks usually impose very high transaction fees and taxes during international remittances. Due to slow protocols, these transactions also take a long time, especially for large sums of cash.

Can Be Biased

Since bank transactions and financial services depend on account numbers and names, they are open to biases. In case of a feud with the officials of a certain bank, the financial service issuing officer can deliberately delay the transactions.

How Cryptocurrencies Can Offer More than Banking Systems

Related: Five Challenges Blockchain Companies Face While Working With Banks

Cryptocurrencies came to solve the issues within the current banking systems. Therefore, they should do better in creating a more effective financial ecosystem in the world. Below are some of the ways how cryptocurrencies can offer better financial services than banks.

Decentralized Nature

Cryptocurrencies are completely free of the control of third parties, unlike banks. This decentralized nature minimizes human interactions, which makes them free from biases. They are more secure and reliable since it is hard to tamper with them because they use anonymous ID numbers in transactions.

Security Concerns

The biggest issue surrounding financial systems is security concerns. Cryptocurrencies run on blockchain technology which is highly intact and free from major security threats like hacking.

It is also free from fraudulent activities since the system automatically processes the transactions with minimal human interactions. Therefore, if cryptos innovate more ways to deal with security concerns, they can remain better than banks.

Smart Contracts

Related: What is a 'smart contract' and what is it for?

Cryptocurrencies can also have smart contracts running in their blockchain networks. These smart contracts have a design to give computer instructions and process them with minimal human interactions. Therefore, they can serve excellently in doing away with fraudulent activities and corruption, which is a challenge to banks.

Many crypto platforms also encourage investors to take a positive initiative to buidl and ensure the growth of coins. In turn, users and holders can actively contribute to the boom of not only their tokens, but also other tokens at large; hence, securing a brighter future for crypto adoption and spreading crypto's diversification. One buidling tactic is leveraging smart contracts during transactions.

Financial Inclusion

Cryptocurrencies have minimal entry barriers. As a result, they are easily accessible to everyone regardless of their status. This feature is encouraging since they may help improve the economy wholesomely as everyone gets equal chances.

Accessibility

Unlike banks, cryptocurrencies use automatic systems that do not require too many human interactions. Therefore, they are accessible every time of the day, including the weekend and holidays.

As a result, their incorporation into financial systems may make them better than banking systems due to better uptime.

Instant Remittances

Cryptocurrencies have very fast transaction speed, unlike the traditional financial system with queues and protocols to follow. As a result, more transactions can be done in a day through cryptocurrencies than in banking systems. This functionality gives them a notch above the banks since they would give the economy a better chance at quick growth.

Diversification

Related: Ingenious Blockchain Solutions To Enterprises Through Smart Contracts

Unlike banking systems which offer almost uniform financial services, cryptocurrencies are many and have different features. Therefore they are more diverse than banks. Such diversity is a cut above the traditional services since crypto investments can grow in more than one way simultaneously.

ADACash is one such platform offering simpler and better earning opportunities from your ADA holdings. To increase incentives, the platform gives you more Cardano (ADA) reflections with the more ADACash tokens you have on your wallet.

Such staking options like ADACash can give additional income and serve as a diversification tool even on the bearish market. With staking as an option investors are increasingly opting for holding ADA that has halved in price over the past two months. Despite the market fall, Cardano’s total transaction volume has outperformed that of Ethereum this month.

Conclusion

To sum up all of the above, it is good to mention that cryptocurrencies have advantages that outdo the banks. However, more needs to be done to ensure that they remain in power for long. They need to provide the world with more practical solutions to problems caused by the banks.

Luckily enough, they are already doing it. Cryptos have very intact security systems that are encouraging to investors. They also offer reliable transactions at better speeds than the traditional features. As a result, they are proving to be vital in ushering a better and cashless financial age. However, there is still more that cryptocurrencies need to do to fill all loopholes from traditional banking systems.

This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com

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Crypto Cards Are Giving Bitcoin Purchase Power

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Crypto Cards Are Giving Bitcoin Purchase Power

Lawrence Wintermeyer

Contributor

Fintech

I cover fintech, crypto and digital assets, and sustainable finance. Follow

SAN FRANCISCO - FEBRUARY 25: People walk by a window sticker advertising Visa and MasterCard credit ... [+]

Spending your cryptocurrency was once a headache-inducing endeavour. Not only did few merchants accept bitcoin as a medium of exchange, but without access to the now ubiquitous fiat off-ramps, you had to source a buyer willing to exchange fiat for digital. That entailed a degree of risk since peer-to-peer marketplaces that protected users with an escrow system didn't exist.

What a difference a couple of years makes. These days it’s easy to use bitcoin and ether to buy goods and services online, in the metaverse, and in the meatspace, with payment gateways handling conversion at the point of sale. The spender authorizes the transaction while the processor converts their crypto into fiat in real time, de-risking the transaction for merchants sceptical of accepting volatile virtual currencies. Everyone’s a winner.

Debit Card Meets Digital Value

Of all the infrastructure put in place since the emergence of the digital asset sector, few have done as much to accelerate mainstream adoption as crypto-friendly debit cards. Payment giants Visa and Mastercard have rolled out support for cryptocurrencies on their vast networks, giving users access to their crypto portfolios and the ability to quickly and cheaply convert them into traditional currencies for spending purposes.

This is not a globally acceptable solution as many countries take a hard line stance against cryptocurrencies, with financial laws in place that ban citizens from buying, selling or even holding them. A crypto-fiat card, convenient as it may be, won’t be of much use in Algeria or Bolivia. But in countries where Visa and Mastercard are accepted, your purchase power is assured.

Explaining its shifting attitude towards the digital economy earlier this year, Mastercard wrote that it “isn’t here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But we are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value, traditional or crypto, however they want. It should be your choice, it’s your money.”

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Mastercard’s growing crypto partner network now includes wallet application Wirex, bitcoin payment service provider BitPay, digital asset manager Bakkt, and FDIC-insured mobile banking application LVL. Last week, the company announced that it was also joining forces with five startups to "solve global blockchain challenges” as part of its Start Path Crypto accelerator program.

As well as LVL, the companies participating in the program include smart-contract builder Ava Labs, AI-centric mobile banking app Envel, peer-to-peer savings platform Kash, and crypto rewards platform NiftyKey. Three more leading cryptocurrency service providers in the Asia Pacific region, Amber, Bitkub and CoinJar, will soon be launching crypto-funded Mastercard payment cards.

Visa has embraced digital assets with an equal fervour, having teamed up with over 60 crypto platforms including Circle, BlockFi, Coinbase, FTX and Anchorage. The firm even launched its own Global Crypto Advisory Practice last year, pitched at financial institutions keen to win or retain customers by expanding their services to include digital currencies, stablecoins, and NFTs.

Much of Visa’s crypto business has been conducted in concert with payments startup Simplex, which specializes in providing users with on and off-ramp capabilities via both credit and debit cards. Simplex was this year acquired by Canadian payments processor Nuvei in a deal worth $250 million, and Nuvei is in turn rolling out branded Visa cards to its partners throughout Europe. There clearly are many different entities responsible for giving crypto more purchase power.

By enabling millions of consumers around the world to spend digital assets with a swipe of the card or smartphone, two non-crypto native firms have struck a surprising blow to the hegemony of traditional financial institutions when it comes to payments. The dominance of traditional players in the payment space has been waning for some time as innovative forms of digital payment have emerged. Square’s Cash App boasts over 40 million monthly active users and digital wallets like Venmo, Revolut, and Wirex have also built large international user bases.

Banks No Longer Payment Kings

Many alternative payment platforms continue to allow users to fund their accounts through connecting their bank accounts. Crypto-friendly debit cards, for example, often display a fiat balance and crypto balance with account-holders able to shift funds accordingly and spend either fiat or crypto at the point of sale. In the future banks could be frozen out altogether. Stablecoins, a digital asset whose value is pegged 1:1 with the US dollar are now being supported on cards.

Like other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins can be spent like cash anywhere Visa and Mastercard is accepted with cards such as the one offered by crypto platform Voyager Digital, which supports the USDC stablecoin. If many crypto users are only interacting with the legacy fiat system because of its supposed stability, they could turn their banks on fiat entirely by using assets like USDC and USDT as a kind of proxy fiat.

There is another benefit of stabelcoins as cryptoassets like bitcoin often come with a capital gain tax burden, when converted into cash and spent. Stablecoins are better suited to being a medium of exchange.

The debit cards offered by major crypto-native platforms such as Coinbase and Crypto.com, all in partnership with Visa, allow users to spend their trading profits (including those made from selling NFTs) and earn perks such as cashback to inspire loyalty. Crypto.com's rewards also include free Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime and unlimited airport lounge access, with support for around 90 digital assets.

Visa’s various industry partnerships meant that over $1 billion was spent on their crypto-friendly cards in the first half of 2021 alone. While that is a drop in the ocean to a company whose payment volume totalled $8.8 trillion last year, the number is only going up.

“One thing that continues to put people off entering the space is the perceived difficulty of spending cryptocurrencies,” notes Shahaf Bar-Geffen, the CEO of fintech platform COTI, “Banks are slow to adopt which causes issues, so a debit card that’s connected directly to your crypto wallet, and accepted almost anywhere, is probably one of the easiest solutions to a crucial adoption problem.”

Unlike many crypto platforms, COTI is built especially for payments. Its flagship COTI Pay product can process all payment types natively, both online and off, including crypto and stablecoins, credit cards, and even a merchant’s native coin. That said, it too has partnered with Simplex (and by extension, Visa) for its debit cards.

It’s fair to say that crypto-friendly debit cards can offer greater functionality than their fiat equivalents, which for the most part operate solely as payment cards. As well as cashback, they often come with referral bonuses, rebates on different services and even in some cases, lines of credit. The latter feature is offered by wallet maker Ledger’s new Crypto Life card, which allows holders to obtain credit by using cryptocurrency as collateral. While such a thing is common in the burgeoning decentralized finance space, it’s the first time such infrastructure has been available via a card.

The aptly named Crypto Life card will be available to customers in the U.K., France and Germany in the first quarter of 2022, and for US customers in the second quarter, with Ledger Chief Experience Officer Ian Rogers stating that it represents “a step toward replacing traditional bank accounts.”

The gap between traditional finance and crypto is closing, and this can only be a good thing for consumers looking to get more bang for their bitcoin. The crypto debit card landscape is already crowded with competitors, expect the perks to get juicier and the number of supported digital assets to increase in the coming year.

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To put it in simple terms these coins are an Web medium of exchange that is slowly changing the world, 1 second at a time. Sooner or later there will be mass adoption, I’m talking about it being a worldwide $ trillion(s) worth of it! To get these coins, one needs to have a wallet. The Top 5 apps to exchange these coins include (but not limited to): 1. Binance Binance is one of the top 3 exchanges in the world. it is simply Invest safely and securely in crypto with Gemini. Gemini makes buying Crypto simple, safe & secure. Amenities include: Free Account, Bitcoin Bonus, Mobile Friendly, Safest Exchange. 2. Crypto.com Crypto.com is a complete, all-round cryptocurrency platform, where ANYTHING crypto is done. It sure is one of the most safest. Plus, it even has its own Visa card. 3. Coinbase

I’m sure you (and most) people have already heard of Coinbase. It is an easy to use app and a wallet for any beginner. Features Make it the Best & Easiest Place to Start Trading Crypto. Our 68M+ Users Think the Exchange is Extremely Easy-to-Use & Secure 4. Wealthsimple Although Wealthsimple is a Canadian country, it also has recently added cryptocurrency to its portfolio of business ventures. It is “a Canadian online investment management service focused on millennials.” Note: This post may include referral links.

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cryptora · 2 years

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Mine using the link to get a faster rate. heylink.me/freebitcoin

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Future Group Shares Soar As Amazon India Deal Suspended

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Future Group Shares Soar As Amazon India Deal Suspended

Mark Faithfull

Advantage Ambani as ruling could pave way for Reliance Industries to acquire Future Group. (NOAH ... [+]

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Shares in India’s Future Group companies initially surged almost 20% this week after India’s antitrust authority suspended Amazon’s AMZN 0.0% 2019 deal with the retail group.

Potentially, the decision could pave the way for Indian rival and business behemoth Reliance Retail to buy Future’s retail operations.

Reliance has businesses in power, oil, retail, and telecoms and runs outlets for global brands, including Hugo Boss and Burberry. And in 2019 Reliance bought U.K. toy shop retailer Hamleys.

Future Group shares soared on Monday after the regulator’s ruling on Friday that Amazon had suppressed information while seeking regulatory approval two years ago for its $200 million investment in Future Group, India’s second biggest retailer. While Future Group stocks have settled somewhat on profit taking, they are still over 8% up on the start of the week.

Amazon had been able to use the terms of its deal to block Future’s attempts to sell retail assets for a reported $3.4 billion to a unit of Reliance Industries, Amazon’s biggest rival in the Indian retail market.

In setting out its decision, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said Amazon will be allowed time to resubmit the information in order to seek approvals, but it is understood that Future may be unwilling to cooperate with a reapplication for antitrust clearance.

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Amazon To Challenge Indian Ruling

Amazon had previously warned India's antitrust body that revoking its deal with Future Group would send a negative signal to foreign investors and allow Reliance to "further restrict competition".

Amazon said Friday that it was reviewing the new order and local reports now suggest that Amazon has taken the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to court, seeking to cancel an investigation into the 2019 deal with Future Group. Amazon has reportedly also sought the Delhi High Court's advice on the reasoning behind the ED’s expansion of its scope and powers.

Future Retail shares had surged after its Reliance deal was announced in August last year, but have since lost around a third of their value as Amazon mounted a series of challenges.

Indian Regulator Renounces Amazon Deal

In the latest move, India’s competition regulator revoked approval for Amazon’s alliance with Future Group, alleging that the U.S. company had not been fully transparent in its filings about the deal.

Amazon had initially won its battle to block Reliance buying Future Group. (Photo by MANJUNATH ... [+]

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In 2019, Amazon acquired 49% of Future Coupons, a payments provider that offers gift cards and other products. The deal was seen as a way for Amazon to gain a foothold in India’s retail market and Amazon was subsequently named sole e-commerce provider for some Future Group brands.

But Future Group agreed to sell its retail and wholesale operations to rival Reliance, Amazon raised an objection and in February this year won a stay of execution in what had been in a race against time to stop Mukesh Ambani from using Future to accelerate expansion of his JioMart venture, which delivers daily essentials via a vast network of mom-and-pop shops.

Amazon Had Received A Lifeline

Earlier this year, the courts barred Reliance Industries from completing the deal with the ailing Future Group, which late last year missed a bond payment, tanking its credit rating. The deal has already been signed off by regulators, pending inking by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and ascent by Future’s shareholders.

Amazon alleged that the sale breached a contract it has with Future subsidiary, Future Coupons, that bars Future from selling its retail assets without Amazon’s consent. In October 2020, an arbitration panel in Singapore decreed the deal should be iced pending a final verdict, and Amazon appealed to India’s Supreme Court.

Future subsequently complained to the Indian Competition Commission (CCI) about its original deal with Amazon. Last Friday, the CCI agreed, with the revocation essentially based on its contention that Amazon failed to disclose full details about the deal, saying: “Amazon had made false and incorrect representations and concealed/suppressed material facts in contravention of the provisions of the [Competition] Act.”

Grocery is the big prize because it accounts for about half of all consumer spending and the pandemic has accelerated the shift towards e-commerce, in part because India has had one of the strictest lockdowns.

In addition to Amazon, which also holds minority investments in supermarket chain More and department store chain Shoppers Stop, Walmart WMT -0.2% has partnered with Indian e-commerce brand Flipkart and Facebook paid $5.7 billion for a 9.9% stake in Jio Platforms.

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Antitrust watchdog Lina Khan is questioning Big Tech’s expansion into payments

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Antitrust watchdog Lina Khan is questioning Big Tech’s expansion into payments

Aman KidwaiWed, December 22, 2021, 11:35 AM·3 min read

The federal government is amplifying its scrutiny of major tech companies’ forays into financial services, as one of the Biden administration’s top antitrust critics announced her support for an ongoing investigation into the impact of those companies entering the financial sector.

In October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Square (now known as Block), and PayPal to provide information about their business practices as it relates to their operation of payment systems. This week, the CFPB received additional support for its inquiry, in the form of a Dec. 21 statement from Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, who also sees the tech industry’s expansion into payments as potentially anticompetitive. Before joining the Biden administration in June, Khan was a fierce advocate for antitrust reform.

“Big Tech companies’ participation in payments and financial services could enable them to entrench and extend their market positions and privileged access to data and A.I. techniques in potentially anticompetitive and exploitative ways,” Khan wrote. “I will be looking to this inquiry and the findings it produces to help inform the FTC’s work,” she added.

In the statement, Khan also highlighted the potential for Big Tech’s algorithms to propagate discrimination and bias in the delivery of financial services. She expressed concern about the “single point of failure problem” presented by tech companies being both payment and authentication providers.

Earlier this month, the CFPB opened a related inquiry into the “Buy now, pay later” arrangements offered by emerging and established fintech companies. The agency cited the ease with which borrowers can accrue debt, regulatory arbitrage, and data harvesting as sources of risk for consumers as a result of the growth of companies such as Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna. PayPal has also been asked to participate in this probe.

Khan’s main point is that the essential monopoly that these major tech companies have on people’s data is highly advantageous when they start offering financial services. “Their structural position coupled with their data troves could give them the ability to entrench and extend their market positions in potentially anticompetitive and exploitative ways,” she wrote.

Lina Khan, commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) nominee for U.S. President Joe Biden, speaks during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Khan's selection for the FTC indicate that Biden is prepared to pursue a more interventionist antitrust agenda in which officials are quicker to challenge mergers and the market power of dominant companies. Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesMore

Khan also sees consumer and antitrust risk in the expansion of these businesses from lending for small purchases into checking, larger loans, and business banking services. Those practices could become predatory, Khan says, because of the immense amount of personal data the tech companies already possess about their users, including geolocation, social connections, and browsing history.

She pointed out the possibility as well of these companies having the dual role of employer and lender, and the potential for exploitation of workers that could result.

“Uber, for example, already offers loans, bank accounts, and credit cards to drivers in multiple geographies, while Amazon markets its own payday lending services to its warehouse workers,” Khan wrote. “Some have expressed concern that this dual role could enable Big Tech firms to combine the significant data they collect monitoring workers with information on workers’ financial obligations, a combination they could use to personalize interest payments and calibrate exactly how long a worker must work to stay afloat.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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This Amazon Segment Is Poised to Reaccelerate in 2022

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This Amazon Segment Is Poised to Reaccelerate in 2022

Adam Levy - Yesterday 7:30 AMFollow

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) saw a significant slowdown in revenue growth in the third quarter. The decline was most significant in its main online retail business. Total online store sales grew just 3% over the year-ago period. Meanwhile, growth in third-party seller services -- that is, for other businesses which sell on the Amazon platform vs. Amazon's own goods -- slowed to 18% from 53% a year ago.

But as Amazon moves through the busy fourth quarter and gears up for 2022, there's reason to believe its third-party seller services will see a reacceleration from the second half of 2021. Here's why investors should expect good things from this valuable business segment.

Working through the bottlenecks

Since the start of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, Amazon has faced severe capacity constraints in moving items from its warehouse to customers' doorsteps. So it's been working hard to increase the size and capabilities of its warehouse and fulfillment network as well as hire new workers.

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Amazon has more than doubled its fulfillment network footprint. It has also added over 628,000 permanent jobs since the start of the pandemic and an additional 150,000 seasonal workers for this quarter. Still, Amazon remained capacity-constrained through the first half of the year -- unable to do as much business as it might if it had even more workers and warehouse space.

There's good news for investors, though. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, "labor became our primary capacity constraint, not storage space or fulfillment capacity," Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky told analysts on Amazon's third-quarter earnings call.

If Amazon can keep some of its seasonal workers on permanently, it should be able to work through the labor shortage as well. That means more capacity for third-party sellers in its warehouses, which should fuel greater adoption of its fulfillment services.

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A Connecticut man received a fake COVID-19 vaccine card when he ordered a passport holder on Amazon, attorney general says

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A Connecticut man received a fake COVID-19 vaccine card when he ordered a passport holder on Amazon, attorney general says

Kieran Press-Reynolds

Dec 23, 2021, 2:23 PM

A healthcare worker displays a COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card. ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

A man's passport case from Amazon came with a fake COVID card, Connecticut's attorney general said.

The fake was similar to a real one, according to a purported picture shared by The Connecticut Post.

Amazon removed a listing of 10 blank vaccination cards after Insider contacted the company.

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A man received a fake COVID-19 vaccine card from Amazon after he ordered a passport holder through the platform, Connecticut's attorney general said.

The phony card looked nearly identical to a legitimate COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card and featured all the same descriptions — a place to write your name, dosage information, and birthday, among other things — and the US Centers for Disease Control Prevention's (CDC) logo in the top right, according to a purported picture of the card shared by The Connecticut Post.

After the man received the phony card, he informed Connecticut State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, who told Attorney General William Tong's office, according to The Connecticut Post. Tong's office told Amazon about the product, and the platform reportedly said they flagged the seller and removed the listing, The Connecticut Post reported.

Blumenthal tweeted The Connecticut Post's article on Thursday, thanking the man for reporting the listing and Tong's office for taking action.

Tong reportedly said in a statement that "fake vaccination cards are deceptive, dangerous, and unlawful," according to The Connecticut Post.

Tong's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Amazon previously removed a listing for a pack of 10 blank vaccination cards after Insider reached out to the company.

"We do not allow the products in question in our store," Amazon previously told Insider in an emailed statement. "We have proactive measures in place to prevent prohibited products from being listed and we continuously monitor our store. In this case, we have removed the items and taken action on the bad actors involved in bypassing our controls."

Amazon did not respond to Insider's request for comment on this recent incident.

In May, a 21-year-old was arrested after police discovered 62 counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards in his vehicle.

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FTC Advances Antitrust Probe Into Amazon Web Services: Report

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FTC Advances Antitrust Probe Into Amazon Web Services: Report

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is advancing an antitrust probe into Amazon.com Inc's (NASDAQ: AMZN) cloud computing business, Bloomberg reported on December 22.

FTC officials contacted companies in the past few months to gather information about competition issues related to Amazon Web Services (AWS), the report noted, citing people familiar with the matter.

Related Content: Amazon Seeks Immunity From Big Tech Critic FTC Chair Lina Khan In Antitrust Investigations: WSJ

The FTC undertook the probe as part of an investigation begun during the Trump administration.

The FTC looks to investigate whether Amazon has an incentive to discriminate against software companies that sell their products to clients of AWS while at the same time competing with Amazon.

Price Action: AMZN shares traded higher by 0.27% at $3,430.78 on the last check Thursday.

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Amazon will remind workers about their rights following an NLRB deal

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Amazon will remind workers about their rights following an NLRB deal

Kris Holt

·Contributing WriterThu, December 23, 2021, 10:36 AM·3 min read

The tussle between Amazon and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken another turn after the company reached a nationwide settlement with the agency. Amazon has agreed to remind current and former workers across the US about their labor rights on notices posted in workplaces, and on the mobile app and website for workers. Amazon will also send a copy of the notice to email addresses it has on file for any employee who worked at its facilities between March 22nd and December 22nd.

The notice informs workers that they have the legal right to join, form or assist with a union. They can select a representative to bargain with Amazon on their behalf and "act together with other employees for your benefit and protection."

In addition, workers have more leeway to organize in company facilities. In the notice, Amazon states it will not tell them to leave a property or threaten disciplinary action "when you are exercising your right to engage in union or protected concerted activities by talking to your co-workers in exterior non-work areas during non-work time." Nor will it ask workers about union activity, or why they're speaking to co-workers, according to the notice.

It'll be easier for the NLRB to sue Amazon if the agency believes it violated the agreement. In such cases, the company agreed to let the NLRB forego an administrative hearing process, which can take a long time to complete.

“This settlement agreement provides a crucial commitment from Amazon to millions of its workers across the United States that it will not interfere with their right to act collectively to improve their workplace by forming a union or taking other collective action,” NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo told The New York Times. Engadget has contacted Amazon for comment.

The agreement is related to six cases brought forward by workers who complained Amazon was impeding their efforts to organize. The company previously settled NLRB cases on an individual basis, but this a broader agreement. The agreement includes references to employees, but not contractors, who make up the bulk of Amazon's delivery workforce. It's unclear whether they will be afforded the same rights and protections under the deal.

The NLRB and Amazon have been at odds in recent times. In November, the labor board ordered Amazon to rerun a union election at an Alabama warehouse. It said Amazon interfered with the process. Workers at other facilities have attempted to organize — those at a fulfillment center in New York are trying once again to unionize after failing to obtain enough signatures last time.

Amazon has long been criticized over working conditions. Lawmakers this week sought answers from the company over whether its policies contributed to the deaths of six people after a tornado struck a warehouse in Illinois. Amazon recently warned its workers that an even more demanding workload than usual during the holiday period could have a significant impact on their mental health.

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You Can Get Professionally Styled on Amazon for Just $5 with This Little-Known Program

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You Can Get Professionally Styled on Amazon for Just $5 with This Little-Known Program

Stephanie PerryThu, December 23, 2021, 10:00 AM·3 min read

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Envisioning a look is one thing, executing it is another. I personally have spent hours curating my 2022 Pinterest style board to perfectly reflect the woman I want to dress like in the new year, but unfortunately, my wardrobe hardly mirrors my vision. Finding the perfect trench coat, the comfiest loafers, and the best white tee takes more internet research than I have time for, which is why Amazon's Personal Shopper by Prime Try Before You Buy is a dream come true.

Designed for Amazon Prime members, (don't tell me you haven't signed up or gotten your free 30-day trial yet?!) Amazon's Personal Shopper program has over 250 personal stylists trained in the latest trends, fits, and styles who want to help you get dressed. All you need to do is create your style profile, which consists of answering a few questions about your personal taste. From there, a stylist will pull pieces for you from Amazon's catalog of over 1 million styles based on your wants, needs, and budget. You'll order your eight favorite items from the list, and then you have a week to try them on in the comfort of your home — not under fluorescent fitting room lighting. Return anything you don't absolutely love.

The best part? The Personal Shopper fee is only $5. You can choose to get styled monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly, and you only pay for the items you decide to keep. Returns are free and simple: Just put the unwanted items back in the provided box with a prepaid shipping label. You can also cancel at any time.

RELATED: Amazon Shoppers Receive "So Many Compliments" While Wearing This Best-Selling Cocktail Dress — and It's $35

For those of us with a very specific sartorial vision for the new year (ahem, me) you can also share your Pinterest board and Instagram account. You can even Live Chat with your Personal Shopper to tell them more about your needs. Customers like that it helps them shop for what they need in a quick and hassle-free way.

"I like that [my Personal Shopper] found jeans in a long length and odd size that are [normally] VERY hard to find," wrote a shopper. "I also like that I suggested a piece of clothing I was looking for and the Prime stylist found an option for me."

If you're someone who enjoys the thrill of the shopping hunt, opt out of employing a Personal Shopper and just use Amazon's Prime Try Before You Buy program on its own. Choose up to six pieces to try on at home, take a week to decide what you want to keep, and ship back what you don't love for free. Finally nail the looks you've been daydreaming about in 2022 with the help of Amazon's Personal Shopper by Prime Try Before You Buy. Check out some stylist-pulled looks below, and use code PS10 to get $10 off your order of $50 or more through December 31.

amazon the drop womens kai half zip sweater mocha

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Amazon (AMZN) to Boost India Reach Via Live Cricket Streaming

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Amazon (AMZN) to Boost India Reach Via Live Cricket Streaming

Yesterday 7:07 AMFollow

In a bid to gain momentum across cricket lovers in India, Amazon AMZN is set to debut in the live cricket streaming service with its video streaming platform, Amazon Prime Video.

The company signed a multi-year agreement in November 2020 with a major cricket board and obtained the rights for streaming live cricket.

As part of this deal, Prime Video customers will be able to watch live international cricket matches to be held in New Zealand from Jan 1, 2022. In addition, viewers can get access to match highlights.

We believe that the recent move will help Amazon in expanding the Prime subscriber base in the country. This is likely to contribute to revenues in the upcoming period.

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Growing Initiatives to Drive Market Prospects

Amazon has been consistently making strong initiatives to attract customers in India.

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The multi-year deal with the cricket board remains a positive for the company as it is the first video streaming platform in India to do so.

In addition, Amazon recently introduced the Prime Video Channels Bundling Service on Prime Video to offer access to the contents from eight global and local streaming services.

Further, it launched a free video streaming service called MiniTV on its shopping app to gain more viewers in the country.

With these increasing efforts, Amazon has positioned itself well to capitalize on the prospects of the video streaming market in India.

Per a report by Media Partners Asia, the total online video market of the country is expected to hit $4.5 billion by 2025, witnessing a CAGR of 26% from 2020 to 2025.

Additionally, revenues generated in the video streaming segment in India are expected to progress at a CAGR of 20.27% between 2021 and 2025, thereby resulting in a forecast market volume of $2.56 billion by 2025, according to a report by statista.

Competitive Scenario Challenges Amazon

Given this upbeat scenario in the Indian online video streaming market, Amazon — currently carrying a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) — is facing stiff competition from companies like Sony SONY, Netflix NFLX and Disney DIS, to name a few.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Sony’s subsidiary SonyLIV is a leading video platform in the country that provides live streaming and updates of sports matches including cricket, football, tennis, WWE, and others. In addition to sports, users can also access popular television shows, movies and web series on the video platform.

Meanwhile, Disney+ Hotstar is a premium streaming platform in India offering local and global entertainment content. It also shows live cricket matches along with highlights and updates.

Further, Netflix offers a wide variety of award-winning TV shows, movies, anime and documentaries from all across the world. Though the company hasn’t stepped into streaming live sports events yet, it remains a major platform in the country to produce on-demand video content.

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Google, Amazon, Intel: Here’s a running list of the tech giants who won’t be attending the CES trade showChristiaan Hetzner - 15h agoFollow© David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Consumer Electronics Show cannot say it wasn’t warned.

A wave of companies, including semiconductor giant Intel, are scrapping plans to send their top executives to the annual CES trade show, held the first week of January in Las Vegas. Exclusive to industry professionals only, the annual gathering is normally a mecca where all corners of the global tech industry gather to network and cross-pollinate.

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Yet a growing number of manufacturers planning to reveal their latest innovations are opting now for digital-only premieres carried live via webcast due to the risk the CES could become a super-spreader event for Omicron.

In an effort to stanch the hemorrhage of companies backing out, show organizer Consumer Technology Association took to LinkedIn to defend its decision to hold the CES for the first time in person since January 2020.

"Gathering in person helps us to build relationships, discover and learn new things and communicate better,“ CTA President Gary Shapiro wrote, arguing life must go on irrespective of the pandemic.

He pointed to the recent news that the highly contagious Omicron strain appears to be less severe than Delta, and argued the CES was a critical venue for smaller businesses looking to grow.

"While media has focused on a few dozen cancellations, CES has seen overall growth in exhibitor numbers in the past month. In fact, over 60 companies have signed on to exhibit since Friday,” posted Shapiro, who has said he expects half as many people as normal to walk through the convention center doors.

On Twitter, the CTA acknowledged the lower attendance, even spinning it as a positive by saying it would assist together with its health measures to contribute to a safer “socially distanced but worthwhile and productive" event.

Despite the assurance, a number of heavy-hitters have pulled out of the CES, or have dramatically scaled back their presence in the desert city to avoid taking any unnecessary risks. Here are the big names:

Amazon

The e-commerce giant is a no show. This week, it said it would no longer maintain an on-site presence, citing the health and safety of its employees as its top priority.

Google

The search engine and cloud computing firm will eschew a physical presence in Las Vegas. Instead, it announced in somewhat oblique terms, it plans to work with the CTA and its partners "to identify and support virtual opportunities" given the health risks, a spokesperson told tech site CNET on Thursday.