Here are some of the major developments in the world of crypto over the past few days.
According to Ki Young Ju, the founder of CryptoQuant, Bitcoin's retail investor demand crashed to a three-year low. In a July 18 X post, Ju pointed to a key metric: the 30-day change in total transfer volume for transactions under $10,000, which showed that retail investors' average monthly shift in demand for Bitcoin had fallen below negative 15% over the past 30 days.
Larger Bitcoin transactions are handled by institutions, but many analysts think that meaningful price increases still require a resurgence of interest from regular investors. As pointed out by CryptoQuant contributor Minkyu Woo, "The real bull run typically begins with massive buying volume driven by retail investors," pointing out that such volume hasn't materialized yet. On July 17, inflows to spot Bitcoin ETFs plunged 87% to $53.3 million across 11 tracked products. At the same time, Bitcoin's major support level is, again, being tested at $63,975.
Google trends data indicates interest in "Bitcoin" has dropped 44% in the past three months, with retail interest in Bitcoin fading since its all-time high of $73,679 in March. Analysts say a resurgence in retail investor demand is needed to spur the next big Bitcoin bull run.
Rising Threat Of "Overlay Attacks" Target Crypto Users And Financial Apps
The rising danger to crypto users, according to the CEO of cybersecurity firm Verimatrix Asaf Ashkenazi, is "overlay attacks." The users are tricked into downloading certain applications that seem not to be so problematic but turn out to be malicious. Following the download, such applications may create fake user interfaces through which they steal sensitive information like usernames, passwords, and at times, even 2FA codes. This gained information that will be used to break into real apps of financial services and crypto exchanges, then drain all assets from targeted accounts.
These malware applications are made to look like benign applications, mostly trophy games or free utilities, doing nothing bad until a target application like a banking or crypto exchange application is launched. Then they will spoof the UI of the legitimate application to steal user input. Even two-factor authentication is little help, since attackers may intercept authentication codes users enter.
Verimatrix has been working with Google to remove such apps from the Play Store, but their detection is tough. Experts advise people to be careful with suspiciously good offers, limit app permissions to the essential features, and monitor closely kids' app downloads since so many overlay attack apps target kids.
Tornado Cash Sees $1.9 Billion in Deposits Despite Legal Challenges
Despite sanctions, Tornado Cash, a banned crypto mixer, has seen a dramatic upsurge in deposit volume, totalling $1.9 billion in the first half of 2024—a 50% increase compared to the whole of 2023. In 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Tornado Cash; millions of dollars were connected to money laundering. Such sanctions forbid any kind of interaction with the protocol on legally compliant exchanges, therefore making the withdrawal of funds into fiat very complicated.
Though it has somehow never lost its favour among hacking groups looking to launder ill-gotten funds, recent data from blockchain analytics firms indicated substantial transfers to the mixer from exploits involving Poloniex, HECO Bridge, Orbit Chain, and the recent WazirX exchange hack.
Legal challenges to the sanctions describe them as unconstitutional, backed by major crypto firms and advocacy groups. In the meantime, the founders of Tornado Cash appear to have legal ramifications. Alexey Pertsev is in prison for his role in money laundering, Roman Storm is still under indictment in the US, and Roman Semenov remains at large.