A Japanese actress and singer has helped the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department raise awareness on cybersecurity issues, including cryptocurrencies. She reportedly took on the role of a cybersecurity manager in an event hosted by the department where participants learned about cybercrime countermeasures.

Rie Kitahara.Japanese actress and singer Rie Kitahara, formerly associated with the idol girl group Ngt48 and former member of Akb48 and Ske48, has helped the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department raise awareness of cybersecurity issues, including those related to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to local media.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Shinjuku Ward, hosted an event on August 26, where Kitahara tried to educate participants about measures against cybercrime. She assumed the role of the department's cybersecurity measure manager for the day.

Approximately 1,700 guests, parents and their children attended. They learned about email phishing and fake websites that try to steal personal information and how to protect themselves from these security threats. Asahi TV described:

Participants learned about the importance of countermeasures, such as a PC hijacking simulation experience and quizzes on cybersecurity. Last year, the number of cases with cybercrime victims reported to the Metropolitan Police Department was 13,101 which has been decreasing overall, but the damage of unauthorized access to [steal] virtual currencies such as bitcoin is increasing.

Japanese Phishing Emails on the Rise

In January, crypto exchange Coincheck was hacked and 58 billion yen (~US$522 million) worth of the cryptocurrency NEM was stolen. It was later revealed that the hack may have resulted from emails sent to the exchange's employees to spread viruses.

In July, news.Bitcoin.com reported that the number of cases involving phishing emails in the Japanese language rose to at least 1,500 last fall.

The Council of Anti-Phishing Japan has issued warnings regarding cryptocurrency phishing several times. "We are working to raise awareness of the public not to immediately click the URLs indicated in the email," Kaori Uemura, a spokeswoman for the council, told news.Bitcoin.com. She added that recipients should reach out to a legitimate contact at the crypto exchange supposedly sent the email to verify its authenticity.

Cooperating with Crypto Exchanges

In order to fight crypto-related cybercrime, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has been cooperating with ten of the country's largest crypto exchanges. They are SBI Virtual Currencies, Bitflyer, Bitpoint Japan, GMO Coin, Bittrade, Quoine, Bitbank, Btc Box, Money Partners and Coincheck.

According to App Times, the exchanges have agreed to "mutual cooperation, cybercrime reporting notification, criminal investigation cooperation, information sharing, [and] measures to prevent widespread damage."

For every problem that smart contracts solve, they seem to introduce another. In a week in which EOS has made news for all the wrong reasons over a RAM vulnerability, a code auditor has revealed the prevalence of smart contract bugs. Security firm Hosho, which has forged a new partnership with community managers Amazix, has found that one in four projects contains critical vulnerabilities.

$1 Billion Is No Guarantee Against Bugs

25% of All Smart Contracts Contain Critical Bugs$1 billion. That's the amount raised by the projects whose smart contracts Hosho has audited. The security company claims to have audited more smart contracts than any other industry player. Despite the significant human and financial resources at their disposal, many of these projects would have been crippled had they neglected to have their code thoroughly scrutinized. A quarter of the projects Hosho has audited were found to have critical bugs, and some 60% of all projects they saw had at least one security issue.

Ethereum, the ICO economy's go-to launchpad, has been the worst affected, with stories abounding of exploitable code that's led to hundreds of millions of dollars of ether being stolen or locked up. While smart contract platforms such as Stratis are pushing the availability of debugging deployment suites and professional decompilers that come with using C#, Ethereum's Turing-complete system leaves greater margin for error. Identifying and eliminating all potential security holes is a Sisyphean task, and one which even experienced Solidity developers struggle with. Enlisting the support of a third party specializing in smart contract audits, while not foolproof, is the best bet against shipping bug-filled code.

Smart Contract Testing as a Service

While it is industry practice to have smart contracts audited ahead of a tokensale, projects that have yet to raise funds may be tempted to cut corners and skimp on this task. Doing so can prove fatal, however, with the worst bugs leading to wallets being drained, or buffer overflow exploits being manipulated to alter account balances. Several Ethereum-based projects have been forced to conduct token swaps after screwing up their first attempt at a smart contract.

In EOS land this week, all energies have been focused on patching a RAM exploit that's recently been detected. It allows a malicious user to "install code on their account which will allow them to insert rows in the name of another account sending them tokens. This lets them lock up RAM by inserting large amounts of garbage into rows when dapps/users send them tokens."

Amazix, the preeminent community management and consultancy firm within the token economy, has now partnered with Hosho to offer its clients smart contract auditing. "In the absence of industry standards, we see smart contract auditing and penetration testing to be essential components of good security in blockchain systems," said Amazix CMO Kenneth Berthelsen. "In our view, there are no better qualified people to do this than Hosho engineers."

Proponents of cryptocurrencies see smart contracts eventually infiltrating everything from insurance to dispute resolution. Before that can happen, developing trust in the code that governs them will be crucial.

Stockholm IT Ventures AB (SITV), a Swedish technology company specialized in cryptocurrency production, announced that its subsidiary, Blocktrade Technology Ltd. (BTT), has signed a software license agreement with Valens Bank, an offshore private bank based in Germany that eases deposit of cryptocurrencies such as BTC, BCH, ETH, or LTC. The agreement reportedly stipulates that Valens bank will be using the BTT Crypto Trading Toolbox exclusively for Crypto Fund Trading.

SITV to Expand Digital Financial Services

It is reportedly the second time that Valens Bank, which provides banking services and multi-currency current and share dealing accounts, pre-paid credit cards, stock broking facilities, cryptocurrency wallet and other financial services worldwide, has made an agreement with Stockholm IT Ventures for the purpose of expanding SITV into digital financial services.

"It's an exciting time to partner with Stockholm IT Ventures and Blocktrade Technology's innovative approach to the crypto space," Torben Pedersen, the Director of Valens Bank said in a press release statement. "We are confident that this software will offer great value to clients and give pro-traders the market edge all are looking for. We have made a thorough due diligence of the BTT software in live trading situations and are amazed by its performance," he was quoted saying.

BTT to Approach Institutional Investors and Banks

An official launch of the product is expected for September for the clients of Valens Bank, in the meantime, the partners will reportedly work together diligently the next few weeks to integrate the back-end mechanics. "We are proud to deliver our first license deal with Valens Bank. The agreement is perfectly in line with Blocktrade Technology's strategic goals and approach for Institutional investors and banks who aim to offer great returns on investments," Fredrik Waijnstad, the Managing Director Blocktrade Technology said. Mr. Waijnstad continued, for his company "this agreement is yet another proof of concept and what we believe to be one of many high value deals to come this year." Blocktrade Technology will receive a yearly license fee of 1.5 % on deployed capital into the trading program set forth by Valens Bank.

A partnership between a bill payment company and a crypto exchange will allow Australians to pay their bills with between 50 and 100 cryptocurrencies. Customers can use any coins in their Cointree accounts to pay their bills regardless of whether the billers accept cryptocurrency.

Gobbill Partners With Cointree

Cointree and Gobbill Enable Australian Bill Payments in Over 50 CryptocurrenciesBill payment company Gobbill and cryptocurrency exchange Cointree jointly announced a partnership on August 20 to enable Australians to pay bills using cryptocurrencies.

The announcement reads, "the global alliance [between the two companies] will allow users from both platforms to pay household bills using their crypto coins stored in Cointree's wallet." Gobbill's website states that bills issued from any Australian provider can be paid through its system, including utilities, telecommunications, council rates, and insurance.

A Cointree representative told news.Bitcoin.com:

We are currently working on the integration with Gobbill to allow bill payments to be paid using any coin listed on our exchange.

He clarified that the integration will be completed in approximately one month when users will be able to pay their bills with any cryptocurrencies. Until then, members can pay their bills with just BTC using the Cointree platform.

The companies explained that Gobbill's users "can link a crypto wallet in their account and elect to pay their bills either by credit card, bank account or a specified cryptocurrency regardless of whether the biller accepts the desired payment method."

Claiming to have over 50,000 members, Cointree says that it paid Australian bills totaling over AU$100 million (~$74 million) worth of cryptocurrencies last year. This year, the company says that it has experienced a ten times growth in crypto bill payments for the same time period. Cointree is registered with the Australian Government regulatory and monitoring body for AML/CTF. Gobbill is an authorized representative of an Australian Financial Services Licence holder.

Paying Bills With 50-100 Coins

Australian Bills Can Soon Be Paid With 50-100 CryptocurrenciesCurrently, Cointree.com lists 27 cryptocurrencies on its website: ADA, AE, AION, BCH, BTC, DASH, DGD, ES, ETC, ETH, ICX, IOST, LTC, NEO, OMG, ONT, PPT, QTUM, REP, SNT, TRX, VEN, XEM, XRM, XRP, ZL, ZRX.

However, the exchange's representative told news.Bitcoin.com that "we have listed 10 more," adding that "it will be live when [the] next update is deployed (this week/early next)." The new listings are ZEC, LSK, BTG, DCR, SC, STEEM, GNT, DGB, BAT, and KMD.

Once the integration with Gobbill is complete, the exchange expects to list "50-100 coins," the representative shared.

Some Other Crypto Bill Pay Services in Australia

In Australia, several other services already exist that allow bill payments with a small number of cryptocurrencies.

Living Room of Satoshi has long offered a way to pay Australian bills with BTC. The service currently offers the ability to pay with BTC, BCH, 11 other cryptocurrencies, and BTC through the lightning network. Its website states that over 100,000 bills have been paid using its platform.

Bit2bill and Paid by Coins also offer Australians the ability to pay their bills with a small selection of cryptocurrencies. Bit2bill allows payments in BTC, LTC, and ETH. Paid by Coins also supports the three cryptocurrencies in addition to LTC and XRP.

Three days ago a new freelancer's marketplace was launched called Fivebucks.com, a platform that allows people to purchase and sell services for only $5. The new website has seen an influx of listings since it launched and all the payments, both inbound and outbound, utilize the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency bitcoin cash.

Every Service on Fivebucks.com is Just Five Dollars in Bitcoin Cash

This week a new freelancer's marketplace has launched that allows people to list and complete a wide array of services for only five bucks. All a user has to do is register with a valid email and they can either add a listing or peruse through the eight categories of services offered on Fivebucks.com. The eight sections of listings include tech, fun & lifestyle, business, digital marketing, graphics and design, writing and translation, video & animation, music & audio, programming.

The creators of Fivebucks explain the charity @eatbch inspired them to launch a platform that bolsters the gig economy with just a small fraction of bitcoin cash (BCH). "Thanks to bitcoin cash, anyone with an internet connection can get paid for their work directly without intermediaries and regardless of where they are from," explain the Fivebucks founders.

All payments and seller payouts are done in bitcoin cash — Sellers can withdraw their earnings in bitcoin cash in one click.

Fivebucks Co-Founder: 'Bitcoin Cash Is the Only Major Crypto That Is Reliable as Digital Peer-to-Peer Cash'

At the moment, Fivebucks has 85 active listings, and 166 sellers within the marketplace. News.Bitcoin.com spoke with the co-founder of Fivebucks.com and he explained why the website was created and more importantly why the team chose to utilize BCH payments for marketplace services.

"[We started Fivebucks.com] to create something that is competitive, offers value and fosters BCH adoption — The site, in my opinion, generates incentives both for sellers and buyers to start using bitcoin cash — I like to think of Fivebucks as an adoption engine," the co-founder of Fivebucks.com details. "On one hand it incentivises business owners in first world countries (but not only) to learn how to use bitcoin cash so they can save money and outsource small tasks for cheap."

At the same time, it incentivises freelancers (from poor countries but not only) to learn how to use bitcoin cash because there will always be demand for $5 listings. [We decided to use bitcoin cash] because it is the only major crypto that is reliable as digital peer-to-peer cash.

Right now you can buy an assortment of interesting services for only five dollars in BCH per service which includes getting a cartoon portrait drawn, debugging python script, tarot reading, vector graphics, and even someone who will say anything you want on video for only five bucks. The creators of the freelancer's marketplace also have published a walkthrough on the social media platform Yours.org called "Advice for Sellers" which gives a rundown of ways people can improve their chances of selling on the platform.

The cryptocurrency investor Michael Terpin is suing the large telecom firm AT&T because his mobile phone was compromised by hackers who stole $24M USD worth of digital assets. Terpin says he was hacked twice in less than a year and employees at AT&T participated in a SIM swap fraud.

Michael Terpin the co-founder of Bitangels says he lost close to $24 million in cryptocurrencies, and he's blaming the giant communications company AT&T. The 69-page lawsuit filed by the LA-based law firm Greenberg Glusker details that Terpin believes AT&T employees were involved in a SIM swap fraud which cost him the loss of a large number of digital assets. Major telecom services like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have all been accused of PIN and SIM swap fraud alongside alleged data breaches. According to Terpin an "insider" from AT&T cooperated with a malicious hacker.

"What AT&T did was like a hotel giving a thief with a fake ID a room key and a key to the room safe to steal jewelry in the safe from the rightful owner," the complaint reads.

According to an email statement,  AT&T says they "dispute the allegations" and they "look forward to presenting their case in court."

Not only does Terpin want his $24 million back but the investor also wants $200M in punitive damages. Terpin says within pages of the lawsuit that AT&T's personnel have been accused of SIM swapping fraud in "numerous incidents." Even though AT&T denies any wrongdoing in this specific case the telecom firm has had a lot of complaints about SIM swap transgressions in the past.

For instance, the New York State Division of Consumer Protection has issued a warning specifically about an "AT&T SIM-card switch scam." On July 18, 2018, authorities arrested a man from Florida who was allegedly in charge of a giant "multi-state cyber fraud ring" that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies. Police say they first heard about the SIM-card gang when a Mom from Michigan caught her son on the phone pretending to be an AT&T employee.

Terpin emphasizes in the complaint that he lost millions because, "AT&T's willing cooperation with the hacker, gross negligence, violation of its statutory duties, and failure to adhere to its commitments in its Privacy Policy.

Japan has always been a very interesting country when it comes to cryptocurrency and regulation. It is one of the few companies which has made Bitcoin legal tender. The current approach of self-regulating cryptocurrency is still controversial, but the concept continues to gain a lot of traction regardless.

Self-Regulation Remains a Risk

Bringing more legitimacy to the cryptocurrency industry in Japan will always be a big challenge. That isn't because the government is opposing this industry, as it is doing the exact opposite. The Japanese government has shown a lot of leniency toward cryptocurrency and even made Bitcoin legal tender over a year ago.

Although that initial response was relatively positive, it has become evident that there is still a need for active regulation of the cryptocurrency industry. Considering that exchanges remain subject to hacking and other incidents, having a regulatory framework in place to deal with such incidents is more than warranted.

For the time being, cryptocurrency exchanges engage in self-regulation. It is a bit of a double-edged sword, although their opinions do matter when it comes to establishing a regulatory framework. Without an open dialogue between industry experts and the government, no positive developments are to be expected. Japan is certainly taking an open-minded approach, which is more than one can ask for.

The JVCEA, which is Japan's virtual currency exchange association, is now looking to become officially certified in Japan. Up to this point, the governing body has made all of its decisions in the absence of any official recognition from the government. Although its decisions have been reviewed by the government, the decision-making process has always been a bit "off" in this regard.

Once the JVCEA becomes a certified fund settlement business association, it will be able to onboard additional members and force all partners to comply with regulations and laws. Whether or not the agency will receive this license is an open question, as nothing has been set in stone at this time.

The final decision lies with Japan's FSA, which has closely monitored any developments in the cryptocurrency industry for several years now. Reviewing the 100-page document submitted by the JVCEA will take some time, and no official timeline for a decision has been set. If the JVCEA is approved, Japan will position itself as the "freest" country when it comes to cryptocurrency regulation. It is an example which other countries would do well to follow.