Bitcoin Daily: OCC Reports Fraud Messages

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is reporting that fraudulent actions are being taken to impersonate the OCC, according to an alert from the agency.

Notifications are being sent out informing recipients that they need to supply a bitcoin wallet address identification number in order to access funds, the alert stated. The notifications say there could be tens of millions of dollars available.

In response, the OCC said in the alert that any messages regarding the holding of funds for individuals are fraudulent.

In other news, Dutch National Bank (DNB) has reversed a requirement for wallets, according to a press release from Bitonic.

The requirement, DNB said per the release, “does not do enough justice to the discretion that an institution has to implement this standard in a risk-oriented manner. DNB has therefore incorrectly set the registration requirement as a condition for the registration of Bitonic.”

Because of that, Bitonic said in the release that it won’t be requiring a copy of a wallet screenshot for any transactions.

Meanwhile, Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank, is warning of cryptocurrency’s volatility and how it could cause problems for the banking system, particularly in the case of lenders continuing to increases crypto investments, The Edge Markets reported.

Bitcoin slumped Wednesday (May 19) after remarks by China’s central bank that the digital tokens wouldn’t be able to be used for payments, the report stated.

There has been skepticism about crypto before, including European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos saying cryptos shouldn’t be seen as real investments, according to the report.

Lastly, PancakeBunny, the Binance Smart Chain protocol, has been drained of $45 million after being exploited, The Block Crypto reported.

An attacker used an exploit to create millions of bunny tokens, most of which it sold in order to get Binance Coin (BNB), according to the report. That led to the price of the tokens drastically dropping.

The price crash means holders have suffered losses, and PancakeBunny has tweeted that it’s coming up with a “reimbursement plan,” the report stated.

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NEW PYMNTS DATA: CRYPTOCURRENCY PAYMENTS STUDY – MAY 2021

About The Study: U.S. consumers see cryptocurrency as more than just a store of value: 46 million plan say they plan to use it to make payments for everything from financial services to groceries. In the Cryptocurrency Payments Report, PYMNTS surveys 8,008 cryptocurrency users and nonusers in the U.S. to examine the ways in which they plan to use crypto to make purchases, what crypto they plan to use — and how merchant acceptance can influence merchant choice and consumer spend.