Today’s headlines include a drop in betting odds for Donald Trump, a Korean CEO involved in an ETH scam, Venezuela blocking Binance, and a bizarre transaction.
Kamala Harris Overtakes Donald Trump in Crypto Betting Odds
According to the crypto betting site Polymarket, Vice President Kamala Harris has surpassed former President Donald Trump as the more likely candidate to win the White House. As of this writing, Harris’s odds stand at 52%, compared to Trump’s 45%, who was previously the front-runner on the betting platform.
Trump’s odds had peaked at an all-time high of 72% just a month ago. However, President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race and Harris’s elevation to the top of the Democratic presidential candidate list have significantly altered the betting landscape.
Korean CEO Arrested for Scamming 500 Victims with ETH
A South Korean CEO of a tech company has been arrested for allegedly masterminding a scam involving the cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH). Byun was detained along with an accomplice suspected to be named Yeom. Previous reports from agencies like Cheonji Ilbo have identified the perpetrator as Byun Young-oh. The CEO of a company named Wacon, also named Byun, is currently in custody and will face trial. Prosecutors have stated that most of the 500 victims are elderly citizens. The Seoul Central Prosecutor’s Office’s Criminal Division 5 has announced that it will prosecute Byun and Yeom for fraud.
Venezuela Blocks Binance and X Amid Presidential Election Dispute
The Venezuelan government has blocked access to the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the social media platform X, and other online services amid unrest surrounding the disputed presidential election results. On August 9, the local anti-censorship organization VE sin Filt reported discovering a DNS block on Binance, which affected the normal operation of the website and mobile app. The exchange’s Latin American market account on X posted on August 10: “Like several websites from various sectors in Venezuela, including social media, Binance’s pages have faced access restrictions.”
Estimados Binancians,
Al igual que varios sitios web de empresas de diferentes segmentos en Venezuela, incluidas las redes sociales, las páginas de Binance han estado enfrentando restricciones de acceso.
Queremos asegurarles que sus fondos están SAFU bajo nuestros robustos…
— Binance Latinoamérica (@BinanceLATAM) August 10, 2024
The Binance block on August 9 came a day after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on television that he had instructed the telecommunications regulator Conatel to block access to X within the country for ten days, according to Reuters.
Crypto User Pays $90,000 in Fees for $2,000 ETH Transfer
An anonymous cryptocurrency user accidentally paid $90,000 in fees for a transaction that only transferred $2,200 worth of Ether. The user spent 34.26 Ether (valued at $89,200) to transfer 0.87 ETH (worth $2,262), according to data from Etherscan cited in an August 11 post on X by the anonymous DeFiac.
At the time of publication, Ethereum network fees were ranging from 2 to 4 gwei, meaning transferring ETH should have cost a maximum of $5. In percentage terms, the user overpaid by 1,783,900%.
