WhiteboardCrypto Newsletter - Feb 24

Welcome back to this week's edition of our WhiteboardCrypto Newsletter!

Apple App Store mess-up

Rabby wallet has been getting a lot of hype lately, which inevitably leads to scams. A fake Rabby wallet was put on the Apple App store, and despite users complaining, it took days for Apple to remove it. So, this is a friendly reminder to please always be careful with new wallets (new to you and/or new to the market) and test them with a very small transaction before moving any funds into them. In crypto, we feel like we have to do things quickly, but that's what often gets us into trouble. Waiting until you can do some research and testing before trusting that all is well with the wallet/ project/ dapp/ etc can save you a lot of trouble and losses.

Learn more here.

Do Kwon extradited

The co-founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, has been extradited to the US from Montenegro to face fraud charges for the May 2022 collapse of the Terra/Luna ecosystem. South Korea also had an extradition request but it was denied. Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 while traveling with fake documents, presumably on the run from authorities. The other co-founder, Daniel Shin, was charged in South Korea for fraud and embezzlement in April 2023.

Learn more here.

Metaverse utilized to showcase development in Mumbai

We’ve all been wondering (okay, maybe it’s just me) how—or if—the metaverse will be used to reflect the real world. One option is happening now: the government of Mumbai is using the metaverse to show citizens the progress of various development projects across the city. While this is interesting, we’re not really sure how useful it will be, or how often it will be used.

Learn more here.

Geospacial data collection raises red flags

In an odd juxtaposition to the metaverse initiatives of the Mumbai government, China’s national security agencies issued a warning to people sending geospatial information to crypto and blockchain projects (and other data collection entities). Projects like Hivemapper reward contributors for sharing dashcam footage to help build decentralized mapping services similar to Google Maps. Other services just use geolocation data from cellphones, or other techniques to gather data. There are various reasons for these projects, but the Chinese government brings up a good point - the data is often open source, and could allow malicious entities to gain more information than is safe, not to mention privacy concerns. They aren’t necessarily wrong.

Learn more here.

Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something!

- Theodore