Today, we'll go over the major developments in the crypto world, such as how Bahrain has become the first jurisdiction in the Middle East and North Africa to grant Binance preliminary approval to operate as a crypto-asset service provider and reports that the Bank of Thailand will postpone its central bank digital currency (CBDC) test from the second quarter until late next year.
Today we also report on the illegal copies of 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' in Torrents is infected with cryptocurrency mining malware.
Bahrain has become the first jurisdiction in the Middle East and North Africa to grant Binance preliminary approval to operate as a crypto-asset service provider.
Binance, the world's most popular cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, must still finish the entire application process to obtain a license from Bahrain's Central Bank. The company stated that it hopes to complete the procedure on time in a news release. Through these developments, it aims to become a fully regulated centralized cryptocurrency exchange.
Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao tweeted that the company had also registered Binance Canada Capital Markets with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), the country's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism funding regulator. The corporation was established on December 1st, according to FINTRAC records.
Binance's operations grabbed the attention of regulators worldwide in 2021, with many claiming it was not authorized to do business in their jurisdictions. As a result, the company has hired more people to help with compliance, and it has stated that it plans to seek government certification in several nations. On the other hand, Bahrain is working to develop its crypto business.
CoinMENA, a crypto exchange that follows Islamic law, or shariah, was approved by the country's central bank in January.
According to the reports by Reuters, the Bank of Thailand will postpone its central bank digital currency (CBDC) test from the second quarter until late next year.
In August, the bank's Assistant Governor Vachira Arromdee announced that the retail CBDC would be evaluated as an alternative payment option for "cash-like activities on a limited scale", such as paying for goods and services. She also said that CBDC wouldn't affect the system's monetary policy or money supply. With increased demand, a CBDC could become an alternate payment method in the future as a partial substitute for cash and e-money.
The CBDC will be dispersed to the general public through intermediaries such as financial institutions. There will also be restrictions or limits on the quantity of CBDC that can be kept.
The Bank of Thailand Deputy Director, Kasidit Tansanguan, stated that Thailand will take it slowly and cautiously when testing the digital currency. "since it does have a difficulty with financial transfers or payments like some other nations." The trial will test deposits, withdrawals, and transfers and involve roughly 10,000 users.
Spider-Man: No Way Home has been out for less than two weeks and has already shattered box office records for the entire year of 2021, becoming the second highest-grossing film of all time and hitting the $1 billion mark. ReasonLabs has recently issued a severe warning to fans attempting to download the movie via Torrent.
ReasonLabs, which provides enterprise-grade cyber protection for users worldwide, spotted that the unauthorized versions of the latest Spider-Man instalment include a new variant of a previously-known strain of malware. The "Spiderman" virus is a type of malware that has previously been disguised as popular software such as "Windows updater" and "Discord app."
"To lure in as many victims as possible, attackers must stay up to date with trending topics." The cybersecurity firm further added:
"In this case, we are facing someone who has placed a monero miner in a torrent download of what seems to be the new movie Spider-Man: No Way Home."
Although this malware does not compromise personal information, The malware crypto miner has the ability to add Windows Defender exclusions, which means that Windows Defender might not detect the malware at all. It also incorporates a "watchdog method" for long-term stability, which ensures that only one instance of the malware is operating at any one time by killing any process with the name of its components. After then, the crypto mining malware launches two new techniques, Sihost64.exe and WR64.exe.
"The malware tries to stay away from examining eyes by using 'legitimate' names for the files and processes that it creates; for example, it claims to be by Google and drops files with names like sihost64.exe, and injects to svchost.exe," ReasonLabs elaborated.
The cybersecurity firm advised that one easy precaution is always to check that the extension of the file being downloaded matches that of the file intended to download
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