30 Oct
11:07

Global Crypto Adoption

Cryptocurrencies have grown from a niche underground market to become a diverse financial industry with many applications in daily life and in economics. The cryptocurrencies in circulation are versatile, and can be utilized as a store-of-value, investment, and /or as a currency to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. Growth has been a steady progression on multiple fronts for the market. Adoption has been growing at a faster rate than before since 2017, due to an increase in mainstream awareness.  As of now, Bitcoin alone has completed and recorded more than 400 million transactions. The daily transactions of BTC is currently an average of 350k transactions per day or 15k/hr. That’s about 4 transactions per second for Bitcoin. Bitcoin dominance is currently 66.6% in a market of 2957 cryptocurrencies. Due to sheer influence, it is no surprise that BTC’s metrics are often used to gauge the momentum and overall health of the industry. For BTC, and cryptocurrencies in general, one of the largest issues holding back user adoption interestsContinue reading »

24 Oct
18:15

CEO of Crypto Capital Arrested – Allegedly A Member of International Cartel

According to the prosecution, Ivan Manuel Molina Lee is a member of the international drug cartel.   On Thursday evening, CASA, a transport aircraft, landed at Warsaw Chopin Airport; onto which Ivan Manuel Molina Lee was escorted into by the Polish police. Publicly known as the CEO of Crypto Capital, according to the Polish prosecutor’s office, he is also a member of the international drug cartel and has been prosecuted of international money laundering. Molina Lee was detained on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant issued by the prosecutor’s office in Wrocław. The RMF24 news source, which was the first to inform about the arrest of Molina Lee, reaffirms our own investigations, confirming that Molina is the president of the Crypto Capital company registered in Michałowice in Mazovia. This company, Crypto Capital – in turn, belongs almost entirely to a similar company in Panama, a company which maintains the deposit accounts of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, BitFinex, at the Bank Spółdzielczy in Skierniewice. ItContinue reading »

11 Oct
14:40

[Pilot] – Featuring Cointelligence’s On Yavin

Welcome to the first of a few brand new shows from SynQ I/O! Know Your Crypto will introduce various players in the cryptocurrency market in the KYC:Hot Seat, discuss trending topics, and dip into what makes this space tick.

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9 Oct
08:59

Presenting our Brand New Podcast – “Know Your Crypto” (KYC)

For many of you who have been following the SynQ IO team for a while, you know we are not afraid of change. We understand change is good for not only ourselves, but also for the crypto industry that we make our living in. After almost 18 full months of the “Haruspex Live”, we have decided that it is now time to change how we approach AMAs and podcasts. Starting today, Wednesday October 9, 2019, we are officially rebranding the “Haruspex Live” to Know Your Crypto. The Know Your Crypto podcast will still be similar to what you’ve seen over the past year and half, but we are keeping what works and getting rid of what doesn’t. This means we will be focusing on guests for almost every single episode. We already have an all star cast lined up, from founders to fund managers to builders to traders and everything in between. In addition to guests, you can expect similar market research topics and market updates, but we want to makeContinue reading »

17 Sep
15:05

Adding Projection History and Accuracy Status to SynQ

SynQ’s accuracy is over 75% accurate, on average, for all of the projections we’ve published. To back this claim up, we figured we needed to be more transparent in supplying data for our projections. After extensive feedback from our users, we have decided to be even more transparent with how we report our accuracies and historical data. We’d like to present to you our newest creations: Projection History and Accuracy Status. These data feeds will be featured on each coin’s “Coin Detail Page” right after the Social Influence data feed. (BTC Projection History and Accuracy Status) Projection History (BTC Projection History – Sept 17, 2019) This chart displays all of a coin’s published projections going back for a full 7 days, and will be updated each day at 12am UTC-0. The goal of this is to increase transparency into published projections so that users can feel more comfortable using SynQ and back track a coin’s accuracy over a 7 day period Accuracy Status (BTC Accuracy Status – Sept 17, 2019)Continue reading »

5 Sep
15:10

Corruption, Crypto and Cartels Part IV

For the finale, let us show you where the Part I – III have been leading.  Though this is not the end of the “rabbit holes” we have been following, it is the point where we felt comfortable to really form a solid hypothesis of what is going on based on all of the data we have found.   Bank frauds As of April 30th, 2019, two individuals were charged with bank fraud in connections to cryptocurrency exchanges. Court documents released by the Justice Department reported that the alleged money services businesses operated between February and October 2018. It is interesting to note that this is within the same time frame as when Bitfinex saw $850mil disappear. Prosecutors say during this time, the two “opened and used numerous bank accounts at financial institutions that were insured by the [FDIC]”. [1] Two of the bank accounts named in the court document are allegedly held under the name Global Trading Solutions LLC, one apiece from HSBC Bank USA and HSBC Securities USA/Pershing LLC. GlobalContinue reading »

29 Aug
11:16

Corruption, Crypto and Cartels, Part III

This is where the pieces come together. Have you noticed how often Bitfinex has been referenced in this story? It doesn’t feel like a coincidence.   Tether (USDT) Aside from the multiple incidences of hacks and lost funds, Bitfinex also still have to answer for their sister company’s controversies, Tether. It is no secret that Bitfinex and Tether have received subpoenas from U.S regulators. [1] Speculations that Bitfinex has been “operating a fractional reserve and is covering over its reserve deficit in complicity with Bitfinex” has existed since early 2017. These allegations are nothing new. [2] And remember when Bitfinex and CryptoCapital supposedly severed official relations? Not even a few months later, Bitfinex is still associated with CryptoCapital, and the relationship has not improved for the better.  According to statements in April 26, 2018, Bitfinex sent $850 million of customer and corporate funds to CryptoCapital Corp., and along the way it was “lost”. Representatives of Bitfinex and Tether reported to the NY Attorney General’s office that CryptoCapital claims the funds wereContinue reading »

20 Aug
14:31

Corruption, Crypto and Cartels, Part II

Laundering money is one of the hardest things for cartels to do…so we are told.  As Part 2 unfolds,  we dig into the “potential” cartel involvement and start to paint the larger picture of how this is all intertwined together.   Cartel association On April 7th of 2018, reports originating from Poland sources informed readers that Polish prosecutors seized €400 mil from two companies, referred to as company M and company C, involving a long link of individuals and eventually leading to Bitfinex; and potential association to cartel involvements. [1] The story began when the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in the process of building a new embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Company M, owned by a Canadian of Panamanian descent, impersonated the building contractor and intercepted the $400mil payment. Through an investigation with Interpol, it was revealed that company M was associated with company C, owned by a Colombian with Panamanian citizenship, who was in turn associated with a large online exchange of cryptocurrencies. PolishContinue reading »