Bitcoin (BTC) price struggled around the $38,000 mark after Fed Governor Chris Waller's dovish speech. Bitcoin's 24-hour range is between $37,156 and $38,450 and currently the market capitalization is around $745 billion.
Bitcoin
As Bitcoin price hovers around $38,275, a detailed examination of oscillators and moving averages tells a compelling story about the coin king's current market position.
Oscillators, the primary tool for determining market momentum, are currently showing neutral signals, suggesting a stable market with no overbought or oversold conditions.
At the same time, moving averages across different timeframes unanimously signal bullish sentiment, suggesting the possibility of a sustained uptrend in Bitcoin.
The oscillators, which include tools such as the relative strength index (RSI), Stochastic and commodity channel index (CCI), provide insights into market dynamics on Wednesday, November 30.
The RSI is at 62, firmly in neutral territory, negating any immediate signs of over- or undervaluation. This neutrality is echoed in the Stochastic and CCI readings of 78 and 166 respectively, both of which also signal a balanced market state without immediate pressure for price corrections.
Exponential moving averages (EMA) and simple moving averages (SMA), key indicators for assessing long-term Bitcoin price trends, are showing strong bullish signals across multiple timeframes.
The 10-day EMA and SMA stand at $37,478 and $37,421, slightly below the current price levels, reaffirming the positive sentiment. Similarly, the 20-day EMA and SMA at $36,876 and $37,125 reinforce this bullish outlook, suggesting a continuation of the upward momentum.
A test of the long-term moving averages further reinforces the positive outlook for BTC. The 50-day EMA and SMA, recorded at $34,571 and $34,120, are well below the current price levels, suggesting that the medium-term trend is definitely tilted towards the bulls.
The 100-day and 200-day moving averages, traditionally considered indicators of long-term market sentiment, also gave a unanimous bullish signal, with values significantly below current market prices. in.
Consensus signals across all major moving averages emphasize a strong and long-lasting positive trend in the Bitcoin market. This trend is not just a short-term spike but a sustained movement, as evidenced by the indicators' consistency across the 30, 50, 100 and 200-day moving averages.
Analysis of both oscillators and moving averages paint a picture of a stable but growing market. While the neutral stance of the oscillators calls for cautious optimism, the overwhelming bullish signals from the moving averages provide a solid foundation for the current price levels.
Bulls' advantage:
Current neutral readings from oscillators such as RSI, Stochastic and CCI suggest a well-balanced market, not overextended. This stability, combined with consistent buy signals across all major moving averages, suggests a strong uptrend.
Bear advantage:
Despite the overall bullish indicators, a cautious approach would lead to a bearish reading. While the oscillators indicate a neutral market, this could also be interpreted as a lack of strong bullish momentum, potentially signaling stabilization in price movements.
The current price level is close to the short-term moving averages (10-day and 20-day) which may indicate limited room for strong upside movement in the near term.
The Black Basta ransomware group suspected of being involved with Conti extorted more than 100 million USD
In a report published on November 30, researchers said the online extortion gang, suspected of being a branch of the notorious Conti hacker group, has earned more than $100 million since it emerged last year.
Digital World Black Basta ransomware group suspected of being involved with Conti extorted more than 100 million USD
Son Van • November 30, 2023 22:45
In a report published on November 29, researchers said the online extortion gang, suspected of being a branch of the notorious Conti hacker group, has earned more than $100 million since it emerged last year.
Digital currency tracking service Elliptic and Corvus Insurance said in a joint report that cybercriminal group Black Basta, known for demanding ransom, extorted at least $107 million in bitcoin, with the The majority of ransom payments will go to the famous cryptocurrency exchange Garantex (Russia).
Reuters attempts to reach Black Basta through its darkweb were unsuccessful.
Garantex, the cryptocurrency exchange sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in April 2022, did not immediately respond to a message.
In April 2022, the US punished Garantex with accusations that the exchange intentionally ignored anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing requirements.
The US Treasury Department said that the sanctions are part of an international effort to "prevent the proliferation of malicious cybercrime, dangerous drugs and other illegal services".
Janet Yellen, US Treasury Secretary, said ransomware hackers and those involved in other cybercrimes could be tolerated and operating in Russia, posing a potential threat to US interests.
Tom Robinson, co-founder of Elliptic, said the huge profits helped Black Basta become "one of the most profitable forms of ransomware in history". He said researchers arrived at this number by identifying known ransom payments tied to Black Basta and tracing digital money laundering, which revealed additional payments .
Tom Robinson said the investigation also uncovered bitcoin transfers worth several million dollars from cryptocurrency wallets linked to Conti (the now-defunct ransomware group) to Black Basta, which he said provided provides “significant new evidence” that Black Basta is a branch of the Conti.
Conti used to be based in Russia but shut down their leaked website after Russia attacked Ukraine in early 2022 and the US offered a reward to capture the group's leadership that year. However, researchers have long suspected that Conti reorganized the team and changed its name.
“Conti is probably the most successful ransomware gang we have ever seen,” said Tom Robinson. The latest findings show that some of the individuals responsible are replicating Conti's success with Black Basta ransomware."
Ransomware is a type of malware designed to infiltrate a computer system or network, then encrypt data or restrict access to the system, preventing users from accessing files, drives or even even the operating system. Once the system is encrypted, the attacker demands a ransom (usually in a cryptocurrency format such as bitcoin) from the system owner to provide the decryption key or to restore access.
If users do not pay the ransom, their data may be lost or become permanently unusable. Ransomware is often spread through email attachments and malicious websites or security holes in the system. This is an increasingly popular form of cyber attack and causes a lot of losses to businesses and individuals around the world.
Conti information leaked: "Panama Files on ransomware"
A series of document leaks in early 2022 revealed details about Conti's scale, leadership and business operations, as well as what is considered the group's most valuable possession, the ransomware source code.
Shmuel Gihon, a security researcher at intelligence company Cyberint (Israek), said Conti emerged in 2020 and grew into one of the largest ransomware groups in the world. Shmuel Gihon estimates Conti has about 350 members, earning about $2.7 billion from cryptocurrency in just the first two years of operation.
In its 2021 Internet Crime Report, the FBI warned that Conti ransomware was among the “top three variants” targeting critical infrastructure in the US last year. "Conti's frequent victims were in critical manufacturing, commercial, food and agricultural industries," the FBI said.
In an online post analyzing leaked information, Cyberint said the release of Conti's data appeared to be an act of revenge, due to a post by this group supporting Russia's attack on Ukraine.
The Conti information leak began on February 28, 2022, four days after Russia sent troops into Ukraine.
Someone created a Twitter account (now called X) called ContiLeaks and began spreading thousands of Conti's internal messages.
The owner of the ContiLeaks account claims to be a “security researcher,” according to Lotem Finkelstein, head of threat intelligence at Check Point Software Technologies (Israel).
The person who spread Conti information then stopped using this Twitter account.
Shmuel Gihon said the impact of Conti's information leak on the cybersecurity community was huge.
Cyber security company Trellix (USA) calls this the Panama Papers leak about ransomware.
Conti operates completely underground and does not comment to the news media the way Anonymous (the most famous hacker group) sometimes does. However, Cyberint, Check Point and network experts analyzing the messages said Conti operates and is organized like a regular technology company.
After translating multiple messages written in Russian, Lotem Finkelstein said his company's intelligence arm, Check Point Research, determined Conti had clear management, financial and human resources functions, and a system Classic organizational hierarchy with team leaders reporting to upper management.
There is also evidence of Conti's research and development department and business development units, according to findings from Cyberint.
According to Lotem Finkelstein, the messages showed that Conti had a physical office in Russia.
“Our assumption was that such a huge organization, with huge offices and revenues, would not be able to operate in Russia without full approval, or even cooperation with other countries,” he said. Russian intelligence agency".
Russia has previously denied participating in cyber attacks.
Check Point Research's study also found that Conti has:
+ Salaried employees - some paid in bitcoin - plus training and performance review opportunities.
+ The negotiator receives a commission from 0.5% to 1% of the ransom paid.
+ Employee referral program, with rewards given to employees who recruit others who have been employed for at least 1 month, and an “employee of the month” earns a bonus equal to 1/2 of their salary.
Unlike other companies, Conti penalizes poor performers, according to Check Point Research.
Worker identities are also masked by handles, such as Stern (“big boss”), Buza (“engineering director”) and Target (“Stern's partner and head of efficient office operations ”), Check Point Research said.
“When communicating with employees, higher management often says that working for Conti is the job of a lifetime - high pay, interesting tasks, career growth (!),” according to Check Point Research.
However, some messages paint a different picture, with threats of termination for not responding to messages quickly enough (within 3 hours) and working on weekends and holidays, Check Point Research disclosure.
Conti hired people from both legal sources, such as headhunting services, and criminal undercovers, Lotem Finkelstein said.
Recruiting is important, and “perhaps not surprisingly, turnover, attrition, and burnout rates are quite high among lower-level Conti employees,” said Brian Krebs, a former Washington Post reporter. , writes on his cybersecurity website KrebsOnSecurity.
According to Check Point Research, some of the people hired aren't even computer experts. Conti also hires people to work in call centers.
According to the FBI, "technology support fraud" is on the rise, in which scammers impersonate well-known companies, offering to fix computer problems…