Amid the massive growth of stablecoins in 2020, the cryptocurrency community is setting up an international stablecoin organization in Switzerland. Called the World Stablecoin Association, or WSA, the Geneva-headquartered organization is to be launched by cryptocurrency exchange VirgoX and blockchain capital markets firm Global Digital Assets, or GDA Capital. The WSA announced this new to Cointelegraph on July 23. Adding key stablecoin projects Adam Cai, CEO of VirgoX, outlined that the ultimate goal of the initiative is to build a true, unbiased global association composed of all major stablecoin projects. According to Cai, the WSA is already in discussion with …

New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis is extending access to its certification program in crypto fundamentals to the wider professional community. Announced on July 23, the company said that its Chainalysis Cryptocurrency Fundamentals Certification (CCFC) would from now on be open to professionals in the financial services sector, government employees and the wider enterprise community. Previously, the course had been limited to clients using Chainalysis’ investigations and compliance products. As one of the higher-profile analytics firms in the blockchain intelligence industry, Chainalysis develops investigative tools that enable firms, governments and law enforcement agencies to monitor blockchain transactions and track suspected …

The University of York has confirmed that a ransomware attack from an unnamed gang took place in May. Vulnerabilities from their third-party service provider led to the data breach. According to an announcement via the University’s website, Blackbaud, one of the world’s largest customer relationship management systems for sectors such as the education, confirmed that the cybercriminals managed to extract copies of staff, alumni, and student records. The university clarified that no sensitive information, such as banking details or login credentials, were stolen by the gang. Overall, the hackers captured basic info like names, date birth dates, addresses, contact details, …

The University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine reportedly paid a $1.14 million ransom in cryptocurrencies to the hackers behind a ransomware attack on June 1. According to CBS San Francisco, the UCSF IT staff first detected the security incident, stating that the attack launched by NetWalker group affected “a limited number of servers in the School of Medicine.” Although the areas were isolated by experts from the internal network, the hackers left the servers inaccessible and managed to deploy the ransomware successfully. A statement published by the University of California said: “The data that was encrypted is …

The coronavirus pandemic is transforming the education sector as much as it is transforming various important aspects of our lives. The majority of teaching and learning has been transferred to digital platforms as many cities remain in quarantine or begin to ease lockdown restrictions. But the education sector will never be the same again. What is peer-to-peer learning Education is going through several developments and changes. These changes were accelerated over the last few months by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the novel virus did not outrightly halt the delivery of education. It merely demanded new ways of delivering and receiving …

Will Binns, one of Bitcoin.org's overseers, said he has lost access to the site, claiming a breach may have occurred. "Bitcoin.org, where many people also download the latest version of Bitcoin Core software, is now in danger of becoming compromised, if it hasn't just happened," Binns said in a June 24 Github post. Bitcoin.org has been in transition Bitcoin.org, a focal point for Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain education thought to be an original product of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, has changed hands several times over the last decade since the creator's exit. Nakamoto reportedly handed off the site's management to …

The coronavirus pandemic has been hugely disruptive to crypto conferences and events around the world, but one company is determined to continue educating businesses and consumers about Bitcoin’s potential. Paxful, the peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace, is hosting a series of online sessions aimed at the African market. These one-hour events are designed to offer a compelling insight into cryptocurrencies for those who know little about what they are and their potential impact. Some of the continent’s best-known companies and individuals are also getting involved in the seminars. Championing Africa The first session was an “Ask Me Anything,” with the two co-founders …

Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX launched a learning platform dedicated to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. According to a June 16 announcement, the CoinDCX Learn platform is a blockchain and cryptocurrency academy that offers guides, articles, courses and lectures. The firm’s CEO and co-founder Sumit Gupta commented: “With the potential to accelerate financial inclusion in India, as well as opening gateways to new forms of investing, cryptocurrencies can benefit everyone. However, for Indians to take full advantage of crypto, we need to lay the groundwork through appropriate education. With DCX Learn, we want to arm users with the knowledge necessary to navigate crypto …

In the post-pandemic world, individuals will need to seize ownership and control of their educational credentials — documents like degrees and transcripts — from schools, universities and governments. That notion received key support last week from the American Council on Education in a study funded by the United States Department of Education focusing on the use of blockchain in higher education. “Blockchain, in particular, holds promise to create more efficient, durable connections between education and work,” wrote Ted Mitchell, the president of ACE, in the foreword to the study published on June 8, adding: “In the wake of the COVID-19 …

In early June, media outlets reported that the NetWalker ransomware gang had attacked Michigan State University, or MSU. At the time, the gang threatened to leak students’ records and financial documents. The university’s officials now have said that they will not pay the ransom. According to Detroit Free Press, the unspecified bounty requested in crypto by the ransomware group will not be paid by MSU. Officials did not publish an official statement addressing the reasons behind the decision. The attack seems to have happened on the U.S. Memorial Day holiday. It shut down the MSU’s computer systems, and breached its …

A new report from the American Council on Education argues that blockchain technology can help to restore individuals’ control over their credentials and better equip them in an increasingly insecure global labor market. Funded by the United States Department of Education, the report was published June 8, drawing its conclusions based upon research conducted from November 2019 through February 2020. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, its authors note that as of December 2019, data from the Federal Reserve indicated that four in 10 recent college graduates were underemployed and that the average time spent in a job had dwindled …

A ransomware gang claims to have successfully attacked three universities within the last seven days. They say that their latest attack was against the University of California San Francisco, or UCSF, on June 3. Cointelegraph had access to the evidence published by NetWalker, a group of hackers, on their official dark web blog. In this blog, they claimed to have stolen sensitive data, including student names, social security numbers, and financial information. NetWalker threatened to leak the data in less than a week if crypto payment in Bitcoin (BTC) is not made. The information is from Michigan State, Columbia College …