Over the past 15 years or so, social media has gained tremendous traction. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have reached soaring heights as companies. Social media has its benefits, such as global connectivity and low barrier to entry. It also gives people a platform for expression. The sector has taken a dark turn in recent years, however, igniting aggression and spreading false information, while, at the same time, raising questions of censorship. Eric Yang, founder and executive director of Junto — a nonprofit decentralized social media startup — sees three main issues with the current landscape. The first of the three …

Last weekend, I was watching a sports stream on YouTube. Talented, fearless athletes on the screen, a glass of wine in one hand and a purring cat under the other — you know, those perfect Saturday evenings. If only the stream didn’t keep being interrupted every few minutes by annoying ads. They usually come in a series of two advertisements played in a row, which can be skipped after five seconds. Just as I was thinking about subscribing to a paid version to free myself from learning more about flying detergents, half-eaten donuts, striped snickers and the best tampons ever, …

This past summer, a Switzerland-based blockchain investment company called CV VC, and a Swiss audit and advisory firm known as PwC, in collaboration with Cointelegraph, put together an in-depth report on the top blockchain companies and what they are up to in their distinct sectors. The report lists eight separate categories. Cointelegraph hosted a previous panel on Sept. 9 discussing blockchain’s impact on the art industry — the first category on the list. Moving down that list, Cointelegraph hosted a second live panel on YouTube on Sept. 22, talking about brokers and banks involvement in the crypto and blockchain space …

Last Friday night, crypto YouTuber Ivan on Tech messaged me on Twitter. Shortly into our conversation, he graciously offered me an investment opportunity in “Bitcoin trading/mining”, courtesy of a platform that he alleged was associated with Binance. In reality, however, I was being approached by an Ivan impersonator, peddling a crypto affinity scam. The platform "Ivan" advertised, called Cryptobinance, has no affiliation with the actual Binance exchange, a representative of the company told Cointelegraph. But I played along with the scammer to see what additional information could be elicited from him. I told him that I was impressed by his …

The failures of centralization in protecting individual and business data have been highlighted repeatedly over the past few years. Facebook, Google, Twitter, Microsoft, Sony and many more have all faced large-scale data hacks that have exposed the private information (and more) of their customers. The problem is not just data theft — banks, financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges have all suffered at the hands of malicious actors. Yet, huge amounts of information about our lives and livelihoods are still entrusted to centralized organizations, simply because that has always been the way things are done. With the onset of Web 3.0, …

Crypto YouTuber Sunny Decree recently saw his livestream cut short by YouTube, with the platform stating the video had violated its 'harmful and dangerous policy.’ According to a Sept. 5 tweet from Sunny Decree, the video-sharing platform halted his most recent livestream on his English language channel — based in Switzerland, the content creator also records in German — and warned him a second offense would result in a one-week suspension of service for livestreaming, uploading, and posting. Decree’s channel has been targeted by YouTube before. In December 2019, the platform began aggressively deleting videos with crypto-related content. High-profile channels, …

What are you doing Friday afternoon? Cointelegraph is hosting the latest edition of its Cointelegraph Talks series this Friday, August 28, at 3 PM Eastern / 12 PM Pacific on our YouTube channel. We’ll have three entrepreneurs active at the intersection of music and crypto joining us to discuss blockchain’s implications for the music business. Daniel Dewar is founder of media fintech company Paperchain. Jesse Grushack is co-founder of Ujo Music, an Ethereum-based platform for connecting artists with their fans. And Roneil Rumburg co-founded Audius as an artist-centric music streaming platform. All three will be on hand to present their …

The modus operandi of crypto scammers differ in each case as it happens with the rest, but this time, a popular Youtuber who has 2.43 million subscribers explained on August 20 how his channel was seized by hackers to launch an XRP fake giveaway campaign. According to a video published by David Damasceno, who runs Universo Curioso, cybercriminals took control of his account after receiving a contact request from an individual offering him a video editing tool. The fake software was called Zenium Editor, which also handles advertising revenues, and when Damasceno downloaded and installed the app, the damage has …

Another good week for Bitcoin last week. The dollar price rose more than 5 percent, taking it to around $11,700. That rise wasn’t smooth. A flash crash took $1,500 off the price at one point, although investors remain bullish and the VIX volatility index, which is based on the S&P 500, is “extremely bullish.” Other volatility measures, though, suggest another drop to $10,000 before a new rally, while the Winklevoss twins think that the amount of infrastructure and capital in the crypto markets will make this bull run very different from the 2017 run. It’s not just Bitcoin that’s been …

Another cryptocurrency-related YouTube channel appears to have fallen afoul of the platform's community policies. According to a July 31 tweet from crypto community members and brothers Aaron and Austin Arnold, their Altcoin Daily channel with 214,000 subscribers was terminated by YouTube for “encouraging illegal activities.” “We are a news/opinion channel,” the two said on Twitter. “We have never promoted anything illegal. Appeal has been submitted.” The brothers reached out to Altcoin Daily’s 27,700 Twitter followers urging them to contact YouTube and request reinstatement, using hashtags including #FreeAltcoinDaily. After more than two days in which the channel content was completely inaccessible …

Ajey Nagar, a Popular Indian YouTuber with 6.7 million subscribers, is the latest victim of the ongoing BitCoin giveaway scam on Youtube. The hack happened on Nagar’s second Youtube channel- CarryisLive where he streams himself playing video games with YouTubers and celebrities. Two Bitcoin giveaway scam promotional videos were reportedly posted on the channel. Both videos displayed bitcoin addresses. One of the videos also featured an image of SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk supposedly giving away Bitcoin. The scammers were promising to double the Bitcoin sent to them. By press time, Ajey Nagar announced that his Youtube channel is …

Over the years, it has become a known fact for anyone dealing with cryptocurrencies that scams are running rampant. However, as more novice players enter the market, more scammers up their tactics to take advantage of unsuspecting Bitcoin enthusiasts with fake Bitcoin giveaways and other elaborate schemes. Recently, a new bout of scammers has emerged with even more sophisticated and aggressive tactics. As evident through most reports, the scammers are taking advantage of popular social media platforms like YouTube and Twitter to capture their victims. For instance, on July 13 Charles Hoskinson who is the founder of Cardano warned about …