Yesterday’s fake Bitcoin giveaway scam on Twitter unleashed a series of events and comments from prominent figures. While some spoke against the popular social media platform, others against BTC, a US Congressman stood behind the primary cryptocurrency and blamed it on “centralized control.”
US Congressman: Bitcoin Isn’t The Problem
As yesterday’s Twitter hack, which unfolded like a typical fake Bitcoin giveaway scam, continues to raise attention throughout the world, US congressman Tom Emmer has defended the primary cryptocurrency. Emmer, serving as the Republican representative for the state of Minnesota’s 6th congressional district, offered his opinion on Twitter:
Bitcoin isn’t the problem. Centralized control is.
— Tom Emmer (@RepTomEmmer) July 16, 2020
While having radically different views on the matter than Peter Schiff, Emmer’s comments may not come as a surprise. In 2018, his campaign announced that it would introduce several cryptocurrency-related bills, each design to support blockchain and digital currencies in some form.
“The United States should prioritize accelerating the development of blockchain technology and create an environment that enables the American private sector to lead on innovation and further growth, which is why I am introducing these bills.
Legislators should be embracing emerging technologies and providing a clear regulatory system that allows them to flourish in the United States,” asserted Emmer at the time.
Shortly prior, the Congressman became a co-chairman of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. According to a description of its operations, the Caucus “takes a hands-off regulatory approach to allow this technology [blockchain] to evolve the same way the Internet did; on its own.”
The Hack On Twitter: The Backstory
As reported yesterday, the social media giant Twitter was compromised by an unknown hackers’ group. The perpetrators gained account access for several cryptocurrency-related companies and popular figures, and tweeted on their behalf that “we have partnered with CryptoForHealth and are giving back 5,000 BTC to the community.”
The identical tweets emerged on every hacked Twitter account and directed the millions of followers to enter a suspicious website for more information.
As bold as those initial actions were, the hackers took it a step further by hijacking even more accounts. This time, however, they aimed even higher by hacking Twitter-verified profiles of famous people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama, and also the official accounts of Apple and Uber.
Each of these accounts, having millions of followers, presented a massive opportunity for the hackers to double-down on their deception. Using those profiles, the perpetrators posted that they are “giving back” to the community and offered to double all funds sent via Bitcoin. Despite sounding like a blatant giveaway scam, it managed to dupe an unknown number of victims sending at least 10 BTC.
Twitter support referred to this hack as a “coordinated social engineering attack.” Company CEO Jack Dorsey added that it was a “tough day for us at Twitter. We all feel terrible this happened.” Both statements revealed that the social media platform will thoroughly investigate the issue, but some reports suggested that an insider could have been responsible for the attack.
Although Twitter’s stock prices closed in the green yesterday, the futures are 4% down. It will be interesting to follow their performance when Wall Street opens for trading today.
Featured Image Courtesy of RollCall
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