Hibiki Run and its technology partners promise web 3.0 safety to protect your NFTs.
From Bulgaria’s crypto Queen scamming investors for over $4 billion to a prodigious FTX scam, the crypto ecosystem is rife with Web 3.0 safety challenges. While crypto platforms vow to protect investors, nothing is safe, and last year’s Wormhole cyberattack is a testament to that. Crypto’s volatility and the market’s susceptibility to hacks and scams have cost crypto investors over a billion since 2021, as per Federal Trade Commission.
But does that mean we should be afraid to collect digital assets? Absolutely not. Below we explore how you can protect your NFTs with Hibiki Run by employing Web 3.0 safety practices that hedge against some of the most common crypto and NFT scams.
Everything carries risk… even NFTs
How many rockets did Space X blow before Falcon 9 could launch humans into Orbit? The odds of a person dying in a car crash are 1 in 101, as per Injury Fact, NSC, but does that stop us from riding in a car? Similarly, we could choke on food (1 in 2,745) and die crossing a street (1 in 541), but that doesn’t stop us from living our lives.
Everything carries a risk, so instead of fearing away from it, we utilize tools and techniques for protection so we can continue to experience life. NFTs, too, aren’t without risks. Recently, a popular NFT marketplace, Open Sea, lost $1.7 million in cryptocurrency theft, and Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn platform, reportedly lost $600 million. So there are risks with cryptocurrency and NFTs. But not when you are educated and prepared for them.
A keen understanding of the crypto market and cyber scams can help you bypass web 3.0 safety challenges s
Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.
What makes Web 3.0 so risky?
A decentralized economy is a new concept. Web 3.0 comes with new opportunities and new risks and challenges as it integrates blockchain and cryptocurrency for a decentralized economy. Since decentralization is relatively new, it invites certain risks.
For example, like many other assets, the value of crypto goes up and down based on the supply and demand of a crypto token. This leads to volatility and instability that makes digital currency a risky financial instrument. Additionally, speculation, influence of crypto whales, international regulatory affairs and news stories too cause token values to fluctuate. The instability of the system further invites security challenges that lead to NFT scams and crypto frauds.
The most common crypto/NFT scams
As NFTs and digital collectibles gain more popularity, scammers are investing in innovative ways for a payday. Below are some of the most common NFT/crypto scams you should be aware of in 2023.
1.Fake investment schemes
The internet allows anybody to build a website and social media accounts. Crypto scammers create official-looking websites posing as investment managers. They convince inexperienced crypto and NFT enthusiasts into thinking they are seasoned professionals. They usually ask for an upfront fee and disappear.
Prevention: Avoid rushing in to make an investment, and remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Rug-pull scams
These scams include a new NFT projects looking for an investment with a high-return promise. The Squid Coin scam is the most popular Rug-pull scam in recent history. Named after the popular Netflix show, the new NFT project required crypto investors to play for cryptocurrency. The investors paid for online games to buy the Squid token, whose value reached $90 before the trading stopped and the scam became evident.
Prevention: Most scammers create fake websites and social media accounts with fake followers to give you the illusion that they are doing something worthy. Researching the new NFT projects and the key people involved is critical in helping you stay safe. Join a Reddit group or a Discord community of crypto enthusiasts and discuss crypto opportunities with them before investing.
Romance or pig butchering scams
Romance scams involve long-distance online relationships where scammers exploit trust to gain cryptocurrency.
Prevention: Long-distance relations should not cost you your hard-earned crypto. If they are in it for crypto, they are just not that into you.
Phishing scams
In a crypto phishing scam, hackers send emails with malicious links to fake websites. These websites collect your personal information, such as a crypto wallet key. (See Open Sea’s crypto Phishing scam)
Prevention: Avoid spam emails. If you open one, avoid clicking on any links unless you trust the sender.
Some other common scams include:
Fake social media giveaways
In recent days, social media giveaways have been one of the most prominent forms of crypto and NFT thefts. Hackers can lure you to a fraudulent website via a link shared on an enticing social media post that promises lucrative rewards. Sometimes, scammers may ask for a payment to verify your identity. You can lose that payment and other critical personal information.
Prevention: Hackers will entice you with big Bitcoin giveaways backed by fake celebrity endorsements. Only trust social media giveaways from trusted NFT exchanges and crypto platforms.
Fake crypto exchanges and crypto wallets
Scammers can create crypto exchanges that look like professional investment firms, promising lucrative rewards for your investment (see FTX’s example).
Fake crypto wallets are malware injections that help hackers steal personal data.
Prevention: Stick to reliable and reputable crypto exchanges and platforms like Coinbase and Hibiki Run.
Man in the middle attacks
In these attacks, hackers access your personal information, including account information, wallet keys, and passwords when you use a public network. Remember that information sent over a public network is susceptible to hacks.
Prevention: Use a quality VPN service to encrypt data. If possible, avoid using public networks and sick to your private networks for all crypto-related transactions.
Additionally, hackers can breach system security, use Ponzi schemes, fake employment, and carry out sim-swap scams (where hackers can obtain a copy of your sim to access personal information). Since there is no regulatory body or regulations governing decentralized networks, Web 3.0 safety will remain a challenge in the future.
Common crypto red flags at a glance
- Crypto schemes promising lucrative rewards
- manipulative tactics such as extortion to gain crypto
- Crypto firms promising free Bitcoin or money for sign-ups or registration
- Celebrity endorsements that look out of place
- Companies accepting only Bitcoin as payment
- Crypto investment firms offering minimal details about money movements or how your investment is being used.
Web 3.0 security risks are essentially NFT and crypto security risks. Understanding the challenges of the former can help you prepare for the future, where NFT collection and crypto transactions will become the norm.
Web 3.0 is a decentralized architecture with zero oversight from regulatory bodies, which makes it a perfect primordial soup for new threats to form and thrive. Some of the gravest web 3.0 safety challenges include cyber hijacking (where cyber attackers install crypto mining software on systems), Ice Phishing (convincing users to designate approval of a crypto token use), Smart Contract logic hacks, data manipulation involving malicious scrip injections, crypto wallet cloning, and cyber eavesdropping.
Many blockchain attacks focus more on human and end-point vulnerabilities than technology. So, you can avoid NFT scamming risks by choosing a reliable crypto or NFT trading platform.
How Hibiki Run Tackles the Challenges in Web 3.0 security
Hibiki Run isn’t a stand-alone platform; it operates alongside its highly reliable tech partners, including Polygon blockchain.
With Hibiki Run, you can trade your NFTs via two different wallets: the Hibiki Run wallet and the Polygon wallet.
Learn more about Hibiki Run Wallets.
Polygon is a layer 2 Blockchain (built upon Ethereum) aimed at achieving highest standards of speed and security.
How Polygon hedges against Web 3.0 challenges
In 2021, Polygon paid a whopping $2 million bounty to a white hat hacker for discovering a network vulnerability that would have cost the company over $850 million.
According to Immunify (a platform that hosts Polygon’s bounty program) Polygon has paid over $2 million as bounty, which is the biggest bounty paid for network security in DeFi.
As a result of this initiative, Polygon is able to save user funds from hacks.
Polygon is currently used by over 7,000 dApps that are protected via Polygon’s highly secure infrastructure.
Here’s how Polygon ensures safety from known and unknown Web 3.0 risks:
Polygon works with a group of validators (Not more than 10) responsible for verifications and authentications related to network transactions The validators get rewards for verifications.
Each validator gets Polygon’s native crypto, Matic, locked in the network’s staking protocol. Each validator runs its nodes and collects rewards and transaction fees.
As of March 2022, more than 2.7 billion Matic tokens ($3.9 billion) are locked up in the validator ecosystem. And over 483 million Matics have been paid out as rewards (over $700 million).
Additionally, Polygon is consistently looking for new validators via its onboarding program while staying in touch with current validators via Discord and other channels.
So Polygon is investing in security via its validators and a bounty program that helps it find vulnerabilities before they cause financial damage. These security protocols make Polygon one of the safest blockchain.
Hibiki Run and the security of your NFTs
Hibiki Run is a free-to-play music discovery platform that allows creators and collectors to share valuable digital assets. You can collect rewards by discovering new music and trade your digital assets on the Hibiki Run marketplace Hibiki’s wallets. Since Hibiki Run works with Polygon, one of the strongest Blockchains, it’s best for your collection journey.
Conclusion
Every new technology era brings its own set of challenges. With Web 2.0, we got the freedom to be anonymous and autonomous, but it also brought widespread misinformation. Web 3.0, too, comes with both pros and cons. Platforms like Hibiki Run and Polygon exist to make Web 3.0 a safe place to start your NFT journey. Both platforms are backed by legitimate technologies and only promise a fun collection experience. Learn more about how HIbiki Run helps you collect via its digital wallets.
Ready to start collecting digital assets? Download Hibiki Run on Google Play or the App Store and start collecting today!
Learn more about Polygon Blockchain.
