This year has proven to be one of tremendous progress in the world of cryptocurrencies, digital tokens and central-bank digital currencies. But progress comes at a cost. The land of opportunity can also turn into the Wild West, as our friends at The Fintech Times report:
Billions of dollars in crypto assets have been stolen over the course of the last ten years, according to the analysis that Crystal Blockchain has released in its bi-annual ‘Crypto and DeFi Hacks and Scams’ report.
As detailed in the report, between 2011 and 2021, there were 120 security attacks, 73 attacks on DeFi protocols, and 33 fraudulent schemes that together resulted in the theft of approximately $12.1billion worth of crypto assets.
The report states that over $1.7billion was stolen from DeFi protocols. According to Crystal’s analysts, this is because the technology still exists as a fairly new concept, and has therefore been prone to vulnerabilities.
The biggest DeFi breach to date occurred in 2021 to Poly Network, a DeFi initiative, targeted by a hacker(s), who stole more than $614million in tokens (the majority of these funds have now been returned).
A leader in the laundering of dirty bitcoins was the crypto trading platform BTC-e, which was indicted and then seized for money laundering in January 2017. BTC-e managed to launder over 200,000BTC over several years. According to the Crystal database, 39 per cent of all stolen BTC funds were distributed via Fraudulent Exchanges, defined as exchanges that have been involved in exit scams, illegal behaviour, or who have had funds seized by the government.
Loans Latest
The lender is seeking to fund claims for financial mis-selling. The term of the loan is 15 months.
HTLH was recently incorporated to fund pension mis-selling and irresponsible lending claims. The loan is currently 57 per cent funded.
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Historical Performance And IFISA Process Guide
That figure is the result of over £24 million of loans facilitated on the site, as we bring individuals looking for a good return on capital together with carefully vetted small companies seeking funds for growth. Bear in mind that lenders’ capital is at risk. Read warnings on site before committing capital.
All loans on site are eligible to be held in a Money&Co. Innovative Finance Individual Savings Account (IFISA), up to the annual ISA limit of £20,000. Such loans offer lenders tax-free income. Our offering is an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) that can hold the peer-to-peer (P2P) business loans that Money&Co. facilitates. For the purposes of this article, the terms ISA and IFISA are interchangeable.
So here’s our guide to the process:
The ISA allowance for 2020/21 is unchanged from last tax year at £20,000, allowing a married couple to put £40,000 into a tax-free environment. Over three years, an investment of this scale in two Money&Co. Innovative Finance ISAs would generate £8,400 of income completely free of tax. We’re assuming a 7 per cent return, net of charges and free of tax here.
Once you have made your initial commitment, you might then consider diversifying – buying a spread of loans. To do this, you can go into the “loans for sale” market. All loans bought in this market also qualify for IFISA tax benefits.
Risk: Security, Access, Yield
Do consider not just the return, but the security and the ease of access to your investment. We write regularly about these three key factors. Here’s one of several earlier articles on security, access and yield.