The search engine’s cryptocurrency converter provides information about 140 of the most popular cryptocurrencies, as well as data for the national currencies of various countries. The widget is located right above the search results, and it includes a price chart as well as a quick conversion tool.
The system sources its data from the aggregator portal Coingecko, and the value of the coins and tokens of interest can be displayed in Russian roubles, US dollars, euros, and other fiat currencies. Yandex plans to add more options in the future, as well as a feature that shows the price of a given digital asset in another cryptocurrency.
According to news.bitcoin.com, Yandex’s software can identify standard keywords as well as slang or imprecise language in the query. The search engine’s own statistics have listed bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, dogecoin, and solana as the most popular cryptos by number of search queries in 2022.
The updated currency converter might be a welcomed addition for Russian citizens in the context of them losing access to global online platforms that support similar functions. For instance, Twitter has launched a platform that can track cryptocurrency prices, but Twitter is now blocked in Russia.
In January 2023, almost 45 GB of Yandex source code files, allegedly stolen by a former employee, have been leaked. The code leak revealed some of the most important ranking factors of the Yandex search engine, which could help SEOs better understand how search engines rank content in general, Google included.
A former senior systems administrator at Yandex cited by bleepingcomputer.com revealed that the leak does not include any customer data, which means that it doesn’t represent a risk to the privacy or security of Yandex users, nor does it directly threaten to leak proprietary technology. The same source revealed that the Yandex employee responsible for the data leak had not tried to sell the code to competitors. He also emphasised that hackers could use the leaked code to try and identify security gaps and create targeted exploits.
According to arstechnica.com, back in 2015, a former Yandex employee tried to sell the Yandex search engine code on the black market for USD 28,000 in order to fund his own startup. The employee in question was sentenced to a suspended two years in prison, and the code never saw the light of day.
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