Author: Coindesk
Security researchers CertiK said the attackers likely caught hold of a private key that controlled ALEX’s XLink bridge, a service that lets users transfer tokens between different blockchains. The hacker transferred over $300,000 worth of bitcoin (BTC), $3.3 million worth of stablecoins and $75,000 worth of Sugar Kingdom (SKO) tokens. Read the full article here
In filings, his attorneys argue that Salame’s role at the shuttered companies was less central to the fraud and more operational. They also cite cooperation with authorities, genuine remorse, efforts to address his substance abuse issues, and the significant personal and financial losses he has already suffered as a result of the exchange’s collapse. Read the full article here
RWA Platform Re Debuts Tokenized Reinsurance Fund on Avalanche with $15M Commitment from Nexus Mutual
Reinsurance companies offer protection for insurance firms, collecting premiums to cover certain types of risks. With nearly $1 trillion in premiums annually, reinsurance is a cornerstone of today’s financial markets and commerce, Karn Saroya, chief executive officer of Re said in an interview with CoinDesk. Read the full article here
Hoak’s admission comes one day after Cypher’s founder Barrett accused him of systematically draining troves of valuable cryptos from the protocol’s redemption contract over multiple months, beginning in December. Citing on-chain data, Barrett said Hoak ultimately sent assets worth around $300,000 (at current market prices) to Binance, presumably to cash them out. Read the full article here
Similar to EigenLayer, Symbiotic will offer a way for decentralized applications, called actively validated services, or “AVSs,” to collectively secure one another. Users will be able to restake assets that they’ve deposited with other crypto protocols to help secure these AVSs – be they rollups, interoperability infrastructure, or oracles – in exchange for rewards. Read the full article here
Vanguard, Avowedly Anti-Crypto, Said Set to Name Bitcoin-Friendly Ex-BlackRock Exec as CEO: WSJ
Salim Ramji left BlackRock in January to “seek a new leadership or entrepreneurial opportunity outside the firm,” he said then. The move came shortly after the asset manager launched the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which Ramji oversaw the filing and logistics for, according to Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. Read the full article here
Let’s say you plug into the network and say, “Hey, I’m a harvester.” Then we put out a bounty for someone in the locality to become a validator, who goes to your place and just validates that, “Hey, these guys have the infrastructure for it.” So what happens, in essence, is we’re creating a bunch of these local green jobs. And all of these different tasks are gamified using our bounty system. Read the full article here
Indeed, part of Pertsev’s defense was acknowledging that, even if money laundering was happening, because the protocol operated like a robot on a blockchain and users always maintained “exclusive control” over their funds, if anyone is to blame it is the users themselves. This is to say nothing that Tornado’s devs did maintain a frontend, through which 90+% of users went through. Read the full article here
Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum Wallet Proposal, Scribbled in 22 Minutes, Gets Positive Reviews
Ethereum core developer Ansgar Dietrichs, who co-wrote EIP-3074 and EIP-7702 with Buterin, said in an interview with CoinDesk via chat that the newest proposal was “the result of a week or so of him being involved in the account abstraction research conversation.” Read the full article here
The Crypto Industry’s Influence on U.S. Elections is Bigger Than Ever, Industry Insiders Say
“It’s a much more sophisticated operation,” Smith said. “I feel like I used to walk around Washington, and people would say ‘Oh, there’s Kristin, she works for that little blockchain industry thing.’ Now it’s like, ‘Oh wow, that’s the powerful crypto industry and they’re here to influence Washington and are pulling out all the tools to do it.” Read the full article here