Category: DeFi

Categories
Crypto News DeFi Ethereum Optimism

‘Optimism’ Hacker Returns 17 Million Tokens Worth $11 Million

Last week, Optimism – a rollup solution for the Ethereum network – lost US$15 million worth of Optimism (OP) tokens after launch partner Wintermute transferred the tokens to the wrong wallet address. On Monday, the attacker returned 17 million OP tokens, worth roughly US$11 million.

Hacker Returns Majority of Funds, Keeps 2M as Bounty

As per a tweet from Optimism, the address returned the majority of funds but kept 2 million tokens as bounty:

Optimism is designed to alleviate congestion on the Ethereum network and provide users with faster and cheaper ERC-20 transactions.

Wintermute is Optimism’s partner and market maker, providing liquidity services. Problems began when Wintermute accidentally sent the wrong address to Optimism’s team. “We made a serious error,” it has since conceded.

Hacker Sends 1M OP Tokens to Ethereum Co-Founder

According to on-chain data, the attacker cashed 1 million OP tokens and then sent 1 million tokens to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The attacker left an on-chain message for Buterin, stating:

Hello, Vitalik, I believe in you, just want to know your opinion on this. BTW, help to verify the return address and I will return the remaining [tokens]. And hello Wintermute, sorry, I only have 18M and this is what I can return. Stay Optimistic!

Etherscan data

The reasons for sending Buterin 1 million OP remain unclear. Crypto Twitter, Wintermute and Optimism are speculating on the possible motives. In a blog post, Wintermute said it might have been the work of a white-hat hacker:

We are open to see this as a white hat exploit. Moreover, the way the attack has been performed has been rather impressive and we can even consider consulting opportunities or other forms of cooperation in future. We are also content with the scenario where the remaining 19 million tokens are returned to Optimism wallet.

Wintermute blog post
Categories
Crime Crypto News DeFi Hackers

97% of Crypto Hacks Were Against DeFi Projects, Chainalysis

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has published a new report about criminal activities in the cryptocurrency space, stating that 97 percent of crypto hacks have targeted DeFi projects since the beginning of 2020.

North Korean Hacking Groups Largely Responsible

According to the report, DeFi protocols accounted for 97 percent of the US$1.68 billion worth of cryptocurrency stolen. Most of the stolen funds, approximately US$840 million, have gone to hacking groups associated with the North Korean government, the report says.

On March 30, Axie Infinity lost over US$600 million in the biggest DeFi hack on record. The US government linked the heist to a notorious North Korean-based hacking group called Lazarus.

Source: Chainalysis

Another recent incident occurred on May 3 when a hacker stole US$80 million from DeFi platform Rari Capital.

DeFi-Based Money Laundering on the Rise

DeFi protocols have also seen an uptick of illicit funds coming into their networks. According to the report, 69 percent of all funds in DeFi were sent from addresses linked to criminal activity.

DeFi protocols allow users to trade one type of cryptocurrency for another, which can make it more complicated to track the movement of funds – but unlike centralised services, many DeFi protocols provide this ability without taking KYC information from users, making them more attractive to criminals.

Chainalysis report

Another key finding of the report was the incidence of NFT wash trading. This practice consist of artificially inflating the price of an asset by buying and selling the same instrument at the same time.

Chainalysis put up as an example two wallets that generated over 650,000 WETH in transaction volume by selling the same three NFTs back and forth to one another. The wash trade was done in the same marketplace, as it rewards transactions on its marketplace.

Categories
Crypto News DeFi Tokens Waves

WAVES Token Pumps 60% Amid DeFi Revival Plan and Airdrop

More positives for the Waves open-source blockchain, following the announcement of a DeFi revival plan, the WAVES token price increased by approximately 60 percent in the May 31 trading session, only to crash back down a couple of days later.

DeFi Revival Makes WAVES

The WAVES token jumped from US$6 at the beginning of the week to a US$10.15 intraday peak on May 31 and is now likely to hit its US$12.30 resistance, a point it has not reached since May 11.

The trouble for the WAVES token began at the beginning of April after a large sell-off of USDN. The knock-on effect was last month’s de-pegging of the stablecoin. This, combined with the Vires Finance liquidity crisis and the LUNA crash, meant an intense plunge for WAVES.

Anatomy of a ‘Master Plan’

There are several contributing factors to the 60 percent WAVES surge, the most notable being the Waves DeFi revival plan. The so-called “master plan”, according to a Waves Tech post, will look like this:

  • begin buying and locking CRV tokens with 45 percent of the WAVES staking profits from Neutrino, and vote to incentivise the USDN 3-pool, to improve demand for USDN;
  • liquidate large accounts, taking control of their collateral;
  • sell the collateral without de-pegging USDN to return liquidity to Vires Finance and reduce utilisation rate, enabling larger user withdrawals; and
  • improve Neutrino architecture with a new recap token that recapitalises Neutrino with new Waves Tokens when under-collateralised:

As part of the recapitalisation of Neutrino, the Waves protocol will be airdropping the new token via Tsunami Testnet, providing users meet eligibility conditions.

With the wider crypto market slowly turning green after a lengthy period of lows, along with the revival plan to be implemented, WAVES may continue its surge over coming weeks.

WAVES’ Recent Breaks

March was eventful for the Waves protocol as it managed to stay at the forefront of innovation via a partnership with Allbridge. A combination of this partnership and the protocol’s migration to Waves 2.0 caused the token to surge by 120 percent in just a week.

The back end of March saw the Waves protocol pump 70 percent following the news that it would be launching in the US. The US Waves Labs project was tasked with supercharging the protocol’s ecosystem upon its March 28 launch.

Categories
Crypto News DeFi Hackers Mirror Protocol Terra

DeFi Protocol ‘Mirror’ Exploited for $2 Million Due to Buggy Code

Terra-based DeFi app Mirror Protocol has suffered an estimated US$2 million exploit related to the recent rebrand of the original Terra blockchain as Terra Classic. 

This is the second major exploit of Mirror Protocol to be revealed in the past week:

During the attack, the pools for mBTC, mETH, mDOT and mGLXY were virtually completely drained – and initially there were fears all asset pools could be drained, before developers belatedly patched the exploit.

What is Mirror Protocol?

Mirror Protocol is a DeFi app that allows for the creation of digital ‘mirrors’ of real-world assets, such as stocks and other cryptocurrencies, which closely track the price of the assets on which they’re based. 

Mirror is built on the Terra Classic blockchain, but its assets are also available on other chains such as Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain.

Attacker Exploited Confusion Caused by New Terra Chain

The attack was initially discovered by a user of the Mirror Protocol forum known as Mirroruser and was shared on Twitter by Terra analyst FatManTerra.

FatManTerra explained the exploit was possible because many Terra Classic validators were running outdated software and reporting the price of the new Terra (LUNA), which at the time was valued at about US$9.80, rather than the price of the original Terra Classic (LUNC), valued at around US$0.0001. This discrepancy allowed the attacker(s) to acquire US$1.3 million of collateral, such as mBTC, for every US$1000 in LUNC they spent:

There were initially fears that the exploit wouldn’t be fixed before US stock markets opened, allowing the attacker to drain stock-based asset pools such as mAAPL and mAMZN: 

Fix Put in Place Before Trading Begins

However, this was narrowly avoided as the developers were able to fix the incorrect pricing information just before US markets opened. The devs also disabled the usage of mBTC, mETH, mDOT and mGLXY, meaning the attackers couldn’t use their ill-gotten assets to drain any other pools.

This was the second major exploit of Mirror Protocol revealed this week. Just days ago, FatManTerra reported an attack that occurred on October 8, 2021 and went unnoticed for an astonishing seven months, resulting in the loss of more than US$88 million in assets.

The past month has been rough for DeFi, with the chaos surrounding the collapse of the Terra ecosystem causing large discrepancies across platforms in the price of Terra-based stablecoin UST, leading to significant losses for some DeFi apps such as Blizz Finance and Venus Protocol. 

DeFi exploits have also become increasingly commonplace of late; just weeks ago, Fortress Lending was taken for an estimated US$3 million.

Categories
Cardano Crypto News DeFi

Cardano (ADA) Leads Major Cryptos Relief Rally, Up 25% Overnight

Amid a crypto market generally showing signs of recovery following last month’s meltdown, the token underpinning the Cardano blockchain is up 25 percent in the space of a day.

Cardano Outranks Ripple

Cardano (ADA) is now the sixth-ranked cryptocurrency with a market capitalisation of US$22.6 billion, overtaking Ripple’s XRP and trading at $0.67 at time of writing, as per data from CoinMarketCap.

Despite this bullish performance, attributed to increased DeFi activity on the layer-1 blockchain and the launch of Lagon’s cross-chain bridge to facilitate token transfers between Ethereum and Cardano, ADA is still 78 percent below its all-time high of US$3.10, recorded in September last year.

Trading Volume Pumps 272%

Across major crypto exchanges, ADA’s trading volume averaged US$2.4 billion over 24 hours, representing a 272 percent increase on the previous day.

According to Defi Llama, the Total Value Locked (TVL) on Cardano rose by 30.56 percent over the same period and is currently at US$194.87 million, up from $149.25 million:

A black chart with blue lines passing across it.

Since the beginning of the year, Cardano has seen a 50-fold spike in large transaction volume (LTV), representing a significant increase in institutional demand.

BTC, ETH Also Up

As a further reflection of an overall crypto market recovery, Bitcoin was up 2.95 percent over the same 24-hour period, trading at around US$31,478 at time of writing, while Ethereum was up 3.26 percent and fetching US$1,933.

Categories
DeFi Stablecoins TRON

Tron DeFi Soars to $6 Billion Amid Release of New Stablecoin

Tron has become DeFi’s third-largest blockchain, with the launch of its new Terra-like algorithmic stablecoin promising yearly returns of more than 20 percent.

In terms of total value locked (TVL), Tron now trails only Ethereum and BNB Chain. The surge in TVL can be attributed to its algorithmic stablecoin USDD, which has grown to US$545 million on the promise of 30 percent “risk-free” yields.

Top 10 ecosystems. Source: DeFi Llama

Tron’s USDD follows a similar stabilisation method to Terra’s UST stablecoin, which suffered a US$40 billion loss last month. According to data from DeFi Llama, Tron’s DeFi ecosystem has grown by almost 44 percent over the past 30 days, from US$4 billion to US$5.99 billion at the time of writing. BNB Chain and industry leader Ethereum are at US$10.8 billion and US$93 billion, respectively.

What is Driving Tron’s Growth?

The growth observed on the Tron network is primarily driven by the double-digit returns promised by USDD – very similar to what Terra’s UST offered. USDD is not backed by anything, but governing the stablecoin’s dollar peg is an arbitrage trade between USDD and TRX, Tron’s native token.

Investors can always swap 1 USDD for US$1 worth of TRX, and if the price of USDD falls below the dollar peg, they can buy the discounted USDD and swap it for TRX, thus pocketing the difference by selling TRX on the open market.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Crypto News DeFi Education Real Estate

Western Australia Real Estate Body Introduces Mandatory Blockchain Training

The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) is set to introduce mandatory blockchain training to WA real estate agents in an Australian-first move designed to help the sector adapt and evolve as cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream.

This week's property round-up | Business News https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/This-weeks-property-round-up-77
Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) to offer mandatory blockchain training.

Real Estate to Adopt Tokenisation and Smart Contracts

This training will allow the industry to broaden its service offerings and utilise blockchain applications such as tokenisation and smart contracts. Partnering with Perth-based blockchain consulting firm TecStack for the delivery of the training, REIWA will educate its industry on how crypto can affect sellers, buyers, tenants and property managers.

TecStack’s director, Abheeti Pass, has described crypto as “fast-moving technology”, noting that the first to adapt are most likely to have the best chance to capitalise on growth opportunities in the field:

https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-florence-presents-la-tecnologia-blockchain-e-limpatto-sulla-formazione-reinventing-the-future-w-tecstack/

We are seeing whole new DeFi markets and technology-enhanced property online services opening up, and it is vitally important that today’s real estate professionals know how to understand and cater to these emerging customers’ needs so they can build ongoing relationships based on trust and expertise.

Abheeti Pass, director, TecStack

With an influx of DeFi newcomers in the market who are not using traditional finance methods, there is an opportunity for real estate agents to take on new types of clients.

Crypto Pops in on Property

The real estate sector has been moving slowly but steadily in its adoption of crypto, with increments of progress such as this one cropping up across the globe. September 2021 saw multinational commercial real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) make a deal with blockchain platform VeChain in a push to promote sustainable practices in the sector.

And January 2022 was a big month for blockchain tech in real estate as Propy, the real estate smart token, shot up by 227 percent following its Coinbase listing. Propy is one of the leaders in buying and selling homes via smart contracts.

In other related news, US fintech company Milo is now offering its customers zero deposit, Bitcoin-backed real estate loans. This is a world-first bitcoin mortgage offering, yet it will only be usable for US property.

Categories
Axie Infinity Crypto News DeFi Gaming

Axie Infinity Suffers Another Hack, Discord Compromised

Popular NFT video game Axie Infinity has suffered another hack, this time on the game’s official Discord channel.

According to an official statement, Axie’s MEE6, a popular Discord bot used for automating roles and messaging within channels, was compromised. The attackers used the bot to add “a fake Jiho account, which then posted a fake announcement about a mint”:

Admins’ Accounts Compromised

The MEE6 bot wasn’t hacked as such – the admins’ accounts were. This allowed the attackers to use the bot to feature messages on the channel. While Axie said the messages had been deleted, it advised users to restart their Discord.

This isn’t the first time Axie Infinity’s Discord has been hacked. A few months ago, users on Reddit reported that their MetaMask wallets were compromised after falling for a fake minting announcement. Users had to delete all connections with Axie Infinity within the MetaMask app:

Not the Best Year for Axie

This hasn’t been the best year for Sky Mavis’ Axie Infinity. A month ago, the studio behind the video game revealed that Ronin – an Ethereum sidechain for Axie Infinity – suffered what is to date the biggest DeFi hack, losing US$625 million.

Discord hacks are not uncommon in the cryptocurrency space. A month ago, Crypto News Australia reported how the Bored Ape Yacht Club Discord servers suffered a phishing scam, causing ApeCoin to drop more than 20 percent.

Categories
Australia Crypto News DeFi Terra Tokens

Australian Poll in March Predicted LUNA Would Top $143 This Year

Hindsight is a wonderful thing – in this case, the discovery of an Australian poll dating back to March that predicted the LUNA token would top US$143 this year.

‘LUNA Worth $390 by 2025’: Finder Survey

The crypto industry has proved its volatility lately as Terra fell and LUNA crashed. It was a crash, it seems, no one was expecting, not even the professionals. The Finder survey from March this year, for example, demonstrated the confidence that 36 fintech specialists had in Terra:

In late March to early April – prior to Terra (UST) losing its peg -Finder surveyed 36 fintech specialists for their thoughts on how LUNA [would] perform over the next decade. At the time, they thought Terra (LUNA) would be worth US$143 by the end of 2022 before rising to $390 by 2025.”

Finder.com

The biggest lesson to take out of this is that crypto is unfortunately still very unpredictable. While uncertainty still surrounds the future of LUNA and Terra, no token is exempt from the industry’s volatility and investors need to be smart, rather than taking predictions as gospel:

The LUNA Crash: Knock-On Effects

The LUNA collapse has had industry-wide knock-on effects. One of the most prominent outcomes has been significant falls across the DeFi market, as the crash was not restricted to the Terra ecosystem. With LUNA plummeting by 97 percent, there have now been approximately US$900 million worth of liquidations.

LUNA’s heartbroken founder, Do Kwon, has set to work on a revival plan, which is essentially a restart of the whole Terra blockchain. However, previous fans of LUNA are now struggling to trust the word of Kwon and are sceptical of the project’s return.

Categories
Beefy Finance Crypto News DeFi Terra TerraUSD

Beefy Finance Token (BIFI) Spikes 168% Overnight, Benefits From Terra Collapse

BIFI, Beefy Finance’s native cryptocurrency, spiked 168 percent overnight after the protocol upgraded its network and capitalised on TerraUSD’s collapse.

After hitting a low of US$387.80 on May 14, the token is now trading at US$646.67 with 24-hour trading volume up 7 percent.

BIFI/USDT Chart: Source: coinmarketcap.com

BIFI’s price surge can be attributed to three important updates. According to recent tweets, Beefy Finance has upgraded its 12 stablecoin vaults to offer higher yields, added new options in its liquidity pools, and integrated with layer-1 protocol Oasis Network.

Taking Advantage of the UST Aftermath

A collapsing TerraUSD, alongside the 20 percent yield offered by Anchor Protocol for UST deposits, has allowed Beefy Finance to take advantage of the aftermath, introducing new options in liquidity pools and opening new vaults in an attempt to capture idle users and capital:

The integration with Oasis Network enables Beefy Finance to support numerous blockchains including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Matic, and more, making it one of the largest cross-chain protocols in existence.

The protocol also integrated Tron Network’s USDD stablecoin with a 62.5 percent APY (Annual Percentage Yield) for depositors on the quad stablecoin pool:

While the crypto market is experiencing one of the roughest months in its history, decentralised protocols like Beefy Finance are shedding some light on the industry. The opening of new vaults alone attracts fresh liquidity to the protocol by adding support to several assets from different blockchains.