According to reports, the Bittensor (TAO) blockchain was paused due to the depletion of funds from several wallets. The final block was processed 14 hours ago, and the network is now in safe mode, as stated by the Opentensor Foundation. TAO Network Paused for 14 Hours Due to Massive Wallet Thefts At 9:47 p.m. EDT […]
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Curve Founder Faces Massive Blow As CRV Price Dives 40%, Multi-Million Dollar Liquidations
A sudden and dramatic crash in the value of Curve Finance’s native token, CRV, has resulted in substantial losses for bullish investors and the platform’s founder, Michael Egorov. Blockchain analysis platform Arkham reported that Egorov faced liquidations totaling 0 million in CRV.
Curve Finance Founder Egorov Liquidated
In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), Arkham confirmed that Egorov’s lending position worth nine figures was liquidated across five protocols due to the price of CRV dropping below his liquidation threshold.
Egorov’s accounts incurred over a million dollars of bad debt on Curve’s Llamalend, which he managed to clear by receiving million USDT. Additionally, Egorov experienced a million liquidation on UwU Lend while making repayments on Inverse to mitigate further losses.
On June 13, Curve contributor Saint Rat revealed that the protocol had incurred .5 million in bad debt, which could be resolved if the price of CRV rises to .33. Egorov expressed his commitment to working with the Curve Finance team to address the bad debt situation and protect users from its impact.
Proposal To Burn 10% Of CRV Tokens
In response to the crisis, Egorov proposed burning 10% of the total CRV supply to stabilize the token’s price. He also announced that active voters would receive a three-month boost on deposit rewards across all Curve platforms, aiming to incentivize participation and strengthen the ecosystem. Egorov also stated:
The Curve Finance team and I have been working to solve the liquidation risk issue which happened today. Many of you are aware that I had all my loans liquidated. Size of my positions was too large for markets to handle and caused 10M of bad debt. Only CRV market on lend.curve.fi (where the position was the biggest) was affected. I have already repaid 93%, and I intend to repay the rest very shortly. It will help users not to suffer from this situation.
Interestingly, this recent episode is not the first time Egorov has faced significant liquidations. Last year, he borrowed million worth of loans from Aave, which posed a risk of bad debt in the event of liquidation.
To address this, Gauntlet, a risk management firm, recommended freezing Aave’s v2 CRV market to minimize protocol risks. In a subsequent private deal, Egorov sold 106 million CRV for million to repay most of his debts on Aave and other lending platforms, ultimately settling his debt to Aave with an million USDT deposit in September.
Before the market crash, CRV was trading at .3582. However, it plummeted nearly 40%, hitting an all-time low of .2220.
Since then, the token has recovered and is currently trading at .2880. This recovery has helped to mitigate the losses incurred within the 24-hour timeframe, reducing them to 22%.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Report: Mango Markets Exploiter Convicted in Multi-Million Dollar Crypto Fraud Case
A U.S. federal jury has convicted Avraham ‘Avi’ Eisenberg on charges of commodities fraud, commodities manipulation, and wire fraud due to his involvement in the 6 million exploit of Mango Markets, a Solana-based decentralized exchange (dex) platform. Jury Convicts Avi Eisenberg in 6M Mango Markets Crypto Fraud Case In this high-profile court case, Eisenberg was […]
Bitcoin News
Nebraska Man Faces 50 Years for Multi-Million Dollar Cryptojacking Scheme
United States prosecutors have charged Charles O. Parks III with wire fraud and money laundering after he allegedly ran a “large-scale illegal ‘cryptojacking’ operation,” defrauding two cloud computing providers out of .5 million to mine 0,000 in cryptocurrencies such as ether, litecoin, and monero without authorization. Parks, who was arrested in Nebraska and faces up […]
Bitcoin News
Genesis Alleges Multi-Million Dollar Preferential Transfers by Gemini Amidst Crypto Turmoil
In a recent legal move, Digital Currency Group’s (DCG) subsidiary Genesis Global Capital LLC has filed a complaint against the crypto exchange platform and custodian Gemini. Genesis hopes to claw back 9 million from the centralized crypto trading platform founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in 2014.
Genesis Targets Gemini in 9M Legal Battle Over Alleged Preferential Crypto Withdrawals
The court filing, filed on November 21, 2023, accuses Gemini of withdrawing over 9 million in the months leading to Genesis’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. This action, according to Genesis, unfairly benefited Gemini at the expense of other creditors.
The complaint, filed in the wake of significant crypto market instability that began in 2022, targets transactions occurring in the 90 days preceding Genesis’ bankruptcy declaration. According to the document, Gemini’s withdrawals totaled approximately 9.30 million, a move Genesis describes as preferential and detrimental to the broader creditor base.
This situation arose during a period marked by notable fluctuations and uncertainty within the cryptocurrency sector, further complicating the financial dynamics at play. Genesis’ legal strategy aims to invoke the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code to rectify what it perceives as an inequitable situation.
By doing so, they intend to recover the withdrawn funds in a clawback, thereby restoring a level playing field among all of Genesis’ creditors. The lawyers insist the focus is not just on the monetary aspect but also on the principles of fairness and equitable treatment in bankruptcy proceedings.
The complaint details the significant withdrawals by Gemini, characterizing them as preferential transfers. These actions, as per the filing, allowed Gemini to allegedly gain an advantage over other creditors, an advantage that Genesis seeks to nullify.
What do you think about the Genesis court filing against Gemini? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Samuel Trabucco’s Multi-Million Dollar Yacht Spotlighted in FTX’s Financial Records
The FTX debtors filed a bankruptcy court document detailing lavish cash transfers and purchases by former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and other company insiders. The section titled “Statement of Financial Affairs for Non-Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy” shows that Bankman-Fried reportedly received more than billion in cash transfers in the year before FTX’s collapse.
FTX Bankruptcy Filing Details Lavish Cash Transfers and Purchases for Former CEO Bankman-Fried
Recent court documents indicate Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly received cash payments of .3 million on Aug. 8, 2022, and 0 million on May 26, 2022. The document lists other payments to Bankman-Fried, including 0 million on June 7, 2022, and million on several other dates. The filings also suggest FTX funds were used to purchase a yacht for former Alameda Research co-CEO Samuel Trabucco, valued at more than .5 million.
The document details other lavish purchases, including multimillion-dollar real estate in the names of insiders like former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison. Transfers to political groups on behalf of insiders are also listed, such as a 0,000 donation in the name of FTX co-founder Nishad Singh to the People for the Progressive Governance.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to criminal fraud charges related to the alleged misuse of FTX customer deposits. Former FTX senior members Gary Wang, Ellison, and Singh reportedly have agreed to plea deals with U.S. law enforcement. Former FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame intends to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights and has reportedly declared himself “unavailable as a witness.”
Reports say Samuel Trabucco was last seen in the Bahamas in the spring of 2022, visited by former MIT classmates. He also traveled to Las Vegas in July of that year for MIT’s Mega-Pi reunion. These are the last known public sightings of Trabucco, and his current location is unknown. The crypto community has been speculating about Trabucco’s activities since FTX’s collapse. Trabucco’s 52-foot yacht called “Soak my Deck,” was first reported back in December 2022 in an editorial published by the Financial Times.
What do you think about the recent court filing that details Bankman-Fried’s alleged cash transfers and Trabucco’s reported yacht purchase? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
KyberSwap Resumes Elastic Protocol, Backed by Multi-Million KNC KyberDAO Security Fund
KyberSwap, a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) platform, is thrilled to announce they will be resuming its highly anticipated Elastic protocol on May 25, 2023. This brings back key capital-efficient features such as concentrated liquidity and full range fees compounding, while incorporating significant security enhancements, including a newly audited smart contract, round-the-clock live scanning in collaboration with security partners, and the introduction of an Insurance Fund.
KyberSwap Elastic will resume with improved smart contracts that have undergone internal audits as well as external audits with ChainSecurity and the community whitehat developer that spotted the smart contract vulnerability earlier in April. Further smart contract audits are being planned with other auditors. The comprehensive audit report by ChainSecurity can be found here.
In addition to fortified smart contracts, KyberSwap has implemented enhanced security measures of its own. This includes a real-time monitoring page set to launch in Q3 2023 that continuously checks the status and security of the website, smart contracts, and more, providing the team with up-to-the-minute information and eliminating reliance on outdated data. Furthermore, KyberSwap has improved UX controls, expanded user education resources, and enhanced warning notices, empowering users with the knowledge and tools necessary to make informed decisions in the crypto space.
To further bolster security, KyberSwap is establishing an official Bug Bounty program to be released in June 2023 with Immunefi, inviting community developers to proactively evaluate the codebase and incentivizing their participation.
“Our Elastic protocol resumption comes with upgraded smart contracts, a new security audit and coverage from KyberDAO, together with increased incentives, to offer users more rewarding, secure options for their liquidity,” said Victor Tran, KyberSwap Co-Founder and CEO. “KyberSwap returns to chart the path to leading DeFi in volume and protocol revenue, and make real an all-in-one, sustainable platform to help users Trade Smart.”
KyberSwap’s Elastic protocol is scheduled to resume operations on May 25, 2023, alongside the KyberSwap Returns campaign. This campaign brings forth exciting features such as NFT campaigns, the introduction of KyberAI, potential deployment to zkSync, and a multimillion-dollar Liquidity Mining campaign and ecosystem growth funds allocation. Notably, prominent staking and vault protocols, including Lido Finance and QiDao, have confirmed their participation, injecting liquidity into KyberSwap and reinvigorating liquidity mining incentives and other collaborative initiatives with the team.
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EasyFi Announces Multi-Million Developer’s Fund and Grants Program
The leading layer-2 DeFi lending protocol, EasyFi Network has launched its #BuildWithEasyFi initiative to encourage the developer community to leverage various benefits offered by the EasyFi ecosystem. As a part of the initiative, EasyFi has announced a Developer’s Fund and Grants program where promising projects and individuals can gain access to the capital necessary to build their products, in turn contributing to the growth of the EasyFi Network.
According to the company, the Developer’s Fund has been in the works as part of its roadmap for the year 2021. The fund will encourage open infrastructure development, offering the developer community access to EasyFi’ s resources with the intention of accelerating the overall growth of the entire DeFi ecosystem.
Applications are now open for entry into the EasyFi Developer’s Fund and Grants program.
The Idea Behind EasyFi Developer’s Fund and Grants
EasyFi Network is on a mission to promote the underlying principles of DeFi – Composability and Decentralization. While the blockchain protocols offer adequate levels of decentralization, the only way to drive composability in the ecosystem is to encourage community participation by providing adequate support. The EasyFi Developer’s Fund and Grants program acts as a lucrative support structure.
The program focuses on targeted resource allocation to ensure the worthy projects get the necessary tools and resources to develop full-fledged DeFi products. As a part of the initiative, independent projects and groups will be able to collaborate with the EasyFI Network and access various features it offers, which can be readily implemented. To further the applications of EasyFi Network alongside the development of the DeFi ecosystem, EasyFi has shortlisted a set of focus areas for the Developer’s Fund and Grants program.
These areas of focus include a mobile-first approach for staking, farming, and lending involving EasyFi pools; automation solutions; dashboards and analytics for EasyFi lending, liquidation etc; use cases for the EasyFi’ s native EZ tokens; cross-chain bridges and infrastructure; third party interfaces for accessing EasyFi lending, staking, and farming pools; and native cross-chain dApps leveraging EasyFi lending pools.
“With a vision that leads us to become a DAO eventually, the overarching theme of the protocol has always remained focussed on building open lending infrastructures. We believe that a collaborative approach with a community of believers, will drive the growth & direction of the network. We are very excited to get involved with some very talented people who are planning to work on & integrate the EasyFi lending to create products and applications that extend & grow the protocol.”
— Ankitt Gaur, Founder and CEO of EasyFi Network
Apply for the EasyFi Network Developer’s Fund
With applications open for the program, interested individuals, teams and projects can submit their entry by filling a simple form. They will have to give details about their project, teams along with their contact info, GitHub link for the project and more. Once the application is submitted, the EasyFi team will review them and shortlist the entries that meet the required criteria. They will communicate with the selected applicants detailing further steps.
Apply here: https://forms.gle/Q4Ueoait3ZvMujrD8
There’s a Multi-Million Dollar Buy Wall Stopping Bitcoin From Losing $9,100
Bitcoin has once again flatlined.
After failing to surmount ,500 this last week, the cryptocurrency has settled back down to the ,200-9,300 region. Analysts remain divided over which way a breakout will take BTC, evidenced by the overall neutral funding rates on futures exchanges.
Chart of BTC's price action over the past few days from TradingView.com
Yet crucial order book data suggests that should Bitcoin fall, it will catch a bid on major exchanges. This is important for the bull case as it may confirm BTC has more strength to bounce than to fall.
Related Reading: Once-a-Cycle Bitcoin Bull Signal Just Appeared for the 1st Time Since 2016
There’s Order Book Support for Bitcoin at ,100
There’s a block of buy orders in the ,100-9,160 range that will slow bears from forcing BTC to break down, an analyst has found.
He shared the chart below, which shows that there’s a multi-million-dollar buy wall from ,080 to ,150 on Binance. The buy wall is made up of over million worth of Bitcoin.
Price of BTC's price action + order book dominance bands indicator. Chart by Coiner-Yadox (@Yodaskk on Twitter); chart from LiteCharts.
The same analyst also shared a similar chart for BitMEX. Like the traders on Binance, BitMEX users have formed a strong buy wall for Bitcoin in the region around ,100.
Notably, the ,100 buy wall isn’t as important on BitMEX as the exchange always has liquidity at almost all levels.
Referencing how Bitcoin could easily bounce off these buy walls in the coming future, then surge to the upside, the analyst said:
“PA looking like this would be pretty bullish to me Take the lows, into the 61.8 and closing above 9150 going into those blocks of buys.”
Related Reading: This Unexpected Metric Shows That Crypto Is in a Booming Bull Market
Data shows that there’s strong on-chain support below Bitcoin’s current price as well.
As reported by NewsBTC previously, a trader found that per “Whale Map,” there are clusters of “unspent” BTC from ,200 to ,200. “Big bubbles are usually pivotal levels,” the trader who shared the chart below said on the data’s significance.
Chart of BTC price + clusters of "unspent BTC" shared by trader "Byzantine General" (@ByzGeneral on Twitter).
Institutions Still Betting on Downside
In spite of this outlook, data shows that institutional players are still expecting Bitcoin to drop from here.
Cryptocurrency news aggregator “Unfolded” shared on July 12th that users of the CME deemed “institutions” are still net short 2,045 contracts.
This is important as institutional traders have been rather accurate in predicting historical declines.
Namely, prior to the drop in March, institutional traders had cumulatively built up a short of 2,000-2,800 contracts.
Featured Image from Shutterstock Price tags: xbtusd, btcusd, btcusdt Charts from TradingView.com There's a Mutli-Million Dollar Buy Wall Stopping Bitcoin From Losing ,100
Multi-Million Dollar AT&T Crypto Theft Lawsuit Progresses
A lawsuit involving stolen crypto and one of America’s largest mobile carriers is moving forward. The 4 million suit involved digital identity theft which resulted in one customer losing s substantial amount of cryptocurrency last year.
AT&T Blamed For SIM Swap Fraud
A Los Angeles federal judge rejected the telecoms giant’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed. The plaintiff, Michael Terpin, filed the 69 page complaint almost a year ago. According to CNBC, Terpin is seeking 0 million in punitive damages, and million of compensatory damages from AT&T for his lost cryptocurrency.
AT&T has been accused of willing cooperation with the hacker, gross negligence, violation of its statutory duties, and failure to adhere to its own privacy policy. Lead counsel for the litigant, Pierce O’Donnell, stated:
“The evidence will show that AT&T not once, but twice allowed hackers posing as Michael to obtain his SIM card,”
Terpin is no crypto newbie having co-founded an angel group for Bitcoin investors called BitAngels in 2013. He claims to have been the victim of two hacks in seven months, both using AT&T which he alleges colluded with the perpetrators through insider information on his account.
The incursions were carried out through a method called SIM swapping whereby cyber criminals steal user’s phone numbers in order to log in to their crypto wallets and accounts. In this case the access was gained without AT&T staff requiring the hacker to show proof of identification or provide a valid password. Terpin stated:
“What AT&T did was like a hotel giving a thief with a fake ID a room key and a key to the room safe to steal jewelry in the safe from the rightful owner,”
Cyber security experts are advising those that deal with cryptocurrencies using their phones to guard the number the same way as they would a password or key phrase. The safest method of crypto storage is still a cold wallet as hacking methods become more sophisticated.
Crypto Hacking Still a Curse
According to American cyber security company CipherTrace, crypto exchange hacking is also still a scourge with exchanges already having lost .2 billion in the January-March period this year. The majority of this loot had been lifted from exchange based hot wallets, similar to those accessed in the AT&T case. Three Asian exchanges, Binance, Bitpoint, and Bitrue, have fallen victim to hackers so far this year.
The rejection of AT&T’s attempt at dismissal is good news for crypto security as a whole and will have a greater impact if the plaintiff is awarded any damages as a result of negligence on the security front from one of the world’s largest telecoms companies.
Image from Shutterstock
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