Out of the approximately million (ZAR1.1 billion) that was recovered to pay back victims of the collapsed bitcoin investment platform Mirror Trading International (MTI), only .3 million remains. Court documents reportedly state that liquidators have used the recovered funds to pay an outstanding tax liability of .2 million and legal fees of .78 million. […]
Bitcoin News
Curve Finance Resurgence: 70% Of Stolen Funds Recovered, Redemption On The Horizon
Curve Finance (CRV), a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, announced significant progress in its recovery efforts following a recent hack that resulted in losing .5 million across several projects within its factory pools.
The attack on July 30 exploited a critical security flaw known as a “reentrancy vulnerability,” allowing malicious actors to drain funds from Curve’s smart contracts.
Curve Finance Commits To Restitution Process For Hacked Funds
In a significant effort, Curve Finance has successfully retrieved 70% of the funds affected by the hack. While this achievement marks an important milestone, an active investigation is underway to recover the remaining balance and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, Curve Finance has also taken proactive measures to ensure a fair and transparent distribution of the recovered funds to affected users.
The protocol is diligently working to measure the respective shares of each impacted account, aiming to facilitate an equitable restitution process that prioritizes user protection and trust restoration.
Curve Finance’s recovery efforts are further bolstered by their recent announcement of a .85 million bounty. This generous reward will be granted to anyone who can provide accurate information leading to the identification and apprehension of the attackers holding the remaining funds.
By offering this substantial bounty, Curve Finance actively encourages community participation and collaboration to expedite the investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Curve’s Post-Hack Safety Report
Following a thorough investigation, Curve Finance discovered that the exploit primarily targeted the aleth, peth, mseth, and crveth pools.
The vulnerability stemmed from a bug within the vyper 0.2.15-0.3.0 version, which the protocol promptly identified as the root cause of the breach. By swiftly pinpointing the issue, Curve Finance was able to take immediate action to mitigate any further risk to its users.
It is important to note that all other pools on Curve Finance have been confirmed as safe and unaffected by the exploit, according to Curve’s update. This assurance gives users the confidence to continue utilizing the platform, knowing that their funds remain secure within these pools.
Alongside the technical remediation, Curve Finance collaborates with security experts, auditors, and the broader DeFi community to conduct thorough audits and implement additional security measures.
This collaborative approach aims to reinforce the protocol’s resilience and prevent similar incidents in the future. Overall, Curve Finance’s recovery of 70% of the hacked funds, coupled with its ongoing investigation and bounty initiative, underlines the protocol’s commitment to user protection and the broader DeFi community.
According to Token Terminal data, Curve Finance’s circulating market cap currently stands at 8.76 million, reflecting a decrease of 22.29% over the analyzed period.
The fully diluted market cap, which represents the potential future market value of the project, is estimated at .97 billion.
Curve Finance’s total value locked (TVL), a crucial indicator of the protocol’s popularity and user engagement, currently amounts to .44 billion. Despite a decline of 35.19% over the analyzed period, Curve Finance maintains a substantial TVL, highlighting its significance within the DeFi landscape.
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView.com
Sushiswap Smart Contract Bug Results in Over $3M in Losses; Head Chef Says Hundreds of ETH Recovered
According to several reports, a bug introduced to the decentralized exchange (dex) protocol Sushiswap’s smart contract has resulted in more than million in losses. The blockchain and smart contract security firm Peckshield explained the exploited contract was “deployed in multiple blockchains.”
Dex Platform Sushiswap Suffers From Smart Contract Exploit
Over the weekend, the dex platform Sushiswap saw its RouteProcess02 contract exploited and then distributed across various blockchain networks. Blockchain security firm Certik published an alert after discovering the exploit. The company Peckshield also updated the crypto community via Twitter, noting that Sushiswap’s “RouterProcessor2 contract has an approve-related bug.” It has also been reported that the victim was a well-known crypto advocate called Sifu, who reportedly lost 1,800 ether.
Sifu may not have been the only victim, as Certik’s alert mentions that a few USDC users may have been affected. “We have detected suspicious activity on [0x15d], which is a malicious router,” Certik tweeted. “Revoke permissions if you have approved this router to spend your tokens. Stay safe. Multiple users who had approved the malicious contract have seen their USDC being transferred to [0x29e]. The wallet has taken about ,000 in the last two hours,” the company added.
A developer known as 0xngmi has detailed that the exploit should only be problematic for those who used Sushiswap during the last four days. “Only users impacted by Sushiswap hack should be those that swapped on Sushiswap in the last 4 days. If you did so, revert approvals ASAP or move your funds in the affected wallet to a new wallet,” 0xngmi tweeted. Sushiswap’s head chef Jared Grey also confirmed the exploit and later detailed that “recovery efforts were underway.”
“We’ve secured a large portion of affected funds in a whitehat security process. If you have performed a whitehat recovery please contact security@sushi.com for next steps,” Grey said at 9:42 a.m. Eastern Time on April 9. “We’ve confirmed recovery of more than 300 ETH from Coffeebabe of Sifu’s stolen funds. We’re in contact with Lido’s team regarding 700 more ETH,” Grey added. Sushiswap’s CTO, Matthew Lilley, followed up later in the day and said that there are currently no issues with using the Sushiswap dex platform.
“There is no risk at this time with using Sushi Protocol, and the UI. All exposure to RouterProcessor2 has been removed from the front end, and all LPing / current swap activity is safe to do,” the Sushiswap CTO explained. “We do ask that all users double-check their approvals, and if an address within this list below has an allowance for any of your tokens to please unapprove as soon as you can,” Lilley added. Just recently, Grey told the community that the Sushiswap team received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
What do you think can be done to prevent smart contract bugs like this in the future? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Deadline Approaching: Mt Gox Trustee Sets Final Cut-off Date for Creditors to Claim Over $3 Billion in Recovered Bitcoin
The Tokyo bankruptcy court trustee for the defunct Japanese bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, Nobuaki Kobayashi, has published a letter stating that creditors have until March 10, 2023 (Japan Time) to register their repayment claims. Kobayashi explains that the team is dealing with “a large number of inquiries” and may not be able to respond to creditors in time if they have questions about the process.
Mt Gox Trustee Shares Final Deadline for Creditor Registration
The Mt Gox saga appears to be nearing its conclusion as the Shibuya-based bitcoin exchange’s rehabilitation committee and bankruptcy trustee have outlined a repayment process. The exchange, which launched in 2010, suspended operations in February 2014 and filed for bankruptcy after 800,000 bitcoins were stolen. Since then, 200,000 bitcoins have been recovered, and that amount, along with the corresponding bitcoin cash (BCH) funds tied to the bitcoins, is being used to repay Mt Gox creditors.
In a letter dated March 7, 2023, Kobayashi stated that creditors must register their claims by March 10, 2023 (Japan Time), and those who miss the deadline “will not be able to receive any of the repayments” mentioned in the letter. The repayment methods include choices such as an early lump sum payment, payment in cryptocurrency, bank remittance payment, and settlement through a fund transfer provider. The trustee sold 35,841 BTC and 34,008 BCH in 2017 and 2018, and some creditors will be paid in fiat.
In the Mt Gox claims portal, people can make inquiries, but the letter warns that the Mt. Gox rehabilitation team “may not be able to respond in a timely manner.” According to the rehabilitation committee’s documentation, the remaining Mt. Gox creditors have access to 69 billion yen worth 0 million, 142,000 BTC worth .1 billion using current exchange rates, and 143,000 BCH worth million using current exchange rates.
What do you think about the Mt Gox saga coming to a conclusion soon? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Since China’s Mining Ban, Bitcoin Hashrate Has Recovered by 68% And Counting
Bitcoin is a perpetual motion machine. The Bitcoin hashrate is slowly climbing to pre-China-ban levels, and the service continued uninterrupted without a hiccup. Such is the power of well-placed incentives. Pantera Capital’s CEO Dan Morehead adds one more factor to the equation. “The bitcoin network has recovered 68% of the drop in hashrate that our difficulty model attributed to China’s ban—likely in places with cleaner energy.”
The recovery is happening exactly as forecast.
The #bitcoin network has recovered 68% of the drop in hashrate that our difficulty model attributed to China's ban—likely in places with cleaner energy.
The transition to renewables is underway.
Sep Letter: https://t.co/xLyaLpPQQN pic.twitter.com/UsK9ML3BU8
— Dan Morehead (@dan_pantera) September 9, 2021
In the company’s newsletter, Pantera fleshes out the argument:
“Although difficult to know with certainty, it seems very likely that much of the reboot in mining power is occurring in places with cleaner energy than those utilized by Chinese miners.
The transition to renewables is well underway.”
Regarding The Bitcoin Hashrate, Are ESG Concerns Even Important?
Here at NewsBTC we’ve determined that China’s Bitcoin mining tended to go to provinces with abundant green energy. Bitcoin incentivizes that. The Bitcoin hashrate tends to go where the energy is cheap. We’ve also determined that the environment doesn’t seem to be the reason for China’s Bitcoin mining ban.
“The fact that the electricity for crypto mining in Sichuan came from clean hydropower meant that many thought the province would be a safe haven for Bitcoin miners. As pressure on local governments to cut carbon emissions mounts, projects were successfully shuttered in some other provincial-level regions — such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia — where the mining was chiefly fueled by coal.”
The only thing we can know for sure about the Chinese government’s plan is this: the environment is not on their radar. They’re closing these mining operations for other reasons altogether.
It’s also important to remember that China’s Bitcoin hashrate dominance was already on decline before the mining ban.
“According to Arcane Research, CBECI numbers say that:
China’s share of total Bitcoin mining power has declined from 75.5% in September 2019 to 46% in April 2021 — before the restrictions on Chinese miners were even imposed. That figure is much lower than the older estimate of 65%.
That’s a sharp decline. Why did China’s miners lose so much ground before the ban?”
None of this invalidates Pantera Capital’s original thesis, though. “The transition to renewables is well underway,” that certainly seems to be the case. And the Bitcoin hashrate keeps climbing.
BTC price chart for 09/09/2021 on Timex | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Do Bitcoin Halvins Imply Cuts In Energy Consumption?
Another interesting idea present in the mentioned newsletter is this one:
“Bitcoin has a built-in mechanism to reduce energy consumption over time. The number of bitcoin issued in the every-ten-minutes block reward is cut in half every four years. Ceteris paribus, the amount of electricity Bitcoin consumes will be cut by 50% every four years. For comparison, the Paris Accord only requires 7% cuts every four years.”
Of course, when related to fiat currencies, Bitcoin’s price fluctuates. So, the value of every Bitcoin stays the same, but the price might – and usually does – increase more than twofold. Even though the miner’s rewards are cut in half, their earnings might increase. That extra money could bring even more competition and a Bitcoin hashrate increase with it.
Taking that into account, Pantera poses:
“Perhaps a more realistic scenario is if the price of bitcoin were to double every four years in parallel with the halvings – putting bitcoin at 0,000 /BTC in 2032 – electricity consumption would be no greater than it is today.”
Enough About The Bitcoin Hashrate, What About The Price?
Another point that the newsletter makes is this one.“This is China’s third ban of Bitcoin. The reverse hex is still working – the price is up 57%.”
Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course
Is this a bullish signal? Bitcoin’s price has “only” increased by 57% since the Chinese mining ban sent the Bitcoin hashrate in death spiral for a few seconds. Bitcoin paid the price and resisted sabotage like a hero. We’re not sure if a “reverse hex” could be considered reliable information, but… maybe this IS a bullish signal?
Featured Image by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash – Charts by TradingView and Pantera Capital
NewsBTC
Bitcoin Just Recovered to $35,000 After Yesterday’s 25% Crash
Bitcoin is ripping higher despite yesterday’s correction.
The cryptocurrency plunged as low as ,000 yesterday as buying selling rapidly picked up on platforms such as Coinbase, analysts said. This came after Bitcoin peaked at ,000 late last week. While Bitcoin is not yet in the clear on a short-term time frame, analysts are starting to think that the bottom is in after key technical signs appear.
Related Reading: Wall Street Veteran Kickstarts Own Bitcoin Fund With m Investment
On-Chain Trends Still Bullish for Bitcoin
Aleks Larsen, a venture investor at Blockchain Capital, noted recently in an extensive Twitter thread that the on-chain fundamentals for Bitcoin are still strong.
Commenting on Bitcoin’s on-chain trends, the investor wrote:
“6/ Looking pretty good for growth rates in the HODLer segment! Nice and steady growth for BTC through the bear market. Retail is starting to pop in but for most of 2020 this was institutionally driven – less additional holders, but much larger position sizes.”
He elaborated that Bitcoin is currently moving billion a day, which shows the value of the network. Ethereum, too, is still seeing strong usage:
“14/ BTC is moving B per day on-chain; ETH almost B. This doesn’t include tokens or stablecoins.. and stablecoins alone accounted for over B of on-chain transfer volume in the last 24 hours. Ethereum is moving over B of assets per day, most of which is digital USD!”
Analysts say that on-chain trends show the true nature of the Bitcoin market, as opposed to short-term price trends.
Related Reading: DeFi Founder Targeted in m Hack Says He Has His Hacker’s IP
Overall Trends Positive
Touching on the market trends aside from on-chain data, economist and crypto analyst Alex Krüger says that Bitcoin remains bullish to the most extent:
“Raw demand. Worthy of note was Grayscale reopening private placements late PM. Open interest dropped ~20% and funding rates are now flat to negative. Bullish. This is still a bull market. Bitcoin heats up very easily, and needs to wash up excesses before continuation.”
The investor did note, though, that there are a number of factors that have driven BTC lower in the near term.
These include but are not limited to:
- A bounce in the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies
- Extremely high market funding meant the market was overextended
- Heavy selling pressure by miners, some long-term holdings, and others
- Guggenheim Investments CIO Scott Minerd announcing a short-term bearish view
- Tether fears
- And renewed regulatory fears
$BTC recap
-USD & real rates reversal (temporary IMO)
-extreme funding
-heavy selling: miners, long-term holders, macro & CTAs
-Guggenheim talking price down (wants to buy lower)
-JP bearish (bearish since 18K)
-Tether fears (again?)
-renewed regulatory fears (some scare easily)— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) January 12, 2021
Related Reading: 3 Bitcoin On-Chain Trends Show a Macro Bull Market Is Brewing
Featured Image from Unsplash Chart from TradingView.com Price Tags: xbtusd, btcusd, btcusdt Bitcoin Just Recovered to ,000 After Yesterday's 25% Crash
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