PAID Network, a crypto project that utilizes an Ethereum-based token, has suffered a contract exploit, resulting in the minting of nearly $160 million worth of tokens by the attacker. Network data shows that just over 2,000 ETH -- worth roughly $3 million at press time -- was obtained by the attacker after some of the 59.7 million minted PAID tokens were traded on the decentralized exchange service Uniswap. Roughly 2.5 million PAID tokens were sold over the course of 13 transactions, according to Etherscan data.
More on The Block• 2021-03-07
One of the most significant and contentious alterations to the Ethereum blockchain in recent memory is now scheduled for inclusion into its codebase. Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559 will be packaged with the London hard fork this coming July regardless of the mining industries discontent with the proposal, according to the All Core Developers call Friday. At least five other EIPs are likely to join EIP 1559 in London.
More on CoinDesk• 2021-03-05
Brave, maker of the identically named privacy-focused web browser, has acquired its own search engine to offer as an alternative to Google Search and competing search engines that exist but aren't all that visible in Google's shadow. On Wednesday, the company plans to announce that it's taking over Tailcat, a search engine developed by Cliqz, another privacy-focused browser biz that aspired to compete with Google and shut down last year. The deal, terms undisclosed, makes Cliqz owner Hubert Burda Media a Brave shareholder.
More on The Register• 2021-03-05
Meerkat Finance, a decentralized finance project, has just said it has been drained by $31 million worth-of crypto assets due to a hack. But on-chain data shows it may not as simple as that. The team behind Meerkat Finance, a yield farming pool running on the Binance Smart Chain that went live just one day ago, claimed in its official Telegram channel around 9:00 UTC on Thursday that its smart contract vault was compromised.
More on The Block• 2021-03-04
Gary Gensler—President Biden’s nominee for chairman of the SEC—said today in his Senate confirmation hearing that cryptocurrencies “have been a catalyst for change.” “Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have brought new thinking to payments and financial inclusion, but they’ve also raised new issues of investor protection that we still need to attend to,” Gensler told Senator Mike Rounds. He went on to say that, if confirmed, he’d work to “both promote the new innovation, but also, at the core, ensure for investor protection.”
More on Decrypt• 2021-03-03
Customers of the cryptocurrency derivatives platform FTX can now use PayPal to top up their trading accounts. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted Tuesday that users can get "instant" payments to their accounts if they use the PayPal option. Most currencies are supported by the payments giant, and credit card payments can also be made through PayPal, Bankman-Fried said.
More on CoinDesk• 2021-03-02
Citi thinks bitcoin is at a “tipping point” and could one day “become the currency of choice for international trade” as companies like Tesla and PayPal warm to it and central banks explore issuing their own digital currencies. “There are a host of risks and obstacles that stand in the way of Bitcoin progress,” the U.S. bank’s global perspectives and solutions team wrote in a note Monday. “Bitcoin’s future is thus still uncertain, but developments in the near term are likely to prove decisive as the currency balances at the tipping point of mainstream acceptance or a speculative implosion.”
More on CNBC• 2021-03-01
Crypto exchange unicorn Coinbase's S-1 registration statement filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission -- a crucial step toward its bid for a direct stock listing on Nasdaq -- is now available to the public. The S-1 offers an unprecedented look at Coinbase's business, with the disclosures effectively serving as its pitch to investors. A confidential draft of the document was submitted to the SEC in mid-December. "Coinbase intends to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol 'COIN'," Coinbase said in a blog post Thursday.
More on The Block• 2021-02-28
MicroStrategy Inc.’s Michael Saylor says he will consider issuing more debt in order to help finance the company’s purchase of Bitcoin as part of its corporate strategy. “We’ve been pretty clear that we’ll consider equity and debt financings,” in order to buy more Bitcoin Saylor said at the Bloomberg Crypto Summit during an interview with Joe Weisenthal. “It makes sense to buy as much of that asset class as we can,” he said. Saylor, among the first chief executives to convert company cash to Bitcoin, began buying the digital asset last year. This week alone, MicroStrategy announced that it had acquired nearly 20,000 tokens for an average purchase of $52,765 per coin after issuing $1.05 billion in convertible bonds. The firm has now plowed approximately $2.2 billion into the world’s largest cryptocurrency and held an aggregate of approximately 90,531 Bitcoins as of Feb. 24.
More on Bloomberg• 2021-02-26
MicroStrategy announced Wednesday it bought just over $1 billion worth of additional bitcoin, just days after finalizing another sale of convertible debt. The Virginia-based enterprise software company said it paid an average price of $52,765 per bitcoin, including fees and other expenses. Its acquisition of approximately 19,452 bitcoins puts MicroStrategy’s total holdings of the digital token at 90,531.
More on CNBC• 2021-02-24
SEC commissioner Hester Peirce said Monday that federal regulators need to "provide both legal clarity and the freedom to experiment so that DeFi can compete with CeFi to offer investors financial services." Her comments came during a speech entitled "Atomic Trading" at a George Washington University Law School event focused on the digital economy and regulation. In what is perhaps a sign of the times, the published version of her remarks sported a pair of rocket-ship emojis.
More on The Block• 2021-02-24
Bitfinex and Tether must stop trading activity in New York and pay an $18.5 million fine as part of a settlement on Tuesday with the New York Attorney General—and crypto industry pundits say that it's a positive development that may lead to further transparency around crypto’s biggest stablecoin. The NY Attorney General's investigation concluded that Tether "made false statements about the backing of the tether stablecoin, and about the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars between the two companies to cover up the truth about massive losses by Bitfinex." And yet, many in crypto remain supportive of Tether’s position that they did nothing wrong.
More on Decrypt• 2021-02-24