Cryptospace Spotlight #36 (4 Sep 2022)
FBI issued warning over DeFi exploits, DeFi protocol OptiFi locked away $661K in error, Crypto.com mistakenly transferred over $10M to fulfill a $100 refund!
Technology and Industry
Nearing Ethereum “the Merge”, the blockchain’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin reiterates that his influence over the network has been decreasing over the past two years, as many new developers are taking over multiple roles. [more]
During the Cardano Foundation, Cardano’s Vasil hard fork was announced to occur on September 22, just one week after the Ethereum merge’s anticipated date of September 15.
Cardano developer noted that “Vasil is the most significant Cardano update to date, bringing increased network capacity and lower cost transactions”.
Helium, a peer-to-peer blockchain network designed for the so-called “Internet of Things” (IoT) that works to connect devices via emerging wireless technology is likely to transition from its own cryptocurrency onto Solana’s proof-of-stake blockchain. [more]
Crypto exchange, Crypto.com, mistakenly transferred AUD10.4 million to one of its Australian customer for a AUD100 refund. The error was not discovered until an audit was carried out seven months later. [more][more-courtjudgement]
The company took legal action in the Supreme Court seeking to get back the cost of the house plus 10 per cent interest.
Singapore state-owned Temasek invested $100 million in Asian blockchain gaming giant Animoca Brands. This raise comes shortly after Animoca Brands Japan received $45 million from MUFG Bank, Japan’s largest bank, to increase its Web3 footprint in the country last week. [more]
Japan’s SBI joins Singapore institutional DeFi experiment with JP Morgan, DBS. [more]
FIFA launches NFT platform on Algorand for upcoming World Cup. [more]
Sygnum announces the opening of the first metaverse hub by a Swiss bank in Decentraland. [more]
DeFi protocol Babylon Finance announced that it will shut down after months of trying, but failed to recover from the negative momentum caused by the Rari Fuse exploit. [more]
Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius today said in a court filing that it would seek to return some—but not all—of its customers’ funds. The company said it wanted to release nearly $50 million in digital assets belonging to customers who were a part of the “custody” program—accounts that stored crypto but did not generate returns. [more]
Policy and Regulatory
South Korea -
A South Korean appeals court has ruled that the crypto exchange, Bithumb, is liable for damages in the case of a group of traders who missed out on trading gains due to “computer errors.” [more]
South Korea’s government is now preparing the Metaverse Industry Promotion Act. According to the bill, the Metaverse Policy Review Committee, subordinate to the Prime Minister, would deliberate on the policies promoting Metaverse development in the country, while the Minister of Science and Information and Communication Technologies should be defining a final plan every three years. [more]
Singapore - MAS is weighing up new measures to restrict retail trader access to crypto, and conceded that banning them outright would not work. [more]
United States -
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has asked four US agencies and five crypto exchanges to detail how they combat fraud and scams. Nine letters were sent to the US Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Binance.US, Coinbase, FTX, Kraken and KuCoin. [more]
Most of the agency responses to President Biden's executive order are coming due by 5 Sep. The responses expected from the Treasury and Justice Departments will hold particular sway over the future of crypto policy in the US. [more]
Thailand - Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will implement stringent advertising rules for cryptocurrency firms operating in the country by October 2022. [more]
Paraguay - Paraguay’s president, Mario Abdo Benítez, vetoed a bill that sought to recognize cryptocurrency mining as an industrial activity on Monday. He reasoned that mining’s high electricity consumption could hinder the expansion of a sustainable national industry. [more]
Security and Risk
30 Aug - DeFi protocol OptiFi accidentally closed its mainnet platform in a programming blunder, locking away USD 661K in USDC. [more][more-OptiFi]
When updating its code, OptiFi accidentally used the "solana program close" command, resulting in the permanent closure of the platform on the mainnet.
OptiFi will compensated all users’ lost fund.
31 Aug - Decentralized lending platform Compound has been plagued by a code bug in a recent new code release to update its price feeds despite audited by three auditors. The fixed code can only be performed in 7 days after the governance proposal is approved. [more][more-Compound]
1 Sep - Kyber Network’s DEX KyberSwap lost USD 265K of user funds due to a vulnerability in its website code. [more][more-KyberNetwork]
A malicious code was identified in the Google Tag Manager (GTM) used at its website, which inserted a false approval, allowing the attacker to transfer a user’s funds to the attacker’s address.
The team had removed the vulnerable code, and also reviewed its smart contract to be safe.
2 Sep - About 1,000 Coinbase users from Georgia exploited an erroneous price feed of the exchange to cash out 100x crypto profit. The exchange has requested a clawback, and some of the users’ bank accounts have been blocked. [more]
FBI issues warning over DeFi exploits and open source development [more][more-FBI]
The FBI said it has observed attackers use a number of different tactics, including exploiting vulnerabilities related to signature verification and flash loans
The FBI also recommended DeFi developers adopt real-time analytics, monitoring, and rigorous code-testing as well as response plans in the event of exploitation or other suspicious activity.