Headlines
Arkham: US government addresses suspected to be stolen, loss of $20 million
According to Arkham monitoring, a wallet controlled by the US government that contained funds seized in the 2016 Bitfinex hack has been hacked, resulting in a loss of $20 million to the address.
The attacker sent funds to a wallet beginning with “0x 348”, which included USDC, USDT, aUSDC, and ETH. The hacker has begun converting stablecoins into ETH and laundering the funds through addresses that may be associated with money laundering services.
Earlier news, the US government address (Bitfinex hacker seized funds) withdrew $6.57 million worth of stablecoins from Aave early this morning. The funds were transferred to the address starting with 0x 348, and then the address exchanged about 5.45 million USDC for 2135.27 ETH.
Market News: Kraken plans to launch its own blockchain next year
According to market sources, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken plans to launch its own blockchain next year.
Industry News
Coinbase International will launch ApeCoin perpetual contracts
Coinbase International Station announced on the X platform that it will add support for ApeCoin perpetual futures on Coinbase International Station and Coinbase Advanced. The APE-PERP market will be opened on or after 9:30 am UTC on October 31, 2024.
According to Paiduns monitoring, the Radiant Capital attacker marked addresses that transferred almost all stolen funds from Arbitrum and BNB Chain to Ethereum, totaling approximately 20,500 ETH (worth approximately US$52 million).
Project News
MEWs market value exceeds $1 billion, setting a new record high
Market data shows that the market value of Solanas cat-themed Meme coin cat in a dogs world (MEW) has exceeded US$1 billion, now reaching US$1,003,443,065, a record high. MEW is currently trading at US$0.01127, up 18.3% in 24 hours.
Kraken Blockchain plans to launch testnet later this year, or in Q1 next year
According to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken blockchain is to be named Ink, and plans to use technology similar to Coinbase Global Inc.s Base. Ink founder Andrew Koller said in an interview that the test network will be launched later this year, and developers will be able to try out Inks applications on the test network. It is expected that the blockchain will be open to retail and institutional users in the first quarter of next year.
Base will activate “fraud proof” on the mainnet on October 30
Base officially announced on X that it will activate fraud proofs on the mainnet on October 30, marking the further decentralization of the network. The activation of fraud proofs means that anyone can monitor and challenge invalid withdrawals without permission, thereby eliminating reliance on trusted third parties.
The Base team has been working closely with Optimism to bring this functionality to Base and ensure the safe execution of the upgrade. When the upgrade occurs, pending withdrawals will need to be re-proven.
Investment and Financing
Binance Labs invests in Gamify’s fitness project Moonwalk Fitness
Binance Labs announced an investment in Gamifys fitness project Moonwalk Fitness. The specific amount has not been disclosed. Moonwalk Fitness encourages users to achieve daily step goals by staking USDC, SOL or BONK. Users must meet the step goals of their crew members. Failure to achieve this will result in a portion of their staked funds being confiscated and then redistributed among the winners.
Bluesky Completes $15 Million Series A Funding, Led by Blockchain Capital
Decentralized social platform Bluesky announced the completion of a $15 million Series A financing round led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from SevenX, True Ventures and Alumni Ventures.
Bluesky said it will not “over-financialize” Bluesky’s “social experience” by integrating crypto tokens, NFTs or other blockchain-based technologies into its platform at this time.
Coinbase Ventures and a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX) announced new strategic funding for Skyfire, an AI-focused payment company. This investment increases Skyfire’s total seed round financing from $8.5 million to $9.5 million. Skyfire is currently building infrastructure that enables AI agents to make payments autonomously, avoiding human intermediaries.
Genius has completed a US$6 million financing round, led by CMCC Global, with participation from Arca, Flow Traders, AVA Labs, SALT, Psalion VC, Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, and Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase.
According to reports, Genius is committed to creating a simple crypto portal that allows users to use payment tools such as Moonpay, and purchase tokens on any chain without having to manage addresses or worry about gas fees.
Character Voice
MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor has attempted to clarify his comments that big banks should have custody of Bitcoin following a backlash from the cryptocurrency community.
“I support self-custody for those willing and able, the right of all to self-custody, and the freedom of individuals and institutions around the world to choose the form of custody and custodian of their choice,” Saylor said in an Oct. 23 post on X. At the same time, he suggested that Bitcoin holders should entrust their assets to “too big to fail” banks that are “designed to be custodians of financial assets.”
In a recent interview, Saylor also accused “paranoid crypto-anarchists” of trolling the crypto community, comments that have been criticized by crypto industry figures including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
In response, Saylor clarified in a post on X: “Bitcoin benefits from all forms of investment from all kinds of entities and should be welcoming to all.”
VanEck consultant Gabor Gurbacs said this should not be a controversial position, its just common sense.
Meanwhile, Dash marketer Joel Valenzuela said it was a gesture of capitulation, adding that Saylor showed his true colors.
Max Keiser commented: “Recent comments by (Saylor) attacking self-custody demonstrate a retrogressive move in favor of the traditional, centralized banking crooks that Bitcoin fixes.”
Ripple CEO: Regret not communicating with regulators sooner and is working hard to make up for it
Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse admitted that his company should have approached U.S. regulators sooner, and now the company and the cryptocurrency industry are scrambling to perfect compliance goals after becoming the victim of an enforcement action.
“I’ve been to Washington a lot more in the last few years than I did in previous years, and looking back, I regret that,” Garlinghouse said at Washington Fintech Week on Oct. 23. “I think it was a mistake that we didn’t prepare sooner, and we’re trying to make up for lost time.”
It also stated that the United States is lagging behind in cryptocurrency regulation compared to other countries or regions, accused U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler of launching a reign of terror on the industry, and accused Senator Elizabeth Warren of spreading misinformation about cryptocurrencies.
