😬 yikes
Ronin Network suffers biggest-ever DeFi hack, Bill proposes virtual currency that replicates cash, LayerZero Labs raises $135 million and more.
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Crypto Market Update 📈
The global cryptocurrency market cap rose to the $2.16 trillion mark, rising 0.61% over the last 24 hours. The total crypto market volume dropped 8.21% to $113.34 billion during the same period.
Bitcoin (BTC): $47,165.62 (↓0.20%)
Ethereum (ETH): $3,408.46 (↑0.13%)
Tether (USDT) : $1 (↓0.01%)
Binance Coin (BNB): $445.49 (↑1.57%)
Top Stories 📰
1. The biggest ever DeFi hack
Ronin Network, a gaming-focused blockchain network that powers the popular video game Axie Infinity, became the latest victim of a crypto attack after a hacker stole 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5M USDC worth well over $625 million.
According to Ronin's official Substack, while the exploit occurred on March 23rd, affecting Ronin validator nodes for Sky Mavis and Axie DAOs, the company only noticed it on Tuesday when a customer couldn't withdraw their funds.
"We are working with law enforcement officials, forensic cryptographers, and our investors to make sure all funds are recovered or reimbursed," it added.
Following the news, Ronin Network's native token RON plunged 27%. But wait! the hacker already knew this would happen.
How it happened: In November 2021, Ronin eased its security protocols and granted Sky Mavis to sign transactions on its behalf to cope with Axie Infinity's "immense user load." But when the traffic eased in December, the network failed to revoke these permissions, allowing hackers access to its systems.
The hack marks the latest in a series of mass crypto heists since last year, totalling over $2 billion. In August 2021, the largest-ever DeFi hack occurred when a hacker stole around $611 million in crypto from Poly Network. Then in February, another hacker robbed $320 million by breaching Wormhole, an online communications bridge that links different DeFi blockchain networks.
Why it matters? Experts say that crypto companies are "huge honeypots" for hackers as the transactions are irreversible and allow them to make attractive returns without committing cybercrimes such as ransomware, where criminals have to negotiate with hacked companies.
2. US lawmakers introduce E-CASH bill
On Monday, four US Democratic Representatives proposed new legislation to create and issue a government-backed electronic dollar for large-scale public use.
Called the "Electronic Currency and Secure Hardware Act" (ECASH Act), the bill would authorize the Treasury Department — not the Federal Reserve — to pilot an electronic version of the US dollar while preserving privacy and anonymity in transactions. It would be considered a legal tender and be functionally identical to a physical greenback.
Not a CBDC: The ECASH Act distinguishes itself from other proposals for the digital dollar like CBDCs, a form of virtual fiat money issued by the central bank that serves as legal tender. Instead, the bill calls on the Treasury Department to create a form of e-cash that would support peer-to-peer transactions without needing validation from a distributed ledger or even private intermediaries like banks or credit card companies.
The digital dollar would be token-based, allowing you to store funds on your card or cellphone. Since it isn't account-based, losing the phone or card would mean losing your cash, similar to a physical wallet.
The news follows President Biden's crypto executive order that mandated federal agencies to explore a digital dollar for the Federal Reserve.
Why it matters? Since China launched its digital yuan program in January 2022, several nations have started exploring digital currencies. Recently, the European Commission also announced plans to propose a digital euro bill next year.
Deal Street 🤑
LayerZero becomes a unicorn
Vancouver-based LayerZero Labs has raised a $135 million Series A funding round at a $1 billion valuation. Led by Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and FTX Ventures, the round saw participation from investors such as Tiger Global, Coinbase Ventures, Uniswap Labs, PayPal Ventures, and others. Recently, the rising popularity of crypto has led to an increased demand for high-throughput applications such as NFT marketplaces, gaming, and media apps. But the infrastructure to support this cross-chain world has fallen short, leading to data and user fragmentation across several blockchains. With this latest cash injection, LayerZero hopes to accelerate its efforts toward solving this interoperability problem. The startup has also launched Stargate, a cross-chain liquidity transfer protocol that surpassed $3.4 billion in assets secured within just 10 days post-launch.
gumi Cryptos Capital raises $110 million early-stage fund
gumi Cryptos Capital (gCC), a San-Francisco-based blockchain-focused venture capital firm, has raised a $110 million fund focused on early-stage blockchain companies. Dubbed gCC Fund II, it's the firm's second fund following the success of its maiden fund, whose asset value grew from $21 million to $516 million with around 36 portfolio companies. The new fund will make investments anywhere between $500,000 to $5 million in nearly 50 blockchain startups in the early stage, from pre-seed to seed. Three gCC managing partners — Hironao Kunimitsu, Zhang and Matsumura — will lead the fund, and are planning to target "exceptional" Web3 applications, DeFi, blockchain games, guilds, developers, and protocols, among others. So far, gCC Fund II has already made nine investments.
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