NFT / BTC / DEFI News 📣

2022-10-11 15:49:26 ​India's Central Bank Plans to Launch Digital Rupee CBDC.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon launch pilot tests for its upcoming digital rupee in a bid to increase awareness around its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

The country's central bank announced the news on Friday, detailing that the digital rupee will be available for specific use cases during the pilot. In a statement, the RBI said the pilot program will help create awareness around the planned features of the digital rupee.

“It explains the objectives, choices, benefits, and risks of issuing a CBDC in India. The note also seeks to explain the Reserve Bank’s approach towards the introduction of the CBDC,” the central bank reportedly said.

The RBI has also released a concept note for the digital rupee, which talks about key aspects of the CBDC, including its technology and design, potential use cases of the digital rupee, issuance mechanisms, and more. In addition, it explores how the introduction of a CBDC would impact the banking system, monetary policy, financial stability, and privacy issues.

“As the extent and scope of such pilot launches expand, RBI will continue to communicate about the specific features and benefits of e₹, from time to time,” the RBI said.

The country's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had previously announced the launch of the digital rupee in her 2022-23 budget speech earlier this year. The announcement marked another clear indication that the Indian government is determined to launch a CBDC. Open / Comment

2022-10-08 18:25:52 ​​Grayscale Bitcoin Trust terminates material agreements with Genesis.

Genesis will no longer be involved in GBTC's main operations, but will still act as a liquidity provider.

According to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has terminated two agreements with cryptocurrency broker Genesis.

First, Genesis will no longer assist Grayscale in the distribution and marketing of the latter's shares. Second, from Oct. 3 onwards, Genesis will no longer be an authorized participant of the trust but will continue to serve as a liquidity provider for Grayscale. The two agreements previously came into effect in 2019.

The aforementioned responsibilities have since transferred to Grayscale Securities LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grayscale Investments LLC and an affiliate of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. In the past, Genesis helped Grayscale market the Trust on social media and transfer digital assets to create Trust shares.

However, it appears that Genesis may have fallen on tough times as part of the ongoing crypto winter. Last week, Genesis director Matthew Ballensweig announced that he was stepping down and moving into an advisory role. In August, Genesis' CEO Michael Moro also resigned, whereas the firm cut its workforce by 20% to reduce costs. Previously, Moro confirmed that Genesis' funds were exposed to defunct cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Genesis' parent company Digital Currency Group was forced to intervene and helped plug some of the losses.

Grayscale attempted this year to convert its Bitcoin Trust to an exchange-traded fund from being traded on the over-the-counter markets. However, its application was denied by the SEC because the proposal failed to demonstrate how it was "designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices."

In response, Grayscale’s CEO Michael Sonnenshein filed a lawsuit against the SEC, citing "failing to apply consistent treatment to similar investment vehicles" when it rejected the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust listing application. In part due to perceived litigation risks, GBTC shares have consistently traded below the value of Bitcoin spot price since 2021, with the discount reaching 35%, a new all-time high at the time of publication. Open / Comment

2022-10-04 15:35:29 ​​Amber Group uses simple hardware to show just how fast, easy the Wintermute hack was.

The Hong Kong-based group documented its reproduction of the hack on its tech and security oriented blog, seeking insights into Web3’s attack surface spectrum.

Amber Group has reproduced the recent Wintermute hack, the Hong Kong-based crypto finance service provider announced on its blog. The process was fast and simple, and used hardware easily accessible to consumers. Wintermute lost over $160 million in a private key hack on Sept. 20.

Reproducing the hack can help “build a better understanding of the attack surface spectrum across Web3,” Amber Group said. It was only hours after the hack of UK-based crypto market maker Wintermute was revealed that researchers were able to pin the blame for it on the Profanity vanity address generator.

One analyst suggested that the hack had been an inside job, but that conclusion was rejected by Wintermuteand others. The Profanity vulnerability was already known before the Wintermute hack.

Amber Group was able to reproduce the hack in less than 48 hours after preliminary setup that took less than 11 hours. Amber Group used a Macbook M1 with 16GB RAM in its research. That was far speedier, and used more modest equipment, than how a previous analyst had estimated the hack would play out, Amber Group noted.

Amber Group detailed the process it used in the re-hack, from obtaining the public key to reconstructing the private one, and it described the vulnerability in the way Profanity generates random numbers for the keys it produces. The group notes that its description “does not purport to be complete.” It added, repeating a message that has often been spread before:

“As well documented by this point — your funds are not safe if your address was generated by Profanity Always manage your private keys with caution. Don’t trust, verify.”

The Amber Group blog has been technically oriented from its inception, and has addressed security issues before. The group achieved a $3-billion valuation in February after a Series B+ funding round. Open / Comment

2022-10-01 22:25:23 https://t.me/cryptaworldnews Open / Comment

2022-09-29 06:42:37 ​​LUNC investors react to CZ's 1.2% trading tax recommendation on Binance.

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, recommended a flat 1.2% trading tax on LUNC trades that could be burned to reduce the token’s total supply and improve its price performance.

The infamous collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which erased market prices of TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA tokens, continues to trouble anxious investors as co-founder Do Kwon, crypto exchanges and the community together tries to identify the best route for a sustainable price recovery.

Most recently, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the CEO of crypto exchange Binance, recommended a flat 1.2% trading tax on LUNC trades that could be burned to reduce the token’s total supply and improve its price performance. Addressing the community, CZ stated:

“We will implement an opt-in button (on the Binance exchange), for people to opt-in to pay a 1.2% tax for their LUNC trading.”

However, the exchange would begin the taxation for opt-in traders following the consensus of 25% of the LUNC investors, making sure that early adopters “are not the only few paying an extra 1.2%.”

A blanket trading tax of 1.2% will be implemented for all LUNC trading only after opt-in traders reach 50% of the total LUNC trading volume on the exchange.

The recommendation split up the LUNA community as some supported CZ’s decision to implement the opt-in button while others interpreted it as market manipulation from a centralized entity.

CZ backed LUNC burning but believes in community voting, allowing traders on the platform to finalize the suggestion, adding, “We listen to and protect our users.” However, the entrepreneur is aware that unless the change is implemented across all exchanges and on-chain, LUNC traders would prefer moving assets to other exchanges that don’t have the burn.

On the other end of the spectrum, South Korean authorities are trying to track down and arrest Kwon for the Terra collapse.

On Sept. 14, a court in Seoul, South Korea, issued an arrest warrant for Kwon and five other people for violating the country’s capital markets law. Open / Comment

2022-09-23 17:48:34 ​Chinese Currency Breaches 7:1 Exchange Rate Against US Dollar for First Time in Two Years

The offshore exchange rate of China’s fiat currency versus the U.S. dollar recently breached the 7:1 mark for the first time in over two years, after it touched a new 2022 low of 7.0188 yuan for every dollar on September 15. Similar to other global currencies that have depreciated in 2022, the yuan’s decline is being driven by the strengthening of the U.S. dollar.

The offshore exchange rate of the Chinese currency versus the U.S. dollar breached the seven RMB per every dollar mark after it traded at 7.0188 on September 15, 2022. This is the first time in over two years that the exchange rate of the two currencies has gone past this threshold. However, on the same day, the yuan onshore exchange rate had not breached the 7:1 threshold.

According to a report in the Economic Times, the yuan’s depreciation against the greenback comes against the backdrop of a strengthening dollar. The currency’s decline also came amidst growing fears that the Chinese economy may be slowing down.

However, as per the report, the Chinese central bank’s attempts to assist the economy via an interest rate cut in August helped to spark a 3% depreciation of the yuan.

Remarking on the dilemma that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) now faces, Ken Cheung, chief Asian FX strategist at Mizuho Bank, said:

The PBOC has demonstrated its stance to defend the RMB exchange rate from breaking above [the] 7 handle shortly and a rate cut will contradict such objective.

Cheung is also quoted in another report stating that he now believes that the PBOC is no longer interested in stopping the currency from breaching 7 yuan for every dollar, but will attempt to “delay and smooth out the yuan depreciation pace.”

The Economic Daily report notes that the yuan is not the only currency struggling with the stronger dollar. According to the report, authorities in Japan are also wary of the strengthening dollar, which has seen the exchange rate between the currencies move from 115:1 on January 2, 2022, to over 143:1 by September 20, 2022.

Just the like yen, European Union’s single currency — the euro — began the year trading around €0.88 for every dollar but by August 21, 2022, it reached parity with the greenback. With the exception of a few currencies like the Zambian kwacha and the Russian ruble, many other currencies have struggled against the dollar.

Some economists believe the U.S. Federal Reserve’s attempts to bring down the United States inflation rate via regular marginal increases in interest rates could be one of the reasons why the dollar has gained against other currencies. Open / Comment

2022-09-19 02:35:48 ​​Ex-Citadel execs raise $50M for high-frequency crypto trading platform.

Portofino’s backers believe that access to high-frequency trading, or HFT, could bring more hedge funds and institutional investors into crypto.

Cryptocurrency startup Portofino Technologies has officially launched its high-frequency trading platform for digital assets, securing major funding from venture capital firms in the process.

In launching its platform, Portofino disclosed that it had raised $50 million in equity funding from Valar Ventures, Global Founders Capital and Coatue. Although Portofino didn’t disclose how the funding will be used, the company has been active on the hiring front, having recruited over 35 employees across 5 global locations.

Portofino was founded in 2021 by former Citadel Securities employees Alex Casimo and Leonard Lancia. The company is building crypto-focused high-frequency trading technology, which is mainly used by hedge funds. While the company is only now coming out of stealth mode, it claims to have traded billions of dollars across centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges.

High-frequency trading, or HFT, refers to automated trading platforms that are typically used by large financial institutions to execute large batches of orders at extremely high speeds. These platforms rely on complex algorithms to analyze market trends and trading opportunities that can be executed in seconds.

On the crypto front, HFT strategies can now be executed on decentralized exchanges, or DEXs. Unlike centralized exchanges, DEXs offer much faster trading speeds and new arbitrage opportunities. Portofino’s HFT technology is looking to build on these capabilities by increasing access to liquidity.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have shown a keen interest in cryptocurrencies, but overall adoption has been slow due to several factors, including regulations and a lack of infrastructure. As the head of crypto investment manager Apollo Capital told Cointelegraph:

“No one wants to be the first into something like this. Because if you’re the first one and things go wrong, then there’s a career risk. That will flip at some point to the opposite.” Open / Comment

2022-09-14 19:20:10 ​​Ethereum ready for The Merge as last shadow fork completes successfully.

The successful completion of the last shadow fork signaled the readiness of the Ethereum network for migrating to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.

Ethereum (ETH) developers confirmed the successful completion of the prerequisites — shadow forks — required for the highly anticipated blockchain upgrade, The Merge.

Shadow forks help developers stress test synchronization assumptions to ensure network safety during permanent upgrades. In light of The Merge, Ethereum developers implemented the first shadow fork on Apr. 11, 2022.

Nearly six months in, Ethereum research and engineering company Nethermind confirmed that the transition in Mainnet-Shadowfork-13 — the last shadow fork — was successful, signaling the readiness of the network for migrating to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

The testnet allowed Ethereum developers to practice running nodes, deploying contracts and testing the infrastructure, among other functionalities. As a result, shadow forks allow developers to gauge the implications of network upgrades before they happen.

As part of the upgrade, the community needs to update their Ethereum clients and run the combination of an execution layer and consensus layer.

The CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, Alexander Höptner, highlighted the need for paying close attention during the Ethereum upgrade to avoid service downtime.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Höptner explained:

“You have to be just, let's say, awake and see what happens. There's a chance for high volatility. And so you have to make sure that your services are up and running. We don't expect any major disruptions outside of volatility.”

The CEO further stated that the success of The Merge would be dependent on the support of the community. Open / Comment

2022-09-10 20:37:52 ​​Avalanche flash loan exploit sees $371K in USDC stolen.

The scammer deployed a custom smart contract, leveraging a $51 million flash loan to manipulate the AVAX/USDC Trader Joe LP pool price for a single block.

Avalanche-based lending protocol Nereus Finance has been the victim of a crafty hack that saw a user net $371,000 worth of USD Coin (USDC) using a smart contract exploit.

Blockchain cybersecurity firm CertiK was one of the first to detect the exploit on Tuesday, indicating that the attack impacted liquidity pools on Nereus relating to decentralized exchange (DEX) Trader Joe and automated market maker Curve Finance.

CertiK also suggested that underlying protocols themselves were impacted. However, Curve Finance responded via Twitter on Wednesday, stating “maybe you meant ‘assets impacted,’ not ‘protocols impacted’. Only nereusfinance and its assets seem impacted.”

On Wednesday, Nereus Finance released a detailed post-mortem of the incident explaining an “exploiter” was able to deploy a custom smart contract that utilized a $51 million flash loan from Aave to artificially manipulate the Avalanche (AVAX)USDC Trader Joe LP (JLP) pool price for a single block.

As a result, the anonymous hacker was able to mint 998,000 worth of Nereus’ native token NXUSD against $508,000 worth of collateral. They then swapped this capital into different assets via various liquidity pools and managed to walk away with a net profit of $371,406 once the flash loan was returned.

The incident ended with to the creation of $500,000 of NXUSD “bad debt” in the NXUSD protocol.

The Nereus team says it was quick to remedy the situation. After consulting security experts, developing a mitigation plan and notifying law enforcement, they liquidated and paused the exploited JLP market.

The bad debt was reportedly paid off using NXUSD from the team’s treasury.

According to Nereus, the exploit resulted from a “missed step” in the price calculation, resulting in the opportunity to be exploited. However, it stressed that “no users funds are at risk, and NXUSD continues to be over collateralized,” and the “Lending and Borrowing protocol was not affected by this exploit.” Open / Comment

2022-09-07 09:37:51 ​​Saudi Arabia Hires Crypto Chief, Signaling Warming to Digital Assets

The potential for growth in Saudi Arabia's fascination with cryptocurrencies is real. Former Accenture executive hired by Saudi Central Bank to head crypto and CBDC initiatives. Previously, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia treated cryptocurrency with more caution.

After bringing in a former managing director from Accenture to promote bitcoin adoption, Saudi Arabia is starting to see the promise of digital currency. According to Bloomberg, the Saudi Central Bank has recruited Mohsen AlZahrani, a former Managing Director at Accenture, to head the bank's cryptocurrency and cannabidiol (CBD) initiatives.

According to his LinkedIn profile, AlZahrani has been working at the bank since July. While at the central bank from March 2015 until October 2018, AlZahrani oversaw the innovation center's cryptocurrency and CBDC projects.

Several sources have told Bloomberg that Riyadh has recently shown an interest in digital assets and has begun talking to the industry's largest companies to gauge the United Arab Emirates policy toward cryptocurrency. Aber is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) program that is part of the countries' coordinated efforts to develop digital assets.

Aber, a "joint digital currency and distributed ledger" experiment announced in 2019, is a digital currency trial issued jointly by two national central banks. The project was developed by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE), the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), and six commercial banks. Open / Comment