WuBlockchain Weekly：Coinbase sues SEC、BinanceUS canceled Voyager purchase、Merlin DEX hack and Top10 News
Top10 News
1. Coinbase sues SEC to force response on cryptocurrency regulations petition link
On April 24, Coinbase filed a narrow action in federal court to compel the SEC to respond yes or no to July 2022 petition asking the SEC to use its formal rulemaking process to provide guidance for the crypto industry. Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, stated, “We don’t take going to court lightly, but we absolutely believe that the SEC is acting unlawfully, and we feel we have no choice but to sue them.”
2. Voyager’s weekly summary
a. BinanceUS canceled the purchase of Voyager Digital assets link
On April 26, BinanceUS canceled the purchase of Voyager Digital assets. BinanceUS said that the reason is the hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States. Voyager will return value to customers via direct distributions. The U.S. DOJ previously appealed to Binance to stop the acquisition.
b. Voyager lawyers ‘surprised’ Binance.US canceled $1b deal link
“The debtors have been in constant contact and communication with Binance.US and as lately as this past Friday, Binance.US had expressed the desire to close the transaction as soon as possible,” Christine Okike of law firm Kirkland & Ellis, representing Voyager, told a bankruptcy court in the Southern District Court of New York, adding that “the debtors reserve all rights against Binance.US for breach” of the deal. Given the collapse of the Binance.US deal, likely recoveries for Voyager creditors are in the range of 40% to 65%, Okike said, depending on whether Voyager wins a parallel lawsuit involving bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, and how much recovery FTX offers its creditors.
3. Merlin’s weekly summary
a. zkSync DEX Merlin was allegedly hacked link
On April 26, it was reported that zkSync DEX Merlin was allegedly hacked, resulting in a loss of over $1.82 million in funds. The project had just completed a Certik audit before the theft occurred. Certik’s preliminary investigation results pointed to a potential issue with private key management rather than exploitation of vulnerabilities as the root cause. However, community members pointed out that Merlin was a clear case of deliberate backdoor insertion, and Certik must acknowledge the backdoor code that was missed during the audit.
b. Certik Explores Community Compensation Plan for Merlin’s $2M Loss link
Auditor Certik says it is exploring a community compensation plan to cover the ~$2M of user funds lost in the Merlin DEX rug pull. Investigations indicate that the rogue developers are based in Europe and will work with law enforcement to track them down. But Certik still denies that its own audit of Merlin was faulty, and has removed the content of the initial joint compensation with ZKSync.
4. Binance’s weekly summary
a. Binance launched wrapped token WBETH based on ETH staking link
On April 24, Binance launched the WBETH, which is a new liquid staking token. 1 WBETH represents 1 BETH and the total staking rewards accrued by the BETH token on ETH Staking after 2023–04–27 08:00 (UTC). WBETH will allow users to participate in DeFi projects outside Binance, while ensuring their eligibility to receive the corresponding ETH Staking rewards accrued.
b. Binance announced Sensei, an crypto AI chatbot powered by ChatGPT link
On April 24, Binance announced Sensei, an crypto AI chatbot powered by ChatGPT that claims to have been trained on over 1,000 articles and courses on Binance Academy. At present, the robot can only basically cover mainstream coins and protocols, and other information is still very incomplete. For example, there is no introduction of trading platforms such as coinbase, and no introduction of popular MEME coins.
c. Binance has restored support for Russian bank card transactions link
Binance has restored support for Russian bank card transactions, including credit cards from Visa and Mastercard, forklog reported. Russian cardholders can now deposit funds in rubles, Turkish lira, pounds, euros, and other currencies, but not in US dollars. In early April, Russian users also reported that Binance had lifted restrictions on account balances exceeding €10,000. The exchange has not officially announced either of these changes. Binance blocked fiat-to-crypto exchanges for Russians after Russia invaded Ukraine.
d. Binance launched BLUR 1–20x leveraged U perpetual contract link
On April 27, Binance announced the launch of BLUR 1–20x leveraged U perpetual contract, which will be available starting from April 28, 20:00 (UTC). It’s worth noting that Binance has not yet listed BLUR spot trading.
5. KuCoin’s weekly summary
a. KuCoin’s official Twitter account was hacked on April 24 link
On April 24, KuCoin exchange release Telegram announced that its official Twitter account was hacked and the team is working on the problem, reminding users not to click on suspicious links that may be shared through the account. KuCoin: handle was compromised for about 45 mins from 00:00 Apr 24 (UTC+2). We have identified 22 transactions including ETH/BTC associated with the fake activity, with a total value of 22,628 USDT. KuCoin will fully reimburse all verified asset losses.
b. KuCoin’s income in March was about 16 million US dollars link
On April 25, KuCoin exchange announced the completion of the burning of 184,096 platform tokens KCS in March, worth about 1.6 million US dollars. KuCoin burned 10% of the income, which means that KuCoin’s income in March was about 16 million US dollars.
6. UniSat Marketplace suffered from double-spend attacks link
On April 24, access to the Inscriptions marketplace UniSat Marketplace was discontinued after a brief launch. The community has doubts about the authenticity of BRC-20 purchased. There are quite a few fake ordi on the market. bc1p…xyht is believed to be selling bogus Inscriptions. UniSat Marketplace said that it experienced a large number of double-spend attacks due to a vulnerability in our codebase. 70 transactions have been identified as affected.
7. From May 8, Bybit requires at least a level 1 KYC identity verification link
Starting from 8 May, 2023, Identity Verification of at least Lv.1 will be mandatory for all Bybit products and services. Existing users who have not completed Identity Verification as of 8 May, 2023 will only be allowed to close existing open positions or orders, return loans, or withdraw. Bybit acquired a large number of users from BitMEX by relying on the no-KYC strategy in the early days, but as the scale grows, it can also focus on compliance.
8. US Treasury issues crypto-related sanctions primarily related to North Korea link
On April 24, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released multiple pieces of latest OFAC sanctions information, involving multiple Bitcoin, Ethereum, ARB, BSC and other cryptocurrency addresses, most of which are related to North Korea-related sanctions. More information: Three people, two in China and one in Hong Kong, facilitated the conversion of cryptocurrencies stolen by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group into fiat currency.
9. Apple removed the Bitcoin white paper hidden in system files link
Following the release of macOS Ventura 13.4 beta 3 to developers on Tuesday, Apple has removed the Bitcoin white paper hidden in system files, according to 9to5mac. The community previously discovered that someone had hidden the Bitcoin white paper in every copy of MacOS since 2017.
10. Google’s weekly summary
a. Google Authenticator iOS 4.0 supports cloud synchronization link
Google Authenticator iOS has launched version 4.0, which supports cloud synchronization. Users can synchronize the verification codes generated by the authenticator to all Google accounts and devices, and can obtain verification codes at any time if the device is lost. SlowMist reminds that if you use this backup method, the risk will be transferred to the Email. Once the Email permission is lost, the 2FA verification code may be stolen together. Combined with the obtained Email permission, it will bring huge risks.
b. Google Cloud launched the Web3 Startups Program link
On April 25, Google Cloud launched the Web3 Startups Program to provide Web3 projects and startups with the technology, community and resources they need. Qualified projects from pre-seed to Series A will be able to apply for the program, which includes up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years, among other technical support.
c. Google Cloud and Polygon Labs announced a multi-year strategic alliance link
On April 27, Google Cloud and Polygon Labs announced a partnership to simplify the deployment and management of Polygon nodes and increase adoption of the ecosystem. Google Cloud will support all Polygon protocols, including Polygon PoS, Polygon Supernets, and Polygon zkEVM, reportedly helping developers save time and costs in deploying and managing nodes.
Fundraising
Decentralized-finance platform Thetanuts Finance has closed a $17 million funding round led by Polychain Capital, Hyperchain Capital and Magnus Capital link
Animoca’s blockchain education subsidiary, TinyTap, announced a $8.5 million financing round, with participation from Sequoia China and Polygon, with a valuation of US$100 million link
Credora, a provider of institutional credit infrastructure, has raised $6 million in a strategic funding round that included S&P Global and Coinbase Ventures as investors link
Lightning Network data company Amboss announces $4M seed round led by Stillmark link
Omni Network, an interoperability layer for Ethereum, announced raising $18 million, Pantera Capital, Hashed, Jump Crypto and others participate link
Zodia Custody, Standard Chartered’s crypto-focused unit, raises $36 million link
Learn more, check out crypto-fundraising.info.
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