An ongoing crypto donation campaign dedicated to improving the lives of children worldwide has received over $7.6 million to date, half of which was donated in Ether (ETH). 

Philanthropic foundation Save the Children’s HODL Hope Campaign remains nearly $2.4 million short of the $10 million it intends to collect by the end of 2023. . . . → Read More: Ethereum donations top Save the Children HODL Hope Campaign

Interactive Brokers, one of the largest brokerage firms in the world, has opened crypto trading for retail clients in Hong Kong.

According to the Nov. 28 announcement, the service is offered in conjunction with OSL, one of the first crypto exchanges to receive a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in Hong Kong. “Interactive . . . → Read More: Interactive Brokers opens Hong Kong retail crypto trading with OSL

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin’s blog post highlighting the threats he sees artificial intelligence (AI) could pose to humanity has attracted many fiery responses from AI and blockchain community members.

On Nov. 27, Buterin published a blog post titled My techno-optimism, which discussed how AI is “fundamentally different” from other inventions like guns, airplanes, and . . . → Read More: Vitalik Buterin thinks AI may surpass humans, community responds

Ether (ETH) is struggling to maintain the $2,000 support as of Nov. 27, following its third unsuccessful attempt in 15 days to surpass the $2,100 mark. This downturn in Ether’s performance comes as the broader cryptocurrency market sentiment deteriorates. 

It’s possible that recent developments, such as the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) signaling . . . → Read More: Ethereum price falls as regulatory worries and pause in DApp use impact investor sentiment

Amid the ongoing controversy around cryptocurrency media Bankless and the associated decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), BanklessDAO, the founders of Bankless have suggested separating the brand from the DAO.

Bankless co-founders David Hoffman and Ryan Sean Adams plan to submit a governance proposal to BanklessDAO to separate the two entities. The co-founders took to X . . . → Read More: Bankless controversy forces founders to burn tokens and separate from DAO

To navigate the process of buying Bitcoin effectively, it is essential to explore secure options. In the United Kingdom, acquiring cryptocurrencies is legal, yet it can pose challenges, as the government underscores the need to comprehend the associated risks. 

For an effective traversal of the crypto landscape, investors should follow key steps, including choosing . . . → Read More: How to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum in the UK

Web3 protocol Blast network has gained over $400 million in total value locked (TVL) in the four days since it was launched, according to data from blockchain analytics platform DeBank. But in a Nov. 23 social media thread, Polygon Labs developer relations engineer Jarrod Watts claimed that the new network poses significant security . . . → Read More: Blast network hits $400M TVL, rebuts claim that it’s too centralized

Final Fantasy game developer Square Enix has announced auction dates for its upcoming Symbiogenesis nonfungible tokens (NFTs). In a Nov. 24 social media post, the team said it would sell the NFTs in three batches. The first batch will be auctioned from Nov. 27 to 28, the second from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4, . . . → Read More: Square Enix announces auction dates for Symbiogenesis NFTs

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.

HTX exchange hacked… again 

In the fourth hack affecting the HTX (formerly Huobi Global) ecosystem in just two months, the exchange lost $30 million via a hot wallet hack that occurred on Nov. 22. 

In its Nov. 23 announcement, the . . . → Read More: HTX hacked again for $30M, 100K Koreans test CBDC, Binance 2.0: Asia Express

Ether’s (ETH) price is trading slightly higher on Nov. 23, maintaining support above the $2,000 level after briefly retesting $1,930 on Nov. 21. Over the past week, Ether’s price has increased by 2.5%, while the total market capitalization has grown by 0.5%. This uptrend can be attributed to improved decentralized applications (DApps) metrics, increased . . . → Read More: Ethereum (ETH) price reclaims $2K as data shows a surge in network activity

As the year winds down, every gaming company and its dog are dropping year-in-review reports.

A recent report from blockchain gaming accelerator Game7 suggests that many game developers had an enforced nap instead of pumping out new games.

This year, just 223 Web3 games were launched, a 65% drop from the 640 games started . . . → Read More: 65% plunge in Web3 Games in ’23 but ‘real hits’ coming, $26M NFL Rivals NFT: Web3 Gamer

Circle has launched a new standard to streamline the process of launching its stablecoin, USDC, on new networks, according to a Nov. 21 blog post. 

The new “bridged USDC standard” allows developers to launch the token through a two-phase process. In the first phase, the third-party developer has control of the token contracts, . . . → Read More: Circle launches ‘bridged USDC standard’ for deploying to new networks

The Fantom Foundation, a nonprofit organization developing the Fantom blockchain platform, has eliminated a significant vulnerability after a $550,000 hack in October.

On Oct. 17, the Fantom Foundation suffered a hot wallet hack, with an unknown attacker draining 1% of Fantom Foundation’s funds. The foundation subsequently stopped using some of the affected wallets, reassigning . . . → Read More: Fantom Foundation awards $1.7M bounty for preventing $170M drain

A hacker walked away with $25 million from quantitative trading firm Kronos Research after accessing its compromised API keys.

On Nov. 19, Kronos Research revealed that an unauthorized entity accessed some of its API keys. Subsequently, the firm stopped its trading services on the platform. However, no losses were reported at the time.

. . . → Read More: Kronos Research halts trading amid $25M API key hack investigation

Fidelity, an asset management firm overseeing $4.5 trillion in assets, has become the latest firm to seek approval for a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF).

In a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 17, Fidelity proposes to list and trade shares of the Fidelity Ethereum Fund on the . . . → Read More: Fidelity seeks green light for Ethereum ETF, following BlackRock’s filing

The founder and lead developer of Ethereum Name Service (ENS), Nick Johnson, is urging blockchain domains company Unstoppable Domains to drop a recently awarded patent or face a lawsuit, according to an open letter shared on X (formerly Twitter). 

In January, Unstoppable Domains was granted its first patent, US11558344, which claims that Braden River Pezeshki, . . . → Read More: ENS developers urge Unstoppable Domains to drop patents or face lawsuit

Gas fees on Ethereum layer-2 Polygon surged more than 1,000% to reach a peak of $0.10 as users inundated the network with the minting of Ordinals-inspired tokens dubbed POLS.

In a Nov. 16 X (formerly Twitter) post, Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal shared his surprise at the elevated transaction activity on the network, saying the spike . . . → Read More: Polygon gas fees spike 1,000% amid Ordinals-inspired token craze

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.

Hot week for Hong Kong exchanges 

Hashkey Exchange — one of the first regulated crypto exchanges in Hong Kong — has announced insurance coverage for clients assets stored in its hot and cold wallets. accounts. The policy will cover 50% . . . → Read More: No civil protection for crypto in China, $300K to list coins in Hong Kong? Asia Express

Decentralized finance (DeFi) group Aave Companies has been rebranded to Avara as it looks to broaden its user base across the Web3 ecosystem.

Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Avara (formerly Aave Companies), tells Cointelegraph that the company’s growing number of offerings, including liquidity protocol Aave, the GHO stablecoin, Lens Protocol and Sonar, . . . → Read More: Aave Companies rebrands to Avara, acquires Ethereum self-custody ‘Family Wallet’

Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Starknet has outlined plans to improve the decentralization of three core components of its zero-knowledge (ZK) proof rollup solution.

Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph, Starknet product manager and blockchain researcher Ilia Volokh outlined the firm’s intent to address certain centralized elements of its protocol aimed at defending against censorship and making . . . → Read More: Ethereum L2 Starknet aims to decentralize core components of its scaling network

Solana’s SOL (SOL) has reached new yearly highs, gaining more than 17% the day after ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood lauded the network for its efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

In a Nov. 15 CNBC interview, Wood described the Solana network as a major infrastructure player in the wider blockchain ecosystem and added that it had . . . → Read More: Solana jumps 20% as Cathie Wood lauds its speed and cost over Ethereum

Grayscale Investments is using its Ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) application as a “trojan horse” to corner the United States Securities and Exchange Commission into approving its spot Ether ETF, said Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.

Seyffart said in a Nov. 15 X (Twitter) post following the SEC delaying Grayscale’s ETH futures . . . → Read More: Grayscale ETH futures ETF a ‘trojan horse’ for spot Ethereum ETF: Analyst

A new report from blockchain security platform Immunefi suggests that nearly half of all crypto lost from Web3 exploits is due to Web2 security issues such as leaked private keys. The report, released on Nov. 15, looked back at the history of crypto exploits in 2022, categorizing them into different types of vulnerabilities. It . . . → Read More: 46% of crypto lost from exploits is due to traditional Web2 flaws — Immunefi

Ethereum layer-2 networks reached a new milestone on Nov. 10, reaching $13 billion of total value locked (TVL) within their contracts, according to data from blockchain analytics platform L2Beat. According to industry experts, this trend of greater interest in layer 2s is likely to continue, although some challenges remain, especially in the realms of . . . → Read More: Layer 2 networks hit $13B TVL, but challenges still remain

Plasma, a once-prominent Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, should be revisited by teams currently working on zero-knowledge (ZK) Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVMs), said Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

Invented in 2017, Plasma diverts data and computation — except deposits, withdrawals and Merkle roots — to an off-chain environment.

It was superseded by optimistic and ZK-rollups . . . → Read More: Ethereum’s rollups are ‘gold standard’ but Plasma needs a revisit — Buterin

Crypto exchange OKX has launched a testnet for an upcoming Ethereum layer-2 network named “X1,” according to a Nov. 14 announcement. The network is being developed using the Polygon chain development kit (CDK) and will use zero-knowledge proofs to validate deposits and withdrawals between layers.

OKX exchange interface. Source: OKX

OKX is the sixth-largest . . . → Read More: OKX launches Ethereum layer-2 testnet using ZK-based Polygon CDK

A Ripple executive has re-emphasized the need to adopt a technology-neutral approach for more effective and adaptable guardrails as global regulators grapple with cryptocurrency rules.

At the recent Ripple Swell 2023 event, Navin Gupta, managing director of South Asia, Middle East and North Africa at Ripple, told Cointelegraph that the industry should be . . . → Read More: Ripple exec reiterates need for tech-neutral crypto regulations

Ethereum account abstraction advocate John Rising has shared some “sobering” numbers showing overall ERC-4437 adoption has been far from ideal. 

In a Nov. 14 post on X (formerly Twitter), Rising shared data points that showed ERC-4337-enabled smart accounts suffered a decline in users, low transaction activity and poor operational costs for core infrastructure providers.

. . . → Read More: New figures show hardly anyone is using ERC-4337 smart accounts

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could approve all 12 pending spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications by Nov. 17. Beginning on Nov. 9, the SEC reportedly has a “window” to approve all 12 spot Bitcoin ETF filings, including Grayscale Investments conversion of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust product.

However, even if . . . → Read More: First deadline window looms for SEC to approve Bitcoin ETFs: Law Decoded

Major stablecoin issuer Tether has been increasingly minting new USDT (USDT) tokens, issuing 4 billion USDT over the past month.

Tether issued another 1 billion of Tether on the Tron blockchain on Nov. 10, blockchain data provider Whale Alert reported. The latest USDT minting came just a few days after Tether issued another 1 . . . → Read More: Stablecoin firm Tether minted 4B USDT in 4 weeks: Data

Top Stories This Week CME overtakes Binance to grab largest share of Bitcoin futures open interest

Bitcoin’s futures market is showing an interesting shift as global derivatives marketplace the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has surpassed Binance in terms of Bitcoin futures open interest. This change occurred after Bitcoin exceeded the $37,000 mark for the . . . → Read More: Take Bitcoin profits at $110K, CME tops Binance in BTC futures open interest: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 5-11 

BlackRock has argued that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t have any legitimate reason to treat spot-crypto and crypto-futures exchange-traded fund applications differently.

BlackRock’s plan for a spot-Ether (ETH) ETF called the “iShares Ethereum Trust” was officially confirmed on Nov. 9, after Nasdaq submitted the 19b-4 application form to the SEC . . . → Read More: BlackRock argues SEC has no grounds to treat crypto futures and spot ETFs differently

The world’s largest asset manager filed for a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Nov. 9, four months after filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF. BlackRock’s filing helped ETH prices soar past $2,000 for the first time in over a year.

BlackRock’s intention to file for an Ether spot ETF had a bullish . . . → Read More: BlackRock ETH ETF helps price past $2K; community sees BTC ETF as ‘done deal’

A recent spike in transaction fees on Ethereum and Bitcoin appears to have reignited the debate around solutions for scalability and the role of layer 2s.

Over the last 24 hours, cryptocurrency users began sharing screenshots showing double, occasionally triple-digit transaction fees on Ethereum and Bitcoin.

One screenshot showed gas fees were as . . . → Read More: Ethereum, Bitcoin users reignite scalability debate as gas fees surge

Ether (ETH) experienced a surprising 8% rally on Nov. 9, breaking the $2,000 barrier and achieving its highest price level in six months. This surge, triggered by news of BlackRock registering the iShares Ethereum Trust in Delaware, resulted in $48 million worth of liquidations in ETH short futures. The initial announcement was made by . . . → Read More: Ethereum price hits 6-month high amid BlackRock spot ETF buzz, but where’s the retail demand?

China to protect NFTs 

In a surprise move, the Chinese government has guaranteed legal protection for NFTs.

In response to a series of often conflicting judicial opinions on the state of cryptocurrency in the country, the Chinese government has officially issued a legal commentary on dealing with cases of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) theft and their status . . . → Read More: China’s surprise NFT move, Hong Kong’s $15M Bitcoin fund: Asia Express

Blackrock’s plans for a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) have now been confirmed, per a 19b-4 form filing submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 9.

Nasdaq filed the 19b-4 form with the securities regulator on behalf of the $9-trillion asset management firm for a proposed ETF called the . . . → Read More: BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF plan is confirmed after Nasdaq filing

As the race between Ethereum layer-2 networks heats up, users are left with questions about each network’s unique nature, use cases and plan for attracting more users to Web3. In Episode 36 of Hashing It Out, Elisha Owusu Akyaw (GhCryptoGuy) discusses app-specific rollup protocols with Cartesi co-founders Colin Steil and Erick de Moura.

. . . → Read More: Are high fees killing some types of DApps? Cartesi explains on Hashing It Out

BlackRock has registered an Ethereum trust in the American state of Delaware, which is possibly a first step toward a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF). 

BlackRock registered its Bitcoin (BTC) trust in June, shortly before filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for a Bitcoin ETF. 

BlackRock has . . . → Read More: BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust registered in Delaware

The Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA), a nonprofit organization that represents firms in the crypto staking industry, published an updated version of its “staking principles” on Nov. 9.

Previous version of the POSA staking principles. Source: POSA

POSA represents 15 different firms in the staking industry, including Alluvial, Ava Labs, Blockdaemon, Coinbase, Credibly Neutral, . . . → Read More: Proof of Stake Alliance updates recommendations for staking providers

Investment management firm ARK Invest, led by pro-Bitcoin investment veteran Cathie Wood, has collaborated with exchange-traded product (ETP) provider 21Shares to launch a new suite of digital asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The move aims to provide a “robust set of options” for investors looking to get digital assets into their trading portfolio.

. . . → Read More: ARK Invest and 21Shares partner to launch digital asset ETF suite

AAA gaming studio Ubisoft has partnered with blockchain game firm Immutable to collaborate on developing Web3 games through its Strategic Innovation Lab.

An announcement shared with Cointelegraph said the two studios will combine their expertise to intertwine mainstream gaming development quality with Web3-enabled functionality.

Nicolas Pouard, who heads up Ubisoft’s blockchain initiative, noted . . . → Read More: AAA studio Ubisoft to develop Web3 gaming experience with Immutable

Australian crypto exchange CoinSpot has reportedly been hacked for $2.4 million in a “probable private key compromise” over at least one of its hot wallets.

According to a Nov. 8 post to his Telegram channel, blockchain sleuth ZachXBT highlighted two transactions entering the alleged hacker’s wallet. Afterward, the wallet’s owner bridged the funds to . . . → Read More: Crypto exchange CoinSpot reportedly suffers $2M hot wallet hack

Lido’s governing body has approved the deployment of Lido’s Wrapped Staked Ether (wstETH) to Coinbase’s Base network, according to a Nov. 8 announcement. The token is now live and can be traded or used in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on the Base network.

Lido is on @BuildOnBase

You can now . . . → Read More: LidoDAO launches official version of wstETH on Base

The developers of the Near and Polygon networks are teaming up to create a zero-knowledge (ZK) prover for Web Assembly (WASM) blockchains, according to a joint announcement on Nov. 8. The new prover, called “zkWASM,” will for the first time allow WASM-based networks to join the Polygon ecosystem.

Zero-knowledge, meet Web . . . → Read More: Polygon Labs and Near announce ZK prover for WASM integration

The founder of Estonia-based LHV Bank, Rain Lõhmus, has been revealed as the owner of a massive 250,000-Ether (ETH) stash bought during the Ethereum initial coin offering, which is now worth an eye-watering $470 million.

There’s only one problem: He no longer has the keys.

In February, Coinbase director Conor Grogan highlighted an . . . → Read More: LHV Bank founder has $470M worth of Ethereum, but lost his private key

Lugui Tillier is the sales manager for Lumx Studios, one of the top cryptocurrency firms in Rio de Janeiro — a city with a burgeoning crypto industry.

But for Tillier — who holds dual citizenship between Belgium and Brazil — cryptocurrency is more than a job. It was a passion sparked by a friend, and . . . → Read More: 6 Questions for Lugui Tillier about Bitcoin, Ordinals, and the future of crypto

The price of Ether (ETH) surged by 6.2% from Nov. 3 to Nov. 5, but the altcoin is facing difficulty breaking the $1,900 resistance. Despite the current bullish trend, Ether’s 17% return over the last 30 days falls short of Bitcoin’s (BTC) impressive 27% gain during the same period.

Regulatory hurdles and ecosystem centralization . . . → Read More: 3 reasons why Ethereum price is underperforming altcoins

Blockchain-based startups continue to attract funding during the current bear market, with MetaMask partner Blockaid raising $33 million in October. However, overall funding in the crypto industry has dropped to levels last seen in 2020, amassing $2.1 billion over 297 deals in the third quarter of 2023, according to Messari. As is often the case . . . → Read More: VC Roundup: Private accounts, tokenization and healthcare infrastructure grab investor attention

The governing body for the aragonOS software will dissolve, distributing most of its assets to tokenholders in the process, according to a Nov. 2 blog post. The body, called the Aragon Association (AA), will distribute 86,343 Ether (ETH), approximately $155 million at the current price, from its treasury to tokenholders as it unwinds.

. . . → Read More: Aragon Association to dissolve, will disburse $155M in assets to tokenholders

ProShares, a major issuer of exchange-traded funds (ETF), announced the launch of the short Ether-linked ETF on Nov. 2.

ProShares’s new Short Ether Strategy ETF is set to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange’s Arca under the ticker symbol SETH and is designed to provide investors with an opportunity to profit from . . . → Read More: ProShares announces launch of short Ether-linked ETF

Switzerland’s St.Galler Kantonalbank (SGKB), one of the largest banks in the country, is moving into cryptocurrency by introducing Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading to its customers.

SGKB has partnered with the global cryptocurrency-focused SEBA Bank to offer its clients digital asset custody and brokerage services.

Announcing the news on Nov. 1, SGKB . . . → Read More: Top Swiss bank launches Bitcoin and Ether trading with SEBA

While publicly mocking nonfungible tokens (NFTs) during a podcast, Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk appears to have inadvertently highlighted the case for Bitcoin Ordinals, also known as Bitcoin NFTs.

“The funny thing is the NFT is not even on the blockchain — it’s just a URL to the JPEG,” said Musk in an . . . → Read More: Elon Musk slams NFTs but ends up arguing the case for Bitcoin Ordinals

Ether (ETH) price has declined by 14.7% since its peak at $2,120 on April 16, 2023. However, two derivatives metrics indicate that investors have not felt this bullish in over a year. This discrepancy warrants an investigation into whether the recent optimism is a broader response to Bitcoin (BTC) breaking above $34,000 on Oct. . . . → Read More: Ethereum futures premium hits 1-year high — Will ETH price follow?

The price of Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH) is trading around a 15-month low versus Bitcoin (BTC), and the lowest since Ethereum switched to proof-of-stake (PoS).

Cointelegraph takes a closer look at some of the reasons for the continuous drop of the ETH/BTC pair.

Ether’s historical price action has changed

In previous market . . . → Read More: 3 reasons why Ethereum price is down against Bitcoin

Iris-scanning project Worldcoin has reached a new milestone, as its mobile World App has now been downloaded over 4 million times, according to a Nov. 1 blog post from the project’s team. If this number is confirmed by CoinGecko, it could place World App in sixth place in CoinGecko’s list of most downloaded . . . → Read More: Worldcoin claims 4M app downloads and 1M active users

The teams behind the Floki protocol and Bitget crypto exchange have accused each other of market manipulation after the protocol’s token, TokenFi (TOKEN), was listed and delisted by Bitget. This is according to an Oct. 31 social media post from the Floki team and a blog post from Bitget. 

The Floki team claimed that . . . → Read More: Bitget, Floki teams accuse each other of manipulation after token listing

Stablecoin issuer Circle will close out consumer or individual accounts on November 30, according to emails received by Circle customers on October 31. In an email to Cointelegraph, the stablecoin issuer confirmed that it is closing the accounts but confirmed that business and institutional “Mint” accounts will remain available.

On the morning of . . . → Read More: Circle to phase out consumer accounts, but business and Mint will remain

The reserves for stablecoin issuer Tether contained approximately 86% cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, according to a new attestation report from accounting firm BDO. This is the highest percentage of cash and cash equivalents that have ever made up Tether’s reserves.

Tether today releases its attestation for Q3 . . . → Read More: Tether attestation shows cash and cash equivalents of 86% as loans decline

The Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem is likely to continue evolving with diverse technological approaches, according to co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

The co-founder of the smart contract blockchain unpacked the current landscape of Ethereum’s scaling ecosystem on his personal blog, with several layer-2 protocols differing in their approaches to bring greater scaling capacity, lower costs and increased . . . → Read More: Ethereum layer 2’s will continue to have diverse approaches to scaling – Vitalik Buterin

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller praised Bitcoin (BTC) for establishing a “brand” over the last decade and a half, admitting that while he doesn’t own any Bitcoin, he ought to.

The billionaire shared his latest thoughts on Bitcoin in an Oct. 30 interview with hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, where he made comparisons between . . . → Read More: ‘I don’t own Bitcoin, but I should’ — Legendary investor Druckenmiller

Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) saw their largest weekly inflows in more than a year, according to an Oct. 30 report from asset management platform CoinShares. Inflows were $326 million for the week ending Oct. 27, dwarfing the $66 million recorded over the previous week.

 Digital asset investment products saw inflows of US$326m, . . . → Read More: Crypto funds see largest weekly inflows in more than a year: CoinShares

Decentralized crypto exchange PancakeSwap now has portfolio manager functionality, according to an Oct. 30 announcement. The feature has been added in partnership with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Bril Finance.

The new feature allows PancakeSwap users to deposit tokens into single-asset vaults via the exchange’s user interface. Once the tokens are deposited, they go into . . . → Read More: PancakeSwap adds portfolio manager function in partnership with Bril

A new bridged token from cross-chain protocol LayerZero is drawing criticism from nine protocols throughout the Ethereum ecosystem. A joint statement from Connext, Chainsafe, Sygma, LiFi, Socket, Hashi, Across, Celer and Router on Oct. 27 called the token’s standard “a vendor-locked proprietary standard,” claiming that it limits the freedom of token issuers.

. . . → Read More: 9 protocols criticize LayerZero’s wstETH token, claiming it’s ‘proprietary’

Cryptocurrency infrastructure firm Fireblocks has identified and assisted in tackling what it describes as the first account abstraction vulnerability within the Ethereum ecosystem.

An announcement on Oct. 26 unpacked the discovery of an ERC-4337 account abstraction vulnerability in the smart contract wallet UniPass. The two firms worked together to address the vulnerability, which . . . → Read More: Fireblocks, UniPass Wallet tackle Ethereum ERC-4337 account abstraction vulnerability

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.

Largest money laundering scandal in Australia unravels

Changjiang Currency Exchange, a money transmitter business based in Australia, has beenbustedin a 230 million Aussie dollar ($145 million) money laundering scandal.

On Oct. 26, a 300-strong police operation spanning Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, . . . → Read More: Australia’s $145M exchange scandal, Bitget claims 4th, China lifts NFT ban: Asia Express

The Web3 industry continues its mission to disrupt the World Wide Web, and social media is one of its primary targets. In the 34th episode of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out, host Elisha Owusu Akyaw interviews Ryan Li, co-founder of CyberConnect, about the concept of decentralized social media. 

Li kicks off the episode by . . . → Read More: Hashing It Out: A case for Web3 social media, and is Friend.tech a security?

GTA and CoD veterans’ new studio collabs with Immutable

Web3 gaming ecosystem Immutable is helping Random Games join the blockchain gaming world. The studio was founded by veteran developers and storytellers from famous franchises, including Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Batman, Star Trek, The Walking Dead, Star Wars and South Park. The . . . → Read More: How blockchain games fared in Q3, Unioverse & Immutable, Upland token on ETH: Web 3 Gamer

Wallets linked to bankrupt crypto firms Alameda Research and FTX transferred over $10 million worth of cryptocurrency to exchange deposit accounts in five hours from Oct. 24 to 25, according to data from blockchain analytics platform Spot On Chain. The movement of these funds may indicate that the firms plan to sell some . . . → Read More: FTX and Alameda linked wallets transfer $10M of crypto to exchanges in just 5 hours

Polygon Labs has launched the Ethereum contract for the new Polygon token, POL, according to an Oct. 25 announcement. The new token is intended to replace the ecosystem’s current token, MATIC (MATIC). However, the team said users presently don’t need to exchange their MATIC for POL.

The POL token upgrade is . . . → Read More: Polygon launches POL token contract on Ethereum to eventually replace MATIC

From Oct. 9–20, Immutable invited playtesters to try out an early demo of its upcoming mobile game, Guild of Guardians.

Guild of Guardians was first announced in 2021. Its utility token, Guild of Guardians Gems (GOG), went up for sale in December 2021, raising over $5.3 million for the game’s development. In addition, over 800,000 . . . → Read More: Game review: Immutable’s Guild of Guardians offers mobile dungeon adventures

Maestrobots, a group of cryptocurrency bots on the Telegram messenger app, is refunding users in the aftermath of a 280 Ether (ETH) attack.

The Maestro team refunded the users affected by the Maestro Router 2 contract, the platform announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Oct. 25. According to the announcement, Maestrobots paid a . . . → Read More: Telegram trading bot Maestro refunds users 610 ETH after router exploit

Cryptocurrency rug pulls are not too difficult to spot by investors, as the majority of such scams usually share distinct and visible features, according to a new report.

Blockchain security auditor Hacken released its latest security insights report on Oct. 25, aiming to spot the trends in Q3 crypto hacks and evaluate how affected . . . → Read More: 85% of crypto rug pulls in Q3 didn’t report audits: Hacken

Crypto exchange dYdX has published the open-source code for its new Cosmos-based network of the same name, according to an Oct. 23 blog post. The new code includes the “protocol, order book, front-end, and more,” the post stated. The publication of the code is intended to pave the way for a mainnet launch, . . . → Read More: dYdX publishes its open-source code in anticipation of phased mainnet launch

Adelle Nazarian is the top staffer at the American Blockchain PAC, where she serves as its CEO. But she has a long story to tell about her life prior to her time in the crypto industry — from her Persian roots to her career in journalism.

Nazarian, who worked as a freelance journalist after . . . → Read More: 6 Questions for Adelle Nazarian on crypto, journalism and the future of Bitcoin

On Oct. 20, the Ethereum layer-2 Base network announced that it’s launching an eight-week training course to turn traditional software developers into blockchain developers. Called “Base Bootcamp,” the new program doesn’t cost anything to attend. However, it’s designed for “mid to senior level Software Engineering individual contributors,” and students must fill out an . . . → Read More: Base network launches 8-week training course for blockchain developers

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week.

The past week in DeFi was dominated by developments in the popular decentralized exchange platform Uniswap after it announced a 0.15% swap fee starting on Oct. . . . → Read More: Busy week for Uniswap, and Platypus recovers 90% of hacked funds: Finance Redefined

Despite the name “EtherHiding,” the new attack vector that hides malicious code in blockchain smart contracts doesn’t have much to do with Ethereum at all, cybersecurity analysts have revealed.

As reported by Cointelegraph on Oct. 16, EtherHiding has been discovered as a new way for bad actors to hide malicious payloads inside smart contracts, with . . . → Read More: EtherHiding: Why hackers may prefer Binance’s BNB Smart Chain

Over two dozen former employees of Ethereum infrastructure firm Consensys have filed a fresh lawsuit against the firm’s founder and CEO, Joseph Lubin, over claims he diluted employee equity shares against earlier promises.

The former staff allege that Lubin — who is also a co-founder of Ethereum — breached this “no-dilution promise” made in . . . → Read More: ‘He broke his word’ — Ex-Consensys staff sue founder over employee equity deal

Stablecoin issuer Circle has launched a new tool that it says will allow developers to “remove the complexity” of building Web3 apps, according to an announcement and accompanying social media post on October 19.

Called “Smart Contract Platform,” the new tool allows developers to deploy smart contracts using a set of pre-vetted . . . → Read More: Circle launches Web3 development platform for Web2 developers

Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions Starknet and zkSync are among the few platforms to have increased their total monthly active developer counts over the last 12 months, data shows.

While Starknet and zkSync only recorded increases of 3% and 6%, respectively, the likes of Ethereum, Polygon and Solana saw their counts fall by 23%, 43% . . . → Read More: Starknet and zkSync buck trend as crypto ecosystems shed devs by 28%