Weekly Report | Mixin Hacker Incident Involves Approximately $200 Million in Funds; Coin Security Exits the Russian Market
Celestia airdrop is live; Zhu Su has been sentenced to four months in prison by a Singapore court; ETHGlobal New York hackathon announces the list of 13 finalists.Organizer: Biscuit, ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened This Week (9.25-10.1)"
1. Mixin Network Cloud Service Provider Database Attacked, Involving Approximately $200 Million
The Mixin Network cloud service provider database was attacked on September 23, involving approximately $200 million. Immediately after the incident, Mixin contacted Google and blockchain security company Slow Mist for assistance in the investigation. After several days, Mixin has completed most of the asset inventory work, and the situation is much more optimistic than expected. The losses are not as severe as estimated.
Mixin founder Feng Xiaodong responded in a live broadcast, stating that the damaged assets mainly consist of core Bitcoin assets, and assets such as BOX and XIN have not experienced serious theft. The main stolen assets in this attack were Bitcoin, Ethereum, and ERC-20 format USDT. Users can receive compensation at the following rates: Bitcoin (90%), Ethereum (30%), ERC-20 format USDT (10%). For other cryptocurrencies, the team is prepared to use existing funds and borrow money to purchase the corresponding assets for 100% compensation. For the three tokens with the largest amount of stolen funds, compensation will be calculated based on the price of the tokens on the day of the theft, converted into USD bonds, with priority given to compensating the victims of ERC-20 USDT.
Li Xiaolai responded to the Mixin incident in the community, pointing out that they are currently focusing on addressing various residual issues from this incident; there is no such thing as 100% security, and they are considering various compromise solutions, with new strategies to be implemented in the future; for the management of BOX's anchored assets, he will adopt a new plan.
2. Binance Announces Complete Exit from the Russian Market, Related Business to be Sold to CommEX
Binance has sold its entire Russian business to CommEX. To ensure a smooth exit for existing Russian users, the exit process will last for one year. All assets of existing Russian users will be securely protected. CommEx reiterated in a public letter that the company is not owned by Binance and acknowledged that some of its core team members are former employees of Binance.
Binance and CommEX will cooperate to inform users how to migrate their assets to CommEX. Part of the KYC registration for new users in Russia will immediately transfer to CommEX and will gradually expand over time. In the coming months, Binance will cease all exchange services and business lines in Russia. Binance will not receive ongoing revenue sharing from this sale, nor will it retain any options to repurchase business shares.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao stated that he is neither the ultimate beneficiary of CommEx nor holds any shares in it, and that CommEx is designed solely for the convenience of Russian users. The design, API, and other features of CommEx are similar to those of Binance. This design was requested to ensure a smooth user experience. CommEx does not provide services to users in the United States or the European Union.
CommEX is a cryptocurrency platform that officially launched on September 26, providing not only cryptocurrency trading services but also a wide range of cryptocurrency product offerings, including spot, futures, simple futures, and P2P services.
3. Three Arrows Capital Co-founder Zhu Su Sentenced to Four Months in Prison by Singapore Court
According to Bloomberg, the liquidators of Three Arrows Capital stated that co-founder Zhu Su was arrested in Singapore while attempting to leave the country.
The liquidator Teneo, which is liquidating the failed crypto hedge fund, stated that it received a commitment order against Zhu Su after he failed to comply with a court order requiring him to cooperate with the liquidation investigation. According to a statement, Zhu Su was sentenced to four months in prison. (Source link)
4. HTX Hot Wallet Stolen 5,000 ETH, Sun Yuchen States HTX Will Fully Cover User Losses
On September 25, the hot wallet of the crypto trading platform HTX was hacked, resulting in the theft of 5,000 ETH. HTX stated that if the hacker returns the stolen funds, a 5% white hat bounty will be offered, with a deadline of October 2, 2023. If the hacker does not return the funds by the deadline, HTX will request judicial authorities to intervene.
Sun Yuchen, a member of HTX's Global Advisory Council, posted on social media that HTX suffered a loss of 5,000 ETH due to a hacker attack. HTX has fully covered the losses caused by the attack and successfully resolved all related issues. All user assets are secure, and the platform is operating normally.
5. Uniswap Foundation Releases $62.37 Million Fundraising Proposal and Announces Future Ecosystem Development Plans
The Uniswap Foundation has announced its latest fundraising and future plans. Last year, Uniswap governance approved funding of $74 million for the Uniswap Foundation. Today, the Uniswap Foundation released a proposal requesting a second tranche of funding as part of the total commitment of $74 million, plus a 10% buffer, totaling $62.37 million, with plans for an on-chain vote on October 4. This funding will support the development of the Uniswap ecosystem, including developer support, research grants, and more.
Additionally, the foundation announced several future plans, including further developing the Hooks ecosystem, launching the TL;DR Fellowship in October 2023, continuing to support IRL representative activities, and building more digital connection methods. The foundation also plans to achieve larger goals in 2024 and beyond, such as expanding its ecosystem, innovating, and strengthening governance. (Source link)
6. Celestia Airdrop Now Live
The modular blockchain Celestia announced that its airdrop is now live. 7,579 developers and 576,653 on-chain addresses will have the opportunity to join Celestia starting from the first block. Eligible participants can claim up to 60 million TIA (Celestia's native asset) before 20:00 on October 17, 2023.
The airdrop will also be allocated to those who contributed to building the early modular ecosystem, including public contributors to other developing modular DA layers such as Avail and Eigenlayer, as well as Solana, who actively participated in Modular Summit I and II.
It is reported that one-third of the total airdrop will be allocated to 7,579 developers, and two-thirds will be allocated to 576,653 on-chain addresses (20 million TIA will be allocated to the most active users of Ethereum rollups; 20 million TIA will be allocated to stakers and IBC relayers of Cosmos Hub and Osmosis).
Celestia's native asset TIA is a crucial component for developers to build the first modular blockchain network. To use Celestia for data availability, Rollup developers submit PayForBlobs transactions on the network, priced in TIA, and charge a fee. (Source link)
7. GameFi Project Tiny World Personnel Suspected of Police Investigation
According to Wu Talk, multiple investors have reported that personnel related to the GameFi project Tiny World are suspected of being investigated by the police. Analysts pointed out that blockchain games in China are currently easily associated with crimes such as operating a casino.
Tiny World is originally from the EOS Three Kingdoms team. According to data from the crypto platform RootData, Tiny World completed a $2.5 million financing in 2022, with this round of financing participated by HashKey, SNZ, Sky9 Capital, Everest Ventures Group (EVG), TokenPocket, Cipholio, Foresight Ventures, COCOS-BCX, and others. (Source link)
8. Paradigm Establishes Policy Lab to Advance Cryptocurrency Advocacy
Cryptocurrency venture capital firm Paradigm announced on Tuesday the launch of what they call a "first-of-its-kind" policy lab, which will serve as a "hub" for academics, policy experts, lawyers, and technologists. Policy Lab co-directors Rodrigo Seira and Brendan Malone wrote in a blog post, "Over the past year, Paradigm has established itself as a policy leader, engaging in everything from defending crypto in court to convening thought leader meetings to publishing policy-focused research."
The team is expected to produce "cutting-edge research, commentary, and advocacy" on the most important policy issues facing crypto and other frontier technologies. As part of the launch program, Paradigm Policy Lab announced two inaugural academic researchers, Primavera De Filippi from Harvard's Berkman Klein Center and Agostino Capponi from Columbia University, who will study the term "regulatory equivalence" to describe "the comparability of legal and technical constraint systems and how similar policy outcomes can be achieved through regulatory or technical architecture." (Source link)
9. ETHGlobal New York Hackathon Announces 13 Finalist Projects
ChainCatcher reports that ETHGlobal announced on the X platform that 13 projects have made it to the finals of the ETHGlobal New York hackathon, covering areas such as gaming, social, account abstraction, and DeFi, including:
Full-chain game FRAMED!, face-based payment project F.A.S.T., bug bounty platform ZeroTrustBounty, full-chain game competition platform Doom Arena, decentralized physical asset tracking project AirTracker, multi-chain smart contract deployment project SafeCreate2, AI-driven NFT project tool ConsciousNFT, MetaMask Snaps and Cryptosat satellite security solution Space Guardians, smart contract ownership recovery solution A.S.R., MEV victim compensation project MEVictim Rebate, real investment return leaderboard RealReturn, account abstraction wallet Abstract Wallet, cross-chain Gnosis Safe multi-signature optimization solution XSafe. (Source link)
10. Data
- Hong Kong police stated that the JPEX case involves an amount close to HKD 1.5 billion.
- MicroStrategy once again purchased 5,445 BTC for approximately $147.3 million.
- MakerDAO has increased its RWA assets by $101 million, with total protocol RWA assets exceeding $3.1 billion.
- FTX attackers have transferred another 2,500 ETH, currently holding over 180,000 ETH in total.
- A whale redeemed 8,987 ETH from Lido and transferred it to Binance, with a total redemption of 9,988 ETH today.
"What Great Articles Are Worth Reading This Week (9.25-10.1)"
1. "Why is Binance in a Hurry to Sell Its Russian Business to a Newly Launched Exchange?"
The buyer of Binance's Russian business, CommEX, is a cryptocurrency exchange that officially launched on September 26, with its social media accounts on platform X and Telegram community registered around September 25.
Binance's choice to sell its Russian operations to what appears to be a newly established exchange has raised doubts among the public, especially among Binance users in Russia, about whether a new exchange can guarantee asset security and whether the trading depth can accommodate Binance's Russian users. However, more voices point to "CommEX may be a disguise for Binance's Russian operations."
From Wall Street to the crypto circle, which transition is more significant—from Bitcoin maximalist to Solana Foundation chair?
During the tumultuous period of FTX last year, the regulatory winds in the entire market also changed. Lily Liu decided to increase investment in the Chinese-speaking region and Asia-Pacific market at the right time, and Solana has correspondingly taken different steps this year. Foresight News had the privilege of interviewing Lily Liu on September 10, 2023, and here is a compilation of the interview transcript for readers.
Central Asia, South Asia, and Oceania (CSAO) have some of the most vibrant and attractive cryptocurrency markets in the world. By raw transaction volume, Central Asia and Oceania are the third-largest cryptocurrency markets in our study, following North America and Central, Northern, and Western Europe (CNWE), accounting for less than 20% of global transaction volume.
4. "Offchain Labs Co-founder: Why I Still Believe in Optimistic Rollup"
Arbitrum is an Ethereum scaling protocol that uses Optimistic Rollup. People often ask us why Arbitrum chose Optimistic and whether we expect Arbitrum to switch to ZK proofs. I previously answered this question, but that was almost two years ago. This is my current personal view, and others may disagree.
When designing systems, I firmly believe in pragmatism. We should not become enamored with a technical approach and apply it at all costs, but rather ask which method best meets the needs of users and developers. The best approach may change over time, and if so, we are willing to adapt.
We chose Optimistic for Arbitrum out of pragmatism, and I believe Optimistic proofs are still a better choice than ZK proofs, as they better meet the needs of users and developers. Simply put, Optimistic is cheaper, simpler, and more flexible than ZK. I will elaborate on these claims below.
That said, if circumstances change and ZK becomes a better choice, I believe Arbitrum should change. However, I do not expect this to happen anytime soon.
5. "Dialogue with Eclipse Co-founder: How Can Solana SVM Become Ethereum's L2?"
Currently, Layer 2 solutions and cross-chain interoperability have become hot topics. The recently popular Eclipse provides Solana-based SVM, which can be used as Ethereum's L2. Is this a good thing for Solana? How will the combination of two different types of public chains through Eclipse develop in the future?
In this episode of the podcast, Neel shares with us Eclipse's design philosophy, its relationship with other technologies such as Solana and Ethereum, and the trade-offs between centralization and decentralization in Eclipse.
6. "Placeholder: Why is Regulatory Compliance the Last Step in Blockchain Decentralization?"
A major obstacle to the widespread adoption of blockchain and smart contract applications has been the lack of legal and regulatory clarity and the ongoing controversies surrounding them. To achieve true innovation, blockchain systems must possess unique attributes that distinguish them from existing systems, thereby justifying the need for specialized regulatory treatment. The cornerstone of this innovation is "sufficient decentralization"—a characteristic that ensures reliability and resilience, even in hostile environments or other challenges. Placeholder explains in this article why regulatory compliance is the last step in blockchain decentralization.
7. "Uncovering Mixin: OG Gathering, Li Xiaolai's Strong Support, Fans' Hard Work"
On September 25, Slow Mist's MistTrack posted on social media that the Mixin Network cloud service provider database was attacked, involving approximately $200 million. The news sparked heated discussions in the crypto community, mainly because well-known KOL Li Xiaolai is one of the early investors in Mixin Network. This article delves into the team behind Mixin and past anecdotes.
It was initially thought that MakerDAO's Newchain plan had "cooled down" amid a wave of public opinion, but unexpectedly, MakerDAO's lending protocol Spark Protocol passed a proposal for Gnosis Chain just a day ago, and it even grandly named it the Kick-off of the multi-chain strategy, seemingly signaling the official start of MakerDAO's Endgame expansion as a "defection"?
9. "Overview of the 13 Winning Projects in the ETHGlobal New York Hackathon"
From September 22 to 24, ETHGlobal held the ETHGlobal New York hackathon, with a total of 13 projects making it to the finals, covering various fields such as blockchain game infrastructure, Telegram bots, AI, and cross-chain interoperability.
Among them are some interesting innovative projects, including the Telegram transfer bot F.A.S.T. that supports photo recognition, ConsciousNFT for creating background stories for NFT smart creations, and A.S.R. that allows users to recover their smart contract ownership after losing their signature private keys. This article will provide a brief introduction to the finalist projects.
