$20M Stolen in Crypto Heist; Surge in New Tokens; Wisconsin Invests Big in Bitcoin ETFs
Summary:
Cybercriminals stole $20 million from lending protocol Sonne Finance, causing it to suspend operations. Meanwhile, more than a million new cryptocurrencies, most of them memecoins, have been created since early April on the Ethereum and Solana platforms. In related news, Wisconsin's State Investment Board has invested heavily in Bitcoin ETFs, buying shares in BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
In a substantial heist, cybercriminals successfully siphoned off over $20 million from lending protocol Sonne Finance. In related news, more than a million new cryptocurrencies have sprouted since the onset of April. In addition, Wisconsin state has revealed a sizeable investment in Bitcoin's spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Sonne Finance, a lending protocol, had to halt its operations due to a hack that wiped out $20 million in cryptocurrency. On May 14, at approximately 10:30 pm UTC, the security firm Cyvers revealed an attack in progress on Sonne Finance's contracts of USD Coin (USDC) and Wrapped Ether (WETH). Unfortunately, by the time Sonne Finance comprehended the situation 25 minutes later, the hacker had already absconded with $20 million in WETH, Velo (VELO), soVELO, and Wrapped USDC (USDC.e).
Sonne is presently considering various strategies to recover the stolen funds, including offering a bug bounty to the hacker, who, under such a scenario, would give back a substantial portion of the stolen funds, keeping about 10% for discovering the security vulnerability. But the hacker seems disinclined towards discussions. Per blockchain researcher PeckShield, the criminal has relocated a significant portion ($7.8 million) of the stolen funds to a new digital wallet.
Since April's commencement, over a million fresh cryptocurrencies have sprouted. More than 370,000 tokens have emerged on Ethereum and over 640,000 new tokens—primarily memecoins—have been unveiled on Solana. Ethereum's layer-2 network Base has become the go-to place for memecoin developers seeking to utilise the network's low fees to launch new tokens at a minimum cost.
Coinbase director Conor Grogan pointed out that the quantity of tokens recently introduced on Ethereum is double the cumulative amount of tokens ever produced on the platform between 2015-2023.
Most new tokens on Solana are memecoins, launched via the cost-effective development platform pump.fun.
Wisconsin's State Investment Board (SWIB) has announced a sizeable Bitcoin exposure via spot ETFs. According to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 14, the state entity has purchased about $100 million in BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and $64 million in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
Despite the impressive dollar amounts, the Bitcoin ETF investment makes up a minuscule portion of SWIB’s total $156 billion managed assets.
An analyst from Bloomberg ETF stated that SWIB's investment demonstrates the wide appeal of Bitcoin funds, which are growing more swiftly than typical ETFs. Additional news has been provided by Geraint Price, Sam Bourgi, and Felix Ng.
Published At
5/15/2024 4:01:23 PM
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