Organizer: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
"What important events occurred this week (2.17-2.23)"
On-chain analyst Yu Jin tweeted that the MELANIA token unlocking rules show that the team tokens have only a 30-day lock-up period, unlocking 3% after 30 days, and then unlocking 2.25% (approximately 22.5 million tokens) each month for the next 12 months. A total of 30% of the tokens will be unlocked over 13 months. From February 19 to 20, a total of 3% (approximately 30 million tokens) will be unlocked.
Binance founder Zhao Changpeng expressed detailed views on the recent hacking incident, stating, "We have observed a pattern where hackers are able to steal large amounts of cryptocurrency from multi-signature 'cold storage' solutions, as exchanges like Bybit, Phemex, and WazirX have encountered similar situations. In the recent Bybit case, the hacker was able to make the front-end user interface display legitimate transactions, while the actual signatures pointed to another transaction. For other cases, based on limited information, it seems similar methods were used.
What is more concerning is that the affected exchanges used different multi-signature solution providers. The hacker organization Lazarus Group has demonstrated extremely advanced and widespread infiltration capabilities. It is still unclear whether the hackers successfully infiltrated multiple signing devices, the server side, or both.
Some have questioned my previous suggestion to suspend withdrawals as a standard security precaution (a tweet I made while on the shuttle bus to the airport). My intention was to share a practical approach based on experience and observation, but there is no absolute right or wrong in this practice. My guiding principle has always been to lean towards the safer side. After any security incident, all operations should be suspended to ensure we fully understand what happened, how the hackers infiltrated the system, which devices were compromised, and only after triple-checking for safety should we resume operations.
Of course, suspending withdrawals may cause more panic. In 2019, after a significant hack of $40 million, we suspended withdrawals for a week. When we resumed withdrawals (and deposits), the deposit volume actually exceeded the withdrawal volume. This does not mean this method is better; each situation is different and requires judgment. I tweeted to share a potentially effective practice, intending to express timely support. I believe Ben made the best decision based on the information available.
Ben maintained transparent communication and a calm attitude while handling this challenging situation. This stands in stark contrast to other CEOs lacking transparency, such as those from WazirX and FTX.
The cases mentioned here are all different. FTX was a fraud, and as for WazirX, I will refrain from commenting due to ongoing litigation.
Most importantly, we should never take security for granted. It is important to understand security knowledge so that you can choose the right tools for your needs. To this end, I will share an article I wrote a few years ago. Although some of it is outdated, the basic concepts still apply. Stay safe (SAFU)!"
Previously, there were rumors in the community that a cryptocurrency exchange was negotiating a sale. Binance co-founder He Yi posted on X platform, seemingly responding to the related news, stating: "So the crisis PR strategy of competitors is to buy articles in bulk to create rumors about Binance to divert attention? Since Bitcoin's price broke new highs, trading platforms, as a business model established for ecological verification, will have institutions asking Binance every month whether they accept investment and cooperation according to the principle of leading investment. We do not rule out introducing strategic partners and are open to mergers and acquisitions. If other trading platforms have sale plans, please feel free to contact us."
OKX President Hong Fang stated that the hacker address involved in the Bybit theft case has been added to OKX's blacklist, and engineers will closely monitor these addresses. If there is any movement of funds, immediate action will be taken.
The OKX team is also in contact with the Bybit team to provide any IT security and liquidity support they can offer at this time.
According to Shanghai Securities News, Zhou Xiaoqian, Executive Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Financial Office, stated at the press conference for the "Top Ten Events in the Construction of Shanghai International Financial Center in 2024" on February 14 that they will promote the innovative application of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence large models and blockchain in the financial sector. At the same time, they will deepen the pilot program for digital renminbi and promote innovative projects such as the "Multilateral Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge" and bilateral business channels.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou disclosed that hackers are converting stolen funds into Bitcoin through the Chainflip cross-chain bridge. Zhou published several suspicious transaction hashes and the hacker's Bitcoin receiving address, while calling on cross-chain bridge service providers to assist in stopping the fund transfer.
Zhou stated that Bybit will soon launch a bounty program to reward those who help track or stop the fund transfer and ultimately facilitate the recovery of the funds.
7. Argentinian President Milei: Did not promote but merely shared cryptocurrency information
Argentinian President Milei stated on a television program: "I acted in good faith and ended up being hit. Did the country lose? No. Did Argentinians lose? At most four or five. The vast majority of investors are Chinese and Americans.
I share this information just like I have shared hundreds of things before. My tweet was sent three minutes after the currency was created because I am passionate about these matters and have learned about them. These people are volatile traders who know what they are doing.
Saying that 44,000 people were affected is false; at most, there were only 5,000. The likelihood of involving Argentinians is very small. These are all very professional people in this financial tool. Those who participated are very clear about the risks they are taking—they are volatile traders. This is a private matter between individuals, and they participated voluntarily.
I did not promote LIBRA; I merely shared information about LIBRA. I did this because I am a firm technological optimist. Any initiative that improves financing for tech entrepreneurs attracts me. I did not make a mistake because I acted in good faith. But when I saw the consequences, I realized I still have a lot to learn. I need to understand that after becoming president, I must still act as I did before. Unfortunately, this situation made me realize that I need to raise my standards and not be so easily accessible."
8. The Wall Street Journal: The Bybit incident is the largest theft in cryptocurrency history
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Bybit theft incident is the largest single theft in cryptocurrency history, with stolen assets valued at over $1.4 billion due to this hacking attack.
After the incident, Bybit announced that it had reported the case to the relevant authorities, and its CEO Ben Zhou stated that all functions and products of Bybit are still operating normally, the exchange is solvent, and it will fully cover customer losses. As of now, all withdrawal requests from Bybit have been processed, and the withdrawal system has returned to normal speed.
According to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency security platform Blockaid recently completed $50 million in Series B financing, led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from GV (formerly Google Ventures) and existing investors Variant and Cyberstarts. This financing will help Blockaid address the growing risk of cybercrime in the digital asset space.
In 2024, Blockaid successfully intercepted 71 million potential attacks, preventing losses of $5.3 billion. The company expects that as user growth and token prices rise, cyber attack incidents will surge to "hundreds of millions" in 2025. Blockaid plans to use this funding to expand operations and increase R&D investment, expecting to double its workforce this year. The company's CEO Ido Ben-Natan stated that due to changes in the regulatory environment in the U.S., demand has surged, and the company is currently facing a staffing shortage.
10. Bybit CEO: Even if losses cannot be recovered, Bybit has the ability to fully compensate
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou posted on the X platform stating that Bybit is solvent, and even if the losses from this hack cannot be recovered, all customer assets have 1:1 support, and we can make up for the losses.
11. Strategy announces issuance of $2 billion convertible bonds to support future Bitcoin purchases
According to The Block, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) plans to issue $2 billion in zero-interest convertible senior bonds for general corporate purposes, including acquiring Bitcoin. These bonds will mature on March 1, 2030, and can be settled in cash, Class A common stock, or a combination of both. The company also grants initial purchasers an option to purchase an additional $300 million in bonds.
Previously, Strategy issued a profit warning in its 10-K filing, primarily due to a $1.79 billion impairment loss on digital assets. The company warned that a significant decline in the market value of Bitcoin could affect its ability to meet debt obligations and liquidity, forcing it to sell Bitcoin at unfavorable prices.
In 2024, Strategy acquired approximately 258,320 BTC and currently holds 478,740 BTC, valued at over $46 billion. The company stated that it may rely on equity or debt financing to meet its financial obligations in the future, with success depending on the market value of Bitcoin.
12. ZachXBT: Confirms Bybit fund outflow is a security incident
ZachXBT posted on his personal Telegram channel stating that his sources confirm the Bybit fund outflow is a security incident.
Additionally, ZachXBT reminded relevant personnel at major exchanges: it is recommended to blacklist the following EVM addresses.
0x47666fab8bd0ac7003bce3f5c3585383f09486e2
0xa4b2fd68593b6f34e51cb9edb66e71c1b4ab449e
0x36ed3c0213565530c35115d93a80f9c04d94e4cb
0x1542368a03ad1f03d96D51B414f4738961Cf4443
Previously, on-chain detective ZachXBT reported on his personal Telegram channel that over $1.46 billion in suspicious funds had been detected flowing out of Bybit, with further information to be updated later. mETH & stETH are currently being exchanged for ETH on DEX.
13. Report: Bitcoin mining contributes $4 billion and 31,000 jobs to the U.S. economy
According to TheMinerMag, a recent report from the Perryman Group shows that Bitcoin mining has created over 31,000 jobs and generates more than $4.1 billion in total output annually for the U.S. economy. The U.S. accounts for about 40% of the global Bitcoin hash rate.
The report emphasizes that Texas is the biggest beneficiary of Bitcoin mining, with an estimated annual economic activity of $1.7 billion, creating over 12,200 jobs. Georgia has an annual total output of $316.8 million, while New York contributes $225.9 million.
It is reported that the report was commissioned by the Texas Blockchain Council and the Digital Chamber, both industry non-profit organizations.
14. Data: Bybit stolen funds involve over 400,000 ETH, over 90,000 stETH, 15,000 cmETH, and 8,000 mETH
According to Onchain Lens, ZachXBT monitored a security incident at Bybit, where $1.44 billion in funds were withdrawn, including:
- 401,347 ETH, valued at $1.12 billion;
- 90,376 stETH, valued at $253.16 million;
- 15,000 cmETH, valued at $44.13 million;
- 8,000 mETH, valued at $23 million.
15. Vitalik: Ethereum is a decentralized ecosystem, not a company
Vitalik stated: "I think Ethereum is a decentralized ecosystem, not a company. If Ethereum becomes a company, we will lose most of the meaning of Ethereum's existence. The role of a company is to be a company.
In fact, there are many large companies in the Ethereum ecosystem: Consensys, various client teams (Nethermind, Nimbus, etc.), Coinbase, L2 teams (including Aztec and Intmax, whose privacy technology is very interesting and underestimated by many). The best approach is to find ways to give these companies more opportunities to realize the advantages of being a company, with the foundation playing a coordinating role."
16. Coinbase CEO: Agreement reached with SEC, SEC will withdraw lawsuit and impose no fines
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced, "We have reached an agreement with SEC staff to dismiss their lawsuit against Coinbase. Once we receive approval from the commission (we have been told it is expected next week), this will be a complete settlement with a $0 fine, and our business will remain unchanged."
17. Foreign media: SEC is prioritizing cryptocurrency lawsuits with closer deadlines
FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett stated that according to several legal sources, the SEC has been prioritizing cases with court deadlines, which explains why we have not yet seen pause requests in the Ripple and Kraken cases.
The next court deadline for Ripple is April 16, while Kraken's deadline appears to be March 31. The Binance case has been postponed to April 14, and the Lejilex case to April 11, while Coinbase and the SEC have agreed to extend the deadline, allowing the SEC to respond to Coinbase's interim appeal request by March 14.
SEC leadership may expect that Paul Atkins, nominated by Trump, will be confirmed by then. In the meantime, the cryptocurrency special working group, Congress, and the Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets may be working to fill the regulatory gaps that led to these lawsuits being filed in the first place.
18. U.S. SEC staff agrees in principle to dismiss the lawsuit against Coinbase
According to Cointelegraph, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff have agreed in principle to dismiss the lawsuit against Coinbase, but final approval is still needed.
19. Nigeria sues Binance, claiming $81.5 billion in economic losses and taxes
According to Reuters, Nigerian authorities have filed a lawsuit against Binance, claiming $79.5 billion in economic losses and $2 billion in unpaid taxes. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) accuses Binance of operating illegally in the country.
The FIRS stated that Binance's operations in the country are illegal. Previously, in March 2024, the agency had sued Binance over four tax violations, including failure to pay corporate income tax and failure to file tax returns.
Sonic co-founder Andre Cronje posted on the X platform stating that Sonic's vision for this year is quite simple:
- Fee monetization (90% of fees will go to the application, not to validators and MEV)
- Fee subsidies (eliminating the fee barrier for users to enter)
- Dynamic fees (applications can set fees for users)
- Native economy and account abstraction (no need for wallets or fees)
The above content mainly involves two points:
- Making it as easy as possible for users to try out applications launched on Sonic (removing all barriers to entry and use)
- Helping our application developers earn significant profits.
21. Aptos research director accuses Monad of plagiarism, Monad co-founder denies
Aptos research director Alexander Spiegelman posted on X stating: "I don't understand why Monad is spending so much time plagiarizing Aptos technology. It's all open source, and there are already many peer-reviewed papers. Instead of being secretive, it would be better to openly plagiarize."
In response, Monad co-founder James Hunsaker stated: "While you were still in diapers, I was already researching Software Transactional Memory (STM) in the Haskell environment. BlockSTM is a simple extension of these things. I have never looked at any Aptos code; in fact, if it weren't for you posting this nonsense, I wouldn't even think of Aptos."
22. Binance Alpha adds B3, FLUID, VVV, TOKEN, DRIFT, CPOOL
According to official news, Binance Alpha has added B3, FLUID, VVV, TOKEN, DRIFT, CPOOL.
23. Vitalik: My parents bought ETH after Ethereum was born and have been following and supporting me
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik stated during a text AMA held on the Tako platform that his parents bought ETH after Ethereum was born and have been following and supporting him. Before Ethereum was born, they also worked hard to arrange and purchase a lot of materials to learn coding.
According to The Washington Post, two insiders revealed that the government efficiency department (DOGE) led by Musk is seeking access to the IRS system, which includes detailed financial information on every taxpayer, business, and nonprofit organization in the U.S., raising deep concerns within the IRS.
Under pressure from the White House, the IRS is considering signing a memorandum of understanding that would allow officials from the government efficiency department broad access to the tax agency's systems, properties, and datasets. This includes the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS), which enables tax agency employees to access IRS accounts (including personal identification numbers) and banking information.
25. U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending February 15 at 219,000, expected 215,000
According to Jin10, the initial jobless claims in the U.S. for the week ending February 15 were 219,000, expected to be 215,000, with the previous value revised from 213,000 to 214,000.
"What are the must-read articles for this week (February 17-23)?"
1. Saving Bybit: $320 million support, who are the white knights everyone is talking about?
Within 12 hours of being hacked for nearly $1.5 billion, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated that the withdrawal system has fully recovered.
In the face of the largest theft in crypto history, in addition to the textbook crisis and public relations handling by the Bybit team, various parties supporting Bybit are also alleviating the immense pressure on the crypto ecosystem.
Although there is currently only one project introduction on Twitter, and the founders and investors are unknown, Unit has attracted the attention of many crypto influencers, including Zhu Su. Since its launch, it has attracted over $50 million worth of BTC inflow into Hyperliquid, and crypto KOL @chameleon_jeff even reposted and commented that the launch of Unit brings Hyperliquid one step closer to accommodating all financial assets.
On February 12, former ParaFi Capital partner Santiago Roel Santos announced InversionChain on social media. He stated that Inversion will focus on "on-chain actual GDP," allowing businesses to fundamentally improve their operations and performance through on-chain integration. Inversion Chain will promote the world's first crypto-native private equity strategy. The specific approach is to acquire traditional businesses and anchor them on the Inversion chain.
Previously, in November last year, Santiago Roel Santos announced the launch of the private equity fund Inversion Capital, which is also the embryonic stage of the InversionChain concept. At that time, Santiago had already decided to acquire traditional businesses and use crypto technology to transform their operations, emphasizing "acquisition" rather than collaboration and acceptance, which also means that InversionChain will be a customized, sovereign L1.
It is reported that InversionChain will use customized chain technology from Avalanche L1. Besides the founder and the initial project concept, Inversion currently has nothing else. In Santos's recent posts, he is also recruiting a CTO and other team members. However, this seemingly ambitious project has already taken root.
4. Reflections on the LIBRA incident: Is a new round of disenchantment beginning?
While we all know that PVP will not disappear and fast-paced games will continue, at least at this stage, a new round of disenchantment in the crypto market may be about to begin?
Sam Bankman-Fried elaborated on his views regarding the FTX bankruptcy, legal battles, the political situation in the U.S., and the future of the cryptocurrency industry in an interview.
6. Saving Bybit: $320 million support, who are the white knights everyone is talking about?
Within 12 hours of being hacked for nearly $1.5 billion, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated that the withdrawal system has fully recovered.
In the face of the largest theft in crypto history, in addition to the textbook crisis and public relations handling by the Bybit team, various parties supporting Bybit are also alleviating the immense pressure on the crypto ecosystem.
7. Aptos accuses Monad of plagiarism, stealing technology or riding the wave?
Perhaps influenced by the announcement of HyperEVM's launch, the competitor Monad in the L1 track finally couldn't sit still. Just one day after HyperEVM went live, this project, which raised $225 million led by Paradigm last April, finally launched its testnet.
However, amidst the community's cheers and various airdrop tutorials, another L1 competitor, Aptos, directly accused Monad of plagiarizing Aptos technology on social media platform X. Thus, a war of words ensued.
8. How does North Korea cultivate world-class hackers to steal $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency again?
In an era where keyboards replace missiles, the keyboards of young hackers will become the Damocles sword of cryptocurrency.
The security management of large funds must use institutional-level custody solutions.
10. The story behind the Lazarus Group, the mastermind of the largest heist in Web3 history
Bybit was hacked, resulting in the theft of approximately $1.5 billion in on-chain assets. Four hours after the incident, on-chain detective ZachXBT submitted conclusive evidence confirming that the attack on Bybit was carried out by the North Korean hacker organization Lazarus Group.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
