Orbit Bridge suffers an $82 loss
Orbit Bridge, a blockchain network, fell victim to a hack that resulted in the loss of $82 million. The exploit was brought to public attention by a prominent figure in the crypto community, and the Orbit chain team later confirmed the attack. The hackers managed to drain $81.5 million worth of various cryptocurrencies from the bridge’s contract. The team is currently investigating the cause of the hack and working with law enforcement. The hackers’ methods were similar to those used by North Korean hackers in the past.
In another incident, CoinsPaid, a crypto payment protocol based in Estonia, experienced its second hack in six months, resulting in a loss of $7.5 million in crypto assets, including BNB and Ethereum.
A report from TRB Labs highlighted the activities of North Korean hackers, who were responsible for stealing $600 million in cryptocurrencies through various hacks last year, accounting for one-third of all hacks in 2023.
There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). Many industry experts believe that if approved, it could lead to a significant increase in the price of Bitcoin. However, not everyone agrees with this sentiment. Gabor Gurbacs, an advisor to VanEck, argued that the impact of a spot Bitcoin ETF on the price of Bitcoin might not be as significant as some anticipate, citing the example of gold. Vetle Lunde, a senior analyst at K33 Research, shares a similar outlook and expects the approval of a BTC ETF to trigger a sell-off, leading to a drop in the price of Bitcoin.
While speculation about the approval of ETF products continues, Dennis Kelleher, CEO at Better Markets, urged the U.S. SEC to reject the applications, citing concerns about market manipulation and fraud. Former SEC executive and cybersecurity expert John Reed Stark echoed these concerns.
Several asset management firms, including Fidelity Investments, VanEck, Grayscale, Ark 21Shares, and Valkyrie, have filed form 8-A with the SEC for their respective BTC ETF products. These filings will allow them to register their products as securities to be traded on public exchanges once they receive approval.
In a show of support for the Bitcoin community, VanEck announced plans to donate 5% of the proceeds from its Bitcoin ETF to support Bitcoin core developers through Bitcoin Brink, a non-profit organization dedicated to Bitcoin protocol development.
The price of Bitcoin experienced a brief rally, reaching a high of $45,879 on January 2, but then dropped following the negative sentiment surrounding the ETF discussions. Matrixport predicted that the SEC would reject all BTC ETF applications in January, resulting in a price drop to $36,000-$38,000. Bitcoin did experience a decline on January 3, dropping to a low of $40,750 before recovering. It closed the day with a 4.68% decline, causing the entire crypto market to decline as well. It has since recovered and is currently trading at $44,349, up 5.2% for the week.
In other news, BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes released a report suggesting that Bitcoin could experience a healthy correction due to upcoming macro events. BitMEX is also involved in launching a physical Bitcoin into space aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket.
A significant transfer of $1.19 million worth of BTC to Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet, known as the Genesis Wallet, sparked speculation among crypto enthusiasts.
In Nigeria, the central bank released a report outlining rules for banks regarding the operation of crypto accounts. The country recently lifted its blanket ban on cryptocurrency transactions and has approved the proposed cNGN project, set to launch next month. In the U.S., the SEC has been active in enforcing regulations. A judge’s ruling in the Terraform Labs case that Terra ecosystem tokens are securities has been cited by the SEC to argue that BUSD is also a security in the Binance case.
Overall, these events have had a significant impact on the crypto market, with hackers targeting blockchain networks, discussions about the approval of BTC ETFs, and regulatory developments in Nigeria and the U.S.
