• CertiK recently released a report which revealed that an Arbitrum-based DeFi project, Hope Finance, lost $2 million to scammers.
• The culprits had secretly removed this amount from the project’s users’ funds.
• The decentralized finance sector witnessed about 155 theft incidents and lost over $3.1 billion in 2022.

Hope Finance Robbed of $2 Million

CertiK, a web3 security company, reported that a decentralized finance (DeFi) project based on Arbitrum, Hope Finance, was robbed of $2 million by scammers. The culprits were able to clandestinely remove the money from the platform’s users’ funds.

Vulnerability in Smart Contract

A member of CertiK stated that the scammer modified smart contract details to hastily extract funds from the genesis protocol of Hope Finance. On February 13th, Cognitos did an audit and discovered two vulnerabilities in its central contracts: reentrancy attack possibility and incorrect modifier; however, it still concluded that the code was secure enough.

Increase in Theft Incidents

It has been noted that there has been an increase in fraud cases compared to 2021 with total losses amounting up to $3.1 billion in 2022 alone. This is a 56.2% rise when compared to last year’s figure at $2036015 896 worth of losses resulting from 155 different theft incidents across the crypto ecosystem.

Emergency Withdrawal Function

In light of the situation, Hope Finance created an emergency withdrawal function for its users so they could take out their staked liquidity before any further damage occurred due to potential scams or other malicious activities on their platform.

Conclusion

The recent incident is one example out of many which shows why additional security measures must be taken within the cryptocurrency industry moving forward if it is going to become as safe as traditional finance systems are today or even more so than them in terms of protection against cybercrimes such as these ones mentioned here today.

• Elon Musk announced in December 2020 that he would step down as Twitter CEO once a replacement was found.
• In March 2021, Musk said it would be “good timing” to find someone else to run the company by the end of 2023.
• The takeover of Twitter last October was marred by controversy due to employee layoffs and a failed paid verification program.

Elon Musk Intends To Step Down As Twitter CEO

Elon Musk announced in December of last year that he will step down as CEO of Twitter once a replacement is found, but will continue to operate some important divisions of the popular social media network. He tweeted at the time that he would quit as chief exec as soon as he found “someone foolish enough” to assume the post.

Survey Results Support Resignation

After conducting a survey of his followers in December, Elon Musk announced his intention to relinquish control of Twitter. In that poll, over 60% of those questioned supported his resignation. Concerns about the Tesla CEO being distracted from the electric vehicle maker, in which he is actively involved in production and engineering, as well as operations from his other firms, fueled the unanimity.

Twitter Takeover Marred By Controversies

Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last October was marred by turmoil and debate. Since purchasing the social media site, he has fired around 50% of its employees and tried to implement Twitter’s paid verification component before suspending it.

Finding Replacement Could Be Difficult

Musk stated last year that finding someone to take over Twitter could be difficult. He reportedly told remaining employees that the company might suffer “net negative cash flow of several billion dollars” in 2023 and that “bankruptcy is not out of the question” after letting go of personnel last year.

Good Timing To Hire New CEO By End-2023

On Wednesday, Musk again made public his intention to stand down, saying it would be “good timing” to find someone else to run Twitter by the end of 2023 when he believes the social media network will be stable.

• A firm called Webaverse suffered a ~$4M social engineering exploit recently.
• The hack involved sophisticated ‘long game’ of social engineering backed by fake KYC info, fraudulent websites and an in-person meeting.
• This story comes shortly after a similar exploit resulted in the theft of over a dozen Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs with losses estimated at $1M.

Webaverse Suffers ~$4M Social Engineering Exploit

A firm building a game engine and MMO (massive multiplayer online game) inspired by metaverse characteristics, Webaverse recently took a brutal hit after suffering a ~$4M social engineering exploit. This wasn’t your ‘run of the mill’ hack – or at least, it hasn’t been presented as such. While the executional details of the hack are still very much in question, one thing is for sure: this was the result of a sophisticated ‘long game’ of social engineering backed by fake KYC info, fraudulent websites, and topped off with an in-person meeting.

Exploits Reach New Levels

These days, curious minds can’t be inquisitive enough – and due diligence just can’t be diligent enough. We covered an exploit that resulted in the theft of over a dozen Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs just two months ago, and another recent story with similar strokes tell us that one thing is for sure: with the dollar amounts in today’s crypto landscape, hackers and exploiters are willing to go to unbelievably great lengths to scam digital assets. December’s NFT heist featured an elaborate fake casting director who utilized a fake website, fake email domains, fake pitch decks, and more – all to build a façade of trust, and combat efforts of due diligence. The result was over $1M in immediate losses for the owner.

Webaverse Hack Details

This ‘similar but different’ story came to light this week via DefiLlama coder 0xngmi’s tweet which linked to an official statement from the Webaverse team drafted by their co-founder CEO Ahad Shams detailing that in November 2022 they had weeks dialogue with what turned out to be scammers posing as potential investors who eventually stole keys leading to their wallet containing approximately $4M USDT stablecoins (though some users have moved away from USDT).

Raising Capital Challenges In Crypto Environment

Raising capital in the crypto environment can bring unique challenges which means curious minds must remain inquisitive while also taking extra caution when conducting due diligence on prospective investments or partners otherwise they risk becoming victims like those mentioned above who have suffered significant financial losses as result of sophisticated scams.

Conclusion

In conclusion it’s important to remember that when dealing with large amounts that there will always be parties looking take advantage so its best practice take extra precautions when conducting business deals involving digital assets or cryptocurrencies otherwise you may find yourself victim as seen countless times before .

• According to data shared by Solidus Labs, the U.S. regulatory agencies SEC, CFTC, and FinCEN have taken a total of 58 enforcement actions against crypto projects in the last year; a 65% increase from 2021.
• The SEC has been crypto’s biggest opposer and has announced 30 actions against projects and companies in the sector, including LBRY and Ripple.
• The CFTC has also recorded 19 cases against crypto projects, making it the second most active U.S. regulator in the sector.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have been growing in popularity at an astonishing rate over the past decade, with investors, entrepreneurs, and hobbyists alike all taking part in the industry. But despite its meteoric rise, the crypto space isn’t without its share of critics and opponents, particularly from regulators in the United States.

Recent data from Solidus Labs shows that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have taken a total of 58 enforcement actions against crypto projects in the last year. This figure is a 65% increase from 2021 and around 60% from the year before, highlighting a growing trend of regulation and oversight in the industry.

The SEC has been the biggest opponent to the crypto sector, with the agency announcing 30 enforcement actions against projects and companies in the space over the past year. Most notably, the Commission has taken legal action against peer-to-peer digital marketplace LBRY, as well as payment company Ripple, where the case is still ongoing as the Commission attempts to gain more control over the industry.

The CFTC is the second most active U.S. regulator in the space, having taken 19 enforcement actions against crypto projects in the last year. The Commission has opened cases against high-profile companies such as ErisX, LedgerX, and Circle, as well as issuing fines to projects such as Coinbase and Kraken for failing to meet certain regulations.

The data shows that U.S. regulators are increasingly targeting the crypto space, and that the legal actions taken have been the highest for almost a decade. This is perhaps indicative of the growing acceptance of the industry, as well as the fact that more and more companies are entering the space and requiring greater oversight and regulation.

Overall, it’s clear that the crypto space is under greater scrutiny from U.S. regulators, and that companies in the sector should be aware of all the relevant regulations and laws to ensure that they remain compliant. Although the space is still relatively new and largely unregulated, it is likely that regulation will become more stringent as the industry continues to grow.