HUSD stablecoin depegs

August 17, 2022

HUSD stablecoin depegs

Month chart showing HUSD maintaining a $1 peg until dropping below $1 on August 17. The coin dipped to around $0.93, briefly returned to around $0.96, and then on August 18 dropped to $0.84

HUSD to USD month chart (attribution)

HUSD, a stablecoin linked to the Huobi crypto exchange, lost its peg and dropped to around $0.85. HUSD is a cash-backed stablecoin intended to be pegged to the US dollar, but the coin lost its peg due to "liquidity issues". HUSD later tweeted that, "We had made the decision to close several accounts in specific regions to comply with legal requirements, which included some market maker accounts. Due to the time difference in banking hours, this resulted in a short-term liquidity problem". The stablecoin restored its peg on August 18.

Several weeks earlier, major crypto exchange FTX announced that they had removed HUSD from their USD basket, meaning they would not be able to be used as collateral.

Huobi worked to distance itself from HUSD as the coin de-pegged, emphasizing that the token is maintained by a different entity and claiming to have exited their stake in that entity in April. However, the token was originally launched by Huobi in 2018, and Huobi has continued to run promotions involving the token as recently as July.

HUSD on CoinMarketCap
"HUSD Stablecoin Loses Dollar Peg, Huobi Supposedly Jumped Ship in April", CryptoPotato
Tweet by DoveyWan
"HUSD Stablecoin Returns to $1 Peg After Liquidity Problems", CoinDesk

August 17, 2022

Celer Network's cBridge suffers BGP hijacking attack, users lose combined $240,000

(attribution)

The Celer Network's cBridge project was targeted with a BGP hijacking attack. Users who tried to access the bridge's frontend were instead shown a site that prompted them to authorize transactions that drained their wallets. The attacker was able to steal around 128 ETH (~$240,000) before the exploit was discovered and Celer took the frontend offline. The stolen funds were quickly transfered to the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency tumbler.

Tweet by CelerNetwork
Etherscan for attacker wallet
"Truth Behind the Celer Network cBridge cross-chain bridge incident: BGP hijacking", SlowMist

August 17, 2022

Genesis lays off 20% of employees, jettisons CEO after Three Arrows Capital disaster

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Crypto broker Genesis is laying off 20% of their employees and reshuffling their leadership in the wake of a several-hundred-million dollar loss related to the Three Arrows Capital implosion. With 260 employees, the 20% workforce cut will affect around 50 employees. Genesis also announced that their CEO Michael Moro would be "stepping down".

"Genesis Announces New Leadership Team", press release
"Genesis CEO Steps Down as Crypto Broker Slashes Its Workforce", Bloomberg

August 17, 2022

Canadian pension manager says they invested "too soon" in the crypto sector after $150 million loss

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Canadian caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Canada's second-largest pension fund manager, sunk $150 million into Celsius during a WestCap-led funding round announced in October 2021.

Needless to say, this hasn't worked out so hot for CDPQ — Celsius locked up its customers' funds in June and filed for bankruptcy in July, and the courts are in the middle of trying to figure out how to untangle it all. "For us it's clear when we look at all of this, even if the last chapter has not been written, that we went in too soon into a sector that was in transition", said CDPQ's CEO.

CDPQ reported a $33.6 billion loss in the first half of 2022, which they attribute mostly to declines in equity and bond markets.

"Live news updates: Celsius investor CDPQ says they invested in crypto 'too soon'", Financial Times
"Celsius Network Announces an Investment Led by WestCap and CDPQ at a Valuation More Than US $3B", press release

August 16, 2022

SEC files complaint against Dragonchain in relation to their 2017 ICO

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against an individual and his companies in relation to their sale of Dragon tokens in 2017. The ICO raised $16.5 million, but the SEC has said the event was an unregistered securities offering, and has demanded the proceeds be returned and a penalty be paid.

"SEC files suit against Dragonchain over $16.5 million ICO", The Block
"SEC Sues Three Entities and Their Founder for Unregistered Crypto Asset Securities Offerings", press release

August 16, 2022

Hodlnaut applies for creditor protection

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After halting withdrawals on August 8, Singaporean crypto lender Hodlnaut has applied for protection against creditors: a process similar to the U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

They explained in a statement that they made the decision in order to try to avoid forced asset liquidation, "as it is a suboptimal solution that will require us to sell our users' cryptocurrencies at these current depressed asset prices".

"Crypto Lender Hodlnaut Applies for Creditor Protection in Singapore", CoinDesk

August 15, 2022

Claims of racist imagery in Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project make it to court

Two side-by-side images. On the left is a Pepe meme from 4chan, where Pepe is wearing a hachimaki reading "神風" ("kamikaze", but the characters are reversed in order). On the right is a Bored Ape wearing an identical hachimaki.

Comparison between a racist 4chan Pepe meme and an identical Bored Ape attribute (attribution)

In a motion to dismiss a trademark lawsuit filed by Yuga Labs (the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project) against Ryder Ripps and various others, the defendants outlined in detail their beliefs that the Bored Apes project intentionally includes racist and Nazi dogwhistles, and that Yuga's lawsuit is a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) intended to silence criticism.

Ripps is a part of a group of people who have vocally criticized the Bored Apes project for being racist and antisemitic, with what they believe are intentional hat-tips to 4chan culture. Ripps also created his own NFT project, called RR/BAYC, where he clones the Bored Ape NFTs and sells them in what he says is a "critique [of the] hateful imagery". Because Yuga Labs has never brought action against any of the many Bored Ape ripoff NFT collections, he and his lawyers are arguing this lawsuit is an attempt to silence his criticism.

Some of Ripps' and others' individual claims about dogwhistles in the project are more believable than others, but in their entirety they are pretty damning. Ripps is not the only one who has been outspoken about the issue, and is joined by people in and outside of the NFT world.

August 15, 2022

BitGo plans to seek damages from Galaxy Digital after they called off their $1.2 billion acquisition

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In May 2021, investment management firm Galaxy Digital announced their plans to acquire crypto custodian BitGo for $1.2 billion in what would be the first $1 billion dollar deal for the crypto industry. At the time, crypto prices were near all-time-highs.

Galaxy Digital claims that BitGo failed to provide audited financial statements for 2021 by the deadline they had agreed upon, and for that reason they decided to end the deal.

BitGo claims they've still got time to provide the statements, and that Galaxy Digital owes them $100 million for breaking the deal, which they plan to pursue in court.

Galaxy Digital just reported a ~$555 million dollar loss in the second quarter, which may have contributed towards their choice to back out of the acquisition.

In June 2023, the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed BitGo's complaint with prejudice, finding that Galaxy Digital had a "clean termination right" based on BitGo's failure to provide financial statements.

"BitGo seeks $100M in damages from Galaxy Digital for calling off $1.2B acquisition", TechCrunch
"US court dismisses BitGo’s claims in $100M lawsuit against Galaxy Digital", CoinTelegraph

August 15, 2022

Eqonex closes its crypto exchange

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The Nasdaq-listed firm Eqonex has announced they will close their "underperforming" crypto exchange, hoping to change their money allocation to "reflect the current market conditions and the opportunities that we are best placed to capture". They cited " extreme market volatility and declining trading volumes" as making it challenging to keep the exchange afloat.

They announced that the exchange will stop trading on August 22, and customers have a month to withdraw their funds.

"Blockchain Services Firm Eqonex Closes Crypto Exchange, Citing Volatility and Dwindling Volume", CoinDesk

August 14, 2022

Collector loses four Bored Apes valued at over $500,000 to phishing attack

An illustration of a white-furred ape, with a bandage around its eyes, wearing a toga.

Bored Ape #2393, the one stolen NFT yet to be sold (attribution)

An NFT collector who goes by ASEC_APE lost four Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs to a phishing attack. The attacker quickly flipped three of the four NFTs for a total of around 200 ETH (~$387,000). The fourth is listed for sale on the NFT platform X2Y2 for 84.59 ETH (~$159,000) — a total profit of $546,000 for the scammer if they find a buyer at that price.

ASEC_APE had just purchased the four NFTs between July 15 and August 13 for a combined total of 326 ETH (~$532,000 based on ETH prices at the time of each purchase; ~$631,000 at the price on the day of the theft).

One of the stolen NFTs, Bored Ape 9012, had just been stolen a week before from Cameo CEO Steven Galanis when his wallet was compromised, as were a handful of other pricey NFTs. ASEC_APE had purchased it from the person who purchased it from the hacker shortly after the August 6 theft.

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