Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

SEC Charges HyperFund Founder in $1.7B Crypto Scheme for Fraud and Unregistered Securities Offering

The U.S. SEC has announced charges against the founders of the $1.7 billion HyperFund cryptocurrency scam for fraud and unregistered securities issuance.　　In a press release on Monday, the SEC stated that from June 2020 to early 2022, Xue Lee and Brenda Chunga (referred to as Sam Lee and Bitcoin Beautee, respectively) raised over $1.7 billion from investors worldwide. The agency alleged that Lee and Chunga promoted HyperFund as an opportunity for profitable cryptocurrency mining investments, but, in reality, it was a pyramid scheme with no genuine source of income. The SEC added that both Lee and Chunga were aware of this situation. In 2022, the scheme collapsed, resulting in substantial losses for investors.　　The SEC filed a lawsuit in the federal court in Maryland, accusing Lee and Chunga of violating federal securities laws regarding anti-fraud and registration provisions. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Maryland has also brought criminal charges against Lee and Chunga.　　Chunga has admitted to conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. He has also agreed to settle the charges, paying restitution and civil penalties, the specific amount of which will be determined by the court.　　

2024-01-30Deep Dive

2023: Over 600 Major Cryptocurrency Hacking Attacks Result in $2.61 Billion Losses

PeckShield posted on X platform, stating that there were over 600 significant hacking attacks in the cryptocurrency space in 2023, resulting in approximately $2.61 billion in losses, of which $674.9 million has been recovered. The breakdown includes:　　$1.51 billion in losses due to hacking attacks (excluding unauthorized withdrawals from Multichain).　　$1.1 billion in losses due to scams.　　This data represents a 27.78% decrease compared to 2022. However, DeFi protocols remain a primary target, constituting 67% of the total stolen funds.　　

2024-01-30Deep Dive

Goledo Finance, a lending protocol, attacked with a loss of $1.7 million

According to MetaTrust Alert monitoring, the Conflux ecosystem lending protocol Goledo Finance has been attacked, resulting in a loss of 7.9 million CFX, valued at 1.7 million USD. The Total Value Locked (TVL) in the Goledo Finance protocol has plummeted by 3 million USD to 230,000 USD.　　Reportedly, Goledo Finance is a fork of the Aave V2 protocol.　　Goledo Finance posted on the X platform regarding the security incident, stating that the team has identified all addresses related to the hacker and contacted all exchanges to freeze relevant KYC accounts. Additionally, they have reached out to security teams including PeckShield and SlowMist for monitoring the situation.　　Goledo urges the hacker to contact them immediately before further legal actions are taken. Furthermore, the official announcement mentions the temporary freezing of lending pools, during which loan interest will also be suspended.　　

2024-01-29Deep Dive

Deutsche Bank Survey: Over 1/3 Expect Bitcoin to Drop Below $20,000 by January Next Year

According to a survey conducted by Deutsche Bank from January 15 to January 19, the majority of respondents expect further declines in the price of Bitcoin. The survey involved 2,000 individuals in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, primarily focusing on their views on Bitcoin prices and volatility.　　The survey revealed that over one-third of respondents believe that Bitcoin will fall below $20,000 by January of next year. Meanwhile, around 15% of respondents anticipate that by the end of this year, Bitcoins price will be between $40,000 and $75,000.　　Deutsche Bank analysts Marion Labore and Cassidy Ainsworth-Grace explained in the report that the introduction of new spot Bitcoin ETFs is expected to broaden institutional access to Bitcoin. However, they noted that a significant portion of ETF funds comes from retail investors.　　

2024-01-29Deep Dive

Somesing, South Korean Web3 Social Music Service, Faces Attack with $11.58 Million Loss

South Korean Web3 social music service Somesing announced that it suffered a security breach last Saturday, resulting in a loss of 730 million native tokens (SSX), approximately $11.58 million. This includes 504 million undistributed SSX tokens scheduled to circulate by the end of 2025 and 226 million SSX held by the Somesing Foundation, which are already part of its current circulation.　　Somesing stated, “It has been confirmed that this hacking incident is not related to any member of the Somesing team. Considering the method of the attack, it may have been carried out by professional hackers who specialize in attacking virtual assets.” The platform has reported the hacking incident to the National Police Agency, initiating an investigation, and has pledged to inform INTERPOL.　　Somesing is working with the local blockchain entity Klaytn Foundation and international law enforcement partner Uppsala Security to track the attackers. The platform plans to freeze relevant assets and take legal action once the perpetrators are identified.　　

2024-01-29Deep Dive

Jupiter to Test Launch Meme Token WEN Ahead of JUP, Airdrop Set to Open for Claiming Soon

Jupiter co-founder Meow announced on the X platform that the first token to be tested and issued on the LFG Launchpad platform will be WEN. The airdrop claiming for WEN will open at 10:00 AM EST on January 26 and continue until January 29.　　According to the disclosed token economic model, 70% of WEN will be airdropped to over a million Solana wallet addresses. The recipients of the airdrop include Jupiter users, Ovols NFT holders, Genesis Saga holders, mockJUP test users, among others. 20% of WEN will be allocated for building liquidity, and 10% of WEN will be reserved in the treasury. After the airdrop claiming period ends, all unclaimed WEN will be burned.　　Meow added that WEN is a token introduced by the Ovols team using Jupiters LFG Launchpad. Jupiter has no other relationship with the project besides hosting it and receiving 1% of WEN from the treasury allocation.　　In earlier announcements, Jupiter officially stated that it would conduct two token test launches before issuing JUP, one being the already issued mockJUP, and the other being a meme token. Earlier this week, Jupiter announced the launch of the Jupiter LFG Launchpad Beta version, indicating that it will be used to issue the

2024-01-26Deep Dive

JPMorgan: GBTC Profit-Taking Essentially Over, Limited Downside for Further Bitcoin Decline

JPMorgan stated that with the profit-taking from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) mostly concluded, the downward pressure on Bitcoin prices has eased. The analyst team led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou indicated that since the shift to spot Bitcoin ETFs two weeks ago, GBTC has experienced outflows of $4.3 billion, exceeding JPMorgans earlier estimate of around $3 billion in outflows. Therefore, it can be inferred that the profit-taking from GBTC has mostly finished, suggesting that the major downward pressure on Bitcoin from this channel should be over. However, if the 1.5% fee of GBTC is not reduced soon, the fund might experience sustained outflows, potentially losing market share to competitors.　　The analysts also mentioned that although the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs may appear to fragment liquidity on the surface, in reality, guided by the experience of traditional asset class ETFs like stocks, spot ETFs are expected to enhance market depth and liquidity. Therefore, the advent of spot Bitcoin ETFs is anticipated to make the price discovery process for Bitcoin more efficient.　　

2024-01-26Deep Dive

Bitcoin Volatility Index Drops to 48.88 Yesterday, Hitting a Near Three-Month Low

The BitVol (Bitcoin Volatility) Index, launched by financial index company T3 Index in collaboration with the Bitcoin options trading platform LedgerX, dropped to 48.88 yesterday, marking a new low in nearly three months. The BitVol Index measures the 30-day expected implied volatility derived from tradable Bitcoin options prices. Implied volatility refers to the volatility implied by the actual options prices. It is calculated using the B-S options pricing formula, reverse-engineering the volatility by plugging in the actual options prices and other parameters except for the volatility parameter σ.　　

2024-01-26Deep Dive

SEC Chairman: Approval of Spot Bitcoin ETF Should Not Be Overinterpreted

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated on Wednesday that despite expectations that a spot Ethereum ETF might be the next to receive approval, the agencys recent approval of several spot Bitcoin trading products earlier this month is limited to this particular cryptocurrency.　　When asked about his views on an Ethereum ETF during a media briefing, Gensler said, “As I said two weeks ago, what we did with the bitcoin trading platform products is limited to this non-security commodity and shouldnt be read as beyond that.”　　Gensler noted, “In that context, theres more disclosure. They are now listed on stock exchanges rather than traded in the over-the-counter markets. There are 10 or 11 listed now, bringing a certain level of competition. Youve seen some competition, and investors benefit from it because the fees have come down.”　　

2024-01-25Deep Dive

CZ's $4.5 Billion Binance Equity Pledge for U.S. Travel Denied by Judge

According to CNBC, new court documents reveal that Binance founder CZ proposed to use $4.5 billion worth of Binance equity as collateral to return to the U.S. but was rejected by a judge.　　In a letter to Judge Richard Jones dated December 22, CZs lawyers stated that the valuation of CZs shares was based on Binances last funding round two years ago.　　Earlier, a federal judge had rejected CZs request to travel to the United Arab Emirates for important personal matters related to hospitalization and surgery in December 2023.　　

2024-01-25Deep Dive

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