Algorand Foundation Opposes Restructuring of Troubled Crypto Exchange Hodlnaut_coin has dog meme

Users who held assets on bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and lender Celsius Network can now trade their claims on the Open Exchange (OPNX). According to a press release, claims can be converted into the platform's reborn OX (reOX) or oUSD tokens. This offers immediate liquidity, control over funds, and the chance to participate in market opportunities. The tokens can be used as collateral to trade on OPNX. The platform was co-founded by CoinFlex's Mark and Leslie Lamb alongside Three Arrows Capital's Kyle Davies and Su Zhu. Three Arrows Capital was one of the first dominos to fall in last year's cryptocurrency bear market. Edited by Sheldon Reback.Solana-based decentralized exchange Raydium is proposing the creation of a bug bounty program worth 10 million RAY tokens (about $2.3 million) to squash bugs affecting the protocol's core smart contracts. The program would target Raydium's Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker smart contracts and would be managed through bug bounty platform Immunefi. The proposal is part of a broader effort to boost community participation in protocol governance. Raydium's liquidity pools held over $37 million in total value locked, with its native token RAY worth 23 cents Thursday, according to CoinGecko. The proposal is part of a wider effort to boost community engagement on Solana, which is not as strong as on other blockchain platforms. The program would reward white hat hackers as much as $505,000 or as little as $5,000 in RAY tokens depending on the severity of the detected bug.Base, the layer 2 blockchain developed by Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), has completed a series of security audits as it prepares to launch its mainnet with the aim of attracting as many as 1 million new crypto users in coming years. The audits were conducted by Coinbase's protocol security team and over 100 external security researchers to test the blockchain's security and identify potential vulnerabilities. The team used a technique called fuzzing to find implementation bugs and audited all of Optimism's pre-deployments and smart contracts on both layer 1 and layer 2. Cross-chain bridges, which are commonly used attack vectors for hackers and exploiters, were also audited. Base has not provided a date for when the mainnet will go live, but it has said it will not feature a native token unlike other layer 2 blockchains Polygon, Optimism, and Arbitrum. Edited by Sheldon Reback.

The attacker behind Euler Finance's $200 million exploit has apologized and returned more funds to the protocol, seemingly in a series of messages sent on the blockchain. The hacker, who now identifies as Jacob, sent over 7,000 ether and $10 million worth of dai stablecoins to the protocol in the past 12 hours, bringing the total amount returned to over $120 million. The attacker had previously sent over 51,000 ether to Euler over the weekend. In a message encoded in a transaction, the hacker apologized for their actions, saying 'I f**d up' and 'I didn't mean all that.' The lending protocol suffered an exploit earlier this month that resulted in almost $200 million being lost over four transactions in dai, wrapped bitcoin, staked ether, and USD coin. The attacker used a flash loan to conduct the attack by temporarily tricking the protocol into falsely assuming it held varying amounts of eToken and dToken. Euler had earlier threatened legal action and offered a $1 million bounty to the hacker in return for the funds.Chainlink's LINK token has seen a significant surge in value this week, with wealthy investors swapping ether for link following the release of the company's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). On-chain data shows that some whales have added upward of $6 million to their link holdings, lifting prices as much as 6%. The increased demand has helped extend weekly gains to over 25%. CCIP is designed to help build cross-chain applications and services, and is now available to all developers across five testnets. Prices of other oracle protocols, such as Band Protocol and Uma, have also risen in the past 24 hours. Oracles are blockchain-based services that fetch data from outside a blockchain, and Chainlink's CCIP is a significant development in the space. The article is well-written and provides a clear overview of the current state of the market and the impact of Chainlink's release.Rocket Pool, a decentralized Ethereum-based staking service, experienced the largest daily redemption of its rocketpool ether (rETH) token this week, with one trader redeeming $12.3 million worth of the token before sending it to Binance. rETH is an ERC-20 token that traders receive in exchange for depositing ether (ETH) into Rocket Pool's staking protocol. Instead of requiring a 32 ether deposit to become a validator, Rocket Pool allows traders to stake in fractions. The trader reportedly sent the ether to Binance after redeeming staked ether on Rocket Pool. Rocket Pool currently has $1.88 billion in total value locked (TVL), making it the second largest liquid staking protocol after Lido, according to DefiLlama. Traders stake ether on Rocket Pool to receive a yield, which is currently at 3.64% APR for regular staking and 8.62% for staking 8 ether. Redemptions occur when a trader is looking to either free up liquidity or secure a better yield elsewhere. Binance's ether staking portal currently offers around 4.07% APR. Rocket Pool's native token (RPL) has endured a slight correction this month, falling by more than 25% from $38.51 to $30 since the turn of the month.

Crypto markets are looking to recapture momentum following a down week, with trading volume increasing for both bitcoin and ether but trailing their 20-day moving averages. The CoinDesk Bitcoin Trend Indicator has signaled neutral again, and investors will be watching to see if both assets can recapture their average. Volume will be key to watch, as the sentiment behind any directional move will be amplified or muted by the level of trading volume. The steady decline in trading volume for the two assets implies a reluctance for new market participants to take on risk, and existing market participants to add more. The relative strength index (RSI) readings for both are nestled in a neutral range, with bitcoin's at 44.17 and ether's at 46.25. The RSI indicator ranges from 0 to 100, and is often used as a proxy for momentum; readings above 70 imply that an asset may be overbought, while readings below 30 indicate that an asset may be oversold. Since 2015, BTC and ETH's 30-day performance following similar RSI readings has been relatively mild, with bitcoin historically finishing 4.1% higher, and ETH finishing 2% lower. Absent an external catalyst, investors may read the direction of stablecoins as an indication of where prices are going next. The stablecoin supply ratio (SSR) is a bitcoin-specific metric, measuring BTC's market cap versus the market cap of a basket of stablecoins. Lower volumes indicate greater buying power while higher values indicate the opposite. In this regard, the 11% decline in the SSR since May 5, implies that additional buying strength exists within BTC markets. The aggregate supply of stablecoins on exchanges measures the total supply of stablecoins held on exchange addresses. Increases in aggregate supply are an indication of additional capital available for deployment across all cryptocurrencies. Stablecoin exchange balance is down 47% year to date, despite BTC and ETH trading 65% and 53% higher on the year. An increase in stablecoins supplied to exchanges however, could serve as a signal that prices are poised to move higher.The EOS Foundation will grant funds to EOS-based applications, among other steps, as the platform gears for a “new life.”nA blockchain that raised $4 billion in its initial coin offering (ICO) with little to show in its early years is aiming for crypto glory once again – years after almost being written off by skeptics.nEOS, whose native eos (EOS) tokens once reached a market capitalization of $14 billion at a lifetime peak, is gearing up for a complete resurgence in network activity and growth with extensive support planned for application developers.nThat is thanks to the efforts of EOS Network Foundation, whose CEO, Yves La Rose, is leading plans for a consensus mechanism upgrade, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) system and an overall renewed growth strategy, per crypto research firm Messari.nThe EVM mainnet is slated for April 14 release, with updates and improvements planned in the weeks and months to follow.n“Combining the performance of EOS with the familiarity of Ethereum, Solidity developers are in for a treat,” Rose tweeted last week. “At 800+ swaps per second, $EOS EVM will be BY FAR the fastest EVM, benchmarked 3x faster than Solana + BNB and 25x faster than Avax.”nEVMs refer to the environment in which all Ethereum accounts and smart contracts live, serving as a virtual computer utilized by developers for creating decentralized applications (dapps). When deployed on other blockchains, EVMs can allow developers to build dapps and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications similar to how they would on Ethereum.nEVMs are a large part of EOS’ future plans.n“Many of the developers who have left EOS have done so not because they want to, but because Ethereum, for all its deficiencies, is where the action is,” the foundation said in a January post.n“EVM compatibility is essential to the potential of EOS, not just technically but also from a business perspective. Ultimately, it is essential that we welcome more Solidity developers and users to EOS, and an EVM on EOS is an excellent bridge to do just that,” it added at the time.nA grants program will fund developers working on such applications, starting from $10,000 to over $50,000 based on criterias such as the size and scope of the initiative.nGrants can be provided to builders of wholly new products, or to fund maintenance and upgrades of existing tools.nEOS tokens and ecosystem to benefitnNetwork upgrades, grant programs and interoperability with other blockchains could ultimately bolster eos token prices and the $125 million in total locked value (TVL) on EOS-based DeFi applications.nThe tokens trade just over $1.20 in Asian morning hours on Monday, down 10 cents from Friday. Price-chart analysis suggests resistance at $1.80 if the tokens jump in the coming weeks, with another major resistance at $2.90.nAs such, TVL has already increased $50 million since the start of this year in the leadup to April’s EVM launch. Applications such as EOS REX and Vigor, both lending protocols, have added more than 8% in lock value in the past week alone.nPer Messari, the network is averaging 1.3 million daily transactions and 38,000 daily active addresses on a year-to-date basis and averaging 1,785 new addresses per day.Aave token holders have started voting on two governance proposals in response to the systemic liquidation risk posed by Curve founder Michael Egorov's large borrowing position on the lending protocol. The proposals, authored by on-chain risk management platform Chaos Labs, aim to disable the borrowing of CRV on Ethereum and Polygon V3, as well as reduce the liquidation threshold of CRV. The votes, which end on August 12, are direct responses to the averted liquidation threat posed by Egorov's lending positions on Aave, in which he deposited 34% of CRV's total market cap to borrow upwards of $63 million. The proposals have been motivated by the recent Curve exploit, which saw the price of CRV plummet and put Egorov's assets under liquidation pressure. Despite Egorov's efforts to pay off portions of his debt through OTC deals, the potential liquidation has prompted Aave token-holders to take action to prevent further risk. The proposals aim to disable the ability to short CRV via the Aave protocol and reduce the liquidation threshold for CRV, which would prevent crypto users from borrowing CRV to dump and further impact its price. Aave is currently trading at $67.78, while the price of CRV is 61 cents, per CoinDesk market data. Chaos Labs CEO Omer Goldberg indicated in the governance vote that the motivation behind one of the proposals is to disable the ability to short CRV via the Aave protocol. The votes have been prompted by the recent Curve exploit, which exposed serious risks in the DeFi ecosystem. The outcome of the votes could have significant implications for the future of Curve and the broader DeFi market.

Cardano blockchain activity in the second quarter grew in both value locked and transactional metrics from the first quarter amid technical improvements and a rise in developer interest, a report by analytics firm Messari shows. While decentralized exchange Minswap showed the largest absolute growth, several new decentralized applications, or dapps, also contributed to the increase. The report, which was commissioned by Cardano developer Input Output, compared second-quarter developments against first-quarter figures. It noted that while transaction activity grew, the number of active daily users decreased 4% — the fourth drop in address activity in the past five quarters. 'The ratio of transactions to active addresses has been growing steadily over the past five quarters, suggesting that the average user is more active now than they previously were,' the report said. 'In Q2, the Transaction / Active Address ratio of 1.19 was up 6.1% QoQ and 13.2% YoY.' Blockchain load — a measure of how much data is contained in blocks over a certain period — rose to 50% from under 40% in the previous three months. It peaked at 81% in May. DeFiLlama data shows that $175 million worth of tokens are locked on Cardano as of Monday, the highest level for this year, but still about 50% below a lifetime peak of $340 million hit in May 2022. Such activity comes on the back of key Cardano upgrades since the start of this year. A change to reduce 'epoch' transitions and make the blockchain smoother for network users took effect in June. Epochs refer to the time periods on Cardano, with epoch lasting 432,000 slots and each slot being one second. ADA tokens are staked during these epochs during which new blocks on the Cardano network are produced, potentially increasing demand for the tokens as block rewards become more lucrative, based on activity. In March, a feature on Milkomeda, a network that connects blockchains to the Ethereum Virtual Machine, or EVM, began to allow Cardano blockchain users to gain access to EVM smart contracts with any cardano (ADA) wallet, expanding the ecosystem's usefulness. An Ethereum Virtual Machine is where all Ethereum accounts and smart contracts live, serving as a virtual computer used by developers to create dapps. The new feature will allow Ethereum application developers to build on Cardano’s network using Solidity — the computer language used to code Ethereum — without needing to install new toolkits or learn a new computer language. Such applications can then be used solely with Cardano tokens instead of ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum network, increasing the tokens' utility for holders.New zkSync-based decentralized exchange Merlin was exploited for over $1.8 million during a public sale of its mage (MAGE) tokens. The attack occurred despite Merlin touting an audit conducted by blockchain security firm CertiK. On-chain data reveals that $1.82 million in total had been stolen, with the funds being bridged back to the Ethereum network before being converted to ether. The project garnered hype among Crypto Twitter users for its attractive yield offered on deposits. Merlin developers did not issue any statement regarding the funds drain on Wednesday at press time. CertiK's Twitter response to the loss of funds included plans for compensation, but the company has since deleted the tweet. The exploit was not a complex or sophisticated one, as blockchain data suggested that an entity with control of the liquidity pool was able to drain the funds easily. The total amount raised during the public sale will determine the final price of tokens for all users, developers said Tuesday. Arkham Intelligence provided on-chain data that revealed the funds were bridged back to the Ethereum network before being converted to ether.Decentralized crypto exchange Trader Joe is set to launch an upgraded version of its Liquidity Book, which will make it more efficient for depositors to add tokens to its liquidity pools. The upgrade, scheduled for release next week, will also introduce 'auto-pools' that will automatically manage depositors' active positions in high-yield liquidity pools to mitigate risk. Additionally, a new rewards program will be introduced to distribute tokens to participants in Trader Joe's concentrated liquidity. Trader Joe has $131.78 million in total value locked and has done over $520 million in trading volume since March 26, according to DefiLlama. The price of JOE was trading at 60 cents at press time. nnThe upgrade is intended to improve the on-chain trading experience and make it easier for depositors to contribute to Trader Joe's liquidity pools. The exchange currently has three implementations on Arbitrum, BNB Chain, and Avalanche, with the largest being on Avalanche. nnThe news comes as a report by Kaiko Data found that crypto liquidity is heavily concentrated on a handful of exchanges, with Uniswap and SushiSwap accounting for the majority of liquidity. However, Trader Joe's upgrade is aimed at improving the liquidity experience for depositors and mitigating risk through the use of auto-pools. nnThe Fed's next sharp pivot could come from a liquidity crunch, according to an economist, as the central bank's balance sheet shrinks and liquidity dries up. Bitcoin holds steady above $17,000, while Celsius is 'deeply insolvent,' according to the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation. nnOverall, Trader Joe's upgrade is a positive development for the decentralized exchange space and could attract more depositors and traders to the platform. The introduction of auto-pools and a new rewards program could also help to mitigate risk and improve the overall liquidity experience for users.

Liquidity across bitcoin trading pairs has slumped and failed to recover since the collapse of FTX in November. The apparent exit or reduction in trading by Jane Street and Jump Crypto, two influential cryptocurrency market makers, has the potential to disrupt the fragile flow of liquidity across the industry. Jane Street and Jump are paring back crypto trading in the U.S., amid the regulatory clampdown that spawned out of FTX's collapse. Jump's crypto division will continue to expand globally while Jane Street will scale back on its growth plans. The news is not necessarily surprising given recent developments, but what's concerning is that liquidity has still not recovered from Alameda's collapse, and a slowdown with two of the biggest surviving market makers could weigh on liquidity even further. Market depth, a metric used to measure liquidity on exchanges, slumped by more than 50% following the collapse of FTX and has failed to recover despite a rise in crypto prices. Crypto-native market makers, unlike traditional firms such as Jane Street and Jump, aren't put off by the duo's exodus as the issue is constrained to the U.S. market. An absence of liquidity causes an increase in volatility, which has the potential to create a credit risk that could spread to all sectors of finance.An Ethereum wallet funded by a beneficiary of the Multichain exploit has sold $2.4 million of Chainlink's token (LINK) and $1.8 million worth of WOO Network (WOO) tokens on Uniswap, causing the price of WOO to slump by 8%. The wallet, which was created on Friday morning, received funds from an address tagged as 'suspicious' by etherscan. It obtained the tag after it received lockup funds from Multichain team's multi-signature address despite being unknown to the Multichain team. Multichain ceased operations last month after the company's CEO Zhaojun and his sister were held in detention by Chinese police. The bridging protocol was exploited a few weeks prior with $130 million being stolen across several blockchains before being sent to the wallet tagged as suspicious on etherscan. Alongside deposits of WOO and LINK, the wallet received $800,000 worth of CRV tokens and $870,000 worth of YFI, both of which are actively being sold on Uniswap.Ethereum scaling blockchain Arbitrum has distributed over $120 million worth of its arb (ARB) tokens to projects built on the network, with some projects selling their allocation immediately, while others plan to use it to strengthen their development and user engagement. The airdrop, which was based on network activity and number of wallets, was sent to over 131 decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), with NFT marketplace TreasureDAO and gaming-focused TridentDAO receiving the largest allocations. Some projects, like Vesta Finance, plan to use their airdrop to bolster their development, while others, like PlutusDAO, will use their allocation in multiple ways to make their project stronger. The airdrop has spurred both excitement and criticism from the community, with some projects selling their tokens immediately, while others are holding onto their allocation in anticipation of future growth.