Gate.io Podcast | SHIB surges 25% after being listed on Robinhood, Genies becomes the new unicorn in the Metaverse field
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Robinhood has added four new cryptocurrencies, and Shiba Inu and Solana immediately surged. 1 | 2 |
NFT virtual avatar start-up Genies valued at $1 billion after Series C funding | 1 | 2 Pantera Capital to close $1.3 billion blockchain fund 1 | 2 |
30% income tax on cryptocurrency in India takes effect, and the trading volume of cryptocurrency exchanges plunges | 1 | 2 Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith sentenced to five years in prison for trip to North Korea 1 | 2 | 3 |
Sponsor: Solice ( Airdrop In-depth analysis: Aftermath of the $650 million hack on Axie Infinity’s Ronin sidechain 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
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Introduction:
Welcome back to the Altcoin News Podcast! This series, launched by Gate.io, aims to provide a neutral perspective on the latest headlines in DeFi, Metaverse, NFT, and major tech companies. Gate.io is a centralized exchange that maintains a neutral stance on current affairs and is committed to protecting user privacy and security.
The information provided in this podcast is intended to help you understand the latest developments in the crypto field and does not constitute any investment advice. You are free to check the sources of the news reported in this podcast. I will teach you how to prevent and discern, so please don’t go away.
Now, let’s get into the formal program.
Robinhood has added four new cryptocurrencies, and Shiba Inu and Solana have subsequently surged. 1 | 2 |
On Tuesday morning, fintech trading platform Robinhood launched four new cryptocurrencies, bringing the total number of cryptocurrencies supported by the platform to 11. The four new coins are: Ethereum’s strong rival Solana (SOL), the dog-themed meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB), Ethereum’s scaling technology Polygon (MATIC), and the originator of decentralized finance tokens Compound (COMP).
An hour after the news broke, SHIB surged nearly 25%, while three other coins also experienced single-digit gains. Solana is up 4%, Polygon is up 6% and Compound is up 5%. But at the same time, most other cryptocurrencies are under pressure, with Bitcoin falling 2% and Ether teetering on the edge of a slight decline.
However, all four of the new listings have experienced significant declines in 2022, with SHIB performing well at just 17% and COMP, SOL, and MATIC all down about 40%. In contrast, Bitcoin is down only 15% year-to-date, and its price was actually flat last year before falling again last week.
Robinhood shares rose
Since Robinhood started offering crypto trading services in 2018, users have been calling for more coins to be listed. Among them, SHIB has the highest demand because it shares the same theme as Dogecoin. In the summer of 2018, Dogecoin became one of the most traded assets on Robinhood after it was launched on Robinhood.
However, the company has avoided listing the coin until now due to concerns about the huge volatility of SHIB. Steve Quirl, Robinhood’s president of brokerage, said in a statement: “We are excited to provide our users with more investment options, and we are committed to making Robinhood the best platform to invest in cryptocurrency.”
Speaking at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami last Thursday, Robinhood’s chief product officer, Aparna Chennapragada, noted that the company recently announced that its cryptocurrency wallet has more than 2 million users, but digital assets are unlikely to have much of an impact on Robinhood.
Robinhood’s shares rose 3% on Tuesday, but they have fallen nearly 37% so far this year. The company is currently under pressure from a slowdown in cryptocurrency trading volumes and a significant decline in retail investor participation.
Last week, Goldman Sachs analysts downgraded the company from “neutral” to “sell”, citing limited opportunities for short-term profitability amid “waning retail participation”. Goldman Sachs set Robinhood’s price target at $13, 66% below the group’s initial offering price and about 10% above Tuesday’s share price.
NFT virtual avatar startup Genies valued at $1 billion after Series C financing | 1 | 2 |
NFT startup Genies announced on Tuesday that it has raised $150 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at $1 billion and making it a unicorn in the metaverse space, the latest platform focusing on cryptocurrencies.
Based in Los Angeles, Genies’ virtual avatars allow people to customize their own personalized avatars according to their needs, and it also provides celebrities with virtual avatars that can be used as their alter egos in online activities. The company claims to occupy 99% of the market share of virtual avatars for celebrities, allowing people to interact in the metaverse with the same identity across different places.
The funding round was led by private equity firm Silver Lake, with participation from Tamarack Global, BOND, and NEA. As of 2021, Silver Lake manages $88 billion in assets. Genies stated that the raised funds will be used to recruit engineering talent and develop the core technology of Genies’ virtual avatars.
The company will drive its blockchain-based strategy and continue to launch avatar creation tools that allow anyone to create their own virtual avatars, virtual clothing, homes, and experiences. However, so far, the virtual avatars developed by Genies have not been used in games.
Established in 2017, Genies is a virtual avatar technology company that initially targeted social media and messaging platforms. After completing a $65 million funding round in May 2021, Genies partnered with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to provide official virtual avatars and digital goods NFTs for both companies.
Genies recently launched The Warehouse, a virtual avatar ecosystem NFT marketplace where creators can buy, sell, and trade virtual avatar ecosystem works. All works are minted on Dapper Labs’ blockchain network Flow.
In addition, in the beta version of the consumer avatar creation tool, which is currently available to a small group of invited users, Genies allows users with different technical levels to create their own Web 3 virtual avatars and clothing, and eventually create their own virtual homes and social experiences.
Pantera Capital to shut down $1.3 billion blockchain fund | 1 | 2 |
Pantera Capital announced plans to close its first blockchain fund, the Pantera Blockchain Fund, in the next three to four weeks during an investor conference call on Wednesday, with approximately $1.3 billion already committed.
That’s more than double the company’s initial fundraising target of $600 million set last November. Pantera said last month that it had committed more than $1 billion at that time. The blockchain fund will be used to invest in Web3 startups and early-stage tokens and digital tokens with good liquidity levels.
At the same time, Pantera also plans to launch a second blockchain fund in 2023 and a growth fund in 2024. Franklin Bi, director of portfolio development at Pantera, said that the second fund will invest in essentially the same targets as the first fund, namely early-stage investments, token private placements and venture capital.
“We will also launch a larger, more diversified growth fund in 2024 with a potentially longer investment horizon.” Bi added.
Pantera Capital is the world’s largest cryptocurrency hedge fund in terms of assets under management (AUM). In 2013, Pantera Capital launched its first fund in the United States focused on Bitcoin investment. As of January 2022, Pantera had $5.6 billion in assets under management. Pantera invests the money raised from investors in promising projects, and then distributes the returns to investors and charges a fee.
The company also plans to set up a $200 million Select Fund focused on investing in “more mature and revenue-generating companies than our usual seed and Series A ventures.” The Select Fund will be the fifth fund after the Venture Capital Fund, the Bitcoin Fund, the Early Token Fund, and the Liquid Token Fund.
Despite the fact that this week has experienced a correction in the price of cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin and in 7 days ETH price The entire market has fallen 15% - the spending of Web3 venture capital firms is still high. As reported earlier, Kathryn Haun, a former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, announced last month that she had raised $1.5 billion for her Haun Ventures to invest in early and growth-stage Web3 companies. In June last year, Andreessen Horowitz raised $2.2 billion for its Crypto Fund III. In November, Paradigm, led by Matt Huang and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, announced the establishment of a $2.5 billion fund.
India’s 30% Crypto Income Tax Takes Effect, Cryptocurrency Exchange Volume Plummets | 1 | 2 |
According to data collected by cryptocurrency research institute Crebaco, trading volume on major cryptocurrency exchanges in India has dropped by 70% in just 10 days since April 1, the day the new cryptocurrency tax takes effect.
India now imposes a 30% tax on gains from cryptocurrency transactions, and it is not allowed to offset gains with losses from other cryptocurrency transactions. The most controversial clause – an additional 1% tax deduction at source on related transactions – will come into effect on 1 July.
A collation of data compiled by data firms CoinMarketCap and Nomics on the trading volume of India’s four major exchanges shows that WazirX’s trading volume fell by 72% (from $47.8 million on April 1 to $13.2 million on April 10), ZebPay fell by 59%, CoinDCX fell by 52% (from $12.16 million to $5.76 million), and BitBns fell by 41%.
In addition to the cryptocurrency tax, which is directly inspired by India’s gambling laws, many payment providers that offer Unified Payment Interface (UPI) access have also severed their partnerships with exchanges. At the same time, payment processors such as MobiKwik have recently terminated their partnerships with companies such as WazirX and other cryptocurrency exchanges following a warning from the government.
In fact, many stakeholders in the crypto community have already warned that these detached tax measures and restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions will cause more harm to India’s booming crypto economy, and the early effects are already in sight.
Sathvik Vishwanath, co-founder and CEO of Indian exchange Unocoin, said the new tax law is indeed having a negative impact on the market.
“People earning less than INR 1,000,000 (about USD 13,000) per annum are subject to a 30% crypto fixed income tax. The 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) affects the interests of market makers and liquidity providers. Both of these are necessary for a better crypto ecosystem. ”
However, some believe that the decline in trading volume on Indian exchanges is largely in line with the global trend. Anton Gulin, regional director of the AAX exchange, said the decline in trading volume should be short-term.
“I think changing the tax rate to attract more taxpayers is the ultimate goal of the government,” Gulin said.
Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith sentenced to five years in prison for his trip to North Korea | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith was sentenced on Wednesday to 63 months in prison and fined $100,000 for helping North Koreans use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions. Another achievement of Virgil Griffith, known as the Romanpoet, was the development of WikiScanner.
Seven months after speaking at a cryptocurrency conference in Pyongyang in April 2019, Griffith was arrested and charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as well as helping North Koreans evade U.S. sanctions through cryptocurrency.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman previously said in a letter that Griffith traveled to North Korea without permission from the U.S. government and “provided highly technical information to North Korea knowing that it could be used to help North Koreans launder money and evade sanctions.”
Prosecutors wrote in court documents that the famous hacker Griffith also developed “cryptocurrency infrastructure and equipment inside North Korea.” Back in 2019, he advised more than 100 attendees, including several suspected North Korean government staffers, on how to use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions and achieve independence from the global banking system.
However, the United States and the United Nations Security Council have imposed increasingly stringent sanctions on North Korea in recent years to stop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The U.S. government revised its sanctions program against North Korea in 2018 to ban “Americans wherever they are” from exporting technology to Pyongyang.
In a lawsuit with federal prosecutors, Griffith pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in September 2021. Although the maximum sentence for the crime was 20 years, Griffith’s plea agreement reduced the sentence to 63 to 78 months (about 5 to 6.5 years). Griffith has been in detention for about two years, but 14 of those months have been released on bail, and the court still counts the remaining 10 months toward his sentence.
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Sponsor | Solice
Before I start today’s ‘in-depth analysis’ section, I would like to introduce our sponsor Solice, a VR metaverse built on the Solana chain, dedicated to providing a space for users to achieve cross-platform gaming, building, owning, socializing, and earning virtual experiences, ensuring high-quality immersive experiences.
Despite the chaos in the Solice community due to the first land sale in recent weeks, the team announced earlier this month that they will conduct a soft launch shortly after the land sale ends.
Solice first launched a soft launch in December 2021, where they successfully completed a $4.36 million seed round and private sale led by Three Arrows Capital, Animoca Brands, and Defiance Capital. Solice Metaverse will release a limited trial version for early experiencers to play and enjoy the metaverse. The first version of the soft launch will be compatible with VR devices, providing players with an immersive virtual world experience.
Solice provides the infrastructure for the metaverse. Solice Metaverse supports multiple platforms, eliminating barriers between different hardware, software, and operating systems, allowing more users to invite their friends and family to connect, and increasing the possibility of exponential user growth.
Solice is a comprehensive and ambitious metaverse project with a large target user group, ranging from gamers (P2E aspect) to DeFi users (staking), to businesses (purchasing or building and then renting advertising space), which makes up the entirety of the Solice metaverse.
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In-depth analysis | Aftermath of the $650 million hack on Axie Infinity’s Ronin sidechain | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Hacking
As reported in late March, Ronin, an Ethereum sidechain built for the well-known P2E NFT game Axie Infinity, was stolen by hackers with over 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC, with a total value of more than $600 million.
According to an official report released by Sky Mavis, the developer of Axie Infinity, hackers stole the private keys of validators, resulting in the destruction of 5 validators needed to approve transactions. The Ronin chain currently consists of 9 validator nodes, 4 of which the hacker has taken control of, as well as a third-party validator run by the Axie DAO.
Further analysis revealed that the root cause of the vulnerability dates back to last year, when Axie DAO allowed Sky Mavis to approve transactions on its behalf to reduce traffic. But that access was never revoked, culminating in hackers accessing through a backdoor this year.
To make matters worse, the hack actually took place on March 23, but it was only discovered nearly a week later. Had Sky Mavis been aware of this vulnerability earlier, could this hack have been avoided?
The hack on Ronin demonstrated the need for decentralization. When a system is designed with the goal of distributing power and security, it must be: distributed. It has proven to be extremely insecure that 4 out of 9 validators are controlled by one party.
While Sky Mavis claims that there is no vulnerability because there are no technical flaws, the fact that the developers forgot to revoke access to third-party validators, allowing hackers to exploit and gain access to one of the validators, points to a degree of centralization in the validation process, which ultimately led to the loss of $600 million worth of crypto assets.
finale
The Ronin Bridge was shut down after the hack and all deposit and withdrawal services were stopped until the investigation was concluded, and it could take weeks before it was open to users again. Sky Mavis has enlisted the help of several exchanges and analytics firm Chainalysis in the hope that they will be able to help track down and recover the stolen funds.
In addition, Sky Mavis promises that even if the lost funds cannot be recovered, they will ensure that the affected users are compensated in the corresponding amount. On April 6, the company announced that they had raised $150 million, led by Binance and other investors, to help deliver on that promise.
However, despite Sky Mavis’ assurances, Axie Infinity’s native token, AXS, fell by nearly 30% in two weeks. The AXS/USDT trading pair fell to $44 on the Gate.io exchange on April 11, the lowest level since March 16, indicating that traders and investors have weakened their buying propensity after the hacking incident.
Many in the crypto community hope that the hackers behind the Ronin sidechain vulnerability will eventually be able to return the stolen funds, as it is quite difficult to launder that much money. Data analytics firm Elliptic has traced $540 million in stolen funds and believes hackers have begun money laundering.
First, the stolen USDC was swapped for ETH on a decentralized exchange (DEX) to avoid being frozen, and then hackers began laundering ETH through three centralized exchanges. In addition, hackers’ wallets have also started transferring money to mixing services such as Tornado Cash.
lesson
When Logan Evans discovers that Axie Infinity has been the victim of one of the biggest cryptocurrency heists of all time, he fears that he has lost everything. “My first reaction was, ‘Oh my God——, I’m running out of money?’ Have all the hard work I’ve been doing for so long been in vain? Evans said he was angry at the company’s sluggish response, “I think that’s the worst thing about not realizing it for six whole days after the attack.” ”
So the most important point is that for a well-known game like Axie Infinity, which is valued at $4 billion and has millions of users, developers can definitely do a better job of cross-chain bridge security, especially in the context of cross-chain bridge platforms that have been victims of quite a few hacks and asset thefts over the past few years.
A common misconception about cryptocurrency hacking is: “Hackers can’t hit me because I’m highly security conscious and I’m using a hard wallet.” It is true that we can avoid being directly attacked by malicious hackers with good security measures, but anyone can become an indirect victim of an attack against others. When the number of hacker attacks increases, so does the chance of becoming an indirect victim.
