According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, the amount of money netted from decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks in the first four months of 2022, $1.57 billion, has already surpassed the amount netted in all of 2021, $1.55 billion. Chainalysis found a similar trend, with the hacker haul in the first three months of 2022 exceeding a record set in the third quarter of 2021. The biggest hacks were Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge exploit ($650 million), the Wormhole network exploit ($320 million) and the Beanstalk Farms governance attack ($180 million). The biggest hacks of 2022 were carried out by attackers spotting vulnerabilities in smart contracts and protocols, especially in cross-chain bridges and flash loan protocols. According to Chainalysis, because blockchain code is typically public, hackers can view it easily to spot vulnerabilities and manipulate the protocol to exploit it. [Read more]
Nigeria’s SEC Affirms All Digital Assets Are Securities in New Rulebook
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria’s new rulebook says that a digital asset is a token that represents assets such as a debt or equity claim on the issuer, and thus by default is under the purview of the regulator. The rules also require exchanges to be “fair, reasonable, and transparent” with their fees, and registered exchanges will also need to provide the SEC with a list of assets they intend to trade and get a “no objection” letter for each asset. [Read more]
Nayib Bukele says 44 countries to meet in El Salvador to discuss bitcoin
Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, said that officials from financial authorities from 44 emerging market countries met in El Salvador today (May 16, 2022) to discuss financial inclusion, the digital economy, banking the unbanked, the Bitcoin rollout and its benefits in El Salvador. El Salvador became the first nation to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender in September 2021. It also holds over 2,000 bitcoins on its balance sheet. [Read more]
Upcoming events I’m affiliated with:
Satoshi Capital Advisors is hosting a virtual workshop on wholesale CBDC, stablecoins and digital capital markets on May 24 (starting at 08:00 EST). [Register here with the passcode: CBDC]
The CBDC Think Tank is hosting a CBDC Papers Lecture Series on June 17 and 24, each session starting at 7am EST and running for 3 hours. [View list of papers and register here]