Hong Kong’s Metalpha Secures $5M Investment from Bitmain

Cryptocurrency Losses Surge to $686 Million in Q3The cryptocurrency industry has witnessed a turbulent third quarter, with losses surging to $686 million. This unsettling development marks the worst quarter of the year, contributing to $1.4 billion in total losses year-to-date.Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashImmunefi reportThese alarming statistics have been unveiled in a report by Singapore-headquartered blockchain security firm Immunefi. According to the report, the number of crypto hacking incidents skyrocketed by 153% year-over-year in the third quarter, with 76 separate incidents recorded.This stands in stark contrast to the same period in 2022, which saw a mere 30 hacking incidents. Furthermore, the losses resulting from these incidents witnessed a 60% increase, surging from approximately $429 million in Q3 2022 to the current level of $685 million. This marks the highest loss recorded for the year.Devastating hacksOf these incidents, two major hacks targeting Mixin Network and Multichain were particularly devastating, accounting for nearly half of the total losses in the quarter at $326 million. The Mixin Network hack, attributed to North Korean-sponsored hackers known as the Lazarus Group, underscores the involvement of state-backed actors in crypto-related cybercrimes.The Lazarus Group’s fingerprints were also found in major hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges, including CoinEx, Alphapo, and Stake, as well as digital payments firm CoinsPaid. Web3 projects based in Japan have been particularly hard hit by the hacker group’s activities. The group was responsible for losses exceeding $200 million.An overwhelming majority of the total Q3 losses, approximately 97%, were attributed to hacking incidents, while frauds and scams constituted a mere 3%. Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols bore the brunt of the damage, with nearly $500 million lost, compared to over $185 million stolen from centralized exchanges and services. This highlights the vulnerability of DeFi platforms and the intricacies of smart contract code that underlie many of these applications.Among the targeted blockchains, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Coinbase-incubated Base blockchain were the most prominent, with Ethereum being hit by 35 out of 82 chain losses. These platforms were singled out due to the substantial funds they held and the high level of activity on their networks.Greater recovery effortsThough the situation may appear bleak, there is a glimmer of hope in the form of recovery efforts. Immunefi reports an 8.9% recovery rate, with $61.2 million of stolen funds successfully reclaimed in six cases. Notably, Mixin Network recently introduced a $20 million “bug bounty” in a bid to incentivize the return of stolen funds, underscoring the cryptocurrency industry’s unwavering determination to combat these challenges.Immunefi itself has played a pivotal role in mitigating crypto-related risks, disbursing over $80 million in bounties and safeguarding more than $25 billion in user funds across various protocols. The company’s recent launch of on-chain vaults represents a significant step toward decentralizing its bug bounty platform, further fortifying security within the crypto ecosystem.

Rotonda and Bithumb META to Co-Host Next Block 2023 Conference for Web3 CollaborationsRotonda, a subsidiary of Korean crypto exchange Bithumb and the operator of the Web3 Burrito Wallet, and Bithumb META, the exchange’s metaverse subsidiary, said Friday they will jointly host the Next Block 2023 conference. The conference’s main objective is to explore new business collaboration opportunities in building a new ecosystem for accelerating Web3 projects.“We are pleased to offer a space for interaction where virtual asset exchanges, wallets, and NFT marketplaces — which constitute the core infrastructure of the Web3 industry — can work together to set the stage for an innovative future of blockchain business,” a representative from Burrito Wallet said.Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashExploring Web3 and industry insightsThe inaugural Next Block conference is scheduled for September 4 at Amoris Hall in Yeoksam GS Tower located in Seoul.Bithumb is the main sponsor of the conference, and more than 15 companies from various sectors including decentralized finance (DeFi), Play-to-Earn (P2E) gaming, venture capital, and securities are set to attend. A total of ten companies will pitch business ideas, deliver keynote speeches, and participate in panel and networking sessions. Topics to be covered for the event include transitioning to Web3 and discovering new opportunities and paradigms through blockchain.Junbo Yang, investment manager at Hong Kong’s HashKey Capital, and Kim Do-hyung, CEO of blockchain-based investment banking platform Finhaven, will deliver the keynote speeches, discussing the various perspectives of investment and security tokens. Companies like Property Heroes, Oasis, Mineral Hub, and more will participate in the panel discussions.Key business opportunitiesIn particular, the companies that give business pitches will have the chance to present their business models directly to venture capitalists and key industry figures. They can subsequently gain access to broader networking and promotional possibilities.

GRVT (Gravity), a self-custodial hybrid crypto exchange, has received $5 million in funding from Abu Dhabi-based venture capital firm Further Ventures. That’s according to a report published by The Block on Jan. 21. GRVT seeks to blend the benefits of both centralized exchanges and decentralized exchanges in a hybrid model built using ZKsync’s Validium ZK Chain. The platform offers off-chain order matching paired with on-chain settlement at a rate of 600,000 transactions per second (TPS). Settlements are secure and verifiable on the blockchain, while the user maintains custody of his/her assets, and the order book infrastructure is nevertheless centralized.Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashEquity-based funding dealThis latest equity-based funding round ran from October until it was closed out in December. Further Ventures, an entity that specializes in early-stage startup funding, led the round, making this its latest investment into a crypto-sector startup.  Earlier this month, the venture capital firm led a funding round into Paris-based crypto wallet technology firm Dfns. Last year, it collaborated with Singapore-headquartered crypto trading firm QCP Capital, in facilitating its expansion in Abu Dhabi.  Other crypto-related investments include staking services provider Twinstake, crypto custodian Tungsten, blockchain infrastructure platform Fuze and crypto derivatives platform Kemet Trading.  Further Ventures counts ADQ, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, among its investors. In 2022, it established a $200 million fund, which was earmarked for investment into early-stage startups in the fintech, digital assets and supply chain sectors. In the past, Hong Kong-based GRVT has held pre-seed and seed funding rounds that involved GRVT token warrants. On this occasion, the funding deal was structured as equity. GRVT CEO Hong Yea explained that equity was chosen as it was felt that the GRVT token should be held in reserve for the community. Additionally, structuring the funding round around equity means that the holding company has the freedom to pivot or expand into alternative business lines in the future. $14.3 million in funding to dateBack in October 2023, the project raised $7.1 million in funding based on a $39 million valuation. That round was co-led by Matrix Partners alongside Delphi Digital, with further participation by Susquehanna Investment Group, CMS Holdings, ABCDE and Hack VC. Matter Labs, the developer of the ZKsync scaling network that GRVT runs on, was also a participant.  This latest funding round brings GRVT’s total capital raised to $14.3 million. In March of last year, the firm had raised $2.2 million from a private token sale. Expanding spot & options tradingIt’s understood that the new funding will be used to expand the platform’s crypto spot and options trading. Furthermore, the firm has plans to acquire an upgraded full Class F license from the regulator in Bermuda. Currently, the Bermudan authorities have issued the company with a modified Class M crypto business license. In an effort to unlock its offering to a broader global market, the company also has plans to pursue a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license within the European Union and a virtual assets service provider (VATP) license from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai.