Confiscated crypto fund proposed in Russia

Aave v3 Launches on Metis Scaling NetworkMetisDAO confirmed on Tuesday that leading decentralized liquidity protocol Aave has been deployed on the layer 2 Ethereum-centric scaling platform.Photo by Joshua Sortino on UnsplashGiven the distributed nature of the teams behind decentralized networks and projects, it can be difficult at times to determine where project teams are based, albeit in the case of MetisDAO, according to LinkedIn, its primary location is Singapore despite having a Canadian Co-Founder and CEO.Aave’s move to ZK networksThe move comes following a vote taken by Aave’s user community, who voted in favor last month of a proposal to deploy the liquidity protocol on zero knowledge-based networks. In a social media post, the Metis team referred to the decentralized lending market going live on the network as “a new era of Decentralized Finance.”The development is significant for Metis, given that Aave is the third largest project in crypto based on the total value locked (TVL) metric. Within DeFi lending, it’s the biggest project in the sector, holding a TVL of $5.4 billion.One of the keys of Aave’s dominance is its multi-chain strategy. Metis marks the eighth network upon which it has been deployed. The others include Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Fantom, Harmony and Avalanche.Metis technical roadmapWhile there’s a lot of uncertainty as to how various crypto projects will pan out over the longer run, most agree that Ethereum is here to stay. Metis stands a good chance of contributing to that ecosystem over the long term as layer two scaling networks are likely to be part and parcel of the Ethereum environment for some time to come.Last month, the project set out a technical roadmap, detailing what the project has in store, while claiming that in general, 2023 would be a great year for Ethereum. Metis is a layer two network based on Optimistic Rollup architecture. It has grown into the third largest scaling network relative to Ethereum.The project plans to roll out Bedrock, a technical upgrade that will enable improved network security. Furthermore, it plans on bringing about consensus and execution separation. Also in its sights are faster deposit times, which the project claims, will enable better UX.Many DeFi networks are under scrutiny in terms of the centralized elements that they incorporate. Metis plans to make improvements in this regard, with the intention of decentralizing the sequencer pool. The project claims that “Metis Andromeda will be decentralized to the core.”Hybrid rollupsDemonstrating further ambition, Metis is aspiring to bring about hybrid rollups, combining the features of optimistic rollup architecture with zero-knowledge proofs. In a tweet, Head of Marketing and MetisDAO Co-Founder Kevin Li said that “by combining the best traits from both schemes, hybrid rollups will offer the unmatched scalability and EVM-equivalence of optimistic rollups, together with the censorship resistance and fast finality enabled by zero-knowledge proofs. The best of both worlds.”MetisDAO believes it adds value for users of its network through Aave’s offering, enabling them to borrow assets with less collateral via Aave’s High-Efficiency mode. Furthermore, the deployment makes for improved risk management through supply and borrow caps, and siloed borrowing, reducing the risk in the event of market contagion.

South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, suffered a security breach on Nov. 27 that resulted in the theft of 44.5 billion won ($30.4 million) in digital assets, all taken from the exchange’s hot wallets. The stolen tokens were all Solana-based, and Upbit CEO Oh Kyoung-suk said in a statement that no users will incur losses, as the company will cover the full amount with its own reserves.Photo by FlyD on UnsplashHot-wallet breach hits 24 tokensThe exchange said in a statement that the compromised tokens were transferred to an unknown external wallet at around 7:42 p.m. UTC on Nov. 26. In total, 24 cryptocurrencies were affected, all within the Solana ecosystem. The stolen assets ranged from infrastructure tokens such as Solana (SOL) to staking-related assets like Jito (JTO), along with the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) and memecoins including Bonk (BONK), Moodeng (MOODENG), and Official Trump (TRUMP). According to Oh, the breach was followed by an emergency security review of the affected networks and wallets. He added that all remaining assets were moved to cold storage to prevent further unauthorized transfers. Oh also said the exchange is working to trace the stolen assets and block on-chain movements wherever possible, noting that Solayer (LAYER) tokens worth 2.3 billion won ($1.6 million) have already been frozen. Upbit is also reaching out to relevant projects and institutions for assistance. This marks Upbit’s second theft case. The first took place on Nov. 27, 2019, exactly six years ago to the day, according to News1. Authorities focus on Lazarus’ involvementFinancial authorities are investigating the incident, and North Korea’s Lazarus Group is being treated as the leading suspect, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported. Lazarus is also believed to have been behind the 58 billion won ($40 million) worth of Ethereum (ETH) stolen from Upbit in 2019. A government official told the paper that the latest breach did not appear to stem from a server intrusion but may have involved a stolen administrator account, allowing the attackers to impersonate internal staff and move assets—similar to the method used in the 2019 case. Security analysts echoed that assessment. One investigator said the stolen funds moved through exchange wallets before being mixed, a pattern often linked to Lazarus. He added that mixers, which are prohibited in Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-member jurisdictions, make tracing difficult and that attackers typically route assets through countries outside that framework, further pointing to North Korea. Following the incident, Upbit suspended deposits and withdrawals for all assets and said services will resume once security is fully verified. The halt has also affected trading dynamics on the exchange, with CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju noting that retail investors are fueling altcoin spikes as arbitrage bots remain offline. Dunamu, Naver set $6.8B growth planThe security crisis struck at a particularly sensitive moment for Upbit’s operator, Dunamu, overshadowing what was intended to be a celebratory corporate milestone. On that same day, Dunamu, Naver, and Naver Financial held a joint press conference to outline their global expansion strategy. Dunamu brings its blockchain and crypto infrastructure, Naver contributes its position as Korea’s dominant search engine, and Naver Financial adds its payment platform serving 34 million users. The event came after reports that Naver Financial and Dunamu had approved a merger plan through a comprehensive share swap, with the ratio set at 2.54 to 1. The three companies said they will combine their respective strengths to invest 10 trillion won ($6.8 billion) over the next five years in building an ecosystem centered on Web3 and artificial intelligence (AI).During the press conference, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said no decisions have been made on a Nasdaq listing for the newly combined Naver Financial–Dunamu entity or on whether it might eventually merge with Naver, according to TechM. She said dual listings remain a matter requiring national consensus. Choi also noted that while Naver Financial is a Naver subsidiary, Dunamu is the larger partner, and a later merger between the combined entity and Naver is unlikely.

Strategic investment sees C1 Secondaries Fund target Animoca BrandsThe C1 Secondaries Fund, an investment fund focused on the digital assets space with a presence in Silicon Valley and Dubai, is poised to make strategic investments in crypto powerhouses like Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands.Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashReady to deploy capitalThat’s according to details from a pitch deck disclosed by the Australian Financial Review on Sunday. The C1 Fund is ready to deploy substantial capital, ranging from $20 million to $50 million, to acquire private holdings in crypto companies. The fund is only interested in targeting companies that boast valuations of $300 million and above from their most recent funding rounds.The crypto venture capital fund was co-founded by former Coinbase executives. Off the back of recent bullish momentum within crypto markets, the C1 Fund is reportedly eyeing significant discounts of nearly 80% on its investments.Share purchase offerThe fund has extended an offer to purchase Animoca Brand shares at approximately $1.12, representing a 75% markdown from its last capital raise where shares were sold at around $4.50.A few years ago, Animoca Brands, a firm that concentrates on blockchain gaming, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse, had been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). However, in 2020, the company listing was removed due to the swapping of stock for crypto tokens. It still has involvement with Australia through equity investment from Australian firms Koda Capital and KTM Ventures.In September, Hong Kong-based venture capital firm CMCC Global led a $20 million funding round into Animoca. At the time, it was suggested that funding would go towards further development of Mocaverse, an Animoca project involving the development of Web3-native tools geared towards the gaming and entertainment sectors.Following some market uncertainty regarding the financial health of the company earlier this year, Animoca provided an update on its financial position, clarifying that it held $3.4 billion in cash and assets.Chainalysis interestThe strategic move by the C1 Fund aligns with the recent uptick in the crypto space. Bitcoin (BTC), the market leader, surpassed the $40,000 price point in the first week of December, propelling the overall crypto market capitalization to over $1.6 trillion. At the time of writing, BTC hovers just over $40,000.Similarly, the fund is weighing up an investment in American blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, offering to acquire its shares at a substantial 63% discount from its latest capital raise.Beyond traditional crypto assets, NFTs are experiencing a surge in market interest. A recent report by DappRadar revealed that NFT trading volume approached $1 billion in November, signaling a notable shift in user behavior. The average value of NFT transactions also witnessed a substantial increase from $126 to $270 in November.The C1 Secondaries Fund was established in March, targeting $500 million worth of investment in blockchain, crypto, Web3 and fintech. As the C1 Secondaries Fund strategically positions itself amid the crypto market boom, its pursuit of discounted investments in industry giants like Animoca Brands and Chainalysis reflects the fund’s confidence in the sustained growth and potential of the digital assets sector.