Read in the Digest:
- Bitcoin reclaims $40,000, as on-chain data suggests whales bought the dip.
- DeFi hack: hacker steals $182 million in Beanstalk flash “attack.”
- Monero hard fork scheduled for July, XMR spikes 15% after bank run.
- MetaMask warns Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) users about new iCloud phishing attacks.
Bitcoin Reclaims $40,000 as On-Chain Data Suggests Whales Bought the Dip
After falling to a 30-day low on Monday, April 18th, the world’s biggest crypto, has demonstrated significant recovery. Over the last 14 hours, Bitcoin has gained by 4.5% to trade at as high as $41,146.
The 24 hour price chart for Bitcoin (BTC). Source: Tradingview
Bitcoin is currently trading at $40,647, as of this writing, comfortably above the key support level of $38k. On-chain data shows that whales bought the dip as exchanges recorded a sharp spike in outflows, with Bitcoin trading between $38k to $40k.
As Bitcoin fell to a new monthly low, we reported that whales moved $1.2 billion worth of bitcoin out of Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Pro. With other exchanges reporting similar outflows, market analysts pointed to whale action.
According to Minkyu Woo, a technical analyst on CryptoQuant, $37K to $40K is a critical accumulation phase for Bitcoin. He further explained that whales have been scooping up huge chunks of Bitcoin within this price range since March 2022.
Flipsider:
- As Bitcoin fell below $40K, over 79,000 traders were liquidated of positions worth $237.37 million.
Why You Should Care
Experts suggest that the accumulation of BTC and institutional interest in Bitcoin “might be the big narrative” for the crypto space.
DeFi Hack: Hacker Steals $182 Million in Beanstalk Flash ‘Attack.’
In another flash loan attack, Beanstalk, a decentralized, credit-based stablecoin protocol, has been drained of approximately $182 million by hackers. Following the Ronin bridge hack, the flash-loan attack marks the second nine-figure DeFi exploit within a month.
The breach was first noticed on April 17th by blockchain analytics company PeckShield, which initially estimated the losses to be $80 million. Shortly after, Beanstalk confirmed the attack in a tweet.
The attacker reportedly borrowed $1 billion via a flash loan on AAVE and exchanged it for BEANS to obtain a 67% voting stake in the project. The attacker then passed a governance proposal, transferring all protocol funds into a private Ethereum wallet.
According to PeckShield, the attacker netted $82 million in profit. The stolen funds were then laundered through Tornado Cash, which enables users to send and receive crypto while obfuscating its source.
Flipsider:
- Following the attack, the price of Beanstalk (BEAN) has lost 91.3% – falling from $1.03 to $0.087926.
The 7 day price chart for Beanstalk (BEAN). Source: CoinGecko
Why You Should Care
The increasing number of flash loan attacks emphasizes the importance of a security audit for DeFi protocols.
Monero Hard Fork Scheduled for July — XMR Spikes 15% After Bank Run
Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero is heading towards a major update as its community reached a consensus to initiate a mainnet hard fork. The hard fork is set to occur at a block height of 2,668,888, which is expected to take place on July 16th.
The upcoming Monero hard fork will increase the chainring size of the chain from 11 to 16, implement bulletproofs, and change the blockchain’s properties. The update will see Monero’s block size grow 14 times per year instead of 32 times, thereby lowering transaction fees.
Monero (XMR) has been at the forefront of the Altcoin rally, gaining as much as 15% to set a new five-month high of $267. XMR has retained 10% of its gain over the last 24 hours to now trade at $254.36, as of this writing.
The 24 hour price chart for Monero (XMR). Source: Tradingview
Monero’s surprise rally follows a coordinated withdrawal of XMR from exchanges as the Monero community attempted to test exchange reserves. The ‘Monerun‘ quickly gained traction and catalyzed over $430 million worth of XMR being traded in the last 24 hours.
Flipsider:
- According to the Monero community, exchanges misrepresent their reserves to sell XMR they don’t have due to of Monero’s obfuscated ledger.
Why You Should Care
Monero is heading towards a major update which would lower its fees and make usage less tedious, while also making the network’s anonymity more robust.
MetaMask Warns Apple Users About New iCloud Phishing Attacks
MetaMask, one of the most popular wallets for storing Ethereum, has warned Apple users about recent phishing attacks involving Apple’s iCloud service.
According to the warning, users digital assets could be at risk if “you have enabled iCloud backup for app data, including your password-encrypted MetaMask vault.”
MetaMask, which has over 30 million monthly active users, issued the warning after one Apple user, Domenic Iacovone, claimed to have lost cryptocurrencies valued at over $650,000.
Iacovone reportedly received a call from Apple informing him of suspicious activity on his Apple ID, asking for a unique 2-factor authentication code sent to him.
According to Serpent, after getting the 2FA code, the scammers took “control over the Apple ID and access iCloud, which gave them access to the victim’s MetaMask.”
Flipsider:
- Last month, MetaMask announced plans for a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), with the primary goal of funding the wallet’s development.
Why You Should Care
You can find the toggle option to disable iCloud backups for MetaMask by following these steps: Settings > Profile > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.
