Read in the Digest:
- Early developer Luke Dashjr loses 200 BTC worth $3.6M in key hack.
- (ADA) is the top crypto protocol by development activity in 2022.
- $62 million in crypto was stolen in December for lowest monthly figure in 2022 – Certik.
- Lido overtakes MakerDAO, becomes DeFi protocol with the highest TVL.
- FTX, Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager Investors are Selling their Bankruptcy Claims at Huge Discounts
Early Bitcoin Developer Luke Dashjr Loses 200 BTC Worth $3.6M in Key Hack
The new year welcomed the crypto community with an unfortunate incident. One of the original core developers behind Bitcoin, Luke Dashjr, reportedly lost “basically” all his BTC stash to a recent hack on December 31st, 2022.
In a January 1st thread on Twitter, Dashjr said some hackers compromised his PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) keys and made away with 216.93 BTC, worth roughly $3.6 million, after performing four transactions using the Bitcoin mixer CoinJoin.
Crypto-security experts like Blockchain developer Peter Todd have raised several theories behind the compromise. He believes that backdoored software on Dashjr’s desktop led to the compromise. Dashjr reportedly compromised his server on Nov. 17, 2022, and repeated the incident on Christmas Day.
Flipsider:
- While Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has promised that Binance will look into the situation, others believe that the news is false and is Dashjr’s way of avoiding tax.
Why You Should Care
The news has sparked a debate around self-custody. Some argue that users shouldn’t directly control their keys, even though it’s not necessarily harmful.
Cardano (ADA) is the Top Crypto Protocol by Development Activity in 2022
Cardano, which prides itself on being a cryptocurrency project with facilities to run its blockchain network and develop decentralized applications (DApps), led all other blockchains in developments this year.
Santiment, a crypto analytics platform, has reported that Cardano had the highest level of development activity in 2022. It surpasses (ETH) and other blockchain protocols in submissions on GitHub.
According to Santiment, Cardano recorded 2,434 commits. was in second place with 2,065 Github commits in 2022, while third-placed Cosmos Hub (ATOM) recorded 1,622 Github commits.
Development activity of top 10 blockchains by this indicator in 2022. Source: Santiment
The large amounts of commits mean that new features are about to be shipped or that developers are confident the protocol will succeed.
Flipsider:
- According to Santiment, despite falling to 97% of its all-time high, is still strong and one of the most actively developed chains.
Why You Should Care
Massive commits on Github often signal bullishness and could help Cardano navigate the crypto winter.
Certik – $62 Million in Crypto was Stolen in December for Lowest Monthly Figure in 2022
2022 was the worst year for cryptocurrencies in terms of network breaches, with hackers exploiting multiple protocols every week. However, a report from Certik suggests that hackers hit the gas during the holidays.
Certik reports that $62.2 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen in December – the “lowest monthly figure” of the year. This comes after hackers made off with over $3.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency from January to November.
A report breakdown shows that exit scams contributed the largest to December’s losses at $15.5 million. Defrost Finance was recorded as the biggest exit scam, with users losing over $12.9 million to the scheme.
Helio Protocol suffered the biggest losses for the month. On December 2nd, hackers drained around $15 million in liquidity from the BNB Chain-based staking platform. This led to the de-pegging of its HAY stablecoin.
Flipsider:
- Overall for 2022, the data shows that most crypto hacks were targeted at cross-blockchain bridges and DeFi protocols.
Why You Should Care
The December figure represents an 89.5% decrease in the amount lost to crypto hacks in November, when $595 million worth of crypto was stolen.
Lido Overtakes MakerDAO, Becomes DeFi Protocol with the Highest TVL
Liquid staking protocol Lido Finance is now ranked as the top decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol. It overtook MakerDAO in total value locked (TVL) as demand for Ethereum (ETH) staking rises.
Insights from DeFiLlama show that Lido’s TVL has risen to $5.98 billion, while MakerDAO has a TVL of $5.92 billion. AAVE is in third place, with a TVL of $3.7 billion.
Of the $5.98 billion locked on Lido, $5.94 billion was staked on the Ethereum chain. Meanwhile, $26 million is staked on Solana, $11.4 million on Moonbeam, and $2.23 million on Moonriver.
A report from the blockchain analytics firm Nansen can back up the data. It says staking solutions like Lido Finance have been in high demand since Ethereum’s shift to proof-of-stake (PoS).
Flipsider:
- In November, Lido Finance announced that the increased staking has seen the protocol generate $1 million in fees daily since October.
Why You Should Care
The rise in Lido’s TVL is because of its support for small stakers. This is unlike the minimum of 32 ETH required to stake directly on the Ethereum network.
FTX, Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager Investors are Selling Their Bankruptcy Claims at Huge Discounts
The uncertainty surrounding the bankruptcy proceedings of FTX, Celsius Network, BlockFi, and Voyager has prompted some investors to sell their claims for a fraction of their face value.
According to data from cryptocurrency debt trading firm Xclaim, over a hundred institutional investors have listed their nearly 10,000 claims for sale even though they might incur losses.
9,076 claims were filed on Celsius Network, 97 on Voyager, 72 on FTX, and 24 on BlockFi. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the founder of Xclaim, Matt Sedigh, said that creditors from different parts of the world have been calling his company.
The CEO noted that creditors based in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan hold 66.66% of the listed claims. Also, creditors holding $1 billion with FTX and $100 million at Celsius are reportedly negotiating deals with investment firm Cherokee Acquisition.
Flipsider:
- Several hedge funds and debt investors like Contrarian Capital, Invictus Global Management, and NovaWulf Digital Management have been snapping up these claims.
Why You Should Care
Celsuis’ move to file a motion for a claims deadline extension is one reason investors were prompted to start divesting from crypto debts.
