Cryptocurrency market got off to a strong start in October, with a massive hacker attack on the BSC network. The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies among institutional investors and penetration into the fashion world through partnerships with Web3 have added to the discussions in the crypto community.
Binance Smart Chain Network resumes operation after hacking
On Thursday, October 6th, what seemed like a rumor turned out to be real after the Binance blockchain team announced the pause of the BNB blockchain via its official Twitter channel. BNB announced that they are “temporarily pausing BSC due to irregular activities.”
The BSC Token Hub (the internal cross-chain bridge of the BNB Chain ecosystem) was compromised and the attackers attempted to steal about $566 million worth of assets, but managed to withdraw only $100-110 million. The BNB team swung into action immediately, proposing immediate upgrades, which resulted in the v1.1.15 hot fix and hard-fork release at the block height of 21962149.
The upgrade prohibited blacklisted hacker addresses from further acting on the network, preventing further damage and the possibility of moving assets off the BNB chain. BNB Chain later remarked that the "initial estimates for funds taken off BSC are between $70M — $80M. However, thanks to the community and our internal and external security partners, an estimated $7M has already been frozen."
At the time of this piece, the BNB Chain stated that "validators are confirming their status and the community infrastructure are upgrading as well," suggesting that all issues have been contained, upgrades are going on smoothly, and community infrastructures are getting ready to resume in full swing.
Zcash network hit by spam attack
The Zcash blockchain has been hit by a spam attack. Blocks of the network were filled with secure transactions with hundreds of outputs. Experts find it difficult to name the exact target of the attack. An expert from Convex Labs suggested three possible motives: just for fun, to make a profit, as the exchange rate can start to fall if there are problems in the network, or the desire to make it difficult to launch nodes for easier surveillance on the network and make the eclipse attack more accessible.
Lightning Network capacity reaches 5,000 BTC
The bear market does not prevent the Lightning Network from increasing its capacity. The network has been performing well over the last year, hitting 4,000 BTC four months ago. At the moment, the Lightning Network has reached 5,000 BTC, which is about $96 million. This is thanks to the spreading popularity of the network around the world.
Binance burned 5,595,907,838 LUNC
The Binance Exchange conducted a burn of 5,595,907,838 LUNC. The service will burn all trading commissions in pairs with LUNC weekly. The next burning is scheduled for October 10th.
Elon Musk suggested that Twitter continue the deal to acquire the company
Entrepreneur Elon Musk approached Twitter with a proposal to reopen the deal to acquire the company for $54.2 per share. Against the backdrop of this news, the share price rose by 15%, after which trading was suspended 2 times. In April, Elon Musk offered $44 billion to buy Twitter, but then canceled the deal on July 8, accusing the social network of underestimating the number of fake accounts and expressing dissatisfaction with personnel policy.
Banks choose Polkadot, XRP and Cardano
While traditional banks are yet to fully embrace cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology, a report by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has identified 10 cryptocurrencies that are most popular among the banks. The most popular currencies among traditional financial institutions include Bitcoin (BTC), leading the herd with 31% asset exposure and Ethereum (ETC), following closely with 22%. Other cryptocurrency assets include Polkadot (DOT) and Ripple (XRP), tied at 2%, Cardano (ADA) at 1%, Solana (SOL) at 1%, and Litecoin and Stellar, tied at 0.4%.
Earlier this year, BCBS had proposed limiting banks' exposure to group 2 crypto assets to 1% of Tier 1 capital. BCBS' argument is contained in its consultative document titled "Second consultation on the prudential treatment of crypto assets." The institution continues to view cryptocurrencies as very volatile assets that cannot serve as substitutes for money, hence warns that institutions cautiously hold assets in it. It warns that the present bearish market is proof of crypto assets' uncontrollable volatility and the uncertainty of Decentralised Finance.
In defense of the crypto market, Finbold reports that BIS's findings only reflect 0.01% of the total sample of banks included in the Basel Three monitoring exercise. Finbold stated that the total exposure of traditional banks to crypto assets sits at $9.18 billion. Suggesting much broader patronage than it would seem, considering BIS's report.
Solana outperforms Ethereum
Although Solana has proven to be a worthy competitor within the crypto space, providing users with immense transaction speed, cheaper fees and a vibrant ecosystem of products, overcoming its technical challenges seems elusive. On September 1st, the Solana network suffered another outage, taking the number of network outages for the blockchain to a dozen. However, despite Solana's frequent outages, the network continues to lead the way as a home for NFT collectors. In recent weeks, Ethereum, the largest network for decentralized applications and interactions, has trailed behind Solana in NFT transaction volumes. In the last six weeks, NFT trading volume on Solana rose by 17%, with the number of collectors increasing by almost 34% in September alone.
Crypto experts attribute the stellar performance of Solana to its cheap transaction fees and speed compared to the Ethereum platform. Low transaction cost on the Solana platform provides a suitable platform for collectors to maximize value. On the flip side the network's speed provides an even stronger pull effect on developers, thus, expanding the Solana ecosystem to include several novel products.
In contrast, NFT sales volume on the Ethereum platform has steadily plummeted since April, despite holding some of the rarest NFT collections within the crypto space. Some spectators will argue that Ethereum's NFT sale decrease mirrors the general decline in the crypto market. From a record $4 billion cap in January, the NFT market has declined by more than 80%. As of June, the NFT market cap sat at $1 billion, then $916 and $927 million, respectively, for July and August, and $947 million in September. Suggesting that the NFT market is on a bearish ride with occasional bullish bumps. However, you need not be a scientist to reach the conclusion that high transaction fees significantly contributes to the dwindling NFT sales volume on the Ethereum network.
Clothing brand Shiba Inu shines at Shanghai Fashion Week
Back in February, Shiba Inu partnered with Italian-based English fashion designer John Richmond to create the Shiba Inu-themed clothing line LegendsLiveForever. About eight months after, Shiba is beginning to reap the benefits of expanding its reach beyond the shores of the virtual space. Firstly, LegendsLiveForever shined in Milan; now, it seemed to have stolen the show at the Shanghai fashion week with a medley of SHIB-themed Rock & Roll, Punk, Grunge & Urban fashion brands.
Shiba's domination of the Shanghai fashion week comes a week after John Richmond celebrated the exclusive SHIB collection in the city of Milan, featuring Italian rapper Sfera Ebbasta and black & white Disco-inspired clothes from the celebrated SHIB fashion collection. To give attendees a feel of what SHIB: The Metaverse would look like, the Spring '23 Ready-to-wear collection, a pivotal part of Shiba's attempt to infuse the Web3 with novel fashion designs, was also presented via short clips revealing a few exciting designs, especially, the Shiba Inu (SHIB) logo.
With one of the most exciting designers on the SHIB team, with a well-furnished portfolio, including jobs for Madonna, Lady Gaga and Robbie Williams, among others, John Richmond's venture into the Web3 space via the SHIB: The Metaverse partnership is just begun to bear fruits.
