TL;DR
- Over $31 million was lost in multiple DeFi hacks.
- McDonald’s flips into Bandwagon Labs for a new Metaverse experience.
- Bybit joined forces with Kjetil Golid for season 2 of the Velocity Series NFT launch.
- OKX and McLaren launch an exclusive Race Rewind NFT series for F1 fans.
Blockchain Hacks
Steam Swap was exploited across two different transactions on the BNB chain due to a smart contract vulnerability, which resulted in a loss of assets worth approximately $105,000. The root cause of the exploit is due to the price manipulation of the underlying assets. In this blog, we have shared a detailed analysis of the exploit.
Lykke, the zero-fee crypto exchange, was exploited, which resulted in a loss of assets worth over $22.4 million. The root cause of the exploit is unknown at the moment, and the team has yet to acknowledge the occurrence of the exploit. The stolen assets include roughly 158 BTC from the Bitcoin network and over 2161 ETH from the Ethereum Mainnet, among other assets. They, however, announced that their platform will undergo an unscheduled full system maintenance.
Gemholic, the zkSync-based project, was suspected of orchestrating a rug pull, thereby taking away roughly 921 ETH, which were worth approximately $3.5 million. The protocol had its funds locked up for more than a year because of a mistake in the sales contract. After a scheduled v24 upgrade of zksync, the issue was then fixed, allowing the team to access the locked funds. Following this upgrade, the project withdrew all of the assets from the contract and then transferred them to an address on the Ethereum Mainnet. The team subsequently deleted their X (formerly Twitter) account, and all of the messages on their Telegram channel have also been deleted.
Loopring issued a community alert stating that their smart contract wallets with only one Guardian, specifically the Loopring Official Guardian, were exploited, resulting in a loss of 1373 ETH, worth approximately $5 million. The hacker reportedly initiated a recovery process, falsely posing as the wallet owner to reset ownership and withdraw assets. The attack succeeded by compromising their 2FA service, allowing the hacker to impersonate the wallet owner and gain approval for the recovery from the Official Guardian. The hacker set approval for most of the listed tokens, including LRC, IMX, UNI, USDC, and PEPE, and then sold them all for ETH. The attacker then transferred these assets from the compromised wallets to the address they likely controlled.
Metaverse, and NFTs
McDonald’s has ventured into the metaverse in Singapore by introducing its own virtual space called My Happy Place, which is accessible via the McDonald’s app in partnership with Bandwagon Labs. This digital universe provides a distinctive experience, especially for owners of the 2023 Grimace NFTs, featuring special privileges such as exclusive wearable items, access to secret areas, and the ability to display Grimace portraits in specific spots. Within this environment, users can partake in diverse activities including the Build-A-Burger game, designing future McDonald’s restaurant layouts, and entering daily competitions via the Wheel of Deals. These contests offer participants the opportunity to win actual food deals and other rewards, enriching their engagement with McDonald’s.
Bybit Web3, the branch of Bybit focused on Web3 innovations, introduced the second season of its Velocity Series NFTs. This new collection is marked by a distinct artistic collaboration with the well-known data-oriented artist Kjetil Golid. Following the success of last year’s Oracle Red Bull Racing partnership, this season continues to showcase Golid’s intricate understanding of algorithms and data structures through his generative art. His latest work for the Velocity Series NFTs illustrates his ongoing intrigue with algorithm complexities, offering a novel interpretation of Formula 1 by merging data and artistic expression to highlight the strategic and rapid aspects of the sport. The second season of the Velocity Series culminates in two unique collections: the Decision Matrix and Risk/Reward. The Decision Matrix collection captures the mechanical interactions of cogwheels and chip stacks, with each artwork representing one of Oracle Red Bull Racing’s 377 races spanning two decades. Meanwhile, the Risk/Reward collection portrays the intense, high-stakes environment of Formula 1, emphasizing the delicate balance between strategic risks and potential rewards inherent in the sport. Owners of the Velocity Pass 2.0 will enjoy exclusive access to these collections at launch, with further details on the release process to be announced soon to these enthusiasts.
OKX, the cryptocurrency exchange, alongside the McLaren Formula 1 Team, unveiled their new digital collectible series called Race Rewind, designed to celebrate each F1 grand prix this season while also offering fans the opportunity to win unique McLaren rewards. The inaugural free NFT, which highlights the Canadian Grand Prix, was minted on OKX’s recently introduced Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, X Layer. These complimentary digital collectibles incorporate both multimedia and audio elements, enabling fans to experience the visual and auditory excitement of each race as McLaren competes for victories throughout the F1 season. Fans who accumulate the complete set for the remainder of the 2024 season will have a chance to claim a special VIP prize that includes a McLaren Fan Experience at an upcoming race, $2,500 to cover travel expenses, and a hot lap around a racing circuit.
OnChain Insurance Industry News
Cover policy sales continue to grow in the Neptune Mutual marketplace on the Arbitrum network. Neptunites who purchase cover are showing support for Neptune Mutual by posting in X that they have purchased a cover policy and using the hashtag #DefiInsurance. Community engagement of this sort greatly helps spread the word about the advantages of parametric cover and the faster and more reliable payouts that it offers in comparison to discretionary coverage.
A town hall was held in Discord, and updates were provided about progress over the month of May. As always, the video of the town hall meeting is uploaded to Neptune Mutual’s YouTube channel.