TL;DR
- Over $8 million was lost in multiple DeFi hacks.
- Snook unveiled its play-to-earn NFT game on Arbitrum.
- Meta launched advanced AI and other digital interfaces in the Metaverse.
- PayPal prepares for its NFT marketplace debut with an innovative patent application.
Blockchain Hacks
The hot wallet of Huobi Global’s HTX exchange was hacked, which resulted in a loss of 4,999 ETH worth approximately $8 million. This unexpected and direct transfer of funds can possibly be due to the compromise of the private keys. However, the actual reasons for this compromise are still unknown. Two days after the exploit and following a community alert, Justin Sun acknowledged that HTX was exploited and that the team has fully covered the losses incurred from the attack by successfully resolving all related issues. We have also shared a detailed analysis of the exploit in this blog.
A fake Justus Token, linked to an illegitimate Twitter handle, has been identified as a rug pull, resulting in the misappropriation of funds approximately valued at $59,000. The individual responsible for deploying this token dumped liquidity worth 302 WBNB, securing illicit gains amounting to $59,000.
Metaverse, and NFTs
Meta has revealed a series of revolutionary advancements encompassing leading-edge artificial intelligence technologies and digital assistants endorsed by celebrities. This revelation also included the much-awaited Quest 3 virtual reality headset and the avant-garde Ray-Ban intelligent eyewear. Central to these innovations is the Emu computer vision model, set to elevate Meta’s AI proficiency and revolutionize our engagement with the metaverse. Emu goes beyond traditional AI, providing a more instinctive and encompassing voyage through the digital world. This sophisticated model enables Meta’s AI technologies to perceive and understand the user’s surroundings, enhancing the metaverse experience in real time.
PayPal is poised to enter the NFT domain, a development underscored by a recently published patent application, initially submitted in March 2022. This document sheds light on PayPal’s aspirations to integrate an NFT marketplace within its existing framework. Central to this revelation is PayPal’s patent application, detailing a robust structure focused on asset trading, particularly emphasizing NFTs. The features outlined imply PayPal’s intention to present a seamless platform dedicated to the purchase, sale, and exchange of NFTs, potentially broadening the accessibility of digital assets to a wider user base. It introduced seemingly novel techniques and systems to facilitate transactions off-chain within NFT marketplaces. It also alludes to the idea of the omniverse, referring, in this scenario, to a solution that interacts with multiple metaverses.
Snook, a kill-or-be-killed online multiplayer game drawing its game mechanics from the classic Snake game on Nokia devices, announced its launch on the Arbitrum blockchain. Initially, the game solely utilized its inherent in-game token, SNK, but the recent development allows players to also leverage the USDC stablecoin. A distinguishing feature of Snook is its innovative play-to-earn framework, wherein the characters within the game are epitomized as NFTs, thereby attaining immutable registration on the blockchain. This incorporation not only imparts added value to the characters but also facilitates the trading of meticulously maintained NFTs on secondary markets. Provided they remain unscathed, Snook NFTs can partake in numerous matches and conflicts, elevating their qualities to preserve or augment their value as both a virtual commodity and a collectible.
OnChain Insurance Industry News
Neptune Mutual announced they published a new video on their YouTube channel titled “Providing Liquidity in the Neptune Mutual dApp”. It’s the third tutorial video in the “Navigating Neptune Mutual: Tutorials” series.
They also released a tweet with a clip previewing co-founder Edward Ryall’s discussion with Nicholas Merten from DataDash, discussing what happens if a cover protocol from the Neptunite Marketplace suffers a hack and what’s in store for Neptune Mutual and NPM token holders.