TL;DR
- Over $200 million lost in multiple DeFi hacks.
- Animoca Brands joined forces with Honda for Formula 1 NFTs.
- Rarible and Mantle collaborated to launch the Mintle NFT marketplace.
- Walmart is poised to expand its commercial strategy in the Metaverse.
Blockchain Hacks
Balancer was presumed to be the target of a DNS attack, which resulted in a loss of funds worth over $238,000. A later tweet by the team revealed that the actual cause of the incident was a social engineering attack on EuroDNS, the domain registrar used for .fi TLDs. In this blog, we have shared a detailed analysis of the exploit.
The YZER token on the Ethereum Mainnet experienced a rug pull, and the scammer absconded with about $85,000. The deployer removed around 52.38 ETH and 643 million YZER tokens from the liquidity pool. The project’s social media accounts have since been deleted.
Linear Finance experienced a security breach where an attacker exploited the protocol to mint an unlimited supply of LAAVE tokens, subsequently trading them for ℓUSD on the Linear Exchange. This led to the draining of all ℓUSD liquidity on PancakeSwap and Ascendex, causing the price of ℓUSD to plummet to zero. Notwithstanding the exploit, the total value locked in the protocol remains at around $8 million, indicating that the overall impact on the protocol’s assets is limited. Interestingly, the value of Linear Finance’s native token, LINA, remained stable post-incident.
The project BNBPay on BNB Chain has been identified as a rug pull, with roughly $114,000 in funds misappropriated. The deployer withdrew 114,002 BUSD and 51,634 BNBPay tokens from the liquidity pool and had previously removed liquidity from its LP before these transactions. On-chain data shows the deployer transacted with centralized exchanges like Binance and Gate.
Mixin Network released a community alert, stating that the database of their cloud service provider was compromised by hackers, leading to an approximate loss of $200 million in assets. Consequently, Mixin Network has provisionally halted deposit and withdrawal services. These services are anticipated to resume once vulnerabilities are addressed and a consensus is reached among all nodes. The team is in the process of consulting with security partners and intends to disclose the remedial measures for this unexpected security breach.
Metaverse, and NFTs
Animoca Brands, in collaboration with renowned automaker Honda, digital wallet Gryfyn, and NFT ticketing pioneer GET Protocol, has unveiled a groundbreaking Web3 initiative featuring Formula 1 NFTs. These coveted digital collectibles were available at the Formula 1 Honda and Red Bull Welcome Event in Tokyo on September 20 and throughout the Japanese Grand Prix 2023 from September 21–24. Racing enthusiasts had the opportunity to secure a Honda Key NFT either by participating in the event’s lottery, through a post-event airdrop, or by visiting the Honda booth at the Suzuka Circuit during the Grand Prix. These inaugural Formula 1 NFTs represent not only valuable memorabilia but also offer holders access to exclusive experiences and memberships for upcoming Honda events.
Dreamus, the South Korean entertainment and events firm and a subsidiary of SK Planet, is innovating ticketing with a new service allowing fans to purchase event tickets as Avalanche NFTs through the OK Cashbag app. Users earn points for purchases within the app, which also hosts games and quizzes. These NFT tickets, distinct for events like K-pop concerts, give artists control over ticket resales and pricing through customizable smart contracts. The tickets, which present a QR code activated on the event day, are visible only to the buyer, ensuring security and exclusivity, unlike standard NFTs listed on platforms like OpenSea.
Walmart is intensifying its metaverse ventures by rolling out immersive experiences that enable customers to acquire identical items for both their real and virtual homes within the mobile game, House Flip. This game grants players the ability to remodel and trade virtual properties. Furthermore, Walmart is facilitating the purchase of digital apparel from its virtual clothing line, Scoop, within the Zepeto metaverse platform. These developments underscore Walmart’s burgeoning presence in the 3D virtual realm. Walmart is aiming to forge a seamless experience where customers can natively and contextually purchase real-world items in House Flip using their Walmart accounts, allowing a unified checkout process for both tangible and virtual products.
Rarible and Mantle have collaborated forces to unveil the Mintle NFT marketplace, a secondary platform integrating Mantle NFTs into Rarible’s expanding cross-chain NFT ecosystem. Built on the open-source Rarible protocol, which is host to over 4,000 applications, Mintle capitalizes on Mantle’s DAO-led, high-efficiency EVM modular L2 blockchain. This collaboration is set to offer users a streamlined, economical NFT trading experience. In alignment with Rarible’s commitment to community governance, Mintle’s community will wield control, leveraging the Mantle token MTN. Furthermore, Mintle is poised to unlock new revenue streams for creators via enforced royalties, even as prevailing NFT marketplaces recalibrate their stance on royalty fee enforcement.
OnChain Insurance Industry News
Neptune Mutual announced that they are officially validated on the Magic Square store following an astonishing 110,588 total community votes.