🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (25/12/24)

1️⃣ Russia Imposes 6-Year Ban on Crypto Mining in 10 Regions, Citing Energy Use ⛏
#RussiaCrypto
According to local media reports, the Russian government has imposed a six-year ban on crypto mining in 10 regions due to the industry's high power consumption. The ban takes effect on Jan. 1 2025 and ends on March 15, 2031. It includes seasonal restrictions in key cryptocurrency mining regions to prevent energy blackouts. The restrictions align with Russia’s cryptocurrency mining laws signed by the president in August and October 2024.

2️⃣ Hacker Breaches 15 X Accounts, Nets $500K Boosting Bogus Memecoins: ZachXBT ❓
#HackerAlert
According to the onchain sleuth ZachXBT, over $500,000 in funds stolen via memecoin phishing scams were connected to one threat actor. He reported that the perpetrator tricked X users into handing them control over their accounts by impersonating the X team and issuing fake copyright infringement notices. ZachXBT claims that over 15 X accounts were compromised this way, including those belonging to Kick, Cursor, The Arena, Brett and Alex Blania. Many of these X accounts have large audiences, with well over 200,000 followers who are mainly memecoin enthusiasts looking to catch the next hot tip.

3️⃣ Montenegro Court Rejects Do Kwon’s Extradition Appeal ▶️
#Montenegro
Montenegro’s Constitutional Court has reportedly dismissed Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon’s extradition appeal. The court cited legal inconsistencies in Kwon’s appeal, effectively upholding an earlier ruling favouring his extradition. This decision is significant as the international extradition case will potentially set a precedent for cross-border accountability in crypto.

4️⃣ Over 30% Of South Koreans Invest In Crypto Assets 🔍
#SouthKoreaCrypto
According to the South Korean media outlet Yonhap News, the number of crypto users in the country increased by 610,000 in November after Donald Trump won the United States presidential election. Representative Lim Kwang-Hyun of the Democratic Party of Korea shared data showing that digital asset investors in the country at the end of November totalled 15.6 million. Notably, with a population of 51.7 million, this means that over 30% of its citizens are crypto holders. Yonhap said the data was collected and released following the country’s new regulations on crypto exchanges. This is also the first time statistical data related to crypto has been released in the country.

5️⃣ Little-Known Canadian Crypto Firm Matador Adds Bitcoin To Its Books 💸
#MatadorTechnologies
Canadian real-world asset tokenisation firm Matador Technologies has reportedly become the latest company to incorporate BTC in its treasury. The firm's board of directors unanimously approved adding Bitcoin and “USD-denominated assets” to its balance sheet as part of its “long-term capital preservation strategy.” The firm is also planning to convert the majority of its cash balance sheet from Canadian dollars to US dollars.

Sunny Ray, president of Matador, stated,

Matador’s Board and management believe in using Bitcoin to future-proof our treasury. This step also supports our mission to explore using Bitcoin as a platform for our gold-based products.

$320 Million Hack Leads to Liquidation
Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin has announced its closure following a cyberattack that resulted in a loss of $320 million. Despite months of attempts to recover customer funds, the company ultimately decided to transfer its remaining accounts to another operator, SBI VC Trade.
Lazarus Group Suspected as the Culprit
Renowned crypto analyst ZachXBT has pointed to the Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacker collective, as the likely perpetrator of the attack. His investigation traced approximately $35 million of the stolen funds to a Cambodian money-laundering network and found strong evidence of the group’s involvement. However, DMM Bitcoin did not gain any tangible benefits from these findings.
DMM Bitcoin’s Official Statement
According to The Nikkei, DMM Bitcoin stated its decision to close the exchange was made with the protection of its customers as the top priority. In a previous statement, the company explained:
"Protecting our customers is our number one priority. Therefore, we have decided to transfer all accounts and assets to another company. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. We plan to cease operations once this transfer is complete."
The exchange attempted a fundraising effort in June to recover customer losses. Despite these efforts, the losses could not be fully compensated, leading to the decision to transfer its assets to SBI VC Trade and wind down operations.
Call for Stricter Security Measures
The case of DMM Bitcoin underscores the need for robust security protocols for cryptocurrency exchanges. Shortly before DMM Bitcoin’s closure, Japanese financial regulators warned other platforms to implement tighter oversight and enhanced security measures.
Crypto Hacks Declining, but Risks Remain
While the overall number of cryptocurrency hacks is decreasing, their sophistication continues to grow. The DMM Bitcoin incident serves as a reminder for users to rely exclusively on trusted and secure platforms.

#CryptoHack , #Cryptoscam , #HackerAlert , #CryptoNewss , #BTC☀

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In November 2024, a total of 21 hacking incidents occurred, resulting in approximately $76.86 million in losses, with $25.5 million recovered. The causes included contract vulnerabilities, account hacks, and price manipulation. Additionally, there were 9,208 phishing victims this month, with losses amounting to $9.38 million.

Major Security Incidents in November

MetaWin
On November 4, 2024, blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that crypto gambling platform MetaWin was hacked, resulting in over $4 million stolen on Ethereum and Solana chains. According to MetaWin CEO Skel, the attackers exploited the platform’s frictionless withdrawal system to breach MetaWin’s hot wallet.

DeltaPrime
On November 11, 2024, DeFi protocol DeltaPrime was attacked on Avalanche and Arbitrum, with an estimated loss of $4.75 million. The root cause of the attack was the lack of input validation in the reward claim function.

Thala
On November 15, 2024, Aptos-based DeFi project Thala was hacked, resulting in $25.5 million in losses. The attackers exploited a vulnerability in the project’s smart contract. The team halted affected smart contracts and froze approximately $11.5 million in assets. After working with law enforcement and blockchain security teams, the project recovered a significant portion of the stolen funds, allowing the attacker to keep $300,000 as a bounty.

DEXX
On November 16, 2024, several users of the DEXX on-chain trading terminal reported stolen funds. According to SlowMist security team statistics, the losses amounted to $21 million. SlowMist is assisting DEXX and its partners in ongoing investigations. On November 28, SlowMist released data identifying 8,612 attacker addresses on the Solana chain, with attacker addresses on EVM chains to be disclosed after further analysis.

Polter Finance
On November 17, 2024, Fantom-based DeFi project Polter Finance was hacked, incurring losses of approximately $12 million. The attacker exploited a flash loan to deplete BOO token reserves, artificially inflating its price. This allowed them to borrow tokens far exceeding the collateral’s actual value, profiting massively. The platform’s founder stated that they had filed a report with Singaporean authorities and reached out to the attacker via on-chain messages for negotiation, but no response has been received.

AI Poisoning Attacks Alert
While the number of security incidents and associated losses decreased compared to the previous month, the SlowMist security team observed genuine AI poisoning attacks targeting the crypto industry. Developers, in their pursuit of efficiency, may have overly relied on AI-generated code without adequately auditing its security.

#SecureYourProfits #HackerAlert