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What happened in crypto this weekend?

  • October 30, 2023
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Analysts say an approved spot ETF will be “a bedrock moment for Bitcoin,” the Astrid Finance exploiter has sent back 80% of funds stolen, and Celsius has issued a new warning about phishing scammers.

Analysts ‘increasingly confident’ of a spot Bitcoin ETF approval

Financial analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald are “increasingly confident” that the United States regulator will grant approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, based on recent amendments to pending ETF applications.

VanEck was the most recent firm to amend its spot Bitcoin ETF application on Oct. 27 and financial firms such as BlackRock have followed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request in adding surveillance-sharing agreements over the last few months.

Cantor Fitzgerald research analysts Josh Siegler and Will Carlson told Bloomberg in an Oct. 29 report that an approved spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States will be “a bedrock moment for Bitcoin’s long-term adoption and legitimization.”

Siegler and Carlson said an approved spot Bitcoin ETF product would also streamline many services for prospective Bitcoin investors, such as finding a custodian and self-storage services.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has pumped 16.5% over the last week to a high of $34,715 amid speculation that BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application is inching closer towards approval.

The Cantor Fitzgerald analysts noted that such approval will remain the main force behind Bitcoin’s price movement over the short-term.

“A Bitcoin Spot ETF approval is the most-important short-term catalyst for Bitcoin’s price.”

Siegler and Carlson added that Grayscale’s recent court victory over the SEC is another sign that spot Bitcoin ETFs could eventually be approved.

Astrid Finance exploiter returns $182K after negotiation

The team behind Astrid Finance have managed to convince an exploiter to return 80% of the $227,000 in crypto they stole in an Oct. 28 attack.

Astrid, an Ethereum-based liquid staking protocol was exploited on Oct. 28. However, Astrid said it managed to convince the hacker using an on-chain message on Oct. 29 to keep 20% of the funds as a bounty and return the rest.

At the time, the Astrid team threatened to pursue legal action against the hacker if the funds weren’t returned by Oct. 31 at 8:00 am UTC time, however he decided to comply with more than a full day to spare.

“As such we consider this as settled amicably,” Astrid said in an Oct. 29 statement.

The hacker sent back 102 Ether (ETH), worth about $182,000 from the approximated 127 Ether stolen.

Astrid Finance’s on-chain message to the hacker. Source: Etherscan

Astrid said all refunds have now been processed and that left over funds will now be transferred into a multisignature wallet.

Those funds will be used to further audit and develop Astrid’s smart contracts, which the firm says will be its next focus.

“Our next steps are to focus on redeveloping our smart contracts and have our new smart contracts audited by multiple top audit firms before any future Mainnet launch,” the firm said.

Astrid added that its current contract will remain paused for the time being.

Astrid initially said the exploit came from a fix recommended by one of its auditors. However the firm backtracked on that statement about an hour later, explaining that the exploit was “missed” by Astrid and its auditing team.

El Salvador president Nayib Bukele to run again in next election

El Salvador president Nayib Bukele has filed paperwork to be re-elected in the country’s upcoming 2024 presidential election in February.

Bukele, a Bitcoin advocate, received strong support from the public on Oct. 26 after he registered to run as president again.

New Ideas, his party, is backed by 70% of the country’s voting population, according to Reuters, which cited a study by an El Salvadoran university. Its closest competitor only received 4% of the total votes.

El Salvador’s presidential election will take place on Feb. 4, 2024.

Celsius Network raises alarm over new phishing campaign

Bankrupt crypto lending firm Celsius has warned of a new wave of phishing attacks targeting its creditors. 

Celsius notified its creditors and the community of the phishing attempts on Oct. 28, urging creditors and others not to click on any suspicious links.

The firm iterated that it will only request personal information from creditors and past users through the Celsius app, email or from its domain network.

“The Debtors, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, Fahrenheit, LLC, or their respective advisors will never contact you directly by phone, text message, or social media to request account or personal information absent an order or on-the-record instruction by the Court,” Celsius added.

Related: Crypto bank runs in 2022 catalyzed by institutional withdrawals: Research

It marks the 10th notice filed by Celsius pertaining to the phishing attempts, the first of which came on Nov. 30, 2022.

Celsius’ notices pertaining to phishing attempts. Source: Streeto

Celsius noted victims of these phishing attempts can file a complaint to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in the United States in addition to the Consumer Protection Bureau or the Federal Trade Commission.

Other news

The Wall Street Journal has revised an article that mischaracterized the extent to which Hamas and other militant groups have been funding its terrorist activities with cryptocurrencies, after fierce community criticism. In an Oct. 10 article, it claimed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad raised as much as $93 million between August 2021 and June 2023. However, the correction amended that figure to no more than $12 million.

Investment firm VanEck says Solana’s (SOL) price by 2030 could range from a conservative $9.81 to an ambitious $3,211.28 by 2030, while it expects Ether to reach a target price of $11,800 by the end of 2030.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

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