
Institutional adoption sparks excitement as new launches storm DeFi
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Meanwhile, DEX monthly volume passes $100 billion and DeFi hackers exploit multiple protocols.
The year might be drawing to a close, but the cryptocurrency industry newsbeat is as packed as ever. Following Jack Dorsey’s sudden stepping down as Twitter CEO, his payments company, Square, has rebranded to “Block” as it pushes further into cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, MicroStrategy adds another 7,002 BTC to its holdings and hackers make off with millions from Badger DAO and MonoX.
Here’s everything you need to know about these stories, and more, in this week’s edition of OKX Insights’ News of the Week.
Announced Dec. 1, Jack Dorsey’s payment company, Square, will change the name of its corporate entity to Block on Dec. 10. The change does not impact its brands, which will retain their respective names — Square, Cash App, etc.
Commenting on the pivot, founder and CEO Dorsey stated:
“Block is a new name, but our purpose of economic empowerment remains the same. No matter how we grow or change, we will continue to build tools to help increase access to the economy.”
Proving once again that no company is as bullish on Bitcoin, MicroStrategy has bought an additional 7,002 BTC. The company paid an average of $59,187 in cash between Oct. 1 and Nov. 29.
Trading volume across all decentralized exchanges exceeded $100 billion in November. Only in May 2021 — during a period of extreme market euphoria — did DEXs see more trading than last month, when more than $140 billion worth of digital assets changed hands at decentralized venues.
This week, two independent attacks saw their perpetrators drain around $150 million from decentralized finance protocols. On Nov. 30, hackers stole $31 million from the MonoX liquidity pool platform, consisting of around $18.2 million in WETH and $10.5 million in MATIC. Making up the rest of the total were smaller amounts of WBTC, LINK, GHST, DUCK, MIM and IMX.
Just two days later, Badger DAO, a protocol that generates yield on WBTC deposits, was exploited to the tune of $120 million. According to security researchers at PeckShield, the protocol’s frontend was compromised, causing users to make withdrawals they didn’t authorize themselves. A report from The Block claims that a single user lost around 900 BTC — or $50.8 million — in one transaction.
David Marcus, the head of the Novi wallet application being built by Meta (formerly Facebook), has announced he will leave the company at the end of the year. Marcus tweeted that although he remained passionate about overhauling global payments infrastructure, his entrepreneurial urges had been encouraging him to explore new opportunities.
Marcus’s departure from the company comes shortly after Facebook announced a change of direction to develop metaverse products and technologies under the name Meta. OKX Insights has an in-depth article coming out next week about the rebrand and how crypto and blockchain technology will fit into Meta’s plans.
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Disclaimer: This material should not be taken as the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation to engage in investment transactions. Trading digital assets involve significant risk and can result in the loss of your invested capital. You should ensure that you fully understand the risk involved and take into consideration your level of experience, investment objectives and seek independent financial advice if necessary.
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