Hackers stole $81 million worth of cryptocurrency from the Orbit Chain platform.

On New Year's Eve, the South Korean cryptocurrency platform Orbit Chain was subject to a hacker attack, during which attackers stole crypto assets worth more than $81 million. The Orbit Chain team confirmed that on December 31, unauthorized access was gained to the decentralized cross-chain bridge Orbit Bridge. Hackers removed ETH from the protocol, as well as stablecoins USDC and USDT. Orbit Chain said the platform has enlisted the help of the Korea National Police Agency and the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) to investigate the cyberattack. ChainLight, a company specializing in blockchain security, is also involved in the investigation. Analytics companies CertiK and PeckShield estimated the total losses of the protocol at $81.5 million, of which $30 million was in USDT and $10 million in USDC.
 

Michael Saylor will sell $216 million worth of MicroStrategy shares and buy Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor will sell shares of the technology giant he created for about $216 million. According to available information, the entrepreneur intends to sell 315,000 shares. Last fall, Saylor said the asset sale would occur between January 2 and April 25, 2024. The proceeds will be used to resolve issues related to personal “financial obligations,” the entrepreneur indicated. Saylor also noted that he will spend part of the money on purchasing Bitcoin. MicroStrategy is one of the largest holders of the first cryptocurrency. Her account holds 189,150 BTC (about $8.6 billion). The company last replenished its Bitcoin reserves in December, purchasing 14,620 BTC.
 

SEC will approve BTC-ETF to maintain control over the crypto industry.

Investment bank TD Cowen's research team expects the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF by the January 10 deadline, viewing it as a "political necessity." This date marks the first decision deadline this year on a Bitcoin ETF application from Cathie Wood's Ark Invest and 21 shares.

15 years ago, the genesis block of Bitcoin was mined.

On January 3, 2009, a person or group of people under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin main network by mining the genesis block with 50 BTC. Its hash contains the title of the article “Chancellor on the brink of second bailout for banks” by the British edition of The Times. Shortly before the launch of the network, on October 31, 2008, the Bitcoin white paper was published. The first transaction took place on January 12, 2009 - Satoshi Nakamoto sent 10 BTC to Hal Finney. Three days earlier, Bitcoin software version 0.1 was published.

Huobi Korea is closing down.

Popular cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Korea (the Korean division of the HTX exchange) announced its decision to cease operations on January 29th. The company's management came to this in connection with a change in internal strategy, experiencing market pressure and unfavorable market conditions.

Huobi Korea is the local branch of the major international cryptocurrency exchange HTX (Huobi). The decision reflects market changes and regulatory challenges facing exchange operators in South Korea. Before this (in November last year), several other small South Korean exchanges announced their closure, in particular Cashierest and Coinbit.

Upcoming Meme coin $DED Drives Huge Excitement Within Polkadot’s Community.

The sudden rise of the upcoming meme coin $DED has been driven by overwhelming enthusiasm from the Polkadot community that birthed the idea. Given the huge interest in the memecoin ahead of its official launch, there is now considerable optimism that support for $DED can translate into significant gains for Polkadot’s native $DOT token too.

That wouldn’t be a surprise, for the community has deemed that holding $DOT is the key to owning $DED. The creators of $DED have opted for the simplest and fairest distribution plan for their token, with free airdrops that target $DOT holders and incentivize them to participate in its launch. As such, the more $DOT you own, the more $DED you’ll be entitled to when it launches.