Deniz Tutku
The number of hacker attacks on celebrity accounts continues to grow. In recent weeks, a significant number of famous people have fallen victim to fraudsters on social network X. This week was no exception, with American actress Sydney Sweeney joining the list. And while X is fighting against such frauds, the crypto industry has been enriched by innovations and partnerships this week.
Venture capital company Animoca Brands has announced cooperation with artificial intelligence developer Futureverse. Animoca plans to add Futureverse’s AI technology to its investment portfolio of more than 400 Web3 projects, including the metaverse of The Sandbox game. In addition, they will also use The Readyverse search platform to improve their interaction with the Mocaverse network.
Aaron McDonald, co-founder of Futureverse, says: “Animoca Brands is the clear market leader in web3 game publishing, and its expertise and reach in growing this ecosystem is unparalleled. We are excited to deepen our strategic ties with and bring our world-leading AI, web3 gaming technology, and A-list IP to help supercharge its portfolio,”
The Futureverse platform contains artificial intelligence and metaverse tools aimed at combining web2 and web3 technologies to improve the user experience. These include services such as a digital passport, the creation of compatible NFTs and game assets, an engine enabling developers to compose and decompose NFTs from one another, and more.
“With Futureverse’s sophisticated L1 blockchain, The Root Network, and its suite of AI-driven tools, we see significant potential to accelerate the growth of our ecosystem,” commented Animoca Brands executive chairman and co-founder Yat Siu.
Pixels is a Web3 social gaming platform on the Ronin network that combines farming, exploration, and community building in an open universe. The game has become one of the most popular cryptocurrencies of the year thanks to its migration to the Ethereum Ronin gaming network in late 2023 and the launch of its tokens in February.
In a recent interview with Decrypt, founder Luke Barwikowski said that the studio is currently working on new games in the Pixels universe. He also added that they are joining forces with third-party developers to consider expanding the franchise.
Barwikowski noted that his in-house team sets the direction for these games and then outsources them to third-party studios for development. He also noted that his team adds elements of blockchain and user engagement before releasing them to the world. Among other things, the Pixels founder announced the possible launch of the game on Telegram.
“We’re looking at maybe kicking off another one on Telegram. That’s maybe some alpha — but that’s like a side experiment. Telegram’s an interesting ecosystem… we might dip our toes there.” he said.
The second quarter of 2024 recorded a loss of cryptocurrency totaling $572.7 million due to 72 incidents caused by hacking and fraud. According to the latest report by Web3 platform Immunefi, the figure is up 70.3% from the $336.3 million lost in the first quarter and 112% from the second quarter of 2023, during which $265.5 million was stolen.
Since the beginning of the year, more than $900 million has been lost, which is 24% more than in the same period last year. The report notes that fraudsters have also changed their target. While in the first quarter, DeFi platforms were the main target of attackers, the situation changed in the second quarter. Centralized finance (CeFi) platforms suffered the most attacks in the second quarter, accounting for 70% ($401.4 million) of the losses. At the same time, decentralized financial platforms (DeFi) accounted for 30% ($171.3 million) of the losses in the quarter.
Mitchell Amador, founder and CEO of Immunefi, emphasized the severity of infrastructure compromises, stating, “This quarter highlights how infrastructure compromises can be the most devastating hacks in crypto, as a single compromise can lead to millions in damages.”
Cryptocurrency exchange BingX has announced the expansion of its partnership with Chelsea Football Club. Starting from the 2024/25 Premier League season, the exchange will move from being a “sleeve partner” to an official “training kit partner” of the Chelsea men’s team.
The BingX logo will be featured on the front of the training kit worn by the men’s team players and coaching staff during all training sessions, marking a closer and more visible collaboration between the two organizations.
Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer of BingX, expressed her enthusiasm for the evolved partnership: “We are excited to take our collaboration with Chelsea to the next level as the Official Training Wear Partner of the Men’s team. This partnership is a testament to our shared commitment to the unremitting pursuit of excellence and innovation. We look forward to empowering our users and fans with unique experiences and opportunities, building a future that’s smarter and bolder.”
In recent years, sports and financial technologies have become increasingly intertwined, creating new opportunities for interaction. Cryptocurrency exchanges are actively involved in sponsoring sports teams, which not only promotes the popularisation of cryptocurrencies but also provides additional resources for the development of sports.
For example, the cooperation between Crypto.com and Formula 1. Their agreement allowed the exchange to become an integral part of the Formula 1 event, and the company’s brand was included in the official name and logo of the world-famous event.
The other one is OKX, which has been the official partner of Manchester City Football Club since 2022. In particular, as part of their collaboration, they recently released a limited edition T-shirt collection dedicated to rare NFTs. In addition, OKX has also partnered with the McLaren Racing Formula 1 team, securing space for its emblem on their sports cars in the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Another example is WhiteBIT. Since 2022, they have been the official partner of FC Barcelona as well as their professional football research center, the Barça Innovation Hub. As part of the agreement, they released an online course“Game-Changing Tech: Mastering Blockchain”, which aims to develop an understanding of blockchain technology and explore its practical applications in everyday life.
On 22 June, the popular crypto platform CoinStats temporarily suspended operations after detecting an active attack on its wallets. Despite a quick and effective response, hackers gained access to 1.3% of all CoinStats wallets, resulting in a loss of $2 million.
A few days later, Coinstats CEO Narek Gevorgyan released the results of an internal investigation, noting: “Our AWS infrastructure was hacked, with strong evidence suggesting it was done through one of our employees, who was socially engineered into downloading malicious software onto his work computer.”
Social engineering is a fairly common tactic used by hackers to manipulate, influence, or deceive a victim to gain control of a computer system. Although Gevorgyan’s statement does not contain a direct promise of compensation to all victims, the company plans to provide a detailed action plan after thoroughly analyzing the situation.
“I empathize with those who lost money; I’m sure their situation is just as difficult. CoinStats will definitely support the victims of the hack, and we’ve been discussing options internally,” he commented.