Wormhole, one of the most popular cross-chain bridges connecting Ethereum, Solana and more, has seen a hacker take advantage of an exploit to steal $320 million worth of cryptocurrency from it.

Publicly-traded cryptocurrency miner Riot Blockchain has powered down 99% of its operations as Winter Storm Landon is expected to hit Texas this week and demand on the power grid is expected to surge.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX is in the process of acquiring Japanese fintech firm Liquid Group and all of its subsidiaries. As part of the deal, FTX will gain control of one of the first Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges registered with the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), Quoine.

CryptoCompare's Digital Asset Summit is returning on 30th March at Old Billingsgate, London. As Europe's flagship institutional summit for digital assets, this is the perfect opportunity to connect with key industry decision-makers and leading names in finance who are adopting and embracing the digital asset revolution.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Blockchain Bridge Wormhole Suffers $320 Million Exploit
• Crypto Miner Shuts Down 99% of Operations Over Winter Storm
• FTX Acquires Japanese Fintech Firm Liquid Group
• What is Decentralized Finance (DeFi)?
• CCDAS Summit - Early Bird Tickets Ending Soon!

Blockchain Bridge Wormhole Suffers $320 Million Exploit

Wormhole, one of the most popular cross-chain bridges connecting Ethereum, Solana and more, has seen a hacker take advantage of an exploit to steal $320 million worth of cryptocurrency from it.

On-chain data shows a transaction for 80,000 ether (ETH) from Wormhole to an address that is currently in possession of over $250 million worth of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. A developer has also revealed the attacker kept 40,000 ETH on Solana, a network in which they have been selling other assets.

Prominent pseudonymous Paradigm security researcher “samczsun” has noted that Wormhole team reached out to the exploiter’s address on Ethereum to offer a $10 million bounty for returning the funds.

Cross-chain bridges work by taking an asset and locking it in a smart contract to then issue a parallel asset on the bridged chain. The incident may mean ETH circulating on the Solana blockchain may now be unbacked.

Wormhole has confirmed the loss of 120,000 ETH and said funds would be added to backstop the ETH on Solana, although it did not reveal who would provide the funds.

Crypto Miner Shuts Down 99% of Operations Over Winter Storm

Publicly-traded cryptocurrency miner Riot Blockchain has powered down 99% of its operations as Winter Storm Landon is expected to hit Texas this week and demand on the power grid is expected to surge.

Other bitcoin mining firms with representation in the Texas Blockchain Council sent a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott informing him they plan on shutting down or reducing their operations as well.

Reed Clay, vice president of the Texas Blockchain Council, wrote in a letter to Abbott:

“We are taking proactive measures to shut down operations, shed load and create additional capacity in response to ERCOT's needs should it be necessary.”

Last year, millions who reside in Texas experienced days without power as a winter storm forced demand on the grid to surge and disrupted the flow of electricity.

FTX Acquires Japanese FinTech Firm Liquid Group

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX is in the process of acquiring Japanese fintech firm Liquid Group and all of its subsidiaries. As part of the deal, FTX will gain control of one of the first Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges registered with the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), Quoine.

The FSA has granted Quoine a Type 1 Instruments Business license, allowing it to offer derivatives to its customers. If the conditions of the deal are fulfilled, Quoine will start gradually integrating FTX products and services, from March 30, with FTX’s Japanese users being migrated to the platform.

FTX has been growing at a rapid pace. In 2020, it acquired crypto portfolio tracker Blockfolio, and in August of last year it helped out Liquid Global with a $120 million loan to cover losses from a $90 million hack.

What is Decentralized Finance (DeFi)?

DeFi, short for Decentralized Finance, is a term used to describe financial products that are built on permissionless and decentralized blockchains like Ethereum and Solana.

This includes all sorts of exciting financial applications that offer lending, borrowing, trading, insurance and much more. The possibilities are almost limitless.

More broadly, DeFi refers to a movement, where the goal is to build a better financial system by leveraging the power of permissionless blockchain technology to create one that is transparent, permissionless, cheaper, open-source and decentralized.

Learn more with CryptoCompare’s complete guide on DeFi.

CCDAS Summit - Early Bird Tickets Ending Soon!

CryptoCompare's Digital Asset Summit is returning on 30th March at Old Billingsgate, London. As Europe's flagship institutional summit for digital assets, this is the perfect opportunity to connect with key industry decision-makers and leading names in finance who are adopting and embracing the digital asset revolution.

There are now less than 2 weeks left to secure your Early Bird tickets for the summit! Check out the Summit website now to save over 20% with an Early Bird ticket. 

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