Crypto Flipsider News – Curve Finance Hack; Coinbase $1B Loss; Stablecoins Support Merge; Nuri Insolvency Filing; U.S. CHIPS Bill

Read in the Digest:

DeFi protocol Curve Finance loses $570,000 in frontend hack

Stablecoins, USDC, and USDT announce support for the Ethereum merge

Coinbase posts $1 billion dollar loss in Q2, execs hit with lawsuit

German crypto bank Nuri files for insolvency; assures users of funds safety

Biden signs CHIPS bill into law, Nvidia sales decline in the second quarter

DeFi Protocol Curve Finance Loses $570,000 in Frontend Hack

Curve Finance, an automated market maker that allows users to trade currencies on their websites, reported a malicious attack that affected the service’s nameserver and frontend on Tuesday. As a result, approximately $570,000 worth of ETH was stolen.

Lefteris Karapetsas, the founder of the open source portfolio tracker and accounting tool Rotki, speculates that the hackers compromised the Iwantmyname domain name system (DNS).

The hacker then redirected users to a cloned site and approved a malicious contract. The users were unaware of the cloning, approved the contract, and saw their funds drained from their wallets

However, an hour after the initial warning, the protocol operators announced via Telegram that the source of the problem had been identified and reverted. They also advised investors to opt out of contracts they approved in the past few hours.

Flipsider:

Cryptocurrency exchange Fixed Float reported that it froze $188,505 (112) worth of ETH connected to the hack

Why You Should Care

Users have also been advised to use curve.exchange until the spread of the curve.fi reverts to normal.

Stablecoins, USDC, and USDT Announce Support for the Ethereum Merge

As anticipation brews ahead of the September 19 merge event that will finally see Ethereum finally migrate to a proof-of-stake (PoS) network, stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether have announced support for the shift.

Circle, the issuer of the second largest stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), wrote in an August 9 blog post that it “intends to fully and solely support” the Ethereum proof-of-stake chain post-merge.

Shortly after Circle’s announcement, Tether, the company behind USDT, which is the biggest stablecoin USDT, affirmed that they will also support Ethereum’s PoS migration.

In the blog post titled “USDT Supports ETH Proof-of-Stake Transition,” Tether explained that it hopes the merge will not be “weaponized to cause confusion and harm” for the Ethereum ecosystem, its applications, and investors.

Flipsider:

Some Ethereum miners shared a proposal to hard fork Ethereum and remain a Proof-of-Work network. However, Circle has said it wouldn’t support the new ETH network.

Why You Should Care

The support from Circle and Tether is a huge boost for Ethereum as the stablecoin issuers are among the most important supporters of the Ethereum network.

Coinbase Posts $1 Billion Dollar Loss in Q2, Execs Hit with Lawsuit

In its recently published Q2 performance, America’s biggest exchange, Coinbase, reported a loss per share of $4.95 against the predicted $2.65. The exchange also saw its net revenue decline from $2.033 billion in Q2 of 2021 to $802.6 million in Q2 of 2022.

The decline in revenue amplified by the crypto market crash over the last eight months flipped Coinbase from an operating profit of $874.7 million in Q2 of 2021 to a $1.04 billion operating loss in Q2 of 2022.

Coinbase, the first crypto exchange to go public in the U.S., has been faced with a series of lawsuits since 2021. A shareholder now alleges that Coinbase execs mismanaged its 2021 public listing and wants to be paid damages.

In the complaint filed with the Delaware District Court, Donald Kocher alleges the Coinbase execs made “false and misleading statements,” allowing investors to buy shares without intermediaries in the firm’s April 2021 public filings.

Flipsider:

Coinbase’s partnership with BlackRock (BLK) is predicted to change the company’s fortune and affect the broader crypto market.

Why You Should Care

Coinbase’s Q2 performance reflects the eight-month market downturn, which has cut Bitcoin’s value to one-third of its November 2021 all-time high.

German Crypto Bank Nuri Files for Insolvency; Assures Users of Funds Safety

Nuri, one of the largest German-based crypto exchanges with over 500,000 customers, filed for insolvency in a Berlin court on Tuesday. The move comes weeks after it said it would lay off 20% of its workforce (about 45 employees) in a drive to reach profitability.

In the statement, Nuri said the insolvency proceedings will not affect any deposits, cryptocurrency funds, or Nuri Pot investments. The company linked the withdrawal difficulty customers face to high traffic and usage for withdrawal of funds.

Nuri assured its users of funds safety due to its partnership with Solarisbank AG, which protects its customers’ fiat and crypto holdings. With Solaris not facing any liquidity issues, Nuri can continue rendering uninterrupted services while restructuring.

Flipsider:

Nuri said that the insolvency is temporal, and the proceedings offer the best basis for developing a viable long-term restructuring concept.

Why You Should Care

Nuri joins the seemingly unending list of crypto firms that have run into liquidity issues since the Terra crash of May intensified the effects of the crypto winter.

Biden Signs CHIPS Bill into Law, Nvidia Sales Decline in Second Quarter

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, signed a bipartisan CHIPS bill on Tuesday, August 9, aiming to boost U.S. competitiveness with China into law during an event on the White House’s South Lawn.

The signed bill will see U.S. companies producing computer chips receive $52 billion and other tax credits to encourage investment in chip manufacturing. There is also a multi-billion dollar fund for scientific research.

Leading microchip manufacturer Nvidia, in its Q2 performance report, revealed that sales of GPUs have taken a major hit. Nvidia recorded a disappointing $6.1 billion revenue in Q2 against a predicted $8.1 billion revenue.

Since the start of 2022, Nvidia’s stock price has been down by more than 42% as concerns brew over the reducing demand for graphics chips used by gamers in their PC gaming rigs and mining.

Flipsider:

Cathie Wood-led Ark Investment Management revealed on Monday that it bought 366,982 shares of NVIDIA at $65.3 million after the company’s shares price plunged.