Crypto Flipsider News – GALA sinks 30%; Coinbase Cuts Loss; Block Positive Q3; Kwon in Europe; Santander Crypto Limit

Read in the Digest:

$1 billion dollar Gala Games hack scare initiates 30% GALA price plunge.

Coinbase cuts Q3 losses in half, but crypto headwinds to continue into 2023.

Jack Dorsey’s Block posts positive third-quarter revenue – share prices jump.

South Korean authorities have traced crypto fugitive Do Kwon to Europe.

Santander UK to limit crypto exchange transfers to “protect” customers.

$1 Billion Dollar Gala Games Hack Scare Initiates 30% GALA Price Plunge

Gala Games, a Play to Earn (P2E) game development company, has reportedly managed to prevent what could have become the biggest crypto hack of recent years, after news broke that the project had allegedly been exploited for more than $1 billion.

In the late hours of Thursday, November 3rd, news reports on Twitter disclosed that a wallet address had minted over $1 billion in GALA tokens out of thin air. Blockchain security and data analytics company PeckShield, raised concerns to the team during the early hours of Friday, 4th.

Gala Games quickly took to Twitter to calm the rapidly rising fears, assuring users that it was a white hat attack. The company explained that the “exploit” was an internally conducted attack undertaken to prevent bad actors from absconding with users’ money.

Thee event caused chaos for GALA after the fears emerged of a potentially billion-dollar hack–or worse still, a rug pull. The price of GALA fell by as much as 30% interday, dropping from $0.03995 to as low as $0.02837. GALA has since recovered to $0.03489 at the time of writing.

The 24 hour price chart for Gala Games (GALA). Source: CoinMarketCap

Flipsider:

PNetwork, an affiliate of Gala Games, took to Twitter to announce that “All GALA tokens on Ethereum as well as the underlying bridge collateral are SAFE.”

Why You Should Care

Although the price of GALA took a hit in the aftermath of the news, the actions of the Gala Games team helped to prevent what could have been a much larger disaster for the crypto industry.

Coinbase Cuts Q3 Losses in Half, but Crypto Headwinds to Continue into 2023

The worst of the crypto winter looks to be over for Coinbase, as its third-quarter report demonstrated a positive trend change after the popular crypto exchange reported that its losses from the second quarter had been reduced by more than half.

As per the report, America’s largest crypto exchange recorded losses of $545 million in Q3, down from the $1.1 billion lost in Q2. Coinbase further disclosed a loss of $2.43 per share for Q3, lower than the $2.38 originally projected by some analysts.

Although the figures are better than expected, Coinbase still recorded a major decline in its transaction revenue, which fell by 44% from $655.2 million in Q2, to $365.9 million in Q3.

Coinbase expects this decline to roll over into the fourth quarter, and even into 2023 as “stronger macroeconomic and crypto market headwinds” continue to take a toll on the industry.

Flipsider:

Coinbase Co-Founder and CEO Brian Armstrong has criticized the stringent crypto regulations of Singapore, urging the city-state to embrace retail trading.

Why You Should Care

The decrease in demand for crypto has been directly linked to the year-long downtrend that has seen many assets lose more than 70% of their value.

Jack Dorsey’s Block Posts Positive Third-Quarter Revenue – Share Prices Jump

In a positive turn of events, Jack Dorsey’s Block, formerly called Square, announced a 17% rise in its rise in third-quarter revenue on Thursday, November 3rd, owing to the growth of its Cash App unit, which offset the declining price of Bitcoin.

Block reported $1.76 billion in Bitcoin revenue from its Cash App unit. The San Francisco-based fintech firm generated $37 million in gross profit from Bitcoin in the third quarter of 2022.

Cash App transactions rose to more than 49 million in the third quarter, resulting in a rise of approximately 20% year-on-year. The firm further recorded a total net revenue of $4.52 billion in the third quarter, representing a 17% increase over the same period.

According to the report, the fair value of Block’s bitcoin investment was $156 as of September 30th. Following the publishing of the largely positive Q3 report, the share price of Block jumped 14% in post-market trading on Thursday 3rd.

Flipsider:

Despite the revenue profit, Block incurred an impairment charge of $2 million on its bitcoin investment during the third quarter.

Why You Should Care

Unlike other crypto-exposed companies that posted losses, Bitcoin contributed nearly 4.7% to Cash App’s gross profit in the third quarter.

South Korean Authorities Have Traced Crypto Fugitive Do Kwon to Europe

Do Kwon, the under-pursuit crypto fugitive and Co-Founder of the Terra blockchain project, has reportedly been traced to Europe by South Korean authorities after being in hiding for more than six weeks.

According to a report published by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Kwon, who is wanted for market manipulation, violation of capital markets law, and fraud, is currently residing in Europe.

Although regulators report that Kwon has moved on to a third country (in Europe) after exiting Dubai, it is unclear if his precise location is known. Interpol issued a red notice to locate and arrest Kwon on September 25th.

The KBS report also confirmed that prosecutors have obtained Kwon’s private messages, in which he ordered an employee to manipulate the market price of the Terra stablecoin and its associated Luna cryptocurrency.

Flipsider:

While Kwon has been in hiding, evading arrest, The Terra Co-Founder claims that he will “throw a meetup/conference soon to get over this in hiding bs. Cops from the world over welcome to attend”.

Why You Should Care

Kwon now resides in an unspecified location in Europe as an illegal immigrant, and is being sought for arrest due to his involvement in the Terra collapse.

Santander UK to Limit Crypto Exchange Transfers to ‘Protect’ Customers

Santander UK, a subsidiary of Spanish financial giant Banco Santander, has announced a limit on cryptocurrency transactions for customers in the United Kingdom.

As per a November 3rd policy update published by Santander UK, customers will be limited to sending £1,000 to crypto exchanges in a single transaction, and no more than £3,000 over a 30-day period.

Santander UK explained that the measure was inspired by warnings from the country’s financial regulators of a “large increase” in U.K. customers falling victim to cryptocurrency fraud in recent months.

The rules will come into effect on November 15th. While there are no restrictions in regards to how much customers can receive from exchanges, the bank has warned clients that it may impose further restrictions in future.

Flipsider:

Despite the policy change by its UK branch, Santander-associated businesses continue to work towards tokenization, commodity tokens, and cryptocurrency services in Brazil.