• This week’s crypto news was dominated by SEC and other regulatory actions. Bitcoin fell 11.5% in value, while Ethereum blocks comply with OFAC orders.
• DeFi protocols such as Platypus, Tornado Cash, and dForce were hit by flash loan attacks resulting in millions of dollars worth of losses.
• Technology developments included the Bank of Russia launching a consumer pilot program for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Polygon setting a date for its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) beta launch, Siemens issuing a digital bond on a public blockchain, and Matter Labs rebranding its ZK roll-up platform zkSync 2.0.
Price Movements
Bitcoin fell from $24,300 down to $21,500 in around nine days, which equates to an 11.5% fall in value. Ethereum blocks comply with the orders issued by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) and have dropped to 47%, the lowest since October 11, 2022.
DeFi Protocols Targeted
The DeFi protocol Platypus has been the target of the latest flash loan attack, which has resulted in a loss of funds worth $8.5 million. The developer of Tornado Cash, Alexey Pertsev, looks set to remain in the custody of Dutch authorities until at least the next hearing of the ongoing trial. Additionally, DeFi protocol dForce suffered a loss of over $3.6 million due to a reentrancy attack executed on the Arbitrum and Optimism chains.
Technology Developments
The Bank of Russia is set to roll out the first consumer pilot program for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as early as April 1st 2023 . Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution provider Polygon announced that their zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) beta launch will go live on March 27th 2023 . Meanwhile engineering company Siemens issued a $64 million digital bond on a public blockchain claiming it was much faster than traditional channels . Lastly Matter Labs also announced their rebranding and opening up their mainnet for developers on their ZK roll-up platform zkSync 2.0 .
Business Developments
The Celsius Network committee proposed selling itself off to NovaWulf Digital Management after facing bankruptcy allegations from creditors . A bankruptcy judge has rejected calls for an independent investigation into FTX’s collapse , while U.S Consumer Price Index data revealed only minor drops not as far as expected leading to more crypto turbulence . Wirex also signed a long term partnership with Visa allowing them to issue crypto enabled debit cards in 40 countries starting with UK .
Charitable Donations
Ripple Labs pledged one million dollars worth XRP towards earthquake relief efforts taking place currently in Turkey and Syria