Today in Crypto: Hackers Stole $1.41 Billion YTD and $22.2 Million in October, Google Cloud Launches Solana Network Dataset on BigQuery

1698844207-adobestock-sundry-photography-1-scaled-4 — Source: AdobeStock / Sundry Photography

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Security news

Bug bounty and security services platform Immunefi published its ‘Crypto Losses in October 2023 Report’, finding that $1,410,669,002 was lost to hacks and fraud in 2023 from January to October across 292 specific incidents. October alone saw $22,193,496 lost, with the most targeted chains being BNB Chain (45.8%) and Ethereum (37.5%), representing 83.3% of all targeted chains. Hacks continue to be the predominant cause of losses ($16.4 million, or 73.7%) compared to frauds ($5.9 million, or 26.3%). DeFi was the main target for exploits in October, while CeFi hasn’t witnessed a single major exploit, the report said.
Crypto-powered privacy solution Nym Technologies partnered with the NEAR Foundation to bring end-to-end encryption and metadata privacy protections to layer-1 blockchain NEAR. The Nym mixnet will be integrated into the NEAR ecosystem, to encrypt and cloak traffic across the whole ecosystem, thus providing privacy to all traffic transmitted across the blockchain – allowing users to access NFTs, DeFi protocols, and dapps, while being protected from malicious actors like cyber-criminals, it said. “By masking off-chain metadata traffic, not only is transaction data protected in transit, but this makes it much more difficult for adversaries to de-anonymise users via their public IP addresses,” the announcement said.

Blockchain news

Google Cloud has officially launched the Solana network dataset on BigQuery, Google’s data warehouse, providing consumers, enterprises, and developers with immediate access to complex insights about everything happening on the Solana network, speeding up the project-building process on this blockchain. Per the announcement, “by leveraging Bigtable, Google’s distributed data storage service, in tandem with BigQuery, the Solana ecosystem is able to provide transparent and secure access to archival data from the Solana network through Google Cloud.”
Landslide announced its IBC connection to Avalanche. According to the press release, the Interchain Foundation (ICF) introduced Landslide, the team developing the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC) light client on Avalanche. It said that this “paves the way for seamless interoperability between Avalanche, Cosmos Hub, and over 100 other IBC-enabled chains.” It added that the initiative is set to revolutionize the DeFi ecosystem by enabling IBC-compliant dapps to run seamlessly on the Avalanche network. Landslide is launching its incentivized testnet on November 1.

Stablecoin news

Tether Holdings Limited published its assurance opinion for Q3 of 2023, stating that it reveals “the highest percentage ever recorded” of its reserves held in Cash and Cash Equivalents, standing at 85.7%, of which the vast majority are US T-Bills accounting for $72.6 billion comprising both direct and indirect exposure. Furthermore, the report highlights a reduction in the amount of secured loans extended by Tether, with over $330 million dollars; quarterly returns from Cash and Cash Equivalent investments standing close to $1 billion; and the investments made in industry-related research fields for a total amount of over $800 million since the beginning of the year (almost $670 million this quarter).

Adoption news

Popular tea shop Boba Guys has partnered with Hang, the customer relationship-building platform that raised a $16 million Series A led by Paradigm, to launch a loyalty program powered by the Solana blockchain, with a gamified, technology-forward twist: the Boba Guys Passport. The loyalty program will launch in all 26 Boba Guys locations on November 24. Boba Guys Passport is a novel way for customers to engage and earn, said the press release, which allows members to earn points with each purchase, which then unlock and upgrade specialized Mystery Boxes.