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Trader Loses $2 Million From Malicious DEX incident

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A trader who swapped $2.01 million worth of Ether on a decentralized exchange has been left with just $14,500 worth of tokens after a router directed the order through a low-liquidity pool, allowing an Ethereum block builder to profit massively from a same-block arbitrage trade.

The trader swapped 1,126.44 of Ether (ETH) but only received 5,776 Lighter (LIT) tokens, in a “textbook case of same-block backrun extraction,” according to GoPlus Security.

“This was a real, highly imbalanced backrunner arbitrage, not a classic sandwich attack,” GoPlus Security said. Titan Builder was the biggest beneficiary, walking away with $1.8 million from the transaction, which took place on Monday at 1:59 am UTC.

Source: Lookonchain

The incident is a reminder of the risks posed by maximal extractable value (MEV) bots and liquidity routers on top of hackers and scammers, which continue to run rampant in the crypto industry.

Don’t sign DEX transactions blindly, trader says

To reduce the risk of such incidents, crypto trader Ruslan Khairullin said traders should read the transaction route before signing the transaction.

“This is what happens when you clicked confirm faster than you read the route. Painful lesson to see in a real time.”

Source: Luke Cannon

How the victim lost $2M to a bot

The victim’s swap routed approximately 1,117 Ether into a low-liquidity AVAIL/WETH pool on Uniswap v3, causing the trade to execute at roughly 120 times higher than what AVAIL could later be sold for, GoPlus Security said.

After the trader received nearly 6.67 million AVAIL tokens at an inflated price, the router involved, 0x router, sold a small amount of externally sourced AVAIL into the same pool to extract about 1,072 WETH before paying out 1,018 ETH, worth $1.8 million, to Titan as a builder reward.

The AVAIL was then swapped for $14,200 worth of LIT tokens, marking a 99.3% loss.

Related: ‘All DeFi unsafe’ claim sparks AI security debate after April hack surge 

Cointelegraph reached out to Titan but didn’t receive an immediate response.

Titan has now made $112.6 million in revenue from its block building services this year, data from DefiLlama shows.

Titan’s biggest day this year came in March when it extracted around $34 million in arbitrage profit from a MEV bot incident on the CoW Protocol.

Monthly change in Titan’s revenue since February 2025. Source: DefiLlama

Magazine: China’s 107 Bitcoin memory thief, Bithumb CEO booked: Asia Express

Bitcoin and ether ETFs drew inflows Monday

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U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $265.69 million on Monday, the largest daily inflow in over a month and the second in three sessions after July 2 broke a long run of outflows, per SoSoValue data. Ether ETFs added $20.66 million the same day, led by BlackRock’s ETHA at $23.29 million.

BlackRock’s IBIT absorbed $209.40 million of the bitcoin total, with ARKB taking in $32.98 million and Grayscale’s mini BTC fund adding $42.25 million. GBTC shed $44.45 million, the only fund in the red.

The daily turn has not fixed the weekly picture yet. Spot bitcoin ETFs still lost a net $526.6 million over the shortened holiday week, an eighth straight week of negative flows. Ether ETFs lost $13.7 million on the week.

Total bitcoin ETF assets climbed back to $77.32 billion from a June 30 low of $70.95 billion, helped by both the price recovery and the returning bid. Bitcoin traded near $63,200 as the data landed, per CoinDesk data.

Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve Stalled By Interagency Clash: Report

The Trump administration’s push to establish a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has reportedly hit a roadblock, as the Commerce and Treasury departments are at odds over how the reserve should be structured and which agency should have primary oversight of the holdings.

US President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order called for the SBR to be housed inside the Treasury Department, while other agencies would assist with asset seizures to build the reserve. 

However, concerns have emerged over whether the Treasury has the legal authority to manage the Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, partly because of its volatility, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. 

The Commerce Department has emerged as a contender to oversee the reserve, they said. The Department of Justice is also reportedly working with the departments to determine legally available options, they added.

The Bitcoin reserve is a key part of Trump’s plan to make the US the “crypto capital of the world,” marking a major shift in the government’s approach to digital assets by positioning Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset rather than a seized commodity.

“To deliver on the President’s vision, the Trump administration continues to evaluate the best structure for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and US Digital Asset Stockpile,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston told Cointelegraph.

Source: Cointelegraph

The US currently holds 328,372 Bitcoin worth $21.1 billion — the most of any nation-state — but has sold portions through court-ordered actions over the years.

Senators look to codify the Bitcoin reserve

Efforts have been made to codify the Bitcoin reserve in Congress through the BITCOIN Act and ARMA Act, introduced in May, which seek to acquire 1 million Bitcoin over five years using budget-neutral strategies.

Related: Has Strategy’s capital overhaul put an end to ‘death spiral’ fears?

One of the White House’s top crypto advisers, Patrick Witt, described ARMA as “Version 2” of the BITCOIN Act and said the White House had spent significant time examining the legal implications of creating a Bitcoin reserve. 

“It’s a breakthrough as far as getting everything in place — legally sound — properly safeguarding the assets,” Witt said at the time.

Under ARMA, Bitcoin must be held for at least 20 years unless it is sold to reduce America’s national debt, which is nearing $40 trillion.

Bitcoin reserve developments viewed bullishly

Despite the interagency issues, many industry advocates say the SBR could strengthen the case for Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset.

“The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve isn’t just bullish for Bitcoin. It validates an entirely new category of capital allocation,” Tim Kotzman, host of the Bitcoin Treasuries Podcast, said.

“Public companies moved first. Nation-states are beginning to follow.”

While 15 nation-states hold Bitcoin, El Salvador is the only country that has formally established a Bitcoin reserve and is making routine purchases.

Magazine: Does ‘Paper Bitcoin’ mean there’s an unlimited supply of BTC?

BONK faces $20 million treasury drain after attacker spends $4 million to pass malicious proposal

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The sequence began on June 30, when an anonymous wallet submitted a proposal to transfer the treasury’s holdings to a wallet it controlled, per Chainalysis. To pass, the proposal needed yes votes equal to 1% of BONK’s supply, the quorum, or minimum participation, required for it to take effect.

Over July 4 and 5, a separate wallet acquired exactly that much, spending about $4.4 million to buy BONK on the exchanges Bybit and Binance and, by one account, borrowing more through DeFi lending platforms, according to Lookonchain.

Titled “BIP #76 – Sowellian BonkDAO,” the proposal passed with just seven wallets voting, against more than 18,000 members who did not, a turnout of 2.9%.

It cleared quorum by the narrowest margin, 882.38 billion BONK in favor against an 879.95 billion threshold, almost exactly the stake the attacker had spent days assembling.

The 99.9% “yes” result was effectively a single voter agreeing with itself. Its written pitch reads less like a governance motion and more like a boast, promising to “rebuild from the ashes, monetize holdings, stop the bleeding,” with a line noting that “all YES voters are eligible to receive tokens.”

Beneath it sat the only instruction that should have turned heads – a transfer of 4.43 trillion BONK to the attacker’s wallet.

By July 6, the voter held just enough. It cast its entire stake in favor of the proposal, which then passed, and shortly after, about $20 million in BONK automatically moved out of the treasury into the attacker’s wallet.

Ripple Secures Full MiCA License, Completing EU Compliance

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Ripple has received full Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) authorization from Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, the company said in a press release Monday. The license completes Ripple’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) requirements, letting it offer…

Ripple has received full Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) authorization from Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, the company said in a press release Monday. The license completes Ripple’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) requirements, letting it offer regulated crypto payments, custody and related services across all 30 countries of the European Economic Area.

Ripple’s official X account confirmed the news the same day, posting “It’s official: Ripple has received its EU CASP license. We are now fully MiCA-compliant and ready to meet growing European crypto demand.”

Building On Preliminary Approval

The full authorization follows preliminary CASP approval Ripple secured in Luxembourg in June, which The Defiant covered at the time. That earlier approval unlocked EEA passporting on a provisional basis; Monday’s authorization removes the conditional status and confirms full compliance under the bloc’s post-transition MiCA regime.

Cassie Craddock, Ripple’s managing director for the UK and Europe, said in the release that “this CASP authorisation means Ripple enters the post-transitional MiCA era fully compliant and ready to scale.” She added that institutions across Europe “are looking to build their digital asset services alongside regulated partners.”

Adding To Global License Count

Combined with its existing EU e-money institution license, Ripple’s CASP approval puts it among a small group of digital-asset firms with full MiCA authorization, according to the company, which said it now holds more than 75 regulatory licenses globally. Ripple did not disclose which other products or jurisdictions the license immediately unlocks beyond the EEA-wide passporting already described.

The approval lands after MiCA’s transitional grandfathering period ended July 1, 2026, a deadline that forced crypto firms operating in the EU to either secure authorization or wind down services to EU clients.

Bitcoin slips after Strategy sells 3,588 BTC for $216 million

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“Strategy now has a completely different business model,” wrote Peter Schiff, a longtime no-coiner and critic of Michael Saylor and his company. “Instead of selling common and preferred stock and issuing debt to buy bitcoin, the new strategy is to sell bitcoin to pay interest and dividends, pay off debt, buy back shares it sold, and hope that bitcoin’s price goes way up.”

“You guys who believed selling 32 BTC caused sell-off three weeks ago have some reflecting to do,” said Grant Cardone.

“Everyone was worried about Saylor getting liquidated,” wrote Jeff Sekinger. “Well this is it. This is what it looks like. They will sell chunks of BTC at a loss to fund their credit products that aren’t backed by cash flow. So if BTC doesn’t appreciate, they will continue selling at a loss.”

“I’m on board with the firm moving in this direction, wrote Josh Mandell. “When the usual approach to funding dividends is just selling more shares of common stock, opting to sell a small amount of bitcoin instead essentially behaves like a buyback of the common.”

“Strategy just sold ~1.5 months of dividend obligations in one week,” said Joe Burnett, an executive with fellow bitcoin treasury company, Strive. “At this pace and with 0% BTC appreciation, today’s dividend obligation is funded until 2056 … At ~3.4% annual BTC appreciation, today’s dividend obligation can be funded indefinitely.”

Finally, there’s Strategy CEO Phong Le: “Strategy is evolving from one-way capital issuance to active capital management.”

Fed rate-decision meeting minutes, SpaceX (SPCX) joins Nasdaq 100: Crypto Week Ahead

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This week is characterized by macroeconomic reports, which include the minutes from last month’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, as well as economic data that may provide insights into the Federal Reserve’s next moves.

Crypto-linked equities are also in the news, with American Bitcoin (ABTC) dodging a Nasdaq delisting after a reverse split.

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space transportation and AI company, joins the Nasdaq 100, becoming the fourth member of the tech-heavy index to hold bitcoin . Index membership is likely to boost demand for the shares, partly because tracker funds need exposure to the company and partly because the stock is more likely to meet firms’ investment criteria.

Others include Tesla (TSLA), Strategy (MSTR) and Mercado Libre (MELI). The space exploration firm, which holds 18,712 BTC, is expected to have more weight in the index than the latter two.

Beyond that, geopolitical developments and the further collapse of the yen against the dollar are factors to keep an eye on. Bitcoin’s negative correlation to the yen’s exchange rate against the dollar has been unusually high, with BTC tending to rise when the yen weakens.

What to Watch

(All times ET)

  • Crypto
    • July 6: American Bitcoin (ABTC) to trade after 1-for-15 reverse stock split reduced total outstanding shares to about 73 million.
    • July 7: SpaceX (SPCX) to join the Nasdaq 100 index.
    • July 7: Berachain (BERA) to undergo its PoL Next upgrade.
  • Macro
    • July 06, 09:45 a.m.: U.S. S&P Global Services PMI Final for June est. 51.3 (Prev. 50.7)
    • July 06, 10:00 a.m.: U.S. ISM Services PMI for June (Prev. 54.5)
    • July 07, 11:00 a.m.: U.S. Consumer Inflation Expectations for June (Prev. 3.5%)
    • July 08, 02:00 p.m.: U.S. FOMC Minutes
    • July 08, 09:30 p.m.: China Consumer Price Index YoY for June (Prev. 1.2%)
    • July 09, 08:30 a.m.: U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for period ending July 04 (Prev. 215K)
    • July 09, 09:00 a.m.: U.S. Fed Williams Speech in a keynote discussion on “The Future of Market Liquidity and Functioning”
    • July 10, 08:30 a.m.: Canada Unemployment Rate for June (Prev. 6.6%)
  • Earnings

Token Events

  • Governance Votes & Calls
    • ENS DAO is voting on an executable proposal to renew its Security Council for a two-year term, deploy an updated contract with an extension function, and rotate one multisig signer. Voting ends on July 6.
    • Frax DAO is voting to allocate 42,000 wFRAX over six months to fund the EchoMarket Creator & Distribution Program. Voting ends on July 6.
    • Nexus Mutual DAO is voting on a proposal to approve a 12-month budget of 1,108,875 USDC and 6,930 wNXM for its active DAO teams to fund operations, marketing, product development, and risk management through July 2027. Voting ends on July 9.
    • Arbitrum DAO is voting on a proposal to establish the Fast Feed, a paid, low-latency data stream providing early access to sequenced transaction data on Arbitrum One. Voting ends on July 9.
  • Unlocks
    • July 6: Hyperliquid (HYPE) to unlock 0.2% of its circulating supply worth $30.39 million.
    • July 11: Rain (RAIN) to unlock 7.64% of its circulating supply worth $786.9 million.
    • July 12: to unlock 29.12% of its circulating supply worth $130.2 million.
  • Token Launches

Conferences

Coinbase AI alert draws backlash after pushing World Cup result before kickoff

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Coinbase (COIN) sent users a false “breaking news” alert saying Norway’s soccer team beat Brazil 3-2 in a World Cup knockout match before the game had even started.

The alert said Erling Haaland scored twice in the match at MetLife Stadium. Coinbase’s own prediction-market page still listed the game as weather-delayed at the time.

Users posted screenshots of the notification on X on Sunday. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong replied to one saying he was looking into it with the team. According to one post, the alert was sent at 10:26 a.m. ET. The match didn’t start until 4 p.m.

Max Branzburg, the company’s head of consumer & business products, later clarified that the incorrect story was fixed and the firm “made some updates to avoid these types of inaccuracies in the future.”

“It’s awesome to see the power of AI-enabled 24/7 insights for trading, but obviously still need to tune it to address these types of issues,” Branzburg wrote on X.

The actual match did see Norway beat Brazil, and Haaland scored twice. The final score was 2-1.

JPMorgan’s JLTXX Tokenized Money Market Fund AUM Grows 250% in a Month on Ethereum

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JPMorgan’s JLTXX tokenized money market fund has grown its onchain assets under management by roughly 250% over the past month, according to data platform Token Terminal. The bank runs the fund exclusively on Ethereum. JLTXX, formally the OnChain Liquidity Token Money Market Fund, launched May 13…

JPMorgan’s JLTXX tokenized money market fund has grown its onchain assets under management by roughly 250% over the past month, according to data platform Token Terminal. The bank runs the fund exclusively on Ethereum.

JLTXX, formally the OnChain Liquidity Token Money Market Fund, launched May 13 with JPMorgan seeding it with $100 million of its own capital, according to a thread from ethereuminsti. Other launch investors brought day-one total value locked to $200 million. Seven weeks later, TVL reached $695 million, a 248% increase, the thread said, a figure consistent with Token Terminal’s roughly 250% estimate.

JLTXX’s growth partly reflects its use as reserve backing for stablecoins. Dune’s analytics account said the fund’s addition to USDG’s reserves, alongside BlackRock’s BUIDL and Superstate’s STBXX, points to rising institutional demand for onchain Treasury exposure that complies with the GENIUS Act, the U.S. stablecoin law that sets eligibility rules for reserve assets.

Second Filing in May

The Defiant previously reported that JPMorgan filed for the fund on May 13, roughly three weeks after Morgan Stanley launched its own Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio, as banks compete to supply compliant reserve assets to stablecoin issuers.

Ethereum remains the only blockchain available to JLTXX investors, per ethereuminsti, even as JPMorgan operates its own private Kinexys network for other settlement activity. The fund’s growth adds to a broader push by banks and asset managers, including BlackRock and Fidelity, to bring money market products onchain as stablecoin issuers seek yield-bearing, regulation-compliant collateral.

No exact current AUM figure has been published by JPMorgan itself; the $695 million and 248%-250% growth figures come from third-party onchain trackers Token Terminal and Dune, which independently arrived at consistent numbers.

Trump-Backed American Bitcoin (ABTC) Pushes Treasury Past 8,000 BTC

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American Bitcoin Corp (Nasdaq: ABTC) has moved its treasury past 8,000 bitcoin, the company said. The total marks a climb from about 5,401 BTC at the end of 2025, a gain of close to 50% across six months.

The company, a majority-owned subsidiary of Hut 8 Corp and backed by the Trump family, said its bitcoin reserve and its bitcoin-per-share have grown close to threefold since its Nasdaq debut. Co-founder Eric Trump has framed the growth as disciplined and large in scale.

American Bitcoin builds its stack through two channels: mining production and treasury purchases. In the first quarter of 2026, the firm mined 817 BTC and added 1,620 BTC to its reserve, a rise of about 30 percent in three months. That pace has carried into the summer.

Mining capacity has grown to match the treasury ambitions. In March, the company deployed 11,298 ASIC miners at its site in Drumheller, Alberta, a move that lifted capacity by about 12 percent and added 3.05 EH/s. The cost to mine a single bitcoin fell to about $36,200 in the first quarter, a drop of 23 percent from $46,900 in the prior quarter.

The financial picture remains mixed. American Bitcoin reported a net loss of $81.8 million for the first quarter on revenue of $62.1 million, a result that reflects a wider crypto market decline and the heavy spending behind its expansion.