Fin Strathern, Author at The Block

Circle hopes new cross-chain USDC protocol will reduce exploits

Circle, creators of the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), has launched a mainnet protocol enabling users to transfer USDC between the Ethereum and Avalanche blockchains. The cross-chain bridge is different from other bridges in that, instead of locking tokens sent to its contract, it completely burns coins on the sending chain and then mints new ones on the receiving chain. In the past, Avalanche users with USDC on Ethereum would need to deposit the tokens with a Circle-approved partner or use...

27 April 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Solana adds emissions tracker to boost blockchain’s transparency

Layer-1 blockchain network Solana has launched a real-time tracking dashboard with data platform Trycarbonara to measure on-chain carbon emissions.

The Solana Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to growing and decentralising the network, said the update makes it the first “major smart-contract blockchain” to provide real-time measures of its carbon emissions.

https://twitter.com/solana/status/1649414091742511105

The organisation added that it hopes its steps will...

24 April 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Bank of England, BIS complete distributed ledger settlements pilot

The Bank of England and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have completed a joint pilot testing a distributed ledger technology-based settlements system between institutions.

The UK central bank plans to take lessons from the project and apply them to its real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system.

BIS has also published a 44-page report on the project. Titled Project Meridian, it was carried out with the Bank of England at the BIS innovation hub in...

20 April 2023 | Legislation & Government

Trump’s second NFT series sells out on day one

Another non-fungible token (NFT) collection licensing the name and likeness of former US President Donald Trump has sold out, one day after launching on 18 April.

The second of its kind, the ‘Trump Digital Trading Cards Series 2’ collection features 47.000 NFTs that were originally priced at $99 each, netting the former President a cool $4.65 million.

On the secondary reseller market, the collection has reached 890 Ether in trading volume since...

19 April 2023 | Digital Assets

BNB Chain flags 191 crypto projects as high-risk in ‘red alarm’ list

BNB Chain, the blockchain network of crypto exchange Binance, has updated its red alarm list with 191 new projects and decentralised applications (DApps) it considers to be high-risk.

The red alarm list is updated every Friday, warning users of projects and DApps on the blockchain that the developers consider to be risky investments.

Judgements are made based on an assessment of each project or DApps’ smart contract.

BNB Chain said that the 191 new projects...

17 April 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Ripple launches crypto liquidity service for businesses

San Francisco-based fintech firm Ripple has launched a liquidity solution to act as a bridge between crypto and fiat currency for businesses.

The Ripple Liquidity Hub launched 13 April following a successful pilot last year.

“Liquidity Hub is publicly available to provide businesses with a simple, seamless way to manage their modern crypto liquidity needs,” the firm said.

The hub is a stand-alone solution operating separately from Ripple’s cross-border...

14 April 2023 | Blockchain Applications

CoFund tokenises luxury Bali hotel using Tokeny

Tokeny, a tokenisation infrastructure provider, has partnered with CoFund, an Ethereum real-estate tokenisation marketplace, to tokenise a luxury hotel in Indonesia.

The $10 million hotel sits on the island resort of Bali, and will be tokenised using ERC-3643 security tokens on the Polygon network.

Luxembourg-based Tokeny said that investors will be able to buy a piece of the hotel through a minimum investment of $1,000.

Luc Falempin, CEO of Tokeny, said:...

12 April 2023 | Blockchain Applications

SushiSwap suffers $3.3m exploit as it addresses US subpoena

Decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol SushiSwap has suffered a smart contract bug that allowed for more than $3 million of funds to be siphoned in an exploit.

The hack should only impact users who swapped crypto on the protocol within the past four days, according to DefiLlama developer 0xngmi.

Blockchain security teams from Peckshield and CertiK Alert first posted about the bug on 9 April, stating that it had affected the approval function of SushiSwap’s Router...

10 April 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Three quarters of rug pulls happened on BNB Chain in Q1 2023

Of all the rug pull scams carried out across the crypto ecosystem in the first quarter of 2023, almost three quarters occurred on Binance’s BNB Chain, according to a report from Immunefi.

The blockchain security firm’s latest report, ‘Crypto Losses in Q1 2023’, looked at the different kind of crypto hacks, scams, and exploits that took place in the first three months of the year.

It found that 73.3% of rug pull scams, where developers attract investor money for a...