Bubblemaps CEO Nick Vaiman said Sybil attacks are increasing across presales and airdrops, calling on teams to use KYC or algorithmic detection. A Solana presale event encountered distribution issues after a bot farm reportedly used over 1,000 wallets to snipe nearly the entire Wet (WET) token sale in seconds. Hosted through the decentralized exchange aggregator Jupiter, the presale sold out almost instantly. But genuine buyers effectively had no chance to participate because a single actor dominated the presale, according to organizers. Solana automated market maker (AMM) HumidiFi, the team behind the presale, confirmed the attack and scrapped the launch entirely. The team said it would create a new token and hold an airdrop to legitimate participants while explicitly excluding the sniper. Read more
Paribu has bought a majority stake in Dubai- and Bahrain-licensed CoinMENA in a deal valuing the exchange at up to $240 million. Turkish crypto exchange Paribu has acquired a majority stake in CoinMENA, a Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency exchange licensed in Dubai and Bahrain. According to a Thursday CoinMENA announcement, Paribu acquired a majority stake in CoinMENA in a deal valuing the company at up to $240 million. The company claims the transaction is Türkiye’s largest fintech deal to date and the country’s first cross-border acquisition of a digital asset platform. Paribu said it plans to use the acquisition to scale its operations beyond its home market. CoinMENA obtained a license from Bahrain’s central bank in early 2021 and another from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority at the end of 2023. Read more