The contagion from the Kelp exploit could have been contained, but at the cost of capital efficiency, according to the founder of Curve Finance. The exploit of the Kelp liquid restaking protocol shows how non-isolated lending and integrations in decentralized finance (DeFi) can cause broader ecosystem contagion, according to crypto industry executives and blockchain security firms. Non-isolated lending on DeFi platforms, including earlier versions of the Aave lending protocol, exposes users to risks from all the various tokens used as collateral on the platforms, according to Michael Egorov, founder of the Curve Finance DeFi protocol. Kelp was the target of a cyber attack on Saturday, causing the platform to pause smart contracts for its restaking token (rsETH) while it moved to investigate the attack that left the platform drained of about $293 million. DeFi teams should also vet prospective digital assets to ensure that tokens do not feature single points of failure or attack surfaces before approving token...
Bitcoin foreshadows fresh market mayhem as it appears that the US-Iran war has returned, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz oil route. Bitcoin (BTC) sought to protect $75,000 into Sunday’s weekly close as crypto surfed fresh uncertainty over the US-Iran war. Key points: Bitcoin price action sinks from ten-week highs amid fears that the US-Iran war has returned in full force. Read more
Alcoa is nearing a deal to sell its idle upstate New York Massena East smelter to NYDIG as US industrial sites increasingly shift toward Bitcoin mining and AI data centers. US aluminium giant Alcoa is reportedly nearing a deal to offload its long-idle Massena East smelter in upstate New York to Bitcoin mining firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). The company is in advanced discussions and expects the transaction to close “in the middle part of this year,” CEO Bill Oplinger told Bloomberg on Friday. The site, located along the St. Lawrence River, has been inactive since 2014 after Alcoa shut it down amid rising energy costs and global competition. Built for 24/7 heavy industrial operations, aluminum smelters come with pre-existing substations, transmission lines and high-capacity grid connections. That makes them attractive targets for Bitcoin miners and data center operators, who often spend years securing similar infrastructure approvals from scratch. Read more