Ten Takeaways from Token2049 🥡
The top 10 highlights of the Singapore event - Vitalik's musical moment and Solana's new phone. Consensys lawsuit against US SEC dismissed. $243M crypto heist. Singapore exchange hacked for $52M.
Hello, y'all. The music quiz game that’s got over million plays. Who are you playing with then 👇
Token2049 Singapore.
A global gathering for the Web3 community.
Marina Bay Sands saw entrepreneurs, investors, developers, and industry insiders having a great time over the last week.
Call it a crypto carnival, excitement, innovation, announcements, partnerships, predictions and a few surprises along the way.
Today, we’re looking at the top 10 highlights of the event
1/ Vitalik's musical moment
Vitalik Buterin delivered his speech in the form of a concert.
That was it. That was the highlight. Thank you. Bye
Painful. But we survived that. We still love him.
Read the whole thing: Evolution of Crypto ft. Vitalik Buterin 🎙️
Buterin highlighted Ethereum’s evolution.
He said that in 2024, Ethereum Layer 2 fees have dropped to under $0.01.
Transaction confirmation times on Ethereum improved to 5-15 seconds.
Buterin stressed balancing mainstream adoption with Ethereum's core values of decentralisation and open-source development.
And that, folks, is why we need more crypto conferences.
Where else can you witness a tech genius sing a song and a Hollywood star warn against meme coins all in one day
2/ Bitget and LaLiga
Crypto always eyed sports lovers.
Global crypto exchange Bitget announced a partnership with LaLiga.
The collaboration, timed with Bitget's sixth anniversary, will focus on leveraging blockchain technology alongside LaLiga's ventures into AI, virtual reality, and the metaverse.
This follows Bitget's 2022 partnership with Lionel Messi.
3/ Solana mobile's Seeker phone
Solana Mobile announced the Solana Seeker, set for release in 2025.
The device has received over 140,000 pre-orders.
A built-in self-hosted Seed Vault wallet
Solana Mobile dApp store
Seeker Genesis Token (a soul-bound NFT)
Upgraded hardware configurations
Co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko stated it aims to surpass the Saga at a more affordable price.
Solana, General Manager Emmett Hollyer.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for whatever the next narrative [in crypto] is, whatever the next use case is — there can be a dozen apps offering that same use case in our store within days.”
4/ CertiK’s free tools
CertiK, the blockchain security firm, introduced two free community security tools: token scan and wallet scan.
Token scan offers instant security checks for tokens, helping users detect potential scams on networks like Solana.
Wallet Scan allows users to assess their wallets for risks such as approval vulnerabilities, and interactions with phishing addresses.
CertiK's extensive experience? 70 white hat operations, reporting of 4,000+ security incidents, identification of 115,000 code vulnerabilities, and protection of approximately $360 billion in assets.
5/ OKX wallet upgrade
OKX CMO Haider Rafique revealed an upgraded wallet with a shiny new interface, improved token discovery, and support for millions of crypto.
The wallet has been recognised as a top on-chain wallet by CertiK, ensuring users can trade safely across over 100 public chains.
6/ Bitstamp's expansion plans
Bitstamp plans to expand its institutional business in Australia in 2024.
The exchange is also undergoing an acquisition by Robinhood, expected to complete in early 2025.
“We see Asia as a great opportunity … Hong Kong and Singapore [are] our primary markets… We also have a growing business in Australia. In 2024, we identified Australia as a particular geography we'd like to focus on.”
7/ IoTeX and Polygon collaboration
IoTeX and Polygon co-founders announced plans to build a DePIN layer for multi-chain interoperability.
This collaboration aims to enhance cross-chain communication and liquidity expansion.
8/ Launch of Decentralised AI Association (DAIS)
TOKEN2049 also launched the Decentralised Artificial Intelligence Association (DAIS) to encourage collaboration between crypto projects and AI organisations.
Chairman: Michael Casey, former chief content officer of CoinDesk, is leading DAIS.
Founding Members: The group includes eight founding projects.
CETI AI
Filecoin Foundation
Bloq
Hypercycle
Morpheus
Hemi
Odyssey
Lumerin
9/ Hollywood's take
Andrew Saunders, a former Hollywood exec warned against celebrity-backed meme coins due to concentrated supply and high risk.
“I come from Hollywood, and I would never touch a celebrity memecoin. You’re rolling the dice, right? And the longer you hold, the more likely it is you’re gonna get dumped on.”
10/ Chainlink’s prediction
Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov predicts that real-world assets (RWAs) are about to steal the show from cryptocurrencies.
“This is the role I think we should all be preparing for. […] TradFi will be the largest customer of DeFi [decentralised finance].”
The Quiz Game For The Music Lovers
Musicnerd.io - is more than just a platform; it's a journey into the world of music.
It provides an interactive experience through quizzes and exploration tools. For artists it’s a powerful tool for artists to connect with their fans.
Through custom quizzes artists can engage their audience, receive direct feedback, and build a loyal following eagerly anticipating their next release.
The platform offers a direct line to fans, fostering a sense of connection that goes beyond mere listening.
Block That Quote 🎙️
Musician, memecoin creator Iggy Azalea
“It would go too viral”
Azalea backed out of her appearance at the Solana Breakpoint conference after organisers nixed her plans for a “twerk-off.”
Apparently, the conference folks thought it would be too viral and overshadow the more serious crypto discussions - the long story short in a longish tweet.
Azalea, who's been promoting her Solana memecoin, MOTHER, was set to debate Eric Wall, co-founder of Taproot Wizards.
She had planned to spice things up with a dance-off, but organisers had other ideas.
“I told them respectfully, I feel that’s their problem to resolve in regard to how to make other segments more interesting. I’m ultimately representing a meme token and being viral is the point of my job.“
Wall, while a little bummed about missing out on the twerk-off, shared his disappointment.
Looks like we'll have to wait for another event to see Iggy Azalea shake it on stage.
Consensys Lawsuit Against SEC Dismissed
Consensys, the company behind the popular Ethereum wallet, MetaMask, founded by Joseph Lupin, tried to take on the US Securities and Exchange Commission and SEC Chair Gary Gensler, but this time, the court wasn’t convinced.
Filed in April: Consensys initiated the lawsuit, seeking a declarations.
Ether (ETH) is not a security.
Their sales of ETH do not constitute sales of securities.
The SEC should be blocked from taking enforcement action regarding its MetaMask wallet software.
Wells Notice: Consensys claimed that the SEC had opened an investigation into Ethereum and issued a Wells notice concerning MetaMask’s swap and staking services.
Consensys had accused the SEC of trying to regulate Ethereum as a security.
But, a Texas federal judge said the SEC hadn't made any final decisions yet, so it was like trying to argue about a movie before you've even seen the trailer.
The judge also ruled that Consensys' claims regarding the SEC’s investigation into ETH were moot since the SEC had dropped its probe after approving Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in May.
Consensys was pretty bummed about the whole thing.
“The SEC dropped its “Ethereum 2.0” investigation after our litigation was filed, and the Texas court today recognised that the SEC already gave Consensys the relief it sought on that critical issue for the Ethereum ecosystem.”
But for now, it looks like the SEC is still in the driver's seat.
In the Numbers
$230 million
The worth of Bitcoin stolen.
By whom? Crypto heist targeting Genesis creditor.
Here’s what happened: US Federal agents have put an end to the lavish lifestyle of two men who scammed Bitcoin from a Washington, DC resident.
Who got caught? Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano.
Charges: They face conspiracy charges for stealing and laundering over 4,100 Bitcoin, valued at $230 million at the time.
How they did it?
Sophisticated tactics: The duo used various online aliases and clever methods to access the victim's accounts.
Social engineering: They posed as Google Support and later as Gemini exchange support, tricking the victim into resetting their two-factor authentication and transferring funds to a compromised wallet.
Screen sharing: They convinced the victim to run screen-sharing software, allowing them to obtain private Bitcoin keys.
With their stolen gains, Lam and Serrano indulged in a life of luxury, including:
International travel
Nightclubs
Luxury cars
High-end jewellery
Designer handbags
Rental homes in Los Angeles and Miami
Who deserves an applause? Blockchain investigator ZachXBT.
He played a crucial role in uncovering the scam.
Initial investigations revealed that the stolen crypto was quickly split among various parties and funnelled through more than 15 exchanges, converting it between Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Monero.
Right now, over $9 million has been frozen, with $500,000 already returned to the victim.
Singapore Exchange Hacked For $52 Million
Singapore-based crypto exchange BingX's estimated loss from a suspected hack on Sept. 20 has surpassed $52 million, doubling initial reports of $26 million.
The total loss increased as investigations revealed damages across multiple blockchain networks.
BingX downplayed the incident, describing it as causing only "minor" losses and promising to fully cover user losses with its own capital.
Approximately $1 million of the stolen funds have been frozen with the help of security firms.
Surge in cyberattacks targeting Asian crypto exchanges in 2024.
Indodax (Indonesia): $20.58 million loss on Sept. 10
WazirX (India): $234.9 million loss on July 18
DMM Bitcoin (Japan): $305 million loss on May 31
Security experts suspect North Korea's Lazarus Group is behind several of these attacks.
The Surfer 🏄
Harvard students and alumni have launched the "New Bretton Woods Project" to create Bitcoin-backed stablecoins on the Bel2 network, aiming to address the global debt crisis. The initiative will leverage Bitcoin's security while providing stablecoin functionality.
German authorities have shut down 47 crypto exchanges for alleged criminal activities and KYC violations, seizing customer data in the process. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) aims to weaken the infrastructure supporting these illegal operations.
CertiK Ventures has announced a $45 million investment plan for in-house products and security tools, including Token Scan and Wallet Scan, to help users protect their digital assets.
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