Euler Finance hacker returned more than 58,000 stolen EtherSony wants to use NFT technology in their games; Venezuela shuts down crypto facilities and exchanges amid corruption investigation.
According to on-chain data, the hacker, who was behind the $196 million exploit on loan platform Euler Finance, has returned a large chunk of stolen assets.
The attacker returned 51,000 Ether in a transaction he made on March 25. At the time of writing, 51,000 Ether is worth approximately $88 million. A second Ether transfer of 7,737 was made on the same day, worth over $13 million. The hacker also transferred 3,000 Ether on March 18, worth approximately $5.4 million.
On March 13, the hacker stole approximately $196 million from the protocol in a flash loan attack dubbed the most significant DeFi attack ever of 2023. Assets stolen included 8.8 million DAI, 849,000 wBTC, 85 million stETH, and 34 million USDC.
A few days after the attack, the hacker sent Euler a message to negotiate:
“We want to make it easy for everyone affected. We have no intention of keeping something that isn’t ours. Let’s get along.”
Protocol had previously attempted to negotiate with the abuser by demanding that 90% of stolen funds be returned within 24 hours or legal action would be taken.
Sony wants to use NFT technology in their games!
Video game giant Sony Interactive Entertainment, which manages the PlayStation game console brand, has filed a patent for a framework that allows users to transfer and use NFT across multiple gaming platforms.
With its interest in crypto, Sony continues to prove itself in the crypto market with numerous partnerships and trademark registrations over the past few years. The company has applied for an NFT framework patent for transferring and using digital assets between gaming platforms.
PlayStation 5 users will be able to experience NFT use cases through mainstream game titles. As of December 2022, the total number of active users on PlayStation Network worldwide was 112 million and this number continues to increase year by year.
Venezuela shuts down crypto facilities and exchanges amid corruption investigation
Venezuela’s energy supplier has shut down cryptocurrency mining facilities across the country as part of a reorganization of its national crypto department and an ongoing corruption investigation into the country’s oil company.
Mining facilities in the states of Carabobo, Lara and Bolivar have been shut down recently, according to local media reports and tweets from the National Cryptocurrency Association of Venezuela. It is unclear how many crypto firms are affected by this. Some cryptocurrency exchanges have also been ordered to cease operations.
The shutdown of cryptocurrency mining facilities is believed to be part of a corruption investigation involving Venezuela’s oil company PDVSA and the country’s crypto department.
According to Saab, at least 10 people have been arrested in connection with the investigations. Among them is Joselit Ramirez Camacho, who has led the crypto department since its inception in 2018 and oversees the country’s cryptocurrency tax rules and the country’s cryptocurrency Petro.
Camacho has been on the US Most Wanted List since June 2020. Homeland Security Investigations offered a reward of up to $5 million for any information leading to Camacho’s capture. Authorities claim Camacho has “deep political, social and economic ties” with suspected narcotics mafia, including Venezuela’s former vice president, Tareck El Aissami.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the restructuring of the National Supervisory Authority of Crypto Assets, with a decree released on March 17. Maduro’s administration stated that the decision aims to protect citizens in the country from the negative impact of economic sanctions, among other reasons.