Tag: Bybit

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crypto

Short news: Microsoft claims breakthrough with quantum computing, former OpenAI leaders with rival AI companies, President Xi Jinping brings together Chinese tech leaders, Alibaba and Unity rise, Palantir falls sharply and Formula 1 full of crypto sponsors

Microsoft claims quantum computing breakthrough

Microsoft has announced it has reached a significant milestone in quantum computing. The tech company says it has created "topological qubits," a technological innovation that could be crucial to realizing stable and scalable quantum computing.

Quantum computing has long been considered the holy grail for computational power and data analysis, but the technology faces stability problems. Once quantum computing works at scale, it would make current encryption obsolete, including cryptographic keys for blockchain. That means everyone needs to think about alternative storage methods for their cryptoassets now, before quantum computing becomes a reality. In North Korea, they can't wait.

Former OpenAI leaders with competing AI companies

The AI sector remains in flux as former OpenAI executives raise billions for competing projects. It was previously known that ex-OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever founded Safe Superintelligence(SSI), which is in negotiations to obtain funding at a valuation of $30 billion.

Now it appears that former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is also raising money for her AI startup Thinking Machines Lab, with a team largely made up of employees recruited from OpenAI and Anthropic. It is just not known what valuation Murati has in mind, but she will certainly be looking with an oblique eye at what former colleague Sutskever is getting done. Like SSI, Thinking Machines Lab has a one-page website with text on it in very small print. The most high technology companies make Web sites that look like they did in 1993.

President Xi Jinping brings together Chinese tech leaders

For the first time in six years, Chinese President Xi Jinpinghas met with top members of China's technology sector, including Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba. The meeting marks a striking change of direction after years of the Chinese government cracking down on tech companies with strict regulatory measures and high fines.

The meeting is a sign that Chinese leaders recognize how crucial technology is to the economy. Jack Ma's return to the spotlight indicates that the government wants to give companies like Alibaba more freedom again, presumably to spur innovation and growth in a flare-up in international competition.

Thursday, Feb. 20, was a special day of trading for Alibaba, Palantir and Unity

Alibaba and Unity rise, Palantir falls sharply

The meeting was met with cheers from investors and Alibaba shares rose sharply. On the same day, Thursday, Palantir shares took a huge hit because President Trump is expected to cut defense spending, which could negatively impact Palantir.

Another notable stock was software maker Unity, which, although still loss-making, is being praised by investors for its change in direction, supplying not only software for computer games but also car companies such as Toyota. Thus, Thursday, Feb. 20, became a very special day for these three companies.

Interestingly, the share price of U.S. largest crypto exchange Coinbase, barely reacted to the news that the SEC, under the reign of President Trump, has halted the years-long lawsuit against Coinbase.

Formula 1 full of crypto sponsors

The Formula One season is about to start and was announced big time with an event at London's O2 Arena. It was noticed that many teams are sponsored big by crypto companies:

  • Aston Martin is sponsored by Coinbase, with quite a fuss being made about the fact that payment is made in the stable token USDC. That's a digital dollar, boy.
  • Red Bull Racing has had crypto exchange Gate.io on the back wing since this season, replacing Bybit. But that one made plenty of headlines later in the week.
  • McLaren has had OKX as a sponsor since 2022. OKX appears large on the side of the car, among other things.
  • Williams: American crypto exchange Kraken is a sponsor of Williams for the third year.
  • Stake F1 Team: Sauber, which will become Audi next year, has even sold the name to the crypto gambling site Stake.

Formula 1 itself has been sponsored by the crypto exchange Crypto.com since 2021, noting that neither Nish nor I know anyone who has ever used Crypto.com, unlike the other exchanges mentioned.

NFA episode 4: 'Solana better than Bitcoin'

This and more Nish and I discussed in episode 4 of the NFA Podcast (Not Financial Advice, or Nish, Frackers and Others), noting especially her extensive analysis of the Solana platform, which goes beyond just discussing the price of the day - as I like to do when her token favorites drop.

Categories
crypto

Bybit hit by $1.46 billion hack

We still did this as a joke, a few hours later we really looked like this when Bybit was robbed of $1.46 billion Source: NFA Podcast Episode 4

But first, perhaps the biggest financial heist in history except for the Dutch government's indiscriminate adjustment of VAT rates: crypto exchange Bybit was robbed of $1.46 billion worth of Ethereum, and it seems the perpetrators, the infamous Lazarus Group, are from North Korea.

At least, that's what blockchain analysis company Arkham Intelligence says based on data provided by blockchain researcher ZachXBT. The attack immediately led to a sharp drop in crypto prices, but after adequate crisis communications from Bybit, the market quickly recovered. Over the week, Bitcoin fell only 1%, and billions are flowing into crypto-ETFs from institutional investors. For example, Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, announced a $436 million investment in the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF.

The attack on Bybit was carried out through a technique called "Blind Signing," in which transactions were approved by Bybit employees without full knowledge of the content. This is best explanation I could find of the method used on X and this is an excellent video that explains it all. At its core, it boils down to the need for several Bybit employees to approve such transactions through so-called multisig wallets, which at first suspected that the thieves had simply changed the receiving address or amount.

Taking over entire vault

This would be similar to how Pathé executives in the Netherlands transferred nineteen million Euros to an unknown account number a few years ago, thinking it was an account of the parent company. However, the North Koreans' method was even more sophisticated: according to Bybit chief Ben Zhouh,the hackers hadmanaged to change the message approved by Bybit employees into an upgrade of the entire vault(safe smart contract logic), taking control of the entire vault, including all assets.

For those of you who remember Lucky Luke and the Dalton brothers, it brings to mind the moment when the brothers tried to stop taking bank employees at gunpoint or using dynamite to blow up the safe, and "just" lift the safe out of the bank. Unfortunately, the North Koreans were a lot more savvy than the Daltons.

Centralization remains a systemic risk

The attack on Bybit once again raises questions about the security of crypto exchanges and the risks associated with holding large amounts of assets on centralized platforms. Industry experts stress that advanced hacking methods, as used by the Lazarus Group, are an ongoing threat affecting the entire crypto industry.

As a result, reactions, even from competitors, were moderate to even supportive. Former Binance CEO CZ had a nuanced analysis to which Zhou in turn responded well. Bybit says losses will be covered by their insurance fund and that the cold wallet attack will not lead to further liquidity problems. The prompt and forthright communication from ByBit and especially CEO Ben Zhou was widely praised, although it was a flex to prove with his Whoop score that he remained extremely calm during the incident and subsequent sleepless night.