Crypto Highlights This Week: It was yet another cautious week for the investors in the crypto markets, who must be really careful while investing. One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Bybit, suffered a 1.4 billion dollar hack.
Also, there has been very little movement with Bitcoin and altcoins, even with the hopes of market improvement. Moreover, the memecoin community was disturbed by the new LIBRA token announcement out of Argentina which has raised many questions through the entire sector.
Weekly Crypto Highlights: ByBit Exchange Hacked By N. Korean Group
This week, the popular crypto exchange Bybit was hacked by the infamous North Korean hacker organization Lazarus Group, which stole $1.4 billion in Ethereum from the exchange.
The news of the hack instantly spread across the crypto community causing a massive panic sell which resulted in $566 million worth of liquidations taking place in just a single day.
This dip in the market led to the decline of BTC and all major altcoins. By the end of the week, Bitcoin was estimated to be worth $96K, Ethereum amounting to nearly $2,800, and XRP and Solana also following the bearish trend.
In response to the hack, Bybit put out a $140 million bounty for the recovery of the stolen Ethereum and will pay cybersecurity experts who can help.
LIBRA Token Panic: What Happened?
This week Argentinian President Javier Milei endorsed the Solana-based LIBRA meme token which consequently surged its price. However, insiders began dumping large amounts of LIBRA tokens during the rally which led to its price dropping by more than 90% immediately after. This raised the chances of a rug-pull which caused even more panic selling.
Consequently, President Milei has ordered an investigation regarding the tokens release as well as rest of the KIP Protocol in hopes to solve the issues and stabilize the token. This incident adds to the growing list of stories of drama within the crypto space and its volatility and harms.
ETF Filings This Week
This week, there has been an increase in ETF activity in the crypto sector. The Canary Capital Litecoin ETF has now been incorporated into the Trust and Clearing Corporation which increases the chances of it being approved.
Furthermore, the Grayscale XRP ETF has also been submitted for review with the SEC.
Furthermore, Franklin Templeton, one of the largest asset management firms, has submitted an S-1 filling to the SEC to list a spot Solana ETF. These filings have altered the mood of the investors this week, which are big milestones to the crypto market.
