Tron is embarking on an ambitious journey to transform the Bitcoin ecosystem, as announced by its founder, Justin Sun. Through the integration of Bitcoin Layer two solutions, Tron seeks to decentralize and interconnect a variety of token types, including major stablecoins, with the Bitcoin network. Justin Sun’s Outlines Vision to Merge Tron and Bitcoin Networks […]
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On Thursday night, Algorand CEO Staci Warden’s X Account (formerly known as Twitter) was compromised. Since then, the crypto community and the hacker have been having a back-and-forth conversation.
Algorand Foundation’s X account was the first to inform about the hack and advised users to be careful when interacting with the compromised account or any link promoted by it. The hacker then took Staci Warden’s compromised account to start a series of controversial posts and replies.
The hacker called Algorand’s community “poor” in the initial post, later suggesting it would be better for the community if they “sold ALGO and instead bought Ether.” Both posts have amassed a combined total of 150,000 views and, as it’s worth noting, contain racial slurs.
Additionally, the hacker offered a fake airdrop giveaway, claiming they would send “1 $ETH for every % $ALGO drops this week.” While following some users’ petitions, the hacker shared music and changed the account’s bio, claiming that Warden had exited Algorand Foundation and had become a “semi-professional pole dancer.”
Staci Warden's X Account biography was changed by the hacker. Source: X
Most notably, a fake story was shared in the account narrating a call with Tron founder Justin Sun, referred to as “his excellency” by the hacker. In the fake story, Sun promised to take Algorand to “new heights” under the condition that Algorand’s CEO gave total control over the network and allowed Sun to mint any token to back TRUE USD (TUSD).
A sarcastic comment insinuating that Sun’s projects will be the reason behind “the next major financial collapse in crypto” closed the story.
Just when I thought it was all over for Algorand — my phone rang — it was his excellency. Justin told me that he would boost Algorand to new heights by launching TUSD (TRUE USD) and VRUSD (VERY REAL USD) on Algorand, and all I had to do was agree to give him total control over… pic.twitter.com/Rr9K28uGwh
— staci.algo (@StaciW_DC) January 26, 2024
The original announcement about the hack and the different posts shared on the compromised account ignited comments from the crypto community. Most users took the incident with humor, while others have taken the opportunity to express their discontent with the CEO.
One user claimed that Algorand CEO “qualifies to be an intern” at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), clearly referencing the recent hack to the SEC’s X account suffered and resulted in a false report about the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Similarly, known crypto sleuth ZachXBT shared his thoughts about the hack, “Unpopular opinion: Staci hacker would make a better CEO for Algorand Foundation.” To which the hacker jokingly replied, “Hey bro, I just send you $10,000. Keep up the good work for this industry, buy your mom some flowers, and take your father out for a nice dinner,” referencing a previous X post informing the crypto detective of a donation made about a week ago.
No further posts have been shared in the last hours, but the account appears to still be under the hacker’s control, as none of the posts have been taken down, and there’s no official statement about the account’s recovery.
As reported by NewsBTC, ALGO outperformed the general crypto market growth in Q4 2023, experiencing an increase in market capitalization, transaction volume, revenue, and user adoption. ALGO’s prince trades at $0.1652, a 3.18% surge in the last 24 hours.
ALGO is trading at $0.1652 in the hourly chart. Source: ALGOUSDT on TradingView.com
Featured image from Unsplash.com. Chart from TradingView.com
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
Circle has refuted allegations linking it to terrorist funding and denies affiliation with crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun or his associated companies, including Tron (TRX) and HTX (formerly Huobi).
In a letter addressed to Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren, Circle’s Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy, Dante Disparte, stated that the Campaign for Accountability’s (CfA) claims that the stablecoin company’s USDC was involved in crypto terror financing were “replete with errors, omissions, and misleading information.”
Circle explicitly stated that it does not bank Sun and his companies, including HTX and Tron Foundation.
The USDC stablecoin issuer clarified that it had terminated all accounts associated with Sun as far back as February despite the U.S. government’s lack of specific designation for them.
Circle’s stance follows recent reports that the Tron blockchain was increasingly being used to finance terrorist activities and organizations.
However, Sun defended the blockchain saying it has a similar decentralized structure to Bitcoin and Ethereum. He added that the network was “committed to combating terrorist financing by integrating various analysis projects and partners .”
Circle further argued that it does not support or finance illicit actors like Hamas, directly or indirectly, and highlighted its compliance with the necessary financial laws.
“Circle is subject to multiple regulatory regimes – including the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and applicable laws focused on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism – and has forcefully advocated for a comprehensive federal prudential regulatory regime in the United States,” Disparte wrote.
Disparte pointed out the firm’s efforts to combat illicit finance by collaborating with regulators in various countries, including the U.S. and Israel, to prevent any unlawful use of its stablecoin.
Disparte noted that Circle has also led efforts for a comprehensive federal framework to govern stablecoins. He added:
“Circle has consistently called for federal prudential regulation of stablecoins to ensure that every issuer must meet the highest reserving, redemption, disclosure, liquidity, and operational risk management standards”
Crypto exchange platform Poloniex was attacked by a bad actor, losing over $60 million of its customer’s funds. The Justin Sun led the exchange and launched an investigation, which remains ongoing, to determine the identity of the attackers.
The crypto analytics platform Nansen data indicates that over $68 million in tokens left Poloniex over the past day. The image below shows that the attacker stole assets in ETH, BADGER, REN, OKB, NEXO, and 170 other tokens.
Nansen also confirmed that the biggest losses were suffered in top assets, Ethereum and USDT, with around $11 million each. Other tokens such as ELON, USDC, SHIB, and GLM saw inferior losses but still in the millions of dollars.
A few hours ago, as mentioned, the exchange launched an investigation and Justin assured its users that the platform keeps a “healthy financial position.” In that sense, Sun, also the founder of blockchain TRON, claimed that users will be reimbursed for their losses.
The platform is currently exploring a partnership with other crypto exchanges to recover the fund. Sun stated:
We are offering a 5% white hat bounty to the Poloniex hacker. Please return the funds to the following ETH/TRX/BTC wallets. We will give you 7 days to consider this offer before we engage law enforcement.
In the crypto community, some users praised these efforts to recover the fund and encouraged the attacker or attackers to take the bounty for “pointing out vulnerabilities” in the platform’s security. However, other users were critical of the measure. One community member stated:
(…) a white hat doesn’t steal funds and then ask for a bounty, whatever you’re promising, law enforcement will be involved. It’s like saying you can beat someone to death but if you take them to the hospital you’ll be safe (…).
It remains to be seen if the attacker will accept the offer. In the crypto space, many cyberattacks have been conducted by state-sponsored hacker groups, such as the infamous Lazarus Group, allegedly working for the North Korean Government.
According to a report from our sister website, Bitcoinist, this group stole billions of dollars from the nascent industry in the past two years. The terrorist group is allegedly a key component of the country’s nuclear program. Jason Bartlett, a researcher at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), said:
Cryptocurrency offers Pyongyang a new kind of currency that is substantially less regulated and understood by national governments, financial institutions, and international organizations.
However, cryptocurrencies also operate as an important tool for law enforcement agencies to track down and cut funding for rogue entities. Due to blockchain technology’s transparency, some criminals stay clear of digital assets and crypto exchanges.
As of this writing, Ethereum (ETH) trades at $2,077 with a 7% profit in the last 24 hours.
Cover image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview
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