Convergence, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, got hammered by hackers. The attack happened in the wee hours of August 1. It cost the protocol a whopping $212,000. The hack sent Convergence's native token, CVG, into a nosedive. Its value plummeted by over 99%. Talk about a rough day at the office. Wireshark, the pseudonymous founder of Convergence, spilled the beans in a post-mortem. The hacker exploited a smart contract vulnerability. They minted and sold 58 million CVG tokens for about $210,000. But that's not all, folks. The hacker also nabbed $2,000 in unclaimed rewards from Convex. Convex is another DeFi protocol that boosts rewards for Curve liquidity providers. PeckShield, a blockchain security firm, tracked the hacker's moves. After minting the CVG tokens, they quickly swapped them for 60 wrapped-Ether and 15,900 Curve.fi FRAX. The CVG token is now trading at a measly $0.0004. Its market cap has shrunk to just $57,000. That's according to CoinMarketCap data. Convergence admitted they goofed up. They accidentally removed a crucial line of code from their smart contract. This contract distributes CVG staking rewards. "The modification led us to remove the line of code that was checking the input given to the function," Convergence explained. This slip-up allowed the hacker to exploit the contract. Convergence claims user funds are safe. However, they've advised users to withdraw assets from the platform. They're working on fixing the rewards contract for the Stake DAO integration. The hack has put a dent in Convergence's total value locked. It dropped from $5.79 million to $3.69 million, according to DefiLlama data. This incident is part of a larger trend. The crypto ecosystem lost around $266 million to hacks in July alone. Most of this came from the $230 million hack of Indian trading platform WazirX on July 18. Convergence is now left picking up the pieces. "We apologize to our community and investors, and we take full responsibility for what happened," they said. They're currently mulling over the future of the protocol. This hack serves as a stark reminder. Even in the world of cutting-edge finance, a single line of code can make or break a protocol. It's a tough lesson for Convergence, and a wake-up call for the entire DeFi space.

Russian-speaking cybercriminals dominated the crypto crime scene in 2023. A new report by TRM Labs spills the beans on the extent of their activities. These groups were behind a whopping 69% of all ransomware proceeds in crypto last year. We're talking big bucks here - over $500 million. Lockbit and ALPHV/Black Cat topped the list of ransomware operators. Both are Russian-speaking outfits. But Lockbit hit a snag in February. The UK's National Crime Agency claimed it had taken control of their operations. Garantex, a Russian exchange, was a major player in sanction evasion. It handled 82% of all crypto volumes from sanctioned entities worldwide. This comes as no surprise. With Russia facing global sanctions due to the Ukraine war, some turned to crypto to dodge the rules. The US watchdog OFAC even blacklisted specific bitcoin and ether addresses last year. It's not just ransomware, though. Russian-language darknet markets cornered the online drug trade. They accounted for 95% of all crypto drug sales on the dark web in 2023. TRM Labs didn't pull any punches. "Russian speaking threat actors are unique in the breadth of their malign activity," the report stated. But let's not forget about North Korea. They're still the big fish in the hacking pond. These guys allegedly pinched close to $1 billion in cryptocurrency last year alone. The crypto world is clearly not all sunshine and rainbows. It's got a dark underbelly, and Russian-speaking groups are running the show.

A major IT outage hit big banks last week. It was a mess. JPMorgan, Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo all had issues. Shytoshi Kusama, the main brain behind meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB), says we need a new solution. He's pushing for a web3-based operating system. Kusama posted on X about the outage. He didn't mince words. "As the world [limped toward] the weekend crippled by one simple update, it becomes glaringly obvious that a new worldwide operating system is needed," he said. He wants something decentralized. No central authority. Just web3 tech. The outage wasn't a small hiccup. It was linked to an update for Windows by CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm. Their software is used globally. Bank customers couldn't log in. They couldn't transfer money. Deposits were a problem too. Kusama says SHIB developers have been busy. During the bear market, they've been working on a system to handle these kinds of outages. "Luckily for innovators, and the world at large, during the bear market, our large decentralized community of builders and believers have been working on systems for just this occasion," he explained. He's confident about SHIB's role in the future. "As the inevitable toll of a global outage of critical infrastructure is tallied in a loss of funds and lives, we will lead the conversation of exactly why web3 is the future and the Shiba Inu ecosystem is the operating system of that future," Kusama stated. SHIB's price isn't doing too shabby. It's trading at $0.00001816, up a bit in the last day. The idea of a web3 OS is out there. But with recent tech fails, who knows? It might catch on.

A new crypto scam is making waves. It uses a fake Zoom page. The scam has already nabbed $300,000 in digital assets. NFT collector and cybersecurity expert "NFT_Dreww" sounded the alarm on X. He called it "extremely sophisticated". The scam targets NFT holders and crypto whales. Scammers reach out with tempting offers. They might propose licensing deals or project collaborations. They then push for a Zoom call. The link they send looks legit, but it's not. Clicking the link leads to trouble. Users see a loading screen that never ends. It prompts a download of "ZoomInstallerFull.exe". This file is actually malware. The page then redirects to the real Zoom. By this point, it's too late. The malware has already done its job. Technologist "Cipher0091" provided more details. The malware adds itself to the Windows Defender exclusion list. This sneaky move helps it avoid detection. "It begins executing and extracting all your information," NFT_Dreww explained. The fake loading page serves as a distraction. Meanwhile, the malware goes to work. The scammers are clever. They keep changing domain names to stay under the radar. This is their fifth domain for this particular scam. Social engineering in crypto scams isn't new. But it's evolving fast. Several crypto community members reported dodgy emails this week. These emails impersonated well-known crypto figures. The emails contain malicious attachments. If opened, they likely install crypto-stealing malware. It's a reminder to stay vigilant in the wild west of crypto.

Rapper 50 Cent's Twitter account was hacked on Friday. Hackers used his account for a pump-and-dump scheme for a new Solana token. The hacker posted a flurry of tweets promoting "GUNIT" coin. They referenced 50 Cent's cognac brand and other celebrity crypto projects. It looked legit at first glance, and that is exactly what made the hack so brilliant. The crowd was enchanted, and the dirty scheme worked out pretty well almost immediately. Crypto enthusiasts jumped on board. GUNIT's trading volume hit $18.6 million in just 40 minutes. The token's value skyrocketed by 8,000%. But the party didn't last long. 50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, confirmed the hack on Instagram. "My Twitter and website got hacked," he wrote. He tagged his cognac brand in the post. Twitter quickly locked 50 Cent's account. All tweets became inaccessible. GUNIT's value plummeted on the news. But some folks are still buying. The token's market cap is around $150,000 at the time of writing. 50 Cent claimed the hacker made off with $300 million. That's a stretch. Data shows the token's market cap never came close to that figure. This isn't the first celebrity crypto hack. Earlier this month, Hulk Hogan's Twitter was compromised. Hackers promoted a HULK token that saw $82 million in trading volume in one day. The incident highlights the risks of celebrity-endorsed cryptocurrencies. It's a reminder to always do your own research before investing. Especially when you see a sudden, and thus suspicious, celebrity post about some coin you have never heard before. The crypto world is still the Wild West, and you better remember about it at all times.