Monat: November 2023

Veröffentlicht am

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank to launch crypto trading in partnership with Bitpanda

  • Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank will launch crypto trading in 2024.
  • Raiffeisen Bank International has $215B in assets and a customer base spanning the European Union and Eastern Europe.
  • Bitpanda crypto exchange has complied with the crypto regulations in Austria and Germany.

In a significant move signalling the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies in the traditional banking sector, Raiffeisen Bank International has announced its plans to introduce cryptocurrency trading services for retail customers by the end of January 2024.

The initiative will commence in Vienna, where the 97-year-old bank is headquartered, in collaboration with local cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda.

Raiffeisen Bank’s partnership with Bitpanda 

Raiffeisen Bank’s cryptocurrency services, designed to cater to digital-savvy customers, will leverage a partnership with Bitpanda. Through the Raiffeisen app, customers in Vienna will be able to access Bitpanda’s platform using their mobile devices seamlessly.

Curt Chadha, the bank’s head of innovation, emphasized that the user experience will be familiar, with the confirmation of trades resembling the security measures associated with traditional bank transfers.

The decision to initiate services in Vienna, home to approximately a quarter of Austria’s population, aligns with Raiffeisen Bank International’s strategy to tap into the growing demand for cryptocurrency services in a controlled manner. Chadha noted that the focus is on customers looking to make smaller investments, distinguishing the offering from those of other banks that target wealthier individuals with substantial investment portfolios.

Bitpanda’s regulatory compliance

Bitpanda, founded in Vienna in 2014, operates under the supervision of the Financial Market Authority (FMA) in Austria and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in Germany. The exchange provides regulated trading, investment, and custody services for various assets, including stocks/ETFs, cryptocurrencies, precious metals, and commodities.

This regulatory compliance adds an additional layer of credibility to the partnership and positions Bitpanda as a platform facilitating secure and regulated access to various asset classes.

As Raiffeisen Bank International enters the cryptocurrency space, the collaboration with Bitpanda signifies a strategic move to cater to the evolving financial preferences of a digitally inclined customer base. The initiative underscores the bank’s commitment to innovation and reflects the broader trend of traditional financial institutions adapting to the growing influence of digital assets.

The post Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank to launch crypto trading in partnership with Bitpanda appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

DEX protocol KyberSwap hacked for $47 million

  • Decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol KyberSwap has been hacked for $47 million.
  • The attacker drained $20 million in WETH, $4 million ARB and $7 million wstETH. 
  • KNC price fell to $0.72 while TVL plunged to $13.6 million.

DEX platform KyberSwap has been hacked, with approximately $47 million worth of crypto assets drained from its liquidity pools. 

It is the latest attack in the crypto industry, with this coming just a day after HTX’s HECO chain bridge suffered an $86 million exploit.

KyberSwap exploited – what happened?

KyberSwap alerted its users to the exploit early Thursday, advising that customers withdraw their funds as a precaution. 

However, while it acknowledged the security incident, KyberSwap said the exploit did not impact its aggregator, which was reportedly “operating fully as normal.”

According to Smart Contract and EVM chain audit platform BlockSec, the KyberSwap exploit was “due to tick manipulation and double liquidity counting.” The on-chain security said in a post on X that this was a flash loan attack, with the hacker executing swaps and manipulating prices and ticks of targeted liquidity pools.

“Ultimately, the attacker triggered multiple swap steps and cross tick operations, resulting in double liquidity counting and consequently draining the pools,” BlockSec noted.

Stolen funds include $20 million in wrapped Ether (wETH), $4 million in Arbitrum (ARB) and $7 million in wrapped Lido-staked Ether (wstETH). The assets are spread across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, and Base. 

KyberSwap’s total value locked (TVL) fell sharply after the attack, with data from DeFiLlama showing $13.61 million – down from over $83 million before the exploit. The Kyber Network Crystal (KNC) token was down 3.1% at the time of writing, trading near $0.722.

The post DEX protocol KyberSwap hacked for $47 million appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

Whales load up on BLUR after Season 2 airdrop

  • BLUR has outperformed other altcoins with 35% upside
  • Data shows increased whale buying after the end of the NFT marketplace’s season 2 airdrop.
  • BLUR price reached a high of $0.52, its highest level since late May.

Blur (BLUR) was outperforming with a massive 35% upside at the time of writing. Meanwhile, top coins and tokens in the crypto market continued to grapple with increased bearish pressure following events that unfolded around Binance in the past 24 hours.

Market data shows BLUR traded to $0.52 on Wednesday, its highest level since May 29, 2023. 

But while BLUR was 35% up and looking to extend gains seen over the last 24 hours, Bitcoin and Ethereum were -1.1% and +2.8% at $36,560 and $2,034 respectively.

Blur token surges after Season 2 airdrop

Blur’s recently completed airdrop looks to have sparked a flurry of buying by large holders. According to on-chain data, there has been massive whale activity since Monday when the Blur team announced NFT traders could begin to claim season 2 airdrop allocation.

The airdrop campaign looks to incentivize further use of the platform, particularly after the bear market took a heavy toll on sales volumes.

Blur’s open-ended Season 2 airdrop allowed users to earn points towards a chance for BLUR by listing, bidding or lending NFTs. High-value trades earned more and whales are adding to the windfall of BLUR tokens received in the airdrop by accumulating more from the open market.

On-chain data tracker Lookonchain revealed earlier today that as the price of BLUR pumped following the airdrop, 19 addresses added 51.3 million BLUR. That was $21 million worth of the token purchased by top holders after 10 wallets received 85.69 million BLUR worth $27.25 million.

While a number of holders have looked to cash in on the airdrop, its likely whales are going to accumulate more. If the price ticks up further, bulls could be looking at a potential retest of April highs of $0.81 and February peak of $1.24.

The post Whales load up on BLUR after Season 2 airdrop appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

MCADE price explodes ahead of Metacade’s mainnet launch, up 106% this week

  • Metacade’s native token MCADE has surged more than 20% in the past 24 hours and 106% this week. 
  • The gains come amid massive interest from gamers as Metacade’s highly anticipated mainnet launch approaches.
  • The team has announced major partnerships, highlighting its growth since the presale.

A look at the charts shows that Metacade price was capped at a long time resistance near $0.007 on November 18. Today, it’s trading at double that level as it defies the negative sentiment across crypto. 

MCADE looks poised for a bullish breakout amid a notable interest as Metacade takes a massive leap towards becoming one of the crypto gaming ecosystem’s largest platforms.

With the team delivering on the roadmap as highlighted during its successful presale, investors are seeing value- and MCADE price has followed.

Metacade price up 106% this week

Metacade’s native token MCADE is soaring as the community prepares for the grand launch of the gaming platform’s mainnet. Amid the excitement of the platform’s soft launch today, the price of MCADE has pumped 20%.

The MCADE price on crypto exchange Bitget, one of the first major exchanges to support the token, was at $0.014986, just off the intraday high of $0.01500 reached earlier today. The gains, which come as the gaming platform’s user community skyrockets, have pushed weekly gains to 106%.

Data from CoinGecko shows the cryptocurrency’s gains across major exchanges is up 162% in the past 30 days.

The Metacade mainnet launch is here

The Metacade price is surging as the market reels from the shockwaves of Changpeng Zhao’s resignation as Binance CEO.

Top altcoins have slipped to key support levels but MCADE is trading at its highest level since June 30. It is a significant show of confidence from investors in what Metacade could achieve, and part of that journey gets underway today.

As announced via the official X account, Metacade is launching for founding members, with exclusive access codes released on their website. The soft launch comes ahead of the mainnet and unlocks a gaming experience like no other for founding members.

Metacade delivers blockbuster partnerships

Also adding to the bullish outlook for the MCADE token is the investor sentiment around the flurry of activity with regard to major gaming partnerships.

The Metacade team has announced five such major collaborations, with the CEO Russell Bennett stating in a YouTube update on Tuesday that the company had logged 25% more partnerships ahead of the highly anticipated mainnet.

One such partnership announced on Wednesday is with Galaxia Studios, a platform that offers fully on-chain games and will bring “hyper-casual but addictive fun with Aquatic Wars, Frens On Chain, and Rabbits vs. Turtles” to Metacade.

This adds to recent blockbuster deals with Avalanche-based play-to-own metaverse game Hatchyverse; Arbitrum-based free-to-play RPG game Re:Anima Game; and OBS World, the game designed for automotive enthusiasts.

What does all this mean for MCADE?

Metacade’s mainnet launch will see one of the biggest community projects officially bring gaming dApps and transactions to the public. Expected on November 28, the roll out will see more game titles go live, including from the MetaStudio team.

MCADE liquidity is another positive as more people interact with the platform, with the native token powering network activities. With 30 of the 40 partners migrating to the platform during the soft launch, additional interest is likely as more people not on Metacade get on.

Building games and releasing feeds on the gaming platform will also have an overall impact on adoption.

The post MCADE price explodes ahead of Metacade’s mainnet launch, up 106% this week appeared first on CoinJournal.