Massive hack hits market price for Bitcoin, crypto after $ 300 billion crash

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Cryptocurrency prices continue to fall this morning after a massive sell-off through Friday night and into the weekend, despite a valiant attempt by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to support the market by buying the downside. As prices rallied somewhat on Sunday, bears appear to be regaining control this morning. Read what to expect from crypto prices on Forbes.

The price of bitcoin fell further after recovering on Sunday.

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The price of bitcoin is down another 2% from this hour yesterday, with other major cryptocurrencies taking even bigger losses. Ethereum is down more than 4%, while its main rivals BNB, solana, cardano, polkadot and Binance’s new challenger terra’s luna are down between 4% and 12%.

Bitcoin is now back below the $ 1,000 billion market cap level and the combined crypto market is falling towards the $ 2,000 billion mark. Expectations of a Santa Claus rally before Christmas appear to have been dashed and “down bad” has replaced “gm” as the most popular saying on crypto Twitter.

Now read this: How Bitcoin Prepared For This Sale

Hackers hit Bitmart

Hacking: Cybercriminals have stolen nearly $ 200 million worth of cryptocurrency from the Cayman Islands-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitmart, it was first reported by analyst firm Peckshield digital security over the weekend. Representatives of the trading platform initially claimed the exits were routine withdrawals, calling the hack reports “fake news” on Bitmart’s official Telegram channel. The Bitmart CEO then confirmed the hack via Twitter.

What a few million dollars among friends: There has been some disagreement over the amount stolen, with Bitmart’s statement on Saturday night indicating that the hackers removed around $ 150 million in assets. However, Peckshield estimates the loss to be closer to $ 200 million. Bitmart added that all withdrawals have been temporarily suspended until further notice and said a security review is underway. Peckshield estimates losses at $ 100 million in various cryptocurrencies on the ethereum blockchain and $ 96 million on the Binance smart chain.

How it was done: The hacker systematically used the 1 inch Decentralized Exchange Aggregator (DEX) to exchange the stolen assets for Ethereum Ether and used a secondary address to deposit the ‘ether in the Tornado Cash privacy mixer, which makes hacked funds harder to track, Coindesk explained.

Why it matters: The $ 200 million worth of cryptocurrency lost makes it one of the biggest centralized exchange hacks to date. See a full list of trading platform hacks here.

Courage … Don’t let the stock market hacks and crashes get you down. Renowned tech analyst Benedict Evans has released his annual technical review. You can read it here. Key quote: “The most exciting topics in tech today are transformative visions for 2025 or 2030: crypto, web3, VR, metaverse… and then everything in between. “

Now Read This: Singapore Suspends Cryptocurrency Trading With K-pop Group BTS

The week to come 🗓️

Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak with US President Joe Biden by phone this week.

SPUTNIK / AFP via Getty Images

Be on the lookout for these cryptocurrency and crypto-adjacent events this week.

📲 Digital media company BuzzFeed will debut in New York today with its Nasdaq NDAQ-enabled Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle (SPAC), after investors withdrew 94% of their money. Heard: Buzzfeed CEO and Co-Founder Jonah Peretti is a fan of bitcoin, crypto, web3, and Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and explained how blockchain is shaping digital media in the latest Recode Media podcast. Listen now.

🪖 US President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss Ukraine in a video call on Tuesday amid fears of invading the country. ICYMI: The crypto capital of the world has to be somewhere. Why not Ukraine?

The memes stock that inspired the dogecoin rally, Game Stop, will release its latest results on Wednesday. MarketWatch has a primer.

🇪🇺 In Europe, crypto-skeptic Olaf Scholz is expected to replace Angela Merkel as German Chancellor on Wednesday while another crypto-critical leader, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, will speak at a conference.

The latest US inflation data came out on Friday. Last month’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed prices were rising at the fastest rate in 31 years. If the economy continues to warm, it could mean that the Federal Reserve is stepping up its plans to ease its lax monetary policy, which is increasingly worrying investors and markets.

Now read this: Welcome to ‘web3.’ What is that?

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