Happy Wednesday! In today’s Daily, Cosmos co-founder Jae Kwon blames Iqlusion for security risks linked to North Korea, Italy plans to raise Bitcoin capital gains tax to 42%, US plans to impose prison terms for 2016 Bitfinex hackers, etc. We are asking for a reduction.
Meanwhile, a new a16z cryptocurrency report shows that cryptocurrency activity and usage is at an all-time high.
Let’s get started.
Cosmos co-founder blames Iqlusion for security risks linked to North Korea
Cosmos co-founder Jaewon Kwon on Tuesday raised concerns about the development and security of the Cosmos Hub’s liquid staking module linked to North Korean agents.
- “Over a period of 16 months, individuals linked to North Korea developed the LSM, and their contributions were integrated. Cosmos Herb
atom -1.74%
“Without proper security investigation,” Kwon said in a GitHub post.
- The Cosmos co-founder accused the validator hosting company Iqlusion, led by Zaki Manian, of “gross negligence.”
- Iqlusion and Manian began development of LSM together with Jun Kai and Sarawut Sanit in August 2021. Kwon later claimed that they were North Korean agents and contributors to the underlying code.
- Although Manian, by his own admission, had known about the agents’ involvement since March 2023, he did not disclose this and other unresolved security issues until earlier this month, Kwon said.
- A 2022 audit discovered critical vulnerabilities in the module, but the same North Korean agents were responsible for fixing them.
- “Instead of taking proactive action, such as conducting additional audits or disclosing this issue to the Cosmos community, Jaki publicly claimed that the module was ‘ready to be distributed,’” Kwon said.
- “Zaki’s lack of transparency and poor judgment represents a serious violation of the trust the Cosmos community places in Iqlusion,” he added.
- Representative Kwon warned that LSM’s design could potentially jeopardize the security of all staked Cosmos ATOM tokens, and called for an immediate audit of LSM and stricter oversight of future implementations.
Italy plans to increase Bitcoin capital gains tax from 26% to 42%
Italy plans to increase the capital gains tax on Bitcoin to 42% as part of the 2025 national budget, according to local newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
- “The tax on Bitcoin capital gains will increase from 26% to 42%,” Deputy Economy Minister Maurizio Leo said, announcing the measures approved at the Council of Ministers on Tuesday evening, aimed at creating resources to support families, youth and businesses. “I expect that to happen,” he said. .
- Starting from the 2023 tax year, capital gains exceeding 2,000 euros ($2,180) will be taxed at 26%, following the introduction of several new rules for the taxation of cryptocurrencies. This is a departure from the previously low tax rates that treated cryptocurrencies as foreign currencies.
- Leo also said Italy plans to crack down on the use of cash to curb tax evasion, according to the report.
US calls for reduced prison sentences for 2016 Bitfinex hackers
Related indices
U.S. prosecutors are calling for Ilya Lichtenstein’s five-year prison sentence for money laundering related to the 2016 Bitfinex hack to be commuted, citing his cooperation in the case and assistance in investigating other cryptocurrency-related crimes. It was revealed.
- But prosecutors are seeking a longer sentence than the 18 months recommended for Lichtenstein’s wife and co-conspirator, Heather Morgan (“Razzlekhan”). Because he was primarily responsible for the Bitfinex hack. The funds, according to Tuesday’s filing.
- Liechtenstein has agreed to confiscate $6 billion worth of assets linked to the hack, including 94,643 BTC, as compensation, with Bitfinex likely to be the only victim.
- Lichtenstein and Morgan pleaded guilty in August 2023 to conspiring to launder 119,754 BTC (worth approximately $70 million at the time) resulting from the hack and are scheduled to be sentenced on November 14 and November 15, respectively.
TON Blockchain Leverages Axelar to Drive Interoperability
The TON Foundation has chosen Axelar’s Mobius development stack as its preferred interoperability solution, with the goal of improving the Open Network’s connectivity with other blockchains.
- Axelar’s MDS enables cross-chain asset transfers and supports cross-chain decentralized app development within the TON ecosystem.
- The integration aims to prevent fragmented liquidity and reduce user confusion by leveraging Axelar’s connections between Ethereum, Cosmos, Polkadot, and other networks to provide a unified cross-chain experience.
- Developers also want to leverage the 900 million Telegram users’ connection to the TON blockchain. However, the ecosystem lacks user-friendly interoperability solutions, hindering the smooth transfer of assets between various chains.
Despite World Liberty Financial raising less than $10 million from its first-day WLFI token sale, Trump declares ‘cryptocurrencies are the future’.
World Liberty Financial, the highly hyped DeFi project backed by Donald Trump and his sons, sold over 600 million WLFI on Tuesday as its token sale began.
- The initial sale aims to generate $300 million by selling 20% of the token supply at a $1.5 billion valuation, but due to intermittent downtime on the site, less than $10 million was raised on the first day.
- Despite the disappointing start, Trump declared, “Cryptocurrencies are the future.” “Let’s embrace this amazing technology and lead the world in the digital economy.”
within the next 24 hours
- Eurozone CPI inflation figures will be released at 5am ET on Thursday. Expected previous month -0.1%; Core 0.1%. Expected 1.8% year over year; Core 2.7%. The ECB’s latest interest rate decision is published at 8:15 am. U.S. unemployment claims close at 8:30 a.m.
- ECB President Christine Lagarde is scheduled to speak at 10:15 a.m.
- The Avalanche Summit continues in Buenos Aires.
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