Happy Wednesday! Today’s Daily features the Trump vs. Harris US Presidential Debate fueling risk aversion in crypto markets, Indonesian crypto exchange Indodax faces $20 million in fraud, and Matter Labs hires Solana Foundation’s VP of marketing.
Let’s get started.
US Presidential Debate Fuels Risk Aversion in Crypto Markets
Last night’s US presidential debate turned into a “news selling” event, sparking risk aversion in crypto markets amid consensus that Donald Trump underperformed in his matchup with Kamala Harris, according to Bitfinex analysts.
- The price of Bitcoin fell 2.6% from around $57,700 to $56,100 in the hours immediately following the televised debate, but later recovered. Analysts stressed that a Trump victory is generally seen as more favorable for risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.
- The Trump-Harris inspired PolitiFi memecoin also saw a downtrend.
- BRN analyst Valentin Fournier said Harris’ debate performance has caused the market to reassess her chances of winning, which could potentially put downward pressure on the Bitcoin price.
- Kamala Harris’s odds of winning the election rose from 46% to 49% on decentralized forecasting platform Polymarket immediately after the debate, briefly tying her with Trump but regaining the lead later Wednesday, 50% to 48%.
- Looking at the discussion itself, despite covering a wide range of topics, it ended without any mention of cryptocurrencies.
Indonesian Exchange Indodax Faces $20 Million Exploitation
Indonesian cryptocurrency exchange Indodax has discovered a security issue that appears to have led to a multi-million dollar exploit on its platform.
- “We have identified a significant security breach targeting Indodax’s hot wallet, resulting in over $20.5 million in losses across multiple chains,” said Yosi Hammer, a data scientist at blockchain security firm Cyvers.
- “Our real-time monitoring system flagged 160 critical red flags, starting with a transfer of 660 ETH,” he added.
Indodax has stated that they are performing maintenance on their platform and that their website and app are currently unavailable. - Despite these reports, Indodax claims that customer funds are “100% safe” in both crypto and rupiah.
ZKsync Developer Matter Labs Hires Solana Foundation Executives
Matter Labs, the developer of ZKsync, has hired Meghan Hughes, former VP of Marketing at Solana Foundation, as its new Chief Marketing Officer.
- Hughes has experience leading marketing and communications efforts at companies including Google, Facebook, and Stripe.
- Matter Labs told The Block it wants to “share the company’s story” and “leverage Hughes’ expertise in go-to-market strategy and product-driven growth to help advance that narrative.”
- Hughes sees similarities between Solana’s early days and Matter Labs’ mission to scale Ethereum, and says now is the right time to get involved in scaling ZKsync.
Caroline Ellison’s lawyers argued that her cooperation made prison time unnecessary.
In a sentencing memorandum filed late Tuesday, Caroline Ellison’s attorney argued that she should not be sentenced to prison for her role in the FTX collapse, but should be sentenced to a term of probation.
- Attorneys representing the former CEO of Alameda Research argued that she cooperated with the government and FTX debtors, and that she helped recover hundreds of millions of dollars, citing her testimony at the Sam Bankman-Fried trial last year.
- Ellison is scheduled to be sentenced in New York on September 24 for his involvement with Alameda Research and FTX.
- The charges against her include two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of actual wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Reaches All-Time High Following Network Hash Rate Record
Bitcoin Bitcoin
+2.31%
- Positive or negative difficulty adjustments occur every 2,016 blocks (approximately every two weeks) to maintain an average of a new block being mined every 10 minutes, regardless of how many miners are actively mining.
- Despite the significant decline in miner revenues following the halving, the remaining operators, led by US public miners, have increased hash rates, deployed new capacity, upgraded mining equipment, and consolidated market share in recent months.
within the next 24 hours
- The ECB’s latest rate decision is due out at 8:15 a.m. ET on Thursday. The US PPI and jobless claims numbers are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- ECB President Christine Lagarde is scheduled to speak at 10:15 a.m.
- As the Dubai AI & Web3 Festival concludes, ETHSafari continues in Kenya.
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