Cyber criminals have long set their sights on cryptocurrency markets, continually devising new traps. With hackers causing billions in losses by breaching protocols and bridges, this week’s Balancer hack resulted in damages exceeding $150 million. Smaller incidents also occur, with Hyperliquid currently under the spotlight.
Hyperliquid Alert
The popularity of DEX platforms resembling centralized exchanges has soared this year. Leveraging Hyperliquid’s excitement, Aster successfully capitalized on an excellent launch period, further bolstered by CZ’s ongoing support. These protocols have turned into widely-used platforms among crypto enthusiasts for multiple reasons.
Cyber attackers exploiting this area with fresh traps is no surprise. Crypto detective ZachXBT recently warned about fake Hyperliquid apps on Google Play Store. Standard platform filters have failed to block these effectively, leading users to believe they are trading on the legitimate platform, only to incur losses.
“Community Alert: Beware of the fake Hyperliquid app on Google Play Store.
None of these platforms seem proficient at filtering such scams.
Attacker address: 0x8c12C21C394D9174c3b1a086A97d2C5523ABb8F5.”
Although the counterfeit app may look genuine at first glance, details such as download counts and publishing dates present discernible clues for attentive investors. Maintaining a skeptical mindset and meticulously verifying every transaction related to cryptocurrency can prove advantageous. Since transactions in crypto are irreversible, hackers can easily hide stolen funds using mixers, making them permanently unrecoverable.
Binance Reserve Report
The FTX collapse has increased the popularity of decentralized exchanges during this bear market. Offering synthetic cryptocurrencies to FTX exchange customers and the delayed recognition of this deception (spurred by SBF’s confessions during the collapse phase) highlighted the importance of self-custody wallets. Nevertheless, DeFi presents its own risks, such as this week’s hack or the aforementioned fake apps.
Following the FTX collapse, numerous centralized exchanges like Binance began issuing reserve reports to maintain strong customer confidence. As of November 1st, Binance published a report showcasing its reserve status.
According to figures summarized by WuBlockchain, Binance holds significant reserves for its users, including 606,356 BTC (reserve ratio of 102.11%), 4.09 million ETH (100.00%), 37.88 million BNB (112.95%), and 34.73 billion USDT (107.45%). The reserves for other altcoins also maintain a 100% ratio.
