Blockchain data has exposed that stablecoin companies Circle and Tether are in possession of frozen funds linked to a recent multi-million dollar Multichain exploit. Here’s the latest update on the cryptocurrency market!
The FTM Hack!
Earlier this week, Blockchain security company PeckShield detected that an interchain cryptocurrency platform known as Multichain’s Fantom (FTM) bridge had been exploited, resulting in a loss of $126 million worth of digital assets. The stolen cryptocurrencies included Chainlink (LINK), Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), Wrapped Ethereum (wETH), and stablecoins Dai (DAI), USD Coin (USDC), and Tether (USDT).
According to the on-chain data aggregator Scope Protocol, USDC regulator Circle, froze three wallet addresses linked to the exploit. Surprisingly, these addresses collectively held $63.2 million in USD Coin. The company stated the following:
Three Multichain hacker addresses (0x027F / 0xefEe / 0x48Be) have been frozen by Circle. These addresses were holding assets totaling $65 million, including 63.2 million USDC which is currently frozen.
According to the Fantom Foundation, USDT regulator Tether also froze a pair of addresses linked to the hack. The company made the following statement:
Tether froze accounts with over 2.5 million USDT transferred from Multichain on Ethereum… We thank Tether and their team for their swift response.
The Current State of Cryptocurrencies!
Following the attack, PeckShield, stated that the exploit ranked sixth on the “interchain bridge exploit leader board,” and reported that just under $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency had been stolen from interchain bridges over the past three years. Although the outlook seems positive in the long term, short-term macroeconomic indicators hold the key. The US cryptocurrency market could potentially be influenced by the second-quarter earnings and inflation data to be announced on July 12th.
As of the writing of this article, the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), is trading at a level of $30,524.
