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Arkham Intel Exchange approves $5K bounty for info on Do Kwon and Terra wallets

Terra co-founder Do Kwon is currently in a Montenegrin prison as the platform remains under scrutiny in South Korea, but crypto users continue to seek out information on wallets.

A platform aimed at “deanonymizing the blockchain” has accepted its first submission concerning information on wallet addresses connected to Terraform Labs and its co-founder, Do Kwon.

In a July 24 announcement, Arkham Intel Exchange said it had accepted a submission from two “on-chain sleuths,” resulting in a bounty payment of 9,519.2625 Arkham (ARKM) — roughly $5,000 at the time of publication. An anonymous user and Ergo, a self-described “glorified accountant” working with OXT Research, sent the platform “evidence of wallets” owned by Kwon and Terra. Ergo said this information could contradict public statements from Terra on holding only one Luna Foundation Guard wallet, in which a reported 313 Bitcoin (BTC) remains in reserve. 

Launched on July 10, Arkham has incurred negative reactions from many in the crypto space, who describe the platform as little more than a glorified snitching service. The firm allows users to post bounties requesting information on blockchain transactions, which will be released to the public 90 days following approval at Arkham. This suggests all information on the Kwon and Terra wallet addresses may become available in late October.

Related: Terraform Labs seeks access to FTX wallets in fraud defense

Terra was at the forefront of controversy in the 2022 crypto market crash when the platform’s algorithmic stablecoin, TerraClassicUSD (USTC), depegged from the United States dollar. Kwon’s whereabouts were largely unknown from May 2022 until March 2023, when authorities in Montenegro arrested and later sentenced him to four months in prison for using forged travel documents.

Individuals connected to Terra in South Korea are also currently under scrutiny from local authorities investigating the exchange. In July, co-founder Shin Hyun-seong — also known as Daniel Shin — reportedly had his first hearing for charges related to allegedly illicit profits from the sale of LUNA tokens.

Magazine: ‘Terra hit us incredibly hard’: Sunny Aggarwal of Osmosis Labs

Bitwise files Form S-1 for spot Solana ETF with SEC

LayerZero partners with Immunefi to launch $15M bug bounty

The program offers a maximum reward of $15 million for anyone who identifies vulnerabilities classified as high severity.

Cross-chain messaging protocol LayerZero and security platform Immunefi have teamed up to launch a $15 million bug bounty program. 

The program offers a maximum reward of $15 million for anyone identifying a vulnerability at the highest severity level. According to its terms and conditions, rewards are based on the Immunefi Vulnerability Severity Classification System and paid according to vulnerability impact. 

LayerZero is an omnichain interoperability protocol that allows developers to interact with contracts across blockchains. In bug bounty programs, ethical hackers are rewarded for finding and reporting application vulnerabilities and bugs.

To be considered for a reward, bug reports must include a proof-of-concept (PoC) demonstrating an end effect on assets in scope. Explanations and statements are not accepted as PoC and code is required, according to the eligibility criteria.

Critical smart contract vulnerabilities reported on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism and Fantom pay the higher of $250,000 or 10% of the assets’ value at risk at the time of reporting. The payout for critical vulnerabilities starts at $25,000 for all other chains. Non-critical rewards are based on internal criteria.

Bug bounty reward thresholds. Source: Immunefi

Bounty hunters are also required to comply with Know Your Customer standards, such as submitting a copy of their passport or government ID and proof of address, as well as being screened by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control.

According to Immunefi, over 1,248 reports have been processed since its inception in 2020, totaling $65,918,994 in crypto bounties paid as of December 2022.

Other software companies offering thousands of dollars in bug bounties include Microsoft, Intel and OpenAI. Microsoft offers a maximum payout of $250,000 for critical bugs. Intel’s bug hunters can earn rewards up to $100,000, while OpenAI offers rewards up to $20,000 for exceptional discoveries.

Magazine: Should crypto projects ever negotiate with hackers? Probably

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Bitwise files Form S-1 for spot Solana ETF with SEC

Less than 1% of staked ETH estimated to sell after Shanghai upgrade: Glassnode

The analytics firm backed up its prediction, stating only 253 validators have signed up to fully exit their staked Ether position.

An estimated 170,000 Ether (ETH) of the total 18.1 million ETH staked on the Beacon Chain will be unlocked within the first week of the Shanghai hard fork being executed on Ethereum, Glassnode has predicted.

The figure will comprise 100,000 Ether ($190 million) staking rewards and 70,000 ETH in staked Ether ($133 million) hitting the market the on-chain intelligence platform predicted in its April 11 report.

Glassnode backed up its prediction by explaining that only 253 depositors are waiting to exit their stake and that a few mechanisms are in place to prevent a flood of Ether supply from hitting the market all at once.

The 253 exiting depositors own a total of 1,229 validators, while another 214 slashed validators will be forced out as soon as Shanghai is activated on Ethereum with Glassnode confident the hard fork will not have a "dramatic" impact on Ether's price action:

“Even in the extreme case where the maximum amount of rewards and stake are withdrawn and sold, the sell-side volume still falls within the range of the average weekly exchange inflow volume.”

“Therefore, we conclude that even the most extreme case will have an acceptable impact on the price of ETH,” the firm added.

Data shared by Glassnode found that only 22% of the 253 exiting depositors are currently in profit too.

The types of organizations, size, age and profitability of each of the 253 exiting Ethereum validators. Source: Glassnode

Glassnode expects a large amount of Ether to be withdrawn from the crypto exchange Kraken after the legality of its staking services was challenged by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It also anticipated that crypto lending platform Celsius may withdraw a large amount to sell its staked Ether as part of its bankruptcy proceedings.

However, it is unlikely that Kraken and Celsius will make these withdrawals as soon as Shanghai is activated, it said.

Approximately 11.2% of the Ether staked on the Beacon Chain is operated by Kraken’s staking service. Source: Glassnode

The average deposit price across all staked ETH is $2,136, down 12.7% from Ether’s current price of $1,865, which equates to a net unrealized loss of $4.7 billion, Glassnode said:

“After the peak unrealized loss of $16B in July 2022, the net unrealized loss now amounts to $4.7B. It is mainly carried by the Whale sized depositors, who hold a 76% share of the unrealized losses.”

Global financial firm Fidelity Investments is also of the view that Shanghai won’t have too much of an impact on Ether's price action.

Related: Ethereum price turns bullish ahead of next week’s Shanghai and Capella upgrades

It explained in an April 5 report that “selling pressure will be muted due to the likelihood of partial withdrawals being re-staked as well as the length of time the withdrawals will take.”

The Shanghai upgrade is set to take effect on April 12, 10:30 pm UTC according to blockchain infrastructure firm Blocknative.

The unlocking of staked Ether will be enabled by Ethereum Improvement Proposal-4895.

Of the five EIPs that will be activated by Shanghai, it is by far the most anticipated one as it will move Ethereum one step closer to a fully functional proof-of-stake system.

Magazine: ‘Account abstraction’ supercharges Ethereum wallets: Dummies guide

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