Here are some of the major developments from the world of crypto over the past few days
People in Canada and the UK have expressed strong reservations regarding central bank digital currency (CBDC). The majority of Britons expressed concerns over government control of funds, while 39 per cent of Canadians said they worried about a loss of financial control, Decrypt reported quoting two surveys.
This follows the possibility of a US CBDC becoming a hot-button political issue in the US. According to the survey, people in Canada and the UK have expressed clear reservations about the tech that central banks and governments across the globe are exploring as an alternative to cash.
CBDCs are digital tokens, similar to Stablecoins. However, CBDCs are maintained by their respective governments or central banks as opposed to being issued by private companies on public networks like Cricle’s USDC or Tether’s USDT Stablecoins.
Poly Network Hack Generates Billions in Non-Existent Tokens
Poly Network fell victim to a hacker who exploited a vulnerability in its cross-chain bridge tool, generating billions of tokens out of thin air.
The attacker found a vulnerability in Poly Network’s cross-chain bridge tool that apparently allowed them to create massive amounts of tokens that “did not exist before”, Decrypt quoted 3z3 Labs founder Arhat as saying.
Services have been temporarily suspended as the platform assesses the extent of the attack and the impacted assets. The hacker’s wallet briefly held around $43 billion worth of cryptocurrency, as reported by DeBank, a decentralised finance portfolio tracker. Poly Network assured users that it is working to safeguard their assets.
Traders Experience Highest Loss in 2 Years as Bitcoin Cash Shorts Surge
Traders betting against Bitcoin Cash (BCH) suffered substantial losses during a price surge to $320. According to data from Coinalyze, there were reported losses to the tune of $25 million on BCH futures, with negative funding rates suggesting rising short interest in the tokens, CoinDesk reported.
Shorts and longs cumulatively lost over $25 million on BCH-tracked futures, which may have contributed to the sudden spike. Shorts refer to bets against any asset, while longs are bets on price rises.
As of July 3, 2023, funding rates have fallen negative across all exchanges that list BCH futures. Negative funding rates indicate that short traders are dominant and are willing to pay long traders to remain in their positions.
BCH traders are paying funding rates as much as -0.05 per cent every 8 hours in fees to exchanges, implying short interest in the tokens is rising.