Balancer, an Ethereum-based automated market maker, has suffered a frontend compromise on its website due to a social engineering attack on its DNS service provider, EuroDNS. The attack led to the theft of an estimated $238,000 in crypto. Balancer's decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) worked to recover the Balancer UI and secured the domain, but the company is exploring deprecating the .fi TLD and suggests other projects using the same top-level domain should consider moving to a more secure registrar. The attacker employed Angel Drainer phishing contracts and SlowMist and CertiK reported that the hacker may be related to Russia.

The global economy has faced challenges in recent years due to the Covid-19 outbreak, resulting in inflation and economic uncertainty. The crypto and blockchain industry has also been impacted, with major platforms collapsing. However, a report shows that decentralized digital currencies are being used for financial transactions, particularly in lower middle-income countries.

On August 17th, it was reported that crypto KOL zk（@ZK_shark） made a purchase proposal for DeGods NFT to Huang Licheng（@machibigbrother） on a social platform, stating that despite not liking Huang Licheng, he was willing to stand up for the DeGods community. zk proposed to purchase 200 DeGods via over-the-counter (OTC) trading and promised to voluntarily lock these DeGods for six months.

On August 14th, cryptocurrency trading platform Txbit announced that it will be closing on September 14th, 2023. All customers should withdraw their funds before 8:00 PM on September 14th, 2023 (Beijing time).

Hope.money has successfully completed a comprehensive security audit conducted by MetaTrust Labs

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall have reintroduced their crypto anti-money laundering bill, which now places a greater emphasis on targeting individual industry members such as miners and validators. The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2023 aims to bring wallet providers, miners, and validators under compliance requirements for financial institutions. Opponents argue that these entities are not equipped to follow such requirements and doing so would hinder their ability to conduct business. The bill also requires anyone in the US with more than $10,000 in crypto held in accounts outside of the US to report this to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

The volatility of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum is at multi-year lows, according to data from Kaiko. The lack of volatility can be attributed to low market participation and the absence of new capital flows. Lower trading volumes and liquidity usually result in more significant price swings, making the current environment unusual. Bitcoin's 30-day volatility is near five-year lows, which is typical during bear markets. The introduction of a spot Bitcoin ETF could potentially change this dynamic by attracting more institutional investors and increasing trading activity. However, excitement over such a product has faded recently, leading to a decline in prices. Despite this, long-term holders remain stable in their positions as there has been more stability in the cryptocurrency market overall.

Former clients of Voyager Digital, the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender that collapsed in 2022, may have had their personal information compromised during the company's lengthy bankruptcy proceedings. According to Tree News, customer details were leaked. Voyager was one of the high-profile victims of the terraUSD (UST) crash, which was the first major domino to fall during crypto's nightmare year. Following 3AC's failure to repay the loans, Voyager suspended "trading, deposits, withdrawals, and loyalty rewards" on July 1, and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection just four days later. Voyager Digital had 3.5 million users and $5.9 billion in assets at its peak, with almost all of its users being retail investors with less than $10,000 USD on the platform.

Bitcoin-bankbreaker.com is under investigation by German regulator BaFin for operating without proper registration as a financial services provider. The website lacks key company details such as a name, legal designation, or physical address. BaFin has warned that any entity offering financial or investment services in the region requires its approval and advises residents to view the register of approved companies on its website. This crackdown on unregistered providers signals a growing acceptance of crypto within the current financial system, as seen in other countries where regulators keep records of crypto exchanges allowed to operate.

The global market is closely watching the US Federal Reserve's interest rate meeting this week, with expectations high for a potential increase. Hang Seng Bank's Director of Commercial Banking, Lin Yansheng, predicts that interest rates will rise but only temporarily. The bank has recognized the need for crypto and has outlined rules for virtual asset businesses to operate, allowing them to open standard banking accounts with an AIP license from the Securities Regulatory Commission. Yansheng acknowledges that Hong Kong's high-interest rates have slowed loan growth, but he expects interest rate cuts next year to improve the situation.