[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | Aptos Fixes Vulnerability That Could Have Exposed Up to $70 Billion

Aptos Fixes Vulnerability That Could Have Exposed Up to $70 Billion

According to CoinDesk, white-hat hackers at security firm Hexens discovered a critical vulnerability in the Aptos blockchain, and the Aptos development team has since patched it.

Hexens researchers identified an “expired cache” vulnerability in Aptos’ Move virtual machine in late February and reported it to the development team. The issue could have led to a type confusion bug that caused on-chain resources to be incorrectly recognized.

The researchers said that in a simulation designed to reflect real network conditions, the attack success rate exceeded 90%. Using a single server costing about $3,000, they were able to emulate roughly one-third of the validator network, and the attack required neither internal access nor special privileges.

If exploited, the vulnerability could have exposed as much as $70 billion in digital assets, including stablecoins and cross-chain bridges, to systemic risk. Aptos said it fixed the issue immediately after the report, and no loss of funds occurred.

South African Revenue Service Releases Draft Crypto Tax Guidance

According to Odaily, the South African Revenue Service released a draft cryptocurrency tax guidance document on July 1 and will collect public comments through August 31.

The draft classifies cryptocurrencies as intangible assets rather than foreign currency or traditional money. Unrealized gains or losses from simply holding crypto are not taxed, but a tax obligation arises when the assets are disposed of.

If an individual’s crypto trading is deemed business activity or short-term trading, profits are treated as gross income and taxed at a marginal rate of 18% to 45%. Gains from disposing of assets held for long-term investment purposes are subject to capital gains tax, with an effective rate of 18% to 36% for individuals.

The tax authority also said that crypto-to-crypto swaps are treated as barter transactions, with tax treatment based on the local market value at the time of exchange. It urged taxpayers who previously failed to report crypto income to use the voluntary disclosure program.

Centralized Exchanges Saw Net Inflows of 4,932.87 BTC Over the Past 7 Days

Centralized exchanges recorded net inflows of 4,932.87 BTC over the past seven days.

According to PANews, citing CoinGlass data, Binance saw inflows of 2,006.76 BTC during the period, OKX received 1,999.85 BTC, and Kraken took in 848.24 BTC.

Meanwhile, Coinbase Pro recorded outflows of 110.81 BTC, and Bitfinex saw outflows of 113.06 BTC.

BTC inflows to exchanges are generally interpreted as an increase in potential sell-side supply and are used by the market as a short-term supply-demand indicator.

Vitalik Outlines 'Lean Ethereum' Roadmap for the Next 3–4 Years

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined a “Lean Ethereum” roadmap for the next three to four years, according to Wu Blockchain.

The core proposals include introducing recursive STARKs as a native verification component and replacing existing cryptography vulnerable to quantum computers with quantum-resistant methods.

The roadmap also includes a new “scalable state” type targeting 100TB by 2030, with the goal of reducing transaction costs for some tokens to less than one-tenth of current levels.

Vitalik said he is also considering a RISC-V or LeanISA virtual machine to enable programmable privacy, and added that the planned Glasterdam upgrade is expected to significantly raise Ethereum’s gas limit.

Kraken Allows Eligible Non-U.S. Users to Use Tokenized Stocks and ETFs as Collateral

Kraken has begun allowing eligible users outside the United States to use select tokenized stocks and ETFs as collateral for futures and margin trading.

According to Odaily, the initial supported assets include 10 instruments such as Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Strategy, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, and the Invesco QQQ Trust. Users can open leveraged positions without selling those holdings.

Kraken has also set collateral limits by asset. Large ETFs can receive collateral value recognition up to $1 million, most individual stocks up to $250,000, and tokenized gold and Circle stock up to $100,000. Collateral limits and haircuts may be adjusted regularly depending on market conditions.

One Whale Accumulated 24,694 ETH and 211.5 WBTC Over Four Days

According to PANews, on-chain analyst Yi Jin said a whale that had been buying since July 1 withdrew an additional 4,942 ETH and 111.5 WBTC from Binance.

Over four days, the whale accumulated a total of 24,694 ETH and 211.5 WBTC, with purchases valued at $40.26 million and $13.25 million respectively. Unrealized profit currently stands at around $3.61 million.

F2Pool Co-Founder Wang Chun Transfers $63.67 Million Worth of Tokens to Binance Over Two Days

F2Pool co-founder Wang Chun has transferred tokens worth $63.67 million to Binance over the past two days.

According to PANews, citing Onchain Lens, Wang Chun moved approximately $63.67 million in tokens to Binance during that period. Large inflows to exchanges are typically watched by the market as a possible sign of selling.

CoinSpect Says $3.14 Million Was Stolen Last Month From Wallet Seeds Generated by Unsafe Code

Security firm CoinSpect said that $3.14 million in funds was stolen last month alone from cryptocurrency wallet seeds generated by unsafe code since 2018.

According to PANews, CoinSpect said on X that its analysis of wallet seeds produced through vulnerable methods found that thousands of such seeds had actually been used. Most of the thefts appear to have gone unreported.

CoinSpect said some of the funds appeared to be consolidated into a single address before being laundered, and that within hours of the warning being made public, an additional $2 million was moved from one affected address. However, it could not confirm whether that transfer was theft-related.

CoinSpect warned that a significant number of users exposed to the risk may be in China.

Net New Listings at Korea’s Top Five Exchanges Down 74% in H1 From a Year Earlier

The net increase in new listings at South Korea’s five major digital asset exchanges fell about 74% year-over-year in the first half of this year.

According to Odaily, Etoday analyzed data from Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax and reported that the net increase in newly supported trading pairs after subtracting delistings was 49 in the first half, down sharply from 191 in the same period last year.

During the same period, new listing additions fell 44% year-over-year, while trading support terminations rose 258%.

The report said that as trading volume declines and fee revenue remains under pressure, domestic exchanges are shifting their competitive focus away from aggressive listings and toward liquidity management, asset review, and regulatory compliance.

Markets Watch for Fed and ECB Meeting Minutes Next Week

Source: PANews. Global financial markets are expected to watch next week for the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank policy meetings.

According to Jinse, the U.S. dollar weakened against major currencies after recent softness in U.S. nonfarm payroll growth. Spot gold and silver closed Friday at $4,174.66 and $62.38 per ounce, respectively.

Key events on Monday include eurozone May producer price index and retail sales data, along with the U.S. June services PMI and ISM non-manufacturing PMI. Remarks from Federal Reserve Governor Waller and ECB officials are also scheduled the same day.

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve meeting minutes and the ECB’s June meeting minutes will be released. U.S. weekly initial jobless claims and remarks from New York Fed President Williams are also on the calendar.

Market participants are expected to look to the minutes for clues on the future path of U.S. interest rates and the timing of any policy pivot.