Happy Friday! Binance Bytes is an initiative by the Research team to provide a quick round-up of the week.
Highlights đ§”:
1/ The Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-sponsored hacking collective, executed the largest digital hack in history, draining US$1.5B from Bybit by compromising a developer machine of Safe{Wallet}, a smart contract wallet infrastructure. The attackers inserted a disguised malicious transaction without exploiting any vulnerabilities in Safe's smart contracts or frontend code. As a result, Safe has rebuilt its entire infrastructure, rotated credentials, and restored services with heightened security.
2/ U.S. lawmakers have advanced a resolution to repeal the IRS's DeFi broker rule, which would require decentralized platforms to collect and report user transaction data. Critics argue that the rule is impractical for DeFi protocols, which operate without centralized intermediaries, and poses a threat to financial privacy. The proposal is seen as part of a broader regulatory clampdown on crypto, with industry leaders warning it could push innovation offshore.
3/ Between February 24-26, US$3B in liquidations sparked extreme volatility in the cryptocurrency market. The sell-off followed Trump's plans for 25% tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, effective March 4, raising fears of economic stagnation, inflation, and tighter policies. In response, the EU pledged immediate retaliation, warning that tariffs could impact US$29.3B in exports, escalating global trade tensions and amplifying risk-off sentiment in crypto markets.
Check out our latest report: Fundamentals of Decentralized AI
