Top 3 Stories From Web3 This Week 12.22.2023

Here are three web3 stories you need to know from this week.

Also please note I’ll be taking a two week break from publishing EMPOW3R. Check back with me the week of January 8th. Enjoy the holiday season!

A U.S. court approves the settlement between Binance and the CFTC after determining the Crypto exchange and former CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao violated the Commodity Exchange Act and other CFTC regulations. Binance is paying a $1.35Bn fine to the CFTC, as well a further $1.35Bn in “ill-gotten transaction fees.” CZ is on the hook personally for a fine of $150MM. Story here.

Through a smart contract weakness on marketplace NFT Trader, a hacker stole dozens of high-value NFTs worth millions from popular collections including Bored Apes, Mutant Apes, Art Blocks and VeeFriends. The Bored Ape community worked with Boring Security to pay a ransom and were able to get the hackers to return a good chunk of the stolen items. Story here.

Ledger, the most popular Crypto hardware wallet, announced a hacker attack on their Ledger Live online platform and warned users to disconnect their devices from dApps. It’s believed at least $600K was stolen using this software upgrade hack. Story here.

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