Ethereum's Illicit Flow Surge Coincides with Curve Finance Exploit

In a tumultuous week for the Ethereum blockchain, a remarkable spike in illicit flows emerged, coinciding with a major exploit involving Curve Finance, a prominent decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol. This incident marked Ethereum's most significant period of illicit activity for the year.

Timeline of Curve-dao-token, Ethereum

NFT project y00ts shifts from Solana to Ethereum, reuniting its community with DeGods NFT collection. The move prompts DeLabs to return a $3 million grant from Polygon Labs, reflecting a dynamic landscape in the NFT space.

The technology behind the controversial Worldcoin digital identification project that runs on Ethereum could become a major gas guzzler. Industry observers have predicted that if it takes off, it could be a major boost for the Ethereum network.

The number of addresses on the Ethereum ($ETH) network with a balance has recently hit a new all-time high of 104,076,868, meaning that these addresses now hold at least one wei, the smallest unit of ETH, in a figure that represents a significant rise from figures in previous years.

Data from the XRP Ledger has revealed that it has been seeing over 1.2 million transactions per day since the beginning of August, surpassing the number of daily transactions seen on the second most popular network in the cryptocurrency space, Ethereum ($ETH), which has recorded 1.09 million a day.

DeGods project leader Rohun Vora, known as Frank, said that the move aims to "unite the DeGods and y00ts communities" on the same blockchain. Polygon said it would re-deploy some of the returned funds to support its native builders and creators.

Coinbase, a leading U.S. crypto exchange, officially launched Base, its Ethereum layer 2 network, to the general public on August 9, 2023. The Base testnet launched in February, followed by a developer-specific release in July.

Here's a funny statistic: According to Rekt's global exploit loss leaderboard, even before a coalition of whitehats and security experts managed to claw back the majority of stolen funds, the Curve hack just barely cracked the top 30 all-time.

Curve, a leading decentralized exchange on Ethereum, was hacked for $70 million in July. Questions continue to linger around the platform's long-term viability and potential contagion risk.

On August 2nd, the Ethereum price gave a bearish breakdown from the support trendline of the megaphone pattern. This breakdown was supposed to extend the prevailing correction phase but instead, the price action went sideways indicating a lack of conviction from the sellers.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) stablecoin lending platform Curve Finance has shown evidence it is no longer deterred by the Vyper attacks it suffered a few weeks back. According to an update shared through its official X account, Curve Finance is now canvassing for community votes for its next venture, the stableswap pool.