Today in Crypto: Hackers Steal $23M from Bitrue, Canon USA to Launch NFT Marketplace, HashKey Launches Wealth Management Platform, Ripple Reveals Liquidity Hub

Today in Crypto: Hackers Steal $23M from Bitrue, Canon USA to Launch NFT Marketplace, HashKey Launches Wealth Management Platform, Ripple Reveals Liquidity Hub

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Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of todays crypto news.

Security news

• Hackers stole $23 million from a wallet belonging to Singapore-based crypto exchange Bitrue. “We have identified a brief exploit in one of our hot wallets on 07:18 (UTC), 14 April 2023. We were able to address this matter quickly and prevented the further exploit of funds. We take this matter seriously and are currently investigating the situation,” Bitrue said. To conduct additional security checks, Bitrue will temporarily suspend all withdrawals and will reopen them on April 18, it added.

NFT news

• Canon USA, the American arm of the camera and imaging giant, said it would launch an Ethereum non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace dedicated to photography this year. Per the website, Cadabra is a curated photography marketplace that offers a selection of NFTs from innovative creators. It “aims to empower creators by connecting them to enthusiastic collectors who celebrate the art of photography through a shared appreciation for these digital artworks,” it added.

Investment news

• Hong Kong-based digital asset firm HashKey Group has launched a new wealth management platform geared toward professional and institutional investors, HashKey Wealth. “Despite recent market volatility, there is a significant demand from investors to access virtual assets,” it said. The company also announced an upgrade of its Over-the-Counter (OTC) trading business, which includes “plans to expand its number of token offerings in the spot market as well as increase its liquidity coverage to 24/7 round the clock.”

• Fintech firm Ripple has launched its liquidity solution for businesses, Ripple Liquidity Hub, “created in response to the gap and inefficiencies associated with bridging the world of crypto and fiat,” said the press release. The company launched “a successful pilot” last year, saying that Liquidity Hub is now publicly available to provide businesses with a way to manage their crypto liquidity needs.

• The rescue investor of the troubled crypto exchange Zipmex now offers to give only 10 to 20 cents on the dollar to the creditors, whereas it initially pledged to provide 100% payment, The Block reported. “We are instructed that in early April 2023, the Subscriber has now verbally represented that the Subscriber is now only prepared to consider a compromise to creditors in the Schemes that results in a return to creditors of between 10c to 20c on the dollar of their existing debt,” the news outlet quoted a letter to the Supreme Court of Singapore, allegedly submitted by Zipmex's lawyers, Morgan Lewis Stamford.

Wallet news

• Financial app Curve announced the launch of a new function that enables its customers to transfer their crypto rewards from merchant transactions to their own digital wallets. The new feature is available to US- and UK-based Curve customers.

Market news

• Regulated blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos launched its How the Crypto Winter May Help Save the Digital Asset Economy whitepaper. “Bringing together insights from Paxos leadership team and insiders from cryptocurrency market data provider Kaiko,” the whitepaper “provides a look under the hood of the crypto industry following historic disruptions at the close of 2022 and beginning of 2023,” said the press release.

Crime news

• San Francisco, US, police have made an arrest in the murder of Bob Lee, the chief product officer of MobileCoin, creator of Cash App, and the former CTO of payments company Block (previously Square), saying that he was killed by a person he knew, The Washington Post reported. Nine days after the fatal stabbing of Lee, authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of 38-year-old tech consultant Nima Momeni, who was booked in San Francisco jail and charged with murder.