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Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT slammed pseudo decentralized protocols for profiting from North Korea-backed exploits. The crypto industry’s handling of hacks and shady activity is coming under fire, with blockchain sleuth ZachXBT calling out several pseudo- decentralized protocols for profiting from North Korea -linked exploits while avoiding responsibility. In a Telegram post on Tuesday, March 18, the crypto investigator called the nearly $1.5 billion Bybit hack “eye opening,” warning that the industry’s security problems might not improve without government regulations that could “hurt our entire industry.” Per ZachXBT, several “decentralized” protocols have generated nearly all of their monthly volume and fees from transactions linked to North Korea. Despite this, the investigator notes, they “refuse to take any accountability.” ZachXBT’s comments seem to point to mixing service eXch and multi-currency protocol THORChain, among others, which profited after North Korean bad actors funneled stolen Bybit funds through them in an attempt to launder. As crypto.news reported earlier, less than two weeks after the heist, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated that more than $200 million of the $1.46 billion stolen from the exchange had become untraceable, partly due to mixing services refusing to halt North Korean hackers. ZachXBT also pointed to centralized exchanges, stating that some take “multiple hours” to respond to illicit funds moving through their platforms, even though laundering “only takes minutes.” It’s unclear which exchanges the investigator was referring to. Criticizing existing security measures, he argued that know your transaction systems are “completely flawed and easily evadable,” while know your customer rules mostly serve as a “honeypot for regular users” due to frequent breaches and insider leaks. In late February, North Korean hackers targeted Bybit, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, stealing around $1.46 billion worth of crypto in a highly sophisticated heist. The attack was reportedly carried out by compromising the computer of an employee at Safe, Bybit’s technology provider.

Blockchain technology revolutionized digital agreements through smart contracts—self-executing code that automates processes without intermediaries. However, a critical limitation remained: smart contracts cannot inherently access real-world data. Chainlink, a decentralized oracle network, solves this by securely bridging blockchains with off-chain resources like APIs, payment systems, and external databases. Blockchain oracles act as bridges, linking blockchains to real-world data and actions. — Image Source: Chainlink This capability is vital for expanding blockchain use cases, particularly in DeFi, trading, lending, and enterprise solutions. Oracles, the middleware that fetches and verifies data, ensure smart contracts operate with accuracy and trust. Chainlink’s decentralized approach mitigates risks like single points of failure, making it a cornerstone of the blockchain ecosystem. Chainlink’s decentralized oracle network (DON) relies on a global network of independent node operators. These nodes retrieve, validate, and deliver data to blockchains through a multi-layered process. First, nodes fetch requested data from off-chain sources. Next, they aggregate responses to ensure accuracy, filtering out outliers or malicious inputs. Finally, data is cryptographically signed and transmitted onchain. Key innovations include Chainlink’s reputation system, which tracks node performance to incentivize reliability. Operators with consistent uptime and accuracy gain higher rankings, while poor performers are penalized. Hybrid smart contracts further enhance functionality by combining onchain code with off-chain computation. For example, Chainlink’s Verifiable Random Function (VRF) generates tamper-proof randomness for gaming platforms, while Chainlink Automation triggers smart contracts based on predefined conditions. LINK, Chainlink’s native cryptocurrency, is central to its ecosystem. Built on Ethereum’s ERC-677 standard, LINK facilitates payments to node operators and serves as collateral in staking mechanisms. Node operators stake LINK to participate in the network, creating economic incentives for honest behavior. Malicious actors risk losing their stake, aligning operator interests with network security. LINK token stats as of March 16, 2025. — Image source: etherscan.io LINK’s fixed supply of 1 billion tokens ensures scarcity, with 35% sold during its 2017 initial coin offering (ICO). The remaining tokens support ecosystem development, including grants for node operators and partnerships. Demand for LINK is driven by its utility in data services, staking rewards, and speculative trading as well. Recent upgrades like Staking v0.2 aim to decentralize control further, allowing more users to participate in securing the network. Chainlink’s oracles reportedly underpin over 2,100 projects as of 2025. In DeFi, protocols like Aave and Synthetix rely on Chainlink’s price feeds to execute loans and derivatives. Insurance platforms use weather data to automate claims, while gaming projects leverage VRF for fair randomness in NFTs and loot boxes. Traditional institutions, including SWIFT and Deutsche Telekom, have partnered with Chainlink to explore blockchain interoperability. Chainlink’s Proof of Reserve feature enhances transparency by verifying asset collateralization in real-time, a critical tool for stablecoin issuers. Its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) enables seamless communication between blockchains, positioning Chainlink as a leader in multi-chain ecosystems. Despite its dominance, Chainlink faces challenges. Reliance on node operators introduces risks if collusion or technical failures occur. Competitors like Band Protocol and API3 offer alternative oracle solutions, though Chainlink’s age and proven track record have given it an edge. Scalability remains a concern as demand grows, prompting upgrades like off-chain computation through Chainlink Functions. Chainlink and LINK have faced scrutiny across technical, market, and community fronts. Critics argue that Chainlink’s decentralized oracle network relies heavily on a limited number of trusted nodes, raising concerns about true decentralization and vulnerability to collusion. Technical debates also surround its staking mechanism, particularly the role of second-tier oracles, which lack direct cryptoeconomic penalties. Chainlink’s roadmap focuses on enhancing cross-chain capabilities via CCIP and refining staking mechanisms. The protocol aims to support diverse data types, including IoT and identity verification, broadening its industry applications. As blockchain adoption accelerates, Chainlink’s role in securing and expanding smart contract utility will likely grow, solidifying its position as a blockchain infrastructure pillar. Chainlink was co-founded in 2014 by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis through smartcontract.com, a platform exploring blockchain-data integrations. Recognizing the limitations of centralized oracles, they shifted focus to decentralization, publishing Chainlink’s white paper in 2017. A $32 million ICO funded the network’s development, culminating in its 2019 Ethereum mainnet launch. Strategic acquisitions, including Town Crier and DECO, bolstered Chainlink’s technical prowess, while partnerships with Google, Oracle, and Microsoft validated its enterprise potential. 免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到[email protected]，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。

International trade markets have been evolving to open their possibilities to the usage of currencies different from the U.S. dollar. This is the opinion of Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, who remarked on the trade policy changes that a multi-polar world has brought for international settlements. In a recent article celebrating 80 years of international relations with Russia, Gil noted that this development was possible due to the rise of the BRICS bloc, an organization integrated by Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, and its de-dollarization push. Gil declared: At least 25% of global trade operations can be conducted without being tied to the dollar (without using the dollar), which will be a significant step towards greater financial independence of countries subject to sanctions. Gil assessed that this movement was favored by the current BRICS structure, which does not include rigid rules for trading. While the bloc has refrained from launching its own currency, BRICS is currently studying establishing a payment system based on national currencies under Brazil’s presidency. According to reports, this system might be based on cryptocurrency, as it would allow it to follow different guidelines compared to a fiat-based equivalent. While Venezuela was not accepted to be a part of the BRICS+ bloc as Brazil vetoed its entrance, the country has benefited from this shift in international trade. As Russia, the nation had faced sanctions from the U.S. government, which designated state-owned oil company PDVSA as a “Specially Designated National” (SDN) in 2019. Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, reinforced the relevance of Venezuela’s wishes to contribute to BRICS, stressing that the organization was “an association that serves as a conduit for the interests of the countries of the global South and East, one of the supporting pillars of the multipolar world order.” Read more: Venezuela Likely to Keep Using Crypto to Bypass New Set of US Sanctions 免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到[email protected]，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea became the world’s fifth-largest sovereign Bitcoin holder after Lazarus stole over $1.4 billion from Bybit. North Korean-funded terror group Lazarus has catapulted the nation’s Bitcoin ( BTC ) holdings above caches controlled by crypto-friendly countries Bhutan and El Salvador. Lazarus controls 13,518 BTC, worth approximately $1.1 billion at press time, according to Arkham data . This massive wealth was amassed through numerous cyber attacks and crypto exploits over the years, like the Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin exploit in 2024 and Ronin Network in 2022, where Lazarus stole $308 million and over $600 million in crypto, respectively. At present, the DPRK-tied organization boasts more Bitcoin than Bhutan’s 10,635 BTC trove, which it has accumulated through large-scale mining, and 6,118 BTC attributed to El Salvador, the first country to adopt BTC as legal tender. Currently, 198,109 BTC held by U.S. authorities, China’s 194,000 BTC trove, the United Kingdom’s 61,000 BTC hoard, and Ukraine’s 46,351 BTC stash are the only known sovereign Bitcoin portfolios bigger than North Korea’s. The sudden jump in North Korea’s BTC wealth follows Lazarus’ attack on Bybit in February. Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit reported that over 400,000 Ether ( ETH ) had been stolen from its Safe multi-sig cold wallet. Lazarus tapped decentralized finance protocols like THORChain, which in-house developers and the crypto community criticized for lax anti-criminal measures, to swap a significant portion of the ETH to BTC. Per CNN, citing a White House official, Lazarus proceeds, and illicit wealth from other DPKR-funded syndicates finances almost 50% of North Korea’s nuclear missile program.

Earlier in the day, Aptos shared a cryptic post on X, featuring the logo of Pump.Fun accompanied by the phrase ‘Aptos pilled’. Naturally, this has led to speculation of Pump.Fun potentially migrating to the Aptos blockchain, or at the very least, some kind of a collaboration between the two. While there’s no concrete evidence to confirm anything, it’s worth noting that platforms similar to Pump.Fun, such as Emojicoin, have already been developed on Aptos, indicating that the ecosystem supports such initiatives. Emojicoin enables users to create, trade, and swap emoji-tickered meme coins, adding a layer of creativity to the meme coin space. On the other hand, Pump.Fun is a popular platform that allows users to create and trade meme tokens, primarily operating on the Solana blockchain. It has already established itself as a popular choice, though it has seen better days as of late. Starting from mid-February toward today, the platform’s graduation rate (the percentage of tokens that progress from incubation to full tradeability on Solana decentralized exchanges) has fallen below a measly 1%. This points to a huge decrease in the success of newly launched memecoins on the platform. In addition, Pump.Fun’s revenue has been declining since it reached a four-month low. Today, the platform’s protocol fee revenue stood at just slightly below $800,000, which is a big decline compared to late January when it was over $15 million. This could indicate a waning interest in Solana-based meme coins or just meme coins in general. Technically speaking, there are some grounds on why Pump.Fun would utilize Aptos. For instance, multi-chain expansion is becoming more common, as projects seek to tap into different liquidity pools and communities. Furthermore, Solana is already filled with meme coin projects and on Aptos, the competition is much lower. So will this be one big nothingburger or is there some merit to the rumors of collaboration or even migration? Overall, it’s hard to say but considering Pump.Fun’s current state, it makes sense for something to happen. Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is for informational and educational purposes only. The article does not constitute financial advice or advice of any kind. Coin Edition is not responsible for any losses incurred as a result of the utilization of content, products, or services mentioned. Readers are advised to exercise caution before taking any action related to the company.