Blockchain Bites: Big Bitcoin Bets, SushiSwap Drops, bZx Attacked

Hackers hit DeFi protocol bZx again, derivatives traders have placed bets bitcoin will hit $30,000 by year's end and the latest twist in the SushiSwap saga.

Hacked againDecentralized finance protocol bZx is the victim of yet another hack - this time costing nearly $8 million.

On Sunday, an unnamed attacker apparently tricked bZx into minting iTokens, an interest-earning token that allows users to redeem crypto in the protocol's lending pools, cashing them out for nearly 220,000 LINK tokens, 4,507 ETH, 1.76 million USDT, 1.4 million USDC and 670,000 DAI, CoinDesk's Paddy Baker reports.

bZx co-founder Kyle Kistner said the drained funds will be covered by the protocol's insurance fund, pending community ratification.

In a late breaking twist, a spokesperson said bZx was able to track down the attacker using his or her on-chain activity and that the funds were returned as soon as that person was exposed.

Jose Angel Aman was charged with wire fraud on Friday for his alleged role in soliciting $25 million from hundreds of investors to fund a scheme where he and his cadres promised to buy and flip diamonds.

As of this writing, $776 million worth of crypto is held in Sushi's smart contracts, down 18% from the previous day, according to sushiswap.

Big bitcoin betsHundreds of derivatives investors are betting bitcoin will rally to $36,000 by the end of 2020.

CoinDesk's Omkar Godbole reports that the probability of bitcoin reaching a new record high above $20,000 by the end of December is roughly 5%. Tech pod.

Bitcoin correlationsBitcoin's correlation with gold is now at an all-time high, though this may not help us understand what "Digital gold" really is any better.