Weekly Recap

Major exploits revealed, corporate partnerships push forward

Wintermute Hack

The biggest news in defi this wk was related to the Wintermute exploit, you can read more about it here in our prior post.

GMX Exploit

Earlier this week, clever traders figured out a way to “exploit” the popular on-chain exchange GMX. This exploit was brought to people's attention when $AVAX began to exhibit odd price action on centralized exchanges. Since GMX is a 0 slippage exchange, the trader(s) placed large orders within the liquidity limits of GMX at the current oracle price (which is aggregated from multiple exchanges). The trader then placed large enough orders on a CEX to move the oracle index price in the desired direction and closed their position on GMX for a profit. This was done numerous times netting the trader around 500k in profits. GMX remedied the issue by placing additional size limits on less liquid coins (including $AVAX).

Joshua Lim @joshua_j_lim

1/ quick thread on the GMX "exploit" last night having sat on crypto dealing desks for many years, I know that offering liquidity to savvy traders is a painful but necessary part of the game GLP holders learned that same lesson last night!

Helium Moves to Solana

The Helium foundation vote to migrate the project to the Solana network passed this week

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. This news comes after much controversy over the necessity of using its own blockchain given the lack of activity on the network. This move could bring a larger audience to the Helium project from users of the Solana blockchain, which could incentivize further partnerships and development funds. This is also on the heels of the announcement that Helium would be launching their own 5g network with a new token along with a partnership with T-Mobile to fill the coverage gap

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Funko Selling NFT linked comic books through Walmart

The company behind the famous plastic figures Funko Pops will partner with DC Comics to sell NFT linked comic books through Walmart

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. This marks a large step forward in using blockchain technology to secure and verify ownership of digital collectibles linked to physical items. Establishing distribution through one of the largest retailers in the US will help legitimize the use case of NFT technology and potentially increase exposure to non-crypto native people on the value of having ownership over their digital assets. This could also help pave the way for using NFTs to verify authenticity of physical collectibles upon their sale.

Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Do your own research.

1. https://www.theblock.co/post/172107/helium-foundation-announces-migration-to-solana-following-community-vote

2. https://decrypt.co/110111/helium-t-mobile-crypto-5g-mobile-service

3. https://www.theblock.co/post/171914/walmart-to-sell-nft-linked-dc-comic-books-via-pop-culture-retailer-funko-coindesk