$24Bn Saved After Polygon Patched Exploit

Elon Musk reveals his guess at Satoshi’s identity, Polygon narrowly escapes a $24 billion bug, and what do Ozzy Osbourne, Ferrari and Gamestop all have in common? NFTs. These stories and more this week in crypto.

Elon Musk has taken his guess at the identity of bitcoin’s creator, naming Nick Szabo as the most likely candidate for being Satoshi Nakamoto. Musk said although he doesn’t know Satoshi’s real identity, Szabo, more than anyone else, is responsible for the evolution of the ideas of cryptocurrency and smart contracts even though he has previously denied being Satoshi.

Ethereum-based Polygon Network introduced a recent upgrade after discovering a vulnerability that put almost all of MATIC’s supply, worth $24 billion, at risk. The patch came after ethical hackers informed the platform’s core team of the issue. Despite quick measures, attackers were able to steal over $2 million worth of MATIC tokens just prior to the patch going live.

The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain to operate as a cryptocurrency service provider in the country. Once finalized, Bahrain’s central bank will become the first regulator in the Middle East to approve a Binance entity bringing the company closer towards its plan to become a fully-regulated centralized cryptocurrency exchange.

President Erdoğan of Turkey has announced that the country’s cryptocurrency law is ready and will be submitted to parliament. In September, Erdogan declared Turkey at war with cryptocurrency, but for many Turkish citizens, crypto has provided a way to bypass the falling value of the local currency. Meanwhile, Binance Turkey is facing fines after Turkey’s Financial Crimes agency discovered violations in a recent liability inspection.

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has introduced the first exchange-traded fund that provides exposure to the blockchain industry. The ETF tracks the Sber Blockchain Economy Index, which includes crypto trading firms, mining companies and direct exposure to crypto-assets. Traded on the Russian Stock Market, the Blockchain ETF aims to simplify the investment in the blockchain economy for investors.

Jamestown, the owner of One Times Square, recreated the 26-story tower in the heart of New York City in the virtual world of Decentraland unveiling the game’s first high-rise building. The celebration on New Year’s Eve included NFT art galleries, rooftop VIP lounges and virtual music performances. How much Jamestown spent on its virtual real estate wasn’t disclosed.

Ozzy Osbourne is releasing his own collection of NFTs entitled “CryptoBatz”. With a feature called “MutantBatz,” the collection will enable owners to create NFT mutations by having their Cryptobatz connect with other NFTs in their wallets. Ozzy said he had to create his own NFTs after his wife had refused to help him buy any.

Luxury car manufacturer Ferrari has announced a partnership with Swiss blockchain startup Velas to issue exclusive digital content for its fans. With the deal, Ferrari joins a number of other luxury auto makers that have entered the NFT space, including Porsche and Mercedes-AMG.

Video game retailer, Gamestop, is calling on NFT creators to register for its forthcoming NFT marketplace. As the Gamestop NFT marketplace prepares for launch, the creator sign-up form includes a question as to whether they describe themselves as an independent artist, creator, game dev, or meme lord.

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That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.