Twitter scammers impersonating Elon Musk are reportedly pivoting from free accounts to paid ads as they attempt to lure victims with promises of free crypto, trips to Mars, and Neuralink brain chips.

The numbers of ads featuring the Twitter CEO’s photo seem to be on the rise. Forbes even suggests that Twitter is either “knowingly or unknowingly profiting from crypto scams on its platform.”

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New research suggests that there’s a “good chance” Terra’s collapse was largely triggered by quant trading firm Jane Street.

Igor Igamberdiev, head of research at crypto market maker Wintermute, believes that Jane Street is likely related to the notorious ‘Wallet A,’ which swapped 85 million UST for USDC and imbalanced the UST/3CRV Curve pool. Wallet A is often considered to be a major contributor to the depegging of Terra in May.

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Despite nearly six years passing since the inception of decentralized finance (DeFi) in 2017, it’s still experiencing child-like growing pains in 2023. DeFi underpins many Web3 properties which experience hacks and exploits weekly. Multi-million dollar exploits remain commonplace.

In 2023, DeFi could continue its slow development, or it could pass as an unsustainable fad. In any case, here are the most recent problems facing three large DeFi platforms today.

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An Australian man has been charged with extortion for giving authorities in Queensland a fiery ultimatum: hand over $5 million AUD ($3.4 million) in crypto or he would intentionally start a bushfire.

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Payment processors Mastercard and Visa say they have no plans to alter their crypto strategies despite delaying plans to forge new relationships in the industry, following the high-profile collapses of a number of prominent firms.

As reported by Reuters, the spectacular implosions of companies including FTX and BlockFi have led to the financial giants pumping the brakes on a number of crypto-related products and services. According to anonymous sources close to the matter, the delays will remain in place “until market conditions and the regulatory environment improve.”

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A prominent designer based in Tel Aviv was arrested on Sunday by Israeli authorities for allegedly failing to disclose cryptocurrency earnings in tax reports. Ben Benhorin, a digital artist and owner of independent studio Wuwa, creates generative code-based art and sells pieces on its OpenSea.

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If you’re wondering about the state of the cryptocurrency industry post-FTX’s dramatic collapse, here’s some news: a token associated with CoinFLEX, a bankrupted crypto futures and lending exchange, has rocketed by 3,000%.

The FLEX token has jumped from five cents to $1.50 since it was revealed that it would be utilized as the token of choice for the new Su Zhu, Kyle Davies, and Mark Lamb-run cryptocurrency bankruptcy claim exchange, OPNX.

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Decentralized finance protocol LaunchZone has claimed an attacker has drained 80% of funds in its liquidity pool, worth $700,000.

LaunchZone claims to be “the ultimate DeFi platform.” The BNB Chain-based protocol paused trading and transferring of its native token, LZ, until “the problems are solved,” it announced on Twitter earlier today, in a post that restricts replies. However, it shared an announcement by crypto exchange Biswap that LZ will be delisted due to its alleged hack.

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Earlier this month, Tether Holdings Limited reported a 2022 Q4 profit of $700 million and excess reserves of $960 million. The report couldn’t be independently verified but if true, these figures would be remarkable given the pain currently being felt across much of the rest of the crypto industry. 

When we examine headlines from a year ago, it’s clear that most of crypto’s big players had it tough. Those who have survived and prospered are particularly interesting. Although it’s not possible to verify many of the claims coming directly from Tether, public information suggests that one of its little-known cousins, Heka Funds, has been consistently making money without pause.

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Crypto personality Richard Heart has delayed the launch of PulseChain and PulseX for months. Hundreds of millions of dollars in user funds are inaccessible within sacrificed wallets for the two projects, while ongoing delays have caused finger-pointing among Heart’s “Hexican” following from his original ICO, HEX.

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