Technology

Crypto Hacks and Chaos Aren’t Halting Holiday Season Shopping Plans

Table of Contents

Welcome Back to Chain Reaction

We’re excited to bring you the latest news and updates from the world of cryptocurrency. If you want a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, subscribe here.

The Holiday Spirit

As we head into the holiday season, many of us are feeling the spirit of joy, love, and generosity. However, for some individuals, it’s business as usual. For those who might be feeling a bit Grinch-like, there’s always room to spread a little cheer – even if it means taking down crypto hackers.

Crypto Hacks Continue Unabated

Despite the holiday season, hackers are still active in the world of cryptocurrency. In fact, just earlier this week, hackers compromised the code behind a crypto protocol used by multiple web3 applications and services. The affected company, Ledger, issued a statement on Thursday, but it’s unclear at this time how many people fell victim to the hack.

Details Below

What’s happening in web3: A supply chain attack targeting Ledger’s crypto wallet left users hacked.
Bitcoin ATM company Coin Cloud got hacked. Even its new owners don’t know how.
Worldcoin adds integrations with Minecraft, Reddit, Telegram, Shopify, and Mercado Libre.
Deadmau5-founded startup Korus taps into AI for music creation.

This Week’s Podcast

In the latest episode of Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn Melinek interviewed Johann Kerbrat, the general manager of crypto at Robinhood. They discussed:

Appealing to mainstream audiences: How does Robinhood plan to make digital assets more accessible to retail investors?
Growing crypto on its platform: What are some key strategies for expanding Robinhood’s crypto exchange business?
Regulatory concerns: How is Robinhood navigating regulatory issues in the US and abroad?

You can listen to the full episode here or subscribe to Chain Reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite pod platform.

Follow the Money

Here are some of the latest funding rounds in web3:

Line Next secures $140 million for its web3 platform.
Lolli raises $8 million Series B to expand its bitcoin and cashback rewards to enterprises.
Andalusia Labs raises $48 million Series A to improve digital asset risk infrastructure.
Dynamic raises $13.5 million from a16z crypto and Founders Fund to simplify access to web3 and crypto wallets.
Avalanche-based Nodekit raised $1.2 million in pre-seed round to create a network focused on rollups.

This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as TechCrunch’s own reporting.

What Else We’re Writing

If you want to branch out from the world of web3, here are some articles that caught our attention this week:

Temu’s latest lawsuit against Shein is wild (TC+).
OpenAI thinks superhuman AI is coming — and wants to build tools to control it.
AI isn’t and won’t soon be evil or even smart, but it’s also irreversibly pervasive.
Here’s where founders screw up their pitch decks most often (TC+).
The possibility of regulation hangs on the horizon over generative AI.

Stay tuned for more news and updates from the world of cryptocurrency. Follow me on Twitter @Jacqmelinek for breaking crypto news, memes, and more.