• Aave, a DeFi protocol, cleared its bad CRV debt resulting from an exploit attempt by Avi Eisenberg.
• The debt was cleared following a governance vote where the community approved the procurement of the necessary CRV tokens using the ParaSwap decentralized exchange aggregator.
• The maneuver came ahead of the activation of Aave v3, a major tech upgrade of the protocol.

Aave, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, recently cleared the bad debt of 2.7 million of curve dao tokens (CRV) from a botched November trade by Mango Markets exploiter Avi Eisenberg, blockchain data on Etherscan shows. The move came ahead of the activation of a major tech upgrade of the protocol called Aave v3.

The debt was cleared following a governance vote where the community approved the procurement of the necessary CRV tokens using the ParaSwap decentralized exchange aggregator. Aave is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and AAVE token holders vote on proposals.

In November, Avraham Eisenberg roiled Aave with a trading strategy that involved borrowing tens of millions of CRV tokens from the platform. After a sudden price spike due to a short squeeze, his position got liquidated, leaving Aave with bad debt in CRV that amounted to $1.6 million at the time.

An analysis by DeFi data platform EigenPhi found that the liquidator of the bad debt pocketed some of the tokens instead of returning them to Aave. This resulted in the loss of CRV tokens from Aave’s balance sheet, as well as a significant amount of ETH.

The procurement of the necessary CRV tokens was done through the ParaSwap decentralized exchange aggregator in order to minimize the risk of another attack. The tokens were then burned, removing them from circulation and restoring the balance sheet of Aave.

The move not only restored the balance sheet of Aave but also sent a positive signal to the market that Aave is committed to protecting its users and their investments. The news also came ahead of the activation of Aave v3, a major tech upgrade of the protocol.

The upgrade, which is planned to go live in April, will introduce new features such as Flash Loans, Protocol Staking and Liquidity Insurance to the Aave protocol. Flash Loans will allow users to borrow funds without putting up any collateral, while Protocol Staking will reward users for providing liquidity to the platform. Liquidity Insurance, on the other hand, will provide protection against impermanent loss.

The news of Aave’s debt clearance and the upcoming v3 upgrade has been welcomed by the crypto community, with many praising the protocol for its commitment to security and for introducing new features that will improve the user experience.

• Timothy Stranex, co-founder and CTO of cryptocurrency exchange Luno, departed in December to pursue personal projects.
• Simon Ince has been appointed as the new CTO of Luno, joining the company two years ago as its vice president of engineering.
• Luno, which is owned by Digital Currency Group, has over 10 million customers worldwide and offices in London, Singapore, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos and Sydney.

Cryptocurrency exchange Luno recently saw a significant change in leadership in December when Timothy Stranex, the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO), departed to pursue personal projects. Stranex had been with the company for nearly 10 years, having founded it with Carel van Wyk, Pieter Heyns, and the current CEO, Marcus Swanepoel.

Simon Ince has been appointed as the new CTO of Luno, joining the company two years ago as its vice president of engineering. Ince brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise in software engineering, and is already well versed in Luno’s operations. In addition to Ince’s appointment, Luno has also appointed a number of other executives to its leadership team in recent months.

Luno, which is owned by Digital Currency Group (DCG), has over 10 million customers worldwide and offices in London, Singapore, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos and Sydney. Luno is dedicated to providing secure and efficient cryptocurrency trading, allowing users to buy and sell digital assets. The company provides a range of services, including a wallet, a crypto-fiat trading platform, and educational resources.

Luno’s mission is to make digital currency accessible to everyone. The company is committed to providing a secure, compliant and customer-focused product and service offering. With a global team of over 200 employees, Luno is well-positioned to continue to be a leader in the digital asset space.

The departure of Stranex and the appointment of Ince is an important step in the evolution of the company. Ince has already made great strides in his new role, and his appointment is likely to further strengthen Luno’s position in the market. With the addition of Ince and other new executives, Luno is well-positioned to continue to provide customers with a safe and secure platform for trading digital assets.

• A Delaware bankruptcy judge ruled on Wednesday that the list of creditors for FTX could remain sealed for at least three months.
• The decision was made to protect potentially 9 million users of the crypto exchange from having their privacy jeopardized by their names being published.
• The judge indicated that he may change his mind during a future hearing.

A Delaware bankruptcy judge ruled on Wednesday that the list of creditors for FTX, a crypto exchange owned by Sam Bankman-Fried’s empire, could remain sealed for at least three months. The decision was made to protect potentially 9 million users of the exchange from having their privacy jeopardized by their names being published. Media organizations and the U.S. government had argued for the legal process to remain transparent, but the judge indicated that he may change his mind during a future hearing.

Judge John Dorsey, overseeing the winding up of FTX, shot down the bid for transparency, but stated that he would review the issue after three months. At the hearing, Brian Glueckstein, an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell representing FTX, asserted that “sensitive personal information of customers and other stakeholders” and “the value in the debtors customer list as an asset” should be redacted and protected.

The court acknowledged that publishing the names of customers could have serious implications on their privacy. “I’m reluctant at this point to say I’m going to require the disclosure,” stated the judge. “We’re talking about individuals here who are not present – individuals who may be at risk if their name and information is disclosed.”

FTX CEO John J. Ray III argued that the names should remain sealed temporarily to allow the company to protect the identities of its customers. He suggested that FTX could reveal the names of creditors after the court has allowed the company to redact any sensitive information from the documents.

Ultimately, the judge decided to overrule the objections and allow the creditor lists to remain sealed for the time being, noting that the issue would be reviewed later. The ruling provides FTX with some breathing room, but the issue of transparency is likely to come up again in the near future.

Bullet Points
– Quasar Finance, a decentralized asset management protocol, has raised $5.4 million in a funding round led by Shima Capital at a $70 million valuation.
– Quasar utilizes the Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) technology released by the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem to allow users to create and join vaults.
– The capital will go towards product development and scaling out the team.

Quasar Finance, a decentralized asset management protocol, has recently raised $5.4 million in a venture capital round led by Shima Capital, valuing the protocol at $70 million. Quasar Finance is built on the Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) technology released by the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem, allowing users to create and join vaults, or independent asset containers capable of connecting tokens and data transfers between chains.

The funding round was joined by other prominent investors such as Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, HASH Capital, and Osmosis co-founder Sunny Aggarwal. The capital will be utilized to further develop the protocol and scale out the team.

Quasar plans to offer structured investment products for DeFi, starting with an automatically rebalancing index of the Cosmos ecosystem that supports the staking of assets. After months of development, Quasar will enable users to trade and manage digital assets across multiple chains with a single interface. The protocol will also provide users with access to a wide range of financial services, including derivatives, lending, borrowing, and yield farming.

By leveraging the IBC protocol, Quasar can take advantage of the security, scalability, and liquidity of the Cosmos ecosystem, allowing users to transact with greater speed and efficiency. As the DeFi space continues to evolve and mature, Quasar hopes to provide the infrastructure necessary to promote cross-chain compatibility.

As the world moves towards a more decentralized future, protocols such as Quasar Finance are paving the way towards greater financial inclusion and autonomy. With the recent funding round and the ability to offer a wide range of financial services, Quasar is poised to make major strides in the DeFi space.