Today's Top Crypto Headlines:

Animoca Eyes Nasdaq Debut | Balancer Suffers $116M Hack | CZ’s $2.5M Aster Bet and more...

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King Fatrick Gil Añasco
November 03, 2025

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Good Morning Crypto Enthusiasts!

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  1. Animoca Prepares Nasdaq Entry: Animoca Brands plans to go public in the U.S. through a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed AI fintech firm Currenc Group. Animoca shareholders will hold 95% of the new entity, expected to close in 2026.

  2. Balancer Hit by $116M Exploit: Balancer suffered a $116.6M hack due to a smart contract flaw in its v2 pools, impacting the wider DeFi ecosystem. The project offered the hacker a 20% bounty for fund recovery.

  3. 💡Feature of the Day - CZ’s $2.5M Aster Bet: Binance co-founder CZ invested $2.5M in Aster (ASTER), sparking a 30% price surge and over $2B in trading volume.


    All this and more in today’s headlines!

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📰 News Highlights:

Animoca Eyes Nasdaq Debut [Source][Source][Source]

Animoca Brands is preparing to enter the U.S. public markets through a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed AI fintech firm Currenc Group. Under the non-binding agreement, Currenc will acquire all Animoca shares, with Animoca shareholders retaining 95% of the resulting entity.

The merger, expected to close in 2026, marks a milestone move, giving Animoca direct access to U.S. investors without going through a traditional IPO. Currenc will spin off its current AI and remittance arms before the merger, refocusing its strategy on digital assets.

The new company aims to be the “world’s first publicly listed, diversified digital assets conglomerate,” spanning DeFi, AI, gaming, and RWA tokenization.

Co-founder Yat Siu said the listing would provide investors exposure to the trillion-dollar altcoin economy. With a portfolio of over 600 Web3 firms, Animoca’s merger leverages its vast ecosystem, while Currenc’s $5.4 billion transaction volume offers strong fintech infrastructure.

Together, they intend to create a bridge between traditional finance and the Web3 digital economy.

Balancer Suffers $116M Hack [Source][Source][Source][Source]

Balancer, a major decentralized exchange (DEX), has fallen victim to a massive exploit, losing over $116.6 million worth of digital assets, including staked Ether derivatives.

Analysts attribute the breach to a “faulty access check” in Balancer v2’s smart contracts, affecting both its native pools and forks across the DeFi ecosystem. Following the incident, the team confirmed it was working with security experts and blockchain investigators to assess and contain the damage.

In an attempt to recover funds, Balancer offered the hacker a 20% bounty if the assets were returned within 48 hours. If not, the project vowed to escalate collaboration with law enforcement and forensics firms.

Berachain, a DeFi protocol built on Balancer’s logic, also halted its network to perform emergency fixes. This exploit marks another major setback for Balancer, which has faced multiple breaches since 2020, underlining persistent vulnerabilities in DeFi smart contracts.

💡 Feature of the Day: 

CZ’s $2.5M Aster Bet [Source][Source][Source]

Aster (ASTER) token surged over 30% after Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao revealed a personal $2.5 million investment.

The announcement triggered an explosive market reaction, pushing trading volume from $224 million to over $2 billion within a day.

CZ’s “buy and hold” declaration fueled speculation and retail FOMO, propelling Aster’s price from $0.91 to $1.26 and boosting its market cap past $2.5 billion.

However, not everyone is convinced. Two major crypto whales opened large short positions worth over $70 million combined, betting the “CZ Effect” won’t last. The surge recalls similar influencer-driven rallies in the past, such as Arthur Hayes’ Zcash endorsement.

Aster, which evolved from a merger between Astherus and APX Finance, already had ties to CZ through his family office, YZi Labs, amplifying investor excitement but also raising questions about long-term sustainability.

😂 Crypto Meme of the Day: 

Meme of the day provided by @bitgetglobal

And that’s it for this today.

See you all tomorrow’s edition!


Jonathan Gibson
UseTheBitcoin.com