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Today's Top Crypto Headlines:
Trump’s OCC Pick | zkLend Suffers $9.5M Hack | TON Integrates Tether and more...
King Fatrick Gil Añasco
February 13, 2025
Good Morning Crypto Enthusiasts!
Glad to have you back for another edition of the UseTheBitcoin.com newsletter.
Trump’s OCC Pick: Donald Trump nominated Jonathan Gould, a former Bitfury executive and OCC chief counsel, to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
zkLend Suffers $9.5M Hack: DeFi lender zkLend lost $9.5 million in a Starknet exploit, with hackers laundering funds via Ethereum and Railgun.
💡Feature of the Day - TON Integrates Tether: The Open Network (TON) integrated with LayerZero to connect with over 100 blockchains, including Ethereum, Tron, and Solana.
All this and more in today’s headlines!
📰 News Highlights:
Donald Trump has nominated Jonathan Gould, a former Bitfury executive and past OCC chief counsel, to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The following statement is attributed to Blockchain Association CEO @KMSmithDC following Jonathan Gould’s nomination for Comptroller of the Currency:
— Blockchain Association (@BlockchainAssn)
3:20 PM • Feb 12, 2025
If confirmed by the Senate, Gould will oversee national banks, including JPMorgan and Bank of America, for a five-year term.
8/ Jonathan Gould – Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
A very positive development for fintech and crypto founders looking for better access to financial services.
Opposes Operation Chokepoint 2.0 and wants fair banking access for crypto firms.
Jonathan Gould Bio:… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— Avichal - Electric ϟ Capital (@avichal)
8:01 PM • Feb 12, 2025
His crypto background has sparked optimism among industry leaders, with Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith calling him an "excellent choice."
This includes Brian Quintenz for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and John Hurley for a Treasury role.
DeFi lending protocol zkLend suffered a $9.5 million exploit on the Starknet network, with attackers laundering stolen funds via Ethereum and Railgun.
🚨ALERT🚨@zkLend has suffered a $9.5M exploit on the Starknet network. Stolen funds were bridged to #Ethereum and laundered via #Railgun, but due to protocol policies, the funds were returned to the original address by #Railgun!
Deposit to #Railgun:… x.com/i/web/status/1…— 🚨 Cyvers Alerts 🚨 (@CyversAlerts)
7:47 AM • Feb 12, 2025
The platform has offered a 10% bounty for the return of stolen assets before Feb. 14, threatening legal action if the hacker fails to comply.
To the hacker:
We understand that you are responsible for today’s attack on zkLend. You may keep 10% of the funds as a whitehat bounty, and send back the remaining 90%, or 3,300 ETH to be exact, to this Ethereum address: 0xCf31e1b97790afD681723fA1398c5eAd9f69B98C.
Upon… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— zkLend (@zkLend)
3:21 AM • Feb 12, 2025
Crypto hacks have surged in recent years, with $2.3 billion stolen in 2024 alone.
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💡 Feature of the Day:
The Open Network (TON) has integrated with LayerZero to enhance crosschain connectivity, linking TON to over 100 blockchain ecosystems, including Ethereum, Tron, and Solana.
TON Opens to 100+ Chains 🌐💎
$TON has integrated @LayerZero_Core to connect with 100+ blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana & Tron! This brings seamless cross-chain transfers, enhanced liquidity, & access to major crypto assets.
Partners include: @USDT0_to, @ethena_labs,… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— TON 💎 (@ton_blockchain)
5:20 PM • Feb 11, 2025
The integration allows users to transfer USDT and other assets seamlessly between networks, boosting TON’s role in stablecoin interoperability.
The 5th most popular app in the world.
A chain supporting up to 100k tps.
950 million users. A top 20 coin.LayerZero is live on @ton_blockchain, bringing decentralized finance to a global scale via @telegram.
Teams expanding to TON: @USDT0_to, @StargateFinance@ethena_labs.
— LayerZero (@LayerZero_Core)
5:05 PM • Feb 11, 2025
TON’s partnership with LayerZero marks a significant milestone, strengthening its position within the multichain ecosystem.
$138 billion in USDT scattered across TON, Tron, Ethereum, Arbitrum, and the rest of the USDT0 ecosystem…now connected into a single solution.
Unified by @USDT0_to, powered by LayerZero.
Your USDT Anywhere, Now Everywhere
— LayerZero (@LayerZero_Core)
5:26 PM • Feb 11, 2025
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And that’s it for this today.
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See you all tomorrow’s edition!
Jonathan Gibson
UseTheBitcoin.com