Good Morning Crypto Enthusiasts!

Glad to have you back for another edition of the UseTheBitcoin.com newsletter.

1. io.net Shocking CEO Exit: Ahmad Shadid, a founder of Solana-based io.net, resigned as CEO just two days before the project's token launch, citing the need to avoid distractions from past allegations.

2. Binance Reaches 200M Users: Binance announced on June 8 that it has surpassed 200 million global users, a major milestone reflecting its rapid growth. The exchange added 30 million users in the first half of 2024 and now holds over $100 billion in user assets.

3. Gemholic Suspected of $3.5M Rug Pull: The Gemholic project on the zkSync network is suspected of a $3.5 million rug-pull, as the team withdrew funds locked due to a sales contract error following zkSync's v24 upgrade.

4. 🫨 What’s Buzzing? - Orbit Chain Hacker Moves Stolen Funds: The hacker behind the $82 million Orbit Chain exploit moved $47.7 million worth of Ether to Tornado Cash on June 8, marking the first significant activity since the hack.

5. 💡Feature of the Day - US Charges Three Brits Over NFT Scam: The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged three UK nationals with wire fraud and money laundering related to the 2021 'Evolved Apes' NFT rug-pull scam.

   
   All this and more in today’s headlines!

📰 News Highlights:

io.net Shocking CEO Exit [Source][Source][Source]

Ahmad Shadid, a founder of Solana-based decentralized infrastructure provider io.net, abruptly resigned from his position as CEO just two days before the project’s token launch. Shadid announced his departure on June 9, emphasizing that his decision was unrelated to past allegations against him.

He stated that his resignation was to ensure io.net could progress without distractions. Shadid was replaced by Tory Green, the former Chief Operating Officer and fellow founder.

The timing of Shadid's resignation has raised concerns within the community, with critics speculating that he might sell off his IO tokens and disappear. However, Shadid addressed these accusations, clarifying that his IO tokens are subject to a four-year lockup, and no insider can sell their tokens until June 2025.

To further demonstrate his commitment, Shadid pledged to contribute one million IO tokens to the Internet of GPUs Foundation to support the ecosystem.

Despite the leadership shakeup, io.net is proceeding with its token launch on Binance’s Launchpool on June 11.

The company has also dealt with recent challenges, including a significant GPU metadata attack in April.

Binance Reaches 200M Users [Source][Source]

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily volume, announced on June 8 that it has reached 200 million global users. This milestone marks a significant achievement, with Binance users accounting for over a third of the global cryptocurrency user base.

The rapid growth of Binance is evident, with the exchange adding 30 million users in just the first half of 2024. This expansion follows a record achievement in March when Binance reported having $100 billion in user assets under custody.

Despite facing legal challenges, including founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s current imprisonment on fraud charges, Binance has continued to thrive and expand its user base.

Gemholic Suspected of $3.5M Rug Pull [Source][Source]

The cryptocurrency community is on high alert following a suspected rug-pull incident involving the Gemholic project on the zkSync network. Reports indicate that the Gemholic team withdrew $3.5 million after misleading investors for a year with false promises of refunds.

The funds, which had been locked due to a sales contract error, were accessed following zkSync’s v24 upgrade, allowing the Gemholic team to withdraw and transfer the funds.

Community members are now urging Binance to assist in tracing the funds and holding the perpetrators accountable. Despite having completed Know Your Customer (KYC) verification with SolidProof, the verification service has not addressed the incident publicly, leading to further frustration and mistrust among investors.

🫨 What’s Buzzing?

Orbit Chain Hacker Moves Stolen Funds [Source][Source]

The hacker behind the $82 million Orbit Chain exploit has resurfaced, moving $47.7 million worth of Ether to the privacy mixer Tornado Cash on June 8. The funds had remained dormant since the hack occurred on New Year’s Eve, with the recent transactions marking the first significant movement in five months.

Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence reported the movement, noting that the hacker sent the Ether in batches of 100 ETH each.

The hack, which affected Orbit Chain's cross-chain bridge, had initially caused losses estimated at $100 million, impacting the total value locked on the protocol significantly. Despite the hacker’s recent activity, they have not moved the remaining $20 million in Dai or other stolen assets.

Orbit Chain continues to work with international law enforcement agencies to identify the hacker and recover the stolen funds, offering a maximum reward of $8 million for decisive information leading to the attacker’s identification.

💡 Feature of the Day: 

US Charges Three Brits Over NFT Scam [Source][Source][Source][Source]

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has charged three UK nationals with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with the 2021 'Evolved Apes' NFT rug-pull scam.

The defendants, Mohamed-Amin Atcha, Mohamed Rilaz Waleedh, and Daood Hassan, are accused of driving up the prices of the 10,000 NFTs by promising the development of a video game, which never materialized. Instead, the funds from NFT sales, totaling approximately 798 Ethereum (around $2.7 million at the time), disappeared.

According to the indictment, the defendants laundered the misappropriated funds through multiple cryptocurrency transactions to their personal accounts.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams emphasized that the defendants exploited the excitement around digital art and NFTs to deceive investors. Each count of wire fraud and money laundering carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

😂 Crypto Meme of the Day: 

And that’s it for this today.

With all of the recent hacks taking place, remember to protect your crypto assets with today’s sponsor Trezor hardware wallets.

See you all tomorrow’s edition!

Jonathan Gibson
UseTheBitcoin.com