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CryptoCodex


	Good Thursday morning. Billy Bambrough here with the big news from crypto-land.


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24-hour crypto market snapshot

$36,683

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Hacked off 💢


	🚨🚨 The Bank of England has hiked interest rates from 0.25% to 0.5% in an effort to tame soaring inflation, front running an expected Federal Reserve interest rate rise in March. Cryptocurrency prices are falling this morning, taking the shine off what had been a positive start to the new month. Technology shares are dragging down crypto and stock markets after Facebook's Meta reported its first ever decline in daily active users. Meta's share price dropped 20% in after hours trading last night. Amazon picks up the batton from Meta with its fourth-quarter results out tonight and could help turn things around. Both bitcoin and ethereum are down around 5% on this time yesterday while solana, one of the major ethereum rivals, has plummeted 12% following news a serious decentralized finance (DeFi) hack. See below for details. Other DeFi coins, including polkadot, Terra's luna and avalanche, are also under pressure, all down around 10%. Look out this morning... for the European Central Bank's (ECB) interest rate decision at 7:45am ET. While the ECB is not forecast to change its policy, comments from ECB president Christine Lagarde at the subsequent press conference will be closely watched for sign posts. Now read this: Why is Matt Damon shilling for crypto?

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Wormhole hit 🕳️



	The price of solana's sol cryptocurrency has soared over the last year, leaving bitcoin, ethereum and most other cryptocurrencies in the dust © 2021 BLOOMBERG FINANCE LP


	Hack attack: The decentralized finance (DeFi) community is reeling this morning from a hack that's seen roughly $325 million stolen from a communication channel linking ethereum with one of its biggest rivals solana. Hackers are thought to have taken advantage of an exploit on Wormhole, a bridge between the solana and ethereum blockchains, causing serious losses for solana traders in one of the biggest ever hacks to hit the booming DeFi space. Read the full story on Forbes. Sucked in: Wormhole, which facilitates transfers from one blockchain-based network to another, revealed via Twitter that the network was "exploited" for 120,000 units of so-called wrapped ethereum (wETH). Wormhole has fixed the vulnerability in its system, it said in a follow-up tweet early on Thursday, but was still working to get the network back up. Crisis of confidence: News of the hack has weighed heavily on the solana price, which rocketed through 2021 and outpaced both bitcoin and ethereum. Solana's sol has dropped 10% since details of the hack were revealed. The ethereum price has also moved lower, down around 5%. Why it matters: The hack, the fourth-largest crypto theft of all-time according to analysis by blockchain data company Elliptic, is the latest in a slew of problems for solana which has suffered a number of outages in recent months. Solana, heavily backed by billionaire FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried as well as a number of high-profile venture capitalist companies, claims to be both quicker and cheaper than the incumbent smart contract blockchain ethereum. Last month, analysts at Bank of America predicted solana could win a significant amount of market share from ethereum and become the "Visa of the digital asset ecosystem." Now read this: SEC’s crypto crusade at risk in looming legal battles

Russia could let banks sell crypto 💸


	🏦 After the Bank of Russia called for a bitcoin and crypto ban last month, Russia's finance minister Anton Siluanov has now suggested suggested legalizing cryptocurrency trading through banks, Russian newspaper Kommersant has reported. ✍️ Siluanov, claiming Russians own about 2 trillion rubles ($26 billion) worth of crypto, wrote to prime minister Mikhail Mishustin suggesting banks and other licensed business could provide cryptocurrency exchange services. ⛏️ Last week, Russia's president Vladimir Putin asked the government and the Bank of Russia to find a common ground on cryptocurrency regulation, arguing Russia has advantages when it comes to bitcoin and crypto creation, a process known as mining. Good to know: In Huge Precedent, IRS Says It Will Not Tax Unsold, Staked Crypto

	Billy Bambrough
	Forbes Senior Contributor

I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business. I write about how bitcoin, crypto and blockchain can change the world.

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