Forbes - Magic beans 🫘

CryptoCodex


	Good Monday morning. Billy Bambrough here, getting you up to speed with the crypto latest and what to look out for this week. 📧 Thank you for reading CryptoCodex! I’d love to hear your feedback, ideas and tips. Email me directly at billy@billybambrough.com.


	Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here! Got a crypto-curious friend? Forward Codex to them to help get them up-to-date and ahead of the market!

24-hour crypto market snapshot

Bitcoin (-3%)

$39,077

Ethereum (-4%)

$2,917

Cardano (-6%)

$0.8906

Polkadot (-6%)

$17.48

Testing support 🏗️


	Cryptocurrency prices have dropped sharply overnight, moving lower along with stock market futures as analysts warn a "disaster in the financial markets" could push bitcoin under $30,000. Read the full story on Forbes. Investors are increasingly worried about geopolitical uncertainty and the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation, raising the possibility of a U.S. recession. The bitcoin price has dipped under $40,000 while ethereum has fallen under $3,000. Smaller coins are leading the major market lower as "extreme fear" returns, with ethereum rivals cardano, avalanche and polkadot all off by 6%. Memecoin rivals dogecoin and shiba inu are both down a similar amount. Good to know: Bitcoin risk-reward calculation is being upended by rising rates

When you make a purchase through links in this email, the author may earn a commission.

Crypto is evolving, are you?

Anyone following crypto knows how volatile the market can be. Forbes CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor looks at the universe of viable crypto assets with proprietary analysis and insider crypto knowledge to guide you to the best choices. Set yourself up for success in the new year and learn how to make smart investments on this breakthrough technology by leveraging deep-dive interviews and more to further establish your portfolio and fuel profits.

For successful subscription, disable your adblocker

Join Forbes Crypto Asset & Blockchain Advisor

Chopping down the beanstalk 🪓


	Has bean: In the second nine-figure decentralized finance (DeFi) exploit in a month, Beanstalk Farms, an ethereum-based stablecoin protocol, was exploited for $182 million over the weekend—destroying the dollar peg of Beanstalk's algorithmic stablecoin bean. Coindesk has a full write-up. What happened? The flash-loan attack was first spotted by blockchain security firm PeckShield, posting to Twitter that the hacker had stolen around $80 million in cryptocurrencies. Beanstalk developers explained in a Discord post seen by Coindesk that the attacker took out a flash loan on lending platform Aave which enabled them to amass a large amount of Beanstalk’s native governance token, Stalk. With the voting power granted by these Stalk tokens, the attacker was able to quickly pass a malicious governance proposal that drained all protocol funds into a private ethereum wallet. According to PeckShield, the attacker appeared to donate $250,000 of the stolen funds to a Ukrainian relief wallet. Counting the cost: There has been a "loss" of about $1.23 billion across the web3 ecosystem in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report by Immunefi, it was reported by TechCrunch this month. Hack and slash: In March, play-to-earn Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network announced it was exploited for about $625 million, making it the largest DeFi hack to date that has since been linked to North Korea. Wormhole, one of the biggest cryptocurrency platforms that offers bridges to solana and other blockchains, was hacked for about $320 million, or 120,000 ether, in February. A week earlier, DeFi protocol Qubit Finance was hit by hackers who stole 206,809 BNB from Qubit’s QBridge protocol, worth about $80 million at the time. Unstablecoins: As the popularity of algorithmic stablecoins—relying on financial engineering to maintain their link to the dollar—has surged, the backlash is also growing. "It’s a lot more dangerous than taking a T-bill and tokenizing it," Charles Cascarilla, chief executive of Paxos, the issuer of Binance USD, a popular stablecoin that uses the asset-backed approach, told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s a recipe for something really bad to happen." But but but... Proponents say it's still early days. "As algorithmic stablecoins become more and more widespread, people will become more comfortable with them and realize that the best ones are just as reliable as fiat-backed stablecoins," Sam Kazemian, creator of Frax, an algorithmic stablecoin partly backed by crypto assets, told the Journal. The bottom line: There will be a whole lot more losses before either technological improvements or regulation can better protect DeFi users but for now, the huge potential gains will keep traders keen. Now read this: The wolf of crypto

Crypto-backed candidate under fire 🗳️



	Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of crypto exchange FTX, gave evidence before the House Financial Services Committee crypto hearing late last year. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images


	🏛️ Carrick Flynn, a Democratic House hopeful who's set to run for Oregon’s 6th District seat and whose political career has been bankrolled by cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, is under fire after receiving backing from a political action committee (PAC) linked to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 💰 Bankman-Fried's Protect Our Future PAC has pledged to spend $10 million on the 2022 elections and has committed over half of its pledged donations to Flynn alone, it was reported by Axios. 💪 Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have exploded onto the political scene this year with the digital asset industry beginning to flex its lobbying muscles in Washington. Earlier this month, Fortune reported there's a coming "bitcoin battle in the midterm elections." Now read this: The daunting task of making cryptocurrency climate-friendly

The week ahead 🗓️


	👀 Look out for these cryptocurrency and crypto-related events this week. - Reminder: Today's the last day for U.S. taxpayers to request an extension. If you still haven't filled, Forbes has everything you need here. 🎭 The world will remain glued to the Elon Musk-Twitter takeover drama this week, with traders today getting their first chance to react to news that Twitter has adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan, commonly referred to as a "poison pill," as it looks to hold off Musk's takeover attempt. - Twitter Takeover Battle: Elon Musk—And Jack Dorsey—Turn Up Pressure On Board 🥇 First-quarter earnings season is in full swing. Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Charles Schwab lead Wall Street earnings on Monday, with IBM, Interactive Brokers, Tesla, Blackstone and American Express later in the week. 🌐 On Wednesday, Facebook parent Meta is expected to make an announcement about its Oculus Quest 2 Pro headset during the Quest Gaming showcase. 🚀 On Thursday, it's crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) day, with the launch of Fidelity's new crypto and metaverse ETF. Good to know: It's a matter of when, not if, the SEC approves bitcoin spot ETF, says Grayscale CEO

	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.

Follow me on Twitter or email me.

You’ve received this email because you’ve opted in to receive Forbes newsletters.

Unsubscribe from CryptoCodex.

Or, manage your paid subscriptions on your Forbes profile here.

Manage Email Preferences | Privacy

Forbes Media | 499 Washington Blvd.

Jersey City, NJ 07130

Forbes - Magic beans 🫘

Older messages

Want to learn about Digital Assets? You’re in the right place!

You're Invited To Forbes Digital Assets | News And Insights For Crypto Research, Web3 and What’s Next for NFTs

Bitcoin’s Post-Miami Hangover | Inside BlackRock’s Crypto Play

Here Are The Sales You Don't Want To Miss This Weekend

Fantasy land 🧚🏻‍♀️

You Might Also Like

☕ Great chains

Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing.

Honourable Roulette

📬 No. 62 | What I learned about newsletters in 2024

⚡️ ‘Skeleton Crew’ Answers Its Biggest Mystery

I Tried All The New Eye-Shadow Sticks

How To Stop Worrying And Learn To Love Lynn's National IQ Estimates

☕ Olympic recycling

Ozempic has entered the chat

How a major bank cheated its customers out of $2 billion, according to a new federal lawsuit