#transactions

ThorChain's transaction volume has surged to a record $355 million. An influx of hacker activity on the network has led to total transactions topping $1 billion in just five days. Over the past four months, over 50% of the funds swapped from ETH to BTC on ThorSwap have been stolen.

Citing potential fraud risks, British banking titan Chase has chosen to halt cryptocurrency-related payments from October 16th. "If we think you're making a payment related to crypto assets, we'll decline it," was the message relayed to clients via email. The bank also emphasized that those intent on investing in cryptocurrencies have the liberty to switch to other banks or providers.

Uniswap has rolled out "Swap Protection" to shield Ethereum mainnet transactions from sandwich attacks and front-running. When users enable this feature in the Uniswap Wallet, swaps are directed to a private transaction pool, enhancing security against potential threats. Due to this added layer, some swaps might have higher auto slippage to boost the likelihood of successful transactions.

The likelihood is high, at 99%, that the interest rate will stay the same. This is because the Federal Reserve is still gauging the effect of the current rate on the economy. Following the decision, there will be a press conference by Jerome Powell 30 minutes later. Given the potential for market shifts from his remarks, traders are advised to hold off on transactions.

Coinbase's blockchain, Base, has set a new daily transaction record, reaching 1.88 million transactions. This achievement surpasses its previous high of 1.41 million transactions, established shortly after its launch in August. Notably, this number surpasses the combined daily transactions of both Optimism and Arbitrum, which totaled 878,000 transactions.

It involved two transactions of 150,000 ETH each, totaling approximately $480 million. The purpose behind this transfer remains a mystery, and it may not necessarily impact the price.

OP Labs, backing the Optimism network, launched a testnet version of its novel fault-proof system aimed at bolstering both efficiency and decentralization. At present, OP Stack employs centralized sequencers to bundle and send transactions to Ethereum. However, this method prohibits users from challenging the process in case of fraudulent transactions.

Ukraine's law enforcement officers are leveling up with cryptocurrency training, thanks to a collaboration between tax authorities from the US, UK, and Netherlands. This initiative aims to boost their skills in handling decentralized assets, detecting illicit transactions, and curbing tax and sanctions evasion. “Knowledge sharing is one of the priorities within these international partnerships and can contribute to greater know-how to counter cybercrime,” said the director general of the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service.

The FBI has sounded the alarm bells: Lazarus Group and APT38, North Korean hacker collectives, could potentially sell off stolen cryptocurrency amassing $40 million, potentially affecting Bitcoin's valuation. Through their investigative work, the agency has identified nearly 1580 BTC across six distinct Bitcoin addresses. The stolen assets are reportedly from Alphapo, CoinsPaid, and Atomic Wallet. In aiding market monitoring, the FBI has disclosed the associated wallet addresses, urging vigilance on any transactions involving them.

Beginning on August 31, the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea will not charge royalties for NFT secondary transactions, signaling a change in artist earning policy. Previously, creators were able to set a commission of 2.5% to 10% and earn from every resale. However, with the new update, the creator fee is left up to the discretion of the buyer. For collections on non-Ethereum blockchains, the creator fee will only remain mandatory until February 29, 2024. After this date, the entire platform will make royalties optional.