Latest news with #ZKsync
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WonderFi's Dean Skurka on Bringing Users Onchain and Canada's Crypto Evolution
When Dean Skurka joined Bitbuy in 2018, the platform had only four employees, a few thousand users, and about $25 million in trading volume. Fast-forward to today, Skurka now oversees WonderFi: A company that's consolidated multiple Canadian exchanges, boasts 1.7 million accounts, and guards $2 billion in client assets. But Skurka isn't just sitting on a domestic empire—he's building outward. In a conversation with CoinDesk, WonderFi's president and CEO, Dean Skurka, detailed his company's next chapter: launching a Layer-2 blockchain in partnership with zkSync and expanding into Australia, a country he says 'checks both boxes' of regulatory clarity and strong adoption. He also discussed the outlook for centralized exchanges and how Canada's crypto landscape is changing. Here is an edited and shortened version of his conversation with CoinDesk, ahead of his appearance at Consensus 2025 in Toronto. The centralized exchange said in February that it is launching a Layer 2 blockchain based on ZKsync to connect its users to decentralized finance (DeFi). "When we think about the long-term trend across the industry, we see a really strong synergy between centralized exchanges, where the users are originating or the assets are originating, and giving them a seamless bridge to everything that's happening on chain today." Skurka says WonderFi's knowledge of running trading platforms, regulatory credibility, and asset base gives it an edge over a plethora of other Layer 2s connecting DeFi. Unlike some other rival Layer 2 chains launched with splashy token incentives or VC hype, Skurka says WonderFi's approach is more grounded and long-lasting. It plans to foster long-term use through builder incentives, hackathons and ecosystem support. Rather than viewing decentralized exchanges as competitors for centralized exchanges, Skurka sees them as extensions. Centralized exchanges provide the bridge for first-time users to go from buying and selling crypto on regulated and trusted platforms to on-chain activities that open up more innovative new products that exist in the crypto ecosystem. "[Centralized exchanges] are building out the components that will allow their users to seamlessly interact on chain, but at the same time building up the the capabilities on the exchange side to look more akin to traditional financial service products, which we think will create incremental value on both sides over the next 5 to 10 years," he said. WonderFi is a dominant exchange in Canada, and able to observe how the crypto landscape is changing in the country. Canada has a strong crypto history—Ethereum and the first spot bitcoin ETF were both born there. It was also one of the first countries to have a regulatory framework for crypto trading platforms. "Some of the more innovative products and services that exist within this space have moved offshore or outside of Canada because of the lack of clarity around those products and services," he said, pointing to products such as DeFi applications, Layer 2 blockchains and derivatives. WonderFi is now aiming to change that, after working closely with Canadian regulators to create trading and staking guidelines. "We are working hand in hand with regulators to give them comfort on some of these newer, more innovative products and services, and hopefully that will encourage entrepreneurs, builders, developers, to really stay in Canada and build products with confidence," Skurka added. And with the U.S. now becoming more open to crypto and many exchange-traded funds open to investors, the mindset in Canada is starting to shift as well. WonderFi, which has been a mostly retail-dominated platform, is now seeing interest from Canadian institutional investors such as family offices and private equities who want exposure to digital assets. "I think that's been a really big shift over the last year, and that's something [institutional investors' interest] that we expect to really accelerate in the next few years," Skurka said. Skurka isn't stopping at Canada; he is looking to expand his company's reach to other regions, starting with Australia—a country Skurka describes as having 'clear, concise regulation' and a strong crypto adoption rate. "Australia was a really good market for us to target initially, and from there, we'll really look for other markets," Skurka said. Like the crypto's 24/7 nature, a CEO's job in this fast-paced industry is never done. In Skurka's case, it's exactly what keeps him up at night: volatility— something that shapes the industry perception and sentiments. "It's probably just the short-term volatility that really impacts the outlook on the business and has an impact on the users, the staff, and the team morale. And so it's really just something that we really look to to balance as best we can," Skurka said. But having been in the industry since 2018 and navigating extreme ups and downs, he's learned to ride out the volatility. "I think we have a really good handle on it, and we've got a really strong team that understands the 24-hour nature of this business—the volatility of this business—and we're in a really good spot," Skurka added.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hacker Accepts 10% Bounty and Returns Nearly $5M Stolen from ZKsync Airdrop Exploit
A hacker who exploited ZKsync's airdrop contract vulnerability on April 15 has returned nearly $5.7 million in stolen tokens after accepting a 10% bounty. The vulnerability came from a compromised administrative address that allowed the attacker to call the sweepUnclaimed() function in the contract, enabling them to mint approximately 111 million unclaimed ZK tokens. The returned funds were transferred on April 23 in three transactions, including about $2.47 million in ZK tokens and $1.83 million in ETH to the ZKsync Security Council's address on the ZKsync Era blockchain. An additional 776 ETH, worth around $1.4 million, was sent to their Ethereum address. The return occurred within a 72-hour window offered by ZKsync, which promised no legal consequences and a 10% bounty in exchange for the safe return of the stolen tokens. Despite the breach, ZKsync stated that user funds were not affected, and both the ZKsync protocol and token contract remained secure. Matter Labs, the company behind ZKsync, acknowledged the incident and confirmed the completion of the token recovery. A final investigation report is expected to be released. The value of the returned tokens increased between the theft and their return due to market fluctuations. Since the exploit on April 15, the ZK token gained 16.6% and ETH rose by 8.8%, according to CoinMarketCap. The attacker ultimately returned more value than initially stolen. However, the token showed minimal market reaction, dropping 0.2% over the past 24 hours. This exploit adds to a growing number of attacks in the crypto space in early 2025. According to CertiK, $1.67 billion was lost in the first quarter due to hacks, scams, and exploits, with Ethereum-based projects accounting for most losses—nearly $1.54 billion across 98 incidents. Immunefi reported $1.6 billion in stolen funds just in January and February. Private key compromises led to $142.3 million in losses over 15 incidents in Q1. Recovery rates have dropped significantly, with only 0.38% of stolen crypto being recovered this quarter, down from 42% in the previous one. The hacker's return of funds was prompted by an on-chain message from ZKsync, which offered the bounty and warned of legal action if the remaining assets were not returned. Now holding over 44.6 million ZK and nearly 1,800 ETH, the ZKsync Security Council will determine how to proceed with the recovered funds through community governance. While the assets were returned, the incident underscores the ongoing risks in DeFi and highlights the importance of secure contract management and timely response protocols. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Matter Labs, ZKsync Developer, Sued for Alleged Intellectual Property Theft
Matter Labs, the company behind layer-2 blockchain ZKSync, has been sued by BANKEX, a defunct digital asset banking platform, for intellectual property theft. According to a complaint filed Mar. 19 with the New York State Supreme Court, former BANKEX employees Alexandr Vlasov and Petr Korolev allegedly stole the company's technology to start Matter Labs, which received over $450 million in venture capital funding and has become a major player in the blockchain industry. The complaint, which names BANKEX CEO Igor Khmel and the BANKEX Foundation as plaintiffs, alleged BANKEX was approached by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in 2017 to build operational software for "Plasma," a technology that was seen at the time as a way to make Ethereum cheaper to use. According to the complaint, Alexandr Vlasov and Petr Korolev were BANKEX employees at the time and were tasked by BANKEX CEO Igor Khemel with completing the Plasma project. The complaint alleged that Vlasov and Korolev instead secretly developed 'a competing company, Matter Labs, through which they intended to appropriate the blockchain technology of BANKEX for their own use and benefit and to compete with BANKEX.' In addition, the complaint claimed that the two developers were secretly transferring 'BANKEX's technology to Matter Labs and covertly developed and stored operational code bases' using the company's resources and funding. Vlasov is currently the head of R&D at Matter Labs, and Korolev is the founder of blockchain security firm OXORIO, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Matter Labs co-founder Alex Gluchowski, crypto-native investment fund Dragonfly, and Chris Burniske, a partner at Placeholder Capital and a former co-director at Matter Labs, are also being sued for their alleged involvement and knowledge of the theft. 'We believe these claims are entirely without merit," a spokesperson at Matter Labs told CoinDesk in an emailed statement. "The thrust of the complaint is that Matter Labs built ZKsync on top of code that was originally developed at Bankex. This is categorically false. ZKsync is original technology that is not based on or derived from any code developed by Bankex. We stand by the integrity of our work and look forward to addressing these baseless allegations in court once we are served." Dragonfly, Burniske and Korolev did not respond to multiple requests for comment. BANKEX lawyer Clayton Mahaffey told CoinDesk in a statement that the firm "prefers not to comment further on the case at this time, other than to reiterate its belief that the allegations in the complaint are well founded and that it looks forward to its day in court."
