$93M Losses from ThorChain and $70M Hack on Phemex

Several events have impacted DeFi projects and exchanges throughout this week. While ThorChain announced insolvency to suspend its operations leaving behind a $93 million deficit, Singapore-based Phemex endured a hack resulting in over $70 million in losses. The crypto ecosystem experienced rising security breaches and frauds through meme coins, social media misuse and Google Ads-based malware activities.

ThorChain Causes Widespread Uncertainty

ThorChain announced a critical financial crisis which proved to be insolvency with a staggering $200 million of outstanding debts against its $107 million in assets. To prevent disaster through a banking run, the team decided to deactivate portions of the protocol for three months to create a recovery strategy.

.@THORChain is insolvent

In the event of any large debt redemption and/or savers & synths deleveraging, it is certain that TC cannot meet its bitcoin and eth denominated obligations.

Validators decided to pause the network while they vote a restructuring plan

🔽🧵

— TCB (@1984_is_today) January 24, 2025

Phemex Exchange Suffers $70 Million Hack

A major security breach forced Singapore-based exchange Phemex to suffer over $70 million worth of losses. The security breach went after hot wallets leading to network losses from USDC and ETH alongside LINK and multiple other assets. Security investigators believe North Korean digital criminals orchestrated this attack because of their established history of conducting large-scale crypto crimes.

Trump-connected Scams Become Prevalent Amidst Meme Coin Rise

Competing Trump-themed meme cryptocurrency tokens named $TRUMP and $MELANIA have become targets for scams as cons targeted enthusiastic investors. The widespread popularity of crypto memes allowed hackers to carry out fake website operations and social media intrusions which netted them $1.25 million in scams.

Fake Google Ads Target Crypto Wallets

Internet hackers have started abusing fake Google Ads to create phoney versions of legitimate programs including Homebrew. Crypto wallet users are at serious risk because this malware steals critical sensitive wallet information including passwords together with wallet files. Security experts keep reminding crypto holders to inspect ads and always check the download URLs of software before installation.

A hacking group accessed the Nasdaq X official account to boost the price of fake meme currency STONKS until it reached $80 million before its collapse. This exploit revealed fundamental weaknesses in prominent profiles while demonstrating the desperate requirement for strong security systems against similar attacks.