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10 Jun 2026, 02:20

Bitcoin Layer 2 Project Botanix to Shut Down on July 9, Citing Market Realities

BitcoinWorld Bitcoin Layer 2 Project Botanix to Shut Down on July 9, Citing Market Realities Botanix, a Bitcoin Layer 2 project that aimed to bring decentralized finance (DeFi) functionality to the Bitcoin network, has announced it will cease operations on July 9. The decision, shared via a post on X, comes after four years of development and an assessment that its business model is no longer sustainable in the current market landscape. Why Botanix Is Shutting Down According to the project’s statement, Botanix struggled to validate sufficient demand for a Bitcoin-native blockchain solution. The team noted that users have increasingly favored convenience over decentralization, with most demand for Bitcoin DeFi already being met by established alternatives such as Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and general-purpose Layer 2 environments on other networks. This shift, combined with a challenging funding environment for Bitcoin-focused infrastructure projects, made continued operations unviable. Timeline and User Impact Botanix has instructed all existing users to withdraw their funds before the July 9 shutdown date. The project did not specify whether any assets would be recoverable after that deadline, emphasizing the urgency for users to act promptly. The closure affects users who had deposited funds into Botanix’s testnet or any associated applications built on the platform. What This Means for Bitcoin DeFi The shutdown highlights a broader challenge for Bitcoin-centric DeFi projects: competing against the liquidity and developer ecosystems of Ethereum-based L2s and sidechains. While Bitcoin remains the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, its scripting limitations and slower adoption of smart contract capabilities have made it difficult for native L2 projects to gain traction. WBTC, which tokenizes Bitcoin on Ethereum, has captured a significant share of Bitcoin DeFi activity, offering users access to Ethereum’s robust DeFi infrastructure without leaving the Bitcoin ecosystem. Conclusion Botanix’s closure serves as a cautionary tale for Bitcoin Layer 2 projects attempting to carve out a niche in a market dominated by more flexible and widely adopted platforms. For users, the key takeaway is to withdraw funds promptly and to evaluate the long-term viability of any DeFi protocol before committing assets. As the crypto industry continues to mature, projects that fail to achieve product-market fit or secure sustainable revenue streams are likely to face similar outcomes. FAQs Q1: What is Botanix? Botanix was a Bitcoin Layer 2 project designed to enable decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on the Bitcoin network. It operated as a sidechain that aimed to bring smart contract functionality to Bitcoin while maintaining security through Bitcoin’s consensus. Q2: Why did Botanix fail? The project cited a lack of user demand for a Bitcoin-native DeFi solution, with most users preferring convenience over decentralization. Competition from Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and general-purpose Layer 2 environments on other blockchains also eroded its potential user base. Q3: What should Botanix users do now? All users must withdraw their funds from the Botanix platform before July 9, 2025. After that date, the project will cease operations, and funds may become inaccessible. Users should check the official Botanix channels for detailed withdrawal instructions. This post Bitcoin Layer 2 Project Botanix to Shut Down on July 9, Citing Market Realities first appeared on BitcoinWorld .

9 Jun 2026, 23:02

The CLARITY bill stirs debate in the Senate! Why are crypto developers closely watching?

🚨 Debate over developer protections heats up as the CLARITY bill advances in the US Senate. 💡 More than 60 crypto company leaders including Solana's CEO urge lawmakers to protect open source developers in $SOL. 📢 SEC’s Hester Peirce says publishing blockchain code is protected free speech, not financial activity. Continue Reading: The CLARITY bill stirs debate in the Senate! Why are crypto developers closely watching? The post The CLARITY bill stirs debate in the Senate! Why are crypto developers closely watching? appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .

9 Jun 2026, 22:10

Chainalysis: $36.7 Million Lost to DeFi Hacks in Six Months as AI Aids Exploits

BitcoinWorld Chainalysis: $36.7 Million Lost to DeFi Hacks in Six Months as AI Aids Exploits Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have lost at least $36.7 million over the past six months due to hacks targeting unverified smart contracts, according to a new report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The findings, cited by Cointelegraph, highlight a growing trend where attackers focus on protocols with undisclosed source code, often exploiting vulnerabilities that have existed for years. Largest Single Incident: The Truebit Exploit The most significant breach involved Truebit, a protocol designed to verify computational tasks on the Ethereum network. An attacker exploited a vulnerability in an unverified smart contract that had been deployed on Ethereum since 2021, stealing $26.2 million. This single incident accounts for more than 70% of the total losses reported in the six-month period. Other affected protocols include Trusted Volumes, Aperture Finance, and Ekubo, though details on their individual losses remain limited. AI and Decompilers: A New Era of Exploitation Chainalysis noted that recent advancements in decompiler tools and artificial intelligence are making these exploits significantly easier to execute. Smart contracts that once required days of manual analysis by specialized security experts can now be analyzed and exploited at scale using AI-driven tools. This lowers the barrier to entry for malicious actors and increases the frequency of attacks on poorly audited or unverified code. Why Unverified Smart Contracts Are a Target Unverified smart contracts lack publicly available source code on blockchain explorers like Etherscan. This obscurity was once considered a minor security measure, but the report suggests it now makes protocols a prime target. Hackers use decompilers to reverse-engineer the bytecode, identify weaknesses, and launch attacks. The Chainalysis data underscores that transparency in smart contract code is becoming a critical security requirement, not just a best practice. Implications for the DeFi Ecosystem The findings come at a time when the DeFi sector is already under intense regulatory and security scrutiny. For users, the report serves as a warning to verify whether the protocols they interact with have audited, open-source smart contracts. For developers, it highlights the urgent need for comprehensive security audits and code verification before deployment. The use of AI by attackers also signals that security teams must adopt equally advanced tools for threat detection and vulnerability assessment. Conclusion The Chainalysis report paints a clear picture: the DeFi industry is facing a new wave of sophisticated attacks enabled by AI and targeting unverified code. With $36.7 million lost in just six months and the Truebit incident alone accounting for the majority of those losses, the message is unambiguous. Transparency, rigorous auditing, and proactive security measures are no longer optional — they are essential for the survival and trustworthiness of decentralized finance platforms. FAQs Q1: What is an unverified smart contract? A: An unverified smart contract is one whose source code has not been published on a blockchain explorer like Etherscan. This makes it harder for users and security experts to review the code for vulnerabilities. Q2: How is AI being used to hack smart contracts? A: Attackers use AI-powered decompiler tools to reverse-engineer the bytecode of unverified smart contracts, identify security flaws, and automate the exploitation process at scale. Q3: What can DeFi users do to protect themselves? A: Users should only interact with protocols that have verified, publicly available smart contract code and have undergone independent security audits. Checking for recent audit reports and community feedback is also recommended. This post Chainalysis: $36.7 Million Lost to DeFi Hacks in Six Months as AI Aids Exploits first appeared on BitcoinWorld .

9 Jun 2026, 21:24

DeFi Users Warned to Revoke Approvals Before Anthropic’s Mythos AI Launches

Anthropic is reportedly set to release a public version of its Mythos AI model, and crypto analyst The DeFi Investor is urging decentralized finance users to act before that happens. The concern is based on how good Mythos is at finding software vulnerabilities, and a version of it becoming widely accessible could accelerate the speed at which attackers discover and exploit weaknesses in DeFi protocols. What the DeFi Community Needs to Do In a June 9 post on X, The DeFi Investor advised followers to revoke all token approvals, use only heavily audited dApps, and spread funds across several wallets to reduce single points of failure. For those who are not familiar, token approvals are permissions that users give to smart contracts, allowing the contracts to spend tokens on their behalf. They tend to accumulate silently over time, and they represent a standing attack surface if any approved contract is later found to be vulnerable. “What’s scary about Mythos is that it’s insanely good at finding severe vulnerabilities,” wrote The DeFi Investor. “Claude Opus 4.8 has also recently identified a critical bug for Zcash, and Mythos is supposed to be even better than Opus 4.8.” They added that DeFi will face a huge stress test in the next few months, and indeed, the Zcash vulnerability they mentioned gave a concrete illustration of this. The privacy coin lost more than 35% of its value in one day after a security researcher using AI discovered a bug in its shielded Orchard pool that would’ve allowed bad actors to endlessly mint new ZEC tokens. It saw big-time crypto investor Arthur Hayes exit his entire ZEC position, as uncertainty mounted on whether anyone might have already exploited the flaw. Mythos has been restricted since April to about 50 organizations, including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft, through an Anthropic initiative known as Project Glasswing, in an attempt to put the model’s capabilities to work for defensive purposes. According to Bloomberg, Anthropic plans to expand that circle by 150 more organizations across 15 countries. However, multiple sources, including TFTC and journalist Alex Heath, have claimed that the public version of Mythos will carry “substantial guardrails” and will not be as permissive as what Project Glasswing partners can access. A Debate DeFi Was Already Having The DeFi Investor’s security tips have come at a time when a conversation has been building around the viability of decentralized finance. In late May, OpenZeppelin co-founder Manuel Aráoz declared “all of DeFi unsafe” and said he had advised people to exit positions in major protocols, including Aave, MakerDAO, and Compound. His reason for doing that was that AI has tilted the security balance so far toward attackers that no protocol can currently be trusted to safely hold users’ funds. And truly, many crypto projects have been hit in the last few months, including attacks on KelpDAO and Drift Protocol in April, which led to the loss of more than $570 million combined. More recently, hackers reportedly siphoned at least $30 million worth of Humanity Protocol’s H token from 17 wallets. However, according to Aave Chan Initiative founder Mark Zeller, the fears about AI have been overblown, with fewer than 10% of DeFi security failures in the past year having been caused by code-level vulnerabilities. Anthropic’s own position, per Bloomberg, is that in the long run, AI will favor defenders, but “the transitional period will be fraught.” The post DeFi Users Warned to Revoke Approvals Before Anthropic’s Mythos AI Launches appeared first on CryptoPotato .

9 Jun 2026, 21:04

Tokenized stocks and ETFs could drive a $5 trillion leap! What is the next move for the market?

🚀 Tokenized assets could near $5 trillion if just 3 percent of global stocks and ETFs move on-chain. 💼 Securitize teams up with Wall Street giants to pave the way for blockchain based equities. 🌐 Most so-called tokenized stocks today are not direct $ETH based share ownership. Continue Reading: Tokenized stocks and ETFs could drive a $5 trillion leap! What is the next move for the market? The post Tokenized stocks and ETFs could drive a $5 trillion leap! What is the next move for the market? appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .

9 Jun 2026, 20:54

Ripple Joins Water.org

Enterprise blockchain leader Ripple has revealed its partnership in the initiative alongside corporate giants like Amazon and Gap.