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19 May 2026, 08:38
Echo Protocol exploit sparks alarm after $73M eBTC mint
The Bitcoin DeFi project Echo fell victim to an exploit on Monday. Blockchain security platform Lookonchain shows a hacker minted 1,000 eBTC ($76.64M) on Monad, and then collateralized 45 eBTC on Curvance to borrow 11.29 WBTC worth $867,700. The attacker later redirected the assets to Ethereum and converted them to native ETH while funneling 384 ETH into Tornado Cash. The attacker’s wallet still retains 955 eBTC of the fake supply, which the platform estimates is worth about $73.2 million. Blockchain firm OnChain Lens even confirmed: “The attacker still appears to control a significant amount of minted eBTC.” The incident comes as the DeFi sector continues to grapple with a rising wave of protocol breaches and private key compromises. Curvance says the exploit only affected Monad’s eBTC/WBTC market Monad and Curvance have both now publicly recognized the exploit. Monad Co-founder Keone Hon posted on X: We’re aware of an incident related to Echo Protocol’s eBTC on Monad, and security researchers are investigating. Keone Hon In another post, the founder noted they had lost about $816,000 to the exploit. Curvance also shared , “Out of an abundance of caution, the affected market has been paused while our team actively investigates the situation alongside ecosystem partners.” It also asserted that the attack was contained to Monad’s eBTC/WBTC market. Other Curvance pools and major cross-chain platforms, including Aave, Morpho, Spark, and Fluid, were untouched. Although it isn’t known exactly how the attacker managed to mint eBTC, experts suggested it could be due to a private key compromise, a deployment error, or a smart contract flaw. The attacker opted against a 1,000 eBTC DEX market dump to avoid the severe slippage caused by Monad’s shallow liquidity pool. Instead, they executed a lending-based extraction method, replicating the strategy used to siphon funds from Resolv and KelpDAO before. Have hackers been targeting more DeFi platforms? According to DeFiLlama, the DeFi space had already suffered 13 hacks this month before the Echo Protocol exploit. The Echo Protocol is also the third major decentralized finance platform to fall victim to an exploit in the last five days. As earlier reported by Cryptopolitan, THORChain was compromised on May 15, and hackers pocketed more than $10 million. THORChain suspended trading after the incident, reassuring users that only protocol-owned funds were affected. It acknowledged it “automatically detected abnormal behavior and halted signing activity,” which prevented more outbound transactions. Speaking on the attack, on-chain investigator ZachXBT said the exploiter targeted the platform across Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Base. A subsequent exploit hit the Verus-Ethereum Bridge three days later, resulting in the loss of $11.58 million in digital assets. Security researchers at Blockaid traced the exploit to the wallet address “0x5aBb…D5777.” Blockchain security firm Peckshield also detailed that the exploiter made off with 103.6 tBTC, 1,625 ETH, and 147,000 USDC, later converting the assets into about 5,402 ETH. Another security firm reporting the attack, GoPlus, noted, “It is highly likely to be cross-chain message validation/signature forgery, withdrawal logic bypass, or access control flaw.” Meanwhile, the Verus team contended that it’s still investigating the incident. DeFi platforms have become a prime target for attackers in the last few years. DeFiLlama estimates that uninsured lending protocols have suffered $7.7 billion in exploit-related losses over the past 6 years. More than $600 million was lost to hacks this April, with Drift and KelpDAO taking major hits. More recently, Nexus Mutual’s Founder, Hugh Karp, even highlighted that many of the latest hacks were caused by operational failures, pointing to a mismatch between risk and insurance coverage. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .
19 May 2026, 08:35
Coinbase CEO Predicts AI Agents Economy to Be Larger Than Human One
Brian Armstrong outlines why AI agents will create the largest economy, and the numbers are already rising.
19 May 2026, 08:25
XRP and Solana funds attract inflows as bitcoin outflows hit nearly $1 billion
CoinShares data shows investors are rotating into listed products based on XRP and SOL while bitcoin and ethereum products posted heavy weekly outflows.
19 May 2026, 08:05
BNB Reveals Biggest Challenge of Post-Quantum Network Migrations
New testing shows blockchains can survive quantum-resistant encryption, but the massive growth in transaction data could slow networks and strain infrastructure.
19 May 2026, 08:02
SEC Pushes Tokenized Stocks: Wall Street’s Onchain Era Begins
Wall Street’s blockchain pivot just got regulatory rocket fuel. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, is preparing an “innovation exemption” that could allow trading platforms to offer digital versions of publicly traded stocks under a lighter regulatory structure. The proposal is expected as early as mid-May, according to Bloomberg Law. According to Bloomberg Law’s report, the SEC’s framework would let platforms trade blockchain-based versions of equities around the clock with faster settlement than traditional shares. The agency already approved Nasdaq’s proposal to trade tokenized stocks in March, covering Russell 1000 components and benchmark ETFs. SEC Might Open Door For Tokenized Stocks On DeFi The U.S. SEC may unveil an innovation exemption this week that could allow tokenized stocks to trade across DeFi platforms, according to Bloomberg. The proposal would reportedly let third parties issue blockchain based stock… pic.twitter.com/r1EbqC2UEV — BSCN (@BSCNews) May 19, 2026 NYSE’s equivalent proposal also cleared in April. The DTCC, which processes the bulk of U.S. securities, has announced limited production trades of tokenized assets beginning in July, with a broader rollout in October. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has explicitly signaled support for formal rulemaking covering onchain trading systems and blockchain settlement infrastructure, framing it as part of a sweeping “Project Crypto” initiative. The combined weight of institutional momentum from DTCC, Nasdaq, NYSE, and ICE points to a structural shift in how the $126 trillion global equity market settles and trades. Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with SEC Tokenized Stock Momentum Could Reprice Blockchain Infrastructure That regulatory clarity cuts both ways: it validates compliant onchain infrastructure while squeezing offshore synthetic structures. The winners in this environment are settlement rails, smart contract platforms, and Layer 2 networks capable of handling high-frequency, low-latency financial transactions at institutional scale. Crypto-native infrastructure tokens with real throughput, such as sub-second finality, programmable settlement, and deep liquidity, are the logical beneficiaries of a world where equities trade onchain 24/7, benefiting RWA tokens. TOKENIZED REAL WORLD ASSETS ARE GOING PARABOLIC $1.43B on-chain. Up 26% in 30 days. $3B in monthly transfer volume. SEC innovation exemption coming this week. DTCC live in July. NYSE and Nasdaq building on-chain settlement. The chart doesn't lie. RWAs are just getting… https://t.co/eFgt86aurx pic.twitter.com/lPptRxPMt6 — CryptosRus (@CryptosR_Us) May 19, 2026 The Senate’s advancing crypto market structure bill compounds the regulatory tailwind. Compliant infrastructure platforms could re-rate significantly as institutional volume migrates onchain through H2 2025. However, this could not always be a fast pump for the crypto market. The price is in a multi-year adoption curve; gains would be real but gradual. The data points to infrastructure, not specific synthetic equity tokens, as the cleaner trade. But tokens like Chainlink and Ondo could benefit. Discover: The best pre-launch token sales Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early-Mover Upside as Institutional Blockchain Demand Builds Infrastructure is the trade, but established L1 valuations already reflect significant institutional optimism. Early-stage infrastructure presales offer a different upside entirely. That’s the context for Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) , currently raising at $0.0136 per token with more than $32 million already committed. Hyper is the first Bitcoin Layer 2 with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration, combining Bitcoin’s security and trust with throughput that, by design, targets performance faster than Solana itself. Hyper is a direct play on the programmable settlement infrastructure that tokenized securities markets will need and require. It has features like extremely low-latency Layer 2 processing, SVM-based smart contract execution, and a Decentralized Canonical Bridge for BTC transfers. Basically, it has the kind of stack that matters when institutions need fast, cheap, auditable settlement. Staking is now live with a high 35% APY reward . Over $32.7 million raised signals a serious early conviction. Research Bitcoin Hyper before the next price tier locks in. The post SEC Pushes Tokenized Stocks: Wall Street’s Onchain Era Begins appeared first on Cryptonews .
19 May 2026, 08:02
Analyst: XRP Price Discovery Will Commence. It’s Not an IF, but a WHEN
Crypto analyst ChartNerd recently shared a long-term XRP chart, arguing that the asset is nearing one of the most important technical moments in its history. According to the analyst, XRP is approaching the end of an eight-year resistance phase that has repeatedly prevented sustained upward price movement since 2018. In a recent post, ChartNerd stated that the market may still need “days, weeks, and months” before the resistance finally breaks. However, the analyst maintained that the breakout is inevitable rather than speculative. He wrote that once XRP clears the current resistance area, “history shows us euphoric XRP price discovery will commence.” The post included ambitious price projections of $8, $13, and $27, which the analyst presented as long-term targets tied to a confirmed breakout above the current resistance neckline. Counting down the days, weeks and months it may take to break this current 8YR resistance. It will happen, and when it does, history shows us euphoric $XRP price discovery will commence. It's not an IF, but a WHEN. $8/$13/$27 pic.twitter.com/34NkulrhrV — ChartNerd (@ChartNerdTA) May 17, 2026 Chart Shows Historical Resistance Levels The chart attached to the post compares XRP’s previous breakout cycle with the asset’s current market structure. On the left side of the chart, ChartNerd highlighted XRP’s resistance area from the 2014–2017 period. The analyst marked the moment XRP eventually broke above that level before entering a major rally. The current structure on the right side of the chart appears to mirror that earlier pattern. XRP has spent years trading below a red resistance zone positioned near the $3 range. The analyst also drew a rising green trendline underneath price action, suggesting that XRP continues to form higher lows while pressing against long-term resistance. According to the analysis, the market is now compressing toward a potential breakout point. A green circle placed near the resistance area suggests the analyst believes XRP is very close to a decisive move above the neckline. Community Reactions Focus on Financial Impact The post attracted responses from XRP supporters who discussed what higher prices could mean financially. One notable reply came from X user Estone Villan, who said a move toward $13 would significantly change his lifestyle and career flexibility. “I want the $13 quick, life-changing for me – well, not life-changing, life resetting,” the user wrote. He added that such a move would allow him to work fewer months each year, change jobs, and accept a lower income with less financial pressure. We are on X, follow us to connect with us :- @TimesTabloid1 — TimesTabloid (@TimesTabloid1) June 15, 2025 The comment reflects a common sentiment among long-term XRP holders who continue to view the asset as undervalued despite years of consolidation below previous highs. Although analysts continue to differ on short-term price direction, ChartNerd’s post presented a strongly bullish long-term outlook based entirely on historical chart behavior and technical structure. For supporters of XRP, the key focus now remains whether the asset can confirm the breakout pattern highlighted in the analysis and begin a new phase of price discovery. Disclaimer : This content is meant to inform and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author’s personal opinions and do not represent Times Tabloid’s opinion. Readers are advised to conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Times Tabloid is not responsible for any financial losses. Follow us on X , Facebook , Telegram , and Google News The post Analyst: XRP Price Discovery Will Commence. It’s Not an IF, but a WHEN appeared first on Times Tabloid .
