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Congress missed deadline to rein in lawmakers

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Just two weeks ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi renewed hopes that Congress might stop lawmakers from trading stocks on the grounds that they have access to non-public information.

“We believe we have a product that we can bring to the floor this month,” Pelosi said on Sept. 14.

But Congress is taking a breather until Nov. 14, after missing yet another deadline to ban or curb stock trading by senators and U.S. representatives. Lawmakers promise to take up the issue again when they re-convene, but it’s becoming clear that Congress is having a tough time policing itself.

The gridlock comes despite overwhelming public support for measures to rein in lawmaker trading, with the lack of action feeding the perception of corruption on Capitol Hill. Investors are going so far as to closely track politicians’ trades — which have often out-performed the market — to gain an edge during this year’s turbulence.

During a contentious weekly press conference on Friday, reporters pressed Pelosi on why the vote had been delayed. “Well, you have to have the votes to bring it up,” she said. “This is a legislative process.”

But her answer left many unsatisfied.

“This moment marks a failure of House leadership — and it’s yet another example of why I believe that the Democratic Party needs new leaders in the halls of Capitol Hill, as I have long made known,” Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) said in a scathing statement earlier on Friday.

A long wait for a vote

Ever since the stock trading issue exploded into public consciousness in late 2021, lawmakers have repeatedly promised to rein themselves in. Back in April, as one example, a deal was purportedly on the way “in the next few weeks,” as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told Yahoo Finance at the time.

The stock trading issue gained attention late in 2021 with revelations that, in the lead-up to the pandemic, then-Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) sold stocks soon after a private briefing on COVID-19. Burr faced a Justice Department investigation that eventually ended without charges, while Loeffler lost her election bid.

Pelosi herself has also drawn attention to the issue because of her husband’s frequent trading activity, which has spurred traders to follow along for tips.

This week, House Democrats released an ambitious bill that would require lawmakers to divest financial investments and move the assets into a qualified blind trust or a mutual fund, ETF, or a government bond. The new rules would also apply to the president, the vice president, White House staff, Supreme Court Justices, and Federal Reserve officials.

But advocates fear going too big — especially including the controversial Supreme Court provisions — will sink the entire effort.

“While I support it in principle, I recognize that for some of our colleagues across the aisle, that may be a poison pill at this point in time,” Spanberger recently told Yahoo Finance, referring to the Supreme Court provision.

Predictably, some Republicans turned against the effort this week when Democrats released their bill.

“This is a complex issue requiring thought, debate, amendment and a full airing in committee to build as much bipartisan agreement as possible rather than the normal cram-down from the top that permeates literally everything we do,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) wrote in a letter to Pelosi and House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).

Spanberger and Roy have co-authored a bipartisan plan to require all members of Congress to put assets into a qualified blind trust while they’re in office.

U.S. Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) walks to the House floor during debate on the second impeachment of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) walks to the House floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington in 2021. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

The chances in the ‘lame duck’

In mid-November, lawmakers will return to Washington for the so-called lame duck session. Democrats will still control Congress but might — depending on the outcome of the election — be eager to pass their final priorities before possibly relinquishing power in 2023.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), another longtime advocate of a ban, took an optimistic tone during a TwitterSpace conversation with activists on Wednesday.

“This is a time to be encouraged, not disheartened,” he said.

But he acknowledged a fight ahead, saying the back and forth in the House was “creating a broader discussion” that he hopes can get passed after the election.

“Sometimes, you just have to force the vote,” he said.

Reports /TrainViral/

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Crypto

Bitcoin’s Recovery – the Downturn Is Over

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The market is currently in a news-driven environment where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agenda rather than fundamentals.

Bitfinex analysts have warned crypto investors to be cautious as bitcoin’s (BTC) recovery over the weekend is not a sign that its correction is over; the asset could witness more bloodshed in the near term.

In the latest Bitfinex Alpha report, experts deemed the market’s reaction this week critical, especially as supply alleviated over the weekend could return when traditional markets open.

“No Man’s Land”

Since Saturday, bitcoin has risen almost 10% from $57,600 to $63,000, closing last week in the green. The asset has surged above the 125-day range low of $60,200, which it broke through earlier this month after news of the German government’s massive BTC selling hit the market.

Market sentiment began to improve after reports that wallets linked to the German government were almost empty. However, the positive sentiment may not be sustained for long as the BTC the German authorities moved to trading desks and exchanges are yet to be sold.

While the supply from Germany appears to have been factored into bitcoin’s market price, Bitfinex analysts believe the end of selling pressure depends on how the involved trading desks execute their trades in the coming days.

Although the shift in sentiment underscores the market’s capacity to integrate new information and adjust expectations quickly, analysts think the market’s reaction over the first two trading days of the week cannot be overlooked for two reasons.

First, the low support level in the $60,200 range has now become a potential resistance line. Second, trading patterns over the past three months suggest that weekends are usually favorable for markets, especially on Saturdays when supply pressure seems to subside.

“We are now in no man’s land until we get clear resolution above or below this level,” the analysts said.

A News-Driven Environment

Besides the potential resistance level and three-month weekend trading pattern, the market is currently in a news-driven environment, where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agendas rather than fundamentals.

Since selling pressure concerns are not yet completely obsolete due to upcoming Mt Gox creditor distributions, Bitfinex analysts expect such headlines to continue to have some impact on price movements. As such, the analysts urged investors to exercise caution in their trading strategies.

Reports /Trainviral/

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Crypto

Bitcoin ETFs Saw $300M in Daily Net Inflows

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BlackRock’s IBIT led with $117.25 million in inflows on July 15, also being the most traded Bitcoin ETF.

The US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a daily net inflow of $301 million on July 15th. This extended their winning streak to seven consecutive days amidst a broader market recovery.

None of the ETFs recorded outflows for the day.

Bitcoin ETFs Rake in $16.11B in Net Inflows Since Jan

According to the data compiled by SoSoValue, BlackRock’s IBIT, the top spot Bitcoin ETF by net asset value, recorded the largest net inflows of the day at $117.25 million. IBIT was also the most actively traded Bitcoin ETF on Monday, with a volume of $1.24 billion. Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB came in close behind with net inflows of $117.19 million.

Fidelity’s FBTC experienced net inflows of $36.15 million on Monday, while Bitwise’s BITB saw $15.24 million in inflows. VanEck’s HODL, Invesco and Galaxy Digital’s BTCO, and Franklin Templeton’s EZBC funds also recorded net inflows. Meanwhile, Grayscale’s GBTC and other ETFs, such as Valkyrie’s BRRR, WisdomTree’s BTCW, and Hashdex’s DEFI, registered no flows for the day.

A total of $2.26 billion was traded on Monday. The trading volume for these ETFs was less than in March when it exceeded $8 billion on some days. Meanwhile, these funds have collectively attracted $16.11 billion in net inflow since their January launch.

What’s Next For Bitcoin?

Earlier this month, bitcoin’s price decline was mainly due to fears of massive selling pressure from Mt. Gox and the German government’s BTC sales.

But the assassination attempt on pro-crypto former US President and presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump at Saturday’s rally seemed to spark a recovery in the world’s largest digital asset, and experts are bullish on the asset’s price trajectory going forward. Bitcoin surged more than 9% over the past week and was currently trading slightly below $64,000.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt discussed bitcoin’s price outlook, suggesting a potential major rally. He referred to a pattern he terms “Hump->Slump->Bump->Dump->Pump” and highlighted that the July 5 double top attempt was a bear trap, confirmed by the July 13 close. He sees a likely continued upward trend but warned that a close below $56,000 would negate this bullish view.

“Bitcoin $BTC could be unfolding its often-repeated Hump…Slump…Bump…Dump…Pump chart construction. Jul 5 attempt at the double top was a bear trap, confirmed by Jul 13 close. Most likely scenario now is that bears are trapped. Close below $56k negates this interpretation”

Reports /Trainviral/

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Crypto

LI.FI DeFi Platform Exploited, Over $8M Lost

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PeckShield alert reveals LI.FI’s protocol vulnerability is similar to a March 2022 attack, with the same bug recurring.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) platform LI.FI protocol has suffered an exploit amounting to over $8 million.

Cyvers Alerts reported detecting suspicious transactions within the LI.FI cross-chain transaction aggregator.

LI.FI Issues Warning After $8 Million Exploit

LI.FI confirmed the breach in a statement on July 16 via X: “Please do not interact with any http://LI.FI powered applications for now! We’re investigating a potential exploit.” The team clarified that users who did not set infinite approval are not at risk, emphasizing that only those who manually set infinite approvals seem to be affected.

According to Cyvers Alerts, more than $8 million in user funds have been stolen, with the majority being stablecoins. According to on-chain data, the hacker’s wallet holds 1,715 Ether (ETH) valued at $5.8 million and USDC, USDT, and DAI stablecoins.

Cyvers Alerts advised users to revoke relevant authorizations immediately, noting that the attacker is actively converting USDC and USDT into ETH.

Crypto security firm Decurity provided insights into the exploit, stating that it involves the LI.FI bridge. “The root cause is a possibility of an arbitrary call with user-controlled data via depositToGasZipERC20() in GasZipFacet, which was deployed 5 days ago,” Decurity explained on X.

“In general, the risks behind routers, cross-chain swaps, etc. are about token approvals. Raw native assets like (unwrapped) ETH are safe from these kinds of hacks b/c they don’t have approvals as an option. Most users & wallets also no longer do “infinite approvals” which gives a smart contract total control on removing any amount of their tokens. It’s important to understand which tokens you’re approving to which contracts.

This dashboard looks for all transactions of a user that intersects Lifi. Not all of these transactions indicate risk- but you can see how, broadly, integrations & layers of tech (like how Metamask bridge uses Lifi on BSC) can complicate how users do or don’t put their assets at risk. Revoke Cash is the most well known approval manager app.

But it’s also good security practice to simply rotate your address. New addresses start with 0 approvals, so starting fresh by moving your tokens to a fresh address is another good security practice.” – commented Carlos Mercado, Data Scientist at Flipside Crypto.

Recent Exploit Mirrors March 2022 Attack

Further analysis by PeckShield alert revealed that the vulnerability is similar to a previous attack on LI.FI’s protocol that occurred on March 20, 2022. That incident saw a bad actor exploit LI.FI’s smart contract, specifically the swapping feature, before bridging.

The attacker manipulated the system to call token contracts directly within their contract’s context, making users who had given infinite approval vulnerable. This exploit resulted in the theft of approximately 205 ETH from 29 wallets, affecting tokens such as USDC, MATIC, RPL, GNO, USDT, MVI, AUDIO, AAVE, JRT, and DAI.

“The bug is basically the same. Are we learning anything from the past lesson(s)?” PeckShield Alert said in a July 16 X post.

Following the 2022 incident, LI.FI disabled all swap methods in its smart contract and worked on developing a fix to prevent future vulnerabilities. However, the recurrence of a similar exploit raises concerns about the platform’s security measures and whether adequate steps were taken to address the vulnerabilities identified in the previous breach.

LI.FI is a liquidity aggregation protocol that allows users to trade across various blockchains, venues, and bridges.

Reports /Trainviral/

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