Multichain inside job? And SOL surges 80% in a month: Finance Redefined
Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week.
A trader managed to exploit the brief opening of the Multichain cross-chain bridge, which was frozen since its exploit in July 2023, allowing the trader to turn $280,000 worth of Fantom’s (FTM) tokens into $1.9 million worth of different assets.
In other news, Solana’s (SOL) token has surged 80% in a month, and Avalanche is set to shut down its Etherscan-powered blockchain explorer tool amid a fee controversy. A new bridged token from LayerZero has drawn criticism from nine protocols throughout the Ethereum ecosystem, claiming that it limits the freedom of token issuers.
The top 100 DeFi tokens continue their bullish momentum from the last week, with most of the tokens posting positive returns on the weekly charts.
Trader exploits Multichain opening to turn $280,000 to $1.9 million; community suspects insider job
A wallet address turned nearly 1.9 million FTM worth $280,000 to $1.9 million within hours of exploiting the long-frozen Multichain bridge opening momentarily, leading to insider job speculations among the crypto community.
The Multichain bridge, frozen since its exploit in July 2023, opened briefly and closed again on Nov. 1. The trader seized the opportunity to make millions of dollars in profits.
Solana gains 80% in a month as Firedancer goes live on testnet
SOL has posted 30-day gains of nearly 81% and has rallied over 30% in the past week amid the testnet launch of the blockchain’s long-awaited scaling solution, Firedancer.
SOL reached over $41 on Nov. 2, touching highs it hasn’t seen since August 2022, Cointelegraph Markets Pro data shows. Long touted as an “Ethereum killer,” SOL has vastly outperformed its rival, Ether (ETH), which posted under 11% gains in the past month.
Avalanche blockchain explorer to shut down as Etherscan fees draw controversy
SnowTrace, a popular blockchain explorer tool for Avalanche, will shut down its website — powered by Etherscan’s explorer-as-a-service (EaaS) toolkit — on Nov. 30. The SnowTrace team clarified that only its Etherscan-powered explorer will be shut down.
According to the Oct. 30 announcement, Snowtrace users are required to save their backup information, such as private name tags and contact verification details, before Nov. 30. While the team did not explicitly state the reason for shutting down the explorer, some have pointed to Etherscan’s service fees for its EaaS toolkit. Mikko Ohtama, co-founder of Trading Strategy, claims that an annual subscription to EaaS can cost between $1 million and $2 million per year.
Nine protocols criticize LayerZero’s wstETH token, claiming it’s “proprietary”
A new bridged token from the cross-chain protocol LayerZero is drawing criticism from nine protocols throughout the Ethereum ecosystem. A joint statement from Connext, Chainsafe, Sygma, LiFi, Socket, Hashi, Across, Celer and Router on Oct. 27 called the token’s standard “a vendor-locked proprietary standard,” claiming that it limits the freedom of token issuers.
The protocols claimed in their joint statement that LayerZero’s new token is “a proprietary representation of wstETH to Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Scroll without support from the Lido DAO [decentralized autonomous organization],” which is created by “provider-specific systems […] fundamentally owned by the bridges that implement them.” As a result, it creates “systemic risks for projects that can be tough to quantify,” they stated. The protocols advocated for the use of the xERC-20 token standard for bridging stETH instead of using LayerZero’s new token.
DeFi market overview
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a bullish week, with most tokens trading in green on the weekly charts. The total value locked into DeFi protocols jumped to $49.46 billion.
Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.
Labour veteran Lord Peter Mandelson is facing his biggest controversy to date over his relationship with paedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
A message from the UK ambassador to Washington featured in a “birthday book” for Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 – three years before allegations against the disgraced financier became public.
But who is Lord Mandelson, what did he put in his message to Epstein, and what has he said about their relationship?
‘The Prince of Darkness’
Lord Mandelson, 71, holds what is considered the most glittering diplomatic post in the UK government, the perks of which include the luxurious ambassador’s residence, a mansion designed by top architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.
Sir Keir Starmer said Lord Mandelson, who served in both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s governments, brought “unrivalled experience to the role” and has since credited him with helping build UK-US relations in a tricky political climate with Donald Trump at the helm.
Starmer and Mandelson talk in Washington in February. Pic: AP
Lord Mandelson was already notorious among the British public, having earned himself a reputation for being a spin doctor when he helped propel Mr Blair to leader of the Labour Party in 1994, in what was seen as a betrayal by his close ally Mr Brown.
He was largely seen as the mastermind behind the birth of New Labour, and would berate newspaper editors when unfavourable stories were written by their political journalists, eventually earning him the nickname “the Prince of Darkness”.
He had to resign from Mr Blair’s cabinet twice, first over an undeclared bank loan and then over intervening in a passport application by a top Indian businessman.
Blair and Mandelson in 2000. Pic: Paul Faith/PA
Yet it was Mr Brown who gave him a spectacular political comeback, making him business secretary with a peerage in 2008 before making him first secretary of state a year later – a role he kept until Labour’s election defeat in 2010.
Lord Mandelson, who was also Brussels commissioner from 2004 to 2008, is credited by supporters with having top trade experience and networking abilities, and has even been endorsed by UK Reform leader Nigel Farage, who has called him a “very clever man”.
What was in Mandelson’s birthday message to Epstein?
Files from the 2003 birthday book compiled for Epstein by his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell show a birthday note from Lord Mandelson, who refers to Epstein as “my best pal”.
It begins with him appearing to reminisce about the first time he met Epstein, before alluding to how the financier would often leave one alone with some “interesting friends to entertain”.
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The messages inside Epstein’s ‘birthday book’
It is not clear what was meant by these so-called “interesting friends”, but the line is accompanied by an image of two people with their faces obscured or redacted.
The note references Epstein “taking you by surprise… in one of his glorious homes he likes to share with his friends (yum yum)”.
“Wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal!” Lord Mandelson wrote.
A picture of Epstein and Mandelson in the ‘birthday book’. Pic: US House Oversight Committee
Pictures of Lord Mandelson appear on the pages, which include an image of a tropical island.
Lord Mandelson was one of many contributors to the book, which was made public for the first time on 9 September after being published by a congressional committee in Washington.
How has Mandelson responded?
Reacting after the book’s release, Lord Mandelson told The Sun: “I find them very embarrassing to see and to read, but they were written before he was indicted.”
He said he sympathised with Epstein’s victims and that he “very, very deeply” regretted continuing to associate with the paedophile for “far longer than I should have done”.
Lord Mandelson said he “fell for and accepted assurances” from Epstein, who he described as a “charismatic criminal liar”.
He said he never saw any “wrongdoing” or criminal activity while he associated with Epstein.
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Lord Mandelson ‘regrets’ Epstein link
Report claims Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s flat while he was jailed
Lord Mandelson’s links to Epstein were first scrutinised in a report by JP Morgan bank, filed in a New York court in 2019.
Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors in August 2019, had previously served an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty to procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution.
Read more:
Epstein questions at worst moment for Lord Mandelson
Analysis: The disconnect between Mandelson’s claim and his letter
The report suggested that Lord Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan flat while he was serving that sentence, noting that Epstein wrote to his private banker on 17 June 2009: “Peter will be staying at 71st over weekend…”
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From May: Mandelson – ‘I wish I never met Epstein’
In May this year, Sky News asked Lord Mandelson if he did stay at Epstein’s flat, to which he replied: “I’m not answering any questions about him. My knowledge of him is something I regret, I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”
Asked why he had an association with Epstein whilst he was in jail, Lord Mandelson replied: “Why did many people meet him? He was a prolific networker. And I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Lord Peter Mandeslon to be sacked as ambassador to the United States over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Lord Mandelson faced questions on Tuesday after it emerged he had referred to Epstein as his “best pal” in a birthday message he wrote for the convicted sex offender in 2003.
Further allegations were made by The Telegraph overnight, claiming Epstein had brokered a deal with Lord Mandelson over the £1bn sale of a UK taxpayer-owned banking business in 2010. This was reportedly negotiated while Lord Mandelson was the business secretary, and only months after Epstein had been released from prison.
Peter Mandelson. Pic: Reuters
Politics latest: Follow live updates
There were also claims that Lord Mandelson stayed in Epstein’s New York home while he was in prison for soliciting a minor in 2008/9.
Lord Mandelson also wrote supportive messages to Epstein while he was facing charges in 2008, according to leaked emails seen by The Sun Newspaper.
The US ambassador is said to have told Epstein: “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened”.
He is also said to have encouraged Epstein to be “big” and “strong”.
During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Ms Badenoch asked Sir Keir whether he has confidence in the ambassador.
The prime minister insisted that he does, saying Lord Mandelson is “playing an important role in the UK-US relationship”.
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From May: Mandelson – ‘I wish I never met Epstein’
Referring to Epstein, the prime minister said: “He was a despicable criminal who committed the most heinous crimes and destroyed the lives of so many women and girls.
“The ambassador has repeatedly expressed his deep regret for his association with him. He’s right to do so.”
Sir Keir also claimed that “full due process” was followed in the appointment of Lord Mandelson “as would be expected”.
In an interview with The Sun, Lord Mandelson said he regrets “very much that I fell for his lies… and accepted assurances he had given me about his indictment”, which saw Epstein jailed in 2008.
Lord Mandelson said: “He’s a charismatic, criminal liar we now see, and I regret very much indeed.
“I felt it like an albatross around my neck since his death in 2018 or 2019, whenever it was. I feel a tremendous sense of regret.”
Jeffrey Epstein. File pic: New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP
This regret, the diplomat said, is not only that he met Epstein in the first place, but that he “continued that association” and took at “face value the lies that he fed me”.
He added: “I can’t rewrite history. What I can do is express my profound sympathy for those who treated by him.”
Lord Mandelson and No 10 have both been contacted for comment on the latest allegations.
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