Block Inc. reported a drop in Bitcoin revenue by 34%, with a $36M impairment charge on its Bitcoin investment. Jack Dorsey's Block still exceeded analyst expectations by 2%; however, the company's shares dropped by 7% following the announcement and are down 44% this year. More: - The payments provider reported that its Bitcoin revenue derived from its Cash App product fell by 34% to $1.79B.
- The company took a $36M impairment charge on its Bitcoin holdings due to the crypto winter.
- Gross profit in Q2 totaled $1.47B, which exceeded analyst expectations of $1.46B. The adjusted earnings per share of $0.18 topped estimates of $0.16.
- Net income was $110.7M, or 18 cents a diluted share, for Q2 2022. It was $256M or 40 cents a diluted share a year earlier
- Analysts were expecting second-quarter earnings of 16 cents
- Total revenue declined by 6% to $4.4B.
- Analysts' expectation for revenue was $4.3B
- However, total net revenue amounted to $2.62B, an increase of 34% YoY.
- Bitcoin revenue fell due to "a decline in consumer demand and the price of Bitcoin, related partly to broader uncertainty around crypto assets," says Block.
Zoom out: - Microstrategy reported a $917.8M impairment charge on its Bitcoin holdings as CEO Michael Saylor steps down from his role to focus on Bitcoin full time.
- MicroStrategy reported a loss of more than $1B in the second quarter due to the crypto winter.
- Tesla also reported a $170M impairment charge on its Bitcoin investment; however, the electric car maker logged $64M in gains from the sale of its Bitcoin holdings.
Decrypt 
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Nomad is offering its hackers a 10% bounty in an effort to retrieve stolen funds. The company has recovered $20M of the $190M that was hacked in a security exploit. More: - Nomad is a "crypto bridge" tool that connects different blockchains to offer a seamless transfer of tokens from one blockchain to another; for example, users can transfer tokens from Solana to Ethereum and vice versa.
- High volumes of digital assets get locked into bridges, in addition to bugs, which makes them vulnerable to attacks from hackers.
- The company released a statement saying, "The bounty is for those who come forward now, and those who have already returned the funds."
- Nomad is working with TRM Labs, a blockchain analysis firm, and law enforcement to identify the perpetrators behind the attack.
- Anchorage Digital, a U.S.-based bank, will also assist in safekeeping any funds that get returned.
- Nomad will not take legal action against any hacker that has returned 90% of the assets and will consider them "ethical hackers," also known as "white hat" hackers.
- The hack exposed the vulnerability of Nomad's code, which meant that users without any programming skills could easily exploit it.
- Hackers could enter any value into the system and withdraw funds, even if there weren't enough assets to deposit. Others also realized this bug in the Nomad system and carried out the same hack.
Zoom out: - Nomad attack is the eighth largest crypto hack ever. It involved over 40 attackers, and one hacker alone gained $42M.
- Other crypto hacks that occurred this year include:
- Crypto.com for $35M
- Qubit QBridge hack for $80M
- Wormhole for $325M
- IRA financial trust for $37M
- Cashio for $52M
- Axie Infinity Ronin Bridge for $625M
- Beanstalk for $182M
- Fei Protocol for $80M
- Harmony Bridge for $100M
- Solana with 8,000 wallets attacked
CNBC
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 A message from WIND RIVER Can a real-time operating system fill your embedded system needs? A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system with two key features: predictability and determinism. In an RTOS, repeated tasks are performed within a tight time boundary, while in a general-purpose operating system, this is not necessarily so. Predictability and determinism, in this case, go hand in hand: We know how long a task will take, and that it will always produce the same result. - Determinism: Repeating an input will result in the same output.
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In this webinar, we'll go through some of the features of real-time operating systems that can revolutionize your embedded development process, and make sure that an RTOS is the right solution for your use-case. Watch Now
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Brevan Howard Asset Management launched a $1B crypto hedge fund from institutional investors. The firm's portfolio managers will cover quantitative crypto trades and value plays. More: - The $1B fund is the largest commitment made to crypto by any traditional finance asset manager, which reflects Alan Howard's long-term bullish commitment to digital assets.
- Howard's family invested in blockchain startups, including Polygon.
- The $1B fund will support crypto-focused business development and expects this ceiling to rise as more strategies are implemented over time.
- The firm is open to external capital with a minimum check size of $5M.
- BH digital, the firm's division that oversees crypto trades, will utilize traditional hedge fund strategies, which include:
- Quantitative trades and relative-value plays in so-called "pods" to support analysts and engineers.
- The company has employed over 20 blockchain engineers
- A multi-manager strategy will allocate limited partner capital to work with liquid crypto.
Blockworks
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Earlier today, India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) froze Rs 64.67 crore (~$8.2M) of cryptocurrency exchange WazirX's assets. The action is part of an ongoing investigation into a potential money laundering scheme. According to the law-enforcement agency, several "non-banking financial companies" (NDFC) partnered with fintechs to purchase crypto assets that were then transferred abroad. More: - 16 fintechs are under investigation.
- On Wednesday, the ED questioned WazirX's Sameer Mhatre.
- After refusing to give ED officials remote access to WazirX's database, the group deemed Mhatre "uncooperative."
- In a statement, the ED explained, "WazirX is not able to give any account for the missing crypto assets."
- Since the investigation began, several NCFCs have vacated the country.
- According to investigators, multiple unlicensed fintechs hid behind licensed NBFCs to extort high-interest rates from borrowers and turn huge profits.
- Allegedly, operators exchanged their profits for cryptocurrencies which they would then launder abroad.
- The untraceable crypto transactions undermine India's "anti-money laundering norms.
- The ED told reporters that companies like WazirX "created a web of agreements with Crowdfire Inc. USA, Binance (Cayman Islands) and Zettai Pte Ltd, Singapore, to obscure the ownership of the crypto exchange."
Twitter
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London-based fintech company Revolut Ltd. plans to increase its workforce by 20%. Several of these positions are with the company's crypto division. The group is hiring across Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. despite the so-called "Crypto Winter." More: - In the next six months, Revolut hopes to onboard 230 new employees.
- The company has already hired 43 new crypto-focused staff and is currently looking to hire 13 more personnel.
- Since July 2021, Revolut tripled its crypto-teams headcount.
- Crypto transactions account for 5%-10% of the company's global revenue.
- On Wednesday, the firm announced it would support 22 new tokens.
- The addition would bring the firm's total supported virtual currencies above 80.
Bloomberg
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FLOW tokens saw value increase minutes after Meta announced it would debut NFTs on Instagram. Meta listed FLOW as one of the blockchains it would rely on to launch the program. Ethereum and Polygon were also mentioned. More: - FLOW tokens are up 52.2% in the last 24 hours.
- Interest in the blockchain-backed NFT token ballooned after Meta announced a forthcoming NFT feature for Instagram and potentially Facebook.
- The NFT program will debut in more than 100 countries.
- The FLOW token has suffered in recent months as crypto markets suffer.
- The crash has not deterred Meta, whose continued push into the metaverse will include NFTs.
Crypto Briefing
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 |  | Gia Mattu is based in Calgary, Alberta. She is an entrepreneur with experience in climate technology, drones, AI, machine learning, and blockchain technology. When she's not working, she loves to hike the Canadian Rockies, try new cuisine, and travel. | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
For nearly 35 years, VxWorks has been used to ensure the security, safety, and reliability you need to design and build mission-critical embedded systems that simply must work.
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