1. Bybit Suffers $1.5 Billion Hack, the Most Audacious ETH Drain in History
Crypto exchange Bybit has been hit by a staggering $1.5 billion hack, making it the largest crypto heist ever. The attack compromised Bybit’s cold wallet, with Lazarus Group—a North Korean hacking syndicate—identified as the culprit.
Blockchain firms Elliptic and Arkham Intelligence traced the stolen assets, mostly ETH, as they were quickly laundered. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou reassured users, confirming withdrawals remain operational and that the exchange secured funding to cover potential losses.
Amid the fallout, calls for an Ethereum blockchain rollback have emerged to reverse the stolen transactions. In an X Spaces discussion, Bybit’s Ben Zhou hinted that such a move would require a community vote, drawing comparisons to Ethereum’s 2016 DAO hack fork.
While unlikely, the debate highlights the tension between blockchain immutability and security concerns.
With hackers laundering 489,395 ETH (~$1.3B) across multiple wallets, Bybit has launched a 10% bounty program (up to $140M) for those aiding in fund recovery. Meanwhile, Tether froze 181,000 USDT, and crypto trading platforms like Bitget pledged to block transactions from identified hacker wallets.
As much as exchanges and cold wallets put their respective security protocols in place, the onus is still on us to look after our crypto and digital assets.
Read our guide on how to guard against the stealth of your funds.
2. Microsoft’s Magma AI Can Control Apps and Robots
Microsoft Research has unveiled Magma, a next-gen AI agent designed to control software interfaces and robotic systems in real-world and digital environments. Unlike typical multimodal models that only perceive and respond, Magma can plan actions and execute multi-step tasks autonomously.
How it works: Magma combines visual, language, and spatial intelligence, allowing it to navigate UIs, manipulate objects, and interact with robotic arms using its Set-of-Mark and Trace-of-Mark frameworks
Performance: Microsoft claims Magma outperforms previous models in UI navigation and robotics tasks, surpassing GPT-4V in vision-language benchmarks
Open-source push: Microsoft will release Magma’s training and inference code on GitHub next week, inviting developers to explore agentic AI applications
With OpenAI and Google also racing toward autonomous AI agents, could Magma be the key to unlocking AI’s full potential in real-world automation?
3. Franklin Templeton Joins Solana ETF Race as Altcoin Hype Grows
Investment giant Franklin Templeton has entered the Solana ETF race, filing with the SEC to launch a spot SOL fund—joining Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary in seeking regulatory approval.
The filings reflect growing institutional interest in altcoins beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
As a high-speed blockchain with a strong DeFi and NFT ecosystem, proponents argue Solana's network fundamentals justify a regulated investment vehicle, much like BTC and ETH ETFs. The SEC’s approval process will determine whether Solana follows Bitcoin’s ETF-approved footsteps.
Meanwhile, demand for Ripple (XRP) ETFs is also heating up. Grayscale recently filed for an XRP spot ETF, officially starting the SEC review phase. On another front, Litecoin ETF odds have surged to 90%, fueled by bullish whale accumulation and market optimism.
4. DeAgentAI’s 'ALL IN AI' Event Showcases Web3’s AI-Driven Future
On 20 February 2025, DeAgentAI, ElizaOS, and Movement hosted 'ALL IN AI' in Hong Kong, bringing together over 200 AI pioneers, industry leaders, and investors to explore breakthrough AI and Web3 technologies
One of the standout moments was DeAgentAI’s presentation of its intelligent decision-making framework, designed to address three core challenges facing AI technology in decentralised environments—Consensus, Identity, and Continuity. Using blockchain-based consensus algorithms and on-chain memory modules, the framework enables AI agents to make verifiable and adaptive decisions, a key requirement for AI’s deeper integration into Web3.
The Web3 AI event also ignited excitement with two major AIA token airdrop sessions, distributing a total of $15,000 in rewards. In addition, roundtable discussions featured core members from Becker Ventures, Argo, and Corri AI, tackling hot topics such as AI-enabled wealth creation in meme culture and the future of AI-driven decentralised applications.
A major highlight was DeAgentAI’s AlphaX, a community-driven AI model that predicts 72-hour BTC/ETH price trends with a reported 70% accuracy rate. Data from real trading environments, with Web3 AI technology, showcased the model’s effectiveness, with ROI reaching +18.21% in December 2024 and +16.00% in January 2025.
DeAgentAI plans to expand its footprint by hosting high-level Web3 AI events across major blockchain hubs worldwide.
As AI-powered agents evolve, could decentralised AI become the 'electricity and water' of the Web3 economy?
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*Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other form of professional advice. aelf makes no guarantees or warranties about the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information on this blog. You should not make any investment decisions based solely on the information provided on this blog. You should always consult with a qualified financial or legal advisor before making any investment decisions.
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