Wemix CEO: delayed $6.2M hack announcement was to prevent “market panic”

• The Wemix Foundation suffered a $6.2 million hack on February 28, but only alerted its investors on March 4
• The hacker managed to steal 8.65 million WEMIX coins
• Wemix Foundation’s CEO doesn’t believe the hack is the result of Lazarus

Kim Seok-hwan, Wemix Foundation’s CEO, said there was “no attempt” to conceal a $6.2 million hack on it following an announcement four days later.

In a press conference on Monday, Kim denied any intention to conceal the exploit.

On February 28, over 8.65 million WEMIX coins were withdrawn due to a malicious attack on the platform’s Play Bridge Vault. However, the South Korean platform only alerted its investors when an announcement was posted on its homepage on March 4.

At the press conference, Kim said: “The announcement was delayed due to concerns about the possibility of additional attacks and the possibility of market panic due to stolen assets.”

According to Kim, most of the assets had already been sold and the market impact had already happened, adding that there was no guarantee of “additional risk.”

Sophisticated attack

Bowing his head several times at the press conference, Kim acknowledged full responsibility for the delayed announcement.

Explaining what happened, Kim said an unidentified attacker stole the service monitoring authentication key for its non-fungible token (NFT) platform Nile. According to Kim, the attacker planned the hack for two months, creating abnormal transactions and attempting 15 withdrawals.

Of these, two failed, but 13 were successful, resulting in the theft of 8.65 million Wemix.

After learning of the exploit, Kim said they shut down the server and began a detailed analysis. They also filed a complaint against the attacker with the Cyber ​​Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

Kim believes that the hack was unlikely carried out by Lazarus, the North Korean-backed hacking group.

Latest hack

In recent weeks, several platforms have suffered security breaches, resulting in the theft of various coins.

Last month, Bybit was hacked after those responsible drained $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum from a single wallet. It was later reported that Lazarus was behind the theft.

Days later, Infini suffered a $50 million hack. The attacker in this case had retained the admin rights after working on Infini’s development contract, enabling them to gain access to the funds.

Regarding the Wemix Foundation, Kim said on March 13 that they will buy back 10 billion Korean won (around $7 million) worth of Wemix tokens. The following day, the foundation announced plans to purchase a further 20 million tokens.

During the press conference, Kim said they are working towards fully resuming services on Friday, March 21 after introducing new security measures to their blockchain infrastructure.

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PLUME token jumps 20% as YZi Labs invests in Plume Network

• Plume jumped 20% after YZi Labs announced an investment in Plume Network
• The price of PLUME reached $0.18, not far from its all-time high of $0.21.
• Plume has raised funds from Brevan Howard, Haun Ventures and Galaxy.

Plume Network’s native token PLUME soared 20% as YZi Labs, formerly Binance Labs, announced its investment in the layer 1 network.

PLUME rose sharply to hit intraday highs of $0.18, with this pushing bulls to near the all-time high of $0.2108. The altcoin reached this price level in January 2025.

Per CoinGecko data at the time of writing, bulls were just 15% off that peak.

YZi Labs invests in Plume Network

Plume Network is a crypto platform aiming to bridge traditional finance and decentralized finance.

Over the past several months, the project has attracted attention and investment. Largely, it’s been down to the project’s traction in the real world assets market. As it looks to bring RWA on-chain, Plume has attracted backing from Brevan Howard Digital, Haun Ventures and Galaxy.

YZi Labs is another venture capital heavyweight backing the Plume Network’s RWAfi initiative, according to an announcement.

The investment underscores Plume’s potential and sees Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao led YZi Labs continue its push into RWA, artificial intelligence and other sectors at the intersection of TradFi and DeFi.

In a comment on the investment, YZi Labs investment director Max Coniglio, said:

“At YZi Labs, we invest in projects that harness blockchain technology to create real-world impact, and Plume is a prime example—they are bringing real-world assets on-chain to unlock new capital, expand access, and drive adoption. By making RWAs as seamless as any other digital asset, Plume is bridging traditional finance and DeFi, paving the way for broader adoption.”

While today’s announcement did not disclose the financial terms of the investment, it adds to past funding moves aimed at boosting Plume’s growth. In October 2023, the project raised $10 million in a seed round led by VC firm Haun Ventures.

YZi participated in the financing deal.

On this latest collaboration, Plume Network’s chief executive officer and co-founder, Chris Yin, said:

“YZi Labs’ investment reinforces our vision of building a robust RWAfi ecosystem that drives institutional asset adoption while empowering crypto-native users.”

Who else backs Plume?

Plume has recently inked major collaborations with the likes of Superstate, Fireblocks, Aethir, BounceBit, Mercado Bitcoin and Moca Network.

As noted, YZi Labs, rebranded from Binance Labs earlier this year. The venture capital firm now operates as a family office, with Binance co-founders Changpeng Zhao and Yi He at the helm.

The firm’s investment in the RWAfi project suggests confidence in what it’s likely to achieve in the market.

Other projects that have received notable adoption include Ondo Finance and MANTRA.

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Binance launches zero-fee trading for Binance Wallet users

• Binance introduces zero-fee trading for all pairs in its Binance Wallet.
• The promotion will run for six months, a move that has traders excited.

Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, has launched zero-fee trading for users on its Binance Wallet.

The crypto exchange behemoth revealed this massive news via an announcement published on March 17.

Per the exchange, the zero-fee trading offer will apply to all trading pairs within the Binance Wallet. Users will begin to enjoy the new support for six months, from Monday, March 17 2025 to September 17, 2025.

Binance eyes user growth

While Binance is already a major player in the ecosystem, the introduction of the zero-fee trading feature marks a significant shift in strategy and one that will push it further ahead in terms of user experience and adoption.

The announcement, shared via Binance’s official channels, has sparked widespread excitement across the crypto ecosystem.

Unlike previous promotions that targeted specific trading pairs or user tiers, this new program extends zero maker and taker fees to every pair available in the Binance Wallet. Users will enjoy no trading costs for the six months.

🚀 Enjoy zero trading fees on all swaps in #Binance Wallet for the next 6 months!

Start trading now! 🔥

— Binance Wallet (@BinanceWallet) March 17, 2025

Binance’s big move will make trading more accessible, particularly for retail investors and high-frequency traders who rely on cost efficiency to maximize returns.

According to the exchange, the zero-fee trading offer aims to “remove barriers to entry and empower users to engage with the crypto market seamlessly.”

The Binance Wallet, an integrated feature of the platform, allows users to store, manage, and trade assets directly, and this zero-fee structure is expected to drive increased adoption of the wallet service.

By covering all pairs—ranging from major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to emerging altcoins.

This announcement builds on Binance’s history of offering fee incentives, such as its 2022 zero-fee Bitcoin trading program and subsequent promotions for stablecoin pairs like First Digital USD (FDUSD) and True USD (TUSD) stablecoins.

However, the scale of this latest offering—encompassing all pairs within the Binance Wallet—signals an ambitious push to solidify its market dominance amid evolving industry trends.

Traders laud Binance move

Users across the ecosystem have lauded the exchange’s move. Many are pointing to this as a customer-centric approach.

One trader remarked:

“Zero-fee trading for all pairs in the Binance Wallet? This is a game-changer!”

Others echoed similar sentiments, noting that the move could set a new standard in the competitive crypto exchange landscape.

Binance has assured users that standard security and compliance measures will remain in place.

The exchange also cautioned that it reserves the right to amend or cancel the promotion at its discretion, a common practice in its previous fee-related programs.

Binance has encouraged users to monitor official exchange channels for updates or any adjustments to the initiative.

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Crypto market sees over $230 million in liquidations

The crypto market continues to struggle with downward pressure, with over $230 million in liquidations recorded in a single day.

Per data from Coinglass, total liquidations were up 157% in the past 24 hours. Over this period, more than 95,478 traders had been liquidated.

At the time of writing, the total liquidations stood at $232 million. Data showed the largest single liquidation order coming in on Binance for an ETH/USDT position valued at $5.59 million.

ETH, XRP and SOL liquidations

The crypto market’s total capitalization stands at $2.8 trillion, with Bitcoin’s dominance at 58.9%.

However, the latest wave of liquidations has hit traders hard, particularly those convinced the price was on the upward mend.

With leveraged positions largely longs, most of the rekt positions were bullish bets. Coinglass data shows over $73 million and nearly $44 million are for Bitcoin and Ethereum.

XRP and Solana also witnessed huge liquidation.

Crypto price outlook

As noted, Bitcoin (BTC) saw over $73 million in liquidations.  This followed another massive short position for BTC, with a whale taking a 40x leverage. The whale’s liquidation is above $86,000. BTC price currently hovers around $83,316. What happens to the whale?

Crypto trader and analyst Ash Crypto notes an announcement from Strategy founder Michael Saylor buying more BTC could see the $380 million whale record substantial losses.

“If Saylor announces that he is buying $2 billion Bitcoin soon or even hints it, $380 million 40x short whale will get liquidated in a single candle,” the analyst posted on X.

Another analyst shared:

🚨 Breaking: The whale who opened a $320M short on $BTC at $84,040 yesterday has set take profits:

1st TP: $69,414
2nd TP: $58,664

I hope he and everyone who copied his trade get liquidated, triggering a cascade of liquidations to pump the market pic.twitter.com/tIQ31T9T9x

— 𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗼𝗽 (@nobrainflip) March 16, 2025

Currently, Bybit, Binance and OKX lead the total liquidations mark.

As bulls plot to fell the bears, the rising liquidations underscore the risks of leverage. In a volatile market, millions or even billions could get wiped out in hours.

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