Popular cryptocurrency wallet Atomic Wallet has been hit by a major security breach that resulted in over $35 million worth of digital assets being stolen. The wallet and several individual blockchain investigators have since amped up efforts to track and recover stolen funds.

Bitcoin's blockchain custodians are at odds over the surge in meme tokens, a trend that has heightened transaction volumes and consequently inflated transaction fees on the network. The rise of these tokens, coupled with a rise in non-fungible tokens (NFTs), had led to an 11fold rise in BTC’s transaction fees.

Cryptocurrency risk management solutions firm Elliptic has announced the integration of ChatGPT into its intelligence and research operations to enhance its capacity for detecting cryptocurrency threats.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Atomic Wallet Hacked: Over $35 Million in Crypto Stolen
• Bitcoin Developers Clash Over BRC-20 Tokens and NFTs
• Elliptic Boosts Crypto Risk Detection with ChatGPT Integration
• AI Tokens Continue to Outperform Other Cryptocurrencies

Atomic Wallet Hacked: Over $35 Million in Crypto Stolen

Popular cryptocurrency wallet Atomic Wallet has been hit by a major security breach that resulted in over $35 million worth of digital assets being stolen. The wallet and several individual blockchain investigators have since amped up efforts to track and recover stolen funds.

Atomic Wallet is a versatile crypto wallet compatible with various operating systems, including Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux that supports multiple digital assets.

In a proactive attempt to manage the crisis and mitigate additional harm, Atomic Wallet has enlisted the assistance of external security firms. The purpose of this engagement is to scrutinize the incident and impede the movement of the pilfered funds on trading platforms.

Additionally, the company has elected to momentarily suspend its download server, 'get.atomicwallet.io'. This action may be driven by a desire to stop further security breaches if their software was indeed compromised.

As the investigation continues, Atomic Wallet is gathering information from victims, including details about their operating system, the source of the downloaded software, actions taken prior to the theft, and the storage location of their backup phrase.

Bitcoin Developers Clash Over BRC-20 Tokens and NFTs

Bitcoin's blockchain developers are at odds over the surge in meme tokens, a trend that has heightened transaction volumes and consequently inflated transaction fees on the network. The rise of these tokens, coupled with a rise in non-fungible tokens (NFTs), had led to an 11fold rise in BTC’s transaction fees.

The rise, at one point, saw leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance halt withdrawals over the network’s congestion. These tokens, known as BRC-20 tokens, are an experimental token standard on the Bitcoin blockchain, modeled after Ethereum’s ERC-20.

Some developers, like Ali Sherief, have said they believe the “system is being abused” as Bitcoin was “never intended to serve as a base layer for meme tokens.” These developers believe that BRC-20 tokens jeopardize the smooth operation of Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency.

However, other developers champion the software innovation known as Ordinals, which allows for the creation of meme tokens and NFTs on Bitcoin's blockchain. They maintain the protocol can have wider applications and that this increased demand for block space is an expected outcome of an auction market and should not be mistaken for a denial-of-service attack.

The brainchild of developer Casey Rodarmor, Ordinals has allowed users to inscribe digital content on Bitcoin's smallest denomination, the satoshi. Domo harnessed the concept to engineer the BRC-20 token standard, a development that led to the creation of tokens that now have over $475 million in market cap.

As the debate persists, some developers have taken to creating software for nodes to screen transactions they perceive as spam that should be kept off of the blockchain.

Since Bitcoin is decentralized and not controlled by anyone, it is unclear if there will be any long-term resistance to BR-C20 tokens and NFTs. Another scenario is that some people might create a new version of Bitcoin through a hard fork that would not accept Ordinals, effectively splitting the network.

Elliptic Boosts Crypto Risk Detection with ChatGPT Integration

Cryptocurrency risk management solutions firm Elliptic has announced the integration of ChatGPT into its intelligence and research operations to enhance its capacity for detecting cryptocurrency threats.

By incorporating ChatGPT, Elliptic aims to augment the efficiency and precision of its investigators in identifying emergent risk factors. The implementation is expected to empower the firm to manage an expanded spectrum of risks with unprecedented speed.

Elliptic's Chief Technology Officer, Jackson Hull, expressed confidence that the integration of ChatGPT might uncover risks that could otherwise escape the notice of human researchers.

The cryptocurrency sector has witnessed a growing trend of firms incorporating AI into their operations. Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com for example launched an AI user assistant, Amy, powered by ChatGPT. Similarly, Binance Academy launched an AI assistant called Sensei.

AI Tokens Continue to Outperform Other Cryptocurrencies

OpenAI's ChatGPT celebrated a significant milestone in January by reaching 100 million users, underscoring the increasing global influence of artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies centered on AI have been outperforming the market. Specifically, Render (RNDR) and SingularityNET (AGIX) recorded impressive year-to-date increases of 554% and 551%, respectively. In comparison, the MVDA Index, a benchmark for the digital asset market, posted a relatively modest return of 64%.

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