The Ankr Protocol (ANKR) is the latest victim of hackers. Hackers stole six six quadrillion aBNBc synthetic assets worth $5 million from Ankr, CoinDesk alleges.
The aBNBc is a synthetic asset which contains a Binance (BNB) token. The hacker scould to convert the BNB into USD Coin (USDC) stablecoins which they can sell or spend, CoinDesk alleges.
Consequently, Ankr had to reimburse the holders of the stolen aBNBc. Additionally, Ankr has had to stop issuing two synthetic assets, aBNBc and aBNBc because of vulnerability to hacking.
CoinDesk claims hackers tricked Ankr into minting quadrillions of aBNBs they could convert into BNB. The hackers moved the BNB to the Tornado Cash crypto mixer, where they turned them into USDC. The hacker could drain almost all of aBNBc’s liquidity pools during the caper.
How the Great Ankr Protocol (ANKR) Hack went down
A flaw in Ankr’s code allowed any intruder to mint unlimited amounts of staking tokens, security firm PeckShield Inc. alleges. Hackers gained access by using a function that bypasses Ankr’s security.
When the hacking became public Binance froze $3 million hackers had sent to that exchange CEO Changpeng Zhao claims. Moreover, one trader could use the flaw to turn 10 Binance (BNB) into 15.5 million Binance (BUSD) stablecoins worth $15.5 million, security analysts at Lookonchian alleges. Thus, crooks stole up to $20.5 million by exploiting Ankr’s flaws.
Skeptics will wonder how safe other protocols are. Such fears are valid because Ankr resembles other defi protocols.
So what is Ankr (ANKR) anyway?
The Ankr Protocol (ANKR) is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that calls itself “Web3 infrastructure.”
Ankr offers several solutions including Remote Procedure Cells (RPCs), liquid staking, advanced APis, a gaming SDK, and a launch-your-own blockchain feature they call AnkrAppChains.
An RPC is a software communication protocol that allows one program to communicate with another. Ankr claims its RPC service connects apps, and the blockchain to Web3 using Ankr’s Global Node network. They claim this connects Web3 to over 18 blockchains.
Liquid Staking is the Ankr feature hackers exploited. Liquid staking allows users to generate liquidity by staking tokens on Ankr. Ankr suspended Liquid Staking on 2 December because of the hack.
Ankr for Gaming
Advanced APIs (application programming interfaces) are another way for software to communicate. Ankr claims the Advanced APIs allow users to support the most popular Web3 scenarios on multiple blockchains at high speeds. Ankr’s Advanced API Service is a collection of RPC methods built to simplify for queries of blockchain data of all types.
They claim Ankr’s gaming software development kits (SDKs) can bring any games to Web3. Importantly, Ankr offers an Unreal SDK that works with the popular Unreal Engine 3D creation tool for gaming and animation.
They claiming the API can convert any asset into a nonfungible token they embed in games. The API allows players to connect games with Web3 wallets and embed Ankr Gaming Web3 Tools into games.
Ankr AppChains
They call the Ankr AppChains plug-and-play tools to build your own blockchain. The purpose of the AppCahins is to scale or expand Web3. They claim an Ankr AppChain can process up to 300 transactions per second (TPS). Hence, 300 people could play a game at once.
Ankr’s blockchain in a toolbox includes a load-based RPC, and a validator binary and Config file that can get Validator nodes up and running fast.
Thus is Ankr is a package of solutions they build to connect Web3 and the blockchain. Hence Ankr’s value is it connectivity but its defi solutions are too easy for hackers to connect to. Which is why they were hacked.
What Value does Ankr (ANKR) have?
There is interest in Ankr (ANKR) because it was CoinMarketCap’s second most trending cryptocurrency on 2 December 2022.
Moreover, ANKR was CoinMarketCap’s 121st ranked cryptocurrency with a 2.146₵ Coin Price on 5 December 2022. CoinMarketCap gave Ankr a $207.369 million Market Capitalization, a Fully Diluted Market Cap of $214.536 million, a $74.166 million Total Locked Value, and a $14.768 million 24-Hour Market Volume on 5 December 2022.
Ankr had a $45.714 million Centralized Exchange (CEX) Volume of $14.737 million and a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) Volume of $9.032.78 on5 December 2022. They base those numbers on a Circulating Supply of 9.66 billion ANKR and a Total Supply of 10 billion ANKR.
In contrast, Ankr (ANKR) was CoinGecko’s 164th ranked cryptocurrency with a Coin Price of 2.157₵ on 5 December 2022. CoinGecko gave Ankr a $176.211 million Market Cap, a $10.051 million 24-Hour Trading Volume, a $215.868 million Fully Dilutted Valuation, and a Total Locked Value of $170.734 million on 2 December 2022. They base numbers on a Circulating Supply of 8.163 Billion ANKR and a Total Supply 10 billion ANKR.
I think ANKR has value, but it is not safe. Speculators need to avoid ANKR because it appears to have serious holes in security. However, ANKR offers some useful blockchain tools. I recommend speculators stay away from Ankr until they fix the security.
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