The Crypto Winter’s Latest Casualty Is Data Center Firm Compute

Compute North Holdings Inc., which provides data center services for cryptocurrency miners and blockchain companies, filed for bankruptcy in Texas on Thursday.

By:BLOOMBERG
| Updated on: Sep 24 2022, 00:09 IST
This malicious Firefox add-on stole thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency
1/6 A particular malicious add-on for Firefox, that goes by the name Safepal Wallet, has managed to scam users by stealing money from them and managed to live on the Mozilla add-ons store for seven months before getting detected and removed. (Pixabay)
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2/6 Safepal is essentially a cryptocurrency wallet application that is capable of holding more than 10,000 types of assets, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin, etc. However, Safepal is an official smartphone app that is available for Apple and Android both. There are no known “authentic” Safepal browser extensions. (BleepingComputer)
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3/6 According to a post shared by a user who goes by the name Cali on the Mozilla Support forum, within a few hours of installing and logging in to the Safepal Wallet extension with their real Safepal credentials, they saw their wallet balance drop to $0 from $4,000.  (Mozilla Support Forum )
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4/6 While investigating Safepal Wallet, BleepingComputer came across the phishing domain used by the add-on and this webpage was also listed as the "support site" link on the fake add-on's home page: https://safeuslife.com/tool/. WHOIS records indicate the this phishing site was registered in January this year via Namecheap. And BleepingComputer reported that at the time of them filing this report, the webpage is still live and it instructs people to key in their "12-word Backup Phrase in the correct order to pair your SafePal Wallet". (BleepingComputer )
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5/6 Once the recovery phrase is entered and the form is submitted, the page refreshes without any noticeable response and the recovery phrase is sent to the attacker. A stolen recovery phrase can give attackers control over your wallet along with the ability to access and transfer funds. (Pixabay)
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6/6 Five days after Cali publicly reported the incident, a Mozilla spokesperson responded to say that they were investigating the issue and the page for Safepal Wallet has since been removed by Mozilla. The Mozilla add-ons store now has one-star reviews posted by some users that are warning others to not download “Safepal Wallet”. (BleepingComputer )
Cryptocurrency
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The latest to fall in the cryptocurrency market to file for bankruptcy is Compute North Holdings, which provides data center services for cryptocurrency miners and blockchain companies. (MINT_PRINT)

Compute North Holdings Inc., which provides data center services for cryptocurrency miners and blockchain companies, filed for bankruptcy in Texas on Thursday.

Based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Compute North said it owed as much as $500 million to at least 200 creditors. The company's assets are worth between $100 million and $500 million, according to its Chapter 11 petition.

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Chapter 11 filings allow a company to keep operating while it develops a plan to repay creditors. The company filed bankruptcy to stabilize its business while it restructures under court protection, Kristyan Mjolsnes, Compute North's head of marketing and sustainability, said in an email.

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Compute North started in 2017 as a crypto mining operation, branching out into co-location services that provided low-cost power for data centers, according to the company's website. In April, the company broke ground on a 300 megawatt co-location facility in Granbury, Texas.

The bankruptcy is the latest to hit the the digital asset space, where falling cryptocurrency prices and rising US interest rates have sent investors fleeing and triggered the collapse of lenders and hedge funds. Crypto broker Voyager Digital Ltd. filed for Chapter 11 protection earlier this year, while liquidators have been called in for bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

Mining companies have faced renewed stress from low Bitcoin prices and soaring energy costs. A closely watched gauge of mining revenue dropped to a two-year low earlier this month. Compute North faced delays in energizing mining machines for its client Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. in Texas due to local regulations in the state.

Marathon has about 40,000 mining machines installed in the company's West Texas facility, which has a roughly 280 megawatt capacity. Compute North also operates data centers in North Dakota and Nebraska, according to its website.

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First Published Date: 24 Sep, 00:09 IST
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