Deputy leader of council resigns as Marble Arch Mound costs hit £6m August 13, 2021 The Deputy leader of Westminster Council has resigned after costs for the Marble Arch Mound reached £6m – almost double the amount forecast. The Mound, which opened on July 26th, was heavily criticised by visitors who were charged to climb the 25-meter, muddy heap before construction was finished. Ticket holders have received refunds and the [...]
Foreign Affairs Committee Chair slams Western pullout from Afghanistan August 13, 2021 The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, who served in Afghanistan, has heavily criticised the decision to pull out troops. In a series of emotional tweets conservative MP Tom Tugendhat said: “If you think I’m taking the news from Afghanistan badly and personally, you’re right.” “The decision to withdraw is like a rug pulled [...]
Hacker behind $600m DeFi attack returns funds August 11, 2021 A hacker has returned assets to the Poly Network after they stole $611m of users’ funds in the biggest DeFi attack to date. The hacker today returned $256m of stolen funds after details about their identity were found by the blockchain analytics firm SlowMist Technology. In a statement, SlowMist said they had “discovered the attacker’s [...]
Demand for houses worth £1m is greater outside London than inside August 11, 2021 London is losing its grip on the luxury housing market with more homes worth £1m sold outside the capital than inside for the first time. Data provided by the HM Land Registry has revealed that 51 per cent of the 6,573 homes that sold for more than £1m in England and Wales were based outside [...]
Coinbase takes record $1.9bn in transaction revenue in Q2 August 11, 2021 Coinbase, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, took a record $1.9bn (£1.4bn) in transaction revenue in Q2 of 2021. Trading volume increased by 1,550 per cent hitting $462bn, up from $28bn in Q2 of 2020. Net revenue for Q2 and adjusted EBITDA also increased tenfold, reaching $1.6bn and $1.1bn respectively. Bumper transaction [...]
Quilter announces robust interim results as net client cashflow doubles August 11, 2021 Quilter, a British wealth management company, has published robust interim results with net client cashflow doubling compared to the same period in 2020. Net Client Cash Flow saw a year on year increase of 127 per cent in the first half of 2021 reaching £2.5bn while adjusted profit before tax increased by 20 per cent [...]
More than $600m lost in worst ever DeFi hack August 10, 2021 Poly Network, a cross-chain protocol, has been attacked by a hacker who drained $611m (£441m) in the worst ever theft affecting Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Poly Network, which operates on the Ethereum, Binance and Polygon blockchains took to Twitter to announce the theft. They said: “We are sorry to announce that #PolyNetwork was attacked on @BinanceChain, [...]
Three quarters of UK adults receive both vaccine doses August 10, 2021 Three quarters of UK adults have now been double jabbed, with an estimated 60,000 deaths prevented due to the success of the rollout. New data from Public Health England (PHE) shows COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalisation from the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant, the dominant strain of coronavirus in the UK. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is [...]
London bitcoin miner faces attack from short-seller Boatman Capital August 10, 2021 A London-listed bitcoin miner has been accused of purchasing land for 100x its value by the anonymous authors of a report from Boatman Capital. In February 2021, Argo Blockchain told shareholders it had reached an agreement with DPN LLC to buy 320 acres of land in Texas for $5 million in shares initially, rising to [...]
Google employees could face pay cuts under remote working scheme August 10, 2021 Google employees could experience pay cuts if they choose to work remotely on a permanent basis, with those who commute hit hardest. In June, Google gave US employees access to a new Work Location Tool which allows them to see how moving would impact pay as part of plans to pay remote workers based on [...]