The Daily: Trump vs. Harris debate sparks crypto risk-off sentiment, Indodax faces $20 million exploit, Matter Labs poaches Solana Foundation exec an

Happy Wednesday! In today's Daily, the Trump vs. Harris U.S. presidential debate spurs risk-off sentiment in the crypto market, Indonesian crypto exchange Indodax faces a $20 million exploit, Matter Labs poaches Solana Foundation's VP of Marketing and more.

Let's get started.

US presidential debate spurs risk-off sentiment in crypto market

Last night's U.S. presidential debate turned into a "sell-the-news" event, sparking risk-off sentiment in crypto amid consensus that Donald Trump's performance against Kamala Harris was underwhelming, according to Bitfinex analysts.

• The price of bitcoin fell 2.6% from around $57,700 to $56,100 in the hours immediately following the televised debate before later recovering, with the analysts highlighting that a Trump victory is generally viewed as more favorable for risk assets, including crypto.
• PolitiFi memecoins inspired by both Trump and Harris also experienced declines .
• Meanwhile, BRN analyst Valentin Fournier suggested that Harris' debate performance has led the market to reassess her chances of winning, potentially putting downward pressure on bitcoin's price.
• Kamala Harris' odds of winning the election rose from 46% to 49% on the decentralized predictions platform Polymarket immediately after the debate, briefly tying with Trump again before he retook the lead by 50% to 48% later on Wednesday.
• As for the debate itself, despite covering a broad range of topics, it ended without any mention of crypto .

Indonesian exchange Indodax faces $20 million exploit

Indonesian crypto exchange Indodax discovered security issues on its platform that appear to have led to a multi-million dollar exploit .

• "We identified a significant security breach targeting Indodax's hot wallet, resulting in a loss of over $20.5 million across multiple chains," Yosi Hammer, data scientist at blockchain security firm Cyvers, said.
• "Our real-time monitoring systems flagged 160 critical red flags at the onset, beginning with a transfer of 660 ETH," he added.
  Indodax said it was conducting maintenance on the platform, whose website and app are currently inaccessible.
• Despite the reports, Indodax claims clients' funds remain "100% safe" in both crypto and rupiah.

ZKsync developer Matter Labs poaches Solana Foundation exec

ZKsync developer Matter Labs has hired Meghan Hughes , former VP of Marketing at the Solana Foundation, as its new Chief Marketing Officer.

• Hughes brings experience from companies like Google, Facebook and Stripe, where she led marketing and communications efforts.
• Matter Labs aims to leverage Hughes' expertise in go-to-market strategy and product-led growth to help "share its story" and "elevate its narrative," the firm told The Block.
• Hughes said it felt like the right moment to be a part of amplifying ZKsync, seeing parallels between Solana's early days and Matter Labs' mission to scale Ethereum.

Caroline Ellison's attorneys claim jail time is unnecessary, citing cooperation

Caroline Ellison's attorneys said she should serve no jail time for her role in FTX's collapse, advocating for a sentence of time served with a period of supervised release, according to a sentencing memorandum filed late Tuesday.

• Lawyers for the former Alameda Research CEO cited her cooperation with the government and FTX debtors, as well as her testimony at Sam Bankman-Fried's trial last year, claiming she aided in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Ellison is set to face sentencing in New York on Sept. 24 related to her involvement with Alameda Research and FTX.
• Charges against her include two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of actual wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Bitcoin mining difficulty hits fresh all-time high following record network hash rate

Bitcoin BTC +0.24% mining difficulty rose 3.6% on Wednesday morning to hit a new all-time high , following a record seven-day moving average total network hash rate reached over the weekend.

• Positive or negative difficulty adjustments occur every 2,016 blocks — roughly two weeks — to maintain the average of one new block mined every 10 minutes, regardless of how many miners are actively mining.
• Despite a significant post-halving drop in miner revenue, remaining operators, dominated by U.S. public miners, have ramped up their hash rate in recent months, deploying new capacity, upgrading their mining rigs and consolidating market share.

In the next 24 hours

• The ECB's latest interest rate decision is due at 8:15 a.m. ET on Thursday. U.S. PPI and jobless claims figures follow at 8:30 a.m.
• ECB President Christine Lagarde will speak at 10:15 a.m.
• ETHSafari continues in Kenya as the Dubai AI & Web3 Festival concludes.

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