Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, DeFi protocol Bonzo Lend lost about $9 million after an attacker manipulated the price of SAUCE through a flaw in Supra’s oracle verifier on Hedera. The US Department of Justice is reportedly seeking to drop its case against alleged BitClub fraudster Matthew Goettsche, while New Hampshire rejected a proposal to issue $100 million in Bitcoin-backed bonds, dealing a blow to one of the most closely watched state crypto initiatives in the US.

Bonzo Lend loses $9M in oracle exploit on Hedera

Hedera-based lending protocol Bonzo Lend lost about $9 million after an attacker manipulated the price of SAUCE used as collateral, allowing the account to borrow assets far beyond the value deposited.

In a preliminary incident report published Saturday, Bonzo said the attacker deposited 250 SAUCE, worth only a few dollars, before submitting a price update that inflated the token’s value by roughly 12 orders of magnitude. The wallet then borrowed 6.63 million USDC and 34.5 million wrapped HBAR from the lending pool.

The case illustrates how oracle failures can turn low-value collateral into a tool for draining large amounts of liquidity from lending protocols, even when the application and underlying network continue operating as designed. 

Bonzo attributed the incident to a flaw in Supra’s on-chain oracle verifier, which accepted a manipulated SAUCE price carrying a zeroed signature. The protocol said Supra acknowledged the issue and deployed a fix, while stressing that the incident was not a vulnerability in Bonzo Lend’s contracts or Hedera’s core network.

Estimated economic impact of the incident. Source: Bonzo Finance

DOJ moves to dismiss charges against alleged $722M BitClub fraudster: Report

The US Department of Justice is reportedly moving to drop charges against the founder of BitClub Network, a purported crypto mining platform that allegedly defrauded investors of $722 million between 2014 and 2019.

A court filing shows Matthew Goettsche’s attorneys wrote to New Jersey district court Judge Claire Cecchi on Wednesday, stating that the parties “reached an agreement in principle” to resolve the pending charges “but need time to finalize the terms.”

Goettsche’s attorneys' letter to New Jersey district court Judge Claire Cecchi. Source: Bloomberg Law

The filing came after the deputy attorney general’s office in Washington reportedly ordered the New Jersey attorney general’s office to dismiss the case against Goettsche with prejudice, according to a report on Friday from Bloomberg Law, citing two sources familiar with the matter. 

Goettsche was indicted in December 2019 and was set to face trial in October for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and selling unregistered securities. A reversal would mark one of the more notable changes in US crypto enforcement history, particularly given that three of his former colleagues, Silviu Balaci, Joseph Abel and Gordon Beckstead, have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the scheme.

The potential reversal follows an April 2025 memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who directed the DOJ to end its “regulation by prosecution” strategy against the digital asset industry.

New Hampshire rejects $100 million Bitcoin-backed bond proposal

New Hampshire’s executive council has voted down a proposal to issue $100 million in Bitcoin-backed bonds, marking a setback for one of the highest-profile state crypto initiatives in the US.

The five-member council rejected the measure 3-2 despite support from Governor Kelly Ayotte and prior approval from the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority. The proposal would have seen CleanSpark provide Bitcoin as collateral for the bonds, building on the state’s crypto-friendly agenda after lawmakers approved a Bitcoin reserve law in 2025. State representative Keith Ammon called the decision “short-sighted” and urged the council to reconsider.

Supporters argued the bonds would strengthen New Hampshire’s position as a digital asset leader, while opponents warned they would expose the state to unnecessary financial risk. Moody’s had assigned the proposed bond a provisional Ba2 rating earlier this year.