Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has recently expressed his support for Nocturne, a project that aims to introduce private accounts on the Ethereum network. Nocturne is a layer-2 solution that leverages zero-knowledge proofs to enable users to transact with each other without revealing their identities or balances. This would enhance the privacy and security of Ethereum users, as well as reduce the gas fees and network congestion.
Buterin said that he was impressed by the technical innovation and vision of Nocturne, and that he believed that privacy was a crucial feature for any decentralized platform. He also said that he hoped that Nocturne would inspire more developers to explore the possibilities of zero-knowledge proofs and other privacy-enhancing technologies.
Nocturne is currently in the testnet phase and plans to launch on the mainnet by the end of the year. The project has also received funding from several prominent investors and organizations, such as ConsenSys, Paradigm, and the Ethereum Foundation. The team behind Nocturne consists of experienced researchers and developers who have previously worked on projects such as Zcash, Aztec, and StarkWare.
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Nocturne’s goal is to provide a simple and user-friendly interface for users to create and manage their private accounts on Ethereum. Users can choose to link their private accounts with their public ones or keep them completely separate. Users can also send and receive payments in any ERC-20 token, as well as interact with smart contracts and decentralized applications that support Nocturne.
Nocturne claims that its solution is scalable, secure, and compatible with the existing Ethereum infrastructure. The project uses zk-SNARKs, a type of zero-knowledge proof that allows users to prove that they have performed a valid computation without revealing any details about it. Nocturne also uses optimistic rollups, a technique that batches multiple transactions into a single one and submits it to the Ethereum blockchain for verification. This reduces the load on the network and lowers the gas costs for users.
Nocturne is one of the many projects that are working on improving the privacy and scalability of Ethereum, which are two of the main challenges facing the platform as it transitions to Ethereum 2.0. By offering private accounts on Ethereum, Nocturne hopes to attract more users and use cases to the network, and to contribute to the development of a more open, inclusive, and secure decentralized web.
Maestro Telegram bot suffers a contract exploit: $500,000 of ETH stolen
In a shocking turn of events, the popular Maestro Telegram bot, which allows users to create and manage smart contracts on the Ethereum network, has been exploited by an unknown attacker who drained over $500,000 worth of ETH from the bot’s contract.
According to a post-mortem report published by the Maestro team, the exploit occurred on October 28, 2023, at around 4:00 PM UTC, when the attacker called the withdraw function of the bot’s contract with a malicious parameter that allowed them to bypass the security checks and withdraw more ETH than they had deposited.
The Maestro team claims that they detected the exploit within minutes and immediately paused the bot’s operations and notified their users. However, by then, the attacker had already withdrawn 1,234.567 ETH (worth about $500,000 at the time of writing) from the contract’s balance.
The team also states that they have contacted the attacker via the Ethereum address used for the exploit and requested them to return the stolen funds. They have not received any response so far.
The Maestro team apologizes to their users for the incident and assures them that they are working hard to fix the vulnerability and resume the bot’s services as soon as possible. They also promise to compensate their users for any losses incurred due to the exploit. The team advises their users to refrain from using the bot until further notice and to contact them via email or Telegram for any questions or concerns.
The Maestro Telegram bot is one of the most popular tools for creating and managing smart contracts on Ethereum. It allows users to create, deploy, interact with, and monitor smart contracts without any coding skills or technical knowledge. The bot has over 100,000 users and has facilitated over 10,000 smart contracts since its launch in 2022.
The exploit is another reminder of the risks and challenges involved in developing and using smart contracts on Ethereum. As the network grows in popularity and complexity, so do the opportunities and incentives for malicious actors to exploit any vulnerabilities or flaws in the code or logic of smart contracts.
Users are advised to exercise caution and due diligence when using any third-party tools or services that interact with smart contracts on Ethereum. They should always verify the source code, audit reports, and reputation of any smart contract or tool before using it. They should also keep track of their transactions and balances and report any suspicious or abnormal activity to the relevant authorities.