Email marketing firm MailerLite has confirmed that hackers gained access to accounts of large Web 3.0 companies to carry out phishing email scams that drained an estimated $3.3 million from subscribers.
Hours after the emails had been sent to subscribers, MailerLite released details of how its system had been compromised through a social engineering attack targeting a customer support employee.
“The team member, responding to a customer inquiry via our support portal, clicked on an image that was deceptively linked to a fraudulent Google sign-in page,” the company said in a statement. .
According to Cointelegraph, the employee unwittingly authenticated access, which gave the attackers access to MailerLite’s internal admin panel. The hackers gained further control by resetting a specific user’s password through the admin panel.
MailerLite revealed that the hackers accessed 117 accounts, but only exploited a smaller number to launch phishing campaigns. The service provider warned that its clients’ and subscribers’ data, including full names, email addresses, and personal information uploaded to MailerLite, were affected.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has expressed confidence that spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications won’t require legal battles for approval.
Peirce also spoke of the US Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) commitment to avoiding an “arbitrary and capricious” approach, referring to the Grayscale court ruling that preceded the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
While acknowledging the importance of precedent, she said that the unique aspects of each ETF application would be taken into consideration, emphasising the thorough evaluation of disclosures aligning with the product’s functionality before market readiness.
Several prominent entities, including BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity, and Grayscale, are among the applicants seeking SEC approval for spot Ether ETFs. The chances of approval are estimated at 70 per cent by May 2024, according to senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. However, some industry observers, such as Morgan Creek Capital’s CEO Mark Yusko, have expressed caution, predicting a less than 50 per cent chance of approved spot Ether ETFs due to the SEC’s perceived overall hostility toward the crypto industry.
The recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the United States SEC has triggered a fee war that has now reached Europe. US investors, who previously turned to European and Canadian-based ETFs are now drawn to more accessible and liquid US-based spot BTC ETFs.
The shift in demand dynamics has also prompted European asset managers, such as Invesco and WisdomTree, to respond by significantly reducing fees on their European-listed ETFs.
Invesco’s Physical Bitcoin ETF, valued at $137 million, will witness a fee reduction from 0.99 per cent to 0.39 per cent, while WisdomTree’s Physical Bitcoin ETF, with a $325 million valuation, will experience a cost reduction from 0.95 per cent to 0.35 per cent. This fee-cutting trend echoes the pre-approval strategy observed in the US, where applicants revised S-1 filings multiple times to lower ETF fees. Now, similar adjustments are being made in Europe, too.
The decision to slash fees by over 60 per cent is attributed to heightened competition and the availability of multiple ETFs in the US. With the approval of 11 spot BTC ETFs in the US, the demand for European ETFs from US investors has considerably diminished.
