A recent post from Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has sparked speculation among the crypto community regarding his interest in the tap-to-earn game Hamster Kombat.

The post has led to a wave of comments and theories about the implications of his statement, potentially signaling an unexpected collaboration between the two.

Has Hamster Kombat Become the New Telegram CEO Interest?

Recently, Durov shared a video about the messaging app’s new updates on his official Telegram channel. He highlighted a shift in how people interact with mini-apps.

“Now people can collapse apps and switch between them. In the future, this new bottom bar will also store web pages and other content for later reading. This update also introduces the ability for channel owners to publish paid photos and videos, which users can buy with Stars. Like mini app developers, channel owners can convert the Stars they collect into Toncoin, with virtually no commission from Telegram,” Durov noted via his Telegram account.

Read more: Tap-to-Earn: What to Know About the Crypto GameFi Trend

Durov’s video strikingly features the Hamster Kombat, which draws community attention. The Hamster Kombat team also commented on this post.

“Looks like Pavel Durov was busy with new updates and just started playing Hamster Kombat! Pavel, please, keep in mind that upgrading your cards and increasing profit per hour is more important than the coin balance! And welcome to the Hamster Family, [sic],” the team wrote.

Hamster Kombat allows players to manage a virtual crypto exchange by tapping on digital hamsters to earn coins. Players tap in-game “hamsters” to mine HMSTR coins.

They can also boost earnings by winning coins via the Daily Combo, subscribing to the game’s YouTube channel, or inviting friends. Special missions and daily check-ins offer extra coins, and players can upgrade their exchanges to increase their earning rate.

BeInCrypto recently reported that Hamster Kombat has surpassed 200 million users globally. The project also launched its Hamster Academy in 17 different languages. The community eagerly awaits the long-promised airdrop.

Durov also has a history of showing interest in tap-to-earn games, thus further fueling the community’s speculation. In May, he publicly expressed his support for Notcoin (NOT), the pioneer tap-to-earn game on Telegram, illustrating how Notcoin quickly transformed from an in-game currency to real money for its users.

Read more: What is Notcoin (NOT)? A Guide to the Telegram-Based GameFi Token

In the same month, Durov and his team received over 1 billion NOT tokens, valued at roughly $6.8 million at the time. He pledged to keep the tokens until their value increased 100 times.

Arbitrum’s (ARB) price drop has led to ARB failing its investors by becoming the first major token during this season to chart an all-time low.

While meme coins and very small-cap tokens have witnessed ATLs before, Arbitrum’s market cap of $2.47 billion is rather surprising.

Arbitrum Investors Still Have Not Given Up

Arbitrum’s price may have formed an all-time low, but this has discouraged investors. Despite the price decline, participation on the network has been consistently high. As a result, the price DAA (Daily Active Addresses) divergence is currently flashing a buy signal. 

This indicator suggests that there is minimal room left for further drawdown, making it an opportune moment for potential investors to consider entering the market. Plus, since the altcoin is at its all-time low, ARB has nowhere to go but up.

Secondly, the adoption rate of Arbitrum has remained impressively high, consistently exceeding 20%. This steadiness highlights the robust demand and growing interest in the Arbitrum network. 

A strong adoption rate is crucial for any blockchain project’s long-term success and sustainability. Arbitrum’s performance in this regard is a positive sign for its future prospects despite the price witnessing declines.

Read More: How To Buy Cardano (ADA) and Everything You Need To Know

Moreover, the sustained high adoption rate indicates that Arbitrum has not lost traction in the market. Regardless of the fluctuations in the broader cryptocurrency landscape, Arbitrum has managed to maintain its appeal among users. This could help the price go back up.

ARB Price Prediction: Up, up, and Away

Arbitrum’s price has formed a new all-time low over the past 24 hours, trading at $0.72. The altcoin attempted this involuntary achievement twice in June, failing both times. This time, It was not so lucky.

However, since the altcoin has already likely hit bottom, there is no way to go but up. The altcoin supported by investor accumulation could be looking at reclaiming $1 as a support floor, which would warrant considerable support from either the market or the investors.

Read More: Cardano (ADA) Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030

If neither of the two appears, there is a good chance Arbitrum’s price could consolidate between $0.73 and $0.92. Since this happened back in October 2023, it could happen again and invalidate the bullish thesis.

SlowMist, a leading blockchain security firm, released its 2024 Q2 MistTrack Stolen Funds Analysis report, looking closely at cryptocurrency thefts in the second quarter of 2024.

Based on 467 reports of stolen funds, the firm revealed three key weaknesses led to cryptocurrency theft and explained the methods that users can utilize to protect their funds.

Private Key Leaks Top the List

According to SlowMist, the second quarter of 2024 saw a troubling increase in security incidents. During this time, users reported 467 cases of stolen funds, including 321 from Chinese sources and 146 from other countries.

The platform’s team helped 18 victims lock nearly $20.66 million worth of funds across 13 companies. Additionally, the firm discussed the main causes of these incidents.

The most common cause of crypto theft is the mishandling of private keys. Despite warnings, many people store their private keys in Google Drive and other cloud services. Some even send this data to friends through social networks and messengers. Hackers use credential stuffing attacks to log into these cloud services and steal private keys.

Read more: 15 Most Common Crypto Scams To Look Out For

Another common cause of private key leaks is fake wallets. These apps often replicate legitimate software exactly, tricking users into entering private keys and directly transmitting them to attackers.

“Despite being an old issue, many users still inadvertently click on ads while using search engines and download fake wallet apps. Many users choose to download applications from third-party sites due to network reasons. Although these sites claim that their apps are mirrored from Google Play, their actual security is questionable,” read the report.

Phishing also remains a major cause of theft in the crypto industry. According to SlowMist, about 80% of the first comments under tweets from prominent project accounts are occupied by scam accounts.

Read more: Crypto Social Media Scams: How to Stay Safe

Fake X (formerly Twitter) accounts that spam under posts are sold in various Telegram feeds. Attackers can select profiles based on the number of followers and registration date. Most of the pages being sold are related to the crypto industry and crypto influencers. Experts also noted that some websites sell fake X accounts.

“For example, a fake account named ‘Optimlzm’ can look almost identical to the real account ‘Optimism’. After purchasing the highly similar account, phishing groups use promotion tools to boost the account’s interactions and follower count, thereby increasing its credibility,” SlowMist experts noted.

Honeypot Promises Mislead Crypto Users

The third threat identified by SlowMist is the honeypot scam. In this scheme, fraudsters create tokens that seem promising and offer high returns, but these tokens are programmed to be unsellable. This type of scam is particularly rampant on decentralized exchanges like PancakeSwap.

 “I asked a question in a Telegram group, and someone enthusiastically answered and taught me a lot. They suggested I invest in a new token in the primary market and provided me with a contract address on PancakeSwap. After I bought it, the token’s value kept rising. They told me it was a once-in-six-months golden opportunity and urged me to invest more. When I asked others in the group to help investigate, I discovered it was indeed a honeypot token. I could buy but not sell it,” one victim shared with SlowMist.

Read more: Top 9 Safest Crypto Exchanges in 2024

To reduce these risks, SlowMist stresses the need for strong security practices. They recommend using blockchain explorers like Etherscan or BscScan, which offer insights through audit trails and user comments, and browser extensions like Scam Sniffer, which can detect and alert users about potential phishing sites.

The findings of this report highlight the ongoing vulnerabilities and underline the need for proactive security measures by all participants of the ecosystem.