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Limassol Explores Private Investment To Finance €1.3 Billion Climate Plan

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

Limassol is exploring ways to attract private investment for its waterfront transformation, with public guarantees and risk-sharing mechanisms among the options under consideration.

An investment dialogue on November 10 at the Panos Solomonides Cultural Centre will examine how to make the regeneration of Aktaia Odos more attractive to investors. The event will bring together municipal and national authorities, financial institutions and businesses to discuss how public support can reduce investment risks and borrowing costs.

A €1.3 Billion Climate Investment Pipeline

The initiative forms part of Limassol’s Climate City Contract, an investment strategy worth approximately €1.3 billion. The European Commission recognised the city as one of the EU’s 100 climate-neutral and smart cities and awarded it the EU Cities Mission Label in 2024.

The plan covers around 30 actions and 300 projects across energy, digitalisation, waste management, the circular economy, the coast and port, and the built environment. However, the Municipality of Limassol is expected to implement directly only about 9% of the pipeline. Delivering the rest will depend on European and national funding, institutional support and private investment.

Aktaia Odos: Transforming Limassol’s Waterfront

Aktaia Odos is a priority project under the Climate City Contract. It aims to regenerate the coastal area behind Limassol’s port, where ageing industrial infrastructure and the traditional “Karnagio” shipyard have long separated the site from the wider waterfront.

The project envisages a 1.5-kilometre seafront park connecting the Marina and city centre with the new port and western development zone. Plans include public transport infrastructure, pedestrian and cycling routes, and provision for a possible future tram line, subject to a viability assessment.

A pilot section opened in September 2025, featuring approximately one kilometre of walking and cycling paths, lighting, new trees and a 350-metre reclaimed beach.

Further development depends partly on relocating the Karnagio shipyard to a modern facility elsewhere. The shipyard provides repair and maintenance services for Cyprus’ marinas, while the central government is responsible for identifying a suitable alternative coastal site.

The wider regeneration is expected to encourage sustainable construction, tourism and business activity, while expanding green spaces and supporting lower-emission transport.

How Public Guarantees Could Unlock Investment

Participants will examine financing options including green and blue bonds and loans, Build-Operate-Transfer contracts, public-private partnerships and blended finance.

Particular attention will go to the state’s potential role through public guarantees, first-loss tranches and credit enhancement. These mechanisms can absorb some early-stage and political risks, reducing investors’ exposure and potentially lowering the cost of capital.

Strategically deployed public funding could therefore help make projects commercially viable without requiring the state to finance them in full.

Bringing Authorities And Investors Together

The roundtable will involve the municipality, national ministries, financial institutions and companies in construction, logistics and mobility. Plenary sessions and smaller World Café-style discussions will focus on financing options, investment barriers and opportunities for collaboration. The conclusions are expected to inform a wider climate finance conference in Athens in November.

The programme includes presentations on financing net-zero cities by Bob D’Haeseleer of ICLEI, green investment by Dr Loukas Dimitriou of the University of Cyprus, and climate-driven urban transformation by Filip Coenen of the City of Leuven and Aimilia Pistrika of the European Investment Bank.

Limassol Mayor Yiannis Armeftis will deliver the opening remarks at 10 a.m. Breakout discussions are scheduled from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., followed by group conclusions and closing remarks.

Turning Climate Ambition Into Investable Projects

For Limassol, the challenge is to create financing structures that make climate-focused urban development attractive to private investors while preserving its public benefits. Public guarantees, co-investment and risk-sharing could help bridge the gap between the city’s climate ambitions and the capital needed to deliver them.

Binance Details Months-Long Cyberattack Behind $6.34 Billion Crypto Theft

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

Binance has disclosed how attackers used fake software downloads, fraudulent job interviews and compromised internal tools to breach its wallet infrastructure in an October 29 cyberattack that resulted in the theft of more than $6 billion in digital assets.

The incident was not caused by a single employee mistake, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”. Instead, attackers spent months building access before reaching the system responsible for authorising wallet transactions.

“They spent months building their way in,” Teng said, describing a sequence involving a compromised developer tool, malware hidden in a coding exercise and access to internal AI systems.

How Attackers Reached Binance’s Wallet Infrastructure

According to Binance’s security report, the operation began in June when a Wallet DevOps engineer downloaded a modified Homebrew installation while searching online for a popular AI coding tool.

Binance detected suspicious activity, replaced the engineer’s device and rotated credentials. However, the company said the engineer’s role and the work of colleagues on the wallet infrastructure team had already been exposed.

In September, attackers allegedly posed as recruiters and interviewed another engineer. A coding exercise contained hidden malware designed to evade security controls, Teng said. The attackers subsequently moved through internal AI tools and gained access to the system authorising wallet transactions.

Teng did not directly attribute the attack to North Korea, but said the FBI had linked it to North Korean hackers associated with the TraderTraitor group.

Binance Recovers Most Affected Assets

Binance said it has replenished 98% of the $6.34 billion in affected assets and is working to acquire the remaining, less-liquid holdings. The exchange temporarily restricted certain withdrawals, committed to covering customer losses and used its reserves to restore affected funds.

The company and industry partners, including Tether, Circle and Ripple, have reportedly frozen around $3 billion in assets. However, some stolen funds continue to move through laundering channels.

Coinbase has also blocked transfers to compromised wallets and offered assistance to Binance.

Security Overhaul And Industry Confidence

Following the breach, Binance rebuilt the affected wallet system and internal AI tool, replaced compromised devices, revoked credentials and tokens associated with the engineers involved, and expanded security scans across employee devices.

The exchange has also commissioned an independent expert to review its response and security measures. Teng said Binance would continue strengthening its defences while working with law enforcement and industry partners to trace and freeze the stolen funds.

The incident has renewed questions about the security of centralised crypto exchanges. Although Binance maintains that it remains financially sound, attention is now focused on recovering the remaining assets and demonstrating that its security controls can withstand increasingly sophisticated attacks.

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