According to @karpathy, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols are facing a critical threat not from smart contract vulnerabilities, but from poor operational security (OPSEC), making them soft targets for nation-state attackers like those from North Korea. The author highlights that attackers are exploiting human weaknesses such as inadequate key management, unvetted contributors, and governance via unsecured platforms like Discord, which have led to major incidents like the $625 million Ronin bridge exploit and campaigns against Bybit. This operational negligence poses a significant risk to project treasuries and token stability, a concern for traders as Bitcoin (BTC) trades around $108,009.02 and Ethereum (ETH) at $2,512.17. The analysis further warns that as the crypto industry, including major players like Coinbase, moves closer to traditional power structures, it risks diluting its core cypherpunk values of decentralization, which could undermine long-term investor confidence and the fundamental value proposition of digital assets.