DEFI
Decentralized Finance, DeFi as a concept is to be able to offer almost all the financial services available with legacy and centralized institutions, typically banks, but on the blockchain. Whatever traditional services financial institutions provide can be expected to be offered through DeFi. In short, Defi is blockchain-based financial services that traditional financial services map into, creating new services or derivatives stemming from blockchain's unique features. Although we have had concepts like distributed computing and decentralized computing for decades, DeFi is in fact a new concept and an expansion of the application scope of blockchain as infrastructure.
DeFi Execs Argue KYC as Solution to Combat Money Laundering in the Industry
DeFi executives at the WOW Summit in Hong Kong endorse KYC as a solution to tackle AML issues and combat hackers laundering stolen funds into clean money. However, there are concerns that KYC alone will not solve all AML problems and that different mechanisms should be used for different solutions.
Coinbase Identifies Four Key Innovations for its Layer-2 Network
Coinbase has identified four crucial innovations, including inflation-pegged "flatcoins," to be built on its recently launched layer-2 network Base. The other three areas are an on-chain reputation system, an on-chain limit order book exchange, and safer tools for DeFi.
Euler Finance Hacker Returns Majority of Stolen Funds
The hacker behind the $196 million exploit on lending protocol Euler Finance has returned the majority of the stolen assets, including 51,000 ETH and 7,737 ETH, worth a total of over $101 million at the time of writing. The hacker still controls some of the stolen assets, and the hack is considered the largest DeFi hack of 2023.
DeFi Giants Launch on Ethereum Layer 2 zkSync Era
Some of the biggest names in decentralized finance, including Uniswap, Sushi, Maker, and Curve, are set to launch on zero-knowledge proof roll-up zkSync Era on March 24. The Ethereum layer 2 scaling network has opened to users in alpha after four years in development, enabling faster and cheaper transactions.
CFTC Receives DeFi Crash Course
Crypto executives provided a DeFi crash course to the CFTC during their first Technology Advisory Committee meeting. Topics included blockchain technology, decentralization, digital identity, and exploits and vulnerabilities.
DeFi Insurance Claims Reach $34.4 Million
DeFi insurance firms paid out $34.4 million in claims in 2022, including $22.5 million for the collapse of Terra Luna and $4.7 million for FTX. DeFi insurance now covers eight major categories, but more work is needed to scale.
DeFi Hacker Returns $5.4M to Euler Finance
A hacker who drained $197 million from Euler Finance returned 3,000 ETH ($5.4 million) to the deployer address, following a $1 million reward announcement by Euler Finance. The attacker used a multichain bridge to transfer funds from the BNB Chain to Ethereum and moved the stolen funds into Tornado Cash before returning the funds.
Uniswap Officially Live on BNB Chain
Uniswap goes live on BNB Chain following a governance proposal, aiming for user growth, lower fees, and new market access.
Euler Finance suffers $197M DeFi hack
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Euler Finance lost nearly $197 million in a flash loan attack on March 13, impacting more than 11 other DeFi protocols. The vulnerability remained on-chain for eight months despite a $1 million bug bounty in place. Euler Finance disabled the vulnerable etoken module and vulnerable donation function, and has reached out to security firms and the ETH security community to help with the investigation and recover the stolen funds.
DeFi Funding Skyrockets 190% in 2022
Digital asset investment firms invested $2.7 billion in decentralized finance (DeFi) projects in 2022, marking a 190% increase from the previous year, while investments into centralized finance (CeFi) projects dropped by 73% to $4.3 billion. Despite the overall crypto funding figures falling from $31.92 billion to $18.25 billion, DeFi saw a near three-fold increase, potentially signaling it as the new high-growth area for the crypto industry, according to a CoinGecko report.
DeFi Suffers $21M in Losses from Exploits
Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms lost at least $21 million in February due to a series of exploits including flash loan reentrancy attacks, price oracle attacks, and other hacks across seven protocols. Noteworthy incidents included the reentrancy attacks on Platypus Finance and dForce network, the price oracle attack on BonqDAO, and the smart contract exploit on Hope Finance. These incidents follow a report by Chainalysis revealing that DeFi platforms lost $3.1 billion to hacks in 2022.
Jump Crypto Recovers $140 Million Worth of Tokens from Wormhole Hack
Jump Crypto and Oasis recover $140m from Wormhole hack, showcasing importance of collaboration and innovation in fighting crypto hacks.
Oasis.app and Jump Crypto Retrieve $225 Million in Crypto
The hacker's vaults show that Oasis sent 120,695 wstETH and 3,213 rETH to Jump Crypto on February 21.
Two suspects have been arrested by the French police in connection with Platypus
French authorities apprehended two individuals in Platypus' $9.1 million exploit.
Interchain Foundation to Spend $40 Million on Cosmos Ecosystem Development
The ICF supports adoption initiatives like Interchain Builders and Interchain NFTs while emphasizing core development.