DeFi – Decentralized Finance

FATF’s travel rule is looming over the crypto industry as an existential threat, writes Jack Jia of Unlimit. Here’s why it’s especially worrying to DeFi and self-custody wallet users.

DeFi has the potential to revolutionize finance, but hacks, poor user experience, and a lack of a regulations make many wary, writes Arthur Firstov of Mercuryo.

NFT-backed lending and borrowing can unlock liquidity and expand investment opportunities. Here are the best practices — and risks.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and others led to predictions of big shifts away from centralized finance. James Wo examines why that hasn’t happened yet.

Crypto users need not fear the increasing KYC/AML requirements around the world and loss of privacy, writes Kurt Hemecker of the Mina Foundation. Here’s why.

A hacker took advantage of an old contract from Yearn Finance on Thursday to steal US$11.6 million in stablecoins.

On-chain limit orders offer an alternative to centralized exchanges by improving transparency and security, writes Ramani Ramachandran of Dfyn. What are the drawbacks?

Storing personal information in a centralized place has been a honeypot for hackers, while decentralized identity allows for greater trust and data security, writes Caria Wei of Nuvo.

Traditional institutions are testing crypto waters, but given last year’s market carnage, it’s not easy to gain their confidence, writes Simon Schaber of Spool.

Amid the current banking crisis, each side is exhibiting disdain for the other when neither holds the moral high ground, writes Rachel Lin of SynFutures.

If there was a lesson from the crypto implosions of 2022, it is the demonstration of the superiority of open code and decentralization over central intermediaries, argues Voorhees at DC Blockchain Summit.

The recent U.S. bank failures are proof that the banking system is introducing systemic risks to the crypto industry, not vice versa, says Circle chief strategy officer Dante Disparte.

Euler Finance, a decentralized finance lending protocol has lost approximately US$197 million in an exploit, according to online crypto security analysts.

In the race to tame crypto’s excesses, we need to avoid regulatory clashes while DeFi draws lessons from TradFi, writes Rachel Lin of SynFutures.

Web3 is growing more rapidly than the early internet, writes Ken Timsit of Cronos Labs. But to achieve mainstream success, the following issues must be addressed.

The total value of crypto assets deposited in liquid staking protocols rose to US$14 billion, surpassing lending services before Ethereum’s Shanghai update. 

Amid the rubble of FTX and other centralized exchanges, cross-chain technology and on-chain trading offer more trustworthy alternatives, writes Simon Harman of Chainflip.

Multi-billion dollar bankruptcies, fraud allegations, scandal, and plunging cryptocurrency prices in 2022 all characterized why investors came to distrust centralized exchanges. Yet, some commentators expect platforms to become ever more centralized … and regulated.

Lenders in the crypto sector are optimistic about DeFi’s recovery this year – but why is that?

CeFi and Defi are terms you’ve probably heard of before. But what exactly is CoFi, and how could it fulfil crypto’s promise of helping investors take back control of their finances?

Self-custody is cumbersome and carries risks of seed phrases getting lost, but how can we ensure if a third-party custodian can be trusted?

CeDeFi offers the benefits of CeFi and DeFi without their shortcomings, writes Alexander Tkachenko of VNX. Here’s how it works.

DeFi is still a Wild West, and many would-be users are wary of its lawlessness and anonymity. Could decentralized IDs foster greater trust and growth in the sector?

Islamic finance has seen growth in a time where most of the world’s economy has suffered losses. How could its integration into crypto help the industry?

Top blockchain and crypto news: BTC mining ETF outperforms. SBF under pressure as accusations mount. ‘China’s Instagram’ embraces NFTs.

Valkyrie’s Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin Miners exchange-traded fund (ETF), WGMI, has been the best-performing fund of 2023 so far, rising over 105% throughout January.

Laws to prevent another FTX blowup, crackdowns on crypto tax cheats, and a ruling on Ripple are likely imminent. A bull’s eye is also on DeFi, writes Gergo Varga of SEON.

Price is the wrong measure of Web3’s true value, writes Angie Lau, editor-in-chief of Forkast. To recover from Crypto Winter, we need metrics that are less prone to whims and manipulation.

DeFi Summer has cooled into Crypto Winter, but with a silver lining — investors are finally asking sensible questions like: ‘Where does the yield come from?’ writes Julian Koh of Ribbon Finance.

Immunefi founder Mitchell Amador believes the future security risks of CBDCs will highlight the benefits of DeFi.

ChainSafe’s Aidan Hyman believes that crypto’s fully decentralized application layer may finally be complete in 2023.

Dennis Jarvis of Bitcoin.com believes the incoming regulatory crackdown on CeFi may tip the scales in DeFi’s favor next year.

ICBA vice-president Brian Laverdure believes that community banks are unfazed by FTX’s collapse, but remain split on cryptocurrencies.

Ethan Buchman of Cosmos believes that 2023 may be the year of decentralized exchanges and more advanced cross-chain applications.

Centralized exchanges releasing ‘proof of reserves’ is not enough to win back users, while improving user experience will be key, writes Holger Arians of Banxa.

Hong Kong launched two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking cryptocurrency futures on Friday, the first of their kind in Asia, the local exchange said.

Three Hong Kong-based asset management firms have applied for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Bitcoin and Ethereum futures for retail investors.

The push to regulate DeFi is stronger than ever, and the sector would be wise not to fight but participate in that inevitability, writes Michael Shing of XREX.

Telegram plans to build non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges for cryptocurrencies following the collapse of the FTX exchange says CEO Pavel Durov.

FTX’s collapse has now led to another crypto service filing for bankruptcy. Could this be the end for centralized exchanges?

Justin Sun says CeFi must adopt DeFi’s transparency to regain public trust as 1inch Network cofounder Sergej Kunz sees crypto’s struggles as an opportunity for DeFi.

Why does making the most of the crypto ecosystem remains out of reach for many?

Asset tokenization and DeFi hold tremendous potential for the finance sector, writes Han Kwee Juan of DBS Bank. Here’s how the Singaporean government is at the forefront of change.

Calls for tougher rules on cryptocurrency have been echoing ever louder through the offices of global financial regulators since the collapse of the FTX exchange. But the firm did not invent dodgy business practices, so what can regulators and the industry do?

Alexey Pertsev, a developer of the now-sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash, has been ordered to stay in jail until Feb. 20 at least.

Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin has sounded a warning against the pitfalls of decentralized finance (DeFi) and self-custody, namely of bugs in smart contract code.

The tokenization of property in DeFi differs greatly from the securitization that led to the global financial crisis. In this introductory part of a special series of three articles, Forkast looks at the origins of the phenomenon, what’s new about it, and the promise it holds for investors.

Unlike the 2008 crash, the government won’t be bailing out FTX’s investors, writes Nick Saponaro of Divi Labs. Will regulators see this as a cue to crack down on exchanges?

DeFi remains unusable for all beyond a niche community, writes Dennis Jarvis of Bitcoin.com. ‘Should it stay like this, it will never attract a wide audience.’

Decentralized finance will stay niche unless the sector overcomes its myriad problems, including a lack of a credit system and regulations that inspire greater trust, writes Brian Pasfield.

What are soulbound tokens, and how can they end the ‘credit paradox’ that has been holding back the unbanked masses? Fakhul Miah of CreDA explains.

DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, said it tested trading of foreign exchange and government bonds using permissioned decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity pools on a public blockchain as part of the city-state’s Project Guardian exploration of blockchain in finance.

The bank is in the center of developments shepherded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to explore digital financial technologies emerging around blockchain.

The city is seeking to allow digital asset-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to be publicly listed and traded in the city.

Europe’s new MiCA framework for regulating crypto shows the good that can happen when government works with and not against the industry, writes Nick Saponaro of Divi Labs.

WEMADE, a South Korean blockchain game developer, recently launched its stablecoin, WEMIX$, for growing its blockchain ecosystem, which houses NFTs and DeFi.

A Twitter user highlighted a vulnerability in BitBTC’s Optimism bridge and averted what could have been the latest in a string of bridge exploits this month.

The perpetrator of the US$9.1 million Moola Market exploit returned close to the entirety of the loot in exchange for an undisclosed ransom on Wednesday, according to the project’s social media update.   See related article: ‘Hacktober’ continues with US$1 mln taken from BitKeep token swap service Fast facts Decentralized finance (DeFi) project Moola Markets announced […]

An unidentified hacker stole over US$1 million in Binance Coin (BNB) tokens from decentralized multi-chain wallet BitKeep’s token swap service on Monday, according to a Tuesday statement by the company. See related article: Crypto hackers on track for bonanza year as theft surges, Chainalysis says Fast facts “Our development team managed to contain the emergency […]

The market may be in the doldrums, but there’s no better time to clean house and build for the future, writes Clayton Roche of UMA. Here are 5 areas of opportunity.

Centralized lenders like Celsius and Voyager have proven hugely problematic, but DeFi also has big issues. What if we pursue a hybrid approach?

As blockchains experience outages, what steps should developers take to best prevent future incidents?

Crypto asset manager Valkyrie will liquidate its Balance Sheet Opportunities exchange-traded fund (ETF) at the end of October and then delist from Nasdaq.See related article: What the Bitcoin futures ETF bonanza means for investors Fast facts See related article: Markets: Bitcoin price falls with Ether. Doge sole gainer in top 10 cryptocurrencies

Mango Markets, a decentralized platform hosted on the Solana blockchain, was exploited for over US$100 million. See related article: What is the Solana ecosystem and how is it fueling SOL’s stratospheric rise? Fast facts Mango’s token MNGO was severely impacted, dropping 42.9% in the past 24 hours to US$0.023 as of 11:15 a.m. in Hong […]

When times are tough, a DAO must trim fat and focus on providing a better product or service to its community, writes Redmption of Harvest Finance.

Beyond the bear market, Web3 technology is shining bright in gaming and music, writes Hannes Graah of Gro. Are we at a tipping point for mass adoption?

Sam Bankman-Fried‘s FTX is in talks with potential investors about a funding round that would keep the company’s valuation in line with prior financing at the start of the year, CNBC reported Wednesday.  See related article: Binance and FTX lead bidding for bankrupt Voyager Fast facts FTX Trading Ltd.’s latest funding round in January raised […]

Already a big part of global finance, interest rate swaps can be a boon for DeFi — if it can overcome these challenges, writes Simon Jones of Voltz Labs.

Maja Vujinovic, founder and CEO of OGroup, a financial services company with a focus on artificial intelligence and blockchain, spoke to Forkast about the future of digital assets at StartmeupHK Festival 2022.

Ethereum post-Merge will be much more attractive to institutional investors keen on ESG and earning stable yields, writes Wei Zhou of Coins.ph. Here’s why.

Cryptocurrency-related insurance is a vast untapped market, with less than 1% of crypto investments covered amid hacks and losses in the industry running into the billions of dollars, Cointelegraph reported, citing an executive from decentralized insurance protocol InsurAce. See related article: DeFi insurance: Why buy coverage for your digital assets? Fast facts Dan Thomson, the […]

The collapse of Celsius and Anchor wasn’t a failure of DeFi, writes Kaaran Kalantari of WingRiders. They failed to assess risk, and crypto Darwinism took shape.