DeFi

DeFi, short for decentralized finance, represents a shift in the financial sector by leveraging blockchain technology, primarily Ethereum, to eliminate traditional financial intermediaries. It enables various financial applications, from simple transactions to complex contracts, through smart contracts that execute automatically under specific conditions. Key DeFi applications include decentralized exchanges (DEXs), stablecoins, lending platforms, and prediction markets. DeFi offers financial services like loans and interest-earning opportunities without traditional identity verification, relying instead on collateral, usually in cryptocurrency. This innovative sector promises increased accessibility and efficiency but comes with risks, such as market volatility and unregulated projects.


Markets

Ethena's ENA Jumps 8% as Bybit Endorses USDe Token as Collateral for Derivatives Trading

Ethena's USDe tokenized yield strategy has attracted over $2 billion in deposits and some scrutiny of the token's risks.

(Ryan Quintal/Unsplash, Modified by CoinDesk)

Finance

Suilend to Run Monthslong Points Program With a Twist

The protocol's's pseudonymous founder Rooter previously has been critical of "predatory" points programs.

A points program with a twist (Agence Olloweb/Unsplash)

Videos

Bitcoin ETFs Are Still 'Wildly Successful': Kraken Head of Strategy

Kraken Head of Strategy Thomas Perfumo weighs in on overall performance across the crypto market and potential approval of spot Ether ETFs in the U.S. Plus, insights on growth in the DeFi space.

Recent Videos

Tech

The Protocol: EigenLayer's 'Intersubjective Forking' Is Objectively Not Done

Much-hyped restaking project EigenLayer's 43-page whitepaper about its now-revealed EIGEN token has raised lots of questions. They may not matter initially, because much of the promised functionality won't be ready when the token launches.

(Ivana Cajina/Unsplash)

Opinion

Your Crypto Project Needs a Sheriff, Not a Bounty Hunter

Avi Eisenberg’s centi-million dollar exploit of the decentralized Mango Markets trading platform revealed the perverse incentives of bug bounties.

Still from Sergio Leone's 1965 classic spaghetti western "For a Few Dollars More," where Clint Eastwood plays an antihero character with an unorthodox sense of justice. (Wikimedia Commons)

Finance

Crypto Custody Firm Fireblocks Now Offers DeFi Threat Detection for Institutions

The dApp Protection and Transaction Simulation products can check decentralized applications across 40+ blockchains via WalletConnect, Fireblocks’ browser extension, and MetaMask Institutional.

Fireblocks sign at Miami airport during Bitcoin Miami conference 2022 (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Finance

ZKasino Users Plead for Refunds as $33M of Bridged Ether Sent to Lido

Depositors were originally told that bridged ether would be returned once the bridging phase was over.

ZKasino sents $33M to Lido (Carl Raw/Unsplash)

Opinion

Bitcoin Will Power the Next DeFi Summer

The blockchain is emerging as a critical security-provider for decentralized apps and as an asset with newfound utility and interoperability.

Token unlocks are usually bearish events, increasing a token's supply.(FLY:D/Unsplash)

Finance

Aptos Strikes DeFi Partnership With Microsoft, Brevan Howard, SK Telecom

The aim is to offer banks and large institutions a gateway to decentralized finance on Aptos.

Aptos founders Mo Shaikh, left, and Avery Ching (Aptos Labs)

Finance

DeFi’s Path to Mass Adoption Goes Through Fintech Firms, Centralized Exchanges, Morpho Labs Chief Says

Paul Frambot, CEO of DeFi lending firm Morpho Labs, says fintechs, having relied on traditional finance rails until now, are all optimizing for layer-2 infrastructure.

Paul Frambot, CEO Morpho Labs (Morpho)