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.


Consensus Magazine

Ogle Catches the Crypto Crooks

Hacks happen a lot in crypto. So, Ogle has professionalized asset recovery for the victims. He's pretty good at it.

(Mason Webb/CoinDesk)

Policy

Duo Behind $9M Platypus Exploit Acquitted by Paris Court: Report

Charges were dropped after one of the accused argued he was an "ethical hacker," according to French news publication Le Monde.

Code (Markus Spiske / Unsplash)

Markets

There Are Tentative Signs of Revival in DeFi and NFT Markets, JPMorgan Says

Expectation of U.S. approval of a spot bitcoin ETF has led to an increase in DeFi and NFT activity in recent months, the report said.

Decentralized finance activity is starting to pick up. (Alina Grubnyak/Unsplash)

Videos

How Spool Is Aiming to Help Institutions Enter DeFi

SpoolDAO, which wants to help institutions enter decentralized finance (DeFi), has launched v2 of its middleware product. Spool lead contributor Simon Schaber discusses the current demand from TradFi institutions, details on Spool V2 and mitigating some of the risks that come with DeFi for institutional clients.

Recent Videos

Markets

Crypto Trading Firm Kronos Research Offers 10% Bounty to Hacker

Kronos Research was hacked in mid-November via stolen API keys, with the attacker making off with $25 million.

(Kris/Pixabay)

Videos

Ethereum Average Gas Fees Touched Highest Level in Six Months: Kaiko

DeFi activity is picking up, according to a recent report by blockchain analytics platform Kaiko. Wallet data shows the average gas fees on Ethereum touched the highest level in roughly six months recently. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie presents "The Chart of the Day."

CoinDesk placeholder image

Markets

Cross Chain Swap Token FLIP More Than Doubles on First Day of Trading

The token received praise from THORChain developers.

ChainFlip jumps 150% (Alicia Quan/Unsplash)

Finance

KyberSwap Offers 10% Bounty to Attacker Who Made Off With $50M

The attacker had said negotiations would start when they are "fully rested," and hasn't been heard from since.

Hands of two people are seen holding pencils over a pad of paper placed between two open laptops

Finance

What's Next for Ex-Binance CEO CZ? Passive Investing, DeFi

CZ said that he wants to spend more time investing in startups in the DeFi space after taking a break from working for a while.

Binance's CZ (Twitter/Modified by CoinDesk)

Videos

Could the Bank Secrecy Act Harm Crypto? Coin Center Thinks So

In this episode of Unchained, Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, explains why the IRS's proposed broker rule for tax reporting in crypto could harm the crypto industry as well as the security and privacy of users. He explains how Coin Center thinks the IRS should accomplish its aims, and why that would even work for collecting taxes on DeFi gains.

Unchained