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.


CoinDesk Indices

Why DeFi Will Benefit From Trade Wars

In the short-term, the crypto market will be negatively impacted by increased volatility in global trade, says ML Tech’s Leo Mindyuk. But over time, crypto will be less impacted than traditional finance.

International trade ship

Finance

Elastos Raises $20M to Build Native Bitcoin DeFi Protocol

Another project looking to turn Bitcoin into a more fruitful base for DeFi has raised $20 million in funding toward that goal

16:9 Elastic (evondue/Pixabay)

Finance

Trump-Linked World Liberty Financial Buys $2.6M TRX and $10M WBTC

The project now holds $352 million worth of crypto tokens, Arkham shows.

President Donald Trump (TheDigitalArtist/Pixabay)

Finance

Restaking Protocol Puffer Finance Reveals Upcoming Airdrop Details

The protocol has launched CARROT, a token that can be accrued via staking and governance activity.

Puffer fish (Stelio Puccinelli/Unsplash)

Markets

Trump-Linked Crypto Platform's $33M Ether Transfer Spurs ETF Staking Hopes

The SEC could consider approving staking for ETFs, boosting sentiment and prices for the second-largest cryptocurrency, market observers said.

President Donald Trump (TheDigitalArtist/Pixabay)

Finance

Jupiter to Issue $612M JUP Tokens in Wednesday Airdrop

JUP has fallen 2% over the past 24 hours.

Jupiter (Kamran Abdullayev/Unsplash)

Finance

Ethereum Foundation Moves $165M in ETH to Participate in DeFi

The ether allocation comes amidst leadership changes aimed at improving technical expertise, communication, and support for app builders.

Vitalik Buterin

Markets

Trump-Linked Crypto Platform Throws Over $100M on WBTC, ETH, Other Tokens Ahead of Inauguration

The buying frenzy came after WLFI token sales picked up ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration.

Donald Trump at BTC 2024 (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Markets

Red-Hot DeFi Platform Usual Faces Backlash as Protocol Update Triggers Sell-Off

An unexpected change in the redemption mechanism of the protocol's yield-generating token caught investors off-guard, throwing the DeFi community into disarray.

FLASH: Balances on the Lightning Network can be revealed by relatively straightforward cyberattacks, researchers say. (Credit: Shutterstock)

Tech

Ripple Aims to Boost RLUSD Stablecoin's DeFi Utility with Chainlink Standard

Chainlink will provide crucial pricing data for Ripple's U.S. dollar stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse (Suzanne Cordiero/Shutterstock)