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.


Technologies

DeFi Project Mercurial Plots Revamp and New Tokens Following 'Toxic' Association With FTX

Mercurial would launch some of its popular products as a separate project under the name Meteora.

Piggy bank bent forward change money coins (Andre Taissin/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Technologies

DeFi Protocol SushiSwap Proposes 'Immediate' Action to Support Its Treasury

Developers proposed to divert 100% of fees generated on the platform to Sushi’s multisig for one year or until new tokenomics are implemented.

Los rollups no tienen la seguridad de Ethereum. (Luigi Pozzoli/Unsplash)

Marchés

Crypto Audit Platform Sherlock Expects $4M Loss From Troubled Loans on Maple Finance

Sherlock deposited $5 million USDC of its staking pool into the beleaguered credit pool on Maple, which suffered a $31 million hit from Orthogonal Trading’s FTX-induced insolvency.

Mysterious transactions and reconciliation head-scratchers happen in traditional finance, too, but crypto could be uniquely prone to a situation of this sort. (Wikimedia Commons)

Marchés

Crypto Firm Orthogonal, Victim of FTX Contagion, Now Faces Internal Dissent

Shortly after Orthogonal got served with default notices on $36 million of crypto loans from Maple Finance, the firm’s credit team published a statement saying it was “speechless” and unaware of the extent of the trading team’s exposures.

Rancor and dissent have broken out between units of Orthogonal Trading after $36 million of loan defaults on the crypto lending platform Maple Finance. (Charles Altamont Doyle/Creative Commons, modified by CoinDesk)

Juridique

Financial Stability Watchdogs Vow to Tackle DeFi, Learn FTX Lessons

Policymakers from the world’s major jurisdictions want an international rulebook for crypto.

FSB Chair Klaas Knot (left) meets the Indonesian president in November. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Web3

Alchemy Releases Web3 App Store to Streamline Dapp Access

Alchemy aims to build trust among developers and blockchain-curious users as they explore the space using one streamlined interface.

Alchemy CEO Nikil Viswanathan (Pantera Summit 2019)

Marchés

DeFi Risk-Sharing Protocol Nexus Expects Loss on Maple Credit Pool Investment as FTX Contagion Widens

Nexus Mutual, which offers an insurance alternative for decentralized finance traders, deposited some $19 million in ETH to Maple’s wrapped ether credit pool, which was rocked by Orthogonal Trading’s recent default.

Posiciones cortas de ether registraron liquidaciones de $200 millones. (deepblue4you/Getty images)

Vidéos

Aave's Lens Protocol Buys NFT Mobile Game Sonar

Lens Protocol, the blockchain-based social media project from decentralized finance (DeFi) lender Aave, has acquired Sonar, a mobile app whose users pilot NFT-linked avatars through digital worlds. "The Hash" panel discusses what this means for the future of Web3 social and why "now is the moment."

Recent Videos

Marchés

FTX Contagion Spreads as Orthogonal Trading Gets Default Notice for $36M Debt on Maple Finance

Creditor M11 Credit issued a default notice to Orthogonal Trading for $36 million of loans, while Maple Finance severed all ties with Orthogonal for misrepresenting its financial position.

Crypto hedge fund Orthogonal Trading appears to be the next firm becoming insolvent after crypto exchange FTX's implosion. (Tom Wilson/Unsplash)