- What is a DAO: governance and treasury controls without a boss
- What is an oracle in DeFi: The data layer that decides prices, loans, and liquidations
- How to evaluate a DeFi protocol with a trader’s failure-mode checklist
DeFi
Decentralized finance: open financial services built on blockchain.
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Learn about DeFi

What is staking in crypto: How it works, rewards, and the risks you underwrite
Staking locks proof-of-stake tokens as consensus collateral for variable rewards, with liquidity lockups and enforceable penalties.

What is yield farming: How DeFi “yield” really gets paid
Yield farming pays fees, borrower interest, and token incentives, but the return is compensation for risks like IL, depegs, exploits, and costs.

What is a DAO: governance and treasury controls without a boss
A DAO is a governance and treasury system where smart contracts can enforce votes, but many outcomes still rely on humans to execute them.

What is an oracle in DeFi: The data layer that decides prices, loans, and liquidations
A DeFi oracle publishes external data, usually prices, on-chain so smart contracts can set collateral values, borrow limits, and liquidation thresholds.

How to lend crypto on Aave: approve, supply, track aTokens, withdraw cleanly
Aave “lending” is supplying to a chain-specific pool, receiving aTokens that accrue variable interest, then redeeming them to withdraw.

How to evaluate a DeFi protocol with a trader’s failure-mode checklist
Start by mapping the yield’s cashflow source, then score five wipeout paths before you deposit: code, control, mechanism, exitability, and dilution.
Keep going
Related areas to explore. Pick one and keep reading.
- How to lend crypto on Aave: approve, supply, track aTokens, withdraw cleanly
- How do automated market makers work: pricing swaps with on-chain inventory
- How Aave bad debt works: from post-liquidation leftovers to reserve deficits
- What is staking in crypto: How it works, rewards, and the risks you underwrite
- What is yield farming: How DeFi “yield” really gets paid
- What Is a Liquid Restaking Token: How LRTs Reuse Staked Collateral for Extra Security
Latest DeFi News
Daily NK alleges DPRK arrested ex-cyber operators over bank hacks and crypto laundering
The claim names the central bank and Foreign Trade Bank as targets, but the report has not been independently verified.
SEC’s Peirce warns DeFi vaults and onchain lending can trigger securities laws
The commissioner flagged discretionary allocation and loan terms as key factors that could force registration or exemptions.
Hacken: Q2 crypto theft skewed to key and infrastructure failures, not contract bugs
The firm’s Q2 2026 report pegs 88.3% of $764M stolen to keys, signers and infrastructure, pressuring institutions to demand continuous controls.
Allbridge pauses Allbridge Core after reported $1.65M Solana stablecoin pool exploit
Attackers allegedly used a Kamino USDC flash loan, then bridged funds to Ethereum and moved them into privacy pools.
Crypto and bank executives converge on identity-linked wallet “super app” thesis
Visa logged 132.4M sub-$250 stablecoin transactions in 30 days as a $2T-by-2028 forecast frames adoption.
Consensys says DPRK-linked contractor accessed MetaMask core code via staffing vendor
The firm says no malicious code shipped to production and no user-security impact was found after an April cutoff.
Tokenized stocks hit a $2.3B record as Kraken xStocks and Binance bStocks expand
Ethereum leads chain share at 34%, but BNB Chain and Solana are close behind at 30% and 23%.
ARK Invest and Sentora challenge a16z’s permissioned-first TradFi blockchain thesis
The dispute centers on whether institutional tokenization settles on public DeFi rails or stays inside institution-controlled networks.
Hyperion DeFi to deploy 500,000 HYPE with Skew to seed Hyperliquid HIP-3 perps
The Nasdaq-listed firm gets Skew equity and a share of listing-service revenue tied to institutional market launches.
Ostium halts all trading after OLP vault incident tied to apparent oracle compromise
Security firms estimated $18M–$22M in losses, while Ostium urged users to revoke approvals as it investigates.
US and UK Treasuries endorse 1:1 HQLA-backed stablecoins and tokenization pilots
Joint recommendations set a coordination track into the US payment stablecoin regime’s January 2027 effective date.
HMRC sets April 2027 start for deferred CGT on some crypto lending and AMM LP moves
The “no gain, no loss” treatment pushes tax recognition to an “economic disposal” and is expected to affect about 700,000 UK individuals and trustees.
Dragonfly’s Qureshi says AI hasn’t sparked a DeFi “hackpocalypse”
He points to a 2026 median hack size below $500,000 despite record incident counts and lingering outlier-driven loss spikes.
CryptoRank: Coinbase Ventures led H1 2026 crypto VC deal flow with 30 deals
The league table landed as fundraising dollars, round counts, and unique investors contracted into mid-2026.
Bonzo Lend reports $9M hit on Hedera tied to manipulated oracle price update
The described failure point was a Supra verifier accepting a manipulated price update, reviving oracle-integrity risk for lending markets.
Bonzo Lend Hit for ~$9M After SAUCE Oracle Price Manipulation on Hedera
Bonzo says a Supra oracle verifier accepted a zeroed-signature update that enabled 6.63M USDC and 34.5M wrapped HBAR borrowing.
Binance CEO: MiCA-era outflows went 70% to self-custody, 30% to regulated venues
CryptoQuant data showed Binance USDC reserves fell 21% to about $4.47B through early July as stablecoin outflows accelerated.
Dune data shows USDT and USDC splitting into payments and DeFi settlement roles
MiCA-compliant euro stablecoins grew to nearly $674M ahead of July 1 as Strategy sold 3,588 BTC to fund dividends.
Injective SDK npm package backdoor targeted private keys and seed phrases
@Injectivelabs/sdk-ts v1.20.21 was downloaded 310 times before removal, and researchers urged key rotation for any exposed wallets.
Bitwise flags rare DeFi resilience as its index fell 4% in June vs Bitcoin’s 22%
The firm argues DeFi is “quietly re-rating,” but its market-cap index is 61% weighted to Hyperliquid’s HYPE.



















