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.


Tech

Popular BTC Derivatives Product Goes Live on DeFi's dYdX

Andreessen Horowitz-backed dYdX released its Bitcoin Perpetual Contract out of private alpha on Wednesday, bringing a key BTC derivatives product to DeFi.

Trading screen

Videos

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the DeFi ‘Flash Loan’ Attack

There’s now a case study for how DeFi can go awry. bZx, the eighth-largest decentralized finance project according to DeFi Pulse, suffered two attacks last weekend following the introduction of “flash loans,” a new DeFi feature that limits a trader’s risk while improving the upside.

CoinDesk placeholder image

Markets

Kyber to Offer Delegated Token Staking After Coming Network Upgrade

A new partnership with StakeWith.US will allow community members to delegate staking if they don't have time or knowledge to get directly involved in governance, said Kyber.

Loi Luu, CEO and co-founder of Kyber Network (right), at CoinDesk Consensus (Credit: CoinDesk archives)

Tech

Network Bringing Bitcoin to DeFi Taps Libra Member Bison Trails for Staking Services

DeFi protocol Keep Network has tapped Bison Trails to provide non-custodial staking services for tBTC, an ERC-20 representation of bitcoin (BTC) deposits.

Archives and record keeping

Finance

DeFi Project dForce Refunds All Affected Users After $25M Hack

The Lendf.me smart contract was hacked on April 29, but then, curiously, the funds were returned two days later.

(Ilya Pavlov/Unsplash)

Tech

AVA Labs Will Splash Millions to 'Brain Merge' DeFi and Traditional Finance

AVA is already in dialogue with five DeFi projects interested in receiving some of the "many millions" it's making available in grants.

Emin Gun Sirer speaking at CoinDesk Consensus

Tech

Coinbase Launches Price Oracle Aimed at Reducing Systemic Risk in the DeFi Space

With around a billions dollars locked in decentralized finance projects, the new data feed for cryptocurrency prices is aimed to help keep those funds secure.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong

Markets

Market Wrap: Oil Rebounds As Crypto Makes Gains, Especially Ether

Oil’s bounceback performance seems to be taking the driver’s seat in market activity. Bitcoin is also up, and ether’s price performance is even better.

Source: CoinDesk BPI

Tech

Multi-Chain DeFi Protocol Raises $750K in Token Sale With Framework Ventures

DeFi fund Framework Ventures has purchased roughly 5 percent of Kava Labs' outstanding token supply ahead of the CDP platform's launch next month.

The kava plant

Markets

dForce Hacker Returns Almost All of Stolen $25M in Crypto

The hacker had drained $25 million in cryptocurrency from decentralized finance protocol dForce over the weekend.

Refund transactions from the Lendf.Me hacker. Data via Etherscan.io