Topic: #defi
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Crypto valuations could double as protocols adopt token buybacks
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said crypto valuations could at least double as protocols increasingly use revenue to fund token buybacks and burns, with revenue-capture mechanisms expected to spread across DeFi and layer-1 networks over the next 12 to 24 months.
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Ether.fi splits weETH from restaking as Ethereum rewards debate heats up
Ether.fi removed restaking from weETH, its flagship staking token, forcing users into a separate token (weETHs) to access higher-risk yield. The move comes as Ethereum researchers propose capping validator rewards, sparking criticism from staking operators.
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Chinese AI models show context-aware security flaws, researchers warn
Booz Allen and University of Toronto researchers found that Chinese AI models behave differently when prompted in U.S. government contexts, and that open-weight AI can power adaptive worms. The findings raise urgent questions about AI-assisted code security in immutable blockchain systems.
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Shopify Q2 revenue beats estimates, launches native USDC payments
Shopify beat earnings expectations and raised Q3 guidance, with shares surging 34% in premarket trading. The e-commerce platform's partnership with Coinbase and Stripe to enable USDC payments marks a major step toward mainstream crypto adoption for merchants.
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XRP Holders Can Borrow RLUSD on Ethereum Without Selling
Flare's FXRP has been approved as collateral in a Morpho lending vault, allowing XRP holders to tap Ethereum's DeFi markets and borrow Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin against their holdings without selling.
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Spark Pivots to DeFi Backend for PayPal, Robinhood Stablecoin Rails
Spark, the lending unit of Sky (formerly MakerDAO), abandoned its consumer-facing app to focus on supplying liquidity and yield infrastructure to major fintech platforms. The shift targets $1 billion in OTC lending by year-end, with Robinhood and PayPal already live on its stablecoin rails.
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Trump's Gaza peace deal revives stablecoin infrastructure debate
Trump's July 31 disarmament agreement with Hamas includes discussions of a dollar-pegged stablecoin for Gaza reconstruction, raising regulatory questions about US oversight of crypto deployed in geopolitical contexts.
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Stablecoin market cap falls to six-month low as capital shifts to yield alternatives
The stablecoin market has contracted roughly $10 billion over the past 10 weeks to a six-month low, marking the sector's first sustained decline in four years. Capital is migrating to tokenized Treasury products and yield-bearing on-chain instruments as regulatory changes limit stablecoin issuers' ability to compete.
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xAI sues Minnesota to block nation's first AI nudification law
Elon Musk's xAI filed a federal lawsuit against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to block HF 1606, arguing the law's definition of intimate parts is so broad it would criminalize shirtless photos and swimwear images. The law takes effect Saturday.
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Merkle Science brings confidential transfers to Sui with regulatory compliance
Merkle Science is deploying confidential transfers on Sui that keep account balances private while giving compliance teams structured access, attempting to resolve the long-standing tension between blockchain privacy and regulatory oversight.
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SEC warns crypto yield vaults face securities scrutiny over human control
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce warned that crypto vaults face securities-law scrutiny when people control how assets earn yield, placing protocols like Morpho in a regulatory gray zone based on their governance structure.
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Flare Networks CEO Announces Six-Month XRPFi Integration Roadmap
Flare Networks CEO Hugo Philion announced a six-month roadmap to transform the XRP-based DeFi ecosystem through large-scale integration, with technological updates rolling out within two weeks and institutional adoption expected to follow security audits.
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Chainlink expands with eight integrations across three blockchains
Chainlink announced eight integrations across four services and three blockchain networks, including partnerships with Aave, CaliberCo, and Glacis Labs. The expansion reinforces the protocol's role in cross-chain interoperability and compliance.
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Bitcoin trapped between $65K and $62.5K resistance levels
Bitcoin is trading near $64,500 this weekend, positioned between $65,000 resistance and $62,500 support—the two levels that will determine whether the week closes with a recovery rally or a breakdown toward $60,000.
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DeFi's Institutional Trust Problem: Pricing On-Chain Real-World Assets
The DTCC's tokenization trial with 40 major firms signals institutional appetite for on-chain RWAs, but DeFi faces a critical bottleneck: deciding which oracle feeds and curators can be trusted to price tokenized stocks, bonds, and commodities when primary markets close.
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Bitwise CIO: Hyperliquid and Robinhood lead next crypto cycle
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said Hyperliquid and Robinhood could emerge as leading beneficiaries of the next crypto bull market, driven by the convergence of traditional and onchain finance rather than speculation alone.
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SEC's Hester Peirce warns DeFi vaults may trigger securities scrutiny
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has cautioned that on-chain DeFi vaults and lending strategies could be classified as securities, urging builders to engage with regulators before enforcement action follows.
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Hyperliquid Opens HIP-4 Prediction Markets to Permissionless Deployers
Hyperliquid announced plans to allow outside builders to launch prediction markets on its HIP-4 infrastructure, requiring deployers to stake 500,000 HYPE tokens and follow validator-approved outcome templates. The feature will debut on testnet before expanding to mainnet.
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Coinbase CEO Armstrong Rejects AI Mining Exodus Theory
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pushed back against billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya's prediction that AI profits will drain Bitcoin miners, arguing the network's automatic difficulty adjustment and global monetary policy—not electricity costs—determine Bitcoin's price.
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Galaxy Digital Launches Galaxy Curator, Morpho-Based Institutional Yield Platform
Galaxy Digital has launched Galaxy Curator, an institutional vault curation platform built on Morpho that provides access to onchain yield strategies for Fireblocks' 2,400+ institutional clients seeking returns on idle stablecoin balances.
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Ostium halts trading after oracle exploit drains $23.7M USDC
Ostium halted all trading on July 15 after a compromised oracle signer key allowed an attacker to fabricate price data and drain up to $23.7 million from its liquidity vault, highlighting critical gaps in DeFi protocol security beyond smart contract audits.
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Galaxy Digital launches GOFR for institutional onchain credit access
Galaxy Digital introduced GOFR (Galaxy Onchain Financing Rates) on July 14, 2026, aggregating DeFi lending rates from four protocols and backing positions with up to $100 million of its own capital for institutional borrowers.
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US deficit hits $1.37 trillion in fiscal 2026 amid spending surge
The US federal government collected $4.15 trillion but spent $5.52 trillion through nine months of fiscal 2026, creating a $1.37 trillion deficit. Revenue grew 4% year-over-year, yet spending outpaced it, pressuring Treasury yields and potentially weakening the dollar.
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Robinhood Chain tokens vanish from wallets after purchase, Relay reports scam wave
Buyers on Robinhood Chain lost funds when tokens they purchased disappeared from wallets, according to Relay. The incidents were not private-key compromises. Relay is blocking suspicious tokens and verifying safe assets as the Layer 2 network sees increased scam activity.