Decentralized finance: lending, DEXs, stablecoins, yield, and liquidity. 353 stories curated by CryptoCatalyst.
Pencil Finance has funded 1,000 student loans entirely on-chain, supporting thousands of Southeast Asian students. The project did not disclose borrower costs, defaults, or investor returns.
Tether-backed Orionx is shutting down permanently after an audit revealed a $7 million gap in customer assets. The audit found that funds were moved to wallets outside Orionx's custody, raising concerns about asset security.
OpenReserve, a startup backed by venture capital firm a16z, has received approval for a full-service national bank charter. This allows the company to offer insured deposits and conventional lending alongside stablecoin issuance, setting it apart from other crypto firms that have opted for trust-bank charters.
NetNet Capital's $NET token supply grew 21% this week, from 56,000 to 67,800, all gated by the premium above NAV and capped at 0.45% per epoch. 89.3% of supply remains staked, essentially flat.
OpenReserve, a blockchain-focused bank, has been granted a provisional charter by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). This approval allows it to operate as a full-service bank, joining other crypto-native institutions in the rapidly evolving financial landscape. The bank plans to offer cryptocurrency and stablecoin-related services, backed by a $25 million seed round.
Pencil Finance completed a $1 million onchain lending cycle, providing loans to 6,600 students in Southeast Asia who lack access to traditional banking. This marks the first time blockchain has been used at this scale to address student financing in the region.
Robinhood Chain's decentralized exchange saw a 61% jump in trading volume, reaching $1.6 billion. This comes as DeFi deposits and stablecoin holdings on the platform approach $800 million. The surge highlights growing interest in Ethereum Layer 2 solutions for decentralized trading.
Wyoming has integrated Chainlink's technology to provide near-real-time, onchain verification of reserves for its state-issued stablecoin, FRNT. This move enhances transparency and trust in government-backed digital currencies.
A new lawsuit claims Tether froze $42.4 million in USDT at the request of U.S. law enforcement over three months before a formal warrant was issued. This raises questions about due process and transparency in crypto asset freezes.
Russia's Sberbank, the country's largest bank, has seen $46 billion in crypto trading and plans to offer loans backed by Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT) once regulators approve. This move highlights the growing mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies in Russia, despite past regulatory uncertainties.
Ethena Pay introduces a stablecoin-based banking service offering 6% annual savings and 5% cashback on purchases, settling transactions on the Avalanche blockchain. This move brings crypto-native financial products closer to traditional banking convenience.
Singapore's financial regulator has proposed new rules requiring stablecoin issuers to hold 100% reserves and banning yield-generating stablecoins. The rules align with U.S. and EU frameworks and aim to recognize foreign stablecoins.
A consortium of global banks and asset managers, including Citi and Goldman Sachs, is launching a stablecoin venture. The project will initially focus on a U.S. dollar stablecoin for payments and digital asset settlement, with plans to expand into a euro token.
The Cronos network, linked to Crypto.com, paused operations after a $75 million exploit on the Tectonic platform. The attacker manipulated token prices to borrow against inflated collateral, similar to the Mango Markets hack.
Sber, Russia’s largest bank, will accept Tether (USDT), Ethereum (ETH), and Bitcoin (BTC) as collateral for loans under the country’s new regulated crypto trading law. This move signals growing institutional acceptance of cryptocurrencies in Russia despite skepticism about the digital ruble.
Crypto executives agree that AI agents will need their own currency to pay each other, but they sharply disagree on what it will be. One executive believes the solution hasn't even been invented yet, suggesting the next trillion-dollar currency could be something entirely new.
Crypto executives claim new blockchain payment systems could replace Swift, but bankers argue Swift’s 11,500-institution network is too powerful to be replaced. The debate centers on whether traditional finance can adapt to decentralized technology.
Japanese financial giant SBI has acquired a 20% stake in Indonesian online brokerage Ajaib for $270 million. The deal aims to build a cross-border, blockchain-based settlement network using yen stablecoins in Southeast Asia.
Ethena, the issuer of the $4 billion USDe stablecoin, expects real-world asset perpetuals to eclipse crypto derivatives in its backing within 12 to 24 months, aiming to capitalize on the booming equity perpetuals market and offer higher yields to users.
Moonwell is investigating a potential exploit on its lending platform, with security firms estimating losses of $8.7 million. The incident involves the manipulation of collateral prices for MAMO tokens on the Base network.
Ethena's ENA token surged after the protocol proposed a buyback program and adjusted venture capital unlock schedules. These moves aim to cut investor selling pressure and channel protocol revenue to ENA as Ethena looks to revive USDe growth.
Revolut is rolling out its euro-backed stablecoin, EURR, to a select group of customers in Denmark, Poland, and Portugal. This marks a significant step toward mainstream adoption of stablecoins in Europe.
Shinhan Financial Group is collaborating with Visa to test stablecoin issuance and business-to-business (B2B) settlements. This pilot aims to streamline cross-border payments and explore AI-driven payment models.
$NET is a reserve share backed by at least 1 USDG of the protocol's on-chain portfolio, with a $57M FDV, $6M circulating market cap, and a $4M treasury of USDG and RWAs. NetNetCapital accumulates productive assets like stablecoins and stocks, aiming to bring this novel DeFi mechanism to Robinhood.