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.

Markets

Trump-Linked Crypto Platform's $33M Ether Transfer Spurs ETF Staking Hopes

The SEC could consider approving staking for ETFs, boosting sentiment and prices for the second-largest cryptocurrency, market observers said.

By Krisztian SandorJan 22, 2025

President Donald Trump (TheDigitalArtist/Pixabay)

Finance

Jupiter to Issue $612M JUP Tokens in Wednesday Airdrop

JUP has fallen 2% over the past 24 hours.

By Oliver KnightJan 22, 2025

Jupiter (Kamran Abdullayev/Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

Finance

Ethereum Foundation Moves $165M in ETH to Participate in DeFi

The ether allocation comes amidst leadership changes aimed at improving technical expertise, communication, and support for app builders.

By Francisco RodriguesJan 20, 2025

Markets

Trump-Linked Crypto Platform Throws Over $100M on WBTC, ETH, Other Tokens Ahead of Inauguration

The buying frenzy came after WLFI token sales picked up ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration.

By Krisztian SandorJan 20, 2025

Donald Trump at BTC 2024 (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Markets

Red-Hot DeFi Platform Usual Faces Backlash as Protocol Update Triggers Sell-Off

An unexpected change in the redemption mechanism of the protocol's yield-generating token caught investors off-guard, throwing the DeFi community into disarray.

By Krisztian SandorJan 10, 2025

FLASH: Balances on the Lightning Network can be revealed by relatively straightforward cyberattacks, researchers say. (Credit: Shutterstock)

Tech

Ripple Aims to Boost RLUSD Stablecoin's DeFi Utility with Chainlink Standard

Chainlink will provide crucial pricing data for Ripple's U.S. dollar stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain.

By Krisztian SandorJan 7, 2025

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse (Suzanne Cordiero/Shutterstock)

Markets

DeFi Protocol Usual's Surge Catapults Hashnote's Tokenized Treasury Over BlackRock's BUIDL

Hashnote's USYC is the primary backing asset of the red-hot decentralized finance protocol Usual, whose USD0 stablecoin zoomed over $1 billion market capitalization in a few months.

By Krisztian SandorDec 20, 2024

Digitally altered photo of a dollar bill (Ryan Quintal/Unsplash, Modified by CoinDesk)

Opinion

How Aggregation and Decentralized AI Will Completely Reshape Blockchains in 2025

Transformative breakthroughs will finally enable blockchains to scale seamlessly and deliver on the promise of a fully connected “Internet of Value.”

By Sandeep NailwalDec 20, 2024

Opinion

Three Predictions For 2025

2024 has been a pivotal year for crypto. However, the real turning point is still to come. Here are three predictions for 2025 that could help ignite it, says Marcin Kazmierczak.

By Marcin KazmierczakDec 18, 2024