Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly source of crucial insights into decentralized finance (DeFi) – a newsletter designed to keep you informed about the most important events of the past week.
In the latest edition, the cumulative losses from crypto hacks and exploits have reached $19 billion over the last 13 years, with a total of 785 reported incidents. Additionally, the Solana Foundation has taken action against validators implicated in sandwich attacks on traders.
In another significant development, Terraform Labs has decided to shut down its operations completely and transfer control to the Terra community following a $4.47 billion settlement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Crypto hacks surge to $19 billion in 13 years: Crystal Intelligence
The cryptocurrency sector has experienced 785 reported hacks and exploits in the past 13 years. A report from Crystal Intelligence, shared with Cointelegraph, reveals that nearly $19 billion in digital assets have been stolen since the first known crypto hack was reported on June 19, 2011.
The largest single crypto theft remains the 2019 Plus Token fraud, where attackers made off with $2.9 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). In February 2024, the $290 million security breach on PlayDapp marked the biggest crypto heist in the past two years.
Curve founder repays 93% of $10 million bad debt from liquidation
Michael Egorov, the founder of DeFi protocol Curve Finance, claims to have repaid 93% of the $10 million bad debt resulting from the protocol’s soft liquidation triggered earlier.
On June 13, Curve Finance successfully tested its soft liquidation mechanism during a recent hacking attempt, although the price of its native CRV token dropped by over 28% amidst the chaos. According to Arkham Intelligence, Egorov faced $140 million in liquidations after borrowing $95.7 million in stablecoins against $141 million in CRV across five accounts on five protocols.
Terraform Labs to cease operations, Terra community to take charge
Chris Amani, CEO of Terraform Labs, announced that the company will be closing down its operations following a $4.47 billion settlement with the U.S. SEC. The firm intends to sell key projects within the Terra ecosystem and hand over control of the Terra blockchain to the community.
This decision comes in the aftermath of the SEC’s settlement with Terraform Labs regarding the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) in 2022, which includes a substantial $3.58 billion disgorgement and a civil penalty of $420 million.
Solana takes action against validator sandwich attacks
The Solana Foundation has removed a group of validator operators from its delegation program due to their involvement in sandwich attacks targeting traders.
In a sandwich attack, a malicious trader identifies a pending transaction on a network like Ethereum and places orders before and after it to manipulate the asset’s price and profit from the difference.
DeFi market overview
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicates that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a bearish week, with most showing losses on the weekly charts. The total value locked in DeFi protocols has reached $101 billion.
Thank you for reading our recap of the most significant DeFi developments this week. Join us again next Friday for more stories, insights, and information on this rapidly evolving sector.