Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly source for crucial insights into decentralized finance (DeFi) – a newsletter designed to keep you informed about the most significant events from the previous week.
In the latest edition, it has been reported that the total losses from crypto hacks and exploits have reached a staggering $19 billion over the course of 13 years, with a total of 785 incidents. Additionally, the Solana Foundation has taken action against validators involved in sandwich attacks on traders.
In another major development, Terraform Labs has decided to shut down operations completely and transfer control to the Terra community after reaching a $4.47 billion settlement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Crypto hacks reach $19 billion over 13 years: Crystal Intelligence
The crypto industry has experienced a total of 785 reported hacks and exploits over the past 13 years.
According to a report from Crystal Intelligence shared with Cointelegraph, 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 case remains the Plus Token fraud in 2019, where attackers made off with $2.9 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). In February 2024, the $290 million security breach on PlayDapp became the largest single crypto heist in the past two years.
Curve founder settles 93% of $10 million bad debt from liquidation
Michael Egorov, the founder of DeFi protocol Curve Finance, has announced that he has repaid 93% of the $10 million in bad debt resulting from the protocol’s soft liquidation.
After a recent hacking attempt, Curve Finance’s soft liquidation mechanism was put to the test, resulting in a 28% drop in the price of its native CRV token. According to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, Egorov faced $140 million in liquidations due to borrowing $95.7 million in stablecoins against $141 million in CRV across five accounts on five protocols.
Terraform Labs to close operations, Terra community to take control
Chris Amani, CEO of Terraform Labs, has announced that the company will be ceasing operations following a $4.47 billion settlement with the U.S. SEC.
The company plans to sell off key projects within the Terra ecosystem and hand over control of the Terra blockchain to the community. This decision comes after the $4.47 billion settlement with the SEC related to the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) in 2022.
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 on traders.
In a sandwich attack, a malicious trader exploits a network, such as Ethereum, by placing orders before and after a pending transaction to manipulate the asset’s price and profit from the difference.
DeFi market overview
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the top 100 DeFi tokens by market capitalization had a bearish week, with most trading in the red on the weekly charts. The total value locked in DeFi protocols has reached $101 billion.
Thank you for reading our roundup of the most impactful DeFi developments this week. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights, and education on this ever-evolving space.