#defi News & Analysis

Coinbase Names Centrifuge as Preferred Tokenization Infrastructure with Strategic Investment

Coinbase has invested in Centrifuge and designated it as a Preferred Tokenization Infrastructure platform, marking a significant endorsement of the protocol's real-world asset (RWA) tokenization capabilities. Centrifuge launched deRWAs on Base, including deSPXA for S&P 500 exposure, addressing the fragmentation of the $25 billion tokenized asset market by enabling cross-chain liquidity.

CFTC prediction market rules spark industry debate

The U.S. CFTC closed its public comment period on proposed prediction market event contracts, receiving over 1,500 submissions from industry stakeholders. This regulatory engagement signals the agency's intent to establish clear rules for prediction markets, a sector gaining prominence in crypto and decentralized finance.

Ethereum’s Glamsterdam upgrade triples gas limit, boosts scalability

Ethereum has implemented the Glamsterdam upgrade, which triples the network's gas limit to enhance scalability. This improvement is expected to increase transaction throughput, reduce congestion, and potentially boost market sentiment by addressing one of Ethereum's primary limitations.

Major Institutions Choose Chainlink as LINK Remains Priced at $9 Despite Record Growth

Chainlink has achieved significant institutional adoption from major financial entities like Swift, JP Morgan, and DTCC while maintaining a perfect security record across $30 trillion in enabled value over seven years. Despite record growth metrics—including a 260% surge in CCIP weekly volume to $1.3B and substantial exchange withdrawals—LINK token price remains at $9, suggesting a potential valuation disconnect between infrastructure utility and market pricing.

Arbitrum Faces Restraining Order as North Korea Victims Target Seized KelpDAO Funds

North Korean terror victims, awarded hundreds of millions by U.S. courts, are pursuing a restraining order against Arbitrum to recover damages from seized KelpDAO funds. The legal action targets cryptocurrency assets held on the Arbitrum network, creating potential complications for the blockchain ecosystem.

OKX agent payments protocol launched with Ethereum, Solana backing

OKX has launched an agent payments protocol supported by Ethereum and Solana, marking a significant step toward standardized blockchain payment infrastructure. This development positions both networks as foundational layers for the emerging agent economy and suggests institutional-grade payment systems are maturing across major blockchain ecosystems.

Crypto VC shrinks to $659m in April, lowest since 2024

Crypto venture capital funding collapsed to $659 million across 63 deals in April, marking a 74% decline from March and returning to 2024 lows. Despite the broader funding contraction, DeFi and AI-focused projects continue attracting investor capital, suggesting bifurcated market sentiment.

Fun raises $72m to wire fiat and crypto into the same checkout

Fun, a payment infrastructure startup, raised $72 million to unify fiat and cryptocurrency rails in a single checkout experience for consumer applications like Polymarket and Aave. The company has quietly processed over $18 billion in annual payment volume, demonstrating significant market demand for seamless crypto-fiat integration.

MoonPay launches stablecoin debit card for AI agents on Mastercard network

MoonPay has introduced 'MoonAgents Card,' a stablecoin debit card enabling AI agents and users to spend directly from onchain wallets on the Mastercard network. This development bridges decentralized finance with traditional payment infrastructure, allowing autonomous AI systems to transact in real-world commerce.

Intent2Tx: Benchmarking LLMs for Translating Natural Language Intents into Ethereum Transactions

Researchers introduce Intent2Tx, a benchmark dataset of nearly 32,000 real-world Ethereum transactions designed to evaluate how well large language models can translate natural language instructions into executable blockchain transactions. Testing 16 state-of-the-art LLMs reveals a critical gap: while models generate syntactically valid code, they frequently fail to achieve intended on-chain state transitions, exposing fundamental limitations in current AI's ability to reliably bridge user intent and blockchain execution.

Solana RWA market share, outpaces Ethereum’s 40%

Solana is gaining significant Real World Asset (RWA) market share, surpassing Ethereum's 40% benchmark. This growth signals increasing institutional adoption on Solana and intensifies competition between blockchain platforms for tokenized asset infrastructure.

Ethereum applications guild launches to boost App ecosystem

The Ethereum Applications Guild launched as a global non-profit on April 30, 2026, designed to fund and coordinate growth of Ethereum's application layer through membership fees and ETH staking yield. This initiative aims to strengthen the ecosystem's infrastructure and developer support.

Ether.fi Hardens weETH Bridge Security Across 20 Chains After $292M rsETH Exploit

Paul Tudor Jones: Bitcoin’s value is rising amid dollar decline, predicting $200,000 to $300,000 by year-end, and DeFi faces increasing risks | The Wolf Of All Streets

DeFi Deleveraging Hits AAVE – Analyst Explains Why Borrowing Demand Falls Off A Cliff

DeFi Gets Rocked By Even More Exploits

DeFi shaken by $292 million hack, but showing resilience, Standard Chartered says

Aave, Compound Unveil Technical Plan to Address Fallout From $290M Kelp DAO Hack

RedStone launches settlement layer to unlock $30B in tokenized assets as DeFi collateral

Industry leaders are pouring hundreds of millions into a rescue plan for Aave users after massive crypto hack

Consensys and Joseph Lubin Deploy 30K ETH for rsETH Recovery

Lazarus Group hacks KelpDAO, pushes April DeFi losses over $600M

$292M liquidated from crypto market amid North Korean DeFi exploit

DeFi Losses April 2026 Surge Past $800M as Key Risks Replace Smart Contract Bugs

Kelp DAO exploit leaves AAVE with $196M bad debt, Ethereum market steady