Decentralized finance (DeFi) is growing fast. Total value locked, a measure of money managed by DeFi protocols, has grown from $10 billion to a little more than $40 billion over the last two years after peaking at $180 billion. The elephant in the room? More than $10 billion was lost to hacks and exploits in 2021 alone. Feeding that elephant: Today’s smart contract programming languages fail to provide adequate features to create and manage assets — also known as “tokens.” For DeFi to become mainstream, programming languages must provide asset-oriented features to make DeFi smart contract development more secure and …

Polkadot, a protocol that connects blockchains, has announced its latest initiative to help its ecosystem fight scams. According to the company, relying on security-minded individuals within its community to fight scams has proven to be an effective method of safeguarding its ecosystem. To incentivize the members of its community to continue to do the work, Polkadot consistently rewards them with bounties paid in USDC. Polkadot shared that its bounty is currently managed by the general curators, which for now, consists of three community members, and two people from the W3F Anti-Scam department. However, in the long term, Polkadot hopes that …

On Nov. 24, Ardana, a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) and stablecoin ecosystem building on Cardano (ADA), abruptly halted development, citing "funding and project timeline uncertainty." The project will remain open-source for builders while treasury balances and remaining funds will be held by Ardana Labs "until another competent dev team in the community comes forward to continue our work." "Development on Cardano has been difficult with alot of funding going into tooling, infrastructure and security. This alongside the uncertainty around development completion has led to the best course of action being halting development of dUSD." The move came as a shock …

According to a revised privacy policy agreement published by ConsenSys on Nov. 23, MetaMask will begin collecting users' IP addresses and Ethereum wallet addresses during on-chain transactions. However, ConsenSys, the wallet's creator, explains that the collection of users' data will only apply if they use MetaMask's default Remote Procedure Call (RPC) application Infura. Individuals using their own Ethereum node or a third-party RPC provider with MetaMask are therefore not subject to the newly updated ConsenSys privacy policy. Instead, the terms of the other RPC provider apply. According to ConsenSys, information gathered in this manner may be disclosed to affiliates, during …

Although Bitcoin (BTC) mining remains a controversial topic, it’s becoming more common to hear how Bitcoin mining can help balance grid demand. This is being demonstrated in the state of Texas, as Bitcoin miners are able to participate in demand response programs, which incentivize miners to turn off their operations during peak demand. A spokesperson from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) — the organization that operates Texas’s electrical grid — told Cointelegraph that crypto loads can have impacts on the grid just like any large load. Yet, they noted that crypto miners can help stabilize the grid by …

For decades, banks and insurance firms employed the same mostly static but highly profitable and centralized business models. Also for decades, Big Tech firms such as Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Google have monopolized user data for their profit. However, blockchain projects could significantly challenge Big Tech’s grip on user data. In 2015, the future of money was at the forefront of financial experts’ minds at the World Economic Forum in Davos. There, they started to seriously focus on the challenges presented by the rise of Bitcoin (BTC), digital assets and fintech. The world of finance began to realize that …

Scalable blockchain network Casper announced the launch of its new Casper Accelerate Grant Program on Nov. 23, created to support developers and innovators who are building apps to support infrastructure, end-user applications, and research innovation on its blockchain. JUST IN from @nextblockexpo: We're glad to announce the launch of a $25M Casper Accelerate Grant Program. This fund will support learning, development, and innovations in Infrastructure, #dApps, #DeFi, #Gaming & NFTs. Learn more https://t.co/jClYyYxRVW pic.twitter.com/V8KszHEjM3 — Casper (@Casper_Network) November 23, 2022 The Casper Network is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) enterprise-focused blockchain designed to help businesses to build private or permissioned apps, aimed …

Crypto exchange OKX has released a Proof of Reserves page that allows users to audit its reserves to make sure it is solvent. This comes at a time when crypto exchanges are coming under greater scrutiny after the collapse of FTX. OKX announced the new page in a tweet, as well as on its blog. Don’t trust, verify → OKX Proof of Reserves (PoR) is LIVE. To set a new standard of transparency, risk management and user protection, we’re launching our first PoR. You can now verify your assets are backed 1:1 on #OKX ⤵️ Details — OKX (@okx) November …

On Nov. 23, one day after Mango Markets exploiter Avraham Eisenberg attempted to use a series of sophisticated short sales to exploit decentralized finance protocol Aave, project contributors have put forth a series of proposals to deal with the aftermath. As told by protocol engineering developer Llama and financial modeling platform Gauntlet both of whom are deployed on Aave: "Over this past week, the user 0x57e04786e231af3343562c062e0d058f25dace9e [wallet associated with Eisenberg] opened a short position on CRV [Curve] using USDC as collateral. At its peak, the user was shorting ~92M units of CRV (roughly $60M USD at today's prices). The attempt …

According to a new twitter post on Nov. 23, Bo Shen, general partner of the Vitalik Buterin-advised venture capital fund Fenbushi Capital, claime that $42 million worth of funds were drained from his Trust Wallet on Nov. 10. Shen, who grew up in China but now lives in Atlanta, says that the funds were his personal assets and the exploit does not affect Fenbushi-related entities. "The incident has been reported to the local law enforcement. FBI and lawyers both have been involved. Civilization and justice will eventually prevail over barbarism and evil. This is the iron law of human society. …

Over the last decade, mobile gaming has become a consequential pillar of the interactive entertainment market. Thanks to access to smartphones, users the world over have been brought into the sphere of hardcore gamers. Now, the emergence of blockchain technology is creating a paradigm shift, offering players the ability to both truly own the assets they earn or buy in-game and the capacity to generate tangible value from their time spent playing. There are many opportunities that this new model can offer, but today, most of the projects available simply don’t live up to their legacy counterparts. This has led …

As described by analysts at Lookonchain on Nov. 22, tokens of decentralized exchange Curve Finance (CRV) appear to have suffered a major short-seller attack. According to Lookonchain, ponzishorter.eth, an address associated with Mango Markets exploiter Avraham Eisenberg, first swapped 40 million USD Coin (USDC) on Nov. 13 into decentralized finance protocol Aave to borrow CRV for selling. The act allegedly sent the price of CRV falling from $0.625 to $0.464 during the week. Fast forward to today, blockchain data shows that ponzishorter.eth borrowed a further 30 million CRV ($14.85 million) through two transactions and transferred them to OKEx for selling. …