Decentralised Finance News | Blockchain DeFi News

Cardano launches its algorithmic stablecoin, Djed

Cardano has launched its algorithmic stablecoin, Djed (DJED), on its mainnet after a successful security audit.

The stablecoin, backed by Cardano’s native ADA token, is pegged to the US dollar and uses the Shen (SHEN) token as its reserve coin.

Unveiled in November last year, the announcement was met with widespread online debate over the place of algorithmic stablecoins in the future of blockchain, given the collapse of TerraUSD (UST) months prior.

Since...

31 January 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Cardano recovers from 50% of network nodes going offline

Cardano users reported that at least half of the blockchain network’s nodes went offline over the weekend.

A Telegram post from a group for Cardano stake pool operators (SPOs) said that an anomaly caused 50% of Cardano nodes to disconnect and restart.

The post said the disruption was caused by a “a transient anomaly causing two reactions in the node, some disconnected from a peer, others threw an exception and...

24 January 2023 | Altcoins

Polygon implements hard fork to reduce gas spikes

Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Polygon has undergone a hard fork to reduce gas spikes and address issues that have impacted users on its proof-of-stake (PoS) chain.

The fork was code into block 38,189,056 and no centralised actor initiated the shift. Polygon informed validators that they would have to update their nodes earlier this week.

https://twitter.com/0xPolygon/status/1615370181630652417

87% of the 15 voters making up Polygon’s governance team voted in...

17 January 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Uniswap awards DeFi auditor £33k for finding smart contract exploit

Uniswap may have saved itself being exploited for millions of pounds thanks to an auditor that identified a smart contract vulnerability on the decentralised exchange.

Dedaub, a smart contract security and auditing firm, revealed Uniswap has paid it $40,000 (£33,500) for flagging a potential weakness in the exchange’s Universal Router smart contract. The weakness could have enabled hackers to drain users funds in the middle of a transaction.

Uniswap launched its bug...

5 January 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Uniswap lets users buy crypto with card deposits and bank transfers

Users of decentralised exchange Uniswap are now able to buy cryptocurrency on its web platform using credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers.

The feature upgrade is the result of a partnership with fintech firm Moonpay and is being rolled out worldwide, although the bank transfer option is exclusive to customers in select US states, the UK, Brazil, and the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

Uniswap has said that users looking to convert fiat currency to...

22 December 2022 | Cryptocurrency

Visa will ‘actively contribute’ to web3 development

Visa refuses to become a dinosaur and will “actively contribute” to developing the web3 and crypto ecosystem.

Aside from maximalists, few experts believe that crypto poses an existential threat to fiat currencies. Legacy payment processors like Visa and Mastercard have increasingly been joining the web2-era disruptors like PayPal and Square in supporting the web3 and crypto ecosystem.

Greater public adoption of “crypto” will likely come through CBDCs (Central...

20 December 2022 | Altcoins

ZELF launches anonymous Visa debit card with crypto top up

US fintech firm ZELF has launched an anonymous Visa debit card which can be funded through crypto or traditional electronic payments.

To open an account, all users need is a name, email, and phone number before they can use the card at any of Visa’s 80 million payment locations worldwide.

Accounts can be funded through crypto payments, with current support for three tokens (USD Coin, Tether, and Ether). ZELF has said they plan to add support for 20 more popular tokens...

12 December 2022 | Blockchain Applications

Russian Sberbank integrates blockchain with MetaMask

Russia’s largest bank Sberbank has given its blockchain platform access to the Ethereum blockchain through an integration with software wallet MetaMask.

The bank’s proprietary blockchain platform is now compatible with Ethereum applications and smart contracts, meaning developers can work interchangeably between either network.

Sber Blockchain Lab, the bank’s web3 arm, has also announced a MetaMask integration to further support interoperability between the...

2 December 2022 | Banking

Cardano to launch algorithmic stablecoin in January 2023

Cardano, the proof-of-stake blockchain network oft touted as Ethereum’s most serious competitor, plans to launch an algorithmic stablecoin in January 2023.

Project ‘Djed’, which is being developed in partnership with COTI, a DAG-based Layer 1 protocol, will use an algorithm that is backed by excess collateral through a cryptocurrency reserve.

Djed is set to launch on Cardano’s mainnet as early as January next year, so long as it passes an audit and a planned...

23 November 2022 | Altcoins

Half of all DeFi exploits come from cross-chain bridge attacks

A half of all DeFi exploits occur on cross-chain bridges and a staggering £2.2 billion has been stolen from them by hackers in the past two years.

The latest figures come from a new report by crypto data aggregator Token Terminal and stand out as enormous in comparison to other DeFi security breaches.

In the same period, hackers netted only £635 million from DeFi lending hacks and a comparatively meagre £320 million from decentralised exchange...