defi Archives - The Block

Renee Francis, Take3: The transformative potential of Web3

The Block caught up with Renee Francis, Founder and Director of Take3, to discuss the transformative potential of Web3.

With a background in marketing and extensive experience with platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google, Francis offers a unique perspective on the issues that Web3 aims to address.

In this interview, she shares insights into the benefits of Web3, the challenges it faces, and her excitement for various projects in the space.

Data...

15 September 2023 | Altcoins

Coinbase’s CEO shares his top 10 most exciting Web3 ideas

Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong is basking in the glow of a successful week as the value of his company's stocks soared, riding on the rising hopes for a Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF).

Armstrong kept the good vibes going by sharing the 10 ideas he’s “most excited about” in the Web3 space.

"We're actively developing numerous projects at Coinbase, but considering the vast landscape, it's not possible to tackle everything. Therefore, I thought...

31 August 2023 | Altcoins

DappRadar: Dapps industry grew almost 10% in May

According to the latest report from DappRadar, the decentralised apps (dapps) industry is picking up pace.

This May, the industry saw an almost 10 percent increase in daily unique active wallets (dUAW), averaging an impressive 1,967,051 dUAW.

Key sectors, like gaming and decentralised finance (DeFi), continued to exhibit promising signs of growth and stability—further asserting the importance of this thriving industry.

The gaming sector continued its reign as...

5 June 2023 | Altcoins

Reports of Web3 and DeFi hacks surge during Q1 2023

Analysis from Naoris Protocol, a global cyber security firm, reveals there was a rise in the number of reported cyber security hacks on Web3 and DeFi in Q1 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 and 2021 – with 19 reported hacks.

This is up from 16 reported hacks in Q1 2022 and 10 reported hacks in Q1 2021.

Between 1st January 2023 and 14th April 2023 there were 22 reported cyber security hacks, totaling over $265 million in losses. The biggest single hack in Q1...

5 May 2023 | Blockchain

SushiSwap suffers $3.3m exploit as it addresses US subpoena

Decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol SushiSwap has suffered a smart contract bug that allowed for more than $3 million of funds to be siphoned in an exploit.

The hack should only impact users who swapped crypto on the protocol within the past four days, according to DefiLlama developer 0xngmi.

Blockchain security teams from Peckshield and CertiK Alert first posted about the bug on 9 April, stating that it had affected the approval function of SushiSwap’s Router...

10 April 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Three quarters of rug pulls happened on BNB Chain in Q1 2023

Of all the rug pull scams carried out across the crypto ecosystem in the first quarter of 2023, almost three quarters occurred on Binance’s BNB Chain, according to a report from Immunefi.

The blockchain security firm’s latest report, ‘Crypto Losses in Q1 2023’, looked at the different kind of crypto hacks, scams, and exploits that took place in the first three months of the year.

It found that 73.3% of rug pull scams, where developers attract investor money for a...

6 April 2023 | Cryptocurrency

Coinbase wants inflation-pegged flatcoins on layer-2 ‘Base’ network

US crypto exchange Coinbase wants inflation-pegged “flatcoins” to be one of four “critical” innovations it hopes to see on its newly launched layer-2 network, Base.

The company also wants developers to explore an on-chain reputation system, an on-chain limit order book (LOB) exchange, and tools to improve safety in decentralised finance (DeFi).

Coinbase announced the four areas in a ‘Request for Builders’ post, published a month after launching Base – a...

27 March 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Lido Finance adds staking limit after 150k ETH staked in one day

Liquidity staking protocol Lido Finance activated safety features to limit staking after more than 150,000 Ether was staked on the platform in a single day.

The decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol is popular amongst the crypto community as a tool to stake digital assets like Ether (ETH) without having to lock them away.

When Lido users deposit Ether, the tool issues a liquid version of their tokens back to them called staked Ether (stETH), rewarding users for each day...

27 February 2023 | Blockchain Applications

Immunefi: Hacks made up 95% of lost crypto funds in 2022

Web3 bug bounty platform Immunefi has found that hacks accounted for 95 percent of the $3.9 billion (£3.23bn) lost in the crypto industry in 2022.

The figures come from the firm’s new ‘Crypto Losses in 2022 Report’, with fraud, scams, and rug pulls making up the last 5 percent.

According to the report, decentralised finance (DeFi) was the most targeted sector in the crypto industry, suffering 80 percent of the losses, whilst centralised finance firms took the...

9 January 2023 | Cryptocurrency

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...