Theme DeFi

Ethereum struggles to convince markets for months, but Standard Chartered refuses to give in to the prevailing pessimism. The British bank has just reaffirmed one of the boldest forecasts in the sector: an ETH at 40,000 dollars in the long term. To justify this bet, the institution highlights a simple observation: the current value of the network would not yet reflect its growing weight in decentralized finance, stablecoins, and asset tokenization.

Hyperliquid has just disrupted prediction markets by removing external oracles. Its validators now handle everything from deployment to settlement. An innovation that could change the game in DeFi… and boost HYPE!

In DeFi, access to credit often depends on tokenized assets or custodial arrangements. Babylon Labs wants to change this logic with a proposal submitted to Aave's governance. The project aims to allow Bitcoin holders to borrow on the V4 version without a bridge, without a classic wrapper, and without a centralized custodian. This initiative is still progressing in stages, with a first community sentiment vote.

At StablR, a single private key turned a regulated stablecoin into a smoking wreck. Brussels was quietly polishing MiCA, while the digital mechanics were already losing screws behind the technical curtains.

Tokenization is reaching a new level. Standard Chartered predicts nearly $4 trillion worth of assets could land on the blockchain by 2028, driven by stablecoins and real-world assets. A forecast that speaks as much about the future of crypto as it does about the deep transformation of traditional finance.

The rapid expansion of blockchain-based derivatives infrastructure has reshaped the digital asset trading landscape. The perpetual DEX sector continues to grow as traders increasingly shift toward decentralized derivatives solutions. In 2025, Perp DEXs generated over $6.7 trillion in annual trading volume, highlighting the rise of on-chain derivatives. Perpetual futures have become a key instrument for leverage, hedging, and continuous exposure. Within this environment, StandX reached the global top 10 perp DEX despite operating with only two trading pairs, illustrating the strength of a focused market structure.

Derivatives markets now serve as the backbone of the cryptocurrency industry, shaping how you interact with digital assets on a global scale. As trading volumes surge, the underlying infrastructure must evolve to handle continuous price discovery and complex execution. Consequently, this environment has bridged the gap between centralized exchange (CEX) expertise—particularly from platforms like Binance Futures—and decentralized finance (DeFi). Within this transition, StandX emerges as a prime example, translating the high-performance environments of centralized platforms into a permissionless, decentralized exchange (DEX) ecosystem.

Trading activity has become a key indicator of growth in decentralized finance. As the crypto industry expands, daily trading volume is increasingly used to assess liquidity, participation, and overall market health. High volume often signals efficient interactions between buyers and sellers, improving price discovery. In this context, decentralized derivatives exchanges continue to gain traction by offering more advanced infrastructure. StandX recently surpassed $1B in daily trading volume, marking a significant milestone while expanding its ecosystem and introducing new trading opportunities, including precious metals, within a more dynamic trading environment.

While Strategy sews up its debt with a financial blowtorch, Saylor calmly brings out his bitcoin net again. Retail investors applaud, skeptics already smell the scent of a dangerously speculative tide.

Ethereum was still parading under the neon lights of Wall Street. Then the ETFs emptied like a poorly guarded safe. Harvard drops its jewels, BlackRock grits its teeth, and crypto suddenly discovers much less romantic investors.

The US Senate reaches a critical moment for digital assets. After several months of tensions, the banking committee is set to review the CLARITY Act this Thursday, a much-anticipated bill to regulate a large portion of the crypto market in the United States. However, three issues remain sensitive: yields on stablecoins, ethics rules for elected officials, and the protection of DeFi developers.

While Ethereum jealously guards its old digital hoard, Solana and Base are quietly nibbling at its pockets. Behind the crypto scenes, some are already nervously recounting the kingdom's tokens.

While Brussels knits regulatory barbed wire, Washington quietly restarts the crypto machine. Behind senator smiles, Coinbase, banks, and lobbyists are already moving their pieces like in a nuclear chess game.

Sequans Communications liquidates half of its Bitcoin to cope with a drop in revenue, growing losses, and significant debt, questioning its long-term crypto strategy.

Bitcoin ETFs are leaking cash like a cracked safe, while crypto stiffens nervously, squeezed between expensive oil, jittery markets, and investors quietly switching horses mid-race without warning.

5 million ETH in 10 months! BitMine strikes hard and bets big on Ethereum, despite volatility. A record purchase that could boost institutional adoption and revolutionize DeFi.

Crypto on alert: DeFi loses 13 billion in one month and exposes its flaws. Complete analysis of a shock that worries investors.

Saylor brings out his orange dots, and bitcoin is already trembling. While Strategy fills its vault, the crypto market smiles yellow: who really holds the global liquidity pump now?

DeFi hits a wall: JPMorgan warns about a lack of trust from institutions. Detailed explanations in this article!

Brussels brings out its big regulatory comb, small crypto players are already losing feathers. Officially, investors are protected. Unofficially, some are already looking at the exit, suitcase in hand.

MiCA tightens the screws, bankers count their clients, and crypto shows up at the counter without an appointment. In Europe, even safes are beginning to eye their neighbors.

As digital uses evolve, a question arises at Paris Blockchain Week 2026: how to simplify value exchanges in a world where banking systems and blockchain infrastructures coexist? OZAPAY provides a concrete answer with a hybrid super app that aims to streamline payments, regardless of the system used. Between traditional finance and crypto, users still face unnecessary complexity: multiplicity of tools, fragmented experiences, dependence on intermediaries. This is precisely the area the Parisian fintech has chosen to invest in.

Crypto news: Justin Sun calls the WLFI proposal a "governance scam." We provide you with all the details in this article.

Bitwise sent the smell of hot powder around Hyperliquid and draws its ETF before others. On Wall Street, even the hype ends up in a suit.

On Wall Street, money flows out through the crypto ETF door while Morgan Stanley comes in through the window with its bitcoin trust. The dance of the hesitant truly begins.

The decentralized lending protocol Aave is going through a turbulent period. Its main risk manager, Chaos Labs, has just slammed the door after three years of collaboration, and the reason goes far beyond a simple financial dispute.

DeFi did not have its most explosive quarter, but it remains an open target. In the first quarter of 2026, hackers stole approximately 168.6 to 169 million dollars from 34 DeFi protocols. The figure is significantly lower than in the first quarter of 2025, but it reminds us of one simple thing: in crypto, a lull never means security.

The ECB clearly challenges one of the founding narratives of modern crypto. In practice, several major DeFi protocols remain concentrated in the hands of few, especially when looking at actual governance rather than just marketing talk. This is the gist of the working paper published this week, which observes a strong concentration of governance tokens and voting power on Aave, MakerDAO, Ampleforth, and Uniswap.