Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of key decentralized finance (DeFi) insights, a newsletter crafted to bring you some of the major developments over the last week.
This past week, the DeFi ecosystem got recognition from the United Kingdom government, as they sought public feedback on taxation of the DeFi ecosystem, especially staking and lending.
MakerDAO is looking to collaborate with the traditional banks, which would take place after the proposal gets community approval. Aave (AAVE) is planning to launch an overcollateralized stablecoin called GHO, subject to the community decentralized autonomous organization’s (DAO’s) approval. The hacker who exploited Solana-based liquidity protocol Crema Finance on July 2 returned most of the funds but was allowed to keep $1.6 million as a white hat bounty.
After nearly two weeks of bearish dominance, the top 100 DeFi tokens finally started to trade in the green. The majority of the DeFi tokens registered double-digit weekly gains.
The government of the United Kingdom is asking the public for input on the taxation of crypto-asset loans and staking in the context of DeFi.
In particular, the government is interested in gathering information on the taxation of crypto-asset loans and staking. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) call for evidence paper, published on Tuesday, described its intention to study whether administrative hassles and costs may be reduced for taxpayers who participate in the emerging industry, as well as whether the tax treatment might be more aligned with the transactions’ fundamental economics.
DeFi giant Aave has unveiled plans to launch an overcollateralized stablecoin called GHO, subject to the community DAO’s approval. The announcement was made by Aave Companies, the centralized entity supporting the Aave protocol, on its Twitter page on Thursday.
According to the governance proposal shared on Thursday, GHO would be an Ethereum-based and decentralized stablecoin pegged to the United States dollar that could be collateralized with multiple assets of the user’s choice.
MakerDAO is voting on a proposal that will bring a traditional bank into its ecosystem for the first time, allowing the bank to borrow against its assets using DeFi.
At the end of voting on Thursday, 87.1 % of voters were in favor of the proposal. The proposal involves creating a vault with 100 million Dai (DAI) for Huntingdon Valley Bank (HVB) as part of a new collateral type in the Maker Protocol.
The hacker who exploited Solana-based liquidity protocol Crema Finance on July 2 returned most of the funds but was allowed to keep $1.6 million as a white hat bounty.
The bounty, 45,455 Solana (SOL), is worth a generous 16.7% of the $9.6 million Crema lost initially, which forced the protocol to suspend services. Crema’s team began an investigation to identify the hacker by tracking their Discord handle and tracing the original gas source for the hacker’s address. Just as it seemed the team may have been onto the secret identity, it announced that it had been negotiating with the hacker. On Wednesday, the hacker returned 6,064 Ether (ETH) and 23,967 SOL worth roughly $8 million.
Analytical data reveals that DeFi’s total value locked registered a minor rise from the past week, rising to a value of $58.69 billion. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that DeFi’s top-100 tokens by market capitalization showed great signs of recovery with the majority of the tokens trading in green with double-digit gains.
Curve (CRV) was the biggest gainer in the top-100 DeFi token list with a weekly surge of 50.18%, followed by Convex Finance (CVX) with 43.15% weekly gains. ThorChain (RUIN) registered a 28% gain over the past seven days, while Aave gained 26% during the same time period.
Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education in this dynamically advancing space.
Arbitrum leads Ethereum's L2 scaling and DeFi sectors, facing competition from zkSync Era. The upcoming Dencun upgrade aims to reduce fees, boosting its dominance despite ARB's market fluctuations.
AlexProminent authors sued OpenAI for copyright infringement by ChatGPT, highlighting legal, ethical, and technological debates on AI's use of copyrighted material and the need for balanced innovation and rights protection.
MiyukiGoldman Sachs was fined $512,500 by FINRA for failing to monitor trading activities properly, leading to missed alerts on potential market manipulation from 2009 to 2023.
WeiliangJanuary saw a 10.8% increase in crypto venture investments, with $650 million raised across sectors, highlighting sustained investor confidence and a growing interest in infrastructure, DeFi, and NFT/GameFi projects.
BrianCom2uS partners with Oasys to introduce Web3 gaming in Japan, aiming to launch innovative titles like "Summoners War: Chronicle" and "The Walking Dead: All Stars" leveraging blockchain technology. This collaboration signals a significant shift in the gaming industry, highlighting the potential for decentralized gaming experiences and player ownership.
JoyBitcoin surged past $50,000 due to increased institutional investment, driven by the approval of Spot Bitcoin ETFs and positive macroeconomic conditions. While retail participation remains subdued, experts anticipate further growth fueled by regulatory clarity and optimism surrounding the upcoming halving event in April.
JoySouth Korea tightens regulations on crypto exchanges to enhance oversight and consumer protection, aligning with global trends for clearer legal frameworks in the digital asset space. The measures include intensified scrutiny, license renewals, and investigations into alleged violations like OKX's unregistered operation.
JoyBinance founder CZ's sentencing for money laundering charges is postponed to April, stirring speculation. The delay raises questions about potential implications for the cryptocurrency industry amidst heightened regulatory scrutiny.
JoyGoogle's Gemini AI, formerly known as Bard, received upgrades, but users are cautioned against sharing confidential information due to human review processes. Concerns arise over data privacy as Google collects various user data to enhance its AI capabilities.
MiyukiBitcoin's recent surge to $50,000, driven by renewed investor interest and anticipation of the halving event, highlights its resilience and potential for further gains. Investors navigating the volatile crypto landscape should balance optimism surrounding the halving with caution, as reaching new highs remains uncertain amidst market realities.
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