• Cryptocurrencies,  Security

    Aave Run Hurts Institutional Adoption of DeFi: JPMorgan

    Incident ‘raises questions about the future of DeFi’

    The recent $293 million hack of Kelp DAO has knocked $20 billion off of the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance, according to JPMorgan. DeFi was the unintended victim of the Kelp DAO hack, with some $230 million worth of fake tokens used to borrow on the Aave lending platform. That bad debt saw Aave lose $10 billion in total value locked, referring to the value of tokens deposited in Aave’s lending pools. But the damage isn’t limited to Aave, said JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou in an April 23 report. In the days following the April 18 exploit of Kelp DAO, another $10 billion has moved off…

  • People,  Security,  United States

    Circle Won’t Freeze Stolen USDC Without Court Order

    CEO Allaire defends refusal to act during hacks

    In the face of growing criticism, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire defended the USDC-issuer’s policy of refusing to freeze its stablecoins immediately after hacks and exploits. While leading stablecoin issuer Tether freezes its USDT stablecoins if it can be done in time — often within hours of a reported hack — to prevent stolen funds from being moved, Circle does not. It has been criticized for refusing to act while stolen funds are still in a position to be seized and restored to their rightful owners. Speaking during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Allaire explained that as a regulated financial product, it cannot freeze tokens on a…

  • Brian Brooks leaves OCC
    Cryptocurrencies,  Regulation

    Crypto-friendly Brian Brooks steps down as bank overseer

    The former Coinbase executive’s rulings at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency aided the cryptocurrency industry by allowing banks to custody and make payments with stablecoins

    During his eight months at the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Brooks, a former general counsel at Coinbase, enacted a number of reforms that helped push the cryptocurrency industry farther into the banking industry’s mainstream, most recently authorizing banks to use stablecoins to make payments and for other transactions on behalf of customers.

  • Biden friend to crypto Allaire
    Cryptocurrencies,  Regulation

    Biden Administration will be crypto’s friend: Circle’s Jeremy Allaire

    The CEO of the USDC stablecoin-issuer predicted President-elect Joe Biden’s administration will see cryptocurrencies as a way to ‘make America more competitive’

    Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Dec. 7, Allaire said “they will ultimately be supportive because this is an infrastructure change as big as the initial commercial internet. That said, Allaire noted that the administration is facing pressure to regulate cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin more aggressively, from both the left and the right.