Coinbase’s newest lending product is generating profits for the crypto exchange in several ways, but not all are reflected clearly on-chain. As the firm lets customers deposit wrapped Bitcoin and Circle’s USDC into “vaults” on decentralized finance protocol Morpho, it’s earning cash from stablecoin reserves and transaction fees indirectly. It’s also taking a cut of performance fees that are designed to incentivize risk managers on the platform, Coinbase has confirmed to Decrypt. DeFi offers the promise of a ...

With interest-bearing stablecoins prohibited under the U.S. GENIUS Act, new DeFi products are integrating tokenized money market funds. | Credit: Getty Images. Key Takeaways The U.S. GENIUS Act prohibits interest-bearing stablecoins. Tokenized money market funds present an alternative way to generate on-chain Treasury yield. New DeFi products combine elements of both. With the passage of the GENIUS Act, yield-bearing stablecoins were expelled from the sphere of regulated crypto products, at the ve ...

Core Insights - The DeFi ecosystem 1inch has launched a new visual identity and domain, focusing on user experience and security for institutions [1] - Co-founder Sergej Kunz emphasized that DeFi will soon blend with traditional finance without centralization, highlighting the maturity of 1inch's rebrand while maintaining its mission [2] - The new slogan "We move forward as 1" underscores the importance of collaboration in the DeFi space to address fragmentation [2] Collaboration and Integration - 1inch has partnered with Coinbase, integrating its Swap API into the Coinbase app, allowing users to trade millions of digital assets [3] - Coinbase's head of trading described the collaboration as a significant advancement, enabling seamless access to decentralized exchanges (DEXes) for millions of users [4] Product Enhancements - 1inch has improved its flagship products, including its decentralized exchange aggregator dapp, wallet, business portal, and portfolio tracker, aiming to simplify the user experience for both retail and institutional investors [4] - The company is focusing on appealing to institutions by implementing globally recognized standards for information security and data protection [5] Ecosystem Growth - 1inch's ecosystem now has 25 million users and daily trading volumes exceeding $500 million [7] - The transition from the old website (1inch.io) to the new domain (1inch.com) reflects the company's growth and strategic direction [7]

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs (in image) Credit: Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch. Key Takeaways A majority of RLUSD tokens are circulating on Ethereum-based DeFi protocols and platforms. Over 85% of RLUSD holders are on XRP Ledger. Ripple’s stablecoin thrives on XRPL amongst institutional partners. Ripple’s (XRP) stablecoin RLUSD is very unevenly distributed across the crypto markets, as almost $700 million of it finds a home within Ethereum’s DeFi protocols, whilst a majority o ...

Crypto.com is expanding its decentralized finance offerings by integrating Morpho, the second-largest DeFi lending protocol, into its platform. Key Takeaways: Crypto.com is integrating Morpho to offer stablecoin lending and wrapped asset deposits on Cronos. Users will be able to borrow stablecoins against wrapped ETH and BTC without leaving the Crypto.com platform. Morpho’s lending services will be accessible to U.S. users despite restrictions from the Genius Act. The move will allow users to lend ...

Core Insights - Ripple's RLUSD has achieved a market capitalization of nearly $789 million, making it one of the fastest-growing assets in 2025 [1][7] - The majority of RLUSD's supply, approximately 88% or over $700 million, is located on Ethereum, while less than $90 million circulates on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) [2][4] - The shift of RLUSD issuance to Ethereum has raised concerns among XRP holders, who anticipated that stablecoin adoption would increase demand for XRP [3][6] Ripple's Strategic Position - Ripple has positioned RLUSD as a bridge between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi), with partnerships enhancing its adoption [7] - Despite the growth of RLUSD, its reliance on Ethereum challenges Ripple's narrative that XRPL is the backbone of its ecosystem [8] - XRP's utility in RLUSD transactions is minimal, as the majority of RLUSD activity occurs on Ethereum, leading to a negligible impact on XRP's burn rate [4][6]

Core Insights - A new thesis from DeFi analyst Patrick Scott suggests that Hyperliquid, despite losing market share, remains the most investable decentralized exchange (DEX) for perpetual futures [1] Market Overview - The perpetual futures market has seen a significant shift, with decentralized platforms (perp DEXes) increasing their share from less than 2% of centralized exchange (CEX) trading volume in 2022 to over 20% recently [2][3] Hyperliquid's Performance - Hyperliquid's market share of perp DEX volume has dropped from 45% to 8% in recent weeks, while Binance-affiliated Aster has surged to over $270 billion in weekly trades [4] - Despite this decline, Hyperliquid continues to generate strong revenue and maintains a significant open interest, commanding about 62% of the perp DEX open interest market [5] Future Prospects - Hyperliquid is expanding with initiatives like the HyperEVM network, which hosts over 100 protocols and has $2 billion in total value locked, and the USDH stablecoin backed by reserves held with BlackRock and Superstate [6] - The HIP-3 initiative aims to allow builders to launch new perp markets by staking large amounts of HYPE, creating a "supply sink" for the token [6] Investment Thesis - Scott's thesis hinges on Hyperliquid's ability to maintain open interest and revenue levels, as well as the liquidity of USDH over the next year [7]

The rise of DeFi in 2020-2021 further supercharged lending. Both CeFi and DeFi platforms proliferated, competing aggressively for depositors. But as competition intensified, balance sheet quality deteriorated. Several major CeFi players operated with significant asset–liability mismatches, leaned heavily on their own governance tokens to bolster balance sheets, and relaxed underwriting standards, especially with regard to haircuts and LTVs (loan-to-value ratios).The first informal bitcoin lenders appeared a ...

Core Insights - RAAC has partnered with I-ON Digital Corp to make $200 million of tokenized gold available for investment, positioning RAAC among the top 15 RWA protocols in DeFi by total value locked (TVL) [1][2]. Company Overview - RAAC is a decentralized Real World Asset (RWA) lending and borrowing ecosystem that aims to modernize access to stable assets like gold and real estate, allowing users to borrow against their holdings at competitive rates [6]. - I-ON Digital Corp specializes in transforming real-world assets, particularly gold, into blockchain-secured financial instruments, with its flagship asset ION.au backed by verified gold reserves [7]. Investment Opportunities - The partnership will introduce pmUSD, a stablecoin partially collateralized by ION.au, and will offer structured yield opportunities across tokenized assets, including gold and real estate [2][3]. - RAAC will provide mechanisms such as auto-compounding DeFi vaults and gold-backed lending markets to enhance investment strategies [3]. Strategic Alliances - RAAC is backed by Chainlink proof-of-reserves and attested by Instruxi, ensuring trustless validation for institutional partners [4]. - I-ON Digital will invest up to $1 million in RAAC as a founding partner of the newly formed RWA Federation, which will guide the development of RAAC's ecosystem [5]. Market Position - The announcement follows the successful launch of RAAC's genesis NFT collection, which was minted in under 10 seconds and has attracted a community holding over $30 million in on-chain capital [5].

Stani Kulechov calls embedded DeFi a trillion-dollar fintech opportunity, with Aave eyeing $100B deposits as low rates fuel DeFi growth. | Credit: Pexels. Key Takeaways Stani Kulechov believes fintechs can unlock a trillion-dollar opportunity by integrating decentralized finance directly into their platforms. At TOKEN2049, Kulechov argued that lower central bank rates create more arbitrage opportunities for DeFi yields. Kulechov projects Aave could reach $100 billion in deposits by year’s end, placin ...