Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly digest of crucial insights from the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) — a newsletter tailored to deliver the most significant updates from the past week.
Last week marked a milestone for DeFi as Web3 users surged to an unprecedented 10 million in the second quarter, according to DappRadar. This growth represents a 40% increase from the previous quarter, setting a new record for daily unique active wallets (dUAW).
“DApps across all sectors of the decentralized application industry have shown remarkable growth, contributing to an overall bullish trend,” the report stated.
In another notable development, Consensys has acquired Wallet Guard to bolster MetaMask’s security framework. Wallet Guard, renowned for its robust measures against theft and fraud, will integrate its advanced security features into MetaMask. This move aims to fortify user protection within the Web3 ecosystem, leveraging Wallet Guard’s expertise in transaction validation and client-side heuristics.
The acquisition entails the Wallet Guard team merging with Consensys within the MetaMask Product Safety Team to ensure a seamless integration.
Meanwhile, Ethereum’s quest for enhanced efficiency gained traction with the introduction of Ethereum Improvement Proposal EIP-7732. This proposal targets an overhaul of block validation processes to expedite transaction speeds and bolster blockchain security. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has advocated for quicker transaction confirmations, underscoring the proposal’s significance.
In June, crypto hacks saw a notable decline of 54.2%, resulting in approximately $176 million in losses across 20 reported incidents, according to PeckShield. The largest breach occurred at BtcTurk, where hackers siphoned over $100 million in crypto assets. Other significant breaches affected the centralized exchange Lykke and the DeFi lending protocol UwU Lend, which lost $22 million and $19.4 million, respectively.
Looking at the DeFi market, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView revealed a mixed performance among the top 100 tokens by market capitalization. While many tokens saw declines on weekly charts, the total value locked in DeFi protocols dipped below $90 billion.
Thank you for exploring the most impactful developments in DeFi this week with us. Tune in next Friday for further insights, stories, and educational content from this dynamic sector.