Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly source of crucial insights into decentralized finance (DeFi) – a carefully curated newsletter bringing you the most significant updates from the past week.
Similar to Ethereum’s peak period in 2017, Solana is currently grappling with network congestion that has persisted for nearly a week, resulting in a high rate of transaction failures. Solana developers have set April 15 as their target date to address this issue, categorizing it as a bug rather than a flaw in the design.
Binance Labs has redirected its focus in the DeFi sector towards Bitcoin by investing in BounceBit, a staking protocol native to Bitcoin. Meanwhile, MarginFi, a Solana-based DeFi protocol, witnessed withdrawals exceeding $190 million amid a management crisis and allegations from competitors claiming that it failed to fulfill its promises.
Solana developers aim to resolve failed transactions by April 15, emphasizing that it is an “implementation bug” rather than a flaw in design, according to Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs, a blockchain infrastructure firm exclusively supporting the Solana network.
Arkham, a blockchain analytics company, has accused its competitors of spreading false rumors to create fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) after concerns were raised regarding the transfer of its native ARKM tokens. While Arkham did not disclose the names of the dissenting competitors, a recent post by fellow blockchain analytics firm Nansen alleged that Arkham had transferred over 25.2 million ARKM ($56 million) to undisclosed wallets and cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has invested in BounceBit, a staking protocol that combines centralized finance and DeFi features to enhance the utility of Bitcoin (BTC), as stated by Binance co-founder and head of Binance Labs.
Over the past two days, approximately $200 million in user funds have been withdrawn from MarginFi, a lending protocol based on Solana, following the sudden resignation of the platform’s CEO. This departure was followed by allegations of misconduct from competitors.
In the DeFi market, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicates that the top 100 DeFi tokens by market capitalization had a bullish week, with most showing positive performance on the weekly charts. The total value locked in DeFi protocols has surpassed $100 billion.
Thank you for reading our summary of the most significant developments in the DeFi space this week. Join us again next Friday for more stories, insights, and knowledge concerning this rapidly evolving industry.