defi

Morpho CEO Paul Frambot posted on X, stating that over the past week, he communicated with several large institutions to understand their views on the current DeFi situation. The core conclusions are as follows.First, institutional interest will not disappear. The reason is simple: distribution channels will not vanish ------ massive assets under management (AUM), payment, and lending operations are moving on-chain. Almost all fintech companies aim for full on-chain integration. For institutions, this is not a question of "whether" but "a must."Second, they have lost trust in the pool/hub model. Institutions and distributors want to control everything, including control over the code, control over risks, and control over compliance. At the same time, they also want flexibility, meaning the ability to isolate their own business and connect to a global liquidity network that is compatible with them.

According to SoSoValue data, the overall cryptocurrency market is on an upward trend, with the RWA sector performing exceptionally well, rising 4.81% in 24 hours. Among them, Pendle (PENDLE) increased by 7.39%, Centrifuge (CFG) rose by 7.17%, and Ondo Finance (ONDO) and Keeta (KTA) increased by 5.44% and 5.89%, respectively.At the same time, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 2.36%, breaking through $79,000; Ethereum (ETH) increased by 3.5%, approaching $2,400. Other standout sectors include: the NFT sector, which rose 3.85% in 24 hours, with Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) increasing by 13.1%; the DeFi sector rose by 3.74%, with Lido DAO (LDO) increasing by 23.71%; the AI sector rose by 3.56%, with OriginTrail (TRAC) increasing by 12%.In other sectors, the Meme sector rose by 2.13%, with SPX6900 (SPX) increasing by 9.79%; the PayFi sector rose by 1.97%, with SafePal (SFP) increasing by 9.89%; the Layer2 sector rose by 1.89%, with Celestia (TIA) increasing by 4.03%; the Layer1 sector rose by 1.5%, with Algorand (ALGO) increasing by 4.16%; the CeFi sector rose by 1.23%, with NEXO (NEXO) increasing by 1.88%.The cryptocurrency sector indices reflecting historical market trends show that the ssiRWA, ssiNFT, and ssiDeFi indices rose by 6.37%, 4.24%, and 3.49%, respectively.

The Babylon Foundation stated on platform X that it will deposit 3 million USDT into Aave, with 2 million allocated to V3 and 1 million allocated to V4, to show support and confidence in Aave and DeFi.Any interest generated from this deposit will be returned to the Aave ecosystem through the Aave x Babylon integration incentives, allowing the same capital to support current recovery efforts while also promoting future adoption.

The DeFi United ecological rescue initiative led by Aave is ongoing. The Arbitrum DAO has released 30,765 ETH that was frozen after the rsETH incident on April 18. The designated donation address has accumulated a total of 100,360 ETH to address the collateral asset gap caused by the rsETH incident on April 18.The plan aims to restore the rsETH backing assets through multi-party collaboration, stabilize the market, and prevent the spread of bad debts across protocols. The funds will be used to support the recovery of collateral rates and gradually promote market normalization in conjunction with relevant protocols.Current major commitments or participants include: Arbitrum DAO releasing 30,765 ETH frozen after the rsETH incident on April 18, Mantle proposing to contribute 30,000 ETH, AaveDAO proposing to contribute 25,000 ETH, Aave founder Stani Kulechov confirming to provide 5,000 ETH, EtherFi proposing to provide 5,000 ETH, Lido proposing to provide 2,500 stETH, Golem Foundation and related projects totaling 1,000 ETH, among others. Additionally, LayerZero, Ethena, FraxFinance, InkFoundation, and others have also confirmed participation, but specific amounts have not yet been disclosed.It should be noted that the progress of this rescue still relies on several external key conditions, including KelpDAO restoring rsETH redemptions and the Arbitrum security committee releasing frozen assets. The overall recovery time and effectiveness remain uncertain.

Aave announced that ecosystem partners and service providers will establish a recovery fund to promote the restoration of rsETH to full asset backing. This plan has taken into account the pending Aave DAO governance votes (including Arbitrum governance votes), indicative protocols, and subsequent successful execution.Aave stated that it has reached an agreement with KelpDAO and LayerZero on the technical steps required to implement the recovery plan. Relevant work is underway, and addressing the issues of affected users and maintaining the stability of the broader DeFi ecosystem is the current top priority. The final recovery plan, user operation steps, and further updates will be announced soon.

According to official news, after discussions with multiple stakeholders, Aave service providers, ether.fi, KelpDAO, and other projects have submitted a governance proposal to the Arbitrum DAO, requesting the release of ETH that was frozen by the Arbitrum security committee after the rsETH incident on April 18.The announcement stated that if these ETH are released, the funds will be directed to DeFi United. Aave firmly believes that this contribution will significantly advance the path to a solution.

The DeFi United coordinated rescue operation led by Aave service providers after the rsETH incident on April 18 has raised a total of $161.53 million (approximately 69,618 ETH). The plan aims to help restore the collateral backing of rsETH that was damaged due to the Kelp DAO bridging attack and improve liquidity in multi-network markets.The main participants/committers currently include: Aave founder Stani Kulechov personally committing 5,000 ETH; EtherFi proposing to contribute 5,000 ETH; Lido Finance proposing to contribute up to 2,500 stETH; Golem Foundation contributing 1,000 ETH. In addition, several protocols such as Mantle, Ethena, Ink Foundation, LayerZero, Tydro, and BGD Labs have publicly participated or expressed support.

Aave posted on platform X stating that the Aave service provider has released a governance proposal for Aave DAO, suggesting to allocate 25,000 ETH to participate in the ongoing DeFi United initiative. This ETH funding will be used to support the restoration of asset backing for rsETH, helping it to quickly regain its peg and promote the normalization of market conditions.This proposal aims to accelerate the risk management process for rsETH through financial support at the Aave DAO level, stabilizing the related DeFi market ecosystem.

The DeFi Education Fund, along with Aave Labs, Uniswap Labs, Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz, and other organizations, has sent a letter to the U.S. SEC in response to the recent statement released by the trading and markets division regarding the registration of "non-custodial user interface" brokers for crypto asset securities.The signatories support the statement that the "non-custodial user interface," which only provides a technical entry point and allows users to manage their assets independently, should be excluded from broker registration. They also urge the SEC to establish clearer and more sustainable definitions of "broker" through formal rulemaking, to avoid incorrectly categorizing neutral software tool providers, validators, RPC/API, oracles, cloud services, and other infrastructure under broker regulations. This would provide long-term legal certainty for blockchain infrastructure innovation while ensuring investor protection.Previously, the SEC's trading and markets division indicated that some DeFi trading interfaces do not need to register as brokers, allowing for policy space for related applications. Supporters believe that the new regulations could cover infrastructure participants such as validators, APIs, and oracles. Currently, the U.S. crypto market legislation, the CLARITY Act, is stalled in the Senate.

The DeFi Education Fund, along with several other crypto advocacy organizations, has officially sent a joint letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), requesting the initiation of a formal DeFi rule-making process based on recent statements.Previously, the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets had clearly stated that certain software user interfaces used for trading cryptocurrencies do not need to register as broker-dealers, giving a green light to such activities. The joint letter calls on the SEC to solidify the above principles into an objective and clear framework through announcements or comment-based rule-making, clarifying which activities fall under the definition of "broker," while excluding infrastructure service providers such as validators, API and RPC providers, oracles, and cloud services. This would provide developers with long-term legal certainty and avoid reliance on temporary guidance. Under the leadership of current Chairman Paul Atkins, the SEC has taken a positive and open attitude towards digital asset innovation, contrasting sharply with the repressive stance of the previous administration, and the industry has also played an important role in the rule-making process.

Robin Markets tweeted that it has completed a $475,000 angel round of financing, led by Fabric VC, with joint leads from Animoca Brands, ATKA Incubator, John Lilic, and Stefan D. George, and participation from several institutions and angel investors including Hilbert Capital, Layer Zero, and Gnosis.Robin Markets has simultaneously opened its V1 staking product to the public. Robin Markets is a DeFi platform focused on Polymarket position yields, with its core product allowing users to earn yields on their positions in Polymarket.

The Web3 asset data platform RootData has outlined 30 business partners of Fireblocks, spanning multiple key areas such as DeFi protocols, payment settlement, compliance analysis, trading institutions, and multi-chain infrastructure:Settlement Layer: Represented by Circle, TripleA, and Lynq, responsible for stablecoin issuance and payment clearing.Liquidity and Trading Layer: Includes market makers and trading institutions such as Wintermute, Amber Group, GSR, and Wootton, responsible for fund distribution and market depth.On-chain Application Layer: Covers DeFi and application tools like Aave, Morpho, and MetaMask, which support the actual operation scenarios of funds.Compliance and Risk Control Layer: Service providers like Chainalysis, Elliptic, and Coincover form an important supplement to its regulatory adaptation capabilities.By 2025, Fireblocks is expected to handle over $200 billion in stablecoin transactions per month, a year-on-year increase of 300%. Fireblocks' positioning is evolving from a "custody and security service provider" to a central hub for on-chain fund flows and institutional asset circulation.Currently, Fireblocks supports over 150 public blockchain networks, and its partnership network has expanded to over 2,500 global institutional participants, including banks, asset management firms, exchanges, market makers, and fintech companies. Related compilation: Fireblocks Web3 Partner Network Compilation (Continuously Updated)Cryptocurrency projects actively showcasing their partner networks have become a key way to enhance transparency and market trust. It is reported that RootData welcomes Web3 project parties to claim information and continues to track and open more project business relationship disclosure channels. The platform has continuously released multiple issues of the cryptocurrency project ecosystem map, nominating Web3 ecosystem partners for upstream clients such as Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase.If you wish to nominate your project in future ecosystem maps, please fill out the RootData 2026 Industry Ecosystem Mapping form to supplement your important clients and partners.

According to crypto analyst Yu Jin @EmberCN's monitoring, after Aave coordinated the establishment of "DeFi United" and obtained approximately 30,000 ETH in loans and 13,500 ETH in donations, there are signs of a slowdown in capital outflows from the platform.Data shows that Aave's current total deposit size is approximately $28.6 billion, a decrease of about $17.2 billion compared to before the rsETH event, a decline of about 37%.

Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov disclosed that he personally invested 5,000 ETH into DeFi United and stated that he is continuously working with partners to implement more funding commitments, aiming to resolve current issues as soon as possible and restore normal market conditions.Stani mentioned that Aave is his lifelong career, and the team is fully committed to seeking the most beneficial solutions for users.

Aave, in collaboration with multiple institutions, has launched the "DeFi United" rescue plan to address the approximately $292 million loss caused by the KelpDAO vulnerability attack and to prevent the spread of bad debts.The attack originated from a vulnerability in the LayerZero integration, where hackers forged uncollateralized rsETH and borrowed approximately $190 million in assets on Aave, leading to collateral distortion and triggering a bank run, causing the platform's TVL to evaporate by about $10 billion at one point.Currently, Lido Finance, EtherFi, and founder Stani Kulechov have proposed funding plans; Arbitrum has frozen some funds, but the remaining assets have been transferred through THORChain, making recovery difficult. The current focus is on joint funding to "patch the holes" and stabilize the DeFi lending system.

Lido has proposed to allocate up to 2,500 stETH (approximately $5.8 million) from the DAO to cover the asset gap of rsETH caused by the recent attack on Kelp DAO.Lido pointed out that the exploit based on LayerZero has led to insufficient rsETH reserves and triggered a chain reaction in the DeFi ecosystem, including rising interest rate pressures, a tightening lending market, and some leveraged strategies facing the risk of forced liquidation. The proposal emphasizes that these funds will only be used as part of a complete recovery plan, provided that the overall gap can be fully filled. Previously, the attack on Kelp DAO, amounting to approximately $292 million, had impacted Aave, causing bad debt issues, and its total locked value (TVL) once dropped by nearly $8 billion.