David Chen

David Chen is a DeFi strategist and the former head of product at Uniswap Labs. He holds a degree in Financial Engineering from Princeton University and has been active in decentralized finance since 2019. David writes about yield strategies, protocol mechanics, and DeFi governance.

Onyx’s Goliath Mainnet Launch Triggers Massive Institutional Migration from Generalized DeFi

DeFi /

ZURICH — The landscape of decentralized finance (DeFi) experienced a major structural schism this week, as institutional capital began a massive migration away from generalized Layer-1 networks toward specialized, enterprise-grade infrastructure. The primary catalyst for this shift is the highly successful launch of the “Goliath” mainnet by Onyx, a specialized execution layer engineered explicitly for […]

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Q1 DeFi Exploits Surpass $137 Million, Revealing Systemic Smart Contract Vulnerabilities

DeFi /

ZURICH — The inherent security risks of decentralized financial architecture were brutally quantified on Friday, as a comprehensive Q1 security report revealed that the DeFi sector has lost over $137 million to highly sophisticated exploits in the first three months of 2026. The report highlights a terrifying escalation in the complexity of digital theft, showing

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Onyx’s Goliath Mainnet Launch Triggers Institutional Migration from Generalized DeFi Protocols

DeFi /

ZURICH — The institutional competition within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector intensified significantly on Wednesday, following the highly successful launch of the Goliath mainnet by Onyx. Engineered explicitly for the mass tokenization of complex enterprise assets, Goliath is already drawing significant liquidity away from generalized Layer-1 networks, positioning itself as the premier execution environment for

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Q1 DeFi Exploits Surpass $137 Million, Highlighting Persistent Smart Contract Vulnerabilities

DeFi /

ZURICH — The inherent dangers of decentralized financial architecture were starkly highlighted on Wednesday, following the release of a damning Q1 security report. The analysis confirmed that despite significant advancements in smart contract auditing, the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector has already lost over $137 million to highly sophisticated exploits in the first quarter of 2026

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New Regulatory Guidance Provides Legal Clarity for Institutional DeFi Yield Strategies

DeFi /

ZURICH — The institutionalization of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector achieved a highly significant milestone this week, following the release of the SEC and CFTC’s joint regulatory guidance. The comprehensive document finally addresses the complex mechanics of stablecoin yields, providing the legal clarity required for traditional financial institutions to confidently deploy capital into decentralized lending

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Catastrophic $50M Execution Error Exposes Lethal Mechanics of DeFi Slippage

DeFi /

ZURICH — The inherent risks of executing massive transactions within fragmented decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity pools were brutally exposed this week, following a devastating “slippage” event that annihilated a multi-million dollar institutional position. On-chain forensic data confirmed that an entity attempting to swap $50.4 million USDT for AAVE tokens received a mere $36,000 in return,

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DeFi TVL Surges to $97.6 Billion, Driven by ‘Sticky’ Institutional Capital

DeFi /

ZURICH — The resilience of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem was forcefully underscored this weekend, as industry analytics confirmed that the Total Value Locked (TVL) across all major protocols has surged to $97.6 billion. This robust metric, achieved despite a highly volatile macroeconomic environment and significant downward pressure on the spot prices of native cryptocurrencies,

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DeFi TVL Stabilizes at $98 Billion as Institutional ‘Sticky Capital’ Dominates Protocols

DeFi /

ZURICH — The sheer scale and resilience of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem was forcefully validated this week, as industry analytics confirmed that the Total Value Locked (TVL) across all major protocols has stabilized at approximately $98 billion. Despite experiencing a severe macroeconomic “risk-off” event triggered by the Federal Reserve’s hawkish interest rate stance, the

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DeFi TVL Nears $100 Billion Despite Market Volatility as Institutional Tokenization Surges

DeFi /

ZURICH — The resilience of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem is currently confounding traditional market analysts. Despite a highly volatile macroeconomic environment characterized by “Extreme Fear” and severe price corrections across major digital assets, DeFi’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has stubbornly climbed to approximately $97.6 billion this week. This divergence suggests a profound maturation in

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Major DeFi Protocol Proposes Time-Locked Staking to Thwart Malicious Governance Attacks

DeFi /

ZURICH — The governance structures underpinning the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem are undergoing a significant period of maturation. On Friday, the developers behind World Liberty Financial—a prominent lending protocol—proposed a radical overhaul of their decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The new proposal aims to combat the rising threat of “governance attacks” by requiring token holders to

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