The Defiant
DeFi and decentralized finance news and analysis
Hyperliquid-Based Kinetiq Unveils KNTQ Governance Token
Kinetiq Foundation launched KNTQ, a 1 billion‑supply governance token for the Kinetiq liquid‑staking protocol on Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM, aiming to give holders governance rights and shape protocol direction. The distribution allocates 30% to protocol growth/rewards, 25% to an initial airdrop (1% Hypurr, 24% kPoints), 23.5% to core contributors, 10% to the foundation, 7.5% to investors and 4% to liquidity; eligible airdrop recipients must accept terms by Nov. 21. Kinetiq touts rapid adoption—TVL over $1.6 billion (kHYPE $1.36B) and $460 million deposited in 24 hours across ~2,800 wallets—underscoring strong demand for liquid staking and bolstering Hyperliquid’s composability and DeFi growth.
ENA Jumps 4% as First Ethena-Native DEX Ethereal Launches Mainnet Alpha
Ethereal, the first Ethena-native spot and perpetual DEX, has launched its mainnet alpha, allowing a limited group of users to trade using USDe, Ethena Labs’ synthetic dollar. The DEX runs on a bespoke EVM appchain (Ethereal Chain) with execution on...
Nearly Half of U.S. Retail Crypto Holders Haven’t Earned Yield: MoreMarkets
A MoreMarkets report finds nearly half of U.S. retail crypto holders have never earned yield, estimating 20–36 million earn yield via centralized exchanges while only 500,000–700,000 use DeFi—meaning about 97% of yield earners favor CEXs. The survey cites liquidity concerns...
Ethereum Foundation Announces Gas Limit Cap for Upcoming Fusaka Upgrade
The Ethereum Foundation said it will introduce EIP‑7825 with the Fusaka hard fork in December, imposing a per‑transaction gas cap of 16.78 million (down from the current ability for one transaction to consume a full 45 million‑gas block). The cap...
KDA Plummets as Kadena Organization Shuts Down Operations
Kadena Organization said it will immediately shut down operations and cut formal ties to the Kadena Layer‑1 blockchain, triggering a 60% one‑day drop in the KDA token and an 85% decline over the past year to a $30 million market...
Maple and Aave Team Up to Bring Institutional Assets to DeFi Lending Markets
Maple Finance, which manages roughly $3.1 billion in assets, will integrate its institutional-grade syrup tokens (starting with syrupUSDT and syrupUSDC) into Aave’s $40 billion decentralized lending protocol to channel curated institutional yield into Aave liquidity pools. The partnership aims to...
Why Yat Siu Believes Altcoins Will Surpass Bitcoin
Animoca Brands co‑founder Yat Siu outlined a plan to tackle Web3’s identity and trust problems by building a reputation layer using zero‑knowledge proofs and a Mocaverse loyalty SDK that ties staking power and airdrops to verifiable, cross‑chain identities. He revealed...
Meteora Trades at $1 Billion Pre-Market Valuation Ahead of TGE
Meteora is trading at an implied $1 billion fully diluted pre‑market valuation ahead of its token generation event Thursday, down from a $1.8 billion opening on Oct. 10 and reflecting gradual pullback since the broader altcoin sell‑off. The Solana DEX—third‑largest...
HumidiFi Tops Monthly Solana DEX Volumes and Teases Airdrop
HumidiFi, a proprietary AMM launched in June, topped monthly Solana DEX volumes with about $34 billion traded—surpassing Meteora’s $31.5 billion and Raydium’s $21.4 billion. The exchange’s prop-AMM model, which reduces slippage by eliminating adverse flow, appears to be drawing market‑maker...
BitMine Accumulates $800 Million of ETH Amid Market Weakness
BitMine Immersion announced it bought 203,826 ETH (about $800 million) last week, raising its holdings to 3,236,014 ETH—roughly 2.7% of circulating supply—at an average price of $4,022, sending BMNR shares up about 7% and lifting total crypto and cash holdings...
DeFi Earning Aggregator Turtle Raises $5.5 Million
DeFi liquidity coordination protocol Turtle raised $5.5 million in new funding—bringing total financing to $11.7 million—with participation from institutional firms including GSR, FalconX and Anchorage VC and founders from Polygon, 1inch and Gnosis. The capital will be used to expand...
Bitcoin Slides Below $107,000 as Crypto Market Hits Four-Day Losing Streak
Bitcoin fell below $107,000 to $106,400 on Friday as the crypto market extended a four‑day losing streak, with Ether down about 3.2% to $3,830 and total market cap sliding 1.5% to $3.70 trillion. Roughly $972 million of crypto positions were...
Is Institutional Adoption Ethereum’s ‘Worst Enemy’?
A debate has emerged over whether growing institutional adoption—ETPs, corporate treasuries, and massive staking—threatens Ethereum’s open, cypherpunk ethos by increasing traditional finance’s influence on governance and protocol choices. ETH ETFs have seen rapid inflows (net assets doubled to $26.5 billion...
Nansen and Sanctum Launch Solana Liquid Staking Token
Nansen and Sanctum launched nxSOL, a Solana liquid staking token that lets users earn SOL staking rewards while keeping liquidity to withdraw or deploy in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem. The move arrives as Solana’s TVL tops $13 billion, Sanctum’s TVL has...
Yei Finance Token Soars 250% on Launch Day
Yei Finance's CLO token surged 245% on its launch day, skyrocketing its market capitalization from $17.5 million to $61 million. With 13% of the total supply in circulation, the token boasts a fully diluted valuation of $475 million. Yei Finance...
OhBaby Games NFT Mint Offers GameFi Bulls a Glimmer of Hope
OhBaby Games launched its flagship NFT collection, the OhBaby Pass, on October 8, achieving a remarkable 500% surge from its initial mint price of 0.1 ETH ($410) to a peak of 0.5 ETH ($2,000) shortly after the mint, before stabilizing...
Crypto Continues to Offer Superior Returns and Diversification: Franklin Templeton
Franklin Templeton's latest report highlights the compelling performance of digital assets, which have outperformed traditional markets in eight of the past eleven years, attributing this trend to rising institutional adoption and innovative tokenized products. The digital asset market has surged...
UMBRA Trades 5X Above ICO Price After Oversubscribed Raise
Umbra, a new privacy protocol on the Solana blockchain, has seen its native token, UMBRA, trade nearly five times above its initial coin offering (ICO) price of $0.30, reaching around $1.30 shortly after launch. The ICO, which concluded on October...
Metamask to Integrate Polymarket
Metamask, the leading Ethereum wallet by Consensys, has announced a strategic integration with Polymarket, the largest on-chain prediction market, enhancing its offerings in decentralized finance (DeFi). The partnership, alongside the introduction of in-app perpetual futures and a forthcoming rewards program,...
Russia’s Central Bank Considers Tokenizing Russian Stocks, But for Foreigners
Russia's Central Bank is exploring the possibility of tokenizing domestic company shares to facilitate foreign investment, despite ongoing sanctions from the EU and U.S. The initiative, announced by Bank of Russia first deputy governor Vladimir Chistyukhin, hinges on the cooperation...
MetaDAO Community Votes Against VC Discount in $6M OTC Deal
The platform’s founders warned earlier that without new funding, MetaDAO would have only 24 months of runway.
Safe Labs Takes the Reins of Popular Multi-Signature Wallet
The SAFE token is down 23% amid a widespread crypto selloff.
Tether Co-Founder’s Stablecoin USST Depegs Hours After Launch
The new stablecoin from the STBL protocol fell below its $1 peg shortly after going live, highlighting challenges for liquidity.
Sorare Migrates to Solana, Abandoning Ethereum L2 StarkEx
The NFT fantasy sports platform is switching from L2 StarkEx to Solana, promising faster, cheaper, and more open ways to trade player cards.
Larva Labs Art Blocks Auction Surpasses $30,000
The creators of Cryptopunks and Autoglyphs just wrapped up Art Blocks’ curated series with a new release, Quine.
Crypto Markets Stall as Traders Bet Government Shutdown Will Extend Into November
Crypto markets hold out around $4.2 trillion as traders increasingly bet the U.S. government shutdown could last into next month.
‘Made in China’ Tokens Outperform Broader Crypto Market
BNB, Mantle, and Aster lead gains amid a renewed memecoin frenzy on BNB Smart Chain.
Ethena Partners With Jupiter to Launch Solana-Native JupUSD Stablecoin
The new token will eventually replace $750 million worth of stablecoins in Jupiter’s liquidity pool.
Meteora Details Tokenomics for Upcoming MET Launch
Part of the project’s long-planned post-FTX comeback, the token will have 20% of its circulating supply allocated to former Mercurial stakeholders.
Doodles Token Hits Record High After Korean Debut
DOOD, the token tied to the Doodles NFT collection, soared to a new high after Upbit listed the asset with KRW and USDT pairs.
Plume Reveals Plans to Acquire Dinero
The deal brings liquid staking products and compliance infrastructure to Plume’s real-world asset blockchain.
