Crypto hacks top $1.4B, MetaMask streamlines Web3 onboarding: Finance Redefined

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week.

This past week, significant new developments were announced by industry-leading Web3 firms, including MetaMask, Polygon and StarkNet. Each revealed promising new infrastructure developments that could bolster mainstream adoption.

On the downside, cryptocurrency hacks continue eroding mainstream trust, as total hacked funds surpassed $1.4 billion in 2024 — not because of DeFi protocols but mainly because of centralized exchanges (CEXs) .

Are centralized exchanges becoming the main target for crypto hackers? A 900% year-over-year increase in losses incurred by CEXs suggests so.

Crypto thefts surpass $1.4 billion in 2024 as centralized exchanges become the main target

According to cybersecurity firm Cyvers’ mid-year Web3 security report, the total volume of stolen crypto funds in 2024 is approaching $1.4 billion as centralized exchanges emerge as the new ground zero for exploits.

In the second quarter of 2024, total crypto losses exceeded $600 million, marking a 100% increase over the same period in 2023. The surge in stolen funds was driven primarily by a 900% increase in losses on centralized exchanges, according to the report.

“This quarter has witnessed a significant shift in attack vectors, with centralized exchanges (CEX) bearing the brunt of major incidents, while decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols show improved resilience,” the report stated, adding, “This trend may be attributed to the concentration of assets in centralized platforms and potentially lax security measures in some exchanges.”

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Starknet to introduce staking in Q4 2024

Eli Ben-Sasson, the CEO of StarkWare, announced at EthCC on July 10 that the company plans to introduce staking by the end of 2024 through a Starknet improvement proposal (SNIP).

If the community approves the SNIP, Starknet staking is expected to go live on testnet soon, followed by the mainnet launch in the fourth quarter.

A GitHub repository for the new staking feature will be publicly available throughout the development process.

In a written QA with Cointelegraph, Ben-Sasson explained that staking would enable Starknet tokenholders to “participate in core activities of a decentralized network.”

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MetaMask unveils toolkit to ease Web3 onboarding

Consensys unveiled the MetaMask Delegation Toolkit at EthCC, marking a significant milestone in the company’s efforts to promote Web3 and blockchain adoption.

According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, the toolkit enables developers to create decentralized applications (DApps) and protocols that offer new user experiences.

The MetaMask toolkit will be available on any Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chain supported by a user operation bundler, including Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Linea, Optimism and Polygon.

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SingularityNET and Filecoin partner for AI and DePIN

SingularityNET, an artificial intelligence platform developer, and the Filecoin Foundation, the governance body behind the Filecoin network, have announced a collaborative partnership.

The partnership aims to integrate the AI and decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) industries while maintaining decentralization, AI ethics and data provenance.

According to an official press release shared with Cointelegraph, the partnership will also establish an AI ethics working group to ensure that AI development and deployment adhere to ethical practices.

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TON Application Chain and Polygon team up to launch new TON L2

The TON Application Chain (TAC) and Polygon Labs are set to bring EVM functionality to the TON ecosystem.

In a July 9 announcement, the TON Application Chain and Polygon announced that the TON L2 had integrated Polygon CDK and the interoperability protocol AggLayer to bring EVM-compatible DApps to TAC.

It aims to increase the range of applications available to the TON network’s users, including DeFi, gaming and identity solutions.

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DeFi market overview

The majority of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap have ended the week in the green, as shown by data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.

Out of the top 100, Telegram-based gaming token Notcoin ( NOT ) logged the biggest weekly gain of over 46%, followed by the Celestia ( TIA ) token, which is up over 38% on the weekly chart.

NOT and TIA, 1-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph

However, investor sentiment eroded over the past week, as the crypto Fear Greed index fell to 25, signaling “extreme fear,” down from last week’s 29. Investor sentiment remains pressured by Bitcoin ( BTC ) trading under the important $60,000 psychological mark.

Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlama

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.