Pi Network has launched a testnet decentralized exchange (DEX) with an automated market maker (AMM) to strengthen its DeFi ecosystem and expand real utility for Pi Coin. The initiative focuses on utility-driven tokens, developer experimentation, and financial literacy, allowing the community to practice non-custodial trading and liquidity provision in a low‑risk environment before mainnet scale-up.

dYdX, a leading decentralized derivatives exchange, has acquired Pocket Protector, a fast-growing Telegram-native trading app, in a move aimed at expanding its social trading capabilities and accelerating product growth. Pocket Protector, founded in 2024, quickly gained traction with over 50,000 users and more than $1 billion in annualized trading volume by allowing users to trade directly within Telegram group chats.

Norwegian deep-sea mining company Green Minerals has announced a major move into the cryptocurrency space, launching a $1.2 billion Bitcoin Treasury Strategy. The company began by purchasing four Bitcoins, valued at around $420,000, as the first step in a broader plan to reduce its reliance on fiat currencies and hedge against inflation and geopolitical risks.

Discover the future of digital ledgers beyond blockchain—exploring innovations like Hedera Hashgraph, IOTA, Holochain, and more!

Bitcoin ETFs remain controversial due to regulatory uncertainties and volatility risks, challenging investor trust and adoption.

The Essentials of Cryptocurrencies Explained : Unravel the intricacies of cryptocurrencies in 'Essentials of Cryptocurrencies Explained,' a comprehensive guide that illuminates the seamless blend of cryptography and digital currency. Dive into the world of decentralized finance, exploring how blockchain technology powers these innovative digital assets .

According to DeFillama , the TVL in DeFi is currently around $124.5 billion. However, in early 2022, that figure reached $240 billion. One way or another, we’re talking a lot of money. There is, however, one thing that can throw a spanner in this DeFi machinery. These are bugs in smart contracts (Lemmens, 2022) [1] .

Traditionally, exchanges acted as the market makers, providing the liquidity needed for traders to buy and sell crypto assets. Since liquidity was held by a single entity, Binance, Coinbase, FTX, and others, which act in this way, are referred to as centralized exchanges (CEXs).

DeFi (decentralized finance) is the core of crypto’s fastest-growing projects right now. In essence, DeFi tokens allow investors to make extra income through their crypto holdings. In practice, the process is a lot more complex.

A decentralized exchange (or DEX) is a peer-to-peer marketplace where transactions occur directly between crypto traders. DEXs fulfill one of crypto’s core possibilities: fostering financial transactions that aren’t officiated by banks, brokers, or any other intermediary. Many popular DEXs, like Uniswap and Sushiwap, run on the Ethereum blockchain (Staff, 2022).

Decentralized cryptocurrency finance is based on the demand and premise of eliminating the need for banks (Centralized finance or CeFI) almost entirely. Centralized finance refers to any kind of financial service (especially in the crypto industry) that a centralized platform that manages and processes the transactions as well as accounts (Zare, 2021) [1] .

What Is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)?

In the simplest terms, decentralized finance (DeFi) is the umbrella term for financial applications that operate on a decentralized network. This could be something as simple as decentralized lending or borrowing, but can also include more complex products and services like decentralized exchanges, derivatives, and insurance products (Blockzeit, 2022).