📊BTC Holds Steady at $94K Amid Fed Jitters

gm Defiers!

The cryptocurrency market continued to slide this week as investors wait for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision that’s slated for Wednesday.

In other news, Solana faced $11 million in outflows after revealing it had quietly patched a critical vulnerability.

Furthermore, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed a five-year plan to simplify Ethereum’s architecture by replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with RISC-V.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

• Crypto market drops for the second day as Federal Reserve meeting approaches
• Ethereum DEX TVL plunges 88% from its 2021 high
• Flare networks DeFi TVL doubles in just a week
• Ethena announces USDe integrations on Hyperliquid
• Solana records largest outflows following a bug patch
• Clanker employee identified as a Velodrome thief
• Vitalik Buterin reveals new vision to make Ethereum “beautifully simple”

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📊Crypto Market Faces Pressure for Second Day as Investors Await Fed Rate Decision

The crypto market extended its decline Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, with major tokens like Ethereum and Solana slipping further.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, held steady at around $94,000, while Maple Finance’s SYRUP token bucked the trend, soaring 40% following its Binance listing.

📉Ethereum DEX TVL Plunges 88% From 2021 Peak: Token Terminal

Ethereum DEX TVL has plunged 88% from its 2021 peak, now sitting around $5 billion, according to Token Terminal.

In contrast, Ethereum's total Layer 1 TVL has hit a new high above $200 billion, driven largely by stablecoins, which make up about 65% of the total.

💸Flare DeFi TVL Doubles to $124M as Kraken Enables USD₮0 Transfers

Flare Networks announced that the USD₮0 stablecoin, backed 1:1 by Tether’s USDT, is now supported by Kraken. The announcement coinciding with a sharp rise in Flare’s DeFi TVL, which has more than doubled to over $124 million since April 28.

🚀Ethena Launches USDe Integrations on Hyperliquid

Ethena has expanded its USDe stablecoin to Hyperliquid and its EVM, enabling trading, borrowing, and farming opportunities across the platform’s DeFi ecosystem.

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😢Solana Sees Largest DeFi Outflows After Bug Patch Raises Centralization Concerns

Solana recorded $11 million in outflows after revealing it had quietly patched a critical bug that could have allowed infinite token minting. The move led to debate over centralization in the ecosystem.

🗣️Clanker Employee Outed as Velodrome Thief

Clanker, an AI agent launchpad on Coinbase’s Base network, announced the departure of developer Proxystudio. The move follows a revelation that tied the dev to a $350,000 theft from Velodrome Finance in 2022.

🤝Vitalik Buterin Wants to Make Ethereum as “Beautifully Simple” as Bitcoin

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a five-year plan to drastically simplify Ethereum's architecture. In a recent May 3 blog post, he suggested replacing the complex Ethereum Virtual Machine with the minimalist RISC-V architecture.

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