Kelp · 165

Ethereum core development team Nethermind abandons LayerZero and switches to Chainlink CCIP

Comparatively, according to The Block, Nethermind, a core contributor to the Ethereum ecosystem, announced that it will withdraw from the LayerZero decentralized verification network (DVN) business and migrate the cross-chain infrastructure to the Chainlink network after a “thorough review”. Nethermind said it has stopped operating LayerZero's DVN and joined the Chainlink network as a node operator and strategic technology provider. In the future, Nethermind will provide engineering tools, infrastructure services, and integration support for blockchain application developers. It is reported that this shift occurred after the LayerZero ecosystem experienced a security incident. In April of this year, Kelp DAO's RsETH cross-chain bridge was attacked, losing about 116,500 RsETH, worth about $292 million at the time. Following this incident, several companies have begun to shift their cross-chain business from LayerZero to Chainlink. However, Nethermind did not specify whether the migration was directly related to the Kelp DAO incident, nor did it disclose that LayerZero had specific technical issues or changes in the commercial terms of both parties.

3d ago#On-chain dynamics

Wyoming moves FRNT stablecoin from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP

Comparatively, the Wyoming Stablecoin Commission has migrated its issued Frontier Stable Token (FRNT) from LayerZero to Chainlink's cross-chain interoperability protocol CCIP, and will completely stop implementing the LayerZero token after completing a full security review. CCIP will be FRNT's sole cross-chain infrastructure under a multi-year contract. This is the first time that a US government entity has publicly changed blockchain infrastructure on security grounds. FRNT is currently the only stablecoin issued by a US public agency and backed by full fiat reserves. The reserve proceeds are used to support the state's school foundation projects. The tokens have been deployed on chains such as Ethereum, Base, and Avalanche, and the market capitalization is currently less than 1 million US dollars. The decision was released four months after Kelp DAO's LayerZero-based bridge was attacked and approximately 116,500 RSetH (worth about $292 million at the time) was stolen. The incident sparked a wave of industry security reviews and migrations. So far, nearly $15 billion of related assets have been transferred from LayerZero to Chainlink. Early migrators include Kelp, Solv Protocol, Re, Kraken, etc. BitGo then chose CCIP and completed the migration of approximately $7.7 billion of encapsulated bitcoins, bringing the total amount to the current level. Also, according to the LayerZero case study in January of this year, Wyoming operated its own decentralized verification network and controlled verification and compliance functions.

3d ago#On-chain dynamics

Over 100 crypto projects have been shut down in 2026, and the industry is experiencing an internet bubble reshuffle

According to Twitter, more than 100 crypto projects have closed, filed for bankruptcy, or permanently ceased operations since 2026, and the pace of withdrawal is accelerating. In late July alone, BitMEX, BitMart, Movement Labs, and Storj Labs announced closures or submitted related applications. The exit project covered trading platforms, wallets, DeFi lending agreements, the NFT marketplace, and the L1 blockchain; Polka's parallel chain Moonbeam also permanently ceased operation on July 31, and user funds that were not bridged in time were stranded. This round of clean-up has been described as similar to the restructuring of the industry after the bursting of the internet bubble. The number of Ethereum's general-purpose L2 grew rapidly in 2023, but as the threshold for the deployment chain was lowered, the market became congested and projects lacked differentiation. Espresso Systems CEO Ben Fisch said that the current integration phase is a general-purpose L2, not all L2s. Lorenzo Valente, research director at ARK Invest, said that the crypto industry is undergoing the largest consolidation in history, capital is becoming more picky, and teams and trading platforms that lack a fit for the actual product market are being shut down; Hyperliquid and Pump.fun already account for 67% of the total revenue of the application layer. The problem with a large number of projects is that they have usage but no revenue in the traditional sense of the word. Many teams use their own tokens to pay engineers, subsidize liquidity, and cover security audits. Recently, most altcoins in the bear market have fallen by 70% to 90%, making token-denominated capital reserves and operating cycle estimates invalid. DAO governance tool platform Tally, which served more than 500 agreements, processed over $1 billion in payments, and helped protect up to $80 billion in on-chain value, was shut down due to the lack of a sustainable business model for governance tools. The security incident further hastened the exit of the project. Blockaid estimates that on-chain attacks lost $1.1 billion in the first half of 2026, more than the full year of 2025; Kelp DAO and Drift Protocol incidents lost $293 million and $285 million, respectively. TRM Labs estimates that North Korea-related attackers accounted for 66% of total crypto attack losses over the same period. Projects that can continue to grow in a bear market generally rely on dollar revenue rather than their own tokens. Hyperliquid's cumulative processing fees exceeded 1 billion US dollars on June 30, and currently accounts for 70% of the decentralized perpetual contract market; as of July, Aave held more than 12 billion US dollars in deposits, and annual loan fees exceeded 100 million US dollars. What these projects have in common is not the most complex technology, the most financing, or the largest community, but rather the establishment of products that users are willing to pay for. This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)

13d agoburnking

Cryptocurrency was stolen $3.4 billion in 2025, and the funds were usually laundered within 45 days

According to Twitter, the amount of cryptocurrency theft reached 3.4 billion US dollars in 2025, of which Bybit was attacked and lost 1.5 billion US dollars, accounting for 44% of the total amount for the whole year. There were 212 related incidents in the first half of 2026, with losses of about 1.1 billion US dollars. Lazarus linked gangs were involved in about 55% of them, and KelpDAO was attacked in April and lost 293 million US dollars. Stolen funds usually go through three stages of transfer over about 45 days: the first 5 days are exchanged and entered into a coin mixing service through a DeFi protocol, then cross-chain bridged and flowed through trading platforms with lower KYC requirements, and then cashed out in batches over a period of 20 to 45 days through non-KYC platforms, instant exchangers, and OTC networks. Once funds cross multiple blockchains, coin mixing services, and jurisdictions, tracking is still possible, but recovery is significantly more difficult. Less than 5% of Bybit's stolen funds were eventually recovered; Tether and Circle can freeze USDT and USDC addresses, and attackers usually exchange stablecoins for Ethereum or Bitcoin within minutes of the attack. This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)

13d agoburnking

BitGo changes $7.3 billion WBTC cross-chain service provider to Chainlink CCIP

According to the news, crypto infrastructure company BitGo will replace the exclusive cross-chain service provider for $7.3 billion WBTC from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP. Following the $292 million cross-chain bridge exploit in Kelp, several projects announced the migration from LayerZero to Chainlink, and it has been revealed that the total migration scale reached $145 billion. BitGo will use CCIP in future assets while retaining control over token contracts, rate limits, and transfer settings. This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)

18d agoburnking#On-chain dynamics

After three consecutive quarters of decline, why hasn't the crypto market bottomed out yet?

Author: Cookie Original title: After three consecutive quarters of decline, the crypto market is experiencing its longest downturn since 2022. According to CoinGecko's previous crypto industry report for the second quarter of 2026, the data is impressive: the total market value of the crypto market fell 12.6% in the second quarter, shrinking from $2.4 trillion to $2.1 trillion, the lowest level since September 2024, and retracted about 52% from the peak in October 2025. This is the third straight quarter of decline. In this 58-page report, the most interesting number is not a single number; several trend lines are pointing in the same direction at the same time: money is leaving the crypto market, and the way it is leaving is very orderly. Triple evidence of capital outflows The first evidence comes from stablecoins. The total market value of stablecoins fell 1.6% to $305.1 billion in the second quarter, the first negative quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2023. Stablecoins are the “cash layer” of the crypto ecosystem. Their shrinking means that capital is no longer satisfied with withdrawing from risky assets to safe haven in the market; they are directly withdrawing from the industry. Structural differentiation is also intensifying. Tether's USDT bucked the trend and rose slightly to 60%, while Circle's USDC outflow was $3.7 billion (-4.8%), Sky's USDS shrunk by $2 billion (-16.4%), and Ethena's USDe shrank by $1.4 billion (-24.4%). This pattern shows two things: demand for offshore dollars is still stable, but on-chain native yield stablecoins are experiencing a wave of redemptions. The core reason is that DeFi yields have fallen below risk-free interest rates. The second evidence comes from trading volume. Spot trading volume on centralized exchanges fell 27.9% to 1.95 trillion US dollars in the second quarter. In May, it was only 619 billion US dollars in a single month, the lowest point in the year. The relatively moderate decline in perpetual contract trading volume (-10% to $12.7 trillion) is not good news; it indicates that speculative demand is declining more slowly than investment demand, and the market structure is becoming more fragile. The third piece of evidence comes from DeFi. Total DeFi hedging volume (TVL) plummeted 23.4% in the second quarter. Ethereum was most affected by the KelpDAO attack, with TVL shrinking by 28.7% (-$150 billion) and market share falling to 52.9%. The decline in lock-up volume is compounded by an average decline of 44.6% in on-chain fees, and overall on-chain economic activity is shrinking. BTC and ETH are left behind at the same time. If you only look at the total market capitalization, the 12.6% drop is only moderate in the volatility of the crypto market. What is really unsettling is the divergence between crypto assets and traditional risk assets. US stocks showed a strong rebound in the second quarter, while Bitcoin (-14.2%) and Ethereum (-25.4%) did not keep up at all. This is an important structural sign: the “Bitcoin is a digital gold/risk asset/technology stock alternative” narrative for the past two years has simultaneously failed during this quarter. It neither followed the rise of gold nor the Nasdaq, nor acted as a safe haven when risk aversion heats up. Ethereum is in a worse position. The second quarter was the first time in ETH history that it had three consecutive quarters of decline. With Bitcoin's market share remaining above 55%, Ethereum's share has fallen to around 10%, far below the historical average of 18%. June was the harshest month of the whole quarter. The combination of the hawkish stance of the Federal Reserve, the repeated situation between the US and Iran, and the strategic symbolic sale of Bitcoin have all triggered the sharpest monthly decline in the year. Strategy sold only 32 BTC (worth about $2.5 million, accounting for 0.0038% of its holdings), but it broke Saylor's “never sell” belief narrative, with a cumulative outflow of nearly $4 billion from US-listed Bitcoin ETFs over the next 12 trading days. Few highlights In an overall shrinking market, a few corners are still growing, but the direction of growth is intriguing. The market's nominal trading volume is predicted to increase by 48.7% to US$113.8 billion in the second quarter, reaching a record high of US$52.8 billion in June. Kalshi's market share increased from 42.4% to 58.9%, while Polymarket declined from 35.8% to 30.2%. Robi...

19d agoburnking#stablecoins

Safe Q2 records nearly 130 million transactions, and smart account usage continues to grow compounded

Comparatively, according to the Q2 2026 report released by the Safe Ecosystem Foundation on Wednesday, the Safe Smart Account processed nearly 130 million transactions in the second quarter, a record quarterly high, with a 5.7% increase over the previous quarter. The total number of accounts reached 63.4 million, an increase of 20% over the previous year, and monthly active accounts rose to 2.73 million in June. The number of transactions in April reached 55.4 million in a single month, the highest in history. Quarterly transfers reached $39.3 billion, up 8% year over year, self-managed assets reached $27.24 billion (including $6.48 billion stablecoins) at the end of the quarter, and project revenue of $1.98 million increased 42% year over year. Co-founder Lukas Schor said Safe is evolving from a simple asset holding tool to a wider range of usage scenarios, and usage continues to grow compounded in weak markets. The first quarter of Safenet Beta, which was launched on April 2, attracted 54.8 million SAFE stakes (539 stakers), inspected more than 500,000 transactions, and was operated by six validators including Greenfield and Gnosis. Furthermore, after the KelpDAO attack, DeFi United, led by Aave, coordinated around $300 million through the Safe Smart Account to help restore RsETH support, and more than 142,000 wallets participated. The SAFE token has risen 4.2% over the past 24 hours.

23d ago

Data: Crypto hackers lost over $1 billion in the first half of 2026, with Ethereum and Solana losing the top

Comparing news, the security report for the first half of 2026 released by the on-chain security platform Blockaid shows that the crypto industry lost more than $1 billion during the same period, and the number of hacking incidents reached a record high in six months. Blockaid tracked 212 security incidents, of which KelpDAO lost $292 million in a single attack. Ethereum and Solana were the largest networks with stolen funds during the same period, with losses of around $332 million and $326 million, respectively. Blockaid said the number of high-threshold attacks in the first half of 2026 was 3.4 times that of the full year of 2025. The Ethereum incident was mainly driven by code vulnerabilities. Attacks include bridge and smart contract bugs, unauthorized access to privileged accounts, and market manipulation. Solana's losses increased significantly from about $127 million in 2025, with over 98% of losses due to key leaks, mainly involving Drift Protocol and Step Finance incidents. This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)

25d agoburnking

Senator Lummis pushes for CLARITY Act to crack down on illegal crypto activities like Lazarus Group

According to Bitcoin.com, US Senator Cynthia Lummis pushed for the CLARITY bill to complete the Senate vote before the National Assembly adjourns. Section 303 of the Act gives the Ministry of Finance the power to impose specific sanctions on digital assets in foreign jurisdictions, and Section 305 allows exchanges to freeze suspicious transactions for up to 180 days. According to on-chain data, North Korea's Lazarus Group stole about US$643 million in the first half of 2026, accounting for two-thirds of the total amount of global crypto theft during the same period (US$972 million), including the $285 million attack on Drift Protocol in April and the $292 million attack on the KelpDAO cross-chain bridge. The organization has accumulated $6.75 billion in thefts since 2019. Currently, Galaxy Research has lowered the probability of passing the CLARITY Act to 30% within 2026. The bill still needs 60 votes to move forward, which means that at least 7 Democratic lawmakers are required to vote across parties.

26d ago

The crypto industry lost approximately $1.32 billion in the first half of 2026, and access control flaws became the biggest source of attack

Comparatively, according to Onchain Lens statistics, 224 publicly disclosed security incidents occurred in the crypto industry in the first half of 2026, with a cumulative loss of about US$1.32 billion. Among them, access control flaws caused the most damage. Many large-scale attacks stemmed from permission management or private key/administrator rights being breached, including: Kelp DAO: loss of $292 million Drift Protocol: loss of $280 million Humanity Protocol: loss of $31 million Step Finance: loss of $30 million Truebit: loss of $26.5 million Resolv Labs: loss of $25 million AFX: Loss of $24.15 million BonkDAO: Loss of $21 million In addition, phishing and social engineering attacks caused losses of approximately $282 million; attacks related to the Oracle bug include: Ostium: $24 million Blend Protocol: $10.86 million Bonzo: $9 million. Data shows that a few major attacks contributed to most of the losses. Permission management, user security education, and oracle risk are still key areas of security protection for the crypto industry in 2026.

28d ago