Hong Kong eyes DeFi, DAO spent $37M to help free Julian Assange: 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.

The past week in DeFi saw major regulatory developments in Hong Kong, as its government intends to study and identify key opportunities in the decentralized sector.

After 14 years of fighting against extradition to the United States, Julian Assange is a free man. AssangeDAO — a decentralized organization created to help raise funds for Assange’s legal fight — revealed that it spent $37 million to help the WikiLeaks founder secure his freedom.

In other news, crypto losses from hacks and exploits in DeFi soared over 100% in the second quarter of 2024.

Hong Kong targets DeFi, metaverse for fintech expansion

Government-backed studies in Hong Kong have identified DeFi and metaverse technologies as new opportunities to enhance the region’s dominance in the global fintech landscape.

The Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research, the research arm of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance, released two reports on June 25, each detailing the implications of DeFi and metaverse on the finance sector.

Hong Kong’s report on DeFi highlighted the ecosystem’s explosive growth from a modest $6 billion market capitalization in 2021 to over $80 billion in 2023.

AssangeDAO member Silke Noa says $37 million spent to rescue Assange

AssangeDAO member Silke Noa said in an X post that out of 16,593 Ether (ETH), an estimated 11,000 ETH worth $37 million has been spent on legal defense and campaigning by AssangeDAO’s The Clock.

To free Assange, Noa explained that the 16,593 Ether allocation was administered by the Wau Holland Foundation “out of their Safe.global multisig wallet address.”

Assange, an Australian journalist and activist, founded WikiLeaks, a platform that publishes classified and sensitive documents. He has been imprisoned since April 2019.

Crypto losses from hacks and scams soared by 113% in Q2 2024 to reach $572 million

Crypto losses from hacks and scams more than doubled in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the same period the previous year, according to research from blockchain security platform Immunefi.

Over $572 million was lost in Q2, compared to only $220 million in Q2 2023. Centralized exchange hacks made up the bulk of the quarter’s losses. Before the second quarter, losses from hacks and scams had been declining, with Immunefi reporting a 23% reduction in Q1. This decline continued through April and most of May, but losses dramatically increased at the end of May and June.

MakerDAO delegate’s $11 million in tokens stolen in phishing scam

A MakerDAO governance delegate lost $11 million worth of Aave Ethereum Maker (aEthMKR) and Pendle USDe tokens in a phishing scam due to signing multiple signatures.

Scam Sniffer detected the incident in the early hours of June 23. The user fell victim to the phishing scam after signing multiple signatures, which led to the loss of their digital assets.

Wu Blockchain reported that Arkham found that the victim in the case was a MakerDAO governance delegate. The delegate plays a key role in the MakerDAO system, contributing to its decision-making processes. Delegates are responsible for voting on governance proposals, polls and executive votes, influencing significant decisions within the Maker protocol.

DeFi market overview

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a mixed week. Most traded in the red on the weekly charts, and the total value locked in DeFi protocols fell below $100 billion.

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.