# DeFi Related Articles

HTX News Center provides the latest articles and in-depth analysis on "DeFi", covering market trends, project updates, tech developments, and regulatory policies in the crypto industry.

A Brief History of the Encrypted Future: Seven Major Trends Reshaping the Industry Narrative in 2026

"Crypto Future: 7 Trends Reshaping the Industry Narrative in 2026" This article outlines seven key trends expected to define the crypto industry in 2026. First, **Appchains** will see a major breakthrough, as applications built on custom, purpose-specific blockchains optimized for unique user experiences and cultures will flourish, enabled by modular infrastructure. Second, **prediction markets** will continue to innovate, with success hinging on solutions that reduce spreads, increase open interest, and capture specific categories of volume. Third, **Agentic Curators** will emerge, using AI agents (LLMs with tools) to manage DeFi risk and strategies through reasoning, not just fixed algorithms, competing directly with human managers. Fourth, **short-form video** will become the dominant traffic and commerce gateway, with platforms blurring the lines between content and payment. Crypto is essential for enabling microtransactions and tracking complex revenue sharing. Fifth, **new AI Scaling Laws** will be driven by blockchain, as decentralized training and inference networks move from testing to production, offering verifiable, confidential computation and challenging centralized AI development. Sixth, **RWA (Real World Assets)** will achieve real-world adoption at scale. Tokenization will expand beyond stablecoins to assets like commodities, credit, and equities, upgrading global capital markets through on-chain transparency and DeFi composability. Finally, an **Agent-driven product renaissance** will begin, shifting the internet's core from apps we use to agents we converse with. These AI agents will manage complex on-chain tasks, filter information, and execute strategies, reducing friction and unlocking a new era of user empowerment.

Odaily星球日报15h ago

A Brief History of the Encrypted Future: Seven Major Trends Reshaping the Industry Narrative in 2026

Odaily星球日报15h ago

Rebuttal: I Don't Regret Spending 8 Years in the Crypto Industry

Ken Chang recently wrote an article lamenting his eight years in crypto as a waste, describing the industry as inherently destructive and a system of financial nihilism that has built the world's largest casino. While many in the space dismiss such critiques, the author acknowledges that Ken’s disillusionment—shared by earlier figures like Mike Hearn—stems from a genuine idealistic disappointment. Crypto promised decentralization and a new financial system but largely delivered speculation and gambling. The author identifies five core aspirations of cryptocurrency: restoring sound money, encoding business logic via smart contracts, making digital property real, improving capital market efficiency, and expanding global financial inclusion. While progress has been made in areas like Bitcoin, stablecoins, and certain efficient financial infrastructures, many grand visions—like overthrowing fiat or revolutionizing digital ownership—remain unfulfilled. The author advocates for a "pragmatic optimism." Speculation and casino-like dynamics are seen as unfortunate but inevitable side effects of building permissionless, open financial infrastructure. The key is to focus on the real, albeit gradual, progress—such as improved financial access and inclusion—while accepting that transformative change is slow and often captured by incremental efficiency gains, not revolution. The goal remains worthy, even if the path is messier than hoped.

marsbit15h ago

Rebuttal: I Don't Regret Spending 8 Years in the Crypto Industry

marsbit15h ago

Institutions Are Taking Over the Crypto Market: Is This the End of Decentralization, or the Prelude to a New Cycle?

The cryptocurrency market is undergoing a structural shift in 2025, with institutional investors now accounting for approximately 95% of capital inflows, while retail participation has declined to 5–6%. According to Aishwary Gupta of Polygon Labs, this transition is driven by maturing infrastructure rather than market sentiment. Major asset managers like BlackRock, Apollo, and Hamilton Lane are allocating portions of their portfolios to digital assets via ETFs and on-chain tokenized products, leveraging public blockchains that meet traditional finance compliance standards. Key drivers include yield generation through tokenized treasuries and institutional staking, followed by efficiency gains from faster settlements, shared liquidity, and programmable assets. While retail investors retreated due to losses from meme coin cycles, Gupta believes they will return as more regulated and transparent products emerge. He argues that institutional involvement does not undermine decentralization; instead, it enhances legitimacy and fosters a hybrid financial ecosystem where DeFi, NFTs, and traditional assets coexist on public chains. Although increased compliance may limit some experimentation, it promotes more sustainable innovation. Looking ahead, institutional liquidity is expected to reduce market volatility and accelerate the growth of real-world asset tokenization and cross-chain interoperability infrastructure. This evolution signals crypto’s transition from a speculative asset to a core component of the global financial system.

比推13h ago

Institutions Are Taking Over the Crypto Market: Is This the End of Decentralization, or the Prelude to a New Cycle?

比推13h ago

Sentient Launches Open-Source AI Research Agent SERA-Crypto to Tackle the 'Hallucination Crisis' in the Crypto Industry

Sentient Labs, one of the largest open-source AI platforms with $85M in funding, has launched SERA-Crypto—an open-source AI research agent designed for crypto and Web3. It delivers on-chain analytics, tokenomics insights, and protocol risk assessments within 30 seconds, complete with verifiable citations and reproducible reasoning chains. SERA-Crypto addresses the reliability issues of general AI models in finance, particularly critical in crypto where inaccurate information can lead to significant financial loss. Unlike generic models, it uses real-time data (updated within 24–48 hours), parallel tool integration, and structured reasoning to ensure accuracy and depth. Key advantages include temporal relevance, deep research capabilities, data consistency, and support for use cases like wallet risk alerts, exchange integrations, and DAO proposal analysis. It integrates over 50 data endpoints and is built on Sentient’s SERA architecture, optimized for blockchain and DeFi. The model was trained on 220K+ users and 22M+ queries and will be open-sourced in phases. Sentient is backed by Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures.

深潮12h ago

Sentient Launches Open-Source AI Research Agent SERA-Crypto to Tackle the 'Hallucination Crisis' in the Crypto Industry

深潮12h ago

Institutional Dominance in the Crypto Market: The End of Decentralization or the Dawn of a New Era?

In 2025, institutional investors now account for approximately 95% of cryptocurrency inflows, while retail participation has declined to just 5–6%, marking a structural shift in the market. According to Aishwary Gupta of Polygon Labs, this transition is driven by maturing infrastructure rather than sentiment. Major asset managers like BlackRock and Apollo are allocating portions of their portfolios to digital assets via ETFs and on-chain tokenized products, leveraging blockchain for yield generation and operational efficiency. Gupta highlights that institutional adoption is progressing in two phases: first, through yield-bearing products like tokenized treasuries and regulated staking, and second, via efficiency gains such as faster settlement and programmable assets. While retail interest waned due to meme coin losses, he expects gradual return as more transparent, regulated products emerge. Addressing concerns about centralization, Gupta argues that institutional involvement can enhance blockchain’s without compromising decentralization, provided infrastructure remains open. He envisions a future financial system where DeFi, NFTs, and traditional assets coexist on public chains. Although compliance may limit some experimentation, it fosters more sustainable innovation. Increased institutional participation is expected to reduce volatility and accelerate growth in areas like real-world asset tokenization and cross-chain interoperability. Ultimately, this trend signifies crypto’s evolution from a speculative asset to a core component of global finance.

marsbit12h ago

Institutional Dominance in the Crypto Market: The End of Decentralization or the Dawn of a New Era?

marsbit12h ago

Prize Pool 60,000 USDT: "TRON ECO Holiday Odyssey" Annual Ecological Exploration Gala Set to Begin

TRON ECO launches its "Holiday Odyssey" event, a large-scale year-end celebration from December 10, 2025, to January 18, 2026, featuring a total prize pool of 60,000 USDT. The event centers around five core ecosystem projects—SunPump, JUST, AINFT, BitTorrent, and WINkLink—each representing a "holiday planet" with unique interactive tasks. Participants can complete missions to earn rewards, including limited edition TRON ECO merchandise. Key activities include planet-specific tasks such as price prediction with WINkLink, engagement with BitTorrent’s decentralized storage, AI-themed meme creation via SunGenX, a Christmas blind box event with SunPump, and a DeFi strategy competition with JUST. A major "Star Challenge" from December 25 to January 8 offers a 10,000 USDT prize pool supported by sponsors including OSK, Biconomy, and PepeOnTron. Additional features include holiday-themed Twitter Spaces sessions and a joint campaign with HTX exchange boasting over 40,000 USDT in rewards. The event highlights TRON's growing ecosystem, which recently surpassed 250 million accounts and continues to expand across DeFi, AI, and storage sectors. Recent upgrades in AI infrastructure, tokenomics, and user experience tools like SunAgent aim to strengthen TRON’s position as a leading smart contract platform. "Holiday Odyssey" invites the global community to explore TRON’s ecosystem and participate in its end-of-year festivities.

深潮11h ago

Prize Pool 60,000 USDT: "TRON ECO Holiday Odyssey" Annual Ecological Exploration Gala Set to Begin

深潮11h ago

"The Market in Russia is Only Just Emerging": Anton Popov on Sber's Crypto Strategy

Sberbank is increasing its activity in the digital finance sector, offering clients investment products linked to crypto assets and developing its own blockchain platform. In an interview, Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov discussed the bank's strategy, which is focused on expanding its range of digital financial assets (DFAs), participating in the development of regulations for decentralized finance (DeFi), and integrating with public blockchains. Sber is in constant dialogue with Russian regulators to build a secure infrastructure. It currently offers qualified investors products like structured bonds and DFAs that provide exposure to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum within the Russian legal framework, with a total issuance volume of 1.5 billion rubles. The bank sees these regulated, ruble-based products as a safer alternative to direct purchases on unregulated crypto exchanges. While Sber plans to be an active player and liquidity provider on future regulated crypto platforms, it will act conservatively, prioritizing client interests and financial system stability. It does not view crypto as a vehicle for its own speculative investments. Looking forward, Sber believes a key trend is the convergence of traditional finance and DeFi. Its in-house blockchain lab has evolved into a full product unit, and its proprietary platform for issuing DFAs is already operational. The bank is exploring tokenization of real-world assets like movable property and shares in LLCs, pending new legislation. For the future, Sber anticipates the institutionalization of blockchain technology. Bitcoin will likely remain a core asset, while networks like Ethereum will form the technological base for tokenization and smart contracts. A crucial step is the legalization of a broad range of blockchain-based digital assets, starting with pilot projects to demonstrate utility and manage risks. The bank is interested in stablecoins and their potential future use in the Russian legal field, emphasizing the need for collaborative work with the central bank.

RBK-crypto10h ago

"The Market in Russia is Only Just Emerging": Anton Popov on Sber's Crypto Strategy

RBK-crypto10h ago

How Will the Seven Major Trends in the Crypto Industry in 2026 Change the Game?

By 2026, the crypto industry is poised for transformative shifts across seven key trends. Appchains will mature, enabling tailored blockchain infrastructures optimized for specific applications and user experiences. Prediction markets will continue to innovate, focusing on liquidity and market structure improvements. Agentic curators—AI-driven systems—will enhance DeFi by intelligently curating risk and strategies. Short-form video platforms will become primary discovery and commerce channels, integrating crypto for seamless microtransactions. Blockchain will drive new AI scaling laws through decentralized training and verifiable inference. Real-World Assets (RWA) will see broad adoption, tokenizing diverse assets like commodities and equities. Finally, agent-driven products will redefine user interaction, shifting from manual app usage to AI-managed, conversational interfaces that automate and optimize crypto activities.

比推6h ago

How Will the Seven Major Trends in the Crypto Industry in 2026 Change the Game?

比推6h ago

Bitcoin Price Surpasses Open Interest Following FOMC

Following Bitcoin Price Surpasses Open Interest After FOMC Following the FOMC announcement, Bitcoin's price demonstrated the instability of leverage in the current market cycle, fluctuating between $92,000 and $89,500. This volatility liquidated billions in open positions on major derivatives markets. Despite the extreme swings, capital continued flowing into high-conviction crypto projects like Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER), a Bitcoin Layer-2 solution combining Solana-level transaction speeds with Bitcoin's security. U.S. traders added over $38 million in new Bitcoin exposure ahead of key macroeconomic data. The sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, with analysts viewing the $90,000 level as a critical psychological and structural support. A sustained break above $92,000 could open a path toward the $100,000–$110,000 resistance range. Post-FOMC, the market saw a healthy reset with open interest dropping and funding rates normalizing. U.S. institutional flows via ETFs remained strong, indicating long-term investor confidence. Analysts from Bernstein project a potential long-term move to $200,000, while others like Matrixport forecast a mid-cycle consolidation around $120,000–$150,000. Concurrently, Bitcoin Hyper is gaining attention as an ambitious L2 project, having raised over $29 million in its presale. It aims to solve Bitcoin's scalability issues by enabling seamless cross-chain movement with instant, low-fee transactions. Its architecture and staking rewards position it as a high-beta play on Bitcoin's adoption, attracting capital shifting from speculative altcoins to core infrastructure projects.

bitcoinist3h ago

Bitcoin Price Surpasses Open Interest Following FOMC

bitcoinist3h ago

17 Most Anticipated Things in the Cryptocurrency Space in 2026

17 Key Crypto Developments to Watch in 2026 Stablecoin on/off ramps will mature, connecting digital dollars to local payment systems and enabling new behaviors like real-time cross-border payments and merchant adoption without bank accounts. Stablecoins will evolve into a foundational internet settlement layer. RWA tokenization will shift toward crypto-native approaches like perpetual futures for deeper liquidity. Stablecoins will see more native issuance rather than tokenization, and on-chain native debt issuance will reduce costs and improve accessibility. Banks will leverage stablecoins to innovate without overhauling legacy systems. The internet itself will become a banking layer as value moves programmatically via smart contracts and new primitives like x402. Wealth management will become personalized and automated for everyone via tokenized assets and AI-driven portfolio management. DeFi tools and tokenized private markets will expand access. AI agents will require identity verification (KYA - Know Your Agent) and new economic models to compensate content creators as agents scrape the open web. AI will also enable new research methodologies via layered, reasoning agents. Privacy will become crypto's key moat, creating strong network effects as bridging between private and public chains risks metadata leakage. Decentralized, quantum-resistant messaging will rise, emphasizing user ownership. "Secrets-as-a-service" will emerge for programmable data access control. DeFi security will evolve from "code is law" to "specification is law" with runtime enforcement of invariants. Prediction markets will expand with more contracts, AI-powered oracles, and decentralized governance. "Staked media" will rise, where commentators back arguments with verifiable, on-chain commitments. SNARKs will become efficient enough (~10,000x overhead) for verifiable cloud computing, moving beyond blockchain. Finally, crypto market structure regulation could align legal and technical frameworks, enabling networks to operate as truly open, decentralized systems.

marsbit47m ago

17 Most Anticipated Things in the Cryptocurrency Space in 2026

marsbit47m ago

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