# Contagion Related Articles

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

Cardano Founder Warns KelpDAO Hack Exposes Ethereum’s Weakest Link

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson argues that the $292 million KelpDAO exploit reveals a critical systemic flaw in Ethereum's DeFi ecosystem, rather than just a simple bridge failure. He emphasizes that the core issue was not a smart contract vulnerability, but a failure in cross-chain message verification. Specifically, a single-verifier setup allowed a forged message to be accepted, leading to the theft of 116,500 rsETH. Hoskinson warns that the attack’s true danger emerged when the stolen assets were used as collateral in lending markets, creating widespread bad debt contagion and triggering a liquidity crisis that caused up to $13 billion in withdrawals across multiple protocols. He calls for a broader industry discussion on bridge security and verifier design to prevent similar systemic risks.

bitcoinist04/22 06:33

Cardano Founder Warns KelpDAO Hack Exposes Ethereum’s Weakest Link

bitcoinist04/22 06:33

World Liberty Financial says, ‘We are nowhere near liquidation’ – But fears remain

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), backed by the Trump family, has dismissed concerns over its borrowing activities as unfounded "FUD." The DeFi project admitted to being a major borrower and supplier on WLFI Markets, using 5 billion WLFI tokens (worth $429 million) from its treasury as collateral to borrow over $75 million in USDC. This move drained the platform’s liquidity and raised fears of bad debt and contagion risk. WLFI defended its actions, stating it is "nowhere near liquidation" and can supply more collateral if needed. Additionally, concerns persist over upcoming token unlocks, with 70% of WLFI supply still locked. The token has dropped 15% amid the uncertainty, and analysts warn unlocks could trigger further selling pressure.

ambcrypto04/10 09:04

World Liberty Financial says, ‘We are nowhere near liquidation’ – But fears remain

ambcrypto04/10 09:04

Besides the Resolv Hack, This Type of DeFi Vulnerability Has Occurred Four Times Already

An attacker exploited a compromised off-chain signing key in the stablecoin protocol Resolv, minting 80 million USR tokens (pegged to USD) from a $100k–$200k USDC deposit within minutes. The stolen keys allowed unlimited minting due to a design flaw—lacking a minting cap—despite multiple audits. The attacker then converted USR to its wrapped version (wstUSR) and dumped it on DEXs, netting ~11,400 ETH (~$24M). This caused USR to depeg, trading at ~$0.25. The depeg triggered a second-phase crisis: lending markets (including Morpho and Fluid/Instadapp) using wstUSR as collateral relied on hardcoded oracles that priced it near $1 instead of its real market value. Arbitrageurs bought cheap wstUSR, used it as overvalued collateral to borrow stablecoins, and amplified losses. Fluid absorbed over $10M in bad debt; Morpho had 15 vaults exposed. This incident repeats a known DeFi pattern: similar oracle failures occurred with Usual Protocol (Jan 2025), Stream Finance (Nov 2025), and Moonwell (late 2025), where mispriced collateral led to massive bad debt. Critics highlight flawed incentives in the "curator" model (e.g., Gauntlet), where third-party vault managers prioritize high yields without adequate risk controls, and protocols outsource risk management without enforcing safeguards. The root cause is systemic: over-reliance on static oracles for volatile assets and insecure off-chain infrastructure.

marsbit03/24 12:10

Besides the Resolv Hack, This Type of DeFi Vulnerability Has Occurred Four Times Already

marsbit03/24 12:10

Bitcoin drops 23% in 2026: Is this BTC’s weakest start since 2014?

In 2026, Bitcoin experienced its sharpest early-year decline since 2014, dropping 23% from around $88,700 to $68,000 within 50 days. This bearish trend was driven by macro catalysts, hawkish policy signals, and geopolitical stress, leading to significant deleveraging. Market capitalization fell 24%, accompanied by $2.9 billion in ETF outflows and shrinking volumes. A major factor was Binance’s dominant role, accounting for 36% of Bitcoin futures open interest and up to 42% of spot trading. Its sharp contraction in open interest—from $16 billion to $6 billion—amplified the downturn, triggering forced liquidations and cross-exchange contagion. As liquidity tightened, volatility increased, spreads widened, and pricing efficiency fragmented across platforms like Bybit, OKX, and Bitget. Despite Binance’s structural importance in price discovery, its concentration of liquidity exacerbated systemic risk during market stress, accelerating volatility transmission throughout the crypto ecosystem.

ambcrypto02/21 17:02

Bitcoin drops 23% in 2026: Is this BTC’s weakest start since 2014?

ambcrypto02/21 17:02

The Fed’s Silicon Valley Bank Post-Mortem Explores How Stablecoin Depegs Become Contagious

The Federal Reserve's post-mortem analysis of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse examines how the bank's failure triggered contagion in the stablecoin market. When SVB failed in March 2023, Circle disclosed it held uninsured reserves at the bank, causing a run on USDC. Panic led to massive redemptions and secondary market sell pressure, temporarily depegging USDC from the dollar. The Fed highlights how this stress spread contagiously to other stablecoins like Dai through interconnected DeFi mechanisms and smart contracts. Systems designed to maintain stability instead became channels for contagion, draining liquidity and threatening broader dollar pegs. The report concludes that financial stress can create two-way feedback between traditional finance and decentralized ecosystems, underscoring the need for further research into cross-system contagion risks as stablecoins integrate deeper into mainstream finance.

ccn.com12/24 14:19

The Fed’s Silicon Valley Bank Post-Mortem Explores How Stablecoin Depegs Become Contagious

ccn.com12/24 14:19

$93 Million Casually Misappropriated? The Truth Behind the Stream Finance Collapse

Stream Finance, a DeFi yield protocol with over $200M TVL, collapsed on November 4, 2025, after announcing a $93M loss caused by an "external fund manager." Its stablecoin xUSD plummeted 77%, triggering a $285M contagion across lending protocols like Morpho and Euler, leading to a $1B DeFi outflow. Initially blamed on "Curator" risk managers, the truth emerged from a December 8 lawsuit: founder Caleb McMeans had transferred protocol control to trader Ryan DeMattia with "no formal relationship." On October 10, DeMattia’s personal leveraged positions were liquidated during an ETH crash, and he allegedly used Stream’s funds to cover his losses—weeks before the Balancer hack (November 3) was falsely cited as the cause. The disaster was amplified by xUSD’s recursive lending structure but rooted in unregulated, off-chain asset control without multisig or custody safeguards. The incident highlights DeFi’s vulnerability to opaque operations and personal misconduct, not systemic failure of Curator models or yield strategies.

marsbit12/17 03:06

$93 Million Casually Misappropriated? The Truth Behind the Stream Finance Collapse

marsbit12/17 03:06

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