Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights—a carefully crafted newsletter designed to bring you the most important developments of the past week.

In this week’s newsletter, September turned out to be the month with the most cryptocurrency exploits in DeFi, with over $300 million in losses, and popular DeFi lending protocol Yield announced it was permanently shutting down in December.

Polygon co-founder Jaynti Kanani has quit his day job at the company, saying he will now monitor from the sidelines a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that helps scientists find funding and community, a prominent science magazine reports.

Traders and investors are increasingly optimistic about Avalanche (AVAX) due to innovative developments within the ecosystem. The arrival of StarsArena, a platform that enables users to buy stocks and tip valuable content, has injected new activity into the AVAX address, marking a positive wave that could have wider implications for the crypto market.

StarsArena Events: The introduction of StarsArena on the Avalanche network provides exciting opportunities for users. The platform not only allows users to earn shares but also rewards valuable contributions. This incentive model promotes community participation and content creation, creating a vibrant ecosystem.

Elon Musk, executive chairman and chief technology officer of X (formerly Twitter), has faced criticism for suspending XRP-related accounts.

Crypto Eri, a well-known figure in the cryptocurrency community, contacted Elon Musk directly on X, asking for clarification on whether the account suspension was a mistake.

The account in question – Digital Asset Investor.XRP – was recognized for its outspoken advocacy of XRP (XRP), an asset on the XRP Ledger blockchain. There have long been various controversies and legal disputes surrounding XRP, notably a lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claiming that XRP is an unregistered security.

The price of Ethereum’s native token, Ethereum (ETH), is up about 35% so far in 2023. But its attempts to break above $2,000 (psychological resistance) were repeatedly met with strong bearish rejections.

Let’s take a closer look at three possible reasons why Ethereum price has failed to decisively recapture $2,000 since May 2022.

Ethereum price depicts bear market cycle fractal

Ethereum is unable to break above $2,000 in 2023, similar to the bearish rejection near $425 in 2018-2019.

In both cases, Ethereum appears to be in a recovery phase while closing above the 0.236 Fibonacci line on the Fibonacci retracement chart.

Sam Bankman-Fried is “very resistant” to investors joining FTX’s board of directors, claims Matthew Huang, co-founder and managing partner of crypto investment firm Paradigm.

FTX's sudden collapse left many investors burned, and Paradigm joined a number of venture capital firms including Sequoia, Temasek, and BlackRock in funding the rise of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.

Testifying on the third day of Bankman-Fried’s trial in New York federal court, Huang claimed that Bankman-Fried didn’t think there would be much benefit from having investors on FTX’s board of directors.

As Hong Kong moves toward adopting cryptocurrency trading for individual investors, a local official stressed that retail stablecoin trading is not yet allowed.

Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Thomas Hui said that Hong Kong has not yet adopted regulations on stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) or US Dollar Coin (USDC), which means that retail investors are not allowed to trade these assets.

The official commented on Hong Kong’s cryptocurrency regulation during an online investment committee meeting on October 6, local news agency Ming Pao reported.

Hui said stablecoins such as USDT have been widely used by cryptocurrency service providers as their primary trading assets because their value is designed to be stable by being pegged to assets such as the U.S. dollar or gold. However, the secretary pointed out that some stablecoins have faced severe volatility issues and even crashes in the past, adding that the reserve management of stablecoins has greatly affected the price stability of investors’ rights to redeem fiat currency.

Taiwanese lawmakers reportedly aim to introduce a first draft of the special law by the end of November 2023.

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan official Yung-Chang Chiang said in an interview that he intends to submit the first draft to parliament for reading by the end of November or earlier, and that the bill is “necessary” to regulate crypto-related businesses.

At the same time, Taiwanese lawmakers are increasingly concerned about activity in offshore markets and are trying to avoid "regulatory arbitrage." Jiang said that crypto assets are different from traditional financial products and need to be managed through a special law.

Bitcoin (BTC) quickly retested $27,000 at the open on Wall Street on October 6 as U.S. jobs data rattled the market.

Analysis: Jobs data 'not what the Fed wants to see'

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC price action as the largest cryptocurrency lost 2.1% in a single hourly candle.

The ensuing rebound allowed bulls to recoup these losses, with $27,700 - an area of ​​interest ahead of the data release - now back in focus.

The fluctuations came as U.S. non-farm payrolls (NFP) jumped to nearly double September's expected figure, at 336,000 versus 170,000.

Solana (SOL) price increased by 20% between September 28 and October 6, but whether this rally coincided with the increase in Bitcoin (BTC) price or was driven by other factors. Ahead of a price breakout, or perhaps a recovery, SOL faces turbulent times after a U.S. court approved the sale of $1.3 billion of SOL from bankrupt exchange FTX.

The bankruptcy court has taken steps to ensure that the liquidation of FTX assets does not become a burden on the crypto market, requiring weekly sales through investment advisors according to pre-established rules.

After the initial shock, Solana's price fell to a 2-month low of $17.34 on September 11, and bulls emerged with a degree of confidence when support at $20 was reestablished on September 29. This movement coincided with a successful upgrade to version 1.16, boosting the SOL token by 16% over the next seven days.

The website for Web3 community platform Galxe was offline for about an hour on October 6th. Galxe reported on X (formerly Twitter) that its website went down at 14:44 UTC, 40 minutes after confirming it had experienced a security breach affecting its Domain Name System (DNS) records. It warned against accessing the domain until the situation was corrected.

At the time of writing, Galxe has not confirmed that its website is safe to use again. After the site was restored, some X posters reported that it had been blocked by Google.

Dear Garx Community, We recognize the impact of recent events on our users and are taking remedial measures quickly. The Galxe security team continues to take a proactive approach to protecting your data, funds and digital assets. Steps you should take: ❗️Do. . .

Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, and CleanSpark recorded strong increases in Bitcoin production in September, leading to modest share price gains on October 4.

While the price of Bitcoin (BTC) recorded another month of sideways trading – hovering between $25,100 and $28,500 – the company’s balance sheet also strengthened.

Marathon’s Bitcoin production increased by 245%

Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital produced a total of 1,242 BTC in September, a 16% increase from August and a 245% increase from September 2022.

According to Marathon’s September results, the huge surge in BTC production came as the company’s installed hash rate increased from 3.8 exahashes per second (EH/s) in September 2022 to 23.1 EH/s, a 508% increase.

Troubled cryptocurrency exchange JPEX has moved forward with a plan that it says will transform the platform into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and convert user assets into dividend shares with incentives to lock them up for two years.

JPEX said in an announcement on October 4 that voting on its DAO shareholder dividend plan was completed on September 28, claiming that 68% of users voted in favor of the plan.

The program allows users to convert their currently frozen assets into DAO stakeholder dividends at a 1:1 ratio. JPEX offers a buyback option at 30% of the conversion price after one year and 100% after two years.

Crypto wallet addresses linked to the FTX exploit moved approximately $36.8 million worth of ether (ETH) in the past 24 hours, when the defunct cryptocurrency exchange’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was Conduct a court trial.

Accounts linked to FTX and FTX. On November 11, 2022, hours after the cryptocurrency exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the United States was drained of $600 million. At the time, FTX General Counsel Ryne Miller informed traders of the hack caused by the malware:

"FTX has been hacked. Chat is open. Please do not visit the FTX site as it may download Trojans. Please note that some funds were recovered.

The next crypto bull run could begin in the second quarter of 2024, when the Bitcoin (BTC) halving takes place, says Raoul Pal, macro investor and CEO of Real Vision.

He believes that despite the hype surrounding the halving, macro factors will play a leading role in triggering the next uptrend.

According to Pal, the Bitcoin halving cycle coincides with the macro cycle, meaning that each halving so far has occurred in a similar macroeconomic environment: monetary expansion and low interest rates.

“Macro is actually the dominant factor and the halving is a false statement, but it doesn’t matter because it’s still valid,” Pal said in an interview with Cointelegraph.

The Federal Reserve says Bitcoin (BTC) beats inflation better than the U.S. dollar — unintentionally.

In a blog post first published and updated in June 2022, the St. Louis Fed compared buying eggs with BTC to USD – and the results are still surprising.

Bitcoin vs. USD: “Egg Inflated” Has Nowhere to Go

Bitcoin holders arguably have a better use case for holding BTC than buying eggs, but that is the subject of a dedicated blog post from the Federal Reserve that attempts to prove that Bitcoin’s purchasing power is not competitive with the U.S. dollar.

According to social media reports, the Stars Arena Web3 social media application on Avalanche has lost some funds due to malicious attacks.

Stars Arena user Lilitch.eth discovered the vulnerability on October 5 and announced it on X (formerly Twitter), claiming over $1 million in losses. The Stars Arena team confirmed the attack, calling it a "war" against the app. They said the attack only caused about $2,000 in damage and that the vulnerability has been patched.

The vulnerability has been fixed. But make no mistake about it, we are at war. We are being targeted by malicious actors in this space who want to steal your money. The little guy is under attack. You are under attack. Your rights to platform diversity are under attack. Don't get it... pic.twitter.com/DmbMdf9cAq

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York is moving forward with sentencing proceedings for the key individuals behind the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme AirBit Club.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in New York announced on October 3 the sentencing of three of the five surviving defendants in the AirBit case, including Scott Hughes, Cecilia Milan and Karina Serres. The sentences come months after all three defendants pleaded guilty in early 2023 to money laundering and other charges in the AirBit case.

Hughes, a lawyer who allegedly laundered approximately $18 million in proceeds from the AirBit Club fraud, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Milan, a senior promoter of the AirBit Club, was sentenced to five years in prison. Chairez, another senior promoter of the AirBit Club, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

Ripple said it received an operating license from the Central Bank of Singapore as a major payments institution, allowing it to continue operating in the country after receiving in-principle approval in June.

In a blog post on October 4, the company said that its local entity Ripple Markets APAC Pte Ltd has received full license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

It’s official: Ripple is now fully licensed to offer digital payment token services at @MAS_sg in Singapore! Ripple is committed to providing real-world crypto solutions to businesses in the Asia-Pacific region. Learn more: https://t.co/jD8xSc2pdd

Polygon co-founder Jaynti Kanani has announced that he is quitting his "day job" on the project for the first time in six years.

In an Oct. 4 post on X (formerly Twitter), Canani said he plans to focus on "new adventures" while contributing to Polygon "from the sidelines." Along with software engineers including Sandeep Nailwal, Anurag Arjun and Mihailo Bjelic, he helped create the Matic network in 2017, which was later renamed Polygon.

"Man, it makes me emotional," Nailwal said in response to the announcement. "Man, what a journey we've had together. But this is just the beginning of Polygon and I hope we can do a lot more together on this crazy Polygon journey. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do .

A new prediction claims that Bitcoin (BTC) flipping into a full-blown bull run could come from the U.S. government.

In an Oct. 4 X post, Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, viewed the yield inflation as a harbinger of a new Bitcoin and cryptocurrency bull market.

Hayes: Bitcoin bulls should focus on America’s ‘no way out’ moment

U.S. Treasury yields are "surging," so Hayes believes a macroeconomic flashpoint is only a matter of time.

The reason comes in the form of what's known as "bear steepening" - a phenomenon that describes long-term interest rates rising faster than short-term rates.