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Editorial policyThe DeFi briefing
Stablecoin reserves, adoption, peg risks and issuer developments, with links to the underlying research.
29 articles · Updated
Aave Labs proposed Open USD for Ethereum V3 and V4 markets on 30 September. Here is what remains undecided, how it differs from Origin Dollar and what readers should verify.
Read analysis →Sentora’s 28 September proposal would add an externally curated Ethereum instance to Aave V4. Its governance controls, risk responsibilities and unfinished configuration deserve close scrutiny.
Read analysis →Aave activated an Equities Hub on Base on 25 September 2026. Seven Coinbase-issued stock certificates now back USDC loans; issuer eligibility, market-hour pricing and liquidation access matter.
Read analysis →Curve DAO funded a risk team led by Resupply contributors on 2 September 2026, after doubling the sreUSD market's crvUSD credit line on 17 August. What the developments mean for Resupply, reUSD and RSUP—and what they do not prove.
Read analysis →Morpho announced its Arc deployment on 16 September 2026. Variable-rate credit is live; further distribution and fixed-rate products remain roadmap items. Here is how to assess the integration and its risks.
Read analysis →US agencies did not publish final GENIUS Act payment-stablecoin rules by the statutory 18 July 2026 date. NPRMs remain. The Act’s default effective date is 18 January 2027 unless finals start the 120-day clock first — a path that needed roughly mid-September 2026.
Read analysis →On 25 August 2026 a thin Pendle YT-reUSD tape moved PT-reUSD about 3% and Morpho liquidated roughly $36 million of looped debt in 14 minutes. Lenders were made whole. The lesson is oracle window, LLTV and looping — not a hack.
Read analysis →Curve’s July recap and early-August gauge votes put LlamaLend V2 on Ethereum with Inverse Finance sDOLA and Frax sfrxUSD as the first yield-bearing markets. Convex now votes those gauges on-chain; Resupply remains the CDP that sits on Curve Lend and Fraxlend collateral — adjacent, not the same product.
Read analysis →Convex’s Resupply Summer campaign is live: extra RSUP and CVX for Curve Lend and Fraxlend collateral, gauge weight, and a structural positive-carry borrow. Round 1 began 3 August 2026. This is a growth programme, not a price forecast.
Read analysis →Historical June 2026 countdown: agencies were due to publish final GENIUS Act stablecoin rules by 18 July 2026. That deadline was missed — read the August recap for the January 2027 effective-date backstop.
Read analysis →Base, the Layer 2 network incubated by Coinbase and built on the OP Stack, has crossed $10 billion in total value locked — entering the top three DeFi networks by TVL alongside Ethereum mainnet and Arbitrum. The milestone reflects rapid protocol deployment, growing stablecoin liquidity, and Coinbase's retail distribution advantage.
Read analysis →The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is now fully in force across all 27 member states. Crypto asset service providers have completed the authorisation process, stablecoin issuers have obtained e-money licences, and the first enforcement actions are emerging. Here is what MiCA means for DeFi users and crypto businesses operating in Europe.
Read analysis →Tether's USDT has reached a $150 billion market capitalisation — making it the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap after Bitcoin and Ethereum, and by far the most widely traded digital asset in the world by daily volume. Here is what drives USDT's dominance, the ongoing reserve transparency debate, and what $150B in tether means for DeFi.
Read analysis →The GENIUS Act — the first major US federal stablecoin legislation — has passed the Senate and is advancing to the House of Representatives. The bill establishes a licensing framework for stablecoin issuers, reserve requirements, and federal oversight. Here is what it means for USDC, USDT, and DeFi protocols that rely on stablecoins.
Read analysis →Hong Kong's Monetary Authority granted its first stablecoin issuer licences in May 2026 — with HSBC and a consortium led by Standard Chartered among the first recipients. The move positions Hong Kong as a key hub for regulated stablecoin issuance in Asia.
Read analysis →Rebranded from MakerDAO in 2025, Sky Protocol is targeting a USDS circulating supply of $20.6 billion in 2026 — a doubling from current levels. Gross protocol revenue is forecast at $611.5 million, and the Sky Agent Network launched April 2, letting independent firms deploy USDS across DeFi.
Read analysis →The GENIUS Act — Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins — passed in early 2026, giving the US stablecoin market its first comprehensive legal framework. Fidelity and major banks have described stablecoins as one of the defining financial themes of the year.
Read analysis →Convex Finance marks its fifth anniversary on 17 May 2026, having grown from a $68 million launch to a $22 billion TVL peak, distributed over $872 million in rewards, and cemented itself as the dominant force in Curve governance — despite a brutal bear market that took CVX from $62 to $1.36.
Read analysis →The market for tokenized real-world assets — Treasury bonds, private credit, commodities, real estate, and equities — grew from $5.8 billion in January 2025 to over $30.8 billion by April 2026. Ethereum holds 94% of tokenized commodities and the majority of stablecoin supply.
Read analysis →Tether's USDT stablecoin market capitalisation has exceeded $189.6 billion as of early May 2026, reinforcing its commanding 58% share of the global stablecoin market. The growth reflects sustained demand for dollar-denominated liquidity across decentralised and centralised trading platforms.
Read analysis →The global stablecoin market capitalisation surged to $321 billion in May 2026, driven by regulatory clarity from the GENIUS Act and institutional entrants including PayPal, BlackRock and World Liberty Financial challenging USDT's dominance.
Read analysis →Circle Internet Group's stock surged 20% on 28 April 2026 following Senate confirmation of a stablecoin rewards compromise under the CLARITY Act, which permits issuers to pass yield to USDC holders—a critical revenue mechanism for the $78.6bn stablecoin.
Read analysis →The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act advanced in the US Senate in late April 2026 after a compromise permitted stablecoin yield rewards. Circle's shares surged 20% on the legislative progress, which establishes regulatory clarity for digital asset trading.
Read analysis →The GENIUS Act was enacted in July 2025 but has a delayed effective-date rule. The Senate rejected a procedural motion on the CLARITY Act on 15 September 2026.
Read analysis →The $292M Kelp DAO rsETH exploit spilled across chains as Kamino Finance on Solana saw USDC lending pools reach 100% utilization, with lenders racing to exit before bad debt from bridged rsETH collateral materialized.
Read analysis →Paxos Labs cofounder Chunda McCain argues that enterprises adopting stablecoin infrastructure can cut payment costs, unlock credit lines, and earn on-chain yield — but warns that not every company needs to issue its own token.
Read analysis →Decentralised finance has matured significantly since 2024. This updated comprehensive guide ranks the ten most important DeFi platforms of 2026 — from the dominant DEXs and lending markets to the innovative new entrants reshaping how capital moves on-chain.
Read analysis →AI agents can retrieve protocol data, prepare unsigned transactions or spend through delegated permissions. Aave MCP and Circle’s September 2026 releases show why those capabilities need separate controls and evidence.
Read analysis →HSBC has successfully completed a tokenised deposit pilot on the Canton Network, demonstrating interoperable issuance, transfer, and atomic settlement for regulated institutions — a milestone that positions Canton as the emerging settlement rail for institutional DeFi.
Read analysis →We cover decentralized lending, stablecoins, protocol infrastructure, regulation and security. Each briefing separates reported facts from analysis and links to research that explains the underlying mechanisms.
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We prefer original protocol announcements, governance proposals and official legislative records. We identify issuer claims, distinguish proposals from live changes, and update earlier coverage when a development changes its conclusion.