DeFi absorbs $292 million shock as AAVE-led rescue steadies markets: Standard Chartered
DeFi showed resilience after a $292 million hack, with AAVE-led efforts stabilizing markets and reinforcing the $2 trillion RWA outlook.Summary
Decentralized finance (DeFi) demonstrated resilience following a $292 million exploit on April 18, according to Standard Chartered. The attack on KelpDAO, which impacted AAVE by using stolen tokens as collateral, caused a significant liquidity crunch. Despite this, Standard Chartered maintains its projection that tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) will reach a $2 trillion market cap by the end of 2028, driven by DeFi lending and stablecoin liquidity. The bank highlighted that AAVE and other DeFi firms committed over $300 million to stabilize the system, which helped normalize conditions. The incident is also accelerating structural upgrades, such as AAVE's V4 upgrade and the Ethereum Economic Zone, aimed at reducing reliance on vulnerable cross-chain bridges. While hacks remain a core risk, the sector's response indicates growing maturity.
(Source：CoinDesk)