With the arrival of stablecoins, is it time to pay farewell to traditional payment rails?

Aly Soliman

Stablecoins have emerged as an innovative form of money in the financial landscape. While they represent a small fraction of the global financial system, stablecoins have grown by US$30 billion in the last few months (as reported on DefiLlama). The potential effect of stablecoins on the payment industry could be substantial and merits attention.

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Flash loans, flash attacks, and the future of DeFi

Aidan Saggers, Lukas Alemu and Irina Mnohoghitnei

Decentralised Finance (DeFi) may seem a tempting option for those seeking financial gain, autonomy, and self-governance… But how safe is a world in which ‘code is law’? Closer inspection reveals an ecosystem experiencing several hacks, attacks, and fraud. Estimates show at least US$6.5 billion has been stolen since DeFi’s inception, and one particular DeFi feature is often at the centre of this theft – flash loans. Unlimited, ungoverned, and uncollateralised, flash loans give hackers the toolkit to highly leverage their potential attacks. The only cost is the gas fees required to send the transaction. In this blog post we consider the world of flash loans and their criminal counterpart – flash attacks.

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