Binance bought $300 million in Bitcoin for its SAFU reserve, pushing the fund past $720 million as the exchange shifts its emergency buffer to BTC. Binance added another $300 million worth of Bitcoin to its emergency reserves on Monday, continuing its experiment with a Bitcoin-backed protection fund as markets remain under pressure. Binance bought another 4,225 Bitcoin (BTC) worth $300 million for its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) wallet, which holds its emergency reserves, according to blockchain data platform Arkham. The acquisition lifts the fund’s Bitcoin holdings to more than $720 million at current prices. Read more
The Ethereum co-founder outlined alternative stablecoin models that he says better align with DeFi’s original promise of risk decentralization. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin drew a clear boundary around what he considers “real” decentralized finance (DeFi), pushing back against yield-driven stablecoin strategies that he says fail to meaningfully transform risk. In a discussion on X, Buterin said that DeFi derives its value from changing how risk is allocated and managed, not simply from generating yield on centralized assets. Buterin’s comments come amid renewed scrutiny over DeFi’s dominant use cases, particularly in lending markets built around fiat-backed stablecoins like USDC (USDC). Read more