Restaking yields come from token emissions and VC incentives, not productive activity. Complex models concentrate power among large operators, while compounding risk cascades. Opinion by: Laura Wallendal, co-founder and CEO of Acre Restaking is often heralded as the next big thing in decentralized finance (DeFi) yields, but behind the hype lies a precarious balancing act. Validators are stacking responsibilities and slashing risks, incentives are misaligned, and much of the $21 billion in total value locked (TVL) is held by a handful of whales and venture capitalists rather than the broader market. Let’s break down why restaking lacks real product-market fit and how it compounds more risk than it yields. Most importantly, we need to confront the uncomfortable questions: Who profits when the system fails, and who is left holding the risk? Read more
Decentralized social network Farcaster remains operational after its acquisition by Neynar and confirmed plans to return $180 million in capital to investors. Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero moved to quell speculation about the project’s future, saying the protocol is not shutting down following its acquisition by infrastructure provider Neynar. Farcaster is a decentralized social networking protocol that allows developers to build interoperable social apps where users own their identities, social graphs and connections onchain rather than being locked into a single platform. In a post addressing the community, Romero said Farcaster remains operational and continues to see meaningful usage, citing its 250,000 active monthly users in December and more than 100,000 funded wallets. Read more
Bitcoin's profit cycle has turned negative for the first time since 2023, suggesting that BTC is transitioning into a bear market Bitcoin’s (BTC) drop below $90,000 has pushed onchain profitability metrics into the negative territory, signaling BTC’s entry into a bear market, new research revealed. Data from TradingView showed that Bitcoin price action had established a new range on lower time frames, and market observers were watching the key support levels below. Key takeaways: Read more