&lt;p&gt;The DeFi landscape continues to evolve with blockchain ecosystems competing for dominance through innovative applications and strategic partnerships. Total Value Locked (TVL) is one of the key metrics to measure the health and attractiveness of these ecosystems. In this article, we have compiled a list of the top 10 blockchains in September 2026 by TVL growth, with a minimum Range of $10 million, using data from &lt;a href=&quot;https://defillama.com/chains?minTvl=10000000&amp;amp;maxTvl=&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noopener&quot;&gt;&lt;u&gt;DefiLlama&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, a leading DeFi analytics platform.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;What is TVL?&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Total Value Locked (TVL) is a key metric in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem that represents the total U.S. dollar value of digital assets that are currently locked in DeFi platforms. These assets can include cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, liquidity tokens, and other digital assets used for various purposes such as staking, liquidity provision, and yield farming. It serves as an indicator of a DeFi platform&#039;s health and popularity, reflecting user trust and engagement.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Top 10 Blockchains in September 2026 by TVL Growth&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Following chains saw the highest TVL growth in September 2026&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Bittensor&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Pharos&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Anubis&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Near&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. Bifrost Network&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;6. Hedera&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;7. Injective&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;8. WorldChain&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;9. THORChain&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;10. Ink&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac31f05a688d.png&quot; alt=&quot;Top 10 Blockchains in September 2026 by TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;574&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;1. Bittensor&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Bittensor tops the table with 1192% growth in September 2026. Bittensor is a decentralized AI marketplace where miners provide machine intelligence, compute, data, or models, while validators assess usefulness. Its subnets specialize in different AI tasks, and participants receive TAO rewards based on their contributions. Its TVL is now valued at $604.2 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac31f4617fd8.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bittensor&#039;s Sep 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Bittensor:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 55.5px;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Tensorplex&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+35.37%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Chutes&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+34.38%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;2. Pharos&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Pharos comes in Second place with 136% growth in September 2026. Pharos (PROS) is a high‑performance, EVM‑compatible Layer‑1 blockchain built for &amp;ldquo;RealFi&amp;rdquo;: tokenizing real‑world assets (RWAs), stablecoins, payments, and institutional finance on‑chain. Founded in 2024 by ex‑Ant Group/Alibaba engineers, it uses a modular, parallel‑execution architecture to target very high throughput and sub‑second finality while remaining compatible with existing Ethereum tooling. The network aims to bridge traditional finance and Web3 by enabling compliant issuance, transfer, and settlement of assets like private credit, infrastructure funds, and bonds on a scalable, decentralized rail. Its TVL is now valued at $77.4 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac320ebe3719.png&quot; alt=&quot;Pharos&#039;s Sep 206 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Pharos:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Morpho Blue&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+159%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;FaroSwap&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+40.45%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;3. Anubis&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Anubis Chain comes in third place with 136% growth in September 2026. Anubis is an EVM-compatible, privacy-focused Layer 1 blockchain designed for secure Web3 applications and on-chain finance. It uses selective privacy, zero-knowledge proofs, and disclosure controls for transactions, identities, and smart contracts. Its TVL is now valued at $431.27 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac32103ada45.png&quot; alt=&quot;Anubis&#039;s Sep 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Anubis:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 37px;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;RocketSwap Anubis&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+136%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;4. Near&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Near comes in fourth place with 77.57% growth in September 2026. NEAR is a scalable, sharded Layer 1 blockchain built for fast, low-cost applications, cross-chain activity, and AI agents. It offers rapid finality, developer-friendly infrastructure, and privacy-oriented execution capabilities. Its TVL is now valued at $227.33 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac321231e75c.png&quot; alt=&quot;Near&#039;s Sep 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Near:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Meme Cooking&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+316%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TruStake&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+127%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;5. Bifrost Network&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Bifrost Network comes in fifth place with 56.32% growth in September 2026. Bifrost is a Substrate-based, EVM-compatible public blockchain focused on multichain interoperability. Its native cross-chain communication infrastructure allows applications and users to interact with assets and networks across different blockchains. Its TVL is now valued at $15.99 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac3213b4d5cc.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bifrost&#039;s Sep 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Bifrost Network:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 55.5px;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Biquid&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+161%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;BiFi&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+129%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;6. Hedera&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Hedera comes in sixth place with 52.23% growth in September 2026. Hedera is an enterprise-focused distributed ledger network designed for fast, secure, and compliant decentralized applications. Its HBAR token pays network fees and supports access to Hedera&amp;rsquo;s services, with transactions finalized in seconds. Its TVL is now valued at $41.44 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac3215737956.png&quot; alt=&quot;Hedera&#039;s Sep 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Hedera:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;SaucerSwap&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+63.71%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Pangolin V2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+30.48%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;7. Injective&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Injective comes in seventh place with 42.19% growth in September 2026. Injective is a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain built specifically for decentralized finance. It provides native infrastructure for spot and derivatives trading, stablecoins, tokenized assets, and cross-chain financial applications. Its TVL is now valued at $13.12 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac321716426d.png&quot; alt=&quot;Injective&#039;s Sep 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Injective:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Choice Exchange&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+103%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;8. WorldChain&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;WorldChain comes in eighth place with 38.80% growth in September 2026. WorldChain is an Ethereum-aligned Layer 2 built on the OP Stack for World&amp;rsquo;s identity ecosystem. It prioritizes verified humans through World ID and aims to provide scalable, low-cost infrastructure for financial and identity applications. Its TVL is now valued at $48.29 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac3218d19b6d.png&quot; alt=&quot;WorldChain&#039;s Sep 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for WorldChain:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 55.5px;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Credit&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+127%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;X3X&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+71.33%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;9. THORChain&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;THORChain ranks ninth, with 37.68% growth in September 2026. THORChain is a decentralized, non-custodial liquidity protocol enabling native-asset swaps across multiple blockchains without wrapped tokens or centralized intermediaries. RUNE supports liquidity, security, settlement, and network incentives. Its TVL is now valued at $40.01 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac321a748b0b.png&quot; alt=&quot;THORChain&#039;s Sep 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for THORChain:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Maya Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+61.59%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;THORChain DEX&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+37.85%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;10. Ink&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ink comes in tenth with 37.15% growth in September 2026. Ink is an Ethereum Layer‑2 blockchain incubated by crypto exchange Kraken, built on Optimism&amp;rsquo;s OP Stack and part of the Optimism Superchain. It launched on Ethereum mainnet in December 2024 with 1‑second block times, sub‑cent fees, and full EVM compatibility, aiming to onboard Kraken&amp;rsquo;s 10M users into DeFi. The network uses ETH for gas, posts batch data to Ethereum, and supports permissionless fault proofs. Its TVL is now valued at $210.67 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6ac321c0520ca.png&quot; alt=&quot;Ink&#039;s Sep 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;887&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Ink:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 55.5px;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9514%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;TVL Growth(Sep 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Uniswap&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+354%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Tydro&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+61.75%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In the dynamic landscape of decentralized finance (DeFi), tracking the Total Value Locked (TVL) across various blockchains provides invaluable insights into market trends and investor confidence. This analysis, based on data from DeFi Llama, highlights the top 10 blockchains that have experienced significant growth in TVL in September 2026, with a minimum TVL of $10 million.&lt;/p&gt;

Top 10 Blockchains in September 2026 by TVL Growth

&lt;p&gt;On September 24, 2026, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget suffered one of the largest security breaches of the year, losing approximately $388 million in digital assets through a sophisticated spoofing attack that tricked the platform&#039;s own authorization systems. Unlike traditional hacks involving stolen private keys, this incident exploited vulnerabilities in backend wallet infrastructure, allowing attackers to fabricate legitimate-looking transfer requests that Bitget&#039;s systems automatically approved.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Timeline of the Attack&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The breach began at approximately 18:31 UTC on September 24, 2026, when Bitget&#039;s security monitoring systems first detected unauthorized transfers from portions of its hot and warm wallet infrastructure. Within the first hour, on-chain investigators had already tracked roughly $183 million in stablecoins, Ethereum, and other crypto assets moving out of wallets tagged as belonging to the exchange.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;By the time Bitget publicly confirmed the incident hours later, total losses had climbed to $351.6 million, and subsequent reconciliation efforts that included previously omitted Zcash and TRON transfers raised the final tally to approximately $387.5 million. The attack unfolded across 19 to 23 separate transactions spanning multiple blockchain networks, with most of the funds drained in two coordinated bursts hitting five chains within seconds.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Despite detecting the breach at 19:05 UTC and activating emergency protocols, Bitget&#039;s wallets continued paying out to the attacker for more than two hours after initial detection, highlighting critical gaps in real-time response capabilities. The exchange suspended withdrawals as a precautionary measure while keeping deposits and trading functionality operational, and by September 28, 2026, began resuming Bitcoin and Ethereum withdrawals in phases after completing security reviews.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Attack Method&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The defining characteristic of the Bitget hack was that attackers never stole private keys, the cryptographic credentials traditionally required to move funds from exchange wallets. Instead, the breach exploited a vulnerability in a third-party security product to obtain high-level internal network credentials, which were then used to compromise a critical backend system within Bitget&#039;s wallet infrastructure.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Once inside this backend system, attackers fed Bitget false transaction instructions that appeared legitimate, effectively spoofing transfer data and triggering the exchange&#039;s own authorization-signing process. In technical terms, the attackers sent fraudulent withdrawal commands that Bitget&#039;s systems accepted as genuine, causing the exchange to sign and execute transfers itself without any external key compromise.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This method differs fundamentally from the February 2025 Bybit hack, where attackers stole private keys directly from a Ledger hardware wallet used for cold storage multisig authorization. In the Bitget incident, no vaults were broken into and no secret codes were stolen instead the attacker simply sent fake instructions dressed up as real ones, and Bitget&#039;s systems followed them exactly as designed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery traced all 23 transfers and noted that the transactions were signed by Bitget&#039;s own wallets using settings that customer withdrawals never employ, indicating the attacker had access to internal operational parameters. This level of access suggests the compromise extended deep into Bitget&#039;s wallet management architecture, potentially through a third-party security tool that provided elevated credentials.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Affected Assets and Blockchain Networks&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The stolen funds spanned an extensive range of digital assets across 11 blockchain networks, making this one of the most geographically diverse crypto hacks on record. The affected networks included Ethereum, XRP Ledger, Zcash, TRON, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, BNB Smart Chain, Avalanche, Algorand, and Celestia.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On-chain tracker Lookonchain identified 102.93 million XRP (approximately $157.48 million) as the largest single asset category, followed by 31,890 ETH (about $85.75 million). Other affected assets included substantial amounts of Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), USDT0, 3,000 XAUt of tokenized gold, BNB, AVAX, TRX, and Zcash (ZEC).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The transfers involved 12 wallet addresses associated with Bitget&#039;s hot or warm wallet infrastructure, with cold wallets remaining fully secure throughout the incident. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen emphasized that user funds were safe because the full amount of the loss fell within the coverage of Bitget&#039;s User Protection Fund, which held over $464 million at the time of the breach.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;North Korea Attribution and Investigation&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Within days of the incident, Bitget publicly stated that preliminary evidence pointed to North Korean hackers as the likely perpetrators, citing patterns consistent with previous state-sponsored crypto theft operations. CEO Gracy Chen described the attribution during a three-hour livestream on X, noting that the attack methodology aligned with known tactics used by Pyongyang-linked hacking groups.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Fortune reported that Bitget suspects North Korean attackers exploited the backend wallet system to make fraudulent withdrawals appear legitimate, a technique previously observed in other major crypto heists attributed to the Lazarus Group and related entities. The exchange partnered with third-party cybersecurity experts Mandiant and SlowMist to conduct a comprehensive forensic investigation into the incident. Bitget also launched a recovery-bounty program offering rewards of up to 5% for funds successfully frozen or recovered, and released a real-time tracking dashboard to help external researchers and other platforms identify the attacker&#039;s wallets.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Recovery Efforts and Fund Movement&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Following the breach, the attackers moved quickly to convert stolen assets into more liquid forms, selling stablecoins for ETH within minutes and consolidating funds from multiple chains onto Ethereum. On-chain investigators tracked the movement of stolen BNB into Bitcoin through THORChain, a cross-chain exchange protocol, as part of ongoing laundering efforts. NEAR Intents, a permissionless cross-chain swap service, identified more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the Bitget hack, though most were subsequently rejected or moved through other providers. The service reported stopping approximately $503,000 in suspicious transactions while about $166,000 passed through before additional controls were implemented.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Bitget&#039;s User Protection Fund, valued at over $464 million, remains sufficient to cover the entire $388 million loss if recovery efforts prove unsuccessful. The exchange has committed to compensating affected users in full, maintaining that no customer funds are at risk despite the scale of the breach.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Security Implications for the Crypto Industry&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Bitget hack underscores a growing trend in 2026 where attackers target backend infrastructure and third-party integrations rather than pursuing traditional private key theft. This shift reflects increasing sophistication in attack vectors, with threat actors exploiting trust relationships between exchanges and their security vendors to gain elevated access.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Industry analysts note that the incident highlights the importance of zero-trust architecture in crypto exchange design, where every internal system and third-party tool must be treated as a potential attack surface. The fact that Bitget&#039;s own authorization process approved fraudulent transfers suggests that multi-layer validation and anomaly detection mechanisms may need strengthening across the sector.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Bitget&#039;s decision to publish attacker addresses, offer bounties for recovery, and maintain transparency throughout the investigation has been viewed positively by the crypto community, setting a precedent for how exchanges should respond to major security incidents. The phased resumption of withdrawals beginning September 28, 2026, demonstrated that rapid containment and remediation are possible even in complex multi-chain breaches.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Lessons for Exchange Security Architecture&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Bitget incident offers several critical lessons for cryptocurrency exchanges and their security teams. First, reliance on third-party security products introduces additional attack vectors that must be rigorously audited and monitored. Second, backend wallet systems require isolation and access controls that prevent compromised credentials from triggering unauthorized transfers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Third, real-time transaction monitoring must include behavioral analysis capable of detecting anomalous transfer patterns even when transactions appear properly authorized. Finally, exchanges should maintain robust incident response playbooks that enable immediate fund freezing across all affected chains, rather than allowing continued outflows after initial detection. As the crypto industry continues to mature, incidents like the Bitget hack will drive innovation in security architecture, pushing exchanges toward more resilient designs that can withstand increasingly sophisticated attacks.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Current Status and User Guidance&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As of October 1, 2026, Bitget has resumed Bitcoin withdrawals on the Bitcoin network and BNB Smart Chain, with Ethereum withdrawals following on September 29 and USDT withdrawals on September 30 across multiple chains. The exchange continues to work with security partners on asset tracing and recovery efforts while maintaining full transparency through its incident dashboard.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Users affected by the withdrawal suspension are advised to monitor official Bitget communications for updates on phased service restoration. The exchange has confirmed that all user balances remain intact and fully backed by the User Protection Fund, ensuring no financial loss to customers despite the scale of the breach.&lt;/p&gt;

Bitget Hack Explained

&lt;p&gt;Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network incubated by Coinbase, has activated its Cobalt upgrade on mainnet, introducing conditional transactions and expanding the capabilities of its B20 token standard. The upgrade went live on September 30, 2026, marking Base&amp;rsquo;s third major network upgrade of the year. The update is designed to improve transaction flexibility while giving issuers more sophisticated tools to create and manage tokenized assets. With Cobalt, Base is strengthening its infrastructure for onchain finance, including real-world assets, regulated digital securities and other blockchain-based financial products.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Validity Transactions Add Conditional Execution&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;One of the most important features introduced by Cobalt is Validity Transactions. This mechanism allows users to submit transactions that become eligible for inclusion only when predefined onchain conditions are satisfied.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For example, a trader could create a transaction that is valid only if an asset reaches a specific price, a smart contract records a particular event or a defined block-time window has not expired. This approach could make automated trading, settlements and decentralized application workflows more efficient. Validity Transactions also give users greater control over timing. Instead of relying entirely on external bots or centralized intermediaries to monitor conditions, applications can use transaction-level rules to determine when an operation should become eligible for inclusion. Base has also indicated that these transactions can remain confidential until they are included in a block, potentially reducing exposure to unwanted execution or premature information leakage.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The feature could be useful across decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, derivatives platforms and payment applications. However, developers will still need to integrate the functionality into their smart contracts and user interfaces before ordinary users can access its full benefits.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;B20 Standard Receives Major Enhancements&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Cobalt also expands Base&amp;rsquo;s B20 token standard, which is aimed at supporting tokenized assets and compliant financial products. The update introduces several tools intended to address the operational requirements of asset issuers. The most notable addition is Composite Policies. This feature allows issuers to combine multiple eligibility and compliance requirements for the same token. These may include know-your-customer verification, accredited-investor status, allowlists and sanctions screening.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Such flexibility is particularly important for tokenized real-world assets, where issuers may need to restrict transfers based on jurisdiction, investor category or regulatory obligations. Instead of applying only one rule, an issuer can establish a set of conditions that must be met before a transfer is approved. The upgrade also adds support for scheduled multiplier updates. This function can help issuers manage events such as stock splits, redenominations or other corporate actions without manually adjusting every balance.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Another new capability, called &amp;ldquo;seizeWithMemo&amp;rdquo;, allows authorized administrators to reassign supported token balances while attaching an explanation directly onchain. This could provide a more transparent process for asset recovery, legal enforcement or compliance-related transfers. At the same time, the feature raises important questions about custody, issuer authority and how much control token holders should surrender in regulated markets.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;What Cobalt Means for Base&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Cobalt positions Base to compete more directly in the expanding tokenization and onchain-finance sector. By combining programmable transaction conditions with compliance-oriented asset controls, the network is attempting to serve both decentralized applications and institutions that require more structured financial infrastructure.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The upgrade does not introduce a new Base token or represent a token launch. Instead, it is a protocol-level improvement focused on developer functionality, transaction control and asset administration. Base&amp;rsquo;s broader roadmap reportedly includes faster block times, protocol-level smart-account functionality and additional Ethereum Virtual Machine improvements. These developments could further improve transaction speed and user experience as the network expands.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For developers, node operators and token issuers, the immediate priority will be updating infrastructure and assessing compatibility with the new features. For users, Cobalt&amp;rsquo;s impact will become more visible as wallets, exchanges and decentralized applications begin supporting Validity Transactions and enhanced B20 assets. Overall, Base&amp;rsquo;s Cobalt upgrade represents a significant step toward making blockchain-based financial products more programmable, compliant and practical for real-world use&lt;/p&gt;

Base Activates Cobalt Upgrade

&lt;p&gt;KelpDAO has sued cross-chain interoperability protocol LayerZero and its co-founder and CEO, Bryan Pellegrino, over an April exploit that drained approximately $292 million worth of rsETH from its LayerZero-powered bridge.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Evercrest Technologies Inc., the company behind KelpDAO, filed the civil claim in British Columbia on September 24, 2026. The lawsuit marks a major escalation in the dispute between the two crypto infrastructure providers, which have spent months arguing over whether the loss resulted from LayerZero&amp;rsquo;s compromised systems, KelpDAO&amp;rsquo;s bridge configuration, or both.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;KelpDAO Blames LayerZero Security Failures&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;According to KelpDAO, the exploit was caused by LayerZero&amp;rsquo;s failure to disclose weaknesses in its technology and protect the security infrastructure used to verify cross-chain messages. In a statement published on X, KelpDAO alleged that LayerZero had reviewed and endorsed its deployment and configuration in writing before the incident. The protocol also claimed that attackers infiltrated LayerZero&amp;rsquo;s internal systems and used the compromise to manipulate the verification process.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;Our number one priority has always been and will remain the security of our users&amp;rsquo; assets,&amp;rdquo; KelpDAO said. The protocol added that it filed the lawsuit to correct the public record and hold LayerZero and Pellegrino accountable for the damage caused to users and the wider decentralized finance ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;LayerZero and Pellegrino have rejected the allegations. Pellegrino described the civil claim as &amp;ldquo;meritless&amp;rdquo; and said he would defend himself and LayerZero in Vancouver. The court has not yet ruled on the allegations, and the precise damages sought by KelpDAO have not been independently confirmed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;How the rsETH Bridge Exploit Happened&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The attack took place on April 18, when a LayerZero-powered bridge released 116,500 rsETH on Ethereum without a matching token burn on the originating network. The stolen tokens were valued at roughly $292 million at the time. The bridge relied on a 1-of-1 Decentralized Verifier Network, or DVN, configuration. In practical terms, this meant that a single verification route was required to approve an incoming cross-chain message.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;LayerZero&amp;rsquo;s account of the incident stated that attackers compromised internal infrastructure and caused the verifier to approve a forged message. Once the message was accepted, the bridge released the rsETH as if the tokens had legitimately been burned elsewhere. LayerZero has argued that the single-verifier setup created a critical point of failure. It said that multiple independent verifiers had been recommended for high-value transactions. KelpDAO, however, maintains that LayerZero had approved its configuration and failed to clearly communicate the associated risks.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Dispute Over Responsibility&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The lawsuit centers on whether LayerZero had a duty to warn KelpDAO about the risks of its verification model and whether its security infrastructure was adequately protected. LayerZero has acknowledged that its infrastructure was compromised but has continued to highlight KelpDAO&amp;rsquo;s 1-of-1 DVN configuration. KelpDAO disputes that explanation, arguing that the configuration was accepted by LayerZero before the exploit.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Following the incident, LayerZero moved away from supporting 1-of-1 DVN configurations for high-value transfers and shifted toward multi-verifier security models. KelpDAO also announced plans to migrate its rsETH bridge to Chainlink&amp;rsquo;s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol and other infrastructure.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Impact on DeFi&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The exploit affected more than KelpDAO. Attackers reportedly deposited a large portion of the newly created rsETH into Aave and used it as collateral to borrow assets, creating significant risks for the lending protocol. The incident renewed concerns about cross-chain bridges, which depend on external messaging and verification systems to confirm events across different blockchains. Even when the underlying smart contracts function as designed, a compromised verifier can transmit false information and trigger the release of valuable assets.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The British Columbia case could therefore have broader implications for DeFi developers, bridge providers and users. A court decision may help clarify how responsibility is divided when a protocol relies on third-party infrastructure for security-critical operations. For now, the allegations remain contested. KelpDAO says LayerZero&amp;rsquo;s failures caused the exploit, while LayerZero and Pellegrino plan to challenge the claim. The legal battle will determine whether the losses were primarily the result of infrastructure security failures, an unsafe bridge configuration, or a combination of both.&lt;/p&gt;

KelpDAO Sues LayerZero and Co-Founder Bryan Pellegrino

&lt;p&gt;Coinbase has expanded beyond cryptocurrency trading by launching IPO access for eligible U.S. retail investors. Through its Coinbase app, customers can now request shares in selected initial public offerings at the official offer price before those stocks begin trading on public exchanges. The service will debut with wearable-technology company Oura&amp;rsquo;s IPO this week.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Coinbase enters the primary market&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The move marks another major step in Coinbase&amp;rsquo;s strategy to become an &amp;ldquo;Everything Exchange&amp;rdquo;, a platform offering access to multiple financial products from a single account. Alongside cryptocurrency trading, the company already provides selected stock-related services to U.S. customers. Its new IPO feature takes that expansion further by allowing retail users to participate in the primary market rather than waiting to buy shares after an IPO listing. IPO allocations have traditionally been difficult for individual investors to obtain because shares are often distributed through investment banks and brokerage firms to institutional clients or selected customers. Coinbase&amp;rsquo;s new offering is designed to make access more direct, although participation will remain subject to eligibility requirements, availability and demand.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;How Coinbase IPO access works&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Eligible customers can find active offerings through a dedicated IPO section in the Coinbase app. After reviewing an offering and its expected price range, users can fund their Coinbase Capital Markets brokerage account and submit what the company calls a &amp;ldquo;Conditional Offer to Buy.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Investors request the number of shares they want at the IPO offer price. Once the order window closes, allocations are determined based on available shares, overall demand and Coinbase&amp;rsquo;s allocation methodology. Customers may receive their full request, a partial allocation or no shares at all. The service is being provided through Coinbase Capital Markets, the company&amp;rsquo;s FINRA-registered broker-dealer. This structure allows Coinbase to facilitate securities transactions while maintaining a separate framework for its brokerage and cryptocurrency-related products.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Oura becomes the first offering&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Oura, known for its smart rings and health-tracking technology, will be the first public offering available through Coinbase&amp;rsquo;s IPO service. Reports indicate that the company&amp;rsquo;s offering is expected to attract significant attention as investors continue to show interest in consumer technology and wearable-health businesses. Some market reports have cited an indicative price range of approximately $40 to $44 per share, although investors should rely on the final prospectus and official offering documents for confirmed terms. The final number of shares available to Coinbase customers will depend on the underwriters and the structure of the offering. An allocation through the app does not guarantee that the stock will rise after listing, and investors could lose money if the market price falls below the IPO price.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Holding-period rules may affect access&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Coinbase is also introducing measures intended to discourage short-term &amp;ldquo;flipping,&amp;rdquo; in which investors immediately sell IPO shares after trading begins. Customers who sell allocated shares within 30 days may be restricted from participating in new offerings for the following 60 days. Repeated early selling could also affect the size or frequency of future allocations. These rules suggest that Coinbase may prioritize customers viewed as longer-term investors. However, the company&amp;rsquo;s allocation process does not guarantee equal access or a specific number of shares for every participant.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;What the launch means&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Coinbase&amp;rsquo;s IPO access program could increase retail participation in new stock offerings and strengthen the company&amp;rsquo;s position as a broader financial-services platform. It also reflects growing competition among fintech and trading applications seeking to combine crypto, equities and other investment products in one ecosystem. For investors, the feature offers earlier access to selected IPOs, but not guaranteed profits. Users should review eligibility conditions, fees, risk disclosures and the issuer&amp;rsquo;s prospectus before submitting a request. Availability is currently limited to eligible U.S. customers and should not be interpreted as universal access for all Coinbase users.&lt;/p&gt;

Coinbase Launches IPO Access for U.S. Retail Investors

&lt;p&gt;Binance is expanding beyond crypto derivatives with the launch of foreign exchange perpetual futures, giving eligible users continuous access to currency-market exposure. The first contract, USDBRLUSDT, will track the U.S. dollar against the Brazilian real, offer up to 100x leverage and trade around the clock, including weekends and public holidays.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Binance enters the FX derivatives market&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The new product is being introduced under Binance Futures&amp;rsquo; TradFi Perpetual category, which is designed to provide exposure to traditional financial markets through perpetual contracts. Unlike conventional foreign exchange trading, which generally operates during weekday market hours, Binance&amp;rsquo;s FX perpetual futures will remain available 24/7.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The initial USDBRLUSDT contract is scheduled to go live on September 21, 2026, at 14:00 UTC. It will provide synthetic exposure to the exchange rate between one U.S. dollar and the Brazilian real, meaning traders will not need to hold or physically exchange either currency.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The contract will be settled in USDT, allowing users to manage positions using the same stablecoin-based margin system commonly associated with Binance&amp;rsquo;s USDⓈ-M Futures products.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Key USDBRLUSDT contract details&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Underlying pair: USD/BRL&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Settlement asset:&amp;nbsp;USDT&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Launch time: September 21, 2026, at 14:00UTC&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Maximum leverage: 100x&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. Trading hours: 24/7&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;6. Minimum trade amount: 0.01 USDBRL&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;7. Minimum notional value: 5 USDT&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;8. Tick size: 0.0001&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;9. Funding settlement: Every eight hours&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;10. Multi-Assets Mode: Supported&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;11. Capped funding rate: +0.375% / -0.375%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The contract has a funding-fee settlement interval of eight hours. Binance has also set a capped funding rate of plus or minus 0.375%, although the exchange may modify contract specifications, including leverage, margin requirements, funding parameters and tick size, depending on market conditions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;How weekend FX pricing works&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Keeping an FX perpetual contract active outside traditional market hours creates a pricing challenge because major currency markets are normally closed over the weekend. Binance will address this through a dual-mode pricing system.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;During regular trading hours, the price index will be updated every second using a weighted average of prices supplied by third-party data providers. During weekends and public holidays, Binance will switch to an order-book-based exponentially weighted moving average, or EWMA, model. This mechanism is intended to provide a continuous reference price when conventional external FX quotations are unavailable.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The weekend pricing model may create different trading conditions from those seen during normal FX sessions. Lower liquidity, wider spreads and sharper price movements could increase the risk of slippage, especially for highly leveraged positions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;What 100x leverage means for traders&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The headline feature is the maximum leverage of 100x. Leverage allows traders to control a larger position with a smaller amount of margin, but it also magnifies losses. A price movement of roughly 1% against a highly leveraged position can consume a substantial portion of the trader&amp;rsquo;s margin and potentially trigger liquidation.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For example, a trader using 100x leverage to take a long position on USD/BRL could face rapid losses if the dollar weakens against the Brazilian real. Funding costs, maintenance-margin requirements, mark-price changes and weekend volatility can further affect the position.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Binance itself warns that futures trading carries significant market risk and that adverse price movements may result in the loss of the entire margin balance. Product availability may also vary by jurisdiction, so users should check local eligibility and Binance&amp;rsquo;s applicable terms before trading.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;A broader TradFi strategy&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The launch marks a further step in Binance&amp;rsquo;s effort to connect crypto-native trading infrastructure with traditional markets. By combining USDT settlement, API access and continuous trading with exposure to a major emerging-market currency, the exchange is positioning FX perpetuals as an alternative way to trade macroeconomic themes. However, the product is not the same as spot foreign exchange ownership. It is a leveraged derivative, and traders remain exposed to funding costs, liquidation risk and the pricing mechanics used outside regular market hours.&lt;/p&gt;

Binance Launches 24/7 FX Perpetual Futures With Up to 100x Leverage

Arc Mainnet Explained

Crypto Ecosystem in India 2026

&lt;p&gt;Prediction markets have exploded from small crypto experiments into a mainstream financial frontier, with monthly trading volumes surging from under $1 billion in mid-2024 to a record $50.6 billion in July 2026. Led by platforms like Kalshi and blockchain-native Polymarket, these markets now let anyone trade real-money contracts on everything from elections and Fed rate decisions to sports outcomes and celebrity news, turning collective opinion into live, probabilistic prices.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;What Are Prediction Markets?&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;At their core, prediction markets are exchanges where participants buy and sell binary contracts tied to the outcome of a future event. Each contract typically pays $1 if the specified outcome occurs and $0 if it does not. Because of this payoff structure, the market price directly reads as the crowd&amp;rsquo;s probability estimate. For example, if a &amp;ldquo;Yes&amp;rdquo; contract on &amp;ldquo;Will the Fed cut rates in September?&amp;rdquo; trades at 68 cents, the market is pricing a 68% chance of a rate cut.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The mechanism works in clear steps:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. A market is created around a well-defined question with a resolution date and official data source.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. The platform lists &amp;ldquo;Yes&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;No&amp;rdquo; contracts for that question.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Traders place orders; prices move as new information arrives, much like stocks reacting to earnings or macro data.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. After the event resolves, winning contracts settle at $1 and losing ones expire worthless.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This structure blends elements of derivatives trading, sports betting, and forecasting into a single, transparent price signal.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Explosive Growth&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Prediction markets have seen some of the fastest growth in modern finance. In 2025, global trading volume across major platforms reached roughly $64 billion, a 4x jump from 2024. By mid 2026, year-to-date run-rates pointed to more than $325 billion in annual volume.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Key milestones highlight the acceleration:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. June 2024: under $1 billion in monthly volume.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. April 2026: nearly $24 billion in combined monthly volume across Kalshi and Polymarket.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. June 2026: $44.8 billion in a single month, driven heavily by 2026 FIFA World Cup sports markets.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. July 2026: a new record of $50.6 billion, with Kalshi alone handling $37.7 billion (about 74.5% of total volume).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. Q2 2026: $111 billion in notional volume across tracked platforms, exceeding the combined total for all of 2024 and 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Even after the World Cup peak, August 2026 saw a modest 14.5% dip to $45.33 billion but volumes remained far above 2025 levels. Kalshi continued to dominate U.S. regulated volume, capturing around 83% of notional trading among approved platforms in June&amp;ndash;July 2026.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Kalshi vs Polymarket&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The sector&amp;rsquo;s growth has been driven by two very different platforms:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Kalshi: A CFTC-regulated U.S. exchange offering event contracts under a traditional financial-market framework. It focuses on compliance, institutional-grade infrastructure, and a broad slate of macro, political, and sports markets.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Polymarket: A crypto-native, global prediction market operating on blockchain infrastructure, with a separate U.S.-compliant arm (Polymarket US). It emphasizes 24/7 access, a wide range of niche and international events, and deep integration with the crypto ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Despite different architectures, both have ridden the same demand wave. In July 2026, Kalshi&amp;rsquo;s $37.7 billion in volume was roughly three times Polymarket&amp;rsquo;s $12.9 billion, but Polymarket&amp;rsquo;s U.S. share grew from 3% to 27.4% of its own combined volume between January and June 2026. Together, they moved more in a single month than all legal U.S. sportsbooks combined. New entrants like Robinhood&amp;rsquo;s Rothera (with Susquehanna), DraftKings&amp;rsquo; DKeX, and Hyperliquid&amp;rsquo;s HIP-4 launched in Q2 2026, signaling that the duopoly may soon face serious competition.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Real-World Use Cases&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While elections and major sporting events dominate headlines, prediction markets are expanding into diverse domains:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Macro and finance: Contracts on Fed rate decisions, inflation prints, unemployment numbers, and crypto prices let traders express views on economic outcomes with precise, binary payoffs.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Corporate and product forecasting: Markets on product launch dates, earnings beats/misses, or regulatory approvals can aggregate dispersed information from employees, suppliers, and industry watchers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Science and technology: Outcomes like clinical trial results, AI model releases, or space mission milestones can be priced by communities following those fields closely.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Entertainment and culture: Awards, box-office thresholds, and even viral trends are increasingly marketized, drawing in niche communities with strong informational edges.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In each case, the market price functions as a living forecast, updating in real time as news breaks and participants reposition.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Why Prediction Markets Matter&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Prediction markets offer several distinct advantages over traditional forecasting and betting. Unlike polls or expert panels, participants put real money behind their views, which tends to surface more honest and informed opinions. Prices adjust instantly to new information, producing a dynamic probability estimate rather than a static snapshot. Traders can go long or short on outcomes, scale positions, and exit before resolution, unlike many traditional betting products. Markets can incorporate signals from thousands of participants worldwide, often outperforming individual experts or small panels. For businesses and policymakers, these markets can serve as complementary tools to internal models and surveys, especially for binary or threshold-based questions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Regulatory Scrutiny and Risks&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Rapid growth has drawn intense regulatory attention. In the U.S., the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has laid out a new regulatory roadmap for prediction markets, amending rules to strengthen consumer protections and product governance. The CFTC&amp;rsquo;s Innovation Advisory Committee has debated risks such as:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Manipulation via &amp;ldquo;mention markets&amp;rdquo;: Contracts tied to whether a public figure mentions a topic can be influenced by a single large trader or coordinated campaign.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Insider trading concerns: High-profile cases have involved individuals allegedly using non-public information to place advantageous bets.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Moral hazard: Some contracts could, in theory, incentivize participants to act in ways that influence the outcome, especially in sensitive political or security-related markets.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;CME Group CEO Terrence Duffy has argued that certain sports, political, and mention markets are particularly vulnerable to manipulation, while prediction-market operators counter that robust surveillance and resolution rules mitigate these risks. Regulators are walking a line between fostering innovation and preventing markets that could encourage harmful behaviour or undermine confidence in public institutions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Globally, jurisdictions differ in how they classify prediction markets, some treat them as gambling, others as financial derivatives, and a few as a hybrid category with bespoke rules. This patchwork creates compliance complexity for platforms operating across borders, especially those blending crypto infrastructure with real-world event settlement.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;How to Think About Prediction Market Prices&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For users and analysts, the most important skill is interpreting market prices as probabilities, not certainties. A 70-cent &amp;ldquo;Yes&amp;rdquo; contract does not mean the event will happen; it means the crowd, weighted by money at risk, currently assigns a 70% chance. These probabilities can and do shift dramatically with new information, just like stock prices.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Key points for reading these markets:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Prices are relative: A 60% probability might be &amp;ldquo;high&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;low&amp;rdquo; depending on the baseline expectation and the payoff structure.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Liquidity matters: Thinly traded markets can produce noisy prices that overreact to small orders.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Resolution rules are critical: Understanding how and when a market resolves is essential before trading.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Used correctly, prediction market prices can complement traditional forecasts, scenario analysis, and risk models.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;The Future Outlook&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;With Q2 2026 volume already surpassing the prior two years combined and new platforms entering the space, prediction markets are moving from fringe to foundational. Upcoming catalysts are likely to keep volumes elevated. At the same time, regulatory frameworks are still evolving. The CFTC&amp;rsquo;s recent rule changes and advisory committee debates signal a more structured, but also more scrutinized, environment for U.S. operators. Globally, the tension between innovation, consumer protection, and moral hazard will shape which markets are allowed, how they&amp;rsquo;re designed, and who can access them.&lt;/p&gt;

The Rise of Prediction Markets

&lt;p data-pm-slice=&quot;0 0 []&quot;&gt;Robinhood has evolved from a commission‑free stock‑trading app into a full‑stack crypto and onchain finance platform, with its own Ethereum Layer‑2 network &amp;ldquo;Robinhood Chain&amp;rdquo; acting as the centerpiece of that transformation. Launched to mainnet on July 1, 2026, the chain is designed to bring traditional assets like U.S. stocks and ETFs onchain as 24/7 tradable tokens while simultaneously opening the door to a broader DeFi ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;From Brokerage App to Onchain Infrastructure&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Robinhood&amp;rsquo;s original disruption was removing commissions and simplifying the trading experience for retail investors. By mid‑2026, the company had scaled that model into a multi‑asset platform with 28.4 million funded customers, $369 billion in total platform assets, and 4.8 million Gold subscribers. Its international expansion accelerated in 2026, with licensed operations in Singapore, crypto registration in the U.K., and a completed WonderFi acquisition in Canada.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Against this backdrop, Robinhood Chain is not just another Layer‑2; it is the settlement layer for a strategy that ties together:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. A massive retail distribution base (tens of millions of funded accounts).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs (&amp;ldquo;Stock Tokens&amp;rdquo;) issued in over 120 countries.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. The Robinhood Wallet, which now supports Robinhood Chain alongside Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Bitcoin.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Integrated DeFi protocols (Uniswap, Morpho, Chainlink, etc.) to create an onchain capital market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In short, Robinhood is attempting to turn its brokerage into an onchain financial network where equities, crypto, and DeFi products can move across the same rails.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;What Is Robinhood Chain, Technically?&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Robinhood Chain is an Ethereum Layer‑2 built on the Arbitrum Orbit stack. Key technical attributes:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Type: Optimistic rollup (Arbitrum Orbit), EVM‑compatible.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Chain ID: 4663.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Gas token: ETH (no native chain token, no official airdrop).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Block time: Around 100 milliseconds, with sub‑second soft confirmations and Ethereum finality roughly 13 minutes after batch submission.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. Permissions: Permissionless, anyone can deploy smart contracts.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;6. Explorer: Blockscout at robinhoodchain.blockscout.com.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;7. Wallet support: Robinhood Wallet (native), MetaMask (manual network add), OKX Wallet.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The chain uses Ethereum for data availability and final settlement, while execution happens on Robinhood&amp;rsquo;s dedicated sequencer. This gives it high throughput and low latency while inheriting Ethereum&amp;rsquo;s security for historical data. Like many young Orbit chains, block production is currently centralized around Robinhood&amp;rsquo;s sequencer, with full decentralization of ordering still a longer‑term goal.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;The Flagship Product&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The core thesis behind Robinhood Chain is tokenization of real‑world assets, starting with U.S. equities. Robinhood first launched Classic Stock Tokens in Europe in June 2025, derivative contracts priced against underlying U.S. stocks and ETFs, tradable 24/5 within the Robinhood app. Holders get economic exposure and app‑delivered dividends but do not own the underlying shares or shareholder rights, and they bear counterparty risk to Robinhood Europe.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In July 2026, alongside mainnet, Robinhood introduced onchain Stock Tokens:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Issued as tokenized debt securities by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Backed 1:1 by underlying shares held with a licensed custodian, with daily monitoring.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Available in Robinhood Wallet and compatible wallets across 120+ countries (excluding the U.S.).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Designed to be composable: tradable on DEXs, usable as collateral in lending markets, and integrable into DeFi protocols.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Legally, these remain claims on the issuer rather than direct equity ownership, but technically they behave like standard ERC‑20 tokens once in self‑custody. That distinction is crucial: they are &amp;ldquo;stock exposure onchain,&amp;rdquo; not &amp;ldquo;owning Apple shares onchain.&amp;rdquo; By mid‑2026, Robinhood had expanded from 200+ tokenized U.S. products at launch to over 2,000 Classic Stock Tokens in Europe, with a separate onchain range of 90+ Stock Tokens available via wallets and DeFi.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;DeFi Ecosystem&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Robinhood Chain launched with a curated set of protocols to support a tokenized capital market:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Trading: Uniswap, Pleiades (Robinhood‑native AMM), Lighter (perpetuals), Rialto, Arcus, and Bitstamp.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Lending: Morpho as the primary money market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Oracles &amp;amp; data: Chainlink, covering 95 equities plus CCIP for cross‑chain messaging.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Stablecoins: USDG (dominant) and USDe, providing onchain dollar liquidity.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. Custody &amp;amp; compliance: BitGo, Fireblocks, TRM Labs, LayerZero/Stargate for bridging.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This stack mirrors a traditional capital market lifecycle but implemented in smart contracts on an L2. The strategic question is whether Robinhood can funnel its brokerage users into this onchain market at scale.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;The Unexpected Boom&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Although built for tokenized equities, Robinhood Chain&amp;rsquo;s early activity has been dominated by memecoins and speculative tokens. Within two weeks of the mainnet launch, DEX volume surged to around $3.1 billion in a single week, putting the chain among the top five by DEX activity globally. At that time: roughly 65,000 users held about $13 million in Stock Tokens and $300 million in stablecoins. The majority of trading volume came from memecoins, not tokenized stocks. By late August 2026, Uniswap V3 pool creation on Robinhood Chain was running at roughly 740 new pools per day, with total pools exceeding 6,600. Token creation peaked at around 18,600 new tokens per day, and TVL reached approximately $775 million, with stablecoin supply near $575 million. This pattern mirrors earlier L2 launches: speculative activity bootstraps liquidity, developers, and user behavior, while the &amp;ldquo;real‑world asset&amp;rdquo; narrative develops more slowly. For Robinhood, memecoin volume is effectively a subsidy that brings traders and liquidity to a chain ultimately intended for tokenized finance.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;User Growth and Market Position&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Robinhood Chain&amp;rsquo;s user metrics have been striking for a new L2:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Daily active users surpassed Base within three weeks of mainnet.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Cumulative transactions exceeded 100 million by late August 2026.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. DEX volume peaked around July 12, then fell roughly 72% from that high, even as user counts remained elevated.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Interpretation: attention and wallet adoption have stuck, but speculative trading intensity has cooled. That environment favours projects that can convert existing users into repeat participants rather than relying solely on launch hype.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;At the parent‑company level, Robinhood&amp;rsquo;s crypto trading volumes have been volatile. July 2026 crypto notional trading volume was $10.9 billion, down 62% year‑over‑year and 33% from June, reflecting broader market conditions. Yet the company&amp;rsquo;s overall platform assets and funded customer base continue to grow, providing a deep funnel for onchain products.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Why Robinhood Chain Matters for Crypto and Traditional Finance&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Robinhood Chain sits at the intersection of three major trends:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Tokenization of traditional assets: Major institutions and fintechs are exploring onchain representation of stocks, bonds, and funds. Robinhood is one of the first retail‑focused brokers to issue tokenized equities at scale and give them a dedicated chain.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Brokerages becoming crypto‑native platforms: With the Bitstamp acquisition, international licenses, and integrated crypto trading, Robinhood is positioning itself as a global crypto‑finance platform, not just a U.S. equity app.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Layer‑2s as specialized financial rails: Instead of a generic L2, Robinhood Chain is purpose‑built for 24/7 financial activity, with fast blocks, ETH gas, and deep integration into Robinhood&amp;rsquo;s product suite.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If successful, the chain could become a template for how traditional finance products migrate onchain while retaining retail accessibility.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Risks and Limitations&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Despite the ambition, several constraints and risks remain:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. U.S. exclusion from Stock Tokens: The headline tokenized equities product is not available to U.S. users, limiting the immediate overlap with Robinhood&amp;rsquo;s largest customer base.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Legal structure of Stock Tokens: These are tokenized debt instruments, not direct equity. Holders have no shareholder rights and remain exposed to issuer and custody risk.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Centralized sequencer: Like most young Orbit chains, transaction ordering is controlled by Robinhood&amp;rsquo;s sequencer, introducing a centralization risk despite Ethereum settlement.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Speculative dominance: Early activity is heavily skewed toward memecoins. Sustained demand for tokenized stocks and DeFi use cases is still unproven.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. Young‑chain risk: With only a few months of mainnet history, infrastructure maturity, bridge security, and tooling are less battle‑tested than on established L2s like Arbitrum One or Base.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;What This Means for Investors, Traders, and Builders&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For retail investors, Robinhood Chain offers a new way to access 24/7 tokenized stock exposure and DeFi yields, but it requires understanding the difference between tokenized debt and actual shares, plus the usual smart‑contract and bridge risks. For crypto traders, the chain presents a high‑liquidity, low‑incumbent environment for new tokens, especially memecoins, with a built‑in audience from the Robinhood Wallet. For developers and projects, permissionless deployment, EVM compatibility, and low gas make it attractive for DeFi, RWA, and consumer apps, particularly in gaps like yield aggregators, RWA composability, analytics, and derivatives.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;The Future Outlook&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Robinhood Chain&amp;rsquo;s strategic test is whether its two early trajectories can converge into a durable onchain financial ecosystem. Key indicators to watch:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Trading volume and unique holders of onchain Stock Tokens.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Use of Stock Tokens as collateral in lending and DeFi protocols.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Share of network activity coming from non‑launchpad, non‑meme projects.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Expansion of regulated Stock Token access and integration with more traditional finance partners.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If Robinhood can successfully onboard even a fraction of its 28+ million funded customers into onchain wallets and DeFi workflows, Robinhood Chain could become one of the most significant bridges between traditional finance and crypto in the late‑2020s. For now, the &amp;ldquo;Robinhood Chain revolution&amp;rdquo; is part infrastructure build‑out, part memecoin casino, and part live experiment in what a brokerage‑owned Layer‑2 can become.&lt;/p&gt;

The Rise of Robinhood in Crypto

&lt;p&gt;The DeFi landscape continues to evolve with blockchain ecosystems competing for dominance through innovative applications and strategic partnerships. Total Value Locked (TVL) is one of the key metrics to measure the health and attractiveness of these ecosystems. In this article, we have compiled a list of the top 10 blockchains in August 2026 by TVL growth, with a minimum Range of $10 million, using data from &lt;a href=&quot;https://defillama.com/chains?minTvl=10000000&amp;amp;maxTvl=&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noopener&quot;&gt;DefiLlama&lt;/a&gt;, a leading DeFi analytics platform.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;What is TVL?&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Total Value Locked (TVL) is a key metric in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem that represents the total U.S. dollar value of digital assets that are currently locked in DeFi platforms. These assets can include cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, liquidity tokens, and other digital assets used for various purposes such as staking, liquidity provision, and yield farming. It serves as an indicator of a DeFi platform&#039;s health and popularity, reflecting user trust and engagement.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Top 10 Blockchains in August 2026 by TVL Growth&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Following chains saw the highest TVL growth in August 2026&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Morph&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Pharos&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Robinhood Chain&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Tempo&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. RISE&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;6. PulseChain&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;7. OP Mainnet&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;8. Mantle&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;9. Ink&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;10. XRPL&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a9663b6be421.png&quot; alt=&quot;Top 10 Blockchains in August 2026 by TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;574&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;1. Morph&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Morph tops the table with 789% growth in August 2026. Morph is a high‑performance Ethereum Layer‑2 blockchain built as a dedicated settlement layer for stablecoin payments and global commerce. Backed by the Bitget ecosystem, it uses BGB as its gas, governance and settlement token and is engineered for &amp;gt;10,000 TPS, low fees and enterprise‑grade reliability. Its TVL is now valued at $84.09 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965e08b11b8.png&quot; alt=&quot;Morph&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;830&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Morph:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 55.5px;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Aera V3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+99.60%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Native Credit Pool&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+97.28%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;2. Pharos&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Pharos comes in Second place with 147% growth in August 2026. Pharos (PROS) is a high‑performance, EVM‑compatible Layer‑1 blockchain built for &amp;ldquo;RealFi&amp;rdquo;: tokenizing real‑world assets (RWAs), stablecoins, payments, and institutional finance on‑chain. Founded in 2024 by ex‑Ant Group/Alibaba engineers, it uses a modular, parallel‑execution architecture to target very high throughput and sub‑second finality while remaining compatible with existing Ethereum tooling. The network aims to bridge traditional finance and Web3 by enabling compliant issuance, transfer, and settlement of assets like private credit, infrastructure funds, and bonds on a scalable, decentralized rail. Its TVL is now valued at $19.1 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965e3fbc4ea.png&quot; alt=&quot;Pharos&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;877&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Pharos:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Morpho Blue&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+165%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;RockawayX&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+99.41%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;3. Robinhood Chain&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Robinhood Chain comes in third place with 85.49% growth in August 2026. Robinhood Chain is a permissionless, EVM-compatible Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain built by Robinhood on the Arbitrum Orbit stack, launched on mainnet on July 1, 2026. It uses ETH as its native gas token, targets ultra-fast 100ms block times, and is designed for onchain financial infrastructure, especially tokenized real-world assets like stocks, ETFs, and stablecoins. The chain settles data to Ethereum for security, runs a centralized sequencer with a first-come, first-served ordering (anti-MEV), and has no native token of its own. Its TVL is now valued at $728.97 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965e5a4b46c.png&quot; alt=&quot;Robinhood&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;877&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Robinhood Chain:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;StonkBrokers&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+87,141%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;up&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+1,713%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;DexFi Aggregator&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+1,212%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;4. Tempo&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Tempo comes in fourth place with 69.54% growth in August 2026. Tempo is a Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for enterprise stablecoin payments, co-incubated by&lt;a href=&quot;https://tempo.xyz/&quot;&gt; &lt;/a&gt;Stripe and Paradigm. It eliminates volatile gas tokens, letting users pay transaction fees directly in stablecoins. It handles 100k+ TPS with sub-second finality for global commerce. Its TVL is now valued at $46.41 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965e76e048c.png&quot; alt=&quot;Tempo&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;877&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Tempo:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 55.5px;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Tempo DEX&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+96.55%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Morpho Blue&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+62.33%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;5. RISE&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;RISE comes in fifth place with 50.89% growth in August 2026. RISE is a high-speed Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain designed for on-chain trading. It delivers 100k+ TPS capacity and sub-3ms latency via a continuous block pipeline. Its native shared orderbook infrastructure lets developers seamlessly build ultra-fast, fully composable global markets. Its TVL is now valued at $25.22 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965e96dbf00.png&quot; alt=&quot;RISEChain&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;877&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for RISE:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;RISEx&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+3.64%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;6. PulseChain&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;PulseChain comes in sixth place with 45.29% growth in August 2026.PulseChain is an Ethereum fork and Layer 1 blockchain built for faster, cheaper transactions with EVM compatibility. It uses PLS as its native gas token and claims to mirror Ethereum&amp;rsquo;s state at launch, enabling easy migration of tokens and apps. Its TVL is now valued at $82.23 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965eb55bfb6.png&quot; alt=&quot;PulseChain&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;877&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for PulseChain:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;PulseX&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+49.37%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Incprinter&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+45.48%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;7. OP Mainnet&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;OP Mainnet comes in seventh place with 44.21% growth in August 2026. OP Mainnet is Optimism&amp;rsquo;s primary Ethereum Layer‑2 network, using optimistic rollups to batch transactions off‑chain and settle data on Ethereum for lower fees and higher throughput. It runs the OP Stack (EVM‑compatible, Solidity‑friendly), carries chain ID 10, and serves as the reference deployment and largest governance chain in the Optimism Superchain ecosystem. Its TVL is now valued at $428.78 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965ed09e3d8.png&quot; alt=&quot;OP Mainnet&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;877&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for OP Mainnet:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;UNCX Network&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+235%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Bedrock uniBTC&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+212%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;8. Mantle&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Mantle comes in eighth place with 42.47% growth in August 2026. Mantle is a modular Ethereum Layer 2 network that uses optimistic rollup technology with zero-knowledge validity proofs for security. It offers EVM compatibility, low transaction fees, and high throughput, with gas paid in its native MNT token. Mantle emerged from BitDAO in 2023 and now functions as an on-chain finance hub with a large treasury supporting DeFi, payments, gaming, and real-world asset (RWA) applications. Its TVL is now valued at $90.52 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965eea14543.png&quot; alt=&quot;Mantle&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;877&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Mantle:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 55.5px;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Fluxion Network&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+266%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Clearpool Lending&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+193%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;9. Ink&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ink comes at ninth with 30.85% growth in August 2026. Ink is an Ethereum Layer‑2 blockchain incubated by crypto exchange Kraken, built on Optimism&amp;rsquo;s OP Stack and part of the Optimism Superchain. It launched on Ethereum mainnet in December 2024 with 1‑second block times, sub‑cent fees, and full EVM compatibility, aiming to onboard Kraken&amp;rsquo;s 10M users into DeFi. The network uses ETH for gas, posts batch data to Ethereum, and supports permissionless fault proofs. Its TVL is now valued at $152.45 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965f03c2477.png&quot; alt=&quot;Ink&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;877&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for Ink:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Uniswap&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+9,883%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;SakuraSwap&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;+775%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;10. XRPL&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;XRPL comes at tenth with 30.35% growth in August 2026. XRPL (XRP Ledger) is an open-source, decentralized Layer‑1 blockchain launched in 2012, built for fast, low-cost payments and asset tokenization. It uses a unique federated consensus protocol (RPCA), not proof-of-work or proof-of-stake, enabling 1,500 TPS, 3-5 second finality, and carbon-neutral operation. Its TVL is now valued at $41.18 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://ds7uldi88krbs.cloudfront.net/posts/post_6a965f3c1a0a2.png&quot; alt=&quot;XRPL&#039;s August 2026 TVL Growth&quot; width=&quot;877&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Top protocols that drive TVL Growth for XRPL:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table style=&quot;border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 55.5px;&quot; border=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;colgroup&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;col style=&quot;width: 49.9502%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/colgroup&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Protocol&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;TVL Growth (Aug 2026)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;XORA&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+48.71%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;Doppler Finance&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;height: 18.5px;&quot;&gt;+33.41%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In the dynamic landscape of decentralized finance (DeFi), tracking the Total Value Locked (TVL) across various blockchains provides invaluable insights into market trends and investor confidence. This analysis, based on data from DeFi Llama, highlights the top 10 blockchains that have experienced significant growth in TVL in August 2026, with a minimum TVL of $10 million&lt;/p&gt;

Top 10 Blockchains in August 2026 by TVL Growth

&lt;p&gt;The crypto industry has lost $3.63 billion to hacks and exploits between January 2025 and July 2026, according to CoinGecko&#039;s newly released &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.coingecko.com/research/publications/state-of-crypto-security-report-2026?utm_source=X&amp;amp;utm_medium=social&amp;amp;utm_campaign=state-of-crypto-security-report-2026&amp;amp;attri_cid=92cib3a85g7g&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noopener&quot;&gt;2026 State of Crypto Security Report,&lt;/a&gt;&quot; with 245 documented incidents and the top 10 attacks accounting for over 72.5% of total losses.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Key findings from CoinGecko&#039;s 2026 security report&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Total losses: $3.63 billion stolen across 245 security incidents from January 2025 through July 2026.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Incident surge: 2026 alone has already seen 164 incidents in just seven months, nearly 70% more than the full-year 2025 count of 97.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Concentration risk: The 10 largest hacks represent more than 72.5% of the total value stolen, underscoring how a few catastrophic breaches drive headline losses.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Average loss per incident: Roughly $26.3 million in 2025 (heavily skewed by Bybit), dropping to about $7.3 million in 2026 as incident frequency rises but individual sizes shrink.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. Notable breaches: Bybit ($1.43 billion) and KelpDAO ($292 million) stand out as the two largest single incidents in the period.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Where the money is going&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;CoinGecko breaks down losses by how attackers got in, not just who got hit. The biggest bucket is infrastructure and supply-chain style failures, which have caused over $1.8 billion in damage across both centralized and decentralized platforms.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Supply-chain &amp;amp; infrastructure attacks: $1.806 billion in losses, making this the single costliest category.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Smart contract exploits: $777 million lost, predominantly affecting DeFi protocols and dApps.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Private key compromises: $431 million stolen, with centralized exchanges (CEXes) especially exposed to key management failures.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Social engineering &amp;amp; related vectors: Around $311 million, reflecting phishing, fake UIs, and manipulated integrations.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Architecture matters. CEXes tend to fail via private key compromise and operational security gaps, while dApps and DeFi protocols lose funds mainly through smart contract bugs, oracle manipulation, and governance attacks.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;The audit paradox&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;One of the report&#039;s most uncomfortable findings is that security audits are not a silver bullet. Out of 245 incidents, 147 involved platforms that had completed independent security audits before being exploited.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Audited but breached: 60% of hacked platforms had prior audits.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Loss concentration: These audited platforms account for 88.44% of all funds stolen in the period.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. In-scope flaws: Only about 11% of incidents involved vulnerabilities that would typically fall within a standard smart contract audit scope, though those still resulted in roughly $396 million in losses.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The takeaway is not that audits are useless, but that many breaches stem from external infrastructure, unaudited code paths, upgraded contracts, or systemic design flaws that routine audits don&#039;t fully cover.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;2025 vs 2026&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The data tells two stories at once. 2025 saw $2.55 billion lost across 97 incidents, heavily inflated by the Bybit breach attributed to North Korean actors. Excluding Bybit, 2025&#039;s remaining 96 incidents totaled around $1.1 billion.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In contrast, 2026 (January-July) shows:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. $1.2 billion lost across 164 incidents.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Lower average loss per incident ($7.3 million) but much higher frequency, indicating a broader, more distributed attack surface.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. April 2026 spike: Over $644 million lost in a single month, with several incidents again linked to North Korean&amp;ndash;associated groups.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Historically, 2022 was the previous peak year for crypto losses at $2.77 billion; 2025&#039;s $2.55 billion came close, and with 2026 already on pace for a high incident count, the industry is clearly facing a structural escalation in threat volume.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;DeFi&#039;s collateral damage&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The report highlights how hacks create ripple effects far beyond the immediate stolen funds. The KelpDAO exploit, which leveraged a LayerZero bridge vulnerability, didn&#039;t just drain assets; it triggered a broader loss of confidence.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Aave TVL impact: Aave&#039;s total value locked fell from roughly $26 billion to $14.4 billion after the incident, a $11.5 billion drop that dwarfs the direct exploit amount.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Token price contagion: Assets like STEP, DRIFT, and BONK saw sharp declines following major hacks, even when not directly compromised, as risk-off sentiment spread.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This &quot;collateral damage&quot; is a key reason why security is a market-wide issue, not just a protocol-level problem.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Insurance is shrinking just as risk is rising&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While exploits climb, on-chain insurance capacity is contracting. CoinGecko notes that active coverage across top crypto insurance protocols fell by 20.2%, from $163.2 million to $130.2 million, even as cumulative payouts have remained largely flat around $33 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Drivers include:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. High risk perception: Elevated exploit frequency discourages capital providers and pushes premiums up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Narrow coverage: Many policies only cover specific smart contract exploits or infrastructure failures, excluding human error, key compromises, or market volatility.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Protocol attrition: As of August 2026, 5 of 9 on-chain insurance protocols have gone inactive or pivoted to other segments.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In response, several centralized exchanges have launched or expanded their own protection funds to guarantee user coverage in the event of an exploit, effectively internalizing part of the insurance function.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Who&#039;s behind the attacks?&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The actor landscape has matured from lone hackers to organized cartels and state-sponsored groups. North Korean&amp;ndash;linked actors feature prominently in the data, with the Bybit breach in 2025 and a cluster of April 2026 incidents attributed to groups associated with Pyongyang.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;These actors increasingly use:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Mixers and bridges to obscure fund flows.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Staggered withdrawals and complex laundering chains to stay untraceable.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Cross-chain strategies to move assets quickly between ecosystems.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;What this means for the industry&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For protocols and exchanges, the report reinforces that security must be treated as a continuous, system-wide discipline:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Beyond audits: Complement smart contract audits with infrastructure reviews, upgrade processes, and governance risk assessments.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Key management: For CEXes, robust key custody, multi-sig policies, and operational controls are critical.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Monitoring &amp;amp; response: Real-time anomaly detection, circuit breakers, and clear incident response playbooks can limit blast radius.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For users, the implications are equally clear:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Diversify risk: Avoid concentrating all assets on a single platform or chain.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Understand coverage: Know what (and what not) your platform&#039;s protection fund or any insurance product actually covers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Stay alert: Phishing, fake UIs, and malicious integrations remain major vectors, especially in DeFi.&lt;/p&gt;

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