Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week.

In a fireside chat at ETHDenver, United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Pierce advocated for more decentralization and said centralization means that “you have concentrated risks.”

An attacker took control of the Shido blockchain’s Ethereum staking contract and transferred out billions of Shido (SHIDO) tokens, according to PeckShield.

According to a new Immunefi report, Ethereum is the most targeted chain by hackers in 2024, accounting for 85% of the value lost in February.

The top 100 DeFi tokens continued their bullish momentum, and the total value locked in DeFi protocols breached $95 billion.

SEC’s Pierce wants more decentralization in the financial system

The SEC commissioner has advocated for more decentralization in the U.S. financial system and a softer approach to crypto regulation and enforcement.

Pierce, also known as “Crypto Mom,” closed her fireside chat with CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos at the ETHDenver conference on Feb. 29, stating that decentralization benefits the U.S. financial system.

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Funds hacked in 2024 increased by 15.4% vs. the same period in 2023

Over $200 million worth of cryptocurrency has been lost to hacks and rug pulls in 2024 year-to-date (YTD) across 32 individual incidents, according to a Feb. 29 research report by blockchain security firm Immunefi.

The loss YTD represents a 15.4% increase compared to January and February 2023, when $173 million of digital assets were stolen.

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Seneca stablecoin hacker returns stolen funds after $6.4 million exploit

Stablecoin protocol Seneca offered a 20% bounty to the exploiter who gained access to at least $6.4 million in digital assets after exploiting an approval mechanism bug in the protocol’s smart contract.

On Feb. 28, multiple blockchain security firms flagged the exploit on the stablecoin protocol. Companies like CertiK warned users about the exploit, urging them to revoke approvals from an address on the Ethereum and Arbitrum networks. Initial estimates of the losses were put at $3 million, but it was later found that over 1,900 Ether ( ETH) , worth about $6.4 million, was taken from the exploit.

Hours after Seneca’s message, the hacker returned about 1,537 ETH, worth around $5.3 million, to the wallet address Seneca specified.

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Shido token plummets 94% as exploiter drains Ethereum staking contract

The token for the layer-1 blockchain Shido dropped 94% in just 30 minutes after suffering an exploit on its Ethereum-based staking contract.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield alerted its followers to the drop in a Feb. 29 X post. A follow-up post explained that an exploiter transferred the blockchain’s Ethereum staking contract to another address with the new owner and then upgraded the contract with a hidden function to withdraw staked tokens.

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DeFi market overview

Data from Cointelegraph markets Pro and TradingView shows that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a bullish week, with most trading in the green on the weekly charts. The TVL in DeFi protocols breached $95 billion for the first time in over a year.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.