TechFlow News, April 24: According to The Block, JPMorgan analysts noted in their latest report that persistent DeFi security vulnerabilities and stagnant Total Value Locked (TVL) growth continue to constrain institutional participation in the DeFi space.
Recently, Kelp DAO’s cross-chain bridge suffered a major attack. Attackers minted $292 million worth of uncollateralized rsETH tokens and borrowed real ETH on Aave, resulting in approximately $230 million in bad debt. Consequently, DeFi’s total TVL evaporated by roughly $20 billion within several days. LayerZero and blockchain security researchers have attributed this attack to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group. Some of the stolen funds have been frozen, while the remainder remains in circulation.
Analysts also pointed out that DeFi TVL denominated in ETH has remained range-bound for an extended period, raising market concerns about whether DeFi can achieve organic growth sufficient to support institutional adoption. Furthermore, following each security incident, users tend to shift funds into USDT as a safe-haven asset—but this trend has yet to significantly drive USDT’s market capitalization growth.
