Investment management firm VanEck has found that exchange trading volume in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector dropped to $52.8 billion in August, making a 15.5% decline in a month.

The cryptocurrency-focused arm of the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, Boerse Stuttgart Digital, is planning to launch a fully insured cryptocurrency staking service next year, in a move underpinned by an insurance product dedicated to reducing the risks of slashing.

Billionaire Mark Cuban recently fell victim to a phishing attack on one of his cryptocurrency wallets, which allowed the attacker to drain it of over $860,000 in cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• DeFi Trading Volume Drops 15.5% in August
• Boerse Stuttgart Digital to Launch Insured Crypto Staking Service
• Mark Cuban Loses Over $800,000 in Crypto and NFTs to Phishing Scam

DeFi Trading Volume Drops 15.5% in August

Investment management firm VanEck has found that exchange trading volume in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector dropped to $52.8 billion in August, making a 15.5% decline in a month.

The findings are based on data from VanEck’s Market Vector Decentralized Finance Leaders Index (MVDFLE). The index tracks the performance of the largest and most liquid Defi protocol tokens, including Uniswap, Aave, THORCHain, Maker, and Curve DAO.

The index significantly underperformed leading digital assets Bitcoin and Ether last month, falling 21% in a descent that was intensified by Uniswap’s UNI falling 33.5%. VanEck also found that the total value locked in DeFi dropped 8% in August to $37.5 billion.

However, it wasn't all grim, as despite the subpar performance DeFi protocols saw some positive developments in August, including Uniswap Labs’ dismissal of a class-action lawsuit and Maker and Curve’s stablecoin growth.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital to Launch Insured Crypto Staking Service

The cryptocurrency-focused arm of the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, Boerse Stuttgart Digital, is planning to launch a fully insured cryptocurrency staking service next year, in a move underpinned by an insurance product dedicated to reducing the risks of slashing.

The insurance product was developed by global reinsurance colossus Munich Re, and aims to mitigate the risks associated with penalizations validators may face in a Proof-of-Stake blockchain for violating network rules or for malicious activity. These penalties include suspended or lost staked tokens.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital operates under the umbrella of the Boerse Stuttgart Group, acclaimed as Europe's sixth largest stock exchange conglomerate. Earlier in the year, the firm secured a license to hold digital assets, a nod granted by Germany's financial regulatory authority, BaFin.

By adding staking to its custody service Boerse Stuttgart Digital will allow its clients to earn rewards on the digital assets stored with it.

Mark Cuban Loses Over $800,000 in Crypto and NFTs to Phishing Scam

Billionaire Mark Cuban recently fell victim to a phishing attack on one of his cryptocurrency wallets, which allowed the attacker to drain it of over $860,000 in cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The unidentified perpetrator successfully extracted Lido Finance’s staked ether (stETH) valued at $555,000, and USD Coin (USDC) worth $175,000 on Ethereum from Mark Cuban’s wallet, along with stakes in tokens such as Ethereum Name Service, Polygon, and more.

Cuban claimed that he was the victim of a phishing attack after downloading a fraudulent version of the popular MetaMask wallet. Cuban was seemingly able to save $2.5 million of USDC on Polygon by moving the funds to Coinbase before the hacker got a hold of them.

The Shark Tank star also saved a CryptoPunk NFT, valued at $77,000, after it was moved to a wallet tagged as “Mark Cuban 3” on Ethereum explorer Etherscan.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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