GM!
Today’s top news:
Crypto majors fall then rebound as Iran tensions escalate; BTC at $75.4k ETFs see $1.4B in inflows on the week, 2nd biggest week of year DeFi TVL falls by $13B as KelpDAO exploit fallout worsens; AAVE -25% Vercel CEO says “highly sophisticated” actors used AI for its exploit Asteroid meme holds at $150M market cap after Elon says “ok” for SpaceX mascot $292M Kelp DAO Exploit Triggers Aave Bank Run, $9B Leaves DeFi in a DayIn the aftermath, TVL on AAVE dropped 25% from $26.4B to ~$20B in a single day and continues to fall by the day. Broader DeFi TVL fell by $13B. The AAVE token fell 30%.
There have been $600M lost from DeFi via exploits in just the past 3 weeks. And the pace is accelerating…
Key Details:
Kelp DAO’s LayerZero bridge was exploited Saturday for 116,500 rsETH (~$292M, 18% of supply); attacker minted unbacked rsETH and used it as Aave collateral to borrow real WETH; ~$196M in bad debt left on Aave; AAVE -30%; largest DeFi exploit of 2026 The contagion: Aave froze rsETH and WETH across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, and Linea; TVL dropped $6.2B in one day; ETH depositors borrowing stablecoins to exit triggered a bank run dynamic; SparkLend, Fluid, Upshift, and Lido all froze rsETH exposure The structural issue: LRT tokens like rsETH were whitelisted as near-ETH collateral on Aave, Compound, and Euler; this exploit assumes backing was intact at all times; it wasn’t; every DeFi lending protocol now needs to reassess liquid restaking token collateral riskFriday was the most violent 24 hours in crypto markets since the war started.
Iranian FM Araghchi posted that the Strait of Hormuz was “fully open to all commercial vessels.” Trump followed on Truth Social claiming Iran agreed to an “unlimited” suspension of its nuclear program and said a permanent deal was “mostly complete.”
The vibes were euphoric.
And a return to war looks more likely than ever…
The annual rate stays at 11.5%, and the $1.2B total obligation is unchanged. Holders would just receive smaller checks every two weeks instead of one larger check per month. If approved, the first semi-monthly payment lands July 15.
The reason this matters can be seen in the STRC price action over the past few months. Leading up to the dividend cut off date of the 15th, STRC trades at or above its $100 par with increasing volume until the 14th. Then it goes sub-par for a few weeks as traders no longer need to hold for the dividend. Around the 1st of the month, it hits $100 par again and the cycle repeats.
Well with semi-monthly dividend payments, Saylor could potentially erase that 2-week period where STRC trades sub-par. That would mean more potential capital for him to use to buy Bitcoin - and a safer hold for those holding STRC.
Assuming this goes through, expect Bitcoin to benefit (and maybe even bigly)…
Radio host Glenn Beck posted her story on X Thursday night. Elon replied “Will answer shortly” at 11:50 PM ET. That response alone was enough to send the ASTEROID meme coin to a $30M+ market cap.
But traders anxiously awaited Elon’s response. On April 18 in the afternoon, they got it. Elon answered the girl’s questions for him and replied “OK” to the SpaceX final item, confirming Asteroid as the official SpaceX mascot.
The token immediately sent to $100M+ in market cap within hours, reaching $190M+ overnight. It’s now trading near $155M.
Now the question becomes—will Elon continue leaning in and actually make Asteroid Shiba the SpaceX mascot? Or was this a one off response?
