Bitcoin Surges Past $76,000 as DeFi Faces $14 Billion Exodus Following KelpDAO Security Breach

The price of Bitcoin held steady above $76,000 on Monday, recovering from a dip to $74,000 earlier in the session. This 2.4% increase over the past 24 hours was mirrored by other major cryptocurrencies such as Ether, XRP, and Solana, with the broad-market CoinDesk 20 rising by 1.7%. Despite the current geopolitical uncertainty, with US President Donald Trump warning of further escalation with Iran, the cryptocurrency market has shown resilience. Oil prices have jumped 6% to near $90, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have slipped modestly. Crypto equities have been mixed, with some companies like Coinbase and Strategy gaining around 2%, while others such as Circle and Bitmine have edged lower. According to Jasper De Maere, a trader at Wintermute, the fact that prices have not fully retraced despite new tensions suggests there is genuine demand for cryptocurrency. The current move appears less driven by leverage compared to earlier rallies this year. However, the path forward remains tied to geopolitics, with a renewed ceasefire potentially pushing Bitcoin back toward $80,000. In the DeFi sector, the $292 million KelpDAO hack has had a significant impact, with a vulnerability allowing the attacker to drain funds used as collateral across lending protocols. This has led to a $14 billion exodus from DeFi protocols over the past two days, according to DefiLlama data, with the total value locked (TVL) across DeFi protocols dropping to its lowest level in a year.