Bitcoin Surpasses $76,000 as DeFi Sector Faces $14 Billion Exodus Following KelpDAO Hack

The price of Bitcoin held steady above $76,000 on Monday, recovering from a brief dip below $74,000 earlier in the session, with a 2.4% increase over the past 24 hours. This rebound was mirrored by other major altcoins, including Ether, XRP, and Solana, resulting in a 1.7% rise in the broad-market CoinDesk 20. The crypto market's resilience comes amid a volatile macro backdrop, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning of further escalation with Iran and a fragile ceasefire set to expire later this week. Oil prices surged 6% to near $90, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq experienced modest declines of around 0.3%-0.4%. Crypto equities were mixed, with Coinbase and Strategy gaining roughly 2%, while Circle and Bitmine edged lower by 1%-2%. According to Jasper De Maere, a trader at Wintermute, the fact that prices have not fully retraced despite new tensions suggests some genuine demand, pointing to recent spot ETF inflows as a supporting factor. However, the path forward remains tied to geopolitics, with a renewed ceasefire potentially pushing Bitcoin back toward $80,000, while further escalation may keep markets under pressure. Meanwhile, the DeFi sector is reeling from the $292 million KelpDAO hack, which has resulted in a $14 billion exodus from DeFi protocols over the past two days, according to DefiLlama data. The total value locked (TVL) across DeFi protocols has dropped to about $85 billion, its lowest level in a year and roughly 50% below October peaks. Aave, the largest lending protocol central to the exploit, saw around $10 billion in deposits withdrawn. David Shuttleworth from Anchorage Digital's protocol team noted that there is a tremendous risk-reward imbalance in DeFi, with users no longer accepting the slightly higher, and sometimes lower, risk-free rate they get by depositing in lending pools, especially given the latest wave of exploits across protocols.