A recent $292 million exploit on April 18 has not derailed the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, according to a report by Standard Chartered. The attack on KelpDAO, which spilled over to AAVE, the largest DeFi lender, led to a sharp liquidity crunch, with deposits falling by approximately 38% and active loans by 31%.
However, despite this significant shock, the sector is expected to continue growing, with tokenized real-world assets projected to reach a $2 trillion market cap by the end of 2028, driven by the expansion of DeFi lending and stablecoin liquidity. The report highlights the sector's resilience and the swift response of AAVE and other DeFi firms, which committed over $300 million to stabilize the system.
This incident has also accelerated structural upgrades, including AAVE's V4 upgrade and the forthcoming Ethereum Economic Zone, aimed at reducing reliance on cross-chain bridges, a common target in major crypto hacks.